Don't Let It Bring You Down

How We Act... How They Act...

noreply@blogger.com (Henry David Thorough) — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 14:43:00 +0000

Quest to heal Iraqi boy became a final mission
11-year-old to get lifesaving heart surgery due to reservist's intervention

HILLA, Iraq - Hours before getting killed the way he feared most, Capt. Brian S. Freeman looked up and smiled when Abu Ali dropped by his office.

After nearly six months of overcoming financial and bureaucratic hurdles in a war zone, Freeman told the Iraqi man, there were promising signs that a pair of U.S. visas -- the last big step in getting Abu Ali's 11-year-old son to the United States for lifesaving heart surgery -- would be issued soon.

The Iraqi was speechless. He asked an interpreter to express his gratitude to the tall American soldier who had made saving the child's life an unofficial mission. Then he pulled out his camera, swung his arm around Freeman's broad shoulders and posed for three photographs.

Hours later, shortly before sunset Jan. 20, armed men in GMC trucks stormed into the government building in Karbala, in southern Iraq. They killed an American soldier, handcuffed Freeman and three other U.S. soldiers, hauled them into the vehicles and drove off. Freeman and the other abducted soldiers were later slain by the attackers.

noreply@blogger.com (Henry David Thorough) — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 03:36:00 +0000

This Is...

noreply@blogger.com (Henry David Thorough) — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 04:19:00 +0000

One of our MODERATE Arab allies

20 face lash, prison for dancing in Saudi Arabia
Judge sentences foreigners for partying, alcohol, unmarrieds mingling

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - A Saudi Arabian judge sentenced 20 foreigners to receive lashes and spend several months in prison after convicting them of attending a party where alcohol was served and men and women danced, a newspaper reported Sunday.

The defendants were among 433 foreigners, including some 240 women, arrested by the kingdom's religious police for attending the party in Jiddah, the state-guided newspaper Okaz said. It did not identify the foreigners, give their nationalities or say when the party took place.

The religious police, a force resented by many Saudis for interfering in personal lives, enjoys wide powers. Its officers roam malls, markets, universities and other public places looking for such infractions as unrelated men and women mingling, men skipping Islam's five daily prayers and women with strands of hair showing from under their veil.

Irony...

noreply@blogger.com (Henry David Thorough) — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 17:36:00 +0000

Could You Imagine...

noreply@blogger.com (Henry David Thorough) — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 16:08:00 +0000

Waking up and reading about this happening at an American university? (other than after a football game, of course)...

Report: Clashes in Lebanon kill at least four
Dozens injured as government and opposition supporters battle in Beirut

BEIRUT, Lebanon - Government and opposition supporters clashed at a Beirut university campus Thursday, battering each other with sticks, stones and even pieces of furniture in new violence spilling over from LebanonÂs political crisis. Four people were killed, an opposition-run television station reported.

I just watched video of STUDENTS throwing rocks at point blank range with intent to seriously injure each other... at a Beirut university. This is the kind of thing we see all the time in the middle east. Differences being solved violently! Everyone likes to say that it isn't endemic to middle eastern cultures, but I continue to look at the acceptance, acquiescence and tacit support given by the societies at large. They may not be throwing the rocks (or beheading the journalists), but they do little to stop it.

Almost every "political" group in the middle east is formed around... a militia. As Americans, we can understand that. The birth of our country is owed to a militia lead by George Washington. When George Washington was offered "unlimited power" to prosecute the war, his response was "Instead of thinking myself freed from all civil obligations by this mark of their confidence, I shall constantly bear in mind tht as the sword was the last resort for the preservation of our liberties, so it ought to be the first thing laid aside when those liberties are firmly established."

Put simply, at some point... the fight has got to stop for stability and civil society to flourish.

I have always understood middle eastern anger at our country. They feel controlled by our exploitation of the oil resource beneath their land, enraged by our support of their sworn enemy and in societies ruled by militias... impotent in the face of our military might. If I were a young man in any of those countries, I would be lead to feel the same way. The story takes a sad turn when the violence becomes sunni on shite... sunni on sunni... shite on shite... and palestinian on palestinian. Middle eastern societies never seem to advance to that point so eloquently realized by George Washington. The sword is never laid down If there isn't an oppressor to throw off... "solving" differences with violence is simply turned inward.

The kharmic justice of societies that see only violence of submission destroying themselves is sad and pathetic. All that makes it dangerous for the rest of us are the radical islamists who wish to export this "problem solving" method around the globe. Their goal has nothing to do with conversion of infidels to islam and more to do with having nothing better to do... no better cause for one's existence... than to fight. The tendancy that radical islamists (and I will always maintain that it is with at least the acquiescence and/or tacit support of majorities in the societies that spawn them) is like that age old game of "turf" wars played by small groups of American youths in neighborhoods all over this country.

The difference is that these are youthful, marginalized groups that usually outgrow the absurdity of ONLY "solving" problems with violence. Most grow up and realize that it is silly to fight over a neighborhood and start to see the commonalities they share with their former "enemies". Only the most socially retarded and immature members will carry this behavior into adulthood. As a society we reject this behavior, and at a certain point treat its continuance as criminal behavior.

Far from getting to that point, the most serious and powerful adults in middle eastern societies act no wiser than the most immature children and youths in America and never develop or evolve beyond having a reason for living other than hating those with whom they have differences and the biggest point I have been trying to make for a long time... is that it is with the passive, tacit or active support of the vast majority of ALL the citizens of the societies that spawn them. Stability and civil society are not a priority in middle eastern culture. I think part it's roots can simply be traced to the "bazaar" mentality where the haggling can go on interminably and that there is always a "winner" and a "loser".

I just wish the whole middle east could grow up. Their whole governments act the same as the most marginalized and unhealthy individual members of civil western societies. We regard as criminal or at least emotionally retarded or insane (engaging in the same action ~ violence... and expecting different results) the rationals by which whole societies are governed in the middle east. Ultimately, what little legitimacy there is for their violence against us should be overruled by the insanity of their inability to find any other solution for themselves.

Morning Fog

noreply@blogger.com (Henry David Thorough) — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 04:48:00 +0000

I wish I had taken the shot from the top of the hill, but going down the hill towards Olema the view of the fog was lovely...

Yeah... Yeah We Are

noreply@blogger.com (Henry David Thorough) — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 17:03:00 +0000

Glad I had my camera and took this...

A couple of days later it was gone. I thought it might be a permanent installation. This is the corner near the construction site I am working on these days. Bolinas residents ARE very lucky. Bolinas is a VERY laid back community set in an amazingly beautiful natural area. I thought this was a nice expression of gratitude and though I don't live on the coast in quite as dramatically beautiful area.. it was very easy to translate the sentiment to my life. As long as I get out of my own way and dedicate my life to going with the flow... I am L U C K Y too!

I Love This Guy...

noreply@blogger.com (Henry David Thorough) — Wed, 17 Jan 2007 21:49:00 +0000

On Jan. 2, Wesley Autrey, a 50-year-old construction worker, was taking his two daughters, Syshe, 4, and Shuqui, 6, to their mother’s home before he went to work. Around 1 p.m., they were waiting for the subway train at 137th Street and Broadway in Manhattan, when Cameron Hollopeter, 20, suffered a seizure and fell onto the subway tracks. The No. 1 train was fast approaching and, leaving his daughters in the care of strangers, Autrey jumped onto the tracks and covered Hollopeter with his body in a space less than two feet deep, as the train roared over them. The passing train covered Autrey’s blue knit cap with grease, but otherwise miraculously left both men untouched. Autrey refused medical help, because, he said, nothing was wrong. He did visit Hollopeter in the hospital before heading to his night shift. “I don't feel like I did something spectacular; I just saw someone who needed help,” Autrey said. “I did what I felt was right.”

There Is Really...

noreply@blogger.com (Henry David Thorough) — Thu, 11 Jan 2007 05:39:00 +0000

Too much insanity for me to even process right now, but here is just a small start...

In October the maniac in the white house said, " Absolutely! We are winning in Iraq!!!"

A few short months later... after the November landslide against his satanic mission... tonights breathtaking, straight faced hypocrisy ~ acknowledging that we were NOT winning.

What created the insurgency in the first place was his policy of debathification and American soldiers invading neighborhoods and kicking down doors.

Now the answer is REbathification and American soldiers invading the most dangerous neighborhoods and kicking down doors backed up by the totally ineffectual Iraqi armed forces.

Where are these Iraqi forces coming from? The Iraqi "government" promises they will be available and effective.

The same Iraqi "government" that has not followed through on anything it has promised so far. Just a few months ago Iraqi leaders were actively preventing us from going after the worst offenders in the violence, but now they are dependable partners to "secure, hold and build."

There is more, but I am too tired. This is just scratching the surface of how little sense increasing American troops and not withdrawing makes! This is beyond incredible. Congress is like a deer caught in the headlights. They are saying they are against the escalation, but what are they actually going to do to change it? What are they actually doing? Don't count on them to do the right thing!!! As long as we keep going shopping instead of SCREAMING at them to do the right thing... they will just keep feeding the meatgrinder in Iraq that DOES create and strengthen our enemies and DOES NOT protect our security and national interests.

Write your representatives, especially if they are republicans!!! The republicans have failed us by giving this maniac's treasonous foriegn policy a carte blanche. ONLY if they cross the aisle and show much belated leadership to stop the insanity will the weak, sad democratic gas bags stick their necks out enough to do what is necessary. Tell them you are not only against funding more American troops... you are against funding the troops that are there!!! This is not what our troops were meant to do. They can win any conventional war against any conventional opponent in the world. Shoving them into a meatgrinder that shreds our ability to do what we really need to be doing to defend ourselves and actually strengthens our enemies is obscene misuse of one of our nations most valuable and courageous resources.

Just as only when the Iraqi government and people see American troops leaving will they be forced to fix their own problems (which I don't think they are capable of, by the way, and that is why I think we need to get out now!)... the only why this psychotic, evil policy can be put to death is IF congress DOES withhold funding FOR EVEN THE TROOPS THAT ARE THERE NOW! Only under those circumstances will the meatgrinder be turned off, true Middle East "democracy" (killing eachother until one is left standing)will run its course, and we can reload on a new strategy to deal with whoever is left.

Back At the Gas Station...

noreply@blogger.com (Henry David Thorough) — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 05:25:00 +0000

Nice view of Mt. Tam...

Whistling while putting the gas in the Old Volvo...

The moon...

I wish I could describe the amazingly beautiful 45 minute commute from where I live out through gorgeous valleys, huge Redwood groves and out to Bolinas on the coast. Just putt along in the Volvo enjoying a great cup of coffee and meditating. Today I saw a coyote cross the road. Neat animal. I drive real slow and enjoy the drive. I don't think it is enough that I don't hit a deer... I try to drive in a way that gives me every chance to prevent it. I think fast driving is a form of violence whether you hit anything or not. Blessings and Love...

I am mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!

noreply@blogger.com (Henry David Thorough) — Mon, 08 Jan 2007 00:06:00 +0000

After the November elections… after the Iraq Study Group report… after the firing(?) of the disastrous don rumsfeld and the selection of the realistic Robert Gates… I actually held out some vestige of hope that sanity might prevail over the most flawed, dangerous, failed foreign policy decision in our countries history.

Far from being learned from, the mistakes of the disaster are instead being repeated with the expected announcement this week of AN INCREASE in U.S. troops being sent to Iraq. I can’t take it any more and am going to start sending letters to congress and editorial pages.

If you agree with me, I encourage you to do the same. I am attaching a copy of a letter I am sending, and here is an easy website you can use to get a mailing address for your elected (bleh… shudder…) “leaders”.

http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/

If you don’t agree with me, at least it might engender a little open-mindedness and honest debate.

Here is the letter...

Sunday, January 07, 2007

Christopher S. Bond, U.S. Senator
274 Russell Senate Office Bldg
Washington, D.C. 20510-2503

Sen. Bond~

I was raised in Missouri and lived there until my late thirties. I was a republican all the way back to Richard Nixon and remember wanting to vote for you as a little kid. The last ten years I have gotten sick of both parties. I am NOT against the use of American troops to defend our country and even in some extreme cases secure our national interest, but I voted democrat in the last election for the first time in my life to protest the decision by the current administration to invade Iraq and unleash its aftermath.

I am mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore!

Haven’t we been here before?

Now there is a “New Way Forward”… a strategy is being proposed to militarily overcome a threat to our security and national interests in Iraq. Republicans (and even Democrats) warn of the dire consequences of inaction. Before it was “weapons of mass destruction and links to al Quaeda and 9/11”… now it is “failed state, open civil war and regional conflict”. We opened this Pandora’s box with military action. Ever since, we have been unable to mitigate the disastrous repercussions militarily. Now, more military… increasing troops… escalating the war (I refuse to use the touchy~feely, sanitized term “surge”) is being packaged by the President and his supporters as a “new strategy”.

While defenders of the administration keep denying this… it seems pretty conclusively documented (I have read and watched a TON of well sourced material about this) that what has gotten us into this mess was “cherry picking” intelligence and tailoring to fit into a predetermined plan to overthrow Saddam Hussein. Every “threat” justifying the invasion and the “evidence” supporting that conclusion (ALL of which turned out to be false) was MAXIMIZED and acted upon. Conversely, every single caution and concern expressed about invading (ALL of which have turned out to be painfully, disastrously accurate) were MINIMIZED and dismissed. This week Generals George Casey and John Abizaid who opposed more troops are out and replaced by General David Petraeus and Admiral William Fallon who support the administrations plan to increase troops.

There is a gravity in the Middle East, and you can’t defy gravity. Look at the governments that exist there. Other than Israel, which is as artificial a creation as any of the imperial lines drawn in the sand turning arbitrary sweeps of desert into “countries” ~ there is not now, nor has there ever been… anything remotely resembling a democracy we could recognize, nor has there even been the slightest vestige of societal underpinnings that could grow into one. The much referenced elections in Iraq a year ago were NOT democracy… the vast majority of Iraqis just voted for who the imam told them to. Far from being a hopeful sign of a democratic toehold, the Iraqi elections were just a headcount of the sectarian lines that are currently tearing the country apart.

The Republicans and supporters of this President, whose best judgment got us into this mess, solemnly and ominously intone about “What will happen if we do nothing?” I worry about the flip side of that coin. The same rational, sane thinking that would have predicted this disaster in the first place now counsels against continuing the mistake of applying a military solution to a hopeless project. I think the only sane response is to get out right now. There is no will in Iraqi society or the Middle East in general to solve problems through political processes… there is only the centuries old dedication to overcoming intractable differences by domination and killing. The question that should be on everyone’s mind is what do we do when the “New Way Forward” fails? The answer I have heard consistently is a serious commitment of military and economic involvement for 10 to 20 years!

How can we do that? When have we ever done that before? Afghanistan is the country which DID harbor the terrorists who actually attacked us. The chaos that nurtured our enemies was there and we dealt with it. Instead of consolidating that victory and safeguarding our national interests, we adventured militarily in Iraq… and created the chaos that nurtures our enemies there. More troops, economic aid and sustained effort would have helped in Afghanistan. It is too late for the application of those solutions in Iraq. What should we do? Make it the 51st state? Impose “democracy” at the point of a gun? FOR DECADES??? That is the option we will be left with when this latest effort goes the way of all the others before it. We cannot afford militarily or monetarily to do that!!!

The voices of moderation in Iraq, if they exist at all… hold no power or sway. We should get out completely right now. Do NOT increase the troop levels! Start the phased withdrawal of American military forces as soon as possible… two to three months… four to six months… no longer. With each division that leaves the pressure will grow on the only people who can make a difference in this disastrous situation. This isn’t about “emboldening the terrorists” or “cutting and running” or “losing”. Any thinking person could see we lost the moment our invasion succeeded. The smartest policy is to let them decide whether they want to solve things without killing each other or let them follow that hell-bent desire until the party we will be stuck dealing with is left standing.

With what little respect I can generate for a politician~

Well, At Least...

noreply@blogger.com (Henry David Thorough) — Sat, 06 Jan 2007 04:55:00 +0000

After the years of Clinton scandal, he restored dignity to the office of the presidency..

White House pact cloaked visits amid scandal
Accord with Secret Service locked up records during Abramoff imbroglio

WASHINGTON - The White House and the Secret Service quietly signed an agreement last spring in the midst of the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal declaring that records identifying visitors to the White House are not open to the public.

The Bush administration didn’t reveal the existence of the memorandum of understanding until last fall. The White House is using it to deal with a legal problem on a separate front, a ruling by a federal judge ordering the production of Secret Service logs identifying visitors to the office of Vice President Dick Cheney.

In a federal appeals court filing three weeks ago, the administration’s lawyers used the memo in a legal argument aimed at overturning the judge’s ruling. The Washington Post is suing for access to the Secret Service logs.

The five-page document dated May 17 declares that all entry and exit data on White House visitors belongs to the White House as presidential records rather than to the Secret Service as agency records. Therefore, the agreement states, the material is not subject to public disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act.

In the past, Secret Service logs have revealed the comings and goings of various White House visitors, including Monica Lewinsky and Clinton campaign donor Denise Rich, the wife of fugitive financier Marc Rich, who received a pardon in the closing hours of the Clinton administration.

The memo last spring was signed by the White House and Secret Service the day after a Washington-based group asked a federal judge to impose sanctions on the Secret Service in a dispute over White House visitor logs for Abramoff.

The chief counsel to another Washington-based group suing to get Secret Service logs calls the creation of the memo “a political maneuver couched as a legal one.”

“It appears the White House is actually manufacturing evidence to further its own agenda,” Anne Weismann, a Justice Department lawyer for 19 years and now chief counsel to Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said Friday.

The White House and the Secret Service declined to comment.

Last year in the Abramoff scandal, the Bush administration, in response to three lawsuits, provided an incomplete picture of how many visits Abramoff and his lobbying team made to the White House.

The task of digging out Abramoff-White House links fell to a House committee that collected the lobbyist’s billing records and e-mails. The House report found 485 lobbying contacts with presidential aides over three years, including 10 with top Bush administration aide Karl Rove.

After the scandal~ridden, unseemly pandering and sophmoric shenanigans of the clinton white house, I did actually think that bush had at least a chance to deliver on his promise to restore dignity to the office. I don't know about you guys, but I think it should be MANDATORY for ALL visitors names to the white house be in a public record. This sick, psychopathic despot masquerading as president seems oblivious to the ideal that... he works for US!!!

I hated bill clinton from the get~go, and thought that we had hit the bottom of the barrel for presidential timber. I had no trouble coming up with negative characterizations for bill clinton, but I have run out of them for bush. I cannot convey in words how sick... soul~sick he makes me. Suffice to say that I think he makes bill clinton look like he deserves to be on Mt. Rushmore! I'm sorry ,but I hate living in a country that is content to do enough shopping that it doesn't occur to millions to take to the streets SCREAMING AT A FEVER PITCH for at least the impeachment of this psychopath, if not actually trying and convicting him of treason.

I.

Just.

Don't.

Understand.

New Year's Day Hike...

noreply@blogger.com (Henry David Thorough) — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 06:00:00 +0000

Enjoyed a great hike out at Pt. Reyes with my buddy Robert, who lives out there. Fantastic day. (Note: my timestamp is off... it really was New Years Day)

This Is...

noreply@blogger.com (Henry David Thorough) — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 05:51:00 +0000

The street corner where I am going to be carrying my sign. These folks were out New Years day.

These are the ones I am considering...

OUT NOW!!!
They’ll kill each other now…
Or they’ll kill each other later!
NOT ONE MORE AMERICAN
SHOULD DIE IN IRAQ!!!

Is Iraq the way it is because
of the way Saddam was?
Or
Was Saddam the way he was…
Because of the way Iraq IS?!?!?
NOT ONE MORE AMERICAN
SHOULD DIE IN IRAQ!!!

OUT NOW!!!
WE DID NOT VOTE
FOR MORE TROOPS
TO DIE IN IRAQ!!!

“SURGE”?!?!?
OUT NOW!!!
NOT ONE MORE AMERICAN
SHOULD DIE IN IRAQ!!!

Democrats…
You Can’t Be “Against”
The War AND Spend
$150,000,000
To Continue It!!!

DISTRACTED FROM OUR
REAL ENEMIES...
MESS BEYOND BELIEF
IN IRAQ...
MILITARY STRETCHED
TO THE BREAKING POINT...
IMPEACHMENT!!!

There Is NO Connection...

noreply@blogger.com (Henry David Thorough) — Thu, 04 Jan 2007 16:04:00 +0000

Between rap "music" and violence....

Busta Rhymes arrested in New York
Rapper charged with assault after man complains he was beaten

NEW YORK - Rapper Busta Rhymes was arrested after a man complained that the hip-hop star had beaten him up in a dispute over money, police said.

Rhymes, 34, turned himself in and was booked on a misdemeanor assault charge at a Manhattan police station Wednesday night, police Lt. John Grimpel said. The rapper was to be taken to court Thursday, Grimpel said.

One of Rhymes’ lawyers, Scott Leemon, declined to comment.

This Is A Riot...

noreply@blogger.com (Henry David Thorough) — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 03:22:00 +0000

Lawmakers' January junkets curbed
Lobbyists look at other ways to educate members of Congress

WASHINGTON - The January junket to warmer climates, a postholiday tradition of sorts for some members of Congress, could be headed to the wayside. An accelerated work schedule set up by the new Democratic leadership has put a halt on many January excursions funded by lobbyists. Given that Democrats are taking over the House and Senate in part because of GOP ethics scandals, some lawmakers are fearful of the voters' wrath anyway if they go on the trips.

"I think members are looking more closely at privately funded travel, and I think ... many of them are being careful and avoiding it," said Rep. Charles Dent, R-Pa.

The last time members had to work much of January was 1995, when a newly Republican-led House took control, recalled Todd Hauptli, senior executive vice president of the American Association of Airport Executives.

For the past 21 years, except for 1995, his organization paid for members to fly to Hawaii to discuss airline issues at a conference. This January, members are declining the offer and will participate by videotape.

So in other words, the last time congress made a show working hard and rejecting lobbyists was when the republicans threw the democrats out in 1995 because the democrats were viewed as out of touch and corrupt. Now the democrats do it to the republicans.

What do you want to bet that things are back to normal by NEXT January?

This endemic to what makes me sad about the current state of our political "leadership". Sure, the republicans have been sucking, but watch the democrats. I haven't looked at it closely enough, but read it here now that pelosi and the rest of the democrats aren't up to the job. They will implode and miss every opportunity to do the right thing. They are already doing it by refusing to stand up to the request from the a.o.c. (administration on crack) for $150,000,000 to continue to fight the war they now say they are against. This is just the start. I don't know the details, but don't be surprised by the counterproductive infighting and complete failure to get their act together on anything that matters.

This Is Funny...

noreply@blogger.com (Henry David Thorough) — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 21:55:00 +0000

I Shouldn't Be Surprised...

noreply@blogger.com (Henry David Thorough) — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 04:08:00 +0000

I actually thought the November elections... the firing(?) of don rumsfeld... the hiring of Robert Gates... the Iraq Study Group report... were signs that the insanity of "stay the course" was finally being derailed. I didn't expect george bush to have the capacity to actually do the right thing, but I did think that at least there would be a diminished energy behind the insanity allowing space for ideas that at least make some kind of sense to grow.

With the immediate stubborn resistance to the I.S.G. report... I started to get a sinking feeling.

How will this hideous creation of his finally put to death. Because of him, there will from now forward be worse problems in Iraq than we ever faced with Saddam Hussein in power. He has given our true enemies more than they ever could have dreamt of. He has delivered it on a silver platter. The situation in Iraq cannot now be made o.k. for us. Our security has been grievously compromised by his feeble mind and testosterone laden impulses. Keeping a lid on the killing and terrorism there only forstalls its inevitability... at the cost of more billions to the American taxpayer and the tragic waste of more brave American lives. Our efforts to prop up democracy in the middle east... only forstalls the inevitable creation of a government that is a danger to us and destablilizer of the region.

We are seeing how well democracy works in the middle east with the recent events in gaza. fatah and hamas have quit shooting at israelis... TO SHOOT AT EACH OTHER!!! george bush... WAKE UP!!! THAT IS democracy in the middle east!!!!! That is as good as it is ever going to get in that part of the world.

My moment of truth is coming. If he gets his "troop surge"... if the pathetic democratic congress votes billions more to continue this insanity... I am hitting the streets with the most provocative sign I can come up with. I am going to do all I can to get others to join me. Where ever there is a demonstration against the continuation of this military involvement in Iraq... I will do my best to be there. I need help and I want ideas. What can I do besides sit here and complain about it.

If there AREN'T MILLIONS in the streets ~ I am just going to shake my head and know... that we deserve the next horrible terrorist attack against us. How can I say that? Because we have let this moron deflect us from the pursuit and destruction of those who truly threatened us, given them more strength than they ever could have imagined and has "broken" our militaries capacity to truly protect us with this wasteful wanton adventurism. If there aren't millions in the streets HOWLING

NO MORE!!!

Then they either don't care enough about the security of our nation to deserve it or actually support the strengthening of the enemies that bring the attack to our doorstep. I've said it before and it makes me sad to say it again... I'm afraid we won't pay attention until the suicide bombers are in our malls.

Bush's "Way Forward" on Iraq: More of the Same
Analysis: It now looks like the President will order a troop surge. But in most other ways, it's "stay the course" so far

By MICHAEL DUFFY

Posted Saturday, Dec. 23, 2006
George W. Bush is not expected to lay out his "new way forward" on Iraq until he gives a speech on the crisis in the first few weeks of January. But there were pretty good indications this week of where the Bush team is going next on Iraq. The President sent three strong signals in the space of several days — and each suggested that he was not only sticking with his stay-the-course strategy, he was about to become more aggressive in prosecuting it. First, an Administration official told TIME.com Friday, there is "a good likelihood" that the president will endorse a surge of up to 30,000 troops when he gives his next-steps-on-Iraq speech early next month. There is no word yet on how many troops would be involved or how long they might be there. Nor is there any indication yet on what the mission would be, though the president said there had to be one and he talked this week a lot about the security of the Iraqi people. The surge has been backed by a handful of neoconservatives in and out of the government, along with some retired generals, most of whom have been over to the West Wing in the last 10 days to talk about it. It surely helps the surge faction that CENTCOM boss Gen. John Abezaid, who had publicly opposed the idea, announced his retirement this week. And Colin Powell would not have broken a year's silence on Iraq just to oppose the surge last Sunday unless he was pretty convinced it was gaining steam.

The President also went out of his way last week to say he was inclined to favor an expansion of "end strength" in the Army and the Marine Corps in general. That decision is about Iraq but is not about a surge: Bush had a near revolt on his hands from the service chiefs, who feel the Iraq deployment has depleted readiness, hurt morale and left the U.S. with only the thinnest reserves to fight elsewhere in the world. The Army chief of staff said in public that the Army was "broken" and the Marine Corps Commandant made similar complaints. Bush had to do something to ease that condition — and he knows there is support for such an expansion in Congress. While it would take several years to recruit, train and equip the new units, Bush's inclination here underscores how much damage the war has done to force structure. My own guess is that Bush will tout this expansion regularly in the coming weeks, not so much because it would do anything to ease conditions in Iraq in the the near term — it won't — but because it implies that he is mobilizing, once again re-applying his game face.

Which brings us to the last development of the week. Bush tried to make it clear in his press conference that whatever Americans' dissatisfaction with the conduct of the war, next year would not look much different from the one that is coming to a close. This was, said the administration official, a deliberate warning to Americans not to expect a lot of change. "The year 2007 could bring many of the same challenges and sacrifices as 2006," he said. "This was designed to let people know we have a lot more fight left."

It was also plain to see last week that Bush's new approach on Iraq — if it can be called that — will include a diplomatic push by Secretary of State Condi Rice, aimed not at Iran and Syria, as the Baker Hamilton commission proposed, but at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. How sustained an effort this is likely to be is unknowable. Nor is there any word yet on what the Bush team plans to do about the political situation inside Iraq. It appears that the new Bush military strategy is likely to look a lot like the old, only more so.

It’s A Wonderful Life

noreply@blogger.com (Henry David Thorough) — Tue, 26 Dec 2006 00:19:00 +0000

My Dad was a pretty strict disciplinarian. We were allowed to watch very little tv when I was young. He called it (rightly I have since learned) the boob tube. But back then it was a stinging mark of shame. First of all, we only had a black & white tv, while it seemed like EVERYONE else had a color one… with remote control! I remember sitting in fifth grade class and the teacher asked how much television the class watched nightly. She asked everyone to raise their hand who watched a half hour a night. I kind of sat there stunned. We didn’t get to watch television EVERY night… only a couple of times a week on school nights. Since I didn’t even meet the opening threshold I raised my hand to avoid embarrassment I was one of the few raised hands when she asked about an hour of television a night. To my stunned amazement she kept going all the way to a kid that asserted his parents allowed him to watch AT LEAST FOUR HOURS a night all the way through part of the “The Tonight Show”! On a school night!!!

Well, this was far beyond my experience for sure. When I was in junior high (this would be the early ‘70s), I was stunned that my parents let me keep an old, small, black & white portable tv that my Dad’s Sister gave to me. There were all kinds of restrictions about my watching it, but I remember one night on Christmas vacation turning it on with the volume down so low that my face was about a foot from the screen to hear it. There were only five channels in those days ~ the three networks, pbs and an independent station. I flipped through the channels and my eye was drawn to what was to an old black & white (you know how you can tell, even on a black & white tv) movie. I was mostly into detective and action programs those days, but the sentimental story kept me riveted. By the time the movie ended I had laughed, cried and was just sitting there in a blissful spiritual afterglow. I had never seen or heard of this movie before.

Suddenly I panicked.

This was in the days before vcrs or anykind of replay stuff. When something like “Bullitt” was on, you put everything on hold and were in front of the tv at the appointed hour because you never knew when you would see it again. All of a sudden I realized… “Oh no! When will I ever get to see this amazing movie again? I might NEVER get to see it again!!!

The movie was, of course, “It’s A Wonderful Life” which has been replayed every year (sometimes 24 hour marathon style) ever since.

I have just read recently that the movie flopped when it was first released, and was only resurrected on tv in the early 70s because a copywrite had lapsed and they could show it for free. It has since gone on to attain iconic Holiday status. Little did I know that night, I was just dropping down onto the face of a wave that would wash over every holiday for years to come!

December 23 Holiday M&M Level

noreply@blogger.com (Henry David Thorough) — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 19:57:00 +0000

The last mouthful...

December 22 Holiday M&M Level

noreply@blogger.com (Henry David Thorough) — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 19:56:00 +0000

Could You Imagine...

noreply@blogger.com (Henry David Thorough) — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 18:45:00 +0000

And this is a MODERATE muslim country and an "ally on the war on terror"...

Lawyer works to expose Saudi legal system
Human rights attorney takes on powerful enforcers of sharia law

By Faiza Saleh Ambah
Updated: 9:20 p.m. PT Dec 22, 2006

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - Saudi human rights lawyer Abdul-Rahman al-Lahem said he had been waiting years for a case like this: A woman and her daughter, both accused of promiscuity, were followed by the morals police as they left a private residence on the outskirts of the capital.

The police, who enforce adherence to Saudi Arabia's strict religious laws, beat up the women's driver and drove off with them locked in the back of the car. When the car broke down half an hour later, the officers abandoned them in the stranded vehicle.

The police assumed that the women had been visiting male friends. But the two had been at the home of female relatives. And unlike the thousands who had previously been intimidated into dropping their grievances, they insisted on taking their kidnappers to court. The case, which goes to trial next week, will give Lahem a chance to finally confront the powerful morals police, whom he considers the country's worst human rights offenders.

A good Friend accused me of focusing on the problem, and not offering any solutions when I bring attention on issues like this. He also thought I had a resentment against Muslims. The latter may or may not be true. I do know that it is FAR less than it was years ago, when I just saw the world in terms of black and white, right (mine) and wrong (disagreement with me). I choose not to think that way anymore. If people disagree with me these days, I look at it as an opportunity to get over myself, open my mind and usually... learn lessons. What I do try to keep track of is whether or not a particular course of action an individual or group is taking... hurts themselve or others ~ if they are holding themselves back by their actions. If that seems to be the case, I try to take a principled objection to that behavior, all the while keeping an eye out for how I might be (or have been or could be) that way myself.

I don't think I am "resentful" at muslims as much as I am sorry for and take exception with the ways in which they hurt themselves, hurt others and hold themselves back that seem to be institutionalized in their belief system. I hardly maintain that we are right and they are wrong. There is PLENTY wrong with our country, society and way of life, but I guess I'd look at the relative freedoms we so commonly take for granted that are, sometimes literally, punishable by death in a Muslim society... and I'll take our way over theirs anytime. I think "spiritual paths" that try to deny and rigorously suppress our human frailties on balance cause much more harm than good to all who are subjected to it... including the perpetrators. Just because there is room for improvement in how we operate as a country has nothing at all to do with whether or not it is appropriate to take exception with the unhealthy behavior of another.

The other point I would bring up with my Friend is that by pointing out the seemingly insoluable differences our society (which is dependant upon Middle Eastern oil) and theirs (which sits on top of the oil) I am trying to be a part of the solution. We need to understand that, for better or worse, we are linked together ~ until we get off foriegn oil and likely until we are less onesided in our support of Israel, who in my opinion we support much less for any moral reason... than for the fact that they are a geopolitical counterpoint to the societies that control the oil with whom we have very little cultural intersection. Since we are linked together for now, we need to either take the oil, get off the oil, or learn to cooperate with those whose only material value in the worlds economy is that they just happened to live on top of the oil that they never would have known about or gotten access to without... us.

And that is ultimately what I am trying to point out. We need oil. And before you start talking about Bush... or Big Oil... or Greedy Corporations... and Corrupt Congress...

Look in the mirror.

We all think we aren't the problem, when the truth is ~ no matter how small, ecological or globally sensitive a footprint you try to make ~ if you live in this country... YOU are a part of the problem. Every Native American dreamcatcher you hang on the rearview mirror of your Prius... was brought to the store by something that burned oil! As you work your way up the ladder of your gentle, conscious, moral, spiritual consumption... connections just get more direct from there. You can say "I'm all for leaving those people alone... they have the right to exist... I'm not at fault... I don't want us to invade or do mean things... I want us to get off fossil fuel... I don't hurt anyone...", but if you live here ~ YOU are a part of the problem.

Since the solution is that we can either take it, get off it, or cooperate with the lucky goat herders (NOT a racial slur, just a fact!)... I am just trying to point out the challenges with the latter option. To solve a problem... you have to be willing to look at it from all sides. I am not necessarily arguing that the muslims on top of the oil are wrong, I'm just saying there is a huge gap of understanding that we have to start to bridge if we are going to cooperate with them. Part of that process simply involves an assessment of the differences, not only to search for common ground, but to at least recognize what we are up against.

One of...

noreply@blogger.com (Henry David Thorough) — Sat, 23 Dec 2006 05:24:00 +0000

The most thoughtful, right~on articles about this mess I have read...

Living the Worst-Case Scenario
A retired Air Force officer says America won’t be able to avoid playing a military role in a wider Mideast regional conflict. And thanks to the mishandling of Iraq, that’s now a near-certainty.

Web-Exclusive Commentary
By Col. Mike Turner
Special to Newsweek
Updated: 9:25 a.m. PT Dec 20, 2006

Dec. 20, 2006 - On March 11, 2003, 10 days before the first shot was fired in what is now the war in Iraq, I wrote my first commentary for National Public Radio. It asserted that the upcoming conflict was not, as many Americans apparently believed, Desert Storm II, but actually more like America’s operation in Somalia. The war in Iraq, I wrote, would be nation-building on a grand scale, a disaster waiting to happen. I pointed out that U.S. policy represented a complete rejection of the Powell doctrine, which demands a political objective before committing U.S. troops and whose validity was proven during Desert Storm. The commentary went on to paint a horrific worst-case scenario in which the United States became bogged down in a nightmarish insurgency with American troops as occupiers, isolated from allies and unable to find any credible way out.

In subsequent commentaries and articles for NEWSWEEK, I suggested the presence of fleeting moments of opportunity to change course, establish realistic goals and involve the United Nations and regional allies in a long-term solution. In June 2004, I proposed that a federation of three independent states was the most likely long-term solution for Iraq, and that the Bush administration would do well to begin to shape that obvious outcome rather than continue to adhere to its short-sighted and irresponsibly naïve “stay the course” policy. From the very beginning, far more experienced regional experts than me were saying the same things.

And now, here we are, three-and-a-half years into the worst-case, nightmare scenario, with just under 3,000 U.S. dead, over 22,000 wounded and probably well over 100,000 Iraqi dead. The bipartisan Baker-Hamilton commission has stated flatly that “stay the course” is a failure, that catastrophe is a very real possibility, and that even if the administration adopts every one of the commission’s 79 recommendations, the United States may still fail horribly in Iraq.

America and the world will long debate the causes of our remarkably predictable descent into chaos in Iraq, but I believe one enduring truth has undermined our efforts from the start. The Bush administration and Congress since 2003 have demonstrated a breathtaking inability to rationally anticipate the likely outcomes of their actions. In particular, having repeatedly failed to plan for the worst-case scenario, they have repeatedly been forced to react as those very scenarios materialized. We simply must get out in front of this juggernaut. We are now at a critical juncture that can only be successfully negotiated if America’s leaders finally begin to anticipate and plan for what almost surely lies ahead. Ironically, and perhaps tragically, the Iraq Study Group report may actually prevent such a sea change in thinking from taking place. By offering a controversial way to “fix” Iraq, the commission report has already driven the Bush administration into a defensive, myopic crouch. This is the worst possible moment for such a response, and it means the next Congress and the new secretary of defense are very likely the only effective catalysts for change remaining in U.S. government. And what must they plan for?

It seems clear now that Iraq will very likely devolve into a full-blown civil war. If that occurs, Iran will back the Shiites and Syria will back the Sunnis. Should the principal mission of U.S. forces then be to seal the borders and try to contain the internal conflict? Or, should the United States simply withdraw and allow Iran and Syria to expend their national treasure in a protracted, regional, religious war between Shiite and Sunni? Such a wider war would certainly weaken Hezbollah’s base in Lebanon, blur Iran and Syria’s anti-American focus, and fracture the global Jihadist movement, but it could also spill into Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and destabilize those nations. What approach best protects vital U.S. interests? And what of the Kurds? Will Turkey and Iran tolerate an independent Kurdish state, which would almost immediately spring up as the Iraqi government collapsed? Should the United States support such a state established by the one group in this conflict which truly does align itself with Washington?

These are not easy questions. But waiting once again for events on the ground to dictate a U.S. response—particularly after the painful lessons we’ve learned thus far from this naïve approach—would be tantamount to criminal negligence and, in my judgment, an impeachable offense. It is a cliché of the times that an immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq would be a catastrophe. Perhaps. But I believe the real catastrophe will only occur if the U.S. continues to react blindly to short-term events in Iraq without developing a deliberative plan for long-term stability in a post-Iraq world. We need leaders in Washington, not followers. Leaders who understand that the war in Iraq has become a dangerous distraction from the far greater threat of a badly destabilized Southwest Asia and Middle East, which will now almost certainly happen. It is time for our new Congressional leaders to demonstrate the real courage of public service, rise above the political fray and demand action. Such leadership certainly won’t be found elsewhere.

Turner is a 24-year Air Force veteran and former fighter pilot and air-rescue helicopter pilot. He is a military analyst and commentator who spent seven years serving in U.S. Central Command and the Pentagon as a Middle East/Africa planner.

© 2006 Newsweek, Inc.

Got A Little Festive This Year

noreply@blogger.com (Henry David Thorough) — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 05:33:00 +0000

December 20 Holiday M&M Level...

noreply@blogger.com (Henry David Thorough) — Thu, 21 Dec 2006 05:18:00 +0000

Getting sicker.

Just noticed that the time stamp (which I'd like to turn off, but... haven't read the directions yet :-/) is a day off.

Hope everyone's Holidays are going Beautifully!!!