Sobering Thought

Here's a snippet from The Independent on the glaciers in Greenland and the rapid increase in the melt. This is serious business folks. Can you just imagine the financial impact of the world's oceans rising by 20 or so feet? Good bye London, Hong Kong, Sydney, New York, Boston, etc., it is a very sobering thought. Not only will a major portion of the UK disappear under water but the climate in Northern Europe will drastically change for the worse without the moderating influence of the Gulf Stream.

Granted, it is probably too late to do anything about it but we should at least begin planning for the upheaval.

Greenland's glaciers have begun to race towards the ocean, leading scientists to predict that the vast island's ice cap is approaching irreversible meltdown, The Independent on Sunday can reveal.

Research to be published in a few days' time shows how glaciers that have been stable for centuries have started to shrink dramatically as temperatures in the Arctic have soared with global warming. On top of this, record amounts of the ice cap's surface turned to water this summer.

The two developments - the most alarming manifestations of climate change to date - suggest that the ice cap is melting far more rapidly than scientists had thought, with immense consequences for civilisation and the planet. Its complete disappearance would raise the levels of the world's seas by 20 feet, spelling inundation for London and other coastal cities around the globe, along with much of low-lying countries such as Bangladesh.

More immediately, the vast amount of fresh water discharged into the ocean as the ice melts threatens to shut down the Gulf Stream, which protects Britain and the rest of northern Europe from a freezing climate like that of Labrador.

Poor Porgy

Well, Porgy and Bess was not too thrilling. There were a few moments, but overall I think it was a less than inspired performance. The two lead female vocalists were good and managed to get their voices out and intimate with the audience. Not so for the males.
I was a nice evening out with friends so it was not a waste...just a little disappointing.

More to Come I Think

Do you think it just coincidence that Congressman Murtha offered his resolution when he did and that so shortly thereafter General Casey offered a plan for a drawdawn? I seriously doubt it. Murtha has alwasy been close to the Pentagon and I wouldn't be surprised in the least bit if he was chosen to deliver the message to Congress. It is very career limiting for this kind of talk while you are still active service and using a surrogate of such impeccable credentials would make sense.

I don't think we are going to see the last of this issue just because of the stunt pulled by the GOP last night.

Well, off to dinner and the Atlanta Opera and Porgy and Bess. I will catch you on the flip side humming Gershwin.

The Whole Story...Not!

ABC has an article up that "reveals" what the "enhanced interrogation techniques" are that I mention in an earlier post.

The techniques they list are:

1. The Attention Grab: The interrogator forcefully grabs the shirt front of the prisoner and shakes him.

2. Attention Slap: An open-handed slap aimed at causing pain and triggering fear.

3. The Belly Slap: A hard open-handed slap to the stomach. The aim is to cause pain, but not internal injury. Doctors consulted advised against using a punch, which could cause lasting internal damage.

4. Long Time Standing: This technique is described as among the most effective. Prisoners are forced to stand, handcuffed and with their feet shackled to an eye bolt in the floor for more than 40 hours. Exhaustion and sleep deprivation are effective in yielding confessions.

5. The Cold Cell: The prisoner is left to stand naked in a cell kept near 50 degrees. Throughout the time in the cell the prisoner is doused with cold water.

6. Water Boarding: The prisoner is bound to an inclined board, feet raised and head slightly below the feet. Cellophane is wrapped over the prisoner's face and water is poured over him. Unavoidably, the gag reflex kicks in and a terrifying fear of drowning leads to almost instant pleas to bring the treatment to a halt.

This information is supposedly direct from the CIA. This is a very interesting article because what it is trying to do is separate these "techniques" from torture per se and getting the public used to the idea. They are supposedly only used in limited cases and are carefully monitored.

Don't believe it folks, as this is just more "sunshine up your kilt". You can see that none of these things sound like "real" torture. Water boarding is the most extreme and nobody is actually hurt right? I guess we are supposed to conveniently forget about the broken bones, bruises, scars and dead bodies. If these things are so tame why do we feel it necessary to haul these guys off to foriegn countries to "gently persuade them to lie to us".

Think it through. The people that volunteered to be trained in these techniques, and the other ones we are not being told about, are more than likely sociopaths already. Who the hell volunteers to inflict pain and fear in another person? Do you honestly think, knowing what you know of human nature, that these folks stop here? Do you think all the photos and stories we are seeing are fakes?

For the most part, the article is ABC News carrying water for the adminstration once again. If you take it at face value you are a sucker.

Same Old Tricks

I have been encouraged lately by what seemed a more balanced approach to reporting the news by CNN recently but teaser paragraphs like this just show me that they are still marching to the Whitehouse media machine's beat though slighly out of step. The quote below connects the latest suicide strikes to Murtha's comments yesterday about withdrawal. This is by association and not directly but it will have the same effect in many minds. If you read the entire article you will get a different picture but to a large degree all of the damage is already done by the lead in.

Suicide bombers killed dozens of people today in Baghdad and near the Iranian border in Khanaqin. The U.S. military said 55 people were killed; Iraqi police reported 65 dead. The blasts came a day after Rep. John Murtha, a Democratic hawk on defense issues, sparked a firestorm of debate when he called for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq.

As a side note, there is a quote from Scott McClellan that gives us a preview of the latest administration psyop tactic for attacking the questioners of the Iraq debacle.

White House spokesman Scott McClellan compared Murtha with anti-war filmmaker Michael Moore and echoed earlier statements by House GOP leaders in accusing him of "surrender."

Linking the concept and word "withdraw" with the emotionally loaded word "surrender". If you talk about withdrawal you are talking about the U.S. losing in Iraq and surrendering to Osama.

This is psyops and brainwashing at its finest. Keep and eye out for other examples, which there will be, of the Whitehouse taking legitimate words used in the Iraq discussion and linking them to emotionally charged words such as "losing", "surrender" and "defeat".

This kind of stuff only works if you accept the linkage and legitimize it in your mind.

President of the World - Good Idea

Esquire magazine has chosen the Big Dog as "The Most Influential Man in the World". I hope the little bastard wandering around the far east reads this, though I know he doesn't read. Maybe someone will leave a copy in the john and he'll just accidently pick it up. I can just see him running to Condi or Karen and telling them to do something about it.

Since leaving office, Clinton has been so active that his post-presidency amounts to "a third term" for the Democrat who held the White House from 1992 to 2000, the magazine said. He has tackled global issues from AIDS, poverty and global warming to the recovery from last December's Indian Ocean tsunami.

Esquire editor David Granger argued that Clinton was poised to become "something like a president of the world or at least a president of the world's non-governmental organizations."

In spite of some less than progressive things I still consider Bill Clinton the greatest President of my lifetime. It still angers me to think of the wasted opportunities that resulted from Bill having to spend so much time fending off the whacko right. Seeing the contrast between Dubya and Clinton just makes me more convinced of that.

Thanks to Charles2 at The Fulcrum for the heads up.

Sunshine Peeking Through?

The Republicans suffered another major setback today in trying to finance Bush's taax cuts for the wealthiest Americans on the backs of the poor. The Democrats stuck together and 22 moderate Republicans voted down this awful bill that included all kinds of cuts to programs that help the poorest in the nation including large cuts in the heating assistance program just when we are looking at an upcoming disaster with respect to people being able to afford to heat their homes this year. All I can say is it's about time.

WASHINGTON -- Legislation to fund many of the nation's health, education and social programs went down to a startling defeat in the House Thursday, led by Democrats who said cuts in the bill hurt some of America's neediest people.The 224-209 vote against the $142.5 billion spending bill disrupted plans by Republican leaders to finish up work on this year's spending bills and cast doubt on whether they would have the votes to pass a major budget-cutting bill also on the day's agenda.

Democrats, unanimous in opposing the legislation, said it included the first cut in education funding in a decade and slashed spending for several health care programs. "It betrays our nation's values and its future," said House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland. "It is neither compassionate, conservative nor wise."

On and On and On

10 more lives in the last two days. Goddess it's getting real hard not be incapacitated by this tragedy.

BAGHDAD (AFP) - The US military announced the death of a US soldier killed in Iraq, the 10th serviceman to die in two days at a time when US opinion is turning against the war.

The latest victim, who died Wednesday of wounds sustained in a Baghdad bomb explosion, brings to at least 2,080 the number of US military personnel killed in Iraq since the March 2003 invasion, according to an AFP tally based on the independent Iraq Coalition Casualty Count

Cautionary Tale

For those of you not familiar with Mark Morford of the SF Gate. His columns are always good and sometimes great. Regardless, his prose is just good to wade through. Here is an excerpt from his latest concerning Bill O'Reilly and his recent comments about SFO.

Here's the takeaway, the only thing you need to know: Bill O'Reilly is a walking, snorting cautionary tale. For those of us who occasionally tread similar terrain of barbed political commentary (tempered, I hope, with satire and hope and sex and humor and fire hoses of divine juice), he is the Grand Pariah, the threshold, the Place You Do Not Want To Go as an intellectually curious human soul. He is the guy you can always look to, no matter how bad it gets, and say, Wow, at least I'm not him.

Evidence of Desperation

Josh Marshall is making a very important point this morning that bears repeating. Despite the absurdity of their arguments with respect to the run up to the Iraq debacle the Whitehouse is now backed into a corner with a great majority of Americans now convinced that they have been lied to and that invading Iraq was a huge mistake. All that is left to them is that 30 - 40% of people who are obviously not capable of anything resembling coherent thought. You know, the Adam and Eve rode dinosaurs to market, wrestling on TV is real, Bud is beer crowd. The Whitehouse is just trying to get them worked up and give them some talking points. It doesn't matter to this crowd that the words they utter bear no semblance of truth or reality...they just need something to say to the "I told you so" crowd. Anything will do. We just need to take every opportunity to keep them silent and make them feel stupid for regurgitating the Whitehouse spin and the silence will soon win out.

Here is the essence from Josh:

Virtually all of the arguments the White House is now advancing are transparently ridiculous on their face to anyone who has closely followed this evolving debate over the last three years.

But that doesn't matter. The White House doesn't need to win any debates. What they need is for their core supporters to have something to say. Anything. And to be able to say it loudly. The one thing that would be fatal for the White House from its defenders would be silence

Pile On!

Confirming that the wheels have fallen off the Bush administration Senator Hagel takes his turn at tinkling on Dubya'a parade. When your own team begins to kick you when you are down you are basically toast. Good one Chuck.

Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) strongly criticized yesterday the White House's new line of attack against critics of its Iraq policy, saying that "the Bush administration must understand that each American has a right to question our policies in Iraq and should not be demonized for disagreeing with them."....

Hagel, a Vietnam War veteran and a potential presidential candidate in 2008, countered in a speech to the Council of Foreign Relations that the Vietnam War "was a national tragedy partly because members of Congress failed their country, remained silent and lacked the courage to challenge the administrations in power until it was too late."

"To question your government is not unpatriotic -- to not question your government is unpatriotic," Hagel said, arguing that 58,000 troops died in Vietnam because of silence by political leaders. "America owes its men and women in uniform a policy worthy of their sacrifices."

Hagel said Democrats have an obligation to be constructive in their criticism, but he accused the administration of "dividing the country" with its rhetorical tactics.

Compassion Overflows

I guess it is not too surprising but here is another example of GOP compassionate conservatism. Bush and Congress are reneging on part of the promise of aid to NY for the care of 9/11 first responders.

WASHINGTON - Congressional budget negotiators have decided to take back $125 million in Sept. 11 aid from New York, which had fought to keep the money to treat sick and injured ground zero workers, lawmakers said Tuesday.
[snip]
The tug-of-war over the $125 million began earlier this year when the White House proposed taking the money back because the state had not yet spent it.

Put this relatively small amount of money in contrast to the 2 BILLION dollars we are spending per day in Iraq and you get the full measure of the slap to New York.
Keep the picture of the Chimperor standing at ground zero pledging whatever it will take to help NY respond to get the full effect.

False Alarm

More excitement in Tennessee this morning. After managing to dodge the tornadoes yesterday afternoon I now get jolted out of a sound sleep this morning at 4 by the hotel fire alarm. False, but still got to stand outside on a very cool morning for a while. Does wake one up. I should apologize to the alarm clock which I rather brutally tried to turn off until I realized it was the fire alarm. Still seems to be functional so maybe I didn't kill it. let's see what the rest of the day brings. I hope this weather front moves on through Atlanta this morning and I don't have to fly into it this afternoon on the way home.

Volunteer State

Tennessee bound today and away from the net pretty much all day. I will see you later from a hotel in Jackson. You boys and girls be good.

Going Somewhere

Spoke too soon!. Getting launched to the wilds of Tennessee tomorrow for an overnight. Some client meetings. Have to fly to Memphis and then drive to the central part of the state around Jackson. Very strange travel day evidently... no coach seats on any plane to Memphis tomorrow or coming back Wednesday... had to book first class. It's the price they pay for short notice trips or it could be a plot by the airlines to make you pay out of the nose if you have to book for next day travel. They know they have you and can squeeze all they want. Stranger still was Hertz had no cars available in Memphis tomorrow. I believe that is the first time I have been told that there were no cars available. Did find hotel rooms in Jackson on the first try so maybe it is a local Memphis thing. Maybe something going on I am not privy to? Is Elvis coming back?

Anyhow, so much for my week of non travel.

Euphemism Warning

Here we go again. We are getting manipulated by the "word smiths" again. This time they are attempting to take some of the sting out the word "torture".

In this article discussing Stephen Hadley's chicken dancing around the President's "do not torture" statement last week. A new term is weaseling it's insidious way into the dialogue. The new phrase they are trying to make stick is "enhanced interrogation techniques". Does that make you feel a little better about it? "Enhanced interrogation techniques" sounds a lot less forbidden than "torture". It doesn't automatically bring to mind bamboo manicures, electric penis clips or the big favorite "Palestinian Cross".

We can't let them use these weasel phrases to take the focus off the fact that torture is wrong. There is no "torture light". If you torture or condone torture in any fashion you are a war criminal plain and simple.

A good example of how we have been brainwashed by the use of euphemism to soften the reality of something unpleasant is how we now refer to the nervous collapse in soldiers too long in combat as PTSD or "Post Traumatic Stress Disorder". That sounds a lot better than the original term used in World War I..."Shell Shock". Shell Shock is too brutal for today's sensibilities it is simple and direct...no pussy footing around. Tells you everything you need to know...Shell Shock.

In WW II "Shell Shock" evolved into "Battle Fatigue". That's a little softer, not so brutal. "Fatique" is better than "Shock" you know it doesn't sound nearly as bad. "Battle Fatigue" still wasn't soft enough though for the war mongers because in the Korean Conflict it evolved yet again into "operational exhaustion" ... still a little softer and less alarming. In Vietnam we finally managed to weasel "shell shock" into "PTSD" and not only did we totally take all of the simplicity and directness out of the phrase we now had something that was easy to abbreviate and remove that last vestige of emotional baggage.

This is what they are attempting to do with "enhanced interrogation techniques". Take all of the emotional baggage associated with "torture" away so it will be a little more palatable for the sheep who really don't like to "dirty their beautiful minds" with "torture".

You will see the phrase "enhanced interrogation techniques" more and more as this unbelievable discussion around how much torture is enough torture proceeds.

An example is from Republican Senator Kit Bond, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, who told Newsweek magazine that "enhanced interrogation techniques" had worked with at least one captured high-level Al-Qaeda operative, Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, to thwart an unspecified plot.

The article goes on to state that compromise discussions are underway between the White House and the Senate on the language in the McCain ammendment.

I guess it is OK to consider a compromise if you are only talking about "enhanced interrogation techniques" while it would be unheard of to talk of compromise over "torture".

Don't be distracted by the arguments that the ends justify the means and that they are only doing it to protect us. The argument over torture is not about any of this.. it is about who we are as a country. If we continue to torture or condone torture we surrender all moral authority over human rights anywhere and anytime. Holy Keerist one of the many excuses Dubya used to justify attacking Iraq was because Saddam tortured people. There is absolutely no gray area here... it is a totally black and white issue. Yes or NO.

Going Nowhere

For the first time in several months I am looking at two weeks straight of no travel. My engagement for the week was cancelled and nothing else was on the burner so here I am. Next week I had scheduled vacation for the first 3 days and Thanksgiving takes care of the rest.

Originally friends from the UK were coming for a stay and we were to take them to Cumberland Island for a day and then on to St. Augustine for the holiday. Nothing special...just relaxing and beach and some downtime. A family emergency put their trip on hold so we are now at ends as to what to do. Mom has made other plans for the holiday, since we were not going to be coming home, so that is out too. Might be a very quiet holiday unless something pops up and there is something to be said for that as well.

I've got plenty to keep me occupied however, so don't worry that I might go cabin crazy. If it doesn't get too cold I might actually get some golf in as well. Right now they are predicting 71 today in the Atlanta area and for November that is nice. I love this time of year anyway and this kind of weather makes it even better. It doesn't have to get cold at all and I will be happy. The heating bills are going to be bad enough as it is. I am just glad I live this far south and am not having to look forward to a full blown winter with snow and week upon week of freezing weather.

Hope everyone has a great Monday. I guess Dubya is off to the far east to piss those guys off too. I will be interesting to see how badly he steps on his crank this trip.

Deplorable Plot

Mustang Bobby rightfully has joined Bryan over at Why Now? in deploring the effort by skippy the bush kangaroo to set up a Google bomb for Bill O'Reilly as payback for his suggestion that terrorists should strike San Francisco because they have passed a ban on handguns. Skippy wants us to label Bill O'Reilly as a terrorist sympathizer.

I don't agree thatBill O'Reilly is a terrorist sympathizer either. I've never called him a terrorist sympathizer, and without any proof that he is a terrorist sympathizer I wouldn't do it. Truthfully, I doubt that there's anyone, left or right, blogging today that can justly call Mr. O'Reilly a terrorist sympathizer.

It is important for our credibility as bloogers that we defend Bill O'Reilly from being called a terrorist sympathizer unjustly. I am taking a special effort to say on this blog that "Bill O'Reilly is not a terrorist sympathizer." Just because he is an opinionated bag of wind and does kinky things with falafel doesn't warrant accusing him of being a terrorist sympathizer. Just because he he feels it somehow necessary to loudly and vigorously attack one of the great cities in America doesn't mean he should be called a terrorist sympathizer either.

Far be it for me, however, to restrict your right to call Mr. O'Reilly a terrorist sympathizer if you feel you need to. This is America, after all, and we are free to express our opinions, right or wrong. So if you wish to call Bill O'Reilly a terrorist sympathizer and take part in the Google bomb plot being foisted by skippy by posting the "terrorist sympathizer" link on your site, that is your right as a freedom loving American. You are free to do as you please and I won't or can't stop you. You will just have to let your conscience by your guide.

Weakening the Foundation

Below are five names you should mark in your little book. You may not need them this year or next but it won't be too many years before you can point to them and say with authority that these were the Senators that sold our most fundamental right down the river. These are the Senators that spat on the civil right considered so important by our founding fathers that it alone was embodied in the Constitution where the others were attached in the Bill of Rights.

These are "opposition party" Senators that voted with the Republican majority that threw out the right of Habeas Corpus for the foriegn nationals being held in Guantanamo that was so recently upheld by the Supreme Court.

Kent Conrad - North Dakota
Joe Lieberman - Connecticut
Mary Landrieu - Louisiana
Ben Nelson - Nebraska
Ron Wyden - Oregon

Why should we be concerned that this fundamental right to grievance was eliminated for these "so called" enemy combatants? They are not citizens. The right still applies to citizens.

One of our founding principles is that "all men are created equal" and the right of habeas corpus which dates back to the Magna Carta is fundamentally intertwined with that concept. Any action by government that weakens or moves away from this fundamental principle is setting a dangerous precedent that will make it that much easier to weaken its application to ordinary citizens.

The right of habeas corpus is our protection from unfair imprisonment by the majority... if you are arrested under false pretenses or without charges you have a right to petition a court to have the charges against you spelled out and justified with respect to the laws of the country. If the state cannot justify its right to hold you lawfully, you must be set free.

While this new Senate law only applies to foriegn nationals it is asking us to accept some mighty big assumptions and with the latest revelations on torture, false imprisonment, lying and general lousy and untrustworthy behaviour they are mighty assumptions indeed.

One, the Senate wants us to assume that the our govenment is "doing the right thing" without supervision of the courts or other outside monitor. No thanks.

Two, we are supposed to believe that everyone being held is absolutely guilty and doesn't deserve any other legal consideration. No thanks.

Three, we should trust the military tribunals to completely address all of the constitutional issues with respect to the detainees especially considering how they have had little or no legal counsel. No thanks.

Four, we are to just blindly agree to accept one standard of justice for ourselves and another for foriegners. No thanks.

Five, we are supposed to assume that just because we do not honor our acceptance of the Geneva Conventions and the Annex to the Hague Conventions we expect other govenments to do so when handling our citizens. No thanks.

It is these little "nibbles" at our civil rights that we must be most diligent about. They don't individually seem to amount to much but each one takes a stone or two from the foundation of our civil liberties. Each stone removed from the foundation weakens it and sooner or later the structure of our democracy will collapse because of it.

ReddHedd over at Firedoglake has done an excellent job of discussing this and since she is a lawyer has a much better take on it than I.

Lies Beget Lies

Your Momma told you that lies beget more lies and that when you start lying about things you will just have to keep lying more and more to hide the lies that you already told.

Bush didn't listen to his Momma. He spent his time yesterday disgracing the honor of our fallen telling more lies to hide the lie upon lie he has already told.

This article in the Washington Post pretty clearly spells out the lies and half truths from yesterday's Pennsylvania speech. A most disgusting speech... even for Dubya.

Here is some meat from the Post's take down. Good journalism.

President Bush and his national security adviser have answered critics of the Iraq war in recent days with a two-pronged argument: that Congress saw the same intelligence the administration did before the war, and that independent commissions have determined that the administration did not misrepresent the intelligence.

Neither assertion is wholly accurate....

Bush and his aides had access to much more voluminous intelligence information than did lawmakers, who were dependent on the administration to provide the material. And the commissions cited by officials, though concluding that the administration did not pressure intelligence analysts to change their conclusions, were not authorized to determine whether the administration exaggerated or distorted those conclusions.

It is an excellent article and you shouldn't miss reading the whole thing.