Category: Politics

Program shows CIA behind Wikipedia entries – ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)

With their baffling means of operating, the CIA and other US government agencies have given Wikipedia the greatest endorsement of legitimacy. If the greatest institutions that the US government has erected in the service of dissembling and misinforming have elected to target Wikipedia, then it must be the case that Wikipedia is a superb and reliable source of information.

Why theese agancies care to modify the entry regarding Adam Smith may remain classified for eternity, however.

White House Manual Details How to Deal With Protesters – washingtonpost.com

Why is it that there is so much more documentation of the GOP’s expertise in staging appearances and playing dirty politics than there is documentation of expertise in military and economic theory and management? When they are compared with the military failures in Iraq economic discord here in the US, the public relations successes of the White House strongly hint at the distinct absence of manuals for economic and military success.

Cisco CEO sees strong world economy, U.S. bumps – washingtonpost.com

There is ample political criticism in the commentary of CEOs like Cisco’s John Chambers. All CEOs of major American companies see opportunities for growth in every corner of the planet except in the United States. If this does not frighten people of the political establishment in the US, then it ought to give them pause, at the very least, when it is time to digest claims that slashing taxes and deregulating markets are beneficial. After all, according to CEOs, the net effect of reducing taxation and relaxing regulations in the US has been the creating of economic growth outside the US.

NIE Cites ‘Uneven’ Security Gains, Faults Iraqi Leaders – washingtonpost.com

Another government report is released, and yet again, the picture it paints contradicts virtually every claim made by the prosecutors of the military operation in Iraq. The National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) released August 24, 2007, contains many discouraging findings, of which the following is typical.

The IC [Intelligence Community] assesses that the Iraqi Government will become more precarious over the next six to 12 months because of criticism by other members of the major Shia coalition (the Unified Iraqi Alliance, UIA), Grand Ayatollah Sistani, and other Sunni and Kurdish
parties. Divisions between Maliki and the Sadrists have increased, and Shia factions have explored alternative coalitions aimed at constraining Maliki.

It will be shocking if the highly anticipated Petraeus report contradicts any of these findings. After all, the findings of the Director of National defense have been quite consistent over the past few years. So, how on earth could Petraeus produce a report that categorically contradicts every one of the DNI’s major findings and the findings of other government and military bodies for the past four years? How could one general produce an assessment of reality that differs dramatically from the assessments of all of his predecessors? Why do these senseless pleas for patience keep finding sympathetic ears? Isn’t anyone listening?

And, if Petreaus does contradict everybody, would that mean that Commander in Chief was stupid enough to appoint boneheads to lead the Iraqi operation for the past four years? Or would it mean that Petraeus is the bonehead? The American psyche is plagued with such a pernicious insolence when it comes to reasoning that is not surprising at all that the majority fail to reason that Petraeus’ report will be damning to the White House no matter what it says.

Going to war leaves US soldiers’ kids at risk – health – 31 July 2007 – New Scientist

It seems as if the entire American identity is wrapped in the admirable shroud of World War II. Every military involvement is compared with it, every aspect of American pride derives from it, and every criticism of American foreign policy is refuted with it. It is as if World War II alone was sufficient to place the United States in a state of permanent nobility and, thus, burden her with unspeakable noblesse oblige that began with the Cold War and is now ending with the New World Order.

But this is a grand delusion that is eroding every vital fiber of American society. To expose the delusion, one only needs to compare the horrible fate that meets current American soldiers with the fate of WW II veterans to realize how far the US worldview has deteriorated since World War II. WW II veterans returned to heroes’ welcome, received economic help upon their return, and prospered in the economic boom that resulted from Europe’s destruction.

Since WW II, however, soldiers return to pathetic economic conditions, receive little or no help from the government that conscripted them, and struggle in a competitive economy that is quickly losing ground to resurgent Europe and East Asia. From the dreadful conditions that visited Vietnam veterans (as documented by Oliver Stone and countless others) to the recent scandals at the Walter Reed hospital, the only conclusion supported by the evidence is that the American soldier is not the honorable person he (or she) used to be.

If that were not enough, the above article cites new evidence that the unusual suffering of the soldiers’ families is not relieved in any way by the military, either. The data are fresh, and the military may yet act, but given the military’s inaction in the face of grave problems in the past, the children of soldiers serving in Iraq may continue to suffer inordinately high rates of abuse and neglect until a crisis shames the miliatry into action.

WW II soldiers were heroes, and veterans of all the subsequent wars slaves, in comparison.

Hamas says Abbas accidentally paid its fighters | International | Reuters

The phrase itself is an oxymoron, “Palestinian Winner”. Unlike any other political race in the world, Palestinian politics is a race composed entirely of losers. Whether it’s the Palestinians choosing Hamas, or the US and Israel choosing Abu Mazen’s Fattah party, nobody can find a winner. Or even a party that is not a horrible, wretched loser.

White House Budget Director Portman Resigns – washingtonpost.com

Sobering feedback based on the best available economic data was never welcome at the Bush White House according to the Treasury Secretaries (Paul O’Neill and John Snow) who have resigned after discovering that they were playing ceremonial roles in the Bush Cabinet. This latest resignation (article above) reaffirms the intense politicization of everything that is under way in the Bush Administration.

The funniest aspect, or the most vexing aspect depending on one’s point of view, is that the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has consistently shown that the federal deficit 1) resulted from the Bush tax cuts and 2) the federal deficit will disappear as soon as the Bush tax cuts expire in both its July 2006 (pdf) economic forecast and its January 2007 (pdf) economic forecast. The summary, page IX, of the 2006 projection states quite flatly:

After 2010, it [the federal deficit] would decline sharply, reflecting the rapid increase in tax revenues that would occur after provisions initially enacted in the Economic Growth and Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2001 (EGTRRA) and the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 (JGTRRA) expired. By 2016, the deficit would decline to 0.4 percent of GDP, according to CBO’s baseline projections.

Mindful of the fact that the CBO is, historically, the most nonpartisan and the most reliable economic forecasting institution, public or private, in the US, one can hardly refrain from rendering the most damning judgment against the Bush and Republican budgetary process, and this damning judgment is what this budgetary process merits.

But, perhaps the ultimate blame in all of this lies at the doors of voters who fail to realize that economics is a numbers game, and that numbers matter more in a numbers game than ideology.

I, Cringely . The Pulpit . Game Over | PBS

Robert Cringely is not a guy to be taken lightly. He has been the authoritative voice on technology issues for over a decade. He has literally written the history, and his predictions are the most reliable anywhere. It should be of concern to everyone when he declares the US’s communications infrastructure a lost cause, when compared with other industrial countries.

If you don’t believe Cringely when he says that America’s pathetic communications infrastructure is reducing business competitiveness, listen to UPS’s CEO, Michael Eskew, saying the same thing.

And, if you still have any doubts about how poor America’s infrastructure has become, listen to this fantastic nugget to find out how pathetic our infrastructure spending is, and which party keeps infrastructure spending so pathetic.

And, if these facts do not impress upon you the horrendous toll that the Iraq military campaign has exacted on the American economy, consult a psychiatrist or revisit elementary math.