Our Dear Gov-25 (Click to Enlarge Cartoon)
Saturday, August 13, 2005
Friday, August 12, 2005
Letter from Senator Mikulski to Mr. Swanson
I am trying to understand this letter from my Senator.
This via AfterDowningStreet.org:
For sure:
But, we are in Never Never land. No one believes facts anymore. We believe in a president who talks to an imaginary being in the clouds and thinks that everything is going to smell of roses in Iraq as long as we "stay the course."
If we make it to 2008, there is going to be some might heavy reckoning going on.
This via AfterDowningStreet.org:
From Senator MikulskiDoes this mean that Senator Mikulski, and others, will now press for a further investigation into this issue? That they are not going to let it die an Iraqi death, in the dust and unremembered?
Submitted by davidswanson on Fri, 2005-08-12 15:03. Congress
August 12, 2005
Dear Mr. Swanson:
Thank you for getting in touch with me regarding the Bush Administration's claims about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction (WMD) used to justify going to war. I agree with you that we need a thorough, effective and objective investigation of the intelligence on Iraq and how it was used.
As a Senator and a member of the Select Committee on Intelligence, I was presented information that led me to believe that Saddam Hussein had biological and chemical weapons and the means to use them. Bush Administration officials also said that Iraq had links to terrorism and was developing nuclear weapons. This has been called into question in light of what UN inspectors and U.S. forces have found - and not found - on the ground in Iraq.
The American people have a right to know whether intelligence on Iraq was valid, or whether it was skewed, selected, or exaggerated. That's why I insisted on a thorough investigation by the Intelligence Committee.
The Committee agreed, on a bipartisan basis, on an inquiry to examine:
- the quantity and quality of U.S. intelligence on Iraqi WMD, ties to terrorist groups, and Saddam Hussein's threat to stability and security in the region; - the objectivity, reasonableness, independence and accuracy of the judgments reached by the Intelligence Community; and - whether any influence was brought to bear on anyone to shape their analysis to support policy objectives.
The Intelligence Committee has already examined a huge volume of documents and held numerous hearings. You may have seen the press reports about testimony from Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet and Dr. David Kay, who heads the Iraq Survey Group looking for weapons of mass destruction. The Committee's Chairman has also committed to holding open hearings and issuing a public report of our findings.
But I'm not sure this inquiry will go far enough. That's why I'm prepared to support legislation to create an independent commission to investigate intelligence on Iraq and how it was used.
You can count on me to do all I can to get to the truth about the information used to justify going to war in Iraq. The American people have a right to know.
Sincerely,
Barbara A. Mikulski United States Senator
P.S. If I can be of any further assistance in the future, please visit my website at http://mikulski.senate.gov or call my Washington office at 202-224-4654.
For sure:
the objectivity, reasonableness, independence and accuracy of the judgments reached by the Intelligence Community; and - whether any influence was brought to bear on anyone to shape their analysis to support policy objectives.has not been addressed in any resonable manner. In particular, the suggestion that "influence was brought to bear" was shown by Sy Hersh in his famous "Stovepipe" article. As Hersh says:
How did the American intelligence community get it so wrong?Here you have the crux of the Downing Street Memo contention that the intelligent was being "fixed."
Part of the answer lies in decisions made early in the Bush Administration, before the events of September 11, 2001. In interviews with present and former intelligence officials, I was told that some senior Administration people, soon after coming to power, had bypassed the government’s customary procedures for vetting intelligence.(emphasis added)
But, we are in Never Never land. No one believes facts anymore. We believe in a president who talks to an imaginary being in the clouds and thinks that everything is going to smell of roses in Iraq as long as we "stay the course."
If we make it to 2008, there is going to be some might heavy reckoning going on.
Jerks
Smearing Cindy Sheehan. How low can you get. AfterDowningStreet sends us to Democrats.com where the details can be found. I won't repeat them.
I continue to feel the deepest affection for this woman who lost a son in Iraq. There is no patriotism involved here. He was fighting in an illegal war that was started to steal oil for the obscenely rich jerks who populate our government.
If you want a real eye opener on this, check out the Rolling Stone article on Congress:
I continue to feel the deepest affection for this woman who lost a son in Iraq. There is no patriotism involved here. He was fighting in an illegal war that was started to steal oil for the obscenely rich jerks who populate our government.
If you want a real eye opener on this, check out the Rolling Stone article on Congress:
Four Amendments & a FuneralIts enough to make a grown man cry, or at least engage in a little projectile emesis.
A month inside the house of horrors that is Congress
By MATT TAIBBI
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
Just Whose Sister City, Mr. Hitchens?
Of course it was during a blinding sandstorm. That explains all.
From HERE:
Of all the crazy ideas. He's been reading to much John O'Hara.
From HERE:
Baghdad Mayor Is Ousted by a Shiite Group and ReplacedYes, it is really true. Mr. Hitchens berates us for not taking up Baghdad as a Sister City. Or Samarra, as the case may be. A car bomb is a car bomb.
By JAMES GLANZ
Published: August 10, 2005
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 9 - Armed men entered Baghdad's municipal building during a blinding dust storm on Monday, deposed the city's mayor and installed a member of Iraq's most powerful Shiite militia.
The deposed mayor, Alaa al-Tamimi, who was not in his offices at the time, recounted the events in a telephone interview on Tuesday and called the move a municipal coup d'état. He added that he had gone into hiding for fear of his life.
Of all the crazy ideas. He's been reading to much John O'Hara.
Appointment in Samarra
A merchant in Baghdad sent his servant to the market. The servant returned, trembling and frightened. The servant told the merchant, "I was jostled in the market, turned around, and saw Death.
"Death made a threatening gesture, and I fled in terror. May I please borrow your horse? I can leave Baghdad and ride to Samarra, where Death will not find me."
The master lent his horse to the servant, who rode away, to Samarra.
Later the merchant went to the market, and saw Death in the crowd. "Why did you threaten my servant?" He asked.
Death replied,"I did not threaten your servant. It was merely that I was surprised to see him here in Baghdad, for I have an appointment with him tonight in Samarra."
Cindy Sheehan
You have to wonder at the ironies of life. Here we are, many of us, writing and contributing to multiple efforts to end this illegal War in Iraq, and Ms. Sheehan has been able to do more for the cause than anyone including Howard Dean and John Kerry combined. Her honesty and straightforward confrontation of the horror that is this War, that is all War, makes the rest of us wilt in shame.
I am truly grieved for her loss of her son.
Then there is always this:
And this:
I am truly grieved for her loss of her son.
Then there is always this:
And this:
From the Woodstock Playbook
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
Some Books
Dirty Snow - Simenon. Probably his best book. Extremely black. Takes place in WWII France and describes the response of a petty crook to the occupation. When read in conjunction with Alan Furst's books, gives another view of occupation France.
An End to Suffering; The Buddha in the World - Pankaj Mishra. Really an excellent book even if Mishra is unable to fully account for modern belief in Buddhism. It is full of personal reminisces and is complimentary to his earlier book, The Romantics. It very much confronts the misunderstanding that the West has for the East, including Buddhism. Anyone with an interest in India should read this.
A Coffin for Dimitrios - Eric Ambler. This is a spy thriller set in the 1920's. It is a little dated and it is hard to get into the mood, things have changed so much. It is historically interesting. Do we still remember that the Greeks and Turks slaughtered one another?
Visa for Avalon - Bryher. This is a very unusual book. It is, I suppose, a fable. Bryher is the pen name for a less known novelist. The setting is the takeover of England by a probable fascism. Its mood is a little like the Aerodrome by Rex Warner. What would you really do if your country was going fascist?
Saturday - Ian McEwan. McEwan writes well. Here we follow a neurosurgeon in February, 2003, a month before the Iraq War begins. On the day described, there was the big march in London. There is a lot of neurosurgery and science, described lovingly and adoringly but the most interesting bits are the asides and premonitions about the War. McEwan is a man trying hard to be a writer. I am not sure he succeeds.
To Each His Own and The Day of the Owl - Leonardo Sciascia. I am not sure why I have started reading so many books set in north India and now these set in Sicily. They really are quite excellent. Looming behind both of them is the silent evil of the Mafia. Is there no place free from people like this?
Troubles and The Singapore Grip - J.G. Farrell. I read these two books because I thought Farrell's The Siege of Krishnapur was so good. The one about Singapore is probably better and gives one an incredible picture of the fall of Singapore to the Japanese at the outset of WWII. Troubles is, well, a troubled book. It is set in Ireland at the beginning of the Civil War there in the early 1920's. Being of Irish extraction (and Farrell being staunchly British) it was a little hard to take some of the patronizing. But, all in all it was an interesting read.
The Sinister Pig - Tony Hillerman. I have to face it, if I know Jim Chee is on the loose again, I'll read it. But, unfortunately, Hillerman is losing his touch. He had a formula for a while, but I think he lost it. He lived behind my boss/colleague when I lived in Albuquerque but he was a recluse. I got stopped for speeding once zooming across the Res in Arizona one dark night. It was all I could do not to say "Yes sir, Officer Chee." (Oh, Joe Leaphorn makes an appearance, too. What more could you want. I know, Janet Pete.)
Basket Case and Skinny Dip - Carl Hiaasen. Face it, the guy is good. For unadulterated (wrong choice of words) fun you can't beat him. The cool, older, burnt out guy gets the cool, saucy younger, and always smarter chick. Much mayhem along the way. South Florida crazy; you can't beat it. He mops the floor with Travis McGee. On the other hand Tim Dorsey (Florida Roadkill, Hammerhead Ranch Motel, Singray Shuffle, Triggerfish Twist, Orange Crush) comes in a close second. Serge Storms is a depraved lunatic who is totally unhinged. I'd rather Jim Chee.
Rat King, Dead Lagoon, Blood Rain, And Then You Die, Cosi Fan Tutti - Aurelio Zen Mysteries – Michael Dibdin. I have some Italian blood in me so I have been attracted to these mysteries since I first read Dead Lagoon a few years ago. Aurelio Zen, the protagonist, is a fairly interesting and complex character. There is some sex, a lot of violence, but alos a lot about Italy which interests me.
An End to Suffering; The Buddha in the World - Pankaj Mishra. Really an excellent book even if Mishra is unable to fully account for modern belief in Buddhism. It is full of personal reminisces and is complimentary to his earlier book, The Romantics. It very much confronts the misunderstanding that the West has for the East, including Buddhism. Anyone with an interest in India should read this.
A Coffin for Dimitrios - Eric Ambler. This is a spy thriller set in the 1920's. It is a little dated and it is hard to get into the mood, things have changed so much. It is historically interesting. Do we still remember that the Greeks and Turks slaughtered one another?
Visa for Avalon - Bryher. This is a very unusual book. It is, I suppose, a fable. Bryher is the pen name for a less known novelist. The setting is the takeover of England by a probable fascism. Its mood is a little like the Aerodrome by Rex Warner. What would you really do if your country was going fascist?
Saturday - Ian McEwan. McEwan writes well. Here we follow a neurosurgeon in February, 2003, a month before the Iraq War begins. On the day described, there was the big march in London. There is a lot of neurosurgery and science, described lovingly and adoringly but the most interesting bits are the asides and premonitions about the War. McEwan is a man trying hard to be a writer. I am not sure he succeeds.
To Each His Own and The Day of the Owl - Leonardo Sciascia. I am not sure why I have started reading so many books set in north India and now these set in Sicily. They really are quite excellent. Looming behind both of them is the silent evil of the Mafia. Is there no place free from people like this?
Troubles and The Singapore Grip - J.G. Farrell. I read these two books because I thought Farrell's The Siege of Krishnapur was so good. The one about Singapore is probably better and gives one an incredible picture of the fall of Singapore to the Japanese at the outset of WWII. Troubles is, well, a troubled book. It is set in Ireland at the beginning of the Civil War there in the early 1920's. Being of Irish extraction (and Farrell being staunchly British) it was a little hard to take some of the patronizing. But, all in all it was an interesting read.
The Sinister Pig - Tony Hillerman. I have to face it, if I know Jim Chee is on the loose again, I'll read it. But, unfortunately, Hillerman is losing his touch. He had a formula for a while, but I think he lost it. He lived behind my boss/colleague when I lived in Albuquerque but he was a recluse. I got stopped for speeding once zooming across the Res in Arizona one dark night. It was all I could do not to say "Yes sir, Officer Chee." (Oh, Joe Leaphorn makes an appearance, too. What more could you want. I know, Janet Pete.)
Basket Case and Skinny Dip - Carl Hiaasen. Face it, the guy is good. For unadulterated (wrong choice of words) fun you can't beat him. The cool, older, burnt out guy gets the cool, saucy younger, and always smarter chick. Much mayhem along the way. South Florida crazy; you can't beat it. He mops the floor with Travis McGee. On the other hand Tim Dorsey (Florida Roadkill, Hammerhead Ranch Motel, Singray Shuffle, Triggerfish Twist, Orange Crush) comes in a close second. Serge Storms is a depraved lunatic who is totally unhinged. I'd rather Jim Chee.
Rat King, Dead Lagoon, Blood Rain, And Then You Die, Cosi Fan Tutti - Aurelio Zen Mysteries – Michael Dibdin. I have some Italian blood in me so I have been attracted to these mysteries since I first read Dead Lagoon a few years ago. Aurelio Zen, the protagonist, is a fairly interesting and complex character. There is some sex, a lot of violence, but alos a lot about Italy which interests me.
Monday, August 08, 2005
Sunday, August 07, 2005
Saturday, August 06, 2005
On Bloopers and Free Will
A friend of mine passed on a piece from the International Herald Tribune called "Confessions of a Blooper Snooper." Its pretty interesting and has this succulent morsel from a student essay:
Bloopers are interesting on a number of levels. In the first place, they frequently point to a truth that no amount of vitriolic ranting (the kind we engage in with blogs) can drive home. It is almost as if the humor of a phrase ungirdles the mind from what flows beneath. Within hours of the space shuttle Challanger's fatal flight, their were jokes circulating relating to the disaster. While these are not bloopers per se, they serve do allow expression of underlying feelings that more formal discourse inhibits or even forbids.
(Actually, in thinking about it, humorous blogs such as TBogg and Billmon are frequently more acute in their observations than the straight blogs like Eschaton and Kos.)
This whole area of underlying feelings is rather fascinating. We are so inundated with WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) that people tend to forget about the subconscious. This may be because that champion of the SC, Sigmund Freud, is no longer in ascendancy. I was recently in Vienna and visited the Freud museum.
I guess I hadn't realized what lay behind his work of 100 years ago until I visited this museum. He had a number of interests other than the psychoanalysis for which he is famous. He had an avid interest in the artifacts of ancient civilizations including totems and statues. Mirriam Webster defines totem as:
I think that Freud's colleague and later antagonist, Karl Jung, was really into this, the idea that humans carry emotional baggage that is below the surface.
Most of us, particularly in America with our hyperreflexive concept of personal autonomy, will tend to deny that things we do are in any way dependent on a subconscious. Our entire legal system is based on the idea of free will and personal responsability. Free Will assumes that all decisions are the product of conscious, rational thought. Yet the evidence that we do not make decisions based on rationality is all around us. Indeed, one of the most common defenses in serious criminal cases is "insanity," whatever that means these days.
Freud was a fairly good teacher, if a little pompous. He delivered a series of lectures to medical students in 1919 which was collected in his book "Introduction to Psychoanalysis."
Right up front, long before the dreams, is his exposition of bloopers. Of course we now call them "Freudian Slips." But, we need to recognize that it is not merely serendipity that has someone substitute 'circumcise' for 'circumnavigate.' It was most certainly a male who did this (females usually don't say 'circumcise,' it is a taboo word; taboo is a whole area in itself that relates to the subconscious that we will go to some day). And this is a male who knows what the word 'circumcise' means. And the word 'circumcise' is one of the most frightening words in the whole, round, circumnavigatable world for a male, right up there with 'castrate.'
Freud spent a lot of time expounding on what Freudian slips told us about the subconscious. The problem for most of is that, while his theory is quite rational, the explanation is constructed out of whole cloth. We just don't know at all what goes on in the subconscious (those that believe in Free Will might even go so far as to say that we don't have a subconscious.) Said in another way, the scientific method cannot be applied to Freud's theory because there is no way to do a controlled experiment. It is based on explanations that seemed rational to Freud (and others).
But of course Freud was a product of his subconscious also. And within this subconscious was his entire childhood (I won't go there) and, if you believe Jung, many ingrained human memes. This gets into very dicey evolutionary theory. To say that a subconscious meme such as fear of castration results in the construction of totems (a la Jung), results in 'circumcised' vs 'circumnavigated' (a la Freud), and gets implanted in the human consciousness through natural selection (males who are castrated can't reproduce) is a tall order. And to go further and to postulate that Freud's theory itself was the product of a subconscious fear of castration that was evolutionarily selected stretches the imagination.
But, it could be true, I guess.
Sir Francis Drake circumcised the world with a 100-foot clipper.This got me thinking about malapropisms. At the time and for the life of me, I couldn't remember the playwrite of "The Rivals" until the author of the blooper piece reminded me that it was Sheridan. (I remember seeing this play 30 years ago in a production at the Folger. Excellent.)
Bloopers are interesting on a number of levels. In the first place, they frequently point to a truth that no amount of vitriolic ranting (the kind we engage in with blogs) can drive home. It is almost as if the humor of a phrase ungirdles the mind from what flows beneath. Within hours of the space shuttle Challanger's fatal flight, their were jokes circulating relating to the disaster. While these are not bloopers per se, they serve do allow expression of underlying feelings that more formal discourse inhibits or even forbids.
(Actually, in thinking about it, humorous blogs such as TBogg and Billmon are frequently more acute in their observations than the straight blogs like Eschaton and Kos.)
This whole area of underlying feelings is rather fascinating. We are so inundated with WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) that people tend to forget about the subconscious. This may be because that champion of the SC, Sigmund Freud, is no longer in ascendancy. I was recently in Vienna and visited the Freud museum.
I guess I hadn't realized what lay behind his work of 100 years ago until I visited this museum. He had a number of interests other than the psychoanalysis for which he is famous. He had an avid interest in the artifacts of ancient civilizations including totems and statues. Mirriam Webster defines totem as:
an object (as an animal or plant) serving as the emblem of a family or clan and often as a reminder of its ancestry; also : a usually carved or painted representation of such an object
I think that Freud's colleague and later antagonist, Karl Jung, was really into this, the idea that humans carry emotional baggage that is below the surface.
Most of us, particularly in America with our hyperreflexive concept of personal autonomy, will tend to deny that things we do are in any way dependent on a subconscious. Our entire legal system is based on the idea of free will and personal responsability. Free Will assumes that all decisions are the product of conscious, rational thought. Yet the evidence that we do not make decisions based on rationality is all around us. Indeed, one of the most common defenses in serious criminal cases is "insanity," whatever that means these days.
Freud was a fairly good teacher, if a little pompous. He delivered a series of lectures to medical students in 1919 which was collected in his book "Introduction to Psychoanalysis."
Right up front, long before the dreams, is his exposition of bloopers. Of course we now call them "Freudian Slips." But, we need to recognize that it is not merely serendipity that has someone substitute 'circumcise' for 'circumnavigate.' It was most certainly a male who did this (females usually don't say 'circumcise,' it is a taboo word; taboo is a whole area in itself that relates to the subconscious that we will go to some day). And this is a male who knows what the word 'circumcise' means. And the word 'circumcise' is one of the most frightening words in the whole, round, circumnavigatable world for a male, right up there with 'castrate.'
Freud spent a lot of time expounding on what Freudian slips told us about the subconscious. The problem for most of is that, while his theory is quite rational, the explanation is constructed out of whole cloth. We just don't know at all what goes on in the subconscious (those that believe in Free Will might even go so far as to say that we don't have a subconscious.) Said in another way, the scientific method cannot be applied to Freud's theory because there is no way to do a controlled experiment. It is based on explanations that seemed rational to Freud (and others).
But of course Freud was a product of his subconscious also. And within this subconscious was his entire childhood (I won't go there) and, if you believe Jung, many ingrained human memes. This gets into very dicey evolutionary theory. To say that a subconscious meme such as fear of castration results in the construction of totems (a la Jung), results in 'circumcised' vs 'circumnavigated' (a la Freud), and gets implanted in the human consciousness through natural selection (males who are castrated can't reproduce) is a tall order. And to go further and to postulate that Freud's theory itself was the product of a subconscious fear of castration that was evolutionarily selected stretches the imagination.
But, it could be true, I guess.
Hey, Idaho, Talk to Our Dear Gov
It looks like Idaho hasn't heard of Maryland. As Yogi Berra said: Its Deja Vu all over (link courtesy of Sirotablog at Working for Change):
--From Much Ado About Nothing (IV, i, 19-21)
Speaker of Idaho House considers legislation to require insuranceAs I said, I guess Idaho didn't talke to Our Dear Gov a Republican who vetoed the same bill in Maryland.
By The Associated Press
BOISE -- The speaker of the state House of Representatives is mulling a proposal that could require businesses to provide employees with insurance, or reimburse Idaho for publicly funded health care costs.
Medicaid costs have grown tenfold since 1990, and now account for about 14 percent of state spending.
To try to reverse the trend, Rep. Bruce Newcomb, R-Burley, is proposing that employers buy health insurance for their workers, or pay the state to offset Medicaid costs.
Newcomb's target: Wal-Mart stores.
(emphasis added)
Ehrlich Vetoes Health Care Bill Aimed at Wal-Mart"O, what men dare do! What men may do! What men daily do, not knowing what they do!"
PRINCESS ANNE, Md., May 19 -- Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. vetoed legislation Thursday that would have effectively forced Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to spend more on employee health benefits in Maryland, a measure that has unnerved the retailing giant and prompted other states to consider similar approaches.
--From Much Ado About Nothing (IV, i, 19-21)
Friday, August 05, 2005
Thursday, August 04, 2005
Sent in by an Ace Investigator
ATTORNEY: Doctor, before you performed the autopsy, did you check for a pulse?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: But could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: Did you check for blood pressure?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY Did you check for breathing?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: So, then it is possible that the patient was alive when you began the autopsy?
WITNESS: No.
ATTORNEY: How can you be so sure, Doctor?
WITNESS: Because his brain was sitting on my desk in a jar.
ATTORNEY: But could the patient have still been alive, nevertheless?
WITNESS: Yes, it is possible that he could have been alive and practicing law.
Paul Hackett.
Well, he didn't win, but:
Yesterday (Tuesday), one of the reddest regions in America turned a whole lot bluer.Everything is incremental. Next year we will gain back the House and Senate. Keep working!
I ran in a special election to serve in the United States House of Representatives from the 2nd District of Ohio. I am a Marine recently returned from Iraq, a husband, a father, an attorney, and a Democrat.
When I won the Democratic primary for this contest, few people believed we had a shot at victory. But DFA put its faith in me -- and went to work organizing on the ground and online. Your support helped build the greatest Democratic get-out-the-vote effort this district has ever known.
While we didn't pull out a victory yesterday -- we came incredibly close. We got 48 percent of the vote. And in those results rests hope for the future.
It had been 15 years since a Democratic candidate for Congress received more than 30 percent of the vote in Ohio's 2nd District and decades since a Democrat held the seat. Your support helped me improve Democratic performance by nearly 20 percent. This is a victory for democracy. And if we can do this in Ohio -- we can do it anywhere.
Monday, August 01, 2005
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