Notes from a Prol

It is amazing how history repeats itself. The striking similarity between our Government and that of the last Tsar (Nicholas II, 1868-1918) is one instance. OMG, Dr. C., you must have flipped your wig, you say. Well, I was led to that conclusion by Glenn Greenwald this AM in his excellent post on the multiple crimes of Cheney/Bush et al. and how they have out-tefloned Reagan. In particular, the fact that our Country has become a Surveillance State. Actually, I can't say that there is such a a great similarity because, although the oligarchic class does what it wants, our proletariat has not yet become uneasy. And, of course, we have no Lenin. That will happen when the enormous debt that we have incurred (one trillion dollars to China alone) starts coming due. Marie Antoinette was at a disadvantage, she couldn't borrow from anyone to pay for cake. (as some wag has recently said: "Let them eat Yellowcake!")

The similarity is very simple, we have abandoned the rule of Law. We have become autocratic. Again, as long as the proles are well fed (and boy are we well fed!), and have our Wii's and iPods, there will be no problem. But just as soon as Joshua and Brittany get kicked out of their little house because they can't pay the mortage, and then get their credit cards cancelled, there is going to be some awful rumblings in the street. I don't think we will ever storm the Winter Palace (there are too many traffic barriers around the White House), but there may be a move on a certain ranch in Texas, and I don't mean by Cindy Sheehan. Imagine a couple thousand pissed off 30 somethings moving across Texas and upset because their cell phones have been silenced. Hell hath no fury, etc.

What I am commenting on here is the tremendous fence that Americans have put off to shield them from reality. At first this was just passive. By that I mean things like the Today Show, which is watched by millions and millons of Americans, ignoring the carnage that occurs in Iraq on a daily basis to focus on missing white women or a starlet's pregnancy (Spears) or demise (Anna Nicole Smith). I mean, many Iraki men, women and particularly children die horrible deaths by bombing every day while Meredith Viera babbles on incessently about the most inane things. When I ask many people about current events, i.e. something not connected with Hollywood, the most common reply is "What?" Is this a deliberate ploy by the Media to distract people from the awfulness that we have created? (Of course, as we have pointed out here before, BushCo and CheneyCo are in the process of shifting blame to the puppet government in the Green Zone for the fact that Irak is in such chaos.)

So, on the one hand we have a once wonderful country that is now dominated by a lawless group of mostly men (and Condi) who refuse to submit to our most basic laws (e.g. against torture and against violation of privacy), that hide their lawbreaking by denying that it exists, and get away with it by distracting the proles with endless, useless goodies and a media that is focused on trash.

In the meantime, children are dying every day in Irak. Dying horrible deaths in burning, exploding scenes.

Christmas

I hope that you and your family are having a peaceful holiday season. I hope that for a few days all of us can try and forget where we have been as a country over the past year. I, for one, feel totally exhausted in that part of me that responds to the plight of the world's children. What we all need to do is to find something that is moving in the right direction and attach ourselves to it like super glue. I'll have some candidates for myself soon.

Dr. C.

Friday Crab Blogging

Two from the files; slow day on the Bay

Alternative Reality

First we have:

Bush not satisfied with progress in Iraq

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President George W. Bush said Thursday he was not satisfied with the central Iraqi government's record on reconciling the country's rival sectarian groups and carrying out reforms, vowing to press for more progress.

Bush conceded Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government needed to do more work but insisted it is functioning and passing budgets when asked if US troop reinforcements this year had given it enough room to press ahead with reconciliation as well as political and economic reform.(emphasis added)

But if one goes to the daily slide show, we see:



Children are still being injured and dying. So, where's any "progress" at all? It seems to this observer that things are just as bad if not worse for the majority of the Iraki people. Especially the children.

George’s Surge Leaves Iraq’s Children Behind
By: Siun Sunday December 16, 2007 6:05 pm

A number of reports have appeared over the last few days that place the supposed “success” in Iraq in stark contrast with the reality. Just as during the long years of sanctions it was the children of Iraq who suffered the most from our disastrous policies, today – again – they suffer even more.

A few weeks ago I hypothesized that this whole thing with Nuri al-Maliki's government was a scam; that it was designed to get Bush off the hook when we reach next March and the fifth anniversary of the invasion.

It is very dangerous to have a man who is unconnected from reality as President of a country that possess thousands of nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them. To think that saner heads will prevail in the event of a nuclear crisis is in itself insane; I have no doubt that this man Bush would push the button without hesitating a second.

I never thought I would wind up a radioactive cinder.

Friday Crab Blogging

We start with a quite nice, classic crab:

Then one on the "joie de vivre" side (crab in Santa hat!):

Then a crab to test your imagination:

A montage with Caterpillar

And, to remind us about global warming, a penguin:

What in the **** is going on?

A year ago in November we voted in a new Congress. While not "veto proof" there was still a majority in both House and Senate.

A year later, nothing is working. The SCHIP bill, which enjoys wide support across America has been vetoed twice and the Democrats won't even try to over ride the veto. They won't even make Republican Senators stand up and say they are voting against children!

New taxes on oil companies? Not even attempted since it would be vetoed.

If you thought democracy was dead in Irak, just look in the mirror.

Torture

Torture is much in the news these days. One of the more outlandish defenses of this horror is the one that claims "Our President says that we don't torture; therefore, waterboarding is not torture." Today, I believe that the current director of Intelligence is going before a Congressional Committee. I am cyinical enough at this point to predict that absolutely nothing will come of this.

I posted a letter I had sent to the local paper a month ago. It wasn't printed. This is the second letter that they have refused to print. The one before this was about bombing Iran. I realize that my local paper is strongly Republican, but it seems like a distortion of democracy to put a filter like this on LTE. This is particularly biting since they tend to publish the most amazing right wing loonies.

Many of the bloogers that I follow (like Blue Girl, Red State today and Authur Silber) are much more cynical than I. The idea, and I find it hard to refute, is that we, as a nation, have irrevocably destroyed our legitimatcy by allowing torture. No matter what the excuse.

Food for thought.

All over but the shouting

There is an excellent speech given by Sheldon Whitehouse in the Senate concerning the President and the Constitution. Senator Whitehouse is the junior Senator from Rhode Island, a state I called home for five years. This speech encapsulates in a few well chosen words where America has allowed itself to be taken in the last seven years. It is not pretty. Senator Whitehouse summarizes three opinions generated by the Office of Legal Council (for the President). These are the only three that Senator Whitehouse has been able to get declassified, so you can imagine what other opinions read.

1. An executive order cannot limit a President. There is no constitutional requirement for a President to issue a new executive order whenever he wishes to depart from the terms of a previous executive order. Rather than violate an executive order, the President has instead modified or waived it.

2. The President, exercising his constitutional authority under Article II, can determine whether an action is a lawful exercise of the President’s authority under Article II.

3. The Department of Justice is bound by the President’s legal determinations.

These three opinions I consider to be completely antithetical to the United States Constitution. They basically obviate it in favor of an imperial Presidency. No wonder so many people are running for that office. Who would not want to be King of America?

I am very impressed by Whitehouse. In fact:

WHITEHOUSE FOR THE WHITEHOUSE!

Friday Crab Blogging

I am sorry to report that the Crab Drawers (not to be confused with the Crab Knickers) are still on strike. You will have to do with Sponge Bob.

Book Review

A few books from the last few years:

Achebe, Chinua Things Fall Apart
White man disturbs paradise; our arrogance is overwhelming
3 Stars

Ackroyd, Peter The Clerkenwell Tales
By the author of “London” sometimes hard to follow
2 Stars

Amis, Kingsley Lucky JimApparently a seminal novel; England from the ashes of WWII; another faculty novel
2 ½ stars

Banville, John The Newton Letter
Trivial stuff
1 Star

Barnes, Julian England, England
A Theme park based on, well, England. Another dystopia novel. Very good.
3 ½ stars

Barnes, Julian Aurthur and George
Sherlock Holmes and racism in late Victorian England. Interesting.
2 ½ stars

Bester, Alfred The Demolished Man
Bester, Alfred The Stars My Destination
Classic Sci Fi. Reading TSMD again after 50 years was a trip. Rewire my nervous system, please.
3 stars

Black, Benjamin Christine Falls
Ireland not only has high tech, it now has junk detective novels. They’re all the same.
2 stars

Burke, James Lee The Neon Rain
Burke, James Lee Heaven's Prisoners
Burke, James Lee Black Cherry Blues
I read them to get a New Orleans experience. Just can’t take the gratuitous violence.
1 ½ star

Butcher, Jim Storm Front
Butcher, Jim Fool Moon
High Tech Vampires and Wizards. Clever but no thank you.
1 star

Caldwell, Ian and Thomason, Dustin The Rule of Four
Absolutely, positively the worst book on the list.
½ star

Chayefsky, Paddy Altered States
From the man who brought you Network. I’m interested in the isolation tank, but he got a little far out. (A little? More like waaaaay far out.)
1 star

Chomsky, Noam Hegemony or Survival
From the man who brought you THE theory of linguistical knowledge. Now a champion of the liberal position. He is actually very good. You can tell that by how badly he is trashed.
3 stars

Clark, Susanna Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell
First Harry Potter, now a different angle. An effort to domesticate magic. Not sure it works. Long, long, long.
2 stars

Connelly, Michael The Black Echo
Connelly, Michael The Black Ice
Connelly, Michael The Concrete Blonde
Connelly, Michael The Last Coyote
Connelly, Michael Trunk Music
Connelly, Michael Angels Flight
Connelly, Michael A Darkness More Than Night
Connelly, Michael City Of Bones
Connelly, Michael Lost Light
Connelly, Michael The Narrows
Connelly, Michael The Closers
Connelly, Michael Echo Park
Yea Harry Bosch. I have to say, one keeps coming back and reading him. Quite a bit of development of the main character. I am not sure how real the others are. Most are stereotypes.
3 stars

de Assis, Machado Dom Casmurro
Very interesting Brazilian writer from the last century. Apparently a classic in Brazil.
2 ½ stars

de Kretser, Michelle The Hamilton Case
Now this is a switch. A murder mystery on Sri Lanka, and not by Michael Ondaatje. Absolutely fascinating in its depiction of life there.
3 stars

Dibdin, Michael Ratking
Dibdin, Michael Vendetta
Dibdin, Michael Cabal
Dibdin, Michael Dead Lagoon
Dibdin, Michael Cosi Fan Tutti
Dibdin, Michael A Long Finish
Dibdin, Michael Blood Rain
Dibdin, Michael And Then You Die
Dibdin, Michael Medusa
These are all set in Italy with a single detective. They are pretty bloody and I guess they are true to life. Except Dibdin is an American. Recently expired. Probably worth a read if you like Italy.
2 ½ stars

Dick, Philip K. UBIK
Started it all. What can I say. A little hard to read today.
2 stars

Dideon, Joan Play It As It Lays
Another Hollywood novel. Angst. Angst. Angst.
2 stars

Farrell, J.G. The Singapore Gap
Farrell, J.G. Troubles
Farrell, J.G. The Siege of Krishnapor
Now this guy is great. Why have we not heard more from him? I particularly liked The Singapore Gap. What is best is the wry humor.
3 ½ stars

Fitzgerald, Penelope The Book Shop
Fitzgerald, Penelope The Golden Child
You got to like Fitzgerald. Quirky to the enth degree, but worth every bit of it.
3 stars

Furst, Alan Night Soldiers
Furst, Alan Dark Star
Furst, Alan The Polish Officer
Furst, Alan The World at Night
Furst, Alan Red Gold
Furst, Alan Kingdom of Shadows
All of these are set in pre WWII Europe. They are well written and very dark. I couldn’t finish Red Gold but some were very good.
3 Stars

Galouye, Daniel Dark Universe
Interesting old Sci Fi about people caught below ground until they go blind.
1 star

Galsworthy, John The Forsythe Saga
Finally read this. As you will see, I have high standards in this kind of fiction (Trollope). However, a good read and presages Buddenbrooks.
2 ½ stars

Harris, Sam The End of Faith
The first few pages are great. Then he gets shrill. A little too much blame on the Muslims and a little too much exoneration of us and the Israelis.
2 stars

Heinlein, Robert Starship Troopers
Ouch! I used to really like Heinlein (The Roads must Roll). This is just a pean to militarism. The only people who can vote on this world have served in the army. A high tech army, no doubt.
2 stars

Hornby, Nick A Long Way Down
Not Hornby’s best, but an interesting examination of people’s attitudes towards suicide.
2 stars

Ishiguro, Kazuo Never Let Me Go
He goes weird on us in this one. Raising people for their donor organs? What.
1 ½ stars

Kerrigan, Gene The Midnight Choir
A very dark Irish police story. Not a very satisfying one but since I lived in Dublin once, it was a nice trip around the city.
1 ½ stars

Leon, Donna Death at La Fenice
Leon, Donna Death in a Strange Country
Leon, Donna The Anonymous Venetian
Leon, Donna A Venetian Reckoning
Leon, Donna Acqua Alta
Leon, Donna The Death of Faith
Leon, Donna A Noble Radiance
Leon, Donna A Sea of Troubles
I don’t know why every thinks Leon is the cat’s meow. She has a fairly interesting detective and, like Dibdin above, she is an American living in Italy. But, you got to like Venice, so read them.
2 stars

MacDevitt, Jack The Engines of God
MacDevitt, Jack Deepsix
MacDevitt, Jack Chindi
MacDevitt, Jack Omega
MacDevitt, Jack Odyssey
MacDevitt, Jack A Talent for War
MacDevitt, Jack Polaris
MacDevitt, Jack Seeker
MacDevitt, Jack Eternity Road
MacDevitt, Jack Moonfall
MacDevitt, Jack Infinity Beach
Even if you don’t like Sci Fi, read MacDevitt. He has a very easy style and slips in some of the most interesting questions. Everyone has wondered how we could possibly be “alone” in the universe. MacDevitt explores that.
3 ½ stars

Mankell, Henning Faceless Killers
Mankell, Henning The Dogs of Riga
Mankell, Henning The White Lioness
Mankell, Henning Sidetracked
Mankell, Henning The Fifth Woman
Mankell, Henning One Step Behind
Mankell, Henning Firewall
Mankell, Henning The Man Who Smiled
Another detective series, this time in a small town in Sweden. Very well written and the protagonist is believable human with lots of foibles. Apparently made into a TV series in Sweden. Get them.
3 ½ stars

Mitchell, David Ghost Written
Mitchell, David Number 9 Cloud
Mitchell, David Cloud Atlas
Mitchell, David Black Swan Green
Alright. I admit, this guy writes for people like me. Particularly “Cloud Atlas.” He is all over the map but about as interesting as can be. A particular penchant for Japan in the first three. The last fits in with Julian Barnes genre.
4 stars

Moody, Rick Garden State
A dystopian novel about young adults in New Jersey. Grunge, Grunge and more Grunge.
1 ½ stars

Murray, John A Few Short Notes on Tropical Butterflies
Absolutely fascinating. Absolutely. Short stories done in an exquisite manner
3 ½ stars

O'Brien, Flan At War
Newspaper columns from the Master. During WWII in Dublin.
2 ½ stars

Pagels, Elaine The Gnostic Gospels
Sort of blandly written but what she says will make you think. For someone who had 16 years of religious teaching it will make your hair stand up.
2 ½ stars

Pearl, Matthew The Dante Club
Such a good idea. Such an awful book.
1 star

Sandford, John Broken Prey
This guy can churn out a mystery a day. I read this because I wish I drove a Porsche.
1 ½ stars

Scott, Paul Jewel in the Crown
Scott, Paul The Day of the Scorpion
Scott, Paul The Towers of Silence
Scott, Paul A Division of the Spoils
You want to know about the British experience in India? Read Scott.
3 ½ stars

Sebald, W.G. The Rings of Saturn
This man, who died in an automobile accident at the end of the 90’s, has one of most unusual perspectives on people and the landscape that you can imagine. I’ve read two others by him and they all haunt.
3 ½ stars

Sholokhov, Mikhael And Quiet Flows the Don
How this guy won the Nobel Prize I’ll never know. I guess it was a sop to Stalin. What the Cossacks did in the Russian Civil War.
1 ½ stars

Simenon Tropic Moon
Not his best but gripping. Right in there with “Heart of Darkness.”
2 ½ stars

Simenon Monsieur Monde Vanishes
Didn’t finish it

Skvorecky, Josef The Engineer of Human Souls
A Czech writer living in Canada teaching English and rewriting his experience in WWII. Hard to finish but interesting.
2 stars

Smith, Alexander McCall The Full Cupboard of Life
Smith, Alexander McCall The Sunday Philosophy club
Smith, Alexander McCall Portuguese Irregular Verbs
Smith, Alexander McCall The Finer Points of Sausage Dogs
Smith, Alexander McCall At The Villa of Reduced Circumstances
The ultimate in trivial reading (well, maybe not the ultimate). But, I’ll be honest, they can entertain.
2 stars

Stegner, Wallace Angle of Repose
The great American going West novel. Actually quite good. A little forced, and interesting in its comments on the late 60’s culture.
3 stars

Stendhal The Charterhouse of Parma
You got to read this a few times in your life. It’s a rush and then its over.
3 stars

Trollope, Anthony Lady Anna
Trollope, Anthony The Belton Estate
Trollope, Anthony Rachael Ray
Trollope, Anthony The MacDermots of Ballycloran
Trollope, Anthony The Kellys and the O'Kellys
Trollope, Anthony Orley Farm
I never tire of reading this guy. I particularly liked The MacDermots and The Kellys because my ancestors came from Ireland where Trollope worked as a postal inspector or something (he invented the red British pillar mailbox). Somehow these stories in their certainty just fascinate me.
4 stars

Turgenev, Ivan Fathers and Sons
I know, I know, the modern classic. Introduces the blasé revolutionary. Still too Tolstoy for me.
3 stars

Waugh, Evelyn A Handful of Dust
This guy can be very cynical. Not up with Brideshead, but pretty close. Particularly the ending in the Amazon. Reading Dickens. Ah…
3 stars

A Sadness Too Sad to be True

This by Jesse Winchester has always struck home to me. Like it or not, we are animals with emotions (limbic system; evolutionary advantage; large brain; fight, flight or sex; who knows?). Plus that, I'm a Tennessean. Dismembered, but a Tennessean never the less. Even the son of transplanted Yankees dreams of green hills.

How to deal with this on a day to day basis:


How will these children ever learn to live with us in the world to come? What about all the pain and suffering,

and death?

How morbid, Dr. C. Ugh! But this is the reality of what we have created in Irak.
This has become a conflict which is very much going to define us for long into the future. So it gets you thinking. The stunning thing about the American Constitution, as originally promulgated and interpreted by the Citizens, is that all individuals are considered equal. That includes Iraki children.The insidious dismantling of that constitution began long ago, with the advent of American exceptionalism. Rather, the exceptionalism of a certain class of Americans (mostly white, mostly male, mostly Protestant, and overwhelmingly rich). It finds expression in the absolute certainty of the white Southerner that the black man is inferior (when the reality is that it is simply a different concentration of melanin found in the skin that differentiates white from black. The absurdity of using this as an index of superiority was aptly described by Mark Twain in "Puddn'head Wilson.")

The treatment of Native Americans wasn't much different as we see from Wounded Knee:



It is impossible to remove this strain from a population short of violence. At every turn, because of our geographic isolation and our technical skill (especially in constructing nuclear weapons), Americans have been unconsciously reinforced as being superior to other humans. I can say this with certainty about the generation that grew up in the 1950's and early 60's. A dent was made in this ideology with the Vietnam War. But still, America did not shirk from being responsible for the death of up to two million Vietnamese. We had, you see, our Manifest Destiny. The rich of America could not tolerate the meme of Communism (in reality, an extension of the Constitution's embodiment of the "all men are equal.") Even if it meant useless slaughter.

Furthermore the mere fact that we do not mourn the one half million dead and dismembered Iraki children, yet feel that less than three thousand dead Americans on 9/11 have "changed the world," shows that the real basis of our civilization (on oxymoron in this light) remains this exceptionalism belief. If is very plain that we will never learn.

This brings us to the Dissembler in Chief. George W. Bush has existed in a cocoon of exceptionalism since birth. While his age mates were dying in the jungles of Vietnam, he was drinking his way through the politics of Alabama. How such an uneducated man could have passed through Harvard and Yale ranks right up there with some of the better biblical miracles. His tenure as President has been marked by his absolute certainty that he is exceptional. That he can break laws and kill people without thought or remorse. That he needs not justify his actions. That he is unique and needs no conscience.

And he reflects us all as the most perfect mirror.

Friday Crab Blogging

A blast from the past. Been a slow week in the Bay.

Conventional Wisdom and the Dirty Trick of the Century

Conventional wisdom has it that the "surge" in Irak is "working." That is, the addition of over 30,000 American troops concentrated in regions of Baghdad has resulted in some decrease in violence. Certainly not all violence. There may be only 10 dead bodies found on the street instead of 20. Progress!!

The surge has been accompanied by an extreme regimen of life for the residents of these areas with invasion of the home space by soldiers, interrogations, etc., etc., etc. Not what one would ever call a normal life. I have not seen the opinions of the citizens of Irak concerning the surge. This is strange. After all, it is their cities, villages and land.

I make no mistake, our involvement in Irak will not end soon. I just saw a patient who is shipping out to Irak in the near future.

(On the other hand, when the British, who were experiencing 90% of the violence in Basra withdrew, the violence decreased by 90%. Damn Brits. They must be fixing the intelligence and the facts. Its that dodgey report again.)

The most important aspect of the situation isn't that the surge is working, it is what the Iraki definition of "working" is. The problem for the unfortunate people of Irak is not that they live under a dictatorship (though what's the difference?), it is that the invasion and occupation of their land by American forces has unleashed a Civil War. One can not imagine in any shape, way or form that people who have no control of their lives or their society will be able to go back to a situation that is placid. Our presence in Irak does nothing but increase the likelihood that the Civil War that does come after our exit will be even more cataclysmic than the present situation.

The dirty trick of the surge has created a situation where George W. Bush will simply say: "I tried to give the Iraki people a country and they refused to accept it. Therefore, its not my fault." We tried everything but the patient died, even though we did the operation without informed consent for a non existent disease.

Damn Idiot.

Another Planet - II

A Time to Kill, And a Time to Heal
In his job as an Israeli pediatrician, Yuval saves the lives of Palestinian children. But the father of three also takes Palestinian lives as an attack helicopter pilot patrolling Gaza.

Applying the "Switch" test:
In his job as a Palestinian pediatrician, Yuval saves the lives of Israeli children. But the father of three also takes Israeli lives as an attack helicopter pilot patrolling Jerusalem.

Another Planet

First we have, from the New York Times:

U.S. Scales Back Political Goals for Iraqi Unity

By STEVEN LEE MYERS and ALISSA J. RUBIN
Published: November 25, 2007
WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 — With American military successes outpacing political gains in Iraq, the Bush administration has lowered its expectation of quickly achieving major steps toward unifying the country, including passage of a long-stymied plan to share oil revenues and holding regional elections.

Instead, administration officials say they are focusing their immediate efforts on several more limited but achievable goals in the hope of convincing Iraqis, foreign governments and Americans that progress is being made toward the political breakthroughs that the military campaign of the past 10 months was supposed to promote.
........................
“If we can show progress outside of the security sector alone, that will go a long way to demonstrate that we are in fact on a sustainable path to stability in Iraq,” the senior official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. (emphasis added)

Then we have, from Juan Cole:

Friday, November 23, 2007
Dozens Killed in Bombings, Clashes
3 Mn. Iranian Pilgrims Expected
41% of Jihadis are Saudis

Guerrillas detonated a bomb in a Baghdad pet market on Friday morning at 9 am, killing at least 13 persons and wounding others.

Two important gunbattles were fought in Iraq on Thursday, one southwest of Baghdad and one in the volatile Diyala Province east of Baghdad. CNN alleges that Salafi Jihadis of the "Islamic State of Iraq" organization attacked members of the local tribal "Awakening Council" at Hor Rajab southwest of the capital, killing 15 and wounding 8, without apparently losing any dead themselves. Hor Rajab was the site of a massacre on October 7 of Sunni Arabs by invading Shiite Mahdi Army militiamen.

etc.

The Effect of War on Children

From Gorilla's Guides via The Liberal Avenger:

IRAQ: Children with serious illnesses abandoned
BAGHDAD, 21 November 2007 (IRIN) - Nine-year-old Faleh Muhammad was abandoned by his family in April 2006. He was left to fend for himself in the streets of Baghdad, and later he was diagnosed with leukaemia (picture above is not of this child.)
................
“The problem is even more serious among new-born babies and there are many cases of children aged 1-12 abandoned,” said Mayada Marouf, a spokesperson for KCA. “Most of them have a life-threatening disease and their families cannot afford treatment.”
................
Over 1.6 million children under the age of 12 have become homeless in Iraq, according to the country’s Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs. That’s almost 70 percent of the estimated 2.5 million Iraqis who are homeless inside the country.

Let me just add that a child who had leukemia diagnosed at a late stage has dramatically decreased chance of survival.

But, I forgot, Paris Hilton is out of rehab and engaged to Brittany Spears. And they are still looking for that missing white woman in the Caribbean.

Friday Crab Blogging (but no crabs today)

..............................................Giraffe

..............................................Hairy Cat

..............................................Me and Bobbie McGee

Random Pics (click to expand)

Smith Island, Chesapeake Bay - 1987

Yellowstone Park - 1991

Ville D'Este, Como - 1984

Hikers on Ayer's Rock - 1989

Sydney Opera House - 1989

Once upon a time, in a land far away, there was ice cream ....

Thanksgiving

Yes, I am thankful for family and friends. But the thanks that I feel is tempered with the grief for my Country and all the millions of people that have been injured or have died because of our arrogance.

Iraki Children - Again

(Updated below)

Just to remind you that we are still harming children in Irak,


for what reason absolutely no one, General Petraeus,

Dick Cheney,


Alberto Gonzales, Michael Mukasey,

or George Bush himself

knows.

They say that "we" are "winning" the "War in Iraq." The "we" does not include me, but does include Blackwater and Halliburton. No one, especially the aforementioned, can tell me what "winning" would mean. (It certainly wouldn't mean a stable, consensus driven, democratic, America friendly, central government in Iraq free of sectarian strife. Or free of American bases and a boondoogle Embassy.) And, there is no true "War in Iraq." There is a brutal, American, permanent occupation with an induced, sectarian, Civil War. It is a nightmare for the very Iraki people we supposedly "liberated." (I know, you are tired of my quotes.)

And that leads to this:



We destroy the children of a land at our own risk.

Update from here;

Child mortality in Iraq has spiralled because of the tense security situation, deteriorating health services and lack of medical supplies, say experts.

According to a report released in May 2007 by aid agency Save the Children, “Iraq’s child mortality rate has increased by a staggering 150 per cent since 1990, more than any other country.” (emphasis added)

Friday Crab Blogging

While no crab, there is what appears to be a flying fish. I didn't get to ask what it was. The big guy is a quarterback and, I assume, is handing off to a running back. Please note the cleats. I am convinced that no adult could ever come up with something like that.

I think the hotel is very interesting in that it has a person in every window. I guess that is Paris Hilton's dream.

Serbia Children

The irony of sadness; it just doesn't seem to let up. Once again the American media is in a feeding frenzy of self righteousness about the decrepit conditions for retarded children in Serbia. Yes, indeed it is dismal. But, of course, it pales in comparison to what America has done to the children of Irak. And then there is this:

Serbia's mistreatment of the mentally ill was exposed after autocratic President Slobodan Milosevic was overthrown in a popular revolt in 2000. During Milosevic's 11-year rule, health care standards plummeted as government funding was diverted to paying for the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Kosovo.

Let us be very blunt about this, when you pay for wars, health care suffers.

Whether in Serbia, Irak, or America.

Letter

To the Editor:

There is a fine line between civilization and barbarism. We, as a country, have passed that line. I realize that I sound shrill stating this, but what else can one say when we have installed an Attorney General of the United States who will not condemn torture? I know that water boarding is torture. Every sane person knows that water boarding is torture. But the new Attorney General will not say that it is torture.

There can be only two explanations for this behavior, either one is disastrous. The first is that the man has trouble seeing what is real; that he lives in some alternative political universe where everything is negotiable and “up” can mean “down.” I am sorry, but we live in the real world. And in that real world, water boarding is torture. I do not want an Attorney General who is not anchored 100% in our Constitution. We’ve had enough of that already.

The second option is much more dangerous. That is, Mr. Mukasey pretends not to know that water boarding is torture because to admit that would leave the President of the United States open to criminal prosecution. Think about that for a while.

So, Citizens of the Eastern Shore, welcome to a country that has cast off one more vestige of civilization. Spend some time thinking how you will explain that we torture to your children. And think about what it feels like to drown.

Dr. C.

Iraki Children

Three days a week I am forced to watch the Today Show (I can't help it. If I am directly in front of a T.V. I have to watch it since I don't own a T.V. of my own and it is irresistibly seductive.) Today on Today they spent at least half the time talking about the most tabloid of events, domestic murders. They even had Geraldo Rivera. Sick. In the meantime:

According to UNICEF, about 50 percent of displaced Iraqis are children under 18 – amounting to over half a million children

Internally displaced people in Iraq

Northern provinces
800,900
Central provinces
740,500
Southern provinces
714,600
Total
2,256,000

Source: UNHCR (September 2007)

"We expect the situation to worsen. Winter is approaching and many displaced families are still without blankets and heaters. Children don’t have enough clothes to protect themselves." (emphasis added)

Let's see, that would be over a million internally displaced children (and a million externally displaced, but we don't mention that!)

A child who doesn't know where the next meal is coming from; where he or she will sleep at night; won't go to school and won't be able to play. In other words, the complete antithesis of the Rights of the Child. Oh, that would be the Convention that the United States has not ratified yet. Excuse me. (it would also be the Convention that Iraq ratified in 1994).

That would be these children:

Day to Day

It is just fascinating to me that we can carry on, day to day, and not be overwhelmed by what is happening to America, what is happening in Iraq and Afghanistan, and what is going to happen to the environment and the World. I am sure there is a school of psychology somewhere that had investigated this oblivion of the masses. The most fascinating thing, and it works out particularly at the individual level, is the recognition of a threat, but the innate belief that "it won't happen to me." Certainly the very wealthy in the United States (of which there are many) feel that their billions will shield them from any catastrophe. But the recent fires in California did not stop at a house and ask the annual income. Likewise, economic collapse, environmental collapse, or any other of preventable tragedy rarely spares anyone. The only exception might be Richard Cheney in his bunker. But then, who's he going to Vaderize if everyone else is a cinder?

No Friday Crab Blogging

This is too sad:

Fifty nine children dead in Afghan suicide attack
Published: Friday November 9, 2007
Afghanistan's education ministry said Friday that a suicide attack this week had killed 59 children and five teachers, taking the death toll to 75 in the deadliest such bombing in the insurgency-hit country.

And this:

But especially this who quotes from the Washington Post:

Which raises all sorts of secondary but fascinating political questions: What do the Democrats do if -- yes: if, if, if -- the surge appears to have succeeded? . . . Indeed, if Iraq somehow stabilizes and even incrementally improves, doesn't that affect the presidential campaign in important and unpredictable ways? . . . [T]he notion that Bush's patience really did save Iraq from unmitigated humanitarian and strategic catastrophe might be a powerful one. . . . (emphasis added)

Please note that the Washington Post while not the newspaper of record, is at least as influential as the New York Times. Here, in black and white, is the most preposterous statement that one can imagine. That George W. Bush rather than causing an "unmitigated humanitarian and strategic catastrophe," and there can not be one Iraki who does not believe that he or she is living through the most wretched catastrophe, is actually "saving" Irak?

America just lost it completely.

Whadda you going to do?

I am sure that most people, at some point, try to take the big view of things. That is, back off from the day to day and try to see where you are going. On the other hand, maybe most people don't. In any case, in spite of Godwin's Law, many bloggers continue to find similarity between the march to Fascism in Germany and what we are going through in the United States today (try Googling Hitler + Law). Then there are interesting tidbits like the review of a new work in the New York Review of Books on the life of the Emperor Augustus, and how the long Republic was converted into an Empire. I even alluded to the end of the Roman Empire in a recent post. Maybe it is a sign incipient change when we start grovelling in History.

So, let's go hog wild, since one can easily do so in Herodotus. There are more than enough risings and fallings in there to go about (even if most of us only know him from "The English Patient"). How about the magnificent Mughal Empire which is only 400 years past(I would direct you to "The Root and the Flower" by L.H. Myers for this one). The analogy I find most interesting at the moment is the pre WWI Empires of Britain and Germany. It has been years since I read Buddenbrooks, but its aura of middle class certainty that permeates the novel, the thought that they were the center of the Universe, resonates fairly strongly today, at least with a broad swath of American culture. Barbara Tuckman's "The Guns of August" followed by Doblin's "November 1918" bookend the War to End All Wars. Follow that with "The Black Obelisk" by Erich Maria Remarque and a course can be charted from high hubris (look in the mirror) to a nation of the destitute. No matter that the Germans rose again to suffer even more ignominious defeat, they still had a country that had not been levelled by nuclear weapons. I doubt we could say that would be our fate.

Finally, I would be remiss if I didn't mention "A Man Without Qualities" by Robert Musil. The whole thing (Vonnegut's grand fallon) is there if you can find it.

Friday Crab Blogging

In case you missed him, that's Dr. C. in the middle with the polydactaly.