From Mr. Fish at Harpers.org, the web adjunct to Harper’s Magazine
Well, said, or not said.
Lower Standards = Better Performance
More than any other mantra, this one perhaps captures the essence of all George W Bush endeavors. Not a single company he has headed has outperformed its competitors. If you read the rest of the posts in the Politics category on this blog, you will see a nice sampling of all the standards that George W Bush has sought to lower: environmental and educational (read the saga of the Texas Assessment of Academic Skills (TAAS) test).
Now, a new category in which W has lowered standards: moral standards.
Army Manual to Skip Geneva Detainee Rule – Los Angeles Times
Character and strength are reflected in the ability to maintain one’s composure in the face of adversity. That is the essence of the Geneva Convention, to which the US was the first signatory. This signature was a promise that we would maintain our poise in the face of adversity; that we would not act like Nazis when confronted with Nazis; that we would not react like barbarians even confronted with barbarians. Now, we are explicitly stating that we are weak enough to react like barbarians when confronted with barbarians. Not only are we too weak to define our role in this conflict, but we lack the strength to prevent our enemy from defining us in the conflict.
If only people could realize that these are George W Bush’s defining moments, the milestones of a legacy of corruption and barbarism that will be recognized as a gross insult to humanity.
Trash Man Army Exhibit in Cologne (Köln), Germany
Some cities are cool. They just are. Cologne (Köln) is one of them. It seems as if there is always something cool happening there. There are the regular events, like the Karneval and the Christopher Street Day (gay pride event), but there are cool events like this massive art exhibit at one of the open spaces by the magnificent cathedral in Cologne.
Click here for a gallery of pretty nifty photos.
The exhibit consists of over 1000 statues standing in perfect formation. They are all painstakingly made out of trash. Some entirely out of Coke cans, others from waste computer parts, and others from waste cannisters of food and household improvement products. The sheer size of the installation and the level details were striking. The location next to one of the most magnificent structures on continental Europe was breathtaking. For what it means, read this article about the exhibit and the artist, HA Schult.
George W Bush Wants to Kill Americans and Waste Money, Part II
When you recklessly increase Defense spending, it makes sense to cut programs that generate money and that save lives, of course!
Christian Science Monitor: Bush energy plan whacks conservation
The competition between ignorance and evil continues. Ignorance has struck some staggering blows since evil struck on 9/11.
Military’s Darkest Hour in Iraq?
In Haditha, Memories of a Massacre
On November 19, 2005, US troops responded to an improvised explosive device (IED) that claimed one marine’s life by slaughtering 19 people near the explosion in cold blood. The events are no longer a matter of dispute. The investigation now seeks to find the guilty parties.
Assuredly, the incident will be dismissed as an anomaly, just as Abu Ghraib was. Assuredly, assurances will be given that justice will be served in the end. Perhaps, the price tag of $1500 to $2500 that the US military has paid as compensation for each life that it took may even be raised to some amount greater $5000 per life.
But assuredly, the dark cloud that hovers over this conflict will only get darker. Is this the purpose we envisioned for our best trained soldiers? Why is this question considered an act of heresy?
Why is it that in Iraq and elsewhere, the British soldiers and the Australian soldiers can effect much greater change without firing any bullets? See what Australian troops did in East Timor recently.
Are Americans out for blood or for peace? If it is for blood, then the terrorist won, assuredly.
General Motors Formally Quits the Automaking Business
It is true. GM no longer cares to compete with other automakers. Instead of investing in research and development to make better cars, GM has elected to continue to bribe people to buy GM cars, cars that they would not otherwise buy. It is a sad confession for the erstwhile automotive giant to make, but apparently, the company could no longer deny what has been painfully obvious to the public at large: GM cars suck ass. What other message can the offer of free gasoline for a year convey?
GM cars are not fuel efficient, they lag in reliability and features, and the are built upon decades old chassis, engines and technologies. Offering outright cash to customers had run its course and dangerously thinned GM’s profit margins. These cash bonuses were a gamble aimed at reversing the loss of market share that GM has been experiencing, and they failed: GM lost and continues to lose market share.
There must be a million GM shareholders who must be lamenting the fact that the company into which they had placed their money (and faith) had elected to continue a program of ineffective bribery instead of building more marketable automobiles.
The management of GM were once captains of industry. Now, they are not even greenhorns of accounting. Good night, and good luck.
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- A superb article from carofthecentury.com
George W Bush Wants to Kill Americans and Waste Money
It’s no joke. According to Chemical and Engineering news, a draft report by the White House claims that EPA air pollution regulations have generated between $94 billion and $449 billion in economic benefits. The economic cost of the regulations was between $44 and $47 billion annually. So, it’s a break even affair.
One rule, however, is truly profitable. The one that limits emissions by coal fired plants in 28 states and D.C. costs $1.8 billion and has benefits of over $50 billion annually.
So, is it any wonder that so many states are suing the Bush EPA for wanting to relax these rules?
Rock Star with Ball
BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Floyd star switches concert venue
So, Roger Waters has the balls to play Israel, but is perhaps meek enough to be swayed by Palestinian claims of being “oppressed”. Technically, his music is banned in most of the Arab world, and the ruling Hamas party of the Palestinian territories officially considers British nationals like Waters enemies of Islam and Palestinians. Ergo, is Waters promoting peace by changing the venue for his concert to a place where Arabs and Israelis cohabit peacefully? After all, it is not the Palestinian inhabitants of this peaceful city that requested the change of venue. It was the party that wants Israel wiped out. Hmmmm….
It is clear that Waters is not trying to take sides in the matter, and his courage to play in Israel at all is admirable and commendable. (Madonna, the material and Cabalah girl has yet to announce any tour dates in Israel.) But, is Waters aware of the tangled web he weaves when he plays politics?
Immigration Reform
Everybody loves a good fight. This is especially true for Americans who will fight for the sake of fighting. The distraction over a bill touted as immigration reform1 is a prima facie (thank you very much) example. Everyone seems to agree that immigration laws need to change, but nobody cares to pay heed to the nature and the structure of this change. Consequently, this debate, like most American political debates, has decomposed to a senseless shouting match, much sound and fury representing nothing. In fact, the so called debate scarcely aspires to triviality.
The premise of the whole enterprise is dubious, of course, because, as the name implies, the bill only seeks to “strengthen” existing laws. With respect to immigration, this is a silly proposition because strengthening existing laws will not remedy the problem, lack of enforcement. Existing laws already proscribe hiring illegal aliens. They also provide remedies for deporting those who have entered the US illegally and provisions for preventing illegal entry. We have a problem because these laws are not enforced. Immigrants cross the border freely, employers employ illegals without consequence, and American businesses cater to their economic demands. Hence, making tougher laws will solve nothing because, without enforcement, the tougher laws will also collect dust.
If this were not sufficient incentive to let this piece of rubbish die a well deserved death, then the unfortunate, unconvinced soul may indulge himself/herself by reading the body of the bill by clicking the link below. The reader will discover that, with respect to national security, the bill prescribes no new duties for the Department of Homeland Security. Redundancy is original only in Washington, D.C., it seems, and only in the minds of ideologically obsessed Republicans.
It should come as no surprise then, that the bill is written by a man with no credibility as a politician. James Sensenbrenner2 is a proud prosecutor of an impeached president, Bill Clinton. In as much, he is proud of being an ideologue and of being a servant to ideology, rather than to mankind–not even those who elected him. Given the merits of this “reform” bill–the criminalization of charitable organizations and codifying the forced expulsion of 11 million people without appropriating the tens of billions of dollars and the tens of thousands officers that the task would require–it should come as no surprise that it is the product of such a petty mind. (Why has nobody bothered asking how we go about the task of deporting 11 million people once we declare them to be criminals after having welcomed them with open wallets and open arms?)
Opposition to this bill is understandable. It is even justifiable. Opposition is a rational response, but what of the solution to the problem? Will illegal immigration ever stop? Will there ever be a balance between the human rights of illegal immigrants and the insatiable appetite of businesses for cheap labor? Are we going to move toward an integrated society, or are we going to forge ahead to a more fractured society composed of the “legals” and the “illegals”, each with its set of rules, entirely unequal before the constitution?
This debate would lead to progress of course, but instead we are faced with braying of the masses in response to the braying of one ass. The middle did not used to be this miserable a locale. Or was it?
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Your Next Sitter: Tinkerbell or Zyprexa?
Study: More children on antipsychotics – The Boston Globe
Forget about setting your kids before the latest Disney DVD. Just give them some antipsychotics. Attention deficit, schmattention deficit… What the hell was I saying?