See my Blog on Privatized Electricity .. Is Water Next?
A Tale of Two Very Different Cities, With Apology to Dickens
It would be hard to compare Wales, Cochabamba, Bolivia, and Atlanta, Georgia. One is from another century, another is dirt poor, populated by farmers and desperately poor people, and the other is very sophisticated, a metropolis of hugely important companies and associations. But an identical heist took place in all three cities, believe it or not. In a recent blog – I pointed out how our home electricity supply has been recently (2005) hijacked by corporate America (de-regulation) with the predictable huge hike in pricing. You know, average home bill $12-15 monthly before deregulation, and up to $300 after and never less than $100 !)
This, then is a red-letter headsup to any and all in America who could fall prey to this theft, especially those of you either on, or close to, a City Council member. Let’s remind ourselves: water, like electricity, is necessary for human life.
First, let’s look at Wales. Plans for the privatization of the water industry in England and Wales were first advanced by the Thatcher Government in 1984, but were abandoned after a public outcry against it. However, they were resurrected soon after the 1987 General Election, after endless lobbying by Thatcher and her crowd. The Water Act of1988 – a Thatcher gem - transformed the Regional Water Authorities into private companies and sold them off. These new companies became owners of the entire water system and properties of the RWAs. The Act gave them exclusive 25-year concessions for sanitation and water supply, protecting them against any possibility of competition. This created private monopolies. The Government took a number of steps to boost the profitability of these companies in addition. A very generous pricing regimen was established, and the companies were given special exemption from paying taxes on profits!! They had a virtual license to print money, which of course has been exploited to the full. The abuses were so blatant that even the Tory supporting Daily Mail once denounced water privatization as the “greatest act of licensed robbery in our history.”
The most noticeable impact of privatization for the public has been the dramatic increase in prices. Wales, strike one.
For us here in America, IF YOU’RE A CITY COUNCIL member, or know someone who is, you will be the first to know when a heist of your city is in the works. The way they’ve done it in the past is to approach the City council members and point out how expensive it would be for the City to repair and replace all the aging metal water pipes in the city. Then the silver-tongues point out how they can do it so much cheaper than the City can, because they, in the private sector, are so much more efficient than the Public Sector. (Note they don’t ever prove that statement, they just say it.)
That’s exactly what happened in Cochabamba, Bolivia in January of 2000. The private water suppliers never replaced or repaired any of the aging Pipes. Four months of that, and the citizens of Cochabamba had enough, and vigorously protested. Predictably, the protests turned violent, in April 2000, resulting in at least five DEAD, 40 injured or wounded, and widespread arrests, with tear gas. Yeah, tear gas. The Bechtel Corporation of San Francisco was involved in some way, along with Aguas del Tunari.
The Bolivian patriot who spearheaded the protests was one Oscar Olivera. Today, (2008) Oscar Olivera's sister, Marcela, claims bullying tactics were used by the Bolivian government to save the water heist, and describes activists' fears that the government “…will definitely try again to privatize the city's water system. (San Francisco Chronicle, February 11, 2001) Cochabamba, Strike two.
Now let’s consider Atlanta. Atlanta, as you know, is the economic and political powerhouse of the deep South. Atlanta is an old city, dating to well before our 1860s Civil War. It obviously had some aging water pipes and infrastructure, like all cities. When it transferred the management of its municipal water system to the private firm United Water, many Atlantans were taken in by the rhetoric of the private water fast talking salesmen, and thought it a new trend. They were satisfied Atlanta would lead the way for many more privatized water utilities in the U.S. That was January 1, 1999.
No one believes that any more.
United Water is and was the American subsidiary of the Paris-based French corporation Suez. Without boring you with too many details, suffice it to say the salesmen pointed out how Atlanta would save some $20 million dollars per year, etc. The overriding facts that Americans need to know, in the year 2008 and beyond, is that, using the template first perfected by Margaret Thatcher in Britain, once the private water suppliers are in control, they
repair nothing (saving money)
drastically cut personnel numbers (to save money)
greatly raise prices – (to make money)
if you can believe the gall of that ! The records in Wales, Cochabamba and now Atlanta all show this is their m.o.
It was no different in Atlanta than it was in Britain or Cochabamba. Proponents of privatization in that city proclaimed loudly that the water department had been a place where, for years, politicians placed their friends and relatives who needed a job, but who had no experience whatever. Thus the water department became a very costly exercise, and very inefficient to boot.
Soon, tales of brown water running from their faucets were heard, and increased. Then, citizens received advisories from the City to - are you ready for this?- “BOIL TAP WATER before use!” These were examples of the “efficiency of the private sector” that had been so proudly articulated in the runup to the deal.
One council member pointed out how she could turn on the faucet and nothing would happen, sometimes for a couple hours. Nothing. Then when it did work, it looked like dirty creek water; it clogged up the filters in your refrigerator, and there's no warning when you're going to get these discolorations."
Then a fire hydrant sprang a leak during a drought and it took ten days for the water company to fix it, but by then the pavement was beginning to wash away.
Atlanta's city government also got a wakeup call when United Water failed to deliver on promises to save the City money. An audit of United Water's performance ordered by the mayor revealed uncollected bills, demands for even more money from the City, and delayed repairs.
Five major bidders spent millions on public relations campaigns, lobbyists and lawyers courting City politicians. In the end, United Water, owned by Paris-based Suez, won with the lowest bid. All of this is a clear testament to the amount of profit available to a private company if they alone provide people with the most important element of all life – again – the most important element of all life. Happily for all in Atlanta, when the Mayor and several councilpersons made the decision to end the contract, they were able to do it without years of million-dollar lawsuits.
Several diehard republicans wanted the travesty to continue, but were vigorously outvoted. Significant among the council members were statements by two on the Council, Howard Shook and Claire Muller.
Shook said” …My inner conservative no longer worships at the altar of privatization,” and Clare Muller said “…I do think that we got a little carried away with the hype of this thing being the silver bullet that would solve all our problems… we went down the wrong path.” (Frank Koller, CBC Radio Feb. 5, 2003)
Why bring all this up now? As a headsup to anyone on a City Council, or with a friend or relative on a City council, because that’s where they start this theft. They paint a doomful picture of the present state of decay of the city’s aging pipes, always metal, and as such rusting and leaking. They point up the cost to repair, which runs into the millions. Then the private companies say they will not only pay for the repair of the pipes and infrastructure, but will pay millions to the city in addition.
You know the rest.
And – as sure as God made green apples, and metal water pipes, there is always a republican or two on any City council who will vote yes for privatization enthusiastically. But, thanks to swungnotes, you can tell them how to get at the truth. Just look up the story on the water grabs in Wales, Cochabamba and Atlanta. Let’s see, that’s 3 strikes, isn’t it?
by swungnotes
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
WHEN YOU CAN CHOOSE – YOU BETTER CHOOSE WITH GREAT CARE !
(Or, make damn sure your choices are counted, and recognized !!!)
It was in BraveFreeLand that it all started. In BraveFreeLand – BFL, to long time inhabitants – the natives had this strange choosingtime every so often. The way it worked, 39% of them got together every 4 years and chose the Controller who would then, with a lot of pomp and fanfare, go to sleep in an uncolored house – (painted, but not in color). This Controller would then make a lot of rules for the rest of them. I know, it’s strange, but that’s the way they did it in BFL. Thirty-nine seemed to be as high as they could count, on choosing day. Had been doing it for years. Maybe drinking too much on choosing day, or whatever, but 39 was about the best they did. The conventional wisdom was that 39 was the absolute best they could muster because of the NFL in BFL. Easier to concentrate on strange shaped balls than government. Bizarre.
ANYWAY, on this particular choosingday, the 39% who did the choosing decided on a known member of the society to be the new Controller, a man of scientific curiosity. But before he could move to the uncolored house, a group of swindlers persuaded the High Priests to lay down an edict that he would not move to the uncolored house, and would not be the new Controller. The High Priests allowed another contender, who had come in second in the choosing race to move in. How is it possible, you ask? Why? Like the choosers of that day would say, “…That’s a very good question.”
So the new Controller who was not chosen if we can use that term, was known as Cord, Cord Loosh. (It was well known it should have been Cord Lush.) Cord made arrangements to move into the uncolored house. He was always accompanied by an odd cohort, always. The two of them were known as Cord Loosh, and Ditcherell Shamey, “Ditch” for short. They were Loosh and Shamey. Many said Shamey’s name was really appropriate. Not sure what they meant, but that’s what they said. The two of them broke every law in BraveFreeLand once they got into the house. They assembled their own swindlers, and decided to simply acquire all the valuable minerals and ancient artifacts in a faraway land, known as The Rock, because of its many rocky hills, with minerals beneath. And yeah, whether the inhabitants of The Rock liked it or not. See, the people who lived in The Rock didn’t follow this bizarre BFL 39% choosing routine, they just stood around and allowed the person with the most guns to take over and be their Controller. Well, you can see what this arrangement would inevitably produce in the long run. Sooner or later, one of the Controllers would go too far, and sure enough, the current Controller had done just that.
So Cord and Ditch, with the help of a lot of intellectual writers and historians and psychologists realized they could simply take control and ownership of The Rock with euphemisms, as easily as they had done with BFL. Cord, as Controller, would order the soldiers of BFL to bomb and shoot and kill and burn all the people in The Rock even after they surrendered. Including women, old people and little children. See, they had a name for that, it was collateral damage, which was an ancient sanskrit term for ‘…they’re so stupid we’re doing them a favor by killing them.’ This translation was revealed to us by an actual member of the invading BFL army!
Ditch would handle the propaganda, with his arsenal of euphemisms. In order to get this fun time started, Ditch assembled a large group of talkers who he was trainng to lie to the people of BraveFreeLand repeatedly. They took the words of an ancient speech by Herman Goering, he of an ancient tyrannical government. Goering pointed out that “…The people don’t want war, don’t like war, but if their leaders tell them enough times that it is necessary, they will accept it.” And so Ditch’s people did, and so the people of BFL did.
Thus, in secret meetings, (all his meetings were secret) Ditch assembled all his talkers. They came prepared to spend two hours practicing daily. Members of the media were welcome, and a lot of them showed up, and dutifully practiced with the rest. They all took seats facing Ditch at the podium, who looked at them with a crooked smile, and always with his head angled at 30 degrees from the perpendicular. He said the only words he needed: “If you will” and his minions would chant in unison, in 6/8 time:
“…Euphemism baby, don’t mean maybe – always be ready to say
Nash-a-nul Dee-Fense – our very best Pre-tense – from 6000 miles away? Yeah!
“…In the BFL we can go Ka-Boom, and Ka-boom and Ka-Boom and Ka-Boom
We don’t have to bother, just blow up the Father,
burn up the Mother, and any other, and all those still in the womb
“…The people can’t stop us, nor will they try, just scare ‘em with Mushroom Cloud
Ask for 200 billion - I don’t mean million - they’ll give it with heads duly bowed
Be patient, be cool, save your best for last, we’ll hear ‘em chanting in the hallways
Terrorism it was, terrorism it is, terrorism first, last and always
“…We revere the Rove playbook, it covers all matters, of how to corrupt and connive
Rove gave us the “say-hooks” to repeat and repeat, like the buzz in a giant bee-hive
Now we know how to smear, those who fought without fear, in foreign-wars-of-the-past
We just call ‘em all traitors, Democracy-haters, get rid of their ass, I mean F-A-S-T ! “
Well, you can just sort of hear all the other mantras, in your imagination. Ditch held these meetings five days a week, and very soon BFL was inundated with an army of talking heads, all saying the same things, verbatim! It was the human equivalent of a 33 1/3 stuck record.
One of his talkers was a slight woman in spike high heels. She repeated Ditch’s mantra while waving from an airplane:
“Mushroom cloud, and WMD” and (oh God, my feet are killing me) She said the last part to herself.
And Loosh? He said the same stuff, but from his giant podium as Controller. He got through some of the one syllable stuff, but he should have avoided any use of the word mechanical. This one was four syllables. Too much for Lush Loosh. He could only pronounce it “me-chac-inul” and in BFL 600 million ears hurt everytime he said it.
“I can protect you, from me-chac-inul weapons. That’s my job and I IN-tend, to do it
I’ll bankrupt the country if that’s what it takes, and if I do and it hurts, then screw it!”
He always ended with heh-heh-heh. And some times a second heh-heh-heh. No one knew what this meant, and no one else could make that sound, not even Rich Little!
So it was that this theft of the uncolored house, and the controls of government in BFL dragged on and on.
No one stood up to him – except for one old man, not in government, just an old but still very intelligent and obviously passionate person. He was old, and no one knew his real name, they just called him “oldman.” It was said he was a fan of Keefer Sutherland and he longed to solve difficult problems in just one day, so he took that name. Thus it was that Keefe the old man evolved as the only voice in BFL with the intellectual intensity, the humble honesty and the verbal virility (not to mention the altogether alliteration) to stand up to Loosh and Shamey. Keefe had a little cracked megaphone that he found under the seats after an NFL game. He couldn’t afford to see the game, cause the ticket price was six million dollars, and a beer was three hundred and six. An 81-year-old rich woman had used it to be able to shout, “Kill ‘em, Kill the liberals.” The teams playing were the Bears and the Giants. She knew that, but that’s just the way her mind worked.
But whenever he could, KeefeOldman, as he came to be known, would try to point out the incessant use of deceptive euphemisms by Loosh & Shamey and crowd, to deceive the BraveFreeLand people. But it seemed no one was listening. The lawmaking bodies were all afflicted with acute cowardice, or terminal lethargy. The Doctors weren’t sure which, but where Loosh & Shamey were concerned, continued to give in to the most exorbitant and outrageous requests. Always more money for war in The Rock, even though the majority of them publicly stated they were against more of this insanity. So it dragged on.
Then, as the people of BraveFreeLand approached their quadrennial choosingday, things appeared to take a turn for the positive. It was said appeared to, because, midway into the preparation for the choosing, there occurred a split in the unity of those who defied the current criminal “rulers” of BFL. Those who appeared to be destined to bring about a total departure from the cancerous mindset then prevailing, seemed to be quibbling about minutiae, and not concentrating on un-choosing the likes of Loosh & crowd. It was said they could nominate a tree trunk and it would be chosen, but they were quiblling. Bizarre.
There are those who think it will all work out, and Cord and Ditch will be relegated to the scrapheap of history, and incarcerated, but time will tell. See, this arrangement in use in BraveFreeland to choose rulers every so often is a great privilege, but it’s flawed. It’s been suggested that, if the people are allowed to choose the Controller, inevitably, sooner or later, they will choose an idiot. That truism has been around for a couple centuries, but I don’t believe the people were ready to accept the fact they had chosen TWO of them, one brain-damaged, the other a megalomaniac, and both liars, do you?
But … oh, that’s right, the people didn’t choose Cord and Ditch, did they? The 9 high priests did.
It was in BraveFreeLand that it all started. In BraveFreeLand – BFL, to long time inhabitants – the natives had this strange choosingtime every so often. The way it worked, 39% of them got together every 4 years and chose the Controller who would then, with a lot of pomp and fanfare, go to sleep in an uncolored house – (painted, but not in color). This Controller would then make a lot of rules for the rest of them. I know, it’s strange, but that’s the way they did it in BFL. Thirty-nine seemed to be as high as they could count, on choosing day. Had been doing it for years. Maybe drinking too much on choosing day, or whatever, but 39 was about the best they did. The conventional wisdom was that 39 was the absolute best they could muster because of the NFL in BFL. Easier to concentrate on strange shaped balls than government. Bizarre.
ANYWAY, on this particular choosingday, the 39% who did the choosing decided on a known member of the society to be the new Controller, a man of scientific curiosity. But before he could move to the uncolored house, a group of swindlers persuaded the High Priests to lay down an edict that he would not move to the uncolored house, and would not be the new Controller. The High Priests allowed another contender, who had come in second in the choosing race to move in. How is it possible, you ask? Why? Like the choosers of that day would say, “…That’s a very good question.”
So the new Controller who was not chosen if we can use that term, was known as Cord, Cord Loosh. (It was well known it should have been Cord Lush.) Cord made arrangements to move into the uncolored house. He was always accompanied by an odd cohort, always. The two of them were known as Cord Loosh, and Ditcherell Shamey, “Ditch” for short. They were Loosh and Shamey. Many said Shamey’s name was really appropriate. Not sure what they meant, but that’s what they said. The two of them broke every law in BraveFreeLand once they got into the house. They assembled their own swindlers, and decided to simply acquire all the valuable minerals and ancient artifacts in a faraway land, known as The Rock, because of its many rocky hills, with minerals beneath. And yeah, whether the inhabitants of The Rock liked it or not. See, the people who lived in The Rock didn’t follow this bizarre BFL 39% choosing routine, they just stood around and allowed the person with the most guns to take over and be their Controller. Well, you can see what this arrangement would inevitably produce in the long run. Sooner or later, one of the Controllers would go too far, and sure enough, the current Controller had done just that.
So Cord and Ditch, with the help of a lot of intellectual writers and historians and psychologists realized they could simply take control and ownership of The Rock with euphemisms, as easily as they had done with BFL. Cord, as Controller, would order the soldiers of BFL to bomb and shoot and kill and burn all the people in The Rock even after they surrendered. Including women, old people and little children. See, they had a name for that, it was collateral damage, which was an ancient sanskrit term for ‘…they’re so stupid we’re doing them a favor by killing them.’ This translation was revealed to us by an actual member of the invading BFL army!
Ditch would handle the propaganda, with his arsenal of euphemisms. In order to get this fun time started, Ditch assembled a large group of talkers who he was trainng to lie to the people of BraveFreeLand repeatedly. They took the words of an ancient speech by Herman Goering, he of an ancient tyrannical government. Goering pointed out that “…The people don’t want war, don’t like war, but if their leaders tell them enough times that it is necessary, they will accept it.” And so Ditch’s people did, and so the people of BFL did.
Thus, in secret meetings, (all his meetings were secret) Ditch assembled all his talkers. They came prepared to spend two hours practicing daily. Members of the media were welcome, and a lot of them showed up, and dutifully practiced with the rest. They all took seats facing Ditch at the podium, who looked at them with a crooked smile, and always with his head angled at 30 degrees from the perpendicular. He said the only words he needed: “If you will” and his minions would chant in unison, in 6/8 time:
“…Euphemism baby, don’t mean maybe – always be ready to say
Nash-a-nul Dee-Fense – our very best Pre-tense – from 6000 miles away? Yeah!
“…In the BFL we can go Ka-Boom, and Ka-boom and Ka-Boom and Ka-Boom
We don’t have to bother, just blow up the Father,
burn up the Mother, and any other, and all those still in the womb
“…The people can’t stop us, nor will they try, just scare ‘em with Mushroom Cloud
Ask for 200 billion - I don’t mean million - they’ll give it with heads duly bowed
Be patient, be cool, save your best for last, we’ll hear ‘em chanting in the hallways
Terrorism it was, terrorism it is, terrorism first, last and always
“…We revere the Rove playbook, it covers all matters, of how to corrupt and connive
Rove gave us the “say-hooks” to repeat and repeat, like the buzz in a giant bee-hive
Now we know how to smear, those who fought without fear, in foreign-wars-of-the-past
We just call ‘em all traitors, Democracy-haters, get rid of their ass, I mean F-A-S-T ! “
Well, you can just sort of hear all the other mantras, in your imagination. Ditch held these meetings five days a week, and very soon BFL was inundated with an army of talking heads, all saying the same things, verbatim! It was the human equivalent of a 33 1/3 stuck record.
One of his talkers was a slight woman in spike high heels. She repeated Ditch’s mantra while waving from an airplane:
“Mushroom cloud, and WMD” and (oh God, my feet are killing me) She said the last part to herself.
And Loosh? He said the same stuff, but from his giant podium as Controller. He got through some of the one syllable stuff, but he should have avoided any use of the word mechanical. This one was four syllables. Too much for Lush Loosh. He could only pronounce it “me-chac-inul” and in BFL 600 million ears hurt everytime he said it.
“I can protect you, from me-chac-inul weapons. That’s my job and I IN-tend, to do it
I’ll bankrupt the country if that’s what it takes, and if I do and it hurts, then screw it!”
He always ended with heh-heh-heh. And some times a second heh-heh-heh. No one knew what this meant, and no one else could make that sound, not even Rich Little!
So it was that this theft of the uncolored house, and the controls of government in BFL dragged on and on.
No one stood up to him – except for one old man, not in government, just an old but still very intelligent and obviously passionate person. He was old, and no one knew his real name, they just called him “oldman.” It was said he was a fan of Keefer Sutherland and he longed to solve difficult problems in just one day, so he took that name. Thus it was that Keefe the old man evolved as the only voice in BFL with the intellectual intensity, the humble honesty and the verbal virility (not to mention the altogether alliteration) to stand up to Loosh and Shamey. Keefe had a little cracked megaphone that he found under the seats after an NFL game. He couldn’t afford to see the game, cause the ticket price was six million dollars, and a beer was three hundred and six. An 81-year-old rich woman had used it to be able to shout, “Kill ‘em, Kill the liberals.” The teams playing were the Bears and the Giants. She knew that, but that’s just the way her mind worked.
But whenever he could, KeefeOldman, as he came to be known, would try to point out the incessant use of deceptive euphemisms by Loosh & Shamey and crowd, to deceive the BraveFreeLand people. But it seemed no one was listening. The lawmaking bodies were all afflicted with acute cowardice, or terminal lethargy. The Doctors weren’t sure which, but where Loosh & Shamey were concerned, continued to give in to the most exorbitant and outrageous requests. Always more money for war in The Rock, even though the majority of them publicly stated they were against more of this insanity. So it dragged on.
Then, as the people of BraveFreeLand approached their quadrennial choosingday, things appeared to take a turn for the positive. It was said appeared to, because, midway into the preparation for the choosing, there occurred a split in the unity of those who defied the current criminal “rulers” of BFL. Those who appeared to be destined to bring about a total departure from the cancerous mindset then prevailing, seemed to be quibbling about minutiae, and not concentrating on un-choosing the likes of Loosh & crowd. It was said they could nominate a tree trunk and it would be chosen, but they were quiblling. Bizarre.
There are those who think it will all work out, and Cord and Ditch will be relegated to the scrapheap of history, and incarcerated, but time will tell. See, this arrangement in use in BraveFreeland to choose rulers every so often is a great privilege, but it’s flawed. It’s been suggested that, if the people are allowed to choose the Controller, inevitably, sooner or later, they will choose an idiot. That truism has been around for a couple centuries, but I don’t believe the people were ready to accept the fact they had chosen TWO of them, one brain-damaged, the other a megalomaniac, and both liars, do you?
But … oh, that’s right, the people didn’t choose Cord and Ditch, did they? The 9 high priests did.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
MOST GENEROUS, MOST CARING DOCTORS
THESE HEROES TOOK FREE MEDICAL CARE TO 3rd WORLD
So In What Country Did they Find the Most Patients?
Really – all those who watched, or heard the details of the show on Sixty Minutes for March 2, should be ashamed of their country ! The show featured the most selfless of all acts, that of taking free health care to needy countries, where a lot of people are suffering and literally dying because of the lack of it.
When you need a definition for hero, it has to be Stan Brock. Stan and a few of his best friends founded the Remote Area Medical organization, to bring free medicine and care to the Third World. Stan is a pilot, and he began visiting every conceivable downtrodden area where people were dying of infection because they couldn’t get a tooth pulled, and it abscessed. Or they died of an equally simple health problem – simple if attended to, but lethal without it.
Brock revealed how he went to the Amazon, and other distant lands, but all of a sudden he realized that now -
RAM does 60 percent of its free medical care work in the United
States, caring for American needy persons, not Bangladeshi !
He explained how in Tennessee recently, his group treated 920 Americans with free medical care, and then, in total exhaustion had to close the door on some 400 others !
Brock said he was surprised at the numbers of people who came to his first American "medical expedition," as he refers to them. "I was surprised and the numbers are getting higher." Then he added this gem: "…I don’t know if it’s because we’re getting better known, or that the health care in this country is getting worse.” Every year, Brock’s organization helps thousands of Americans who have no health insurance and others who are underinsured
These facts and Brock’s identity became well known to Americans – at least those who tuned in to the Sixty Minutes segment. Brock showed us up close just how tough things are for some people to have affordable and available care for their health needs. What came out of the show was that Brock realized he is suddenly caring for thousands more needy patients right here in America than he was in the Third World ! Brock repeated the shameful fact that 47 million people in America don’t have Health Care. THIS FIGURE OF 47 MILLION PEOPLE WITH NO HEALTH INSURANCE DOES NOT INCLUDE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. They have the best care. And it’s Free. So do Senators. So does the Supreme Court. So do members of the Armed Forces. My take on all of them is that they deserve it.
SO DO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
While 47 million of us do not have basic health care, it should be noted that America DOES have the finest machine guns in history. We have multiple barrel cannons that can fire thousands of lethal shells in just one minute. America has cluster bombs that break apart in the air immediately when dropped, and out comes thousands of bombs the size of baseballs. How about that for smart? See, these thousand small bombs all detonate at different seconds, and just simply “walk” along the ground for a 1000 yards or so, killing everything in their path. And here’s an added benefit: a lot of them don’t detonate when they hit the ground. They just lie there, and when a member of the unfortunate community accidentally touches it, say a 5-year-old child, it blows the unfortunate to bits. America can really make weapons, you’ve got to admit. Not so good taking care of the health of its citizens, but weapons? Oh, yeah.
A limited examination of these facts indicates where the main thrusts in America are. Come on, folks, why don’t we level with each other? This war thing (war is by definition the act of killing people, remember) is just great for business. It provides contracts for trillions of dollars to the weapons guys, like Lockheed, General Electric, Grumman, Smith & Wesson, and several thousand or more smaller companies. These contracts all go to the same group of weapons makers, the bona fides of those companies having been proven with the manufacture of literally thousands of weapons in the past.
IKE warned us. He was nobody’s fool, not just a skillful Military Commander. He could see that the power of the money to be made on weapons would, if not checked vigorously, in short order get out of hand. And it has. Hasn’t it? America has been in more wars than any other nation on the planet. Ike called the real threat to America’s well being “The Military Industrial Complex.” He was right, but, I submit, incomplete. He left out the money given to lawmakers (Senators and House members) and how it buys the votes to make weapons, and then to make war to use them. So I think my take on Ike’s famous warning would be titled “The Military-Industrial-Finance Triumvirate” – or MIFT, in Pentagon acronym.
Democracy is a great experiment, but is it getting destabilized by the conjunction of capitalism? More than a few European countries have learned that Capitalism is a very sharp, two-edged sword that needs to be regulated. Or, rather, the individual practitioners of it have to be regulated. For example, if the lawmakers of a Democracy can freely be given large amounts of money, by those with a definite objective, doesn’t it stand to reason that the lawmakers will be very appreciative to the money-givers? Come on. Does it, or not? Pre-Logic 001 states that: If you’re a Congressman, or Senator, and a weapons manufacturer gives you $10,000 and a trip to the Bahamas and rides you anywhere you want to go on a multimillion dollar jet plane, how likely is it you will vote against an upcoming bill that could help that company? Notice I didn’t say anything about “Campaign Finance” or “Lobbyist” or “Special Interests”. I’m on good terms with my native tongue, so I use realistic, non-euphemism terms, like “money-giver,” money-receiver,” etc. Don’t you think it reads easier to use plain English terms?
If I were wanting to put all of the above thoughts and worries into an equation, say for Logic 101, it would be something like:
Lawmaker \ Money Gifts x Votes on weapons / (Quid Pro Quo)? = Ye$.
Well, this post started as a pat on the back for Stan Brock and his wonderful Remote Area Medicine group. The fact that Brock’s contributions now benefit more sick AMERICANS than those in 3rd World countries, should be a national disgrace. Everyone knows America has the best Machine Guns and Cannons and Cluster Bombs in the world, and the worst health care, at least for 47 million of us. Those with no health care are now ONE SIXTH of the U.S. population. (301 million, estimated July 2007). God.
I’ll make a prediction. A full year in advance. I predict that if either of the remaining candidates for President on the Democratic side brings up the issue – actually works at getting a bill to sign, making these promises of health care actual law - that the bill will DIE in the United States Senate, because of Republican opposition. 60 votes stops all discussion and a vote, but there is great doubt we can muster 60 Democrats in the U.S. Senate, or expect to get a handful of turncoat Republican votes to help us. I can even predict the euphemism smears the Rs will use to justify their votes against health care: they will call it Socialized Medicine, and everyone knows, they will hint, that’s BAD, so they must vote against it. I further predict that not one of the highly paid news talking heads will ask the Republicans to explain why it is BAD, and then challenge any bad logic or “facts.” (Keith will, maybe.)
So, what’ll it be? More machine guns than cannons, or vice versa, or a combo-pack: equal cannons and cluster bombs? If you add the really big cannons, the Artillery pieces, your price will come down considerably. And if you go into Iran within 60 days of any purchase, every fifth weapon is free, regardless of unit cost. What’ll it be? Because it looks like those will be your choices, once again.
OR – maybe, just maybe, we could get a 75% voter turnout in November (an Opium dream?) and end up with 65 Democratic Senators. God, how good would that be? There’s one way we can give it one hell of a try. Do everything in your power to try to get a Democrat elected in your area to the Senate. One might be enough. Two might.But with 50 Democratic Senators, nothin’s gonna happen on this subject
So In What Country Did they Find the Most Patients?
Really – all those who watched, or heard the details of the show on Sixty Minutes for March 2, should be ashamed of their country ! The show featured the most selfless of all acts, that of taking free health care to needy countries, where a lot of people are suffering and literally dying because of the lack of it.
When you need a definition for hero, it has to be Stan Brock. Stan and a few of his best friends founded the Remote Area Medical organization, to bring free medicine and care to the Third World. Stan is a pilot, and he began visiting every conceivable downtrodden area where people were dying of infection because they couldn’t get a tooth pulled, and it abscessed. Or they died of an equally simple health problem – simple if attended to, but lethal without it.
Brock revealed how he went to the Amazon, and other distant lands, but all of a sudden he realized that now -
RAM does 60 percent of its free medical care work in the United
States, caring for American needy persons, not Bangladeshi !
He explained how in Tennessee recently, his group treated 920 Americans with free medical care, and then, in total exhaustion had to close the door on some 400 others !
Brock said he was surprised at the numbers of people who came to his first American "medical expedition," as he refers to them. "I was surprised and the numbers are getting higher." Then he added this gem: "…I don’t know if it’s because we’re getting better known, or that the health care in this country is getting worse.” Every year, Brock’s organization helps thousands of Americans who have no health insurance and others who are underinsured
These facts and Brock’s identity became well known to Americans – at least those who tuned in to the Sixty Minutes segment. Brock showed us up close just how tough things are for some people to have affordable and available care for their health needs. What came out of the show was that Brock realized he is suddenly caring for thousands more needy patients right here in America than he was in the Third World ! Brock repeated the shameful fact that 47 million people in America don’t have Health Care. THIS FIGURE OF 47 MILLION PEOPLE WITH NO HEALTH INSURANCE DOES NOT INCLUDE MEMBERS OF CONGRESS. They have the best care. And it’s Free. So do Senators. So does the Supreme Court. So do members of the Armed Forces. My take on all of them is that they deserve it.
SO DO THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.
While 47 million of us do not have basic health care, it should be noted that America DOES have the finest machine guns in history. We have multiple barrel cannons that can fire thousands of lethal shells in just one minute. America has cluster bombs that break apart in the air immediately when dropped, and out comes thousands of bombs the size of baseballs. How about that for smart? See, these thousand small bombs all detonate at different seconds, and just simply “walk” along the ground for a 1000 yards or so, killing everything in their path. And here’s an added benefit: a lot of them don’t detonate when they hit the ground. They just lie there, and when a member of the unfortunate community accidentally touches it, say a 5-year-old child, it blows the unfortunate to bits. America can really make weapons, you’ve got to admit. Not so good taking care of the health of its citizens, but weapons? Oh, yeah.
A limited examination of these facts indicates where the main thrusts in America are. Come on, folks, why don’t we level with each other? This war thing (war is by definition the act of killing people, remember) is just great for business. It provides contracts for trillions of dollars to the weapons guys, like Lockheed, General Electric, Grumman, Smith & Wesson, and several thousand or more smaller companies. These contracts all go to the same group of weapons makers, the bona fides of those companies having been proven with the manufacture of literally thousands of weapons in the past.
IKE warned us. He was nobody’s fool, not just a skillful Military Commander. He could see that the power of the money to be made on weapons would, if not checked vigorously, in short order get out of hand. And it has. Hasn’t it? America has been in more wars than any other nation on the planet. Ike called the real threat to America’s well being “The Military Industrial Complex.” He was right, but, I submit, incomplete. He left out the money given to lawmakers (Senators and House members) and how it buys the votes to make weapons, and then to make war to use them. So I think my take on Ike’s famous warning would be titled “The Military-Industrial-Finance Triumvirate” – or MIFT, in Pentagon acronym.
Democracy is a great experiment, but is it getting destabilized by the conjunction of capitalism? More than a few European countries have learned that Capitalism is a very sharp, two-edged sword that needs to be regulated. Or, rather, the individual practitioners of it have to be regulated. For example, if the lawmakers of a Democracy can freely be given large amounts of money, by those with a definite objective, doesn’t it stand to reason that the lawmakers will be very appreciative to the money-givers? Come on. Does it, or not? Pre-Logic 001 states that: If you’re a Congressman, or Senator, and a weapons manufacturer gives you $10,000 and a trip to the Bahamas and rides you anywhere you want to go on a multimillion dollar jet plane, how likely is it you will vote against an upcoming bill that could help that company? Notice I didn’t say anything about “Campaign Finance” or “Lobbyist” or “Special Interests”. I’m on good terms with my native tongue, so I use realistic, non-euphemism terms, like “money-giver,” money-receiver,” etc. Don’t you think it reads easier to use plain English terms?
If I were wanting to put all of the above thoughts and worries into an equation, say for Logic 101, it would be something like:
Lawmaker \ Money Gifts x Votes on weapons / (Quid Pro Quo)? = Ye$.
Well, this post started as a pat on the back for Stan Brock and his wonderful Remote Area Medicine group. The fact that Brock’s contributions now benefit more sick AMERICANS than those in 3rd World countries, should be a national disgrace. Everyone knows America has the best Machine Guns and Cannons and Cluster Bombs in the world, and the worst health care, at least for 47 million of us. Those with no health care are now ONE SIXTH of the U.S. population. (301 million, estimated July 2007). God.
I’ll make a prediction. A full year in advance. I predict that if either of the remaining candidates for President on the Democratic side brings up the issue – actually works at getting a bill to sign, making these promises of health care actual law - that the bill will DIE in the United States Senate, because of Republican opposition. 60 votes stops all discussion and a vote, but there is great doubt we can muster 60 Democrats in the U.S. Senate, or expect to get a handful of turncoat Republican votes to help us. I can even predict the euphemism smears the Rs will use to justify their votes against health care: they will call it Socialized Medicine, and everyone knows, they will hint, that’s BAD, so they must vote against it. I further predict that not one of the highly paid news talking heads will ask the Republicans to explain why it is BAD, and then challenge any bad logic or “facts.” (Keith will, maybe.)
So, what’ll it be? More machine guns than cannons, or vice versa, or a combo-pack: equal cannons and cluster bombs? If you add the really big cannons, the Artillery pieces, your price will come down considerably. And if you go into Iran within 60 days of any purchase, every fifth weapon is free, regardless of unit cost. What’ll it be? Because it looks like those will be your choices, once again.
OR – maybe, just maybe, we could get a 75% voter turnout in November (an Opium dream?) and end up with 65 Democratic Senators. God, how good would that be? There’s one way we can give it one hell of a try. Do everything in your power to try to get a Democrat elected in your area to the Senate. One might be enough. Two might.But with 50 Democratic Senators, nothin’s gonna happen on this subject
Monday, March 3, 2008
A PERSONAL AND PRIVATE DECISION
WHY MEDDLE INTO OTHERS’ DECISIONS?
The abortion discussion silenced forever
It was late in 1991. I was living in Austin, and GHW Bush had just completed his last dying gasp as President, with his own war in Kuwait/Iraq. See, these Presidents don’t just think of their Administration, or their accomplishments, they also like to think of their war. Or at least that’s the way it looks. Reagan had a tough time doing his, a real shooting one, that is, but he finally declared war on some construction workers in South America, and kicked hell out of them, or so I’m told.
Ann Richards was Governor of Texas at that time. There was a small jazz joint near the Capitol, on Congress Avenue in Austin. I was in there, and I saw her walk by. I saw her on a couple of occasions, but I’m not sure if she ever went in that jazz joint. I loved it, however. I later was able to consider her a friend.
Anyway, Ann Richards always carried herself with utmost dignity. She was a good governor, but, if you didn’t know it, the Governor in Texas is little more than a figurehead. I know, it’s not your normal setup, but that’s the way it’s done in Texas. The real power resides in the Legislature – the Governor just gets to sign bills, and say No to the condemned who ask to escape the death penalty. (See Karla Faye Tucker.)
Well, as you can figure out from the year, Ann was running for re-election of Governor while the warrior GHW Bush in Washington was running for re-election as President. She was making campaign stops, and speeches, etc. Typical stuff. There were a lot of issues in that particular campaign that Ann had to contend with, and parry, and expound on, etc. One day she gave a little talk to a small number of people in a crowded little Restaurant. It was a spur-of-the-moment friendly discussion, really, not a campaign stop. Someone asked her what was her stance on abortion. See, that was a big issue of the day. It really was. I wasn’t in the restaurant, having seen her go in there so I sort of listened for a bit at the door. This restaurant featured sidewalk seating, too. If you were in the sidewalk part of it, the walls to the inside were folded down, and you could see the whole restaurant. Sort of like in France, except the menus were in English. (I really would have preferred the Jazz Joint, but no one was playing. It was mid afternoon.)
So when Ann fielded that question – she answered the normal way, as I remember – it gave me the idea to contact her with my take on that question. I believed then, and I know now, that I had the most reasonable, most mature solution to this intense argument about abortion. This issue continues to stir up heated debate, year after year. There is plenty of room for the smear when talking about a candidate and this issue. You know, the inevitable hint that, if elected, so-and-so would repeal Roe Vs. Wade.
Rubbish!
So I decided to contact Ann immediately with my solution to the raging torrent of rhetoric on abortion. I really wanted her to be re-elected. I won’t elaborate, but her Republican opponent was known in Texas. I mean really known. To say he had a checkered past was itself a misdemeanor. So I wanted her to win re-election, and wrote her a nice letter. In it I offered what I considered the ultimate treatment of the abortion argument. I told her I was for making the argument a non-argument. Make it a non-starter. I remember I added (a little egotistically?) how she didn’t need to worry about winning re-election as Governor if she adopted this stance. I said she could probably run for Emperor. Well, anyway …
Given the chemistry involved in the medical condition that is necessary to make abortion the subject of discussion, I told Ann Richards in a nice letter that the answer to any argument on abortion as to yes or no is right there, staring us in the face.
I suggested the state, or preferably the Nation, declare a nationwide election with one question on it. Abortion. Do you want it legal? – yes or no. Any female citizen of voting age could vote. When the votes were finally tallied, by the all-female vote counters, we’d have the law on abortion decided. All in one day. Save all the rhetoric, and the heat.
It’s patently obvious why only females could vote. No man has a vote on this subject. It is for women to solve, without any interference. It is a woman’s body, her life, her decision. Any male is arrogant in the extreme to deign to intrude on this particular territory. Would these same men allow a vote on whether or not they could have a vasectomy, or a circumcision? You could hear them scream foul all the way to the Washington monument. Jeez …
Some of the objections are “… a woman doesn’t have the right to end a pregnancy.”
Yes she does.
Or, “…abortion is killing an unborn child.”
No it isn’t.
Or, “…The state hasn’t voted on it yet.”
The state includes a lot of MEN.
Ann wrote me back the nicest letter. She started with Dear Bob! You’ve certainly given me a lot to think about. I think it’s brilliant but I have to think about my constituents, especially the would-be fathers who would scream.” Etc. Etc.
She wrote me a nice letter, but I didn’t stop there. I wrote back and pointed out that the would-be fathers had no claim on the unborn child. None whatever. They gave it to the lady. In fact, in most cases, they passionately recommended that she accept it, if you catch my drift. So once it was a gift to the lady, they (the would-be fathers) had no legal standing as to what she could do with it.
I know, I know. This is a dry, sterile sort of legal argument on an otherwise emotional issue. But it is the only mature way to handle this one, for those very reasons. It strips the argument of the emotional overtones. Where the arguments heretofore have intruded on reality is in assuming that we men have a right, for God’s sake, to VOTE on what a woman can or cannot do with herself. God, you talk about hubris!
Well, some time passed and I never communicated with Governor Richards again, on this subject or any other. But, looking at what has been a subject full of emotion, anger and supposition, it’s really plain to see that the subject of abortion has to be handled maturely, by women, in every element of the decision. I have full confidence in the ladies to vote their beliefs, especially when they know they have the whole stage to themselves. I believe in the maturity and wisdom of women, when not interfered with, on a subject as incendiary as this one.
Faithfully, in the interest of the American people.
Bob
The abortion discussion silenced forever
It was late in 1991. I was living in Austin, and GHW Bush had just completed his last dying gasp as President, with his own war in Kuwait/Iraq. See, these Presidents don’t just think of their Administration, or their accomplishments, they also like to think of their war. Or at least that’s the way it looks. Reagan had a tough time doing his, a real shooting one, that is, but he finally declared war on some construction workers in South America, and kicked hell out of them, or so I’m told.
Ann Richards was Governor of Texas at that time. There was a small jazz joint near the Capitol, on Congress Avenue in Austin. I was in there, and I saw her walk by. I saw her on a couple of occasions, but I’m not sure if she ever went in that jazz joint. I loved it, however. I later was able to consider her a friend.
Anyway, Ann Richards always carried herself with utmost dignity. She was a good governor, but, if you didn’t know it, the Governor in Texas is little more than a figurehead. I know, it’s not your normal setup, but that’s the way it’s done in Texas. The real power resides in the Legislature – the Governor just gets to sign bills, and say No to the condemned who ask to escape the death penalty. (See Karla Faye Tucker.)
Well, as you can figure out from the year, Ann was running for re-election of Governor while the warrior GHW Bush in Washington was running for re-election as President. She was making campaign stops, and speeches, etc. Typical stuff. There were a lot of issues in that particular campaign that Ann had to contend with, and parry, and expound on, etc. One day she gave a little talk to a small number of people in a crowded little Restaurant. It was a spur-of-the-moment friendly discussion, really, not a campaign stop. Someone asked her what was her stance on abortion. See, that was a big issue of the day. It really was. I wasn’t in the restaurant, having seen her go in there so I sort of listened for a bit at the door. This restaurant featured sidewalk seating, too. If you were in the sidewalk part of it, the walls to the inside were folded down, and you could see the whole restaurant. Sort of like in France, except the menus were in English. (I really would have preferred the Jazz Joint, but no one was playing. It was mid afternoon.)
So when Ann fielded that question – she answered the normal way, as I remember – it gave me the idea to contact her with my take on that question. I believed then, and I know now, that I had the most reasonable, most mature solution to this intense argument about abortion. This issue continues to stir up heated debate, year after year. There is plenty of room for the smear when talking about a candidate and this issue. You know, the inevitable hint that, if elected, so-and-so would repeal Roe Vs. Wade.
Rubbish!
So I decided to contact Ann immediately with my solution to the raging torrent of rhetoric on abortion. I really wanted her to be re-elected. I won’t elaborate, but her Republican opponent was known in Texas. I mean really known. To say he had a checkered past was itself a misdemeanor. So I wanted her to win re-election, and wrote her a nice letter. In it I offered what I considered the ultimate treatment of the abortion argument. I told her I was for making the argument a non-argument. Make it a non-starter. I remember I added (a little egotistically?) how she didn’t need to worry about winning re-election as Governor if she adopted this stance. I said she could probably run for Emperor. Well, anyway …
Given the chemistry involved in the medical condition that is necessary to make abortion the subject of discussion, I told Ann Richards in a nice letter that the answer to any argument on abortion as to yes or no is right there, staring us in the face.
I suggested the state, or preferably the Nation, declare a nationwide election with one question on it. Abortion. Do you want it legal? – yes or no. Any female citizen of voting age could vote. When the votes were finally tallied, by the all-female vote counters, we’d have the law on abortion decided. All in one day. Save all the rhetoric, and the heat.
It’s patently obvious why only females could vote. No man has a vote on this subject. It is for women to solve, without any interference. It is a woman’s body, her life, her decision. Any male is arrogant in the extreme to deign to intrude on this particular territory. Would these same men allow a vote on whether or not they could have a vasectomy, or a circumcision? You could hear them scream foul all the way to the Washington monument. Jeez …
Some of the objections are “… a woman doesn’t have the right to end a pregnancy.”
Yes she does.
Or, “…abortion is killing an unborn child.”
No it isn’t.
Or, “…The state hasn’t voted on it yet.”
The state includes a lot of MEN.
Ann wrote me back the nicest letter. She started with Dear Bob! You’ve certainly given me a lot to think about. I think it’s brilliant but I have to think about my constituents, especially the would-be fathers who would scream.” Etc. Etc.
She wrote me a nice letter, but I didn’t stop there. I wrote back and pointed out that the would-be fathers had no claim on the unborn child. None whatever. They gave it to the lady. In fact, in most cases, they passionately recommended that she accept it, if you catch my drift. So once it was a gift to the lady, they (the would-be fathers) had no legal standing as to what she could do with it.
I know, I know. This is a dry, sterile sort of legal argument on an otherwise emotional issue. But it is the only mature way to handle this one, for those very reasons. It strips the argument of the emotional overtones. Where the arguments heretofore have intruded on reality is in assuming that we men have a right, for God’s sake, to VOTE on what a woman can or cannot do with herself. God, you talk about hubris!
Well, some time passed and I never communicated with Governor Richards again, on this subject or any other. But, looking at what has been a subject full of emotion, anger and supposition, it’s really plain to see that the subject of abortion has to be handled maturely, by women, in every element of the decision. I have full confidence in the ladies to vote their beliefs, especially when they know they have the whole stage to themselves. I believe in the maturity and wisdom of women, when not interfered with, on a subject as incendiary as this one.
Faithfully, in the interest of the American people.
Bob
SMEARING 101
THE CLOUT OF BELITTLING REPETITION
The World’s Only Contest Where This is Effective
This discussion is long overdue. Once again, we’ve allowed the talking heads of the Republican Party - the tiniest fraction of the American populace you could measure - to corrupt otherwise pleasant, very positive, normal descriptive terms in our language. It should be noted, they have been greatly (!) aided by their newest friends since January 2001, the Media lapdogs. When you read the true definitions of the word liberal, you get a completely different mental picture of the meaning of this word than you’ll get from the 24/7 news.
I’m really hoping readers will join me in this outrage against the Republican savaging of this lovely word. We NEED to stand up for what’s right. Our motto should be: Instantly Disparage Belittling Repetition. Any coach, or General, or advisor will tell you the wisdom of this tactic: when you finally completely understand the strategy of the opposition, you have at least 90% of the battle won. When any of your friends fall victim to the torrent of noise from Fox News, or other belittling Republican voices, gently and softly correct them.
MOST people don’t realize just how far the belittling of this pleasant word has gone !
Here’s how I found out: I’ve now asked on the order of 30 adults to define liberal and I swear to you on my honor I got a different definition from almost everyone. Of those active Republicans I asked, I got the standard lock-step answer. They defined liberal as Democratic, or, in their latest corruption of it, Democrat.
Let’ see – if we ask the highest authority (the dictionary) to define it we find it comes from the 14th Century, is of Anglo-French origin, and means, quite simply:
generous
marked by generosity
openhanded
ample, or full
not bound by restrictive authoritarianism
greater individual participation
a giver
a provider for others
Those Christians out there will quickly see Jesus Christ in these definitions. (I don’t know about Mohammed – I haven’t read his stuff.) That last definition is what I think the Republican smear-artists hate the most. No Child Left Behind was not given any money to make it work! - thus it instantly became a four word euphemism ! The Clean Water Act, amended 1977, gave the EPA the authority to control pollution. A good thing, right? Well, the EPA controlled pollution all right. They controlled it by relaxing pollution standards for CORPORATIONS, to save them money!! The Clean Water Act thus became a four-word euphemism. And on and on…..
A NEW DETAIL *** But we’re making some headway. A prominent writer* on the American condition made a momentous discovery as far as I know, a couple of years ago. Doing work for one of his books he asked the American people a lot of questions about their opinions, their beliefs and so forth, and the picture that emerged was that the United States, in this new millennium, is predominantly liberal. You can ask your neighbor if s/he believes in helping the poor, or wants laws passed to protect Children or animals, or make medicine not so prohibitive in price, etc. You will find the answers will border on 100% yes to these questions. This writer never used the word liberal, as I understand it. He just asked realistic questions, and look at the picture that emerged !! Think about this reality for a moment. When asked what their position is on all of those wonderful ideas above, helping the poor, helping children with medicine, food, protecting the aged and kids and animals, etc. etc. etc. practically 100% of Americans stood up and passed the humanity test. Certainly on the order of 8 or 9 out of 10. For instant proof: notice how much Americans give to those requests to help starving kids in Africa, or Darfur or Bangladesh.
BUT WHEN ASKED A QUESTION about Liberals, or for example liberalism, by a different questioner at a different time, a lot of these very same people (I know, it isn’t consistent) these very same people will tell you why they despise liberals. Out will come the buzz words: Baby killer – that stemmed from a liberal view of a woman’s right to have an abortion or not. Tree-hugger – that one to smear those of us who revere one of God’s greatest gifts to us, trees, and value trees over another ugly strip mall! Socialized medicine – that one to smear those of us who have the weird view that people in America should be protected from serious health issues – you know, like what we do for the Congress. Or the Supreme Court. Or members of the Armed Forces. Commie – (sometimes softened to Pinko) – that one to smear those of us who believe that anyone completely down and out, or nearly so, should be helped by the rest of us with some form of welfare, to give them a hand up. Cut and run – to smear those of us who recognize the folly, the insanity, indeed the utter arrogance of an unreasonable war, founded on lies to the Congress. Space in this post wouldn’t permit naming all of them, but readers have heard them, I’m sure, if paying attention.
There are thousands of contests of every description known to man, including Political contests. Of all the contests that take place, the smearing of the participants by outside onlookers is the only one I know of where saying bad things about the competition helps decide winner and loser ! Only in politics does smearing work. I mean, you could say Derek Jeter is a Muslim: that he fathered an illegitimate child, and never helps his Mother, but the next day he’d start seven double plays, hit .375 with no strikeouts, and steal four bases.
So – doesn’t it sound reasonable to say that we – ALL of us, certainly me included – really need to combat these smear experts? It occurs to me – and someone please enlighten me if I’m wrong – it occurs to me that the biggest purveyors of the smear are those comedians on AM radio …? The talk radio crowd? Right? Wrong? I do NOT listen to them, so I can’t be certain about numbers, but I’ve been tipped by a couple friends about that source of smear, and have read reports about them.
My take on this thing is, we absolutely have to stem the tide of belittling smears of our candidates, or officeholders, oreach other. My judgment tells me we should do it with grace, like Hannah did it, and not belittle the belittler, rather we should try to enlighten the belittler, in the belief that s/he is only repeating what he has been fed by those with that agenda. You might try my tactic: ask anyone who uses that word if they would define it for you. Do NOT correct them, let them talk. They’ll dig themselves into a hole. Then in your very softest demeanor, you might ask them why Webster defines it so much differently than their take on it. I told one of my respondents I was a writer and wanted to be sure I was using the word right. Wow – you should have heard him then – he got into high gear, and quickly repeated all the lock step Republican buzz words on what a liberal is, especially those of the talk radio who call liberals evil!
Oh. And be liberal in your appreciation that they deserve to have their own position.
*Name withheld to eliminate smearing.
Faithfully, in the interest of the American people
The World’s Only Contest Where This is Effective
This discussion is long overdue. Once again, we’ve allowed the talking heads of the Republican Party - the tiniest fraction of the American populace you could measure - to corrupt otherwise pleasant, very positive, normal descriptive terms in our language. It should be noted, they have been greatly (!) aided by their newest friends since January 2001, the Media lapdogs. When you read the true definitions of the word liberal, you get a completely different mental picture of the meaning of this word than you’ll get from the 24/7 news.
I’m really hoping readers will join me in this outrage against the Republican savaging of this lovely word. We NEED to stand up for what’s right. Our motto should be: Instantly Disparage Belittling Repetition. Any coach, or General, or advisor will tell you the wisdom of this tactic: when you finally completely understand the strategy of the opposition, you have at least 90% of the battle won. When any of your friends fall victim to the torrent of noise from Fox News, or other belittling Republican voices, gently and softly correct them.
MOST people don’t realize just how far the belittling of this pleasant word has gone !
Here’s how I found out: I’ve now asked on the order of 30 adults to define liberal and I swear to you on my honor I got a different definition from almost everyone. Of those active Republicans I asked, I got the standard lock-step answer. They defined liberal as Democratic, or, in their latest corruption of it, Democrat.
Let’ see – if we ask the highest authority (the dictionary) to define it we find it comes from the 14th Century, is of Anglo-French origin, and means, quite simply:
generous
marked by generosity
openhanded
ample, or full
not bound by restrictive authoritarianism
greater individual participation
a giver
a provider for others
Those Christians out there will quickly see Jesus Christ in these definitions. (I don’t know about Mohammed – I haven’t read his stuff.) That last definition is what I think the Republican smear-artists hate the most. No Child Left Behind was not given any money to make it work! - thus it instantly became a four word euphemism ! The Clean Water Act, amended 1977, gave the EPA the authority to control pollution. A good thing, right? Well, the EPA controlled pollution all right. They controlled it by relaxing pollution standards for CORPORATIONS, to save them money!! The Clean Water Act thus became a four-word euphemism. And on and on…..
A NEW DETAIL *** But we’re making some headway. A prominent writer* on the American condition made a momentous discovery as far as I know, a couple of years ago. Doing work for one of his books he asked the American people a lot of questions about their opinions, their beliefs and so forth, and the picture that emerged was that the United States, in this new millennium, is predominantly liberal. You can ask your neighbor if s/he believes in helping the poor, or wants laws passed to protect Children or animals, or make medicine not so prohibitive in price, etc. You will find the answers will border on 100% yes to these questions. This writer never used the word liberal, as I understand it. He just asked realistic questions, and look at the picture that emerged !! Think about this reality for a moment. When asked what their position is on all of those wonderful ideas above, helping the poor, helping children with medicine, food, protecting the aged and kids and animals, etc. etc. etc. practically 100% of Americans stood up and passed the humanity test. Certainly on the order of 8 or 9 out of 10. For instant proof: notice how much Americans give to those requests to help starving kids in Africa, or Darfur or Bangladesh.
BUT WHEN ASKED A QUESTION about Liberals, or for example liberalism, by a different questioner at a different time, a lot of these very same people (I know, it isn’t consistent) these very same people will tell you why they despise liberals. Out will come the buzz words: Baby killer – that stemmed from a liberal view of a woman’s right to have an abortion or not. Tree-hugger – that one to smear those of us who revere one of God’s greatest gifts to us, trees, and value trees over another ugly strip mall! Socialized medicine – that one to smear those of us who have the weird view that people in America should be protected from serious health issues – you know, like what we do for the Congress. Or the Supreme Court. Or members of the Armed Forces. Commie – (sometimes softened to Pinko) – that one to smear those of us who believe that anyone completely down and out, or nearly so, should be helped by the rest of us with some form of welfare, to give them a hand up. Cut and run – to smear those of us who recognize the folly, the insanity, indeed the utter arrogance of an unreasonable war, founded on lies to the Congress. Space in this post wouldn’t permit naming all of them, but readers have heard them, I’m sure, if paying attention.
There are thousands of contests of every description known to man, including Political contests. Of all the contests that take place, the smearing of the participants by outside onlookers is the only one I know of where saying bad things about the competition helps decide winner and loser ! Only in politics does smearing work. I mean, you could say Derek Jeter is a Muslim: that he fathered an illegitimate child, and never helps his Mother, but the next day he’d start seven double plays, hit .375 with no strikeouts, and steal four bases.
So – doesn’t it sound reasonable to say that we – ALL of us, certainly me included – really need to combat these smear experts? It occurs to me – and someone please enlighten me if I’m wrong – it occurs to me that the biggest purveyors of the smear are those comedians on AM radio …? The talk radio crowd? Right? Wrong? I do NOT listen to them, so I can’t be certain about numbers, but I’ve been tipped by a couple friends about that source of smear, and have read reports about them.
My take on this thing is, we absolutely have to stem the tide of belittling smears of our candidates, or officeholders, oreach other. My judgment tells me we should do it with grace, like Hannah did it, and not belittle the belittler, rather we should try to enlighten the belittler, in the belief that s/he is only repeating what he has been fed by those with that agenda. You might try my tactic: ask anyone who uses that word if they would define it for you. Do NOT correct them, let them talk. They’ll dig themselves into a hole. Then in your very softest demeanor, you might ask them why Webster defines it so much differently than their take on it. I told one of my respondents I was a writer and wanted to be sure I was using the word right. Wow – you should have heard him then – he got into high gear, and quickly repeated all the lock step Republican buzz words on what a liberal is, especially those of the talk radio who call liberals evil!
Oh. And be liberal in your appreciation that they deserve to have their own position.
*Name withheld to eliminate smearing.
Faithfully, in the interest of the American people
Sunday, March 2, 2008
MY BAD
THE ONE I MISSED
A ‘Defense Policy’ for OFFENSE?
In my last post, titled rhetorically Secretary of Peace? I pointed out the mindset and objectives of a group of NeoCons, addressing national Defense. The group was nominally headed by Richard Cheney, with assistance from Wolfowitz and Libby, and approved by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, namely Colin Powell. The gist of the post was that, in a huge document, Defense Planning Guidance, made public in 1992, this crowd quite humbly made it United States policy to:
take unilateral action where necessary (they did it eleven years later – 2003)
equate military and political power (like they did it in Iraq)
superpowers deserve super influence (Outrageous)
And, naturally, now that we know him a lot better, we know that the gist of the whole thing was Chicken Hawk Cheney’s dream for U.S domination by military supremacy.
Well, I pointed all that out in the other post (Secretary of Peace?) but what I missed in that effort makes me blush. I have rapidly become the guardian of the euphemism, it appears, and I missed a huge one in publishing that post. For God’s sake, when you create a binding government policy that calls for “unilateral action” (translation: bomb and kill and maim and destroy another country) and equate political power with military power (translation: if you can’t steal everything they have by talking, kill a few hundred thousand of them, they’ll come around) then in the name of honesty, HOW CAN YOU CALL IT A DEFENSE PLANNING GUIDANCE?
Unilateral military action is OFFENSE. Joining military power with political is OFFENSE.
So …there was another huge euphemism right in front of my face – I even linked the document for any reader to peruse it – and I failed to point it out. The bottom line is that, as my son Eric says, “…you can tell when Cheney’s lying… his lips will be moving.” This appraisal goes for all of those related to this document, and I just wanted to take a minute or so of your time to point out my failure to include it in the post.
It’s my unshakable belief that we cannot afford to allow this mob, or any succeeding one, to continue to control 99% of American people with the language! They never comprise one percent of us, so why are we allowing this?
Summary: a formal, written government document of policy that concerns itself 100% with offensive military action against others, and is named “Defense Policy”, is an outright lie. It tells us a lot about those who composed it. It shows, with no room for excuses, that since they lie about the document in its very title, they have something to hide. GOD, haven’t we had enough of this?
Barack, if you read this, I have a couple hundred million friends who are counting on you to sweep out that prevalence of stink in Washington. Please?
Faithfully, in the interest of the American people
Bob
A ‘Defense Policy’ for OFFENSE?
In my last post, titled rhetorically Secretary of Peace? I pointed out the mindset and objectives of a group of NeoCons, addressing national Defense. The group was nominally headed by Richard Cheney, with assistance from Wolfowitz and Libby, and approved by the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, namely Colin Powell. The gist of the post was that, in a huge document, Defense Planning Guidance, made public in 1992, this crowd quite humbly made it United States policy to:
take unilateral action where necessary (they did it eleven years later – 2003)
equate military and political power (like they did it in Iraq)
superpowers deserve super influence (Outrageous)
And, naturally, now that we know him a lot better, we know that the gist of the whole thing was Chicken Hawk Cheney’s dream for U.S domination by military supremacy.
Well, I pointed all that out in the other post (Secretary of Peace?) but what I missed in that effort makes me blush. I have rapidly become the guardian of the euphemism, it appears, and I missed a huge one in publishing that post. For God’s sake, when you create a binding government policy that calls for “unilateral action” (translation: bomb and kill and maim and destroy another country) and equate political power with military power (translation: if you can’t steal everything they have by talking, kill a few hundred thousand of them, they’ll come around) then in the name of honesty, HOW CAN YOU CALL IT A DEFENSE PLANNING GUIDANCE?
Unilateral military action is OFFENSE. Joining military power with political is OFFENSE.
So …there was another huge euphemism right in front of my face – I even linked the document for any reader to peruse it – and I failed to point it out. The bottom line is that, as my son Eric says, “…you can tell when Cheney’s lying… his lips will be moving.” This appraisal goes for all of those related to this document, and I just wanted to take a minute or so of your time to point out my failure to include it in the post.
It’s my unshakable belief that we cannot afford to allow this mob, or any succeeding one, to continue to control 99% of American people with the language! They never comprise one percent of us, so why are we allowing this?
Summary: a formal, written government document of policy that concerns itself 100% with offensive military action against others, and is named “Defense Policy”, is an outright lie. It tells us a lot about those who composed it. It shows, with no room for excuses, that since they lie about the document in its very title, they have something to hide. GOD, haven’t we had enough of this?
Barack, if you read this, I have a couple hundred million friends who are counting on you to sweep out that prevalence of stink in Washington. Please?
Faithfully, in the interest of the American people
Bob
Saturday, March 1, 2008
SECRETARY OF PEACE?
WE BETTER START NOW
Cheney in Charge of Anything?
I’ve recently been made aware of a number of documents that reflect the thinking of our current VP Cheney. That is to say, they reflect his thinking as far back as 1991, when he was in a very dangerous job, United States Secretary of Defense.
Everyone reading this knows Cheney is the leading Chicken Hawk of all time. He was petrified with fear when he was at the age to go to war, in Vietnam. It is said he got five deferments from service. Later, when much too old and asked about it, his arrogant answer was “…I had other priorities.” So we have a man who is actually a heartbeat away from the Presidency, who apparently loves the idea of war (war, removed from its euphemistic status, translates as the killing of human beings). Chicken Hawk translates as “…One who is so cowardly he won’t fight wars, but is in love with the idea, as long as others do the fighting, killing, and especially dying.”
Here was his dictum in 1992:
“The United States should use its power to prevent the reemergence of a new rival, either on former Soviet territory or elsewhere” declared a controversial draft of the Defense Planning Guidance (DPG) prepared by then Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney's Pentagon and leaked to The New York Times in March 1992.
The word power is focused in that sentence because Mr. Cheney did NOT mean persuasive power, or debate power, or even money. He meant military action. He meant bombing others. Strafing. Torpedoes at sea. Incendiary bombing of towns and individuals. Killing people.
Declassified now on the National Security Archive Web site, this draft shows how defense officials during the administration of GHW Bush, directed by Lewis Libby (then working under Cheney as Under Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Resources) tried to develop a strategy for maintaining U.S. preponderance in the new post-Cold War, post-Soviet era
Take a look at how complete these armchair warriors were in their planning: While they cooked up this “…Bomb ‘em first, before they react, to show ‘em who’s the big dog” strategy, they raised a ton of strategic thinking and other questions worth exploring – with my notes in brackets:
the role of independent or unilateral action (Iraq 2003- ELEVEN years before they did)
the relationship between military and political power (Neocons blur the two now)
the extent to which superpower status confers diplomatic influence. (Outrageous)
This last one is the prime example definition of bullyism.
BULLIES - the perfect description for Cheney and his ilk at that time. They never considered anything other than force to settle any issue. And if I’m reading their words correctly, if they didn’t have an issue at hand, it shouldn’t be too hard to make one. Look how well it worked in Iraq.
This scurrilous document was approved by JCS Chairman General Colin Powell and Paul Wolfowitz, another notable Chicken Hawk. Proposing this stuff right after the collapse of the Soviet Union, this crowd of Republicans wanted to preserve the unique position of American Military power that had emerged.
The gist of the whole thing was Chicken Hawk Cheney’s requirements for Military supremacy. Never mind that 50 years of cold war had just ended. World War II had been heinous in nature. War in Korea was a big flop, as was Vietnam, a bigger one. Cheney wanted to keep America a big Military threat to all comers.
Wonder why he never thought of PEACE as a national objective? As you think of these facts and these documents, mentally compare Cheney with Barack Obama. Cheney comes off as a loud midget, much like those little dogs who yap incessantly.
Some of their main points were, taken directly from the DPG, show just how serious their thinking was on this concept of the United States throwing its military might around.
▪ Pursue the "military-technological revolution" to preserve its superiority in the latest weapons systems (e.g., smart munitions)
▪ Sustain the "forward" presence of U.S. ground, air, and naval forces in strategically important areas, and to provide a capability to respond to crises affecting significant interests, such as access to markets and energy supplies. (Energy? Of course.)
▪ Preserve a smaller but diverse "mix" of survivable nuclear forces to support a global role, validate security guarantees, and deter Russian nuclear forces
▪ Field a missile defense system as a shield against accidental missile launches or limited missile strikes by "international outlaws"
▪ Maintain a capability to reconstitute military forces
And other martial activities. In particular, the documents of the DPG show (in particular Documents 6a and 6b) that “he was closely involved in overseeing the process, and that Wolfowitz and Libby were careful to ensure that the language, such as on unilateral options, reflected his preferences.”
This is the mind of our current Vice President. His emphasis on eliminating any rivals before they become rivals certainly acts as a template, a design, for the Doctrine of hubris employed by the mentally challenged younger Bush in Iraq now, and if he has his way, in Iran tomorrow.
One can draw his own conclusions, or distinctions, between individuals, but does it occur to any reader besides me, that these descriptions of Cheney’s thinking, as shown in these critical documents, and as carried out by younger Bush, sound an awful lot like John McCain? Might John McCain act and think the same way, if he somehow got the power to implement more of this? I for one, amateur pollster that I am, don’t think that eventuality has the chance of a snowball in hell. I hope I’m right.
Faithfully, in the interest of the American people
Cheney in Charge of Anything?
I’ve recently been made aware of a number of documents that reflect the thinking of our current VP Cheney. That is to say, they reflect his thinking as far back as 1991, when he was in a very dangerous job, United States Secretary of Defense.
Everyone reading this knows Cheney is the leading Chicken Hawk of all time. He was petrified with fear when he was at the age to go to war, in Vietnam. It is said he got five deferments from service. Later, when much too old and asked about it, his arrogant answer was “…I had other priorities.” So we have a man who is actually a heartbeat away from the Presidency, who apparently loves the idea of war (war, removed from its euphemistic status, translates as the killing of human beings). Chicken Hawk translates as “…One who is so cowardly he won’t fight wars, but is in love with the idea, as long as others do the fighting, killing, and especially dying.”
Here was his dictum in 1992:
“The United States should use its power to prevent the reemergence of a new rival, either on former Soviet territory or elsewhere” declared a controversial draft of the Defense Planning Guidance (DPG) prepared by then Secretary of Defense Richard Cheney's Pentagon and leaked to The New York Times in March 1992.
The word power is focused in that sentence because Mr. Cheney did NOT mean persuasive power, or debate power, or even money. He meant military action. He meant bombing others. Strafing. Torpedoes at sea. Incendiary bombing of towns and individuals. Killing people.
Declassified now on the National Security Archive Web site, this draft shows how defense officials during the administration of GHW Bush, directed by Lewis Libby (then working under Cheney as Under Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Resources) tried to develop a strategy for maintaining U.S. preponderance in the new post-Cold War, post-Soviet era
Take a look at how complete these armchair warriors were in their planning: While they cooked up this “…Bomb ‘em first, before they react, to show ‘em who’s the big dog” strategy, they raised a ton of strategic thinking and other questions worth exploring – with my notes in brackets:
the role of independent or unilateral action (Iraq 2003- ELEVEN years before they did)
the relationship between military and political power (Neocons blur the two now)
the extent to which superpower status confers diplomatic influence. (Outrageous)
This last one is the prime example definition of bullyism.
BULLIES - the perfect description for Cheney and his ilk at that time. They never considered anything other than force to settle any issue. And if I’m reading their words correctly, if they didn’t have an issue at hand, it shouldn’t be too hard to make one. Look how well it worked in Iraq.
This scurrilous document was approved by JCS Chairman General Colin Powell and Paul Wolfowitz, another notable Chicken Hawk. Proposing this stuff right after the collapse of the Soviet Union, this crowd of Republicans wanted to preserve the unique position of American Military power that had emerged.
The gist of the whole thing was Chicken Hawk Cheney’s requirements for Military supremacy. Never mind that 50 years of cold war had just ended. World War II had been heinous in nature. War in Korea was a big flop, as was Vietnam, a bigger one. Cheney wanted to keep America a big Military threat to all comers.
Wonder why he never thought of PEACE as a national objective? As you think of these facts and these documents, mentally compare Cheney with Barack Obama. Cheney comes off as a loud midget, much like those little dogs who yap incessantly.
Some of their main points were, taken directly from the DPG, show just how serious their thinking was on this concept of the United States throwing its military might around.
▪ Pursue the "military-technological revolution" to preserve its superiority in the latest weapons systems (e.g., smart munitions)
▪ Sustain the "forward" presence of U.S. ground, air, and naval forces in strategically important areas, and to provide a capability to respond to crises affecting significant interests, such as access to markets and energy supplies. (Energy? Of course.)
▪ Preserve a smaller but diverse "mix" of survivable nuclear forces to support a global role, validate security guarantees, and deter Russian nuclear forces
▪ Field a missile defense system as a shield against accidental missile launches or limited missile strikes by "international outlaws"
▪ Maintain a capability to reconstitute military forces
And other martial activities. In particular, the documents of the DPG show (in particular Documents 6a and 6b) that “he was closely involved in overseeing the process, and that Wolfowitz and Libby were careful to ensure that the language, such as on unilateral options, reflected his preferences.”
This is the mind of our current Vice President. His emphasis on eliminating any rivals before they become rivals certainly acts as a template, a design, for the Doctrine of hubris employed by the mentally challenged younger Bush in Iraq now, and if he has his way, in Iran tomorrow.
One can draw his own conclusions, or distinctions, between individuals, but does it occur to any reader besides me, that these descriptions of Cheney’s thinking, as shown in these critical documents, and as carried out by younger Bush, sound an awful lot like John McCain? Might John McCain act and think the same way, if he somehow got the power to implement more of this? I for one, amateur pollster that I am, don’t think that eventuality has the chance of a snowball in hell. I hope I’m right.
Faithfully, in the interest of the American people
A TALE OF TWO WOMEN
LIFE IS FULL OF CHOICES
On spotting the Real McCoy
It was the worst of times..... No, that’s it. It was the worst of times. I mean, we were in
the midst of the Neocon revolution. It was definitely not the age of wisdom. I mean, how wise was that one guy who said, “…tis a far, far better thing I do,” as he was fitted to a guillotine, for God’s sake. Carlton, I think it was – but whoever, we are not talking about the brightest bulb in the chandelier.
ANYWAY … the invasion of the offending country of Potta-me was on, the struggle to remove the ruling regime to get at their minerals was in full swing. The rockets were firing, the bombs were bursting in air (I think we got that idea from a song, as I understand it) and it was incredible, for sure. There was a lot of hope in the capitol of BraveFreeland. But not much hope for the people of the other land, which was called Potta-Me. Their cities were burning, their people were dying, and their King with the large jaw was hiding away, safe and secure.
So – as you can see, things were really violent. It was the worst of times. The neocons said they would triumph in two weeks, and the cost for the struggle would be no more than a hundred guineas. They should have named themselves just ‘cons’ cause that was their m.o. – nothing new about what they were doing. They also said we would rejoice in Heaven. Others said we were already halfway to Hell. But that was just the bleak situation on the ground. All of that would soon be greatly alleviated, they told us, because the ruling body had one of the two most famous women ever known. The warlike nation – the Neo-Colonial Conquerors, Neocons for short, had just introduced this famous damnsel to the country, promising she would do whatever it would take.
Her name was Dee. She had been brought to the King by Prince George of the famous Schultz dynasty. The Prince had been a king in the past and was now fashionably retired. Dee hadn’t created any wine from water, or healed any sickly people, but if we were to believe Prince George, she could just about walk on water. Dee was, however, a bit slow to act. I mean, you could call her to come on and help you, and she was not in any hurry to do it. This happened so much, that people would have to bear down on the request, saying ‘Come on, Dee, come on!” After a while – because they had to say it so much, they shortened it, and she became known as “C’mondee.” Soon the superwoman C’mondee was soaring off in airplanes, always waving at the entrance to the plane. It was said that she could take more steps in a short walk than any human being on earth. Well, sure, her steps measured about 6 inches each, so she was hands down the champion in number-of-steps-per-yard-walked. But since she had so many shoes and could play a little piano she was known affectionately as a pretty handy dame, by those who knew her well. She liked that nickname so much she used the initials a lot in her correspondence – signing letters as p h d. But what she really did best was wave at airplanes. And she was greatly appreciated for it by the Neocons.
But just when C’mondee got revved up, in about her third year of waving at planes, the people of PottaMe pulled a fast one. Even though their King with the large Jaw had been defeated and sent to the guillotine, and the troops of PottaMe disbanded, there came to be a ragtag “army” - if you can call it that - of private citizens who then turned on the soldiers of the Neocons. Yep, C’mondee herself said as she came out of a plane just before she waved: “No one could have predicted the citizens would arm themselves and begin killing the Neocon soldiers.” It happened that a former Sultan of NeoColonia had predicted just that – he had warned the Neocons’ ruling body that it would be exactly what would happen. And so it did. And the ruling officer of the Neocons just defended this enormous blunder with a curious sound all his own:
heh-heh-heh. (He was the only one who could make that sound.)
So the invasion dragged on, with the Neocon Armed Forces being micro-managed by the Fellow-of-No-Delicacy. Contrary to all other military wisdom and experience, he insisted on doing things HIS way. One day he was struck in the butt by a baton swung by a Neocon at a parade. The next day they were calling him swelled-bum, or was it bums-swelled? One of the two. Thus it was that swelled-bum, or whatever, managed the invasion and the war, and C’mondee handled the waving at airplanes. She could do this so well, because, as she so often pointed out, she had 1777 shoes. When questioned about the fact that shoes come in pairs – so how could she have an odd number? her answer was always the same: “What? When she was asked why so many? She answered the same way. Strange. And each time she was asked anything at all, the Sultan was heard to utter heh-heh-heh.
Well, this dreary existence reached into it sixth year. All was despair in PottaMe because of the death and destruction there. The despair existed also in NeoColonia – or BraveFreeLand as so many preferred to call it - because of the death of too many soldiers and the destruction of the economy. Well, at the end of the sixth year there was an uprising of sorts. The people called it a ‘Choosing’ when they got together and chose a lot of people by name to be favorites, or something. I know, it’s strange, but that’s what they did. And on this particular ‘Choosing Day,’ lo and behold the people demanded that Bum-swelled be ousted ! They left C’mondee in her job because she could wave so well and had 1777 shoes, but now the Sultan of the country was in real trouble, too. The people didn’t unChoose him at that time, altho’ millions of them said they should have. His reaction was heh-heh-heh. Strange.
ENTER the “non-C’mondee.” The reign of the Sultan and the Neocons dragged into its 8th year with no end in sight of the Invasion of Potta-Me, with more death and destruction. The people of NeoColonia land were getting more and more agitated at the cost to the country, and the lousy economy, and the fact that C’mondee wasn’t waving anymore. That one really hacked the citizenry. The people of Potta-Me were more agitated, actually up in arms, saying to worldwide audiences that the Neocons had made a Mess of Potamee. And in fact the bombing had done just that. They would chant in the square: “mess-o-potamee”, mess-o-potamee”. That was kind of hard to say, and some of the time the words were garbled a bit.
But the end was in sight, although no one in either country could have forecast it. So it was at this time in Neocolonia there appeared a new warrior, who was a rock in every sense of the word. He wouldn’t take defeat for an answer, and constantly repeated his favorite mantra, “Yes we canna.” Mostly shortened to “wecanna’. He even translated it into Spanish which was: si se puede.” Anyway, this stalwart brought with him a female companion, whose name was Hannah. Hannah Wecanna. This woman was the exact opposite of C’mondee in every way. She owned four pairs of shoes. Instead of waving, she just carried a blackberry. She wasn’t slight, she was strong, sinewy, had a very straight-forward air of honesty about her, and man, she could speak. I mean, there are those who can talk, and chat, but this woman could speak, like in public, to groups. And she walked with steps of two and a half feet, like most men. The Neocons recognized her as a real threat to their manipulation of the country because the lawgivers had conferred upon her the title of Harvardiana. Some called her Hannah from Harvardiana, which is where she got her name – no one ever came forth to state her original name, but it didn’t matter. She and the Rock made a formidable pair – Rock Wecanna, and Hanna Harvardiana.
Hannah just simply, and without any fanfare, decided that things in NeoColonia were going to change. She was going to help whoever was best qualified for the title of Sultan, to get it done. And so she did. When the NeoColonia smear machine went into high gear and began to try to smear a candidate, Hannah simply struck them down with class and undeniable logic, and always with a half smile of confidence and honesty.
Her parents were happy at her success, but not surprised. They said she had always been a predictably happy daughter, so she just chose the initials p h d to sign.
She owned four pairs of shoes, if you count the pumps, which she despised wearing. She didn’t fly on planes much, but when she did, she simply got on the plane and took a seat, like all the others, saying goodbye in her Blackberry.
All this time, the present Sultan of NeoColonia was beginning to see the handwriting on the wall. That was another curious thing the Neocon populace did every so often, usually in four year increments, they wrote a lot on the walls. I know, that’s really strange. THEN - In a feeble attempt to dissuade the populace from throwing him out, the Sultan kept murmuring, “…I can protect you – be afraid, heh-heh-heh.” I can keep the nuculars off of you, heh-heh-heh.”
But the people were tired of the same old lies. They were tired of being afraid. One
by one they stood up to say: It’s time for our country to have a nice day. It’s way past time, for a calm revolution, if that’s what it’s going to take. Let’s get on with it now, inspired by the Lady with Grace.
After that, thousands of them just took to the streets, and a swell of millions headed toward the Capitol of Brave Free Land (which had been acting more like WhimperingPrisonerland.) THEN without even one rehearsal, they broke into a victory chant as they marched. From the throats of the people who finally felt free enough to hold up their heads again came this glorious declaration:
Hannah, Hannah, from Harvardiana - From Washington DC, not Indiana
Out of the Bush League, she stately appeared
Laughed at euphemisms everyone feared
Down came the pretense, the ploys and the lies - Hannah just cut them all down to size
What happened next is plain to see - It’s as plain as the nose on your face
Hannah, Hannah, from Harvadiana - A person of wisdom and Grace,
Swept away neos and also the cons- And always with a smiling face.
As the crowd neared the Capitol, one by one the people in this vast number began to spot a face in a window. Too far away, couldn’t tell who it was, but a route leader signaled for everyone to hush. When they did, they heard heh-heh-heh from the window. – and heh-heh-heh.
Hannah looked at The Rock. He looked at her and smiled. And it was the best of times.
Faithfully, in the interest of the American people
Bob
On spotting the Real McCoy
It was the worst of times..... No, that’s it. It was the worst of times. I mean, we were in
the midst of the Neocon revolution. It was definitely not the age of wisdom. I mean, how wise was that one guy who said, “…tis a far, far better thing I do,” as he was fitted to a guillotine, for God’s sake. Carlton, I think it was – but whoever, we are not talking about the brightest bulb in the chandelier.
ANYWAY … the invasion of the offending country of Potta-me was on, the struggle to remove the ruling regime to get at their minerals was in full swing. The rockets were firing, the bombs were bursting in air (I think we got that idea from a song, as I understand it) and it was incredible, for sure. There was a lot of hope in the capitol of BraveFreeland. But not much hope for the people of the other land, which was called Potta-Me. Their cities were burning, their people were dying, and their King with the large jaw was hiding away, safe and secure.
So – as you can see, things were really violent. It was the worst of times. The neocons said they would triumph in two weeks, and the cost for the struggle would be no more than a hundred guineas. They should have named themselves just ‘cons’ cause that was their m.o. – nothing new about what they were doing. They also said we would rejoice in Heaven. Others said we were already halfway to Hell. But that was just the bleak situation on the ground. All of that would soon be greatly alleviated, they told us, because the ruling body had one of the two most famous women ever known. The warlike nation – the Neo-Colonial Conquerors, Neocons for short, had just introduced this famous damnsel to the country, promising she would do whatever it would take.
Her name was Dee. She had been brought to the King by Prince George of the famous Schultz dynasty. The Prince had been a king in the past and was now fashionably retired. Dee hadn’t created any wine from water, or healed any sickly people, but if we were to believe Prince George, she could just about walk on water. Dee was, however, a bit slow to act. I mean, you could call her to come on and help you, and she was not in any hurry to do it. This happened so much, that people would have to bear down on the request, saying ‘Come on, Dee, come on!” After a while – because they had to say it so much, they shortened it, and she became known as “C’mondee.” Soon the superwoman C’mondee was soaring off in airplanes, always waving at the entrance to the plane. It was said that she could take more steps in a short walk than any human being on earth. Well, sure, her steps measured about 6 inches each, so she was hands down the champion in number-of-steps-per-yard-walked. But since she had so many shoes and could play a little piano she was known affectionately as a pretty handy dame, by those who knew her well. She liked that nickname so much she used the initials a lot in her correspondence – signing letters as p h d. But what she really did best was wave at airplanes. And she was greatly appreciated for it by the Neocons.
But just when C’mondee got revved up, in about her third year of waving at planes, the people of PottaMe pulled a fast one. Even though their King with the large Jaw had been defeated and sent to the guillotine, and the troops of PottaMe disbanded, there came to be a ragtag “army” - if you can call it that - of private citizens who then turned on the soldiers of the Neocons. Yep, C’mondee herself said as she came out of a plane just before she waved: “No one could have predicted the citizens would arm themselves and begin killing the Neocon soldiers.” It happened that a former Sultan of NeoColonia had predicted just that – he had warned the Neocons’ ruling body that it would be exactly what would happen. And so it did. And the ruling officer of the Neocons just defended this enormous blunder with a curious sound all his own:
heh-heh-heh. (He was the only one who could make that sound.)
So the invasion dragged on, with the Neocon Armed Forces being micro-managed by the Fellow-of-No-Delicacy. Contrary to all other military wisdom and experience, he insisted on doing things HIS way. One day he was struck in the butt by a baton swung by a Neocon at a parade. The next day they were calling him swelled-bum, or was it bums-swelled? One of the two. Thus it was that swelled-bum, or whatever, managed the invasion and the war, and C’mondee handled the waving at airplanes. She could do this so well, because, as she so often pointed out, she had 1777 shoes. When questioned about the fact that shoes come in pairs – so how could she have an odd number? her answer was always the same: “What? When she was asked why so many? She answered the same way. Strange. And each time she was asked anything at all, the Sultan was heard to utter heh-heh-heh.
Well, this dreary existence reached into it sixth year. All was despair in PottaMe because of the death and destruction there. The despair existed also in NeoColonia – or BraveFreeLand as so many preferred to call it - because of the death of too many soldiers and the destruction of the economy. Well, at the end of the sixth year there was an uprising of sorts. The people called it a ‘Choosing’ when they got together and chose a lot of people by name to be favorites, or something. I know, it’s strange, but that’s what they did. And on this particular ‘Choosing Day,’ lo and behold the people demanded that Bum-swelled be ousted ! They left C’mondee in her job because she could wave so well and had 1777 shoes, but now the Sultan of the country was in real trouble, too. The people didn’t unChoose him at that time, altho’ millions of them said they should have. His reaction was heh-heh-heh. Strange.
ENTER the “non-C’mondee.” The reign of the Sultan and the Neocons dragged into its 8th year with no end in sight of the Invasion of Potta-Me, with more death and destruction. The people of NeoColonia land were getting more and more agitated at the cost to the country, and the lousy economy, and the fact that C’mondee wasn’t waving anymore. That one really hacked the citizenry. The people of Potta-Me were more agitated, actually up in arms, saying to worldwide audiences that the Neocons had made a Mess of Potamee. And in fact the bombing had done just that. They would chant in the square: “mess-o-potamee”, mess-o-potamee”. That was kind of hard to say, and some of the time the words were garbled a bit.
But the end was in sight, although no one in either country could have forecast it. So it was at this time in Neocolonia there appeared a new warrior, who was a rock in every sense of the word. He wouldn’t take defeat for an answer, and constantly repeated his favorite mantra, “Yes we canna.” Mostly shortened to “wecanna’. He even translated it into Spanish which was: si se puede.” Anyway, this stalwart brought with him a female companion, whose name was Hannah. Hannah Wecanna. This woman was the exact opposite of C’mondee in every way. She owned four pairs of shoes. Instead of waving, she just carried a blackberry. She wasn’t slight, she was strong, sinewy, had a very straight-forward air of honesty about her, and man, she could speak. I mean, there are those who can talk, and chat, but this woman could speak, like in public, to groups. And she walked with steps of two and a half feet, like most men. The Neocons recognized her as a real threat to their manipulation of the country because the lawgivers had conferred upon her the title of Harvardiana. Some called her Hannah from Harvardiana, which is where she got her name – no one ever came forth to state her original name, but it didn’t matter. She and the Rock made a formidable pair – Rock Wecanna, and Hanna Harvardiana.
Hannah just simply, and without any fanfare, decided that things in NeoColonia were going to change. She was going to help whoever was best qualified for the title of Sultan, to get it done. And so she did. When the NeoColonia smear machine went into high gear and began to try to smear a candidate, Hannah simply struck them down with class and undeniable logic, and always with a half smile of confidence and honesty.
Her parents were happy at her success, but not surprised. They said she had always been a predictably happy daughter, so she just chose the initials p h d to sign.
She owned four pairs of shoes, if you count the pumps, which she despised wearing. She didn’t fly on planes much, but when she did, she simply got on the plane and took a seat, like all the others, saying goodbye in her Blackberry.
All this time, the present Sultan of NeoColonia was beginning to see the handwriting on the wall. That was another curious thing the Neocon populace did every so often, usually in four year increments, they wrote a lot on the walls. I know, that’s really strange. THEN - In a feeble attempt to dissuade the populace from throwing him out, the Sultan kept murmuring, “…I can protect you – be afraid, heh-heh-heh.” I can keep the nuculars off of you, heh-heh-heh.”
But the people were tired of the same old lies. They were tired of being afraid. One
by one they stood up to say: It’s time for our country to have a nice day. It’s way past time, for a calm revolution, if that’s what it’s going to take. Let’s get on with it now, inspired by the Lady with Grace.
After that, thousands of them just took to the streets, and a swell of millions headed toward the Capitol of Brave Free Land (which had been acting more like WhimperingPrisonerland.) THEN without even one rehearsal, they broke into a victory chant as they marched. From the throats of the people who finally felt free enough to hold up their heads again came this glorious declaration:
Hannah, Hannah, from Harvardiana - From Washington DC, not Indiana
Out of the Bush League, she stately appeared
Laughed at euphemisms everyone feared
Down came the pretense, the ploys and the lies - Hannah just cut them all down to size
What happened next is plain to see - It’s as plain as the nose on your face
Hannah, Hannah, from Harvadiana - A person of wisdom and Grace,
Swept away neos and also the cons- And always with a smiling face.
As the crowd neared the Capitol, one by one the people in this vast number began to spot a face in a window. Too far away, couldn’t tell who it was, but a route leader signaled for everyone to hush. When they did, they heard heh-heh-heh from the window. – and heh-heh-heh.
Hannah looked at The Rock. He looked at her and smiled. And it was the best of times.
Faithfully, in the interest of the American people
Bob
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