Protests in Iran spread.

The Scotsman also reports that the protests in Iran are spreading from student neighborhoods into middle-class ones. And the government is starting to talk tougher, and using gangs of paramilitary toughs to attack them.


Keep in mind that Iranians, who used to be called Persians, are not Arabs. It's hard keeping track of all of the different groups involved here.



70 die in US attack on terror training camp.

The Scotsman reports on the latest outbreaks in Iraq, and particularly an attack on a supposed "terrorist training camp" there.





Canada calls for major reform in the UN.

The Globe and Mail reports on a call for some major changes.


This is long overdue of course, and just maybe it will finally happen. I don't think that placing limits on the vetoes in the Security Council even begins to go far enough. The whole notion of "great powers" being able to dictate things is offensive and archaic.

One further issue that needs to be addressed is adherence to the UN Declaration of Human Rights. In particular, the part that guarantees women full and equal rights to men. There are quite a few members of the UN that don't even come close to respecting this, and which have laws that specifically restrict womens' rights.

And they still don't call for democratic elections to the UN. The complete lack of democracy there is, I think, the major reason so few people take it seriously. One person, one vote, for the entire world. The time has come. Don't laugh, the world's changing faster than a lot of people think.



California's job market continues to deteriorate.

The LA Times reports that unemployment in California continues to increase. However, southern California is doing better while northern California, particularly Silicon Valley, remains deep in post-boom slump.


The thing I find interesting about this article is that it doesn't even mention the movie or music industries, both of which are enormous in LA. There's this deep bias towards the arts, and this assumption that there is no real money made in them, or large numbers of jobs produced. So much so that they don't even bother looking at the figures. I can see that in other places maybe, but it amazes me that the LA Times still doesn't consider the movie industry to be "real work" or a "real business."

The unemployment figures don't reflect self-employed people, particularly artists, of whom there are a lot more than people seem to realize. Actors, writers, musicians, painters and so many others are put down as unemployed, no matter how much they're making, because they don't have weekly paychecks. I live in southern California and it seems to me that film makers and musicians and such are doing pretty well. A heck of a lot better than the computer types.

They also report that the incredible increase in workers' compensation payments recently, up to 100%, are very definitely driving businesses out of the state.


As someone who's been living in California for 50 years now, I can't decide if that's good or bad. The population here has skyrocketed during the last few years, far beyond the ability of the infrastructure to support it, so maybe it's good if there's a bit of a reduction.

And the Bush administration's contempt for California certainly isn't helping. It's no coincidence that the states on the west coast have the highest unemployment figures. Washington is 3,000 miles away and they don't care. Those who think the Republicans have the upper hand in the 2004 election should know that the nation's largest state is very solidly Democratic and getting more so every day. Whoever the Democratic candidate turns out to be, they've already won here.



US in Iraq for the long term.

An overview by the Guardian of the recent fighting in Iraq says that 97 Iraqis have been killed in the last two days, and that it would appear that American forces are in for quite a struggle in maintaining their presence there.


It's getting more difficult to figure out what's going on over there. The casualty rates reported by different media don't seem to match.



America's Imperial Delusion.

Guardian article. Eric Hobsbawm gives an European perspective on America's so-called empire. He doesn't see it lasting any longer than othe attempts at global domination, but who knows.


I think people are vastly overestimating the ability of the US military. The so-called victories in Afghanistan and Iraq do not show that the US is so strong, but rather that Afghanistan and Iraq were very weak. The US has created the illusion of military superiority by carefully selecting and targeting extremely weak countries that have no possibility of resistance. But we have yet to see how it would stand up against a truly determined foe.

June 13, 2003

Was Paul Wellstone assassinated?

Via The Smirking Chimp. David Wildman of the Boston Weekly Dig discusses his death and wonders. It's all quite suspicious.


Personally, I've never doubted that he was killed, and I can't believe anyone would believe this was an accident. It's all way too coincidental: the death of a U.S. Senator, and a prominent Bush opponent, dies two weeks before an election that gives the Republicans a Senate majority of one? But this is the first time I've seen someone openly discuss it. Maybe people will start realizing the type of people we're dealing with here.



Jews and Arabs have NOT been fighting for centuries.

Stumbled across this statement: "Why would the conflict between Jews and Arabs in the Middle East, bubbling for millennia, automatically be required one day to end?" I think a lot of people have this idea. But it's not true. The Jews and Arabs have been sharing the Middle East for a long time, and nearly always in peace. The great earlier Islamic civilizations were extremely sophisticated, as tolerant and multicultural as any in history. Jews played a prominent part in them, and rose to positions of power in many courts.

The current conflict is not ancient at all, but very recent, purely 20th century. Some of the more radical Palestinians and other Arabs have tried to give the impression that the Jews first showed up in 1948, and that they are interlopers who have occupied others' land, but there have been communities of Jews there all along. And, like I say, living mostly in peace with their neighbors. Their claim to the territory is unbroken and just as ancient as anybody elses, if not more so.

And like all of the other wars in this area, this one will end and people will live in peace. However, I must note that while there have many wars in this area going back a very long time, I don't know of one that was settled by negotiation. So far, at least, there's always been a winner and a loser. Unfortunately that's life. But people put it behind them. The Israelis and Palestinians hate each other now, but do they hate each other more than, say, the French and Germans did in 1945? Yet, they now get along very well.

Everything passes, everything changes. Never lose hope.



Best of the female bloggers.

The Rittenhouse Review has a nice overview of the best of the women bloggers. I've heard of some of them but not all.

BTW, a minor point of grammar. It shouldn't be "women" bloggers, women not being an adjective. It should be "female" bloggers, or perhaps, "women who blog."



Why am I blogging about politics?

I have no idea actually. I don't even like politics. I guess it's part of the post-911 thing, and wanting to take part of this dialogue. But I think it's mostly just tracking history in the making that interests me. I really don't even think politics matters that much. It just reflects social and other changes really. A lot of people think it's the government that changes society, but it's the other way around. That's why looking to the government for solutions rarely works. The government can only implement ideas that people think of first.



Blair under increasing pressure.

The Scotsman reports that Prime Minister Tony Blair's recent cabinet reshuffling and adminstrative reorganization has not gone down well at all. To the point that his government may collapse. I mentioned this reshuffle yesterday.


Rather amazing to see such a talented politician act so high-handedly. Hard to say from California how much of this is due to Iraq, and how much to other problems in the UK. I know the train system has been practically falling apart for years. But he does seem to have gotten a bit isolated. I wonder how this would affect Bush. Hard to see him being replaced by someone _more_ pro-American, at this point.

I love the way the British give their politicians numbers. Prime Minister in Number 10. The Chancellor is Number 11. It reminds me of a Chinese menu. 10 is apparently the highest number, there's no 1 or 2 or 3. I guess the royals must have reserved all of the single digits for themselves.



Historical child labor photographs.

Via the extraordinary Wood s Lot. Lewis Wickes Hine (1874-1940) was a photographer who left us countless photographs of the extensive use of child labor during that period, labor that generated enormous wealth for corporate concerns. Great archive of photos Let Children Be Children. Courtesy of the George Eastman House Still Photograph Archive.

Awesome photos. But I notice the site carries a 2001 copyright notice, and claims you don't have the right to reproduce them. I disagree. If they date from a hundred years ago or so, and they do, then they are in the public domain. You can't endlessly extend copyrights simply by putting a date on them like that.

And you can't copyright entire collections or archives, but only each individual work. Period. If they wish to claim copyright protection for them then each one needs to be labeled with the date it was created. That's the date that counts, not the date they were put on the web. If copyrights were automatically renewed every time they're reproduced in another medium then everything would be copyrighted forever.

I doubt very much that Mr. Hine got paid much for his work. He did it as a public service and as a concerned citizen, as a contribution to the public good. And I doubt very much if he would object to people spreading these photos around.

Check out how the media of the time distributed their products in this example and this one and this one.



American auto giants in trouble.

The Economist asks if American car makers are an endangered species?. They've been in trouble and been bailed out before, but this time the signs are a bit more ominous. At the very least it would appear they're going to have to bail out on their pension obligations, part of a growing and very dangerous trend. "GM already has a pension-fund shortfall of $19 billion, as big as its market capitalisation."


Yet the article also indicates the bias in most reporting on the economy. They refer to Chrysler as an "American" company, yet it's owned by German DaimlerBenz. They really don't see the overall picture at all. Nor do they discuss the problems the declining dollar is causing. Very little, if any, global perspective. They just see "America's car industry." I personally would consider Japanese and European operations here as "American." They create American jobs, and are manufacturing products for American consumers.

They also share the corporate bias towards unions. The article gives the distinct impression that it's the unions that are making it impossible to deal with the problems. I'd agree with part of that, maybe, the greed of the well-established unions are certainly helping to make the US less competitive internationally. But the major problem is management, as they sort of note. And given the economic problems in Japan it doesn't make much sense to claim that eliminating unions will help much.

I think corporate America is due for a great shakeup in general, but I also think that American industry is basically very strong and not going anywhere. Ford is celebrating its hundredth anniversary this year, and I'll bet it's around a hundred years from now. If I had to choose which was going to be around in a hundred years, Ford or the Economist, I'd go with Ford.



More public protests in Iran.

The third day of massive protests there. And the Economist wonders if America is pulling the strings? Overview of the current state of affairs there, and what American motives may or may not be. More and more it sounds as if the US is getting ready to invade. It certainly is working to destabilize the regime there. Hope I'm wrong.



Amnesty International's 2003 report on the USA.

A comprehensive report and overview on the country that is now the least free on earth, and the major supporter of repressive regimes around the world.

I can't say I'm impressed with its objectivity though. They seem more focused on criticizing American foreign policy than with dealing with the serious civil rights violations in this country, the surface of which they barely even scratch. Particularly by the fact that they mention the 600 something prisoners at Guantanamo Bay but not the over two million in the American gulag, who don't have anywhere near the rights that prisoners of war have.

While American over reactions against terrorism is an important issue, it's not even close to being the most important human rights problem here. Prison rape, and the persecution of people for choosing to use recreational drugs involve a thousand times more people, and have been going on for much, much longer.

There's something very fishy going on here. Why are people in such denial about this, which is shaping up as one of the great crimes in human history? It strikes me as more of a public relations exercise designed to give them the appearance of objectivity than a serious investigation. And a way for the world community to criticize US foreign policy under the guise of protecting human rights.

In any case, the apathetic voting minority should think long and hard about whether making marks on pieces of paper could possibly change a system so violent and so corrupt. Such a suggestion is nothing more than superstition. It's time they faced reality and accepted responsibility.



Peter tries to buy an electric car.

Article in the LA Times about one man's attempt to buy an electric car, and of how GM keeps on thwarting him.


A fascinating story, and a depressing one. But it makes it clear that we could all be driving zero emission, absolutely silent, powerful cars by now, and that the problems are not technological any more but corporate interests afraid of change.



US bans anti-American activities in Iraq.

Via Booknotes. Channel NewsAsia reports that Paul Bremer, the civilian administrator in Iraq, has banned all anti-American activities.


So the way to institute democracy there is to banish free speech and the free press? Do they really think this will have any serious effect, and that they can keep Iraqis from discussing what's going on in their own country?



Retiring Hans Blix has harsh words for the US.

The Guardian reports on retiring UN Weapons Inspector Hans Blix' strong criticism of the US government, which he claims went out of its way to sabotage his work.





Iraqi death toll may reach 10,000.

The Guardian reports that the estimates of Iraqi civilians killed in the war are increasing and may be as high as 10,000.

Their special ongoing section on Iraq is here.



DeLay is a very dangerous radical.

NY Times columnist Paul Krugman writes on the frightening agenda of House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, and his belief that he is completely above the law. "Some crazy guy" he calls him.


DeLay was one of the leaders in the impeachment of Bill Clinton. He was also behind the recent attempt by Texan Republicans to take over the state government there. He has no respect for the law whatsoever. A genuine traitor.



Use of a cell phone makes it a federal crime.

The NY Times reports that a former mayor in Connecticut was sentenced to 37 years in prison for child abuse. Which is great, I sure as hell am not advocating child abuse. The strange thing is that it became a federal crime because he used a cell phone to arrange it. That's a very frightening thing, which subtly extends federal power way beyond its constitutional limits. But this is how it happens, when well meaning people trying to do something decent decide the ends is worth any means at all.



Saudi defends aid to bomber families.

Via Yahoo News and Reuters. As I noted in the previous post, it's not just the Palestinians that the Israelis are fighting, but the Saudis and Syrians as well. This article reports that the Saudi royal family is encouraging suicide bombers by giving aid to their families. They won't condemn them, but they do condemn the Israelis for trying to defend themselves.


Wouldn't this statement apply just as much, if not more to the Palestinians? So it's wrong to specifically target the individuals directly engaged in violence, but it's ok to attack people at random, killing those who never engaged in it themselves?


Their arrogance is unbelievable. Their position is that Israel is entirely responsible for the conflict, and the Arabs have never done anything wrong, hard as that is to believe. The fact that the Road Map recently proposed doesn't even address the outside support for Palestine would lead one to believe that the international community agrees with them.

None of the problems in the middle East, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Palestine, whatever, are going to be solved until the Saudis are dealt with. The Saudi royal family is at the center of it all. He's lying through his teeth when he says they're not financing them directly. They are.

June 12, 2003

Israel and Hamas in total war, but British may finally begin to act against Hamas.

Guardian article. As you probably already heard, Israel and Hamas have declared "total war" on each other. A very sad day for all. I sort of thought it was inevitable, given the so-called Road Map which led the Palestinians to believe that their attacks are causing the international community to support a state for them, but still sad.



There are no words to express how frightening Hamas' words are to Jews everywhere. "The Zionist entity." After 55 years they haven't even gotten to the point where they can use the term "Israel." But it's a clever use of propaganda. Refer to the opponent not as people, but as objects of some sort. An "entity," not a "nation."

It should be clear to anyone from these words that this has nothing whatsoever to do with a Palestinian state, but that that is just an excuse to hate and kill Jews. No one should fool themselves into thinking that this will stop with Israel either. They want to eliminate every Jew in the world, no matter where they are. They state so explicitly, and I believe them.

And that may finally be getting through to the British, who have long supported (not just tolerated, but supported) them as an expression of their own vicious anti-Semitism. Jack Straw, foreign secretary, announced that they are at least considering beginning to make efforts to cut off funding for Hamas.


It's about time, but given the history of British and European support for the Palestinians, I'll only believe it when I see it. Even better would be terminating British and other European arms sales to the other Arab nations, particularly Syria and Saudi Arabia, who consider themselves to be at war with Israel and have so since 1948, and who are the primary backers of Palestinian terrorism. Something the Road Map didn't address at all. Probably because the members of the so-called Quartet behind it are addicted to Arab oil.

I know most won't agree with me on that, and believe, for some reason, that the Americans and British support the Israelis. But it's not that simple. The British have a long and vicious history of anti-Semitism, full on Jew hating in fact. And the Americans (on the religious right in this administration) are Christian fanatics who, in their hearts, don't think anyone not of their religion is even human. They could care less about the Jews when it comes down to it.

As always, just one man's opinion.



Ol' Robert Hunter is cooking these days.

Checked the online journal of the longtime Grateful Dead songwriter, and it sounds like he's really rolling along. Doing tours, both solo and with The Dead, and most especially, writing tons of songs, something worth noting from the guy who wrote "Trucking."


Good to hear from someone who must be pushing sixty or so by now. Also read what he has to say about the technology behind the new gdradio.com, something called Sonic Focus. Sounds like the guys are really getting going again. Hard to believe but they've got about five bands going on now. Anyway, check out Hunter sometime. He's a real cosmic curmudgeon, always worth a read. Still lots of tickets available for the summer Dead tour, if anyone's interested. They haven't announced the west coast part yet though.



The dark and the light.

I read this book "The Potato Factory" by an Australian writer Bryce Courtenay. It's set in early 19th century London and Australia, involving a group of people around a Fagin-type character. A very Dickensian tale, rather interesting. It shows someone like Fagin may have developed, and what would have happened to him at that time.

I was struck by this one quote, where he says why he likes the night, and why he doesn't trust the day. The seven years of sunlight he refers to was time on an Australian chain gang, the worst part of which for him was having to be in the light all day.

"It be the sunlight, my dear, seven years o' sunlight, too much 'o the bright. Bright be always cruel, in the bright light the evil things done to a man is seen to be normal. I craves the dark. What a man does in the dark is his personal evil, what 'e does in the light 'e does in the name of truth, and that often be the most evil of all. People do not see clearly in the light, but they look carefully into the shadows. In the night I am a natural man, given to the feelings of honesty or deception, quite clear in the things I do, whether for good or bad. In the light I am confused, for the most awful crimes are committed in the name of truth, and these always out loud, in the blazin' sunlight. It is a feeble notion that good is a thing of the light. Here, in the name of justice, property and ownership, poverty and starvation is considered a natural condition created for the advantage of those who rule, those who own the daylight. The poor and the miserable are thought to exist solely for the benefit of those who are born to the privilege.' Ikey paused after this tirade. He had surprised himself with his own eloquence. 'Ah, my dear, in the dark I can clearly see good and evil. Both can be separated like the white from the yolk. In the light I am blinded, stunned, eviscerated, rendered useless by the burning malevolence which blazes upon the earth with every sunrise."

He's perfectly correct; the worst crimes are committed during the day, right in the open. He and most of the other characters are Jewish, by the way. Courtenay does a good job of describing the extent of anti-Semitism in British society at that time, the degree of which is a bit shocking.



Blair makes major changes in British legal system.

Guardian article. Prime Minister Tony Blair announced some radical changes to the British legal system, eliminating the post of Lord Chancellor, the 1,400 year old position that functioned as the head of the British judiciary, during a midterm shuffle of his cabinet. The extent of the changes seem to have taken everybody by surprise.


Curious that he would make such changes so suddenly, and at a time when he is under increasing fire regarding the war in Iraq. It amazes me that they could do something that drastic without consulting the Parliament. But I never have understood how their system works.

June 11, 2003

Bill Moyers on the history of American populism and progressivism.

Via Common Dreams. Bill Moyers gave an amazing speech, This is Your Story - The Progressive Story of America. Pass It On., at the Take Back America conference recently held in Washington, D.C. I linked earlier to an article on this. This is the complete speech.

As I said earlier, there's quite a bit of the progressive agenda that gives me pause. Mostly because I think it's a bit unrealistic and idealistic, and especially because I think it would be better implemented by the states, not the federal government, which I no longer respect or care about. And because I think a lot of these people are always blaming others for things that they are just as much responsible for. But it's worth a read, it's quite a speech.



The Tate Gallery's online exhibition.

Enough with the politics, let's go back to art. The Tate Gallery in the UK is developing a nice online gallery. The latest is a special exhibit of the work of J.M.W.Turner, including many works from private collections never before exhibited. A really well done site, lots more besides Turner's. Probably a bit slow if you don't have a very fast connection. Lots of graphics, of course.



Did you know only state governors get elected president these days?

Surprised? Well, consider: there are a lot of differences among them, to say the least, but there's one thing that Carter, Reagan, Clinton and Bush the Second all have very much in common. They were all state governors who'd never held any federal office, and in fact didn't have any experience in the federal government at all. No US senator has made it to the White House since JFK. Check out the history of US presidents, and you'll notice that there are many, many more former governors than former senators.

Why? Because no one in this country trusts anyone within the Beltway any more. Especially in the Congress, and even more especially in the Senate. And because people see being governor as the best training for being president. The media, especially those within the Beltway, always focus on U.S. Senators as the most likely candidates, and consider them the automatic front-runners. But they don't win. They just don't. Unless they come in as Vice President first. The winner in 2004 will be either former governor Bush or former governor Dean, I'd bet money on it.

Just a pet theory of mine, and the primary reason I think Dean is the only viable, electable Democratic candidate.



Howard Dean gets the economy.

Check out this great quote from his official weblog. He really understands the differences between the parties. I'm really starting to like this guy. Imagine, a politician with a brain in his head. Talk about revolutionary.


This is such an important point, but the Democrats never seem to get publicize it. Consider that the two biggest booms in postwar America have been from 1961-1969, and from 1993-2001, both exactly corresponding to Democratic administrations. The Republicans just don't understand the "economy"; they think of it as just the accumulation of "money", but that's not it at all. Not at all. Well, it's not just Republicans who don't get this. My parents don't get it either. :)

BTW, the official Dean weblog has changed it's URL. It's now the Blog for America, blog.deanforamerica.com. And now it's Moveable Type with comments, trackbacks and everything. Sounds like it's going to be a happening place, maybe even THE happening place. There's Howard Dean TV too. Check it out, genuine history being made over there. Here's another selection, from one of his campaign managers, I believe.


The reference to Austin is to a very well attended appearance Dr. Dean made there on June 9. Over 3,000 people showed up, which is amazing this early in a campaign, and in Bush's home state as well. Nice picture here.



Amiga fans want Mozilla.

Amiga fans have pooled their money, over $3,000 so far, and are offering it to anyone who can port Mozilla to the Amiga. What a great idea. Via BoingBoing, always an interesting stop and a great way to avoid real work.



Ranting and raving on the web.

I've noticed since I started blogging that often when I'm actually upset at the people in my personal life, roommates, family and so on, I start attacking articles and opinions I read on the web. Immature of me, I guess. But at least people on the web can't reach into their computer and try to choke you by the neck the way an irate roommate once tried to do to me. Or can they? :)



Technology moving backwards?

If you've been working with computers for more than ten years or so, you've probably noticed that features once standard have seemed to disappear since the web came along.

For instance, the lack of "undo" in the Blogger posting area, and most other web writing tools as well. Fancy dancy new Mac with OSX, all sorts of fancy dancy blogging tools, but it can't do something that was basic twenty years ago.

From the perspective of a web designer, I'd also note the disappearance of dialog boxes, menus, and a number of other useful innovations that were once a standard part of software. Panes, a subset of windows introduced in the original Mac Toolbox, have practically disappeared since they were labeled frames on the web. Heck, I once had round windows in my Mac software. Too much for the squares tho, I guess. Too bad, I miss the round windows. They were cool.

But hey, we have lots of discussions and pontifications about what a weblog is, and how they're changing the nature of software.

One possible definition: a method of word processing and epublishing that doesn't have undo or other basic text editing features, doesn't allow you to incorporate standard programming functions such as if-then-else statements and loops, and which normally doesn't allow the user to read the text in the many different fonts that they paid for when they bought their new fancy dancy computer. :)



Columbia most dangerous country for labor unions.

The Guardian reports on a new study which states that Columbia is hell on earth for trade unionists.


Holding union rights in disdain? I'd say the current US government also would match that description. A number of other countries I can think of as well. I hear France is practically paralyzed by trade-union strikes at the moment. But let's keep the focus on non-western (read 'poor') countries, shall we. Easier to applaud rising stock prices by corporations which downsize and cut wages that way.

It gives the impression that the leftists are somehow responsible. But I've heard that Coca-Cola and some other international corporations have death squads, in fact large private armies, in Columbia devoted to full time war against trade unions. I'd go search for links and such but it's all too depressing.

A Google search on the topic, however, finds quite a bit. [Disclaimer: many links to radical leftist organizations, whose opinions I very definitely don't necessarily share, and whose reporting I personally would take with as many grains of salt as I do that of the corporate media. But a fascinating slice of the modern world, nevetheless.] The Guardian also has a special section on Columbia, not quite so radical.

All media attention is on Iraq, Korea , the Congo, Zimbabwe, and other spots around the world. But there's a whole set of major wars going on down in South America, which are rapidly spreading to Columbia's neighbors.

Since I'm quoting Dylan song's today, Union Sundown would seem to be fit here. Note the double meanings in the title. I like the way he manages to trash both the corporations and the large unions simultaneously, and somehow seems to both sympathize with and criticize the American people. The so-called progressives won't like that part, but such is life. Gotta love that Bob.


I especially like the final stanza, but I won't quote it here, since folks of all political stripes would probably kill me.



Dylan albums to be released in the new Super Audio CD (SACD) format.

While cruising Bob's site looking for the lyrics to Neighborhood Bully, I noticed this announcement.


Summer tour information is also available there. Note the shows with The Dead.



Thoughts on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

More Palestinian suicide bombings today. Widely reported, so no specific links except to the Guardian's summary of international news reports and views on the subject. I found this selection from the Lebanese Daily Star particularly frightening.


"Every" Israeli citizen they say. Including babies, women, presumably the million Israeli Arabs, and all those working for peace as well. And by extension every Jew in the world. This is a statement of unequivocal support for full on war, take no prisoners war, unconditional war until Israel is completely eliminated. Well, we'll see exactly who and what fades into history. Time will tell. But someone should tell the Palestinians that unless they take whatever measures are necessary to stop the suicide bombers and end the war, they'll face Israeli leaders that will make Sharon and Netanyahu look like angels.

I can't say I'm surprised at the latest attacks. Bush's "road map" made them almost inevitable. Anytime anyone does anything that leads the Palestinians that someone from outside Palestine and Israel is going to come to their rescue, it only delays the day that they deal with the Israelis, and so encourages further violence, and delays peace.

The Guardian has an ongoing special section on the conflict. I find the British to be quite anti-Semitic and biased towards the Israelis, but your mileage may vary. But consider a selection from this article from the Observer, a book review of a work providing a history of the Palestinians.


"Long been the Native Americans of the contemporary world." Slight exaggeration there, I'd say. What about the Burmese, Kurds, Kashmiris, and quite a few other groups of people? All of which have suffered death tolls from their oppressors that are many, many times what the Palestinians have. And, of course, the Jews are great big fans of Hitler. Everybody knows that. Hitler wasn't exactly known as a scholarly searcher after truth. If he said something, wouldn't that almost be proof that it wasn't true?

"Sharonistas", "Bantustans", "reservations." Those are all nice scholarly terms. "Fair-minded?" You decide. The "Sharonista" one is particularly insightful, since of course it somehow implies a kinship to the "Sandinistas" of Nicaraguan fame. But they were genuine populist leftists. "Bantustans" refers to the South African apartheid effort to put blacks on reservations, the very epitome of right-wing. While the Americans who supposedly support Israel are clearly right-wing. So somehow the Jews are simultaneously leftist and rightist. Pretty much any and all things that people don't like. This is invective, not scholarship.

As far as the US providing arms and support, they remain the leading arms merchants to the Arabs, arms purchased mostly with American and European oil money. Along with the British in fact. Actually since the US and the UK are the major supporters of the various Arab states, supplying them with infinite oil money as well as arms, they really should be seen as the greatest opponents of Jewish freedom. The idea that they're not is a lie perpetuated by Arabs who simply can't admit that they have been soundly defeated by the Israelis themselves. I know of not a single instance in which any American or British soldiers have fought with the Israelis. Not once.

Also note that the primary support for Israel within the Bush administration comes from fanatical, evangelical, right-wing Christians, who are actually quite anti-Semitic. Virulently so, in fact. It's a very strange relationship, but one of temporary convenience, not by any means a true alliance. See this recent article in the Guardian, Apocalypse soon, on these zealots. And this history of the Bush family and friends for the story of their support of the Nazis. (A real eye-opener that one.) If there are Jews out there who believe these people are really behind them they should wake up.

All of which is not to express support for the Jewish fundamentalists and the settler groups that are as insane and violent as the Palestinians. They also need to be dealt with. But the Palestinian violence just plays into their hands. It certainly makes it virtually impossible for even the most pacifist Israeli to support any peace agreement.

Forgive my sarcasm and bitterness. But not my fear at the thought that the Palestinians could have a nation, and control over an airport by which they could ship suicide bombers all over the world. Ain't going to happen. Not for many, many years, if ever.

One of the reasons I started blogging was to try to inject some historical facts into this dialogue, which I find sadly lacking in it. For the so-called progressives who continue to defend the Palestinians, I'd like to suggest reading the words of Bob Dylan's Neighborhood Bully, a work which strongly defends the Israelis. He expresses it infinitely better than I ever could.



Meanwhile, back in Afghanistan.

The NY Times reports that things in Afghanistan are not going well at all. Slowly but surely, regional warlords are regaining the upper hand.


Not much different from the Texans either, at least as far as I can see. I'd bet my bottom dollar drug money from Afghanistan is flowing into Republican coffers as we speak. After being carefully laundered in the stock market of course. Could that be the reason for the reason rise in the stock market? There certainly doesn't seem to be anything happening in the American economy that could explain the sudden rise. The US economy certainly hasn't grown 20 percent during the last two months.



House Republicans hold child-tax credit hostage to demands for yet another tax cut for their corporate friends.

NY Times article. Showing a degree of heartlessless, along with a lack of compassion and fiscal sense rarely seen, even among Republicans, although apparently now considered normal in Texas, House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, yes of Texas, demanded yet another $80 billion tax cut for corporate interests as the price for passing the child-tax credit supported by Bush and recently approved by the Senate.


The credit was promised to the American people as part of the previous tax cut package, but was secretly eliminated by greedy and corrupt special interests at the last minute.

What's especially frightening about this is that they've clearly given up even the pretense of pretending to govern in the national interests, turning the Congress into nothing more than a public bank upon which corporate interests can apparently write unlimited blank checks. Laws, fiscal sense, decency clearly mean absolutely nothing to these people.

And when I say "these people" I mean the Democrats just as much as the Republicans. They clearly have no problems with this, and in fact, as mostly millionaires themselves, stand to profit enormously from the tax cuts. Nancy Pelosi of California, so-called Democratic Majority Leader, responded by holding a public "prayer session", obviously an utterly useless public relations move designed to allow her to pretend to oppose them while simultaneously allowing the Republicans to do what they want. I assume that no one would claim that prayer is a particularly effective political tool.

June 10, 2003

What beautiful photos.

Shelley Powers over at Burningbird sure does take some beautiful nature photos.



More reports on massive fraud at WorldCom, now MCI.

The NY Times reports more on the fraud at WorldCom, particularly that of its former chairman and CEO, Bernard Ebbers.


So the chairman of one of the world's telecommunications companies didn't use email. I find that very interesting. And they can't "prove" that he listened to his voicemail. Chairman of the phone company, and a very big time corporate executive, and there's doubt that he checked his messages? What a nice, convenient legal nicety.

Now compare the fact the they still haven't charged him with anything, despite evidence of massive fraud at his own company, going on for a period of years, and involving many oher people, with the charges made against Martha Stewart, over a single incident, and not even that of her own company.



Baghdad blogger refers us to his friend, G.

The original blogger is apparently wilting in the heat and can't write for the moment, but he refers us to a friend of his, also in Baghdad, whose blog is named G. in Baghdad. His English isn't very good, but he gives you a good idea of how it might feel there.

He reports on a house to house search by American soldiers looking for weapons, and says that it's now considered normal for a family to have two weapons, which are considered essential for basic survival and security. I mean by the Americans as well, who will allow each family to keep two. Only heavy arms are considered dangerous at this point.



Growing monkeypox problem in the midwest.

The NY Times reports that Suspected Cases of Monkeypox Are Rising.


This doesn't relate to the monkeypox problem, mostly just idle curiosity, but I wonder what it's like to have a prairie dog as a pet. Are they like hamsters, kept in cages all of the time, or what?



The history of chocolate.

On a more pleasant note, the NY Times reports on an exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History called simply "Chocolate."



The U.S. prison system as Hannibal Lector.

Another via Common Dreams, and the Cape Cod Times. Sean Gonsalves writes on the horrors of the American prison system, and how it actually creates criminals and promotes crime. Hannibal Lector's fondest dreams come true.


It's amazing how little attention the sufferings of the over two million incarcerated Americans get. Lots about the injustice of those in Guantanamo, although those prisoners are much better off. They don't get anywhere near the protections offered to "prisoners of war," although as people captured in the "war on drugs," they should qualify.

Some of the conditions that the international press complains about there, such as 23 hour a day lockdowns, are quite routine in US prisons. I won't even mention the systematic and system use of rape as a tool of prison control, which is beyond abhorrent. And the percentage of children incarcerated in supposedly progressive states such as California, and who, of course, are the sex objects of choice.

US prisons have been repeatedly condemned by Amnesty International, and I quote, "fail to meet even one of the accepted international standards for correctional institutions," but very, very few seem to care. Even the so-called liberals don't dare bring that up. Kudos to Mr. Gonsalves for speaking out.

Addendum: Just went by Amnesty's site. Heck, even they seem more concerned with the few hundred in Cuba, and the problems of those detained as potential terrorists within the US, which is certainly a great problem. As well as those of the Palestinians. But not anywhere near as great as those of the millions of "ordinary" criminals.

Wonder why the Bush administration has been so successful in denying civil rights to those it deems as threats: because liberals and others stood silent when the rights of those who choose to use drugs were eliminated. All of the judicial precedents have already been set, they're just building on what Clinton, Gore and so many others have already accomplished. Sorry folks, but we lost the battle twenty years ago. If we want to deal with it, we need to start at the beginning.

Pierre Tristam seems to get it though. Originally from Newsday, but also via Common Dreams. Secure in a Culture of Razor Wire: The Making of America's Gulag. "There but for fortune, go you or I." But hey, the booming prison industry is helping to push the stock market over 9,000, and I guess that's what counts in "the land of the fee."



Dennis Kucinich deserves a hearing.

He may not have a chance in hell of winning, but Representative Dennis Kucinich is at least out there speaking up. Via Common Dreams is this article by Melinda Welsh, Kucinich Reloaded, on his presidential campaign, and most especially, on his relentless hope and optimism.


Dean-Kucinich would be a nice ticket.



Bill Moyers' 'Presidential Address'.

Writing in The Nation, John Nichols reports on a speech by Bill Moyers at the Take Back America conference organized in Washington last week by the Campaign for America's Future.


Interesting stuff, but mostly rhetoric it seems to me. Consider this part.


Notice how he equates the survival of democracy with that of the USA, and specifically with that of the federal government. That's the real problem. Everyone's more concerned with images taken from the past, and preserving those, even if they may not be at all suited for the future.

I personally don't think the US has ever been the world's best friend of "democracy", whatever that is, although it's certainly been said a lot. And I'm quite confident that democracy will survive, either with or without American support. People around the world will still be holding elections long after America has joined all other empires on the ashheap of history.

And Abraham Lincoln did not rally the nation against slavery; he rallied it against states' rights and the right of the southern states to forge their own destinies. As he himself supposedly said, his goal was to preserve the Union, regardless of what that Union stood for. Much as I hate to say it, he used slavery as an issue to suit his own political purposes.


Well, that may be so, but then he should stop attempting to portray himself as an objective journalist. He's as biased as the ones on the right.

I guess this sounds bitter. But there are quite a few Americans, and not by any means just those on the "right", who are awfully tired of the god almighty United States of America. People like Moyers talk all the time about "democracy", which means respecting the views of everybody, even if you disagree with them, even if you think they're actually dangerous. But they only seem to want to accept "democratic" decisions when those match their own opinions.





Why I'm writing so much about the Euro.

Part of it is that, as a history buff, it's absolutely fascinating to watch history being made before my eyes. But it's not just an intellectual exercise. And it's not an issue that just affects Britons or Europeans. It directly affects the dollar, and the entire global economy, and the price of things in Santa Barbara, California, where I live.

Besides the many nations that officially use the Euro and pound, there are many that are tied to them directly or indirectly. This includes Russia and the other non-Euro countries in Europe, nearly all of the so-called commonwealth countries, and pretty much most nations that were at one point part of the English, French and German empires. Those in Africa especially, where most countries have long tied their currencies to the franc and pound.

As I've said before, the UK's inability to make up its mind is causing a great deal of economic uncertainty in global markets.



Blair and Brown lost in their euro blunderland.

The Scotsman offers an opinion on the euro mess.


I can't say that it's a particularly informed opinion. Like most of the discussion, for and against, it's mostly people who have already decided, mostly for emotional reasons, and then look for facts and arguments that support their views. And, like virtually all of the reports I've read, it doesn't even mention any of the other Euro nations, except Germany of course.

It's curious. If my geography is correct, Brussels is closer to Edinburgh than London is, yet they write about Europe as though it's way off in the distance.



European views of Britain's euro decision.

The Guardian offers a roundup of different European opinions on the decision. Quite a mixture of views to say the least.

And one on the opinions of a variety of Britons. The one from an orchid grower is particularly insightful.


The comment about the US is interesting, and says a lot about current American economic problems. There are so many rules and regulations now, all of which have been compounded by security issues since 9/11, that it's becoming almost impossible to do business. I know that I've been forced to pretty much put my ideas about ebooks on hold because the copyright confusion is so great, and the legal implications so threatening.

June 09, 2003

Cheese cake recipes.

Some utterly scrumptious sounding recipes over at Halley's Comment.

I'm just starting to appreciate the blog's use as a handy dandy notepad available from anywhere on the web. So three years from now, long after anyone's still reading those archives, I can look it up if I think of it. How nice. I have however long since come to think of the internet as god's desk, if you know what I mean, so it fits.



UK sort of gives Euro a definite maybe no, but not for sure.

After years of thorough, exhaustive analysis of the economic, political, and other considerations, along with that of numerous related issues, both domestic and foreign, great and small, the publication of weighty tomes , academic studies, and a wide variety of minor essays, endless discussion of the various ramifications and possibilities, due respect being paid to the prognostications of the most dignified and learned scholars in the land, and naturally not omitting proper attention to the most informed and valuable opinions of Her Majesty the Queen, the Princes, Princesses and other royals, Dukes, Archbishops, Bishops, Earls, Counts and other Lords both spiritual and temporal, the Lords of the Exchequer, Chancery and Admiralty, along with those of their esteemed ministers and servants, and the councillors of the commons gathered together in Parliament, and continuing on to those of Fleet Street and the popular persuasion, not even leaving out the offerings of the street tabloids and the thoughts of even the most lowly of publicans and housewives, all in the proper and proscribed fashion, and the entire study being duly noted and preserved in the records for the study and edification of future generations, so they may come to appreciate and be dutifully grateful for the traditions being thus carefully maintained and handed down to them, said analysis probably requiring the expenditure of enough monies to buy a small European country, or at least a very large manor and its village people, the people of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, in the name of the Crown and all those who were foresighted and wise enough to be born white and rich and especially English, have come to the conclusion that this simply would not be a good time to begin harnessing the forces necessary for beginning the processes comcomitant to making a decision about adapting the Euro, at least not just yet, so for the moment we've decided to decide not to decide, if that's okay, but we may at some time in the future, or maybe not, make a decision that is, and while we're not ready to commit to it, the Euro that is, just yet, we may possibly commit to making a commitment at some future point, if things go just right you know, but we wouldn't want to take any chances, of course, so we can't really commit to that, not at this present time, of course if conditions improve and we see some advantage to our purse in it, you never know, it's not that we don't want to be friends, of course we really do like you, we do, yes we do, don't be silly, as long as you stay on your side of the water anyway, and this certainly should not be considered any reflection on your own abilities or understanding of the complexities of modern finance or global economics, perish the thought, we respect you almost as much as we like you, nor does it imply that we don't still want to be part of the Union, we definitely do, at least as long as there's no risk to us in belonging, and we don't have to accept any responsibility for its actions, but you see we can't be entirely on anybody's side because, as has been said before, nobody's entirely on our side, we're sure you understand, that's just the way it is, one must be prudent mustn't one, and plan for a rainy day, otherwise where would we all be, and don't forget that changing all the coins would be so confusing to the old folks and how can we ignore them, so we're sorry we can't make up our minds just yet, but don't worry there's no reason you all can't just go on without us, you seem to be doing fine, although if it's not too much trouble and inconvenience please don't forget to wait for us, we'd like to keep the invitation open if we can, we still want to come to the party you have planned, which sounds like a grand affair indeed, after all a thousand years in the making, and not to be missed, we just don't want to pay for it.

Sorry about that. The English always inspire me, I just can't help it, they're the funniest frigging people in the world. But if their economies are a bit chary, they remain the greatest writers in the world, and at least have gotten me writing.

Well actually, Tony Blair and Gordon Brown have made the decision. Nobody else seems to have a say. There's still no telling what the British people will do, not to mention the Welsh and Scots. Have to hand it to them though, it certainly is a piece of world-class political prevarication, a firm unequivable commitment to not making a commitment. I hope it doesn't turn out that the arguments used in those eighteen volumes of documents turn out to be cribbed off the internet from some graduate student's work, they way some of those about the Iraqi WMDs were.

What's really sad about it is that the decision seems to rest entirely on the advantages it may bring to the UK, and the wealthy classes there. What may be best for the rest of the EU, or the global economy, or anybody else just doesn't count. And that such an important decision, one with such long-term ramifications for tens of millions of people, is decided by basically two people, who are clearly intent on putting their political interest above the rights of the citizens, oh excuse me, subjects, of the UK to decide. [Technically no one in the UK is a "citizen." They're still "subjects" of the crown.]

No links to specific articles, there are tons of them, plus many op-ed pieces from all points of view. See the Guardian or the Scotsman or the Economist for the British viewpoint. But this is truly a global issue and people all over the world have opinions on it.

One comment to make though, and that is there sure are a lot of people making assumptions about the future based on nothing more than guesses. Particularly those about the level of future economic activity in the eurozone and elsewhere. No one knows what's going to happen in the global economy during the next few decades. Just the prospect of ten new nations going Euro is enough to introduce so many new variables that all previous equations have to be considered obsolete.

I think the biggest assumption, or presumption maybe, is that the strength or weakness of the Euro itself is necessarily tied to that of the eurozone or that of the EU. There's nothing carved in stone that says the Euro can't boom while the eurozone doesn't. I know that's a paradox, but such is life. Currencies are very emotional things sometimes.

And the thing that most surprises me is that no one seems to grasp that independence for Scotland and Wales, which I understand is what devolution is supposedly heading for, implies accepting the Euro. Presumably they'll be joining the EU. (Right?) One of the major purposes of independence from England (not the United Kingdom anymore after Scotland and Wales leave since it won't be united anymore) is to gain control over their economies. That has to mean independence from The City, as they call it, and therefore, indisputably, the pound.

Yet I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere. I guess the thought that after the eastern european countries join up there's going to be a wave of regionalization, with new countries like Wales, Scotland, probably both halves of Belgium, Catalonia, and so on is just too much to bear. But the Euro and devolution to regions are inextricably tied up. It's no coincidence that Scotland and Wales got their own parliaments on Jan 1, 1999, the same day the Euro was introduced. Trying to predict the future economic ramifications of it all at this point is virtually impossible.



World Com was being run by the seat of the pants.

An article in the NY Times about a newly released report on the scandals at World Com says that the executives were just making decisions on the spur of the moment. And big decisions too.