Tuesday, January 25, 2005

Hey! Over Here!

I've received several emails from people, asking me why I've stopped writing my blog. My instinct almost drove me to pen a bitter retort, pointing out that "there seems little value in my writing more entries, when you don't even read the ones already there!". Then I realized that my notice, advising readers that my blog has moved, is actually kinda small and easily overlooked by any but the most Flaubertian reader.

So, to clarify the matter:

"The Mad Hatter Monologues" blog is retired!
Long Live (for at least a year or so) "2005 Notes from Within"!

Do join us...

Saturday, January 01, 2005

Happy New Year...now focus.

As I did last year, so shall I do now. This entry marks the last but one in this blog, as I jump ship to a new blog. The short entry below this one will be the link to the new blog, as I invite you to follow me into 2005's adventures.

2004 has been momentous, and those moments might have been dubbed exciting, challenging, sad, or otherwise dramatic in one form or another - depending on one's political, sexual, or religious preference....However, recent events have literally and tragically washed away any pretence that any one of us can justifiably stand on any sort of moral, religious, or other high ground without sacrificing the well-being of others. We are none of us outside of reach.

For more information and to find out what you might be able to do, go to http://tsunamihelp.blogspot.com/

Into the Woods....

The Mad Hatter has passed his duties onto the Big Bad Wolf, who welcomes you HERE

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Visit the Getty: "Event Calendar"

Saturday, November 27, 2004

There's a new foxy playah in town!

I've been trying out a new browser for the past week or so, and I must say it lives up to the hype! When you add those available extensions and themes that most suit your tastes, this becomes a highly personalized and modular tool for customized web use and maximized internet rewards!

Try it for yourself:

Friday, November 26, 2004

Nonsense leads to clarity...

Another silly little questionnaire, that might lead you to some interesting places...I find these things tend to awaken a little nugget of awareness in me whenever I come across them, and bother to think about how I might answer each question!

Send me your answers, if you'd like, I won't post them (unlesss you want me to)...


1: Grab the book nearest to you, turn to page 18, find line 4. Write down what it says

2: Stretch your left arm out as far as you can. What do you touch first?

3: What is the last thing you watched on TV?

4: WITHOUT LOOKING, guess what the time is

5: Now look at the clock, what is the actual time?

6: With the exception of the computer, what can you hear?

7: When did you last step outside?

8: Before you came to this website, what did you look at?

9: what are you wearing?

10: Did you dream last night?

11: When did you last laugh?

12: What is on the walls of the room you are in?

13: Seen anything weird lately?

14: DELETED FOR YOUR OWN GOOD.

15: What is the last film you saw?

16: If you became a multi-millionaire overnight, what would you buy first?

17: Tell me something about you that I don't know

18: If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt or politics, what would you do?

19: Do you like to dance?

20: George Bush: is he a power-crazy nut case or some one who is finally doing something that has needed to be done for years?

21(a): Imagine your first child is a girl, what do you call her?

(b): Imagine your first child is a boy, what do you call him?

22: Would you ever consider living abroad?

(With thanks to Koolthing)

Wednesday, November 24, 2004

Like a snowflake...

Just like a snowflake, The Polar Express is a sparkling and unique creation which leaves one a little cold on contact.

There's no denying that visually it is an impressive piece of work, and I can see why the IMAX-3D version is being hailed as a mind-boggling experience. This story was "shot" as a roller coaster ride for the senses..with one difference.

On a roller coaster your cheeks flush, and your teeth chatter from excitement...and your eyes...your eyes flash with anticipation as you climb the incline, and stream with tears of excitement and reaction to the wind blasting against your face, as you whoosh forward.

There were some daunting-looking inclines, and hurtling descents, in this movie, but not one single eyeball reflecting the unmistakable sense of excitement, anticipation, anxiety, fear, thrill - or for that matter any sort of emotion whatsoever. Motion Capture, at least at the time this feature was made, had managed to create some astonishing work with hair, skin, and crowd scenes, but the eyes simply didn't have it.

This will unquestionably become a classic holiday film, and it deserves to be praised for its almost Willy Wonka-like environments and characters (especially that great "carriage of discarded toys" scene). However, I couldn't help but feel a little squeamish at the hobo character development. I liked where it was headed, but didn't feel good about where it went...it ended up feeling dirty, instead of mysterious.

Bottom line: visually stunning, faithful to the book's style palette; solid, if unimaginative performances, with particular kudos to Mr. Hanks for his portrayal of 5 of the characters; a marked lack of emotional strength in both the characters' souls (via the eyes), and the "beefed-up" storyline. I can't bring myself to call this a failure, because elements certainly impressed me, and I didn't feel I'd wasted my time (two prerequisites for labeling it a failure!). However, it fell short of the mark that I sincerely hope will be met by the upcoming "Monster House". I guess I could offer the back-handed compliment that the PS2 game is way worse...?

Ultimately, filmgoers want to be told a compelling story, and if the technology is not ready yet to powerfully support this storytelling, it - by default - is nothing but an obstacle. Keep up the experimentation, Mr. Zemeckis et al - but don't expect us to cheerfully pay $9 until you are ready to confidently cry "Eureka!". We might pay, but that will be as a result of a marketing blitz that numbed us into submission, and not because we genuinely want to see this...and we will watch with dull eyes...

Monday, November 22, 2004

Coffee Talk...

Following is a letter written by an unknown source. It seems to be an amalgam of original composition, and an excerpt from an episode of "The West Wing". That said, it also is not necessarily this author's opinion. It does, however, raise some interesting questions, worthy of some debate. What are your thoughts on the matter?:

Dear President Bush,

Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's law. I have learned a great deal from you and understand why you would propose and support a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. As you said, "In the eyes of God, marriage is between a man a woman." I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can.

When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination . . . end of debate.I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's laws and how to follow them:

1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?
2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
3. I know that a man is allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanness--Leviticus 15:19-24. The problem is, most women take offense when they're asked if they're unclean.
4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord--Leviticus 1:9. The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states that he should be put to death.Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?
6. A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an abomination (Leviticus 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there degrees of abomination?
7. Leviticus 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?
8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Leviticus 19:27. How shouldthey die?
9. I know from Leviticus 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Leviticus 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton-polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them(Leviticus 24:10-16)? Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, as we do with people who sleep with their in-laws (Leviticus 20:14)?

I know you have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters.

Thursday, November 18, 2004

It's movie time...

Awards season is here: the most recent films I saw were a couple of very different films I caught this week: one small and great; one grand and over-the-top.

Sideways featured a powerful ensemble cast led by Paul Giamatti and Thomas Haden Church, and including Virginia Madsen, Sandra Oh, M.C. Gainey, Alysia Reiner, Alex Kalognomos, and Patrick Gallagher. Giamatti was extraordinary, but he had the "marrow" role - something an actor with talent can really bite into. Haden Church had the more thankless role of the apparently one-dimensional "stud", and his accomplishment was as impressive as Giamatti's. Virgina Madsen and Sandra Oh hold their own with aplomb, though...especially the gorgeous Ms. Madsen. That's probably the only part of the review by Salon.com that I agree with. That review otherwise completely "missed the point", IMHO. This is a movie well worth the watching, and far more than "quaffable".

The Phantom of the Opera is Andrew Lloyd Webber's vanity project, and my does that man have some vanity in him! Putting him together with the ever florid Joel Schumacher was set to be a stroke of genius or madness, with no hope of an even-keeled balance in-between. However, kudos are due to Mr. Lloyd-Webber for his persistence: so many directors and studios turned him down...and kudos to Mr. Schumacher for taking such a daunting task on. The theatrical spectacle is not first among our thoughts, when attempting to conjure up worthy cinematic adaptations of old French horror novels...but - in the immortal words of Professor Higgins - They "did it"! This is as powerful a renovation of the movie musical as anyone is likely to accomplish in the next decade, or has accomplished in the past quarter century, "Moulin Rouge" included. Of course it has its flaws, just as did the Paris Opera House - the design of which was so painfully described by Claude Debussy as "a railway station on the outside, and a Turkish bath inside". Schumacher falls prey to his camp sensibilities left, right and center - especially during the climactic "Don Juan returns" duet and "Masquerade" scene. It got a little long in parts, but if you surrender to the campness of it all, this is a grand spectacle of musical, visual, cinematic, and even emotional brilliance. If you don't enjoy over 2 hours of rock opera singing, over decorated sets, and obvious plot devices you may find this a less-than-rewarding experience. However, if you enjoy spectacular sets and costumes, beautiful lush (dare I say "operatic"?) cinematography, and an achingly beautiful Emmy Rossum, you will feel rewarded indeed. Gerard Butler, looking more like Brendan Fraser than ever under that make-down, accounted for himself admirably, too...until you realize that he, and all his fellow cast members (even Miss Minnie Driver herself!) were actually singing all the songs themselves! Then, this experience became a revelation in how far a group of dedicated (albeit very well paid) individuals can stretch themselves creatively. I know that this will receive very mixed reviews, but my final conclusion is simply that this will be praised by those who love the stage version, panned by the purists, and equally split by those who view it with an open-mind. This film does not try to be all things to the whole audience, but instead remains completely true to the grand operatic vision of one driven impresario, like him or loathe him: Mr. Lloyd Webber himself.

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

AMAzingly dull.

Watched the American Music Awards the other night...tried desperately to go along with the attempts at humor: Snoop Dogg and his "$500 brownies" table; Diana Ross and the Puli Dog on her head; Brooks and Dunn desperately looking for the interpreter as Outkast's Big Boi gave his acceptance speech; Jessica Simpson and her hiccup song...the girl is undeniably cute, but what's with the spasmodic jerks throughout her performance?

Then we began entering the time warp: Kenny Chesney walks on in a hippie tie dye glory, joined promptly by Uncle Kracker, wearing...well...wearing the same clothes he'd obviously been wearing for a month or so. Take a shower, Mr. Biscuit! However, unconventional expansion of norm was the theme of the evening, supported in part by the appearance of Ciara, the world's first naturally redheaded African-American woman...

Brooks and Dunn didn't need the elusive translator, when the writing went up on the wall: 4th win in 4 years in their category!

Then came Anna Nicole Smith...

She looked more like Marilyn than ever, and when she opened her mouth, I thought she was doing that cute little Marilyn slur, until the slur stretched out into a drunken mumble, and then I realised she must have stopped off at Snoop Dogg's Brownie table on the way in...

Didn't know what to make of Kanye West's performance. The man thought he'd suddenly become the fifth member of the Kronos quartet...

From too much noise, we segued to too little noise: John Mayer began his set with a dead mic, and all we saw was moving of the lips. Well, we actually saw more than that, as he seemed to have a serious case of Jessicasimpsonitis. If they ever tour together, they should consider having Joe Cocker open for them...that would make it a trifecta.

Didn't know what to make of Rod Stewart, either: "70's Brit rebel rocker sings classic American Jazz crooner standard"...in tartan and velvet no less!!

Everyone's stretching tonight! Alicia Keys came strutting out, gussied up in an Al Pacino black silk godfather wannabe outfit. Insisted on getting away from the piano to prove to the world that her booty is just as big as Beyonce's. It was. Blessed relief came soon, when she sat back down at the piano.

The incongruities piled up, as Norah Jones was nominated in the Pop/Rock category...

Then Snoop Dogg came out from behind his Brownies long enough to sample the opening sounds from Monty Python's "Holy Grail" (the bit with the coconuts)...ya know?!

Kobe Bryant got booed...Usher won again...Toby Keith looked as nonplussed by the whole thing as Brooks and Dunn had done earlier....Nicolette Sheridan channeled Anna Nicole Smith...Bon Jovi represented the geriatric ward even more honourably than Rod Stewart had earlier done. they even had Richie Sambora speaking through a tracheal pipe...Maroon 5 gave perhaps the only positively compelling performance of the evening...followed by a whole host of forgettable performances. Heck, the Apple iPod ad featuring U2, shown during one commercial break, was more entertaining!

Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Base, base, baseness....but basically true

Sometimes it takes a pottymouth to speak with eloquence!

Click here for some true reality, but be duly warned: the language can get colorful.

Monday, November 08, 2004

The Global Business Perspective

Peter Wodtke is the archetypical international business executive. Born July 16, 1934. He graduated from Princeton University with a Bachelor of Arts in European Civilization, joining Citibank in New York immediately, where he stayed until 1970. Before moving to Henry Schroder Banking Corporation he held the position of CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of PICA (Private Investment Company for Asia) in 1971. In 1976, he joined the former Swiss Bank Corporation North America as Director, before becoming an independent advisor on investments, M&A and corporate finance in London in 1982. From 1990 until 2000, he was a General Partner of Peter Wodtke & Partners. In 2000, he founded the private firm Peter Wodtke LLC, New York. While I respectfully disagree with one or two of his specific observations, I think he has hammered home some crucial points that cannot be ignored anymore, in a speech that is quite impresssive. Appended below is the transcript from that speech, given at the Wingate Limited Partners' lunch in Dallas, Texas, October 27, 2004.

Before my remarks I would like to pay tribute to Wingate I, which has now completed its operations. For all his quiet modesty, Fred Hegi is a person of extraordinary ability in finance and in business; he has an exceptional following of persons who believe in him and trust him. The talented and complementary combination of Fred Hegi and Tom Sturgess, who could not be with us today, and Jim Callier, in starting Wingate took courage and endurance. Thank you, Fred, Tom in absentia, and Jim for what you did in building a successful fund.

I will talk about three things today: the situation in Iraq, and how the United States can get out of Iraq responsibly; the international situation of the United States, and some thoughts on how the United States should earn its living in a time of growing US trade deficits and heavy US borrowing. None of these topics have been addressed by President Bush or Senator Kerry in the Presidential debates, yet they are important issues. Irrespective of whether Bush or Kerry wins the election next week, he will be faced with them. At the end of my remarks I will circle back to Iraq, and then hopefully there will be some questions.

Let's talk first about Iraq: we have to be prepared for the news getting worse before it gets better. Iraq is substantially out of control and the insurgency is likely to grow in scope and in effectiveness. There are four things we must do:

First, we must support Iraqi elections due to be held in January. The elections should not be postponed, they may not be perfect, but they will hand the responsibility for Iraq back to Iraqis, and that is what Iraq needs. To the extent of our limited influence, we should urge all Iraqis to take part in the election.

Second, we should announce a firm date for the departure of coalition troops from Iraq. The sooner, the better: June 30, 2005 would be a good time. The situation will not be stabilized by our staying longer. A longer stay will increase resistance to our presence. A US announcement as to a date of departure for coalition forces will be believed by the Iraqis, because we kept our word on the handover of power to the Iraqi administration by the end of June 2004. We should then stick to the date we announce.

Once Iraqis understand that they are going to have full sovereignty, and that coalition troops will be out in months, there will be less tacit and material support for the insurgents, less sabotage, and greater willingness to face realities at home and take responsibility for improvement.

Third, the United States should immediately build friendly, cooperative ties with both Iran and Syria. Look at the map: Iran abuts the eastern frontier of Iraq, a potential source of Shia armed infiltration, while abutting the western frontier of Afghanistan. Friendly ties with Iran would secure both these frontiers, a critical step in reducing the turmoil in Iraq and in controlling the opium trade out of Afghanistan, which since the Afghan war has reverted to being the largest opium supplier in the world. Iran also has detained senior Al Qaeda people, it would be helpful to have intelligence access to them. Syria abuts the porous north western frontier of Iraq through which Sunni insurgent recruits reach Iraq from Europe and the Middle East. Both Iran and Syria are countries with capable people, 70 million of them in the case of Iran, and substantial resources. We need to change our mindset about these countries.

Good relations between the USA and Iran and Syria will contribute to lessening tensions in the middle east. An initiative on our part would be welcomed in the region, including by our ally Saudi Arabia. Cooperation with Iran will protect the flow of oil through the Arabian gulf, which Iran potentially controls through the choke point at the Straits of Hormuz, and could help reduce concern in the international oil markets, and reduce oil prices.

Last, the war on terrorism must be stepped up. The USA must improve its intelligence gathering, our cooperation with other like-minded countries, and our timeliness in translating, analyzing and acting on information. Only a month ago there were reports of agencies not sharing information, a subject critically addressed in the 9/11 Commission Report, and of shortage of translators, and delays of weeks in evaluating "chatter". Delays in analyzing information can make the essential difference to terrorists planning an operation. On the ground, the south eastern part of Afghanistan where senior Taliban and Al Qaeda are believed to remain at large, remains unsecured more than two years after the Afghan war. We never dedicated the necessary military resources to solving this problem at the end of a war that was genuinely justifiable for the USA.

Let us go on to the economic situation of the USA. We are incurring record trade deficits. In the month of August, the most recent for which we have figures, the USA incurred a record trade deficit of US$54 billion. The trade deficit is paid for by borrowing, through the issuance of treasury bills and bonds to international creditors. Many of these bills and bonds are taken up by China, which has a huge trade surplus with the United States, that continues to grow as American companies feel compelled to purchase or set up in China on cost grounds.

In contrast to the past, the USA's international borrowing is now to finance consumption, not investment. Historically, much of the shortfall was made up by foreigners' financial investments in the USA, but lately, these are declining. Our savings rate has also declined from 8% twenty years ago to less than 1% today: everywhere we are urged to borrow money, to take out home equity loans, to finance purchases, and to sign up for more credit cards. We are turning into a nation of borrowers, both at the government level and at the level of individuals, and because the available credit seems limitless, we are not facing the problem.

An aspect that has not yet become obvious is that being a debtor nation reduces the strategic options of the United States, because creditor nations, if sufficiently influential, will have something to say, or actions they can take, in response to our policy moves. It is not far-fetched to think that China may have leverage on the United States in regard to its traditional policy support of Taiwan because of the large amounts of US government securities held by China.

In the past two years it has become a policy objective to get China, and other Asian countries, to revalue their currencies. Would that really help? Apart from the fact that China will not revalue its currency just because we ask it to, the effect of even a considerable devaluation will not make a major difference. Think about this: a US manufacturer relocating to China compares, say, a US$7.00 per hour wage plus fringe benefits, a low wage by US standards, against an all-in Chinese wage of US$5.00 per worker per day. If China were to revalue by as much as 20%, the US$ translated effect of the Chinese worker's pay would go from US$5.00 to US$6.00 per day, reflecting the 20% increase. That competitive gap is still vast; a US employer contemplating a move to China will still be looking at US$6.00 per day in China, and the case to move remains compelling.

Add to this the fact that Asian countries increasingly hold really large amounts of capital, while the USA does its borrowing for consumption, our currency is sliding, and technology transfer is so much easier than it was in the past - not least through the numbers of Asian students who study in the best universities of the United States and Europe, and graduate at the top of their class.

A backdrop to our USA economic situation is that the image of the United States abroad has turned bad. The USA is disliked for having waged war on Iraq without adequate international consultation, and especially for its doctrine of preemptive strikes on potential threats.

The time when the United States could go along its own path is over. The fate of the United States will not be different from the fate of the rest of the world by a single millimeter. Air travel, modern weaponry, instant information transfer over the internet, migration from poorer to wealthier countries, have made the world much smaller, and each part is far less isolated from each other part. Many western countries have large, unassimilated, dissatisfied minorities. The challenge for the West is to make our societies inclusive, and the challenge for the USA is to accept other nations and peoples on their terms.

American business is starting to suffer internationally, at first in consumer goods that have an essentially American image like Coca-Cola and McDonalds. Movies will be the last affected, because their identification with the USA is not always clear, and audiences cannot live without them. All things being equal, a consumer abroad who is politically unhappy with the United States may choose not to buy an American product or service when he can buy a comparable one from another country. This is already hurting, as the Financial Times reported earlier this week, but will hurt more if anti-American feeling grows.

The United States is starting to pay a price. The rest of the world does not agree with attacking a country, and forcibly introducing democracy into a culture that did not ask for it and may not be prepared to receive it. The United States cannot remake the world by force, even for its own good.

The United States has always been regarded as a good example of democracy, and literally, a beacon for the whole world. People everywhere want this good example from the United States, and expect it; historically there was always the feeling that the United States may make mistakes but will in the last analysis do the right thing and the decent thing. Since the war on Iraq and the policy of preemptive strikes that faith in the United States is no longer there.

American traditional values of decency, fairness and democracy should be exported by example, and not by force. The values of our country must again become "values of choice" for the world. We need this back. Our commercial future depends to a very great extent on whether this can be achieved.

How will the United States 'earn its living' in the world we have, to a considerable extent, created? We heard several examples today of companies that were increasing their international business; 4 out of 5 Wingate companies discussed today had international business. Amercable, to take their example, is rapidly increasing its technologically based, high value, niche, exports to foreign buyers. In a business where customization and excellence counts rather than large numbers. Amercable prospers, and stays sufficiently ahead of the game that it is constantly developing new products ahead of the market's ability to copy them.

American companies like Amercable, Corrpro and ENSR as well as thousands of other American companies need to increase their exports, and need to invest overseas on location. The United States needs greatly increased income from exports, as well as financial income from overseas investments, to counter the rapidly growing cost of imports, and resultant borrowing.

The United States also needs to open up new markets: examples are Syria and Iran, as well as other middle eastern countries. The USA, with no colonial history in the middle east, used to be the international supplier of choice throughout the middle east, an area with immense purchasing power from which we today benefit little. We have it in our power to restore this.

We should greatly increase our trade with Russia, which needs everything to help its vigorous economy develop, but also needs international acceptance. Vladimir Putin may not be perfect, but he is the best President that Russia will have and we as their trading partner should help and support Russia.

Finally, an obvious choice: after 44 years, it is time to lift our embargo on Cuba. What purpose can our outdated embargo possibly serve, and what does it matter if Mr. Castro, 78 years of age and having suffered a fall, benefits from an economic opening from the USA? It is time for common sense: Cuba needs everything, and a true opening to Cuba's capable people could result in unparalleled prosperity for Cuba as well as for the whole southeastern United States. Everyone will win.

Our country remains the easiest place in the world to start a business. One of our strengths is the optimism and resourcefulness with which people from anywhere come here and establish themselves, with less red tape, fewer regulations, and a more forgiving environment than in any other country. Let us also make the United States, again, the easiest and most welcoming place for foreign investors to make investments and set up their businesses. Historically, many people from overseas looked to the United States as a place to invest and keep their nest eggs. We need these people: let us treat them with courtesy and consideration when they come here, make them feel welcome, and welcome their investments.

Finally, let me circle back to the beginning: Iraq. The fifth, and final point that is needed in order to stabilize Iraq and the middle east is a fair, comprehensive and permanent settlement between Israel and the Palestinians. President Bush is committed to the "road map" for formation of a Palestinian state, although he has taken tactical steps backward during the past two years.

Exposure to suicide bombings, killing and maiming of innocent people is no life for Israel, which has the right to live in peace, security and safety. But equally, the Palestinians need to live in peace, security and safety in their own state, with a decent life for themselves and a real future for their children.

The United States is the only country that has the power and the influence to ensure that a fair settlement really takes place. The USA needs to do this for two reasons: first, the world expects it of us, it is the right and fair thing to do, the killings and suffering in the region have to be brought to an end; second, the Israel - Palestine situation is the central issue at the heart of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism, which to people so-minded illustrates that the West in general, and the United States in particular, cannot be trusted to treat Arabs fairly and will always side with Israel irrespective of the justice of their claims.

Take away the Israel - Palestine problem with a fair solution that brings peace and satisfaction, and we take away the principal recruitment attraction for Al Qaeda. Continue the Israel - Palestine problem, and the fireball of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism will grow and grow, rapidly enveloping more of the uncommitted, non-fanatic Moslem world.

If we resolve this long-standing problem, recruitment to the Iraqi insurgency, which has now become the venue of choice for resistance to the United States and the west, will abate. In a larger sense, we will have made the most important possible contribution to a peaceful and prosperous world.

Thank you. I look forward to your questions.

Question: Would a settlement of the Israel - Palestine issue mean Israel giving up its settlements in Gaza and the West Bank?

Answer: it should. Settlements in territory conquered by force are illegal under international law, and everyone knows that. It is well known in Israel. Further, Israel is perfectly entitled to build a wall for its own security, but the wall should be built along its frontier, and not through the West Bank.

Question: How do you think Americans could be encouraged to save, rather than borrow?

Answer: I'm not an expert on taxation, but we could make it attractive for people to save and form capital, through encouragement of more and larger IRAs.

Question: What do you think about the situation of Saudi Arabia?

Answer: I believe the Saudi regime will survive, not least because they have a very efficient internal information system. Unfortunately for them and for us, they were far too permissive about extremist and inflammatory religious teaching. Bringing that back under control is a very difficult problem. The Saudis, by the way, have been good friends to us when it comes to oil.

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

Half the orchestra missing?

So the fat lady did sing, but half the orchestra was missing at the time of performance...

Consider the following: Nationally, there were 217.8 million people age 18 and over living in the USA as of October 26th, 2004 (US Census Bureau Website). The vote tally, as of 2pm today, is 114,453,190 (CNN). That means that up to 103,346,810 US citizens, over the age of 18, DID NOT VOTE (the non-citizen fraction is both negligible and factored, apparently, according to the US Census).

Nearly 48% of eligible voters stayed home...How pathetic is that? For all the media talk of "massive turnout", it still ranks as shameful.

One long Shampoo Commercial...

I thought I'd wait until the election was in the past, before I typed up the report on my latest Salon. However, given the phalanx of lawyers lining up on either side of the Constitutional courtroom, I might be waiting awhile, so on with the journal:

The last Salon of the year was as splendid a gathering as any other this year, and a great way to close out the year. We had beautiful weather, all the more pleasant given the monsoon downpours that had hit us mere days previously. Everyone congregated on the back porch to dip into some fine cheeses and fresh breads, as we carved our pumpkins, and made a glorious orange mess of the place. I read a short history of pumpkins at Halloween, while the gang hacked into their gourds with quasi-psychotic glee.

After a couple of hours, we moved indoors, where I had built the first fire of the year, and we feasted on homemade Lasagna, homemade Basil and prosciutto meatloaf (with Fontana cheese!), cowboy caviar, Salads, and lots of wine. For those who still had room, we were then treated to homemade pumpkin cheesecake, cookies, and Halloween cupcakes!...and the readings hadn't even begun yet!

After we were all sated, we settled down for some deliciously spine-chilling ghost stories, and no better way to start than with a true account of "Gladys the Ghost" - an eerie true tale of ghost sighting. This was followed by a deceptively innocent reading about "Harold the Scarecrow", presented by our newest Salon attendee - age 10! (somewhat similar story made into a short Flash movie HERE). Her elder sister (at 13) presented a later reading, "Cold as Clay", with equal aplomb! These two guests deserve special admiration, not just due to their excellent storytelling, but because they took the time to dress in very impressive costumes for the occasion.

Not everyone dressed up for the evening, but it was optional, so I can't get too upset! One other guest, who DID make the effort, came in a very clever disguise, as Sylvia Plath during her College years at Smith! This 1950s scholar read us Hans Christian Andersen's "Story of a Mother", after which we were led deep into an excerpt of Edgar Allan Poe's "Premature Burial".

Since this last was one undeniably chilling author's account of some true tales of "inhumation", it was fitting that we continue with some more true tales of haunting, as we were told two frightening tales of how "mischievous spirits" affected one of the attendees. These reflections resurrected several long buried memories in the minds of several of the guests, and we were treated to a good number of true tales of terror, as well as a closing comment on the famous Greystone Mansion, right here in LA.

What night of horror stories would be complete without an excerpt from Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein"? Ours was therefore thus completed, and then topped with some contemporary icing as we were introduced to the poem "Fullerton Road Trick", by Jeff Buckley.

---

In just the short time it took me to compose this entry, John Kerry apparently called George Dubya to concede defeat, although I still have heard no arias from the proverbial "comfortably built" lady...

Is he or isn't he?...

It's all in the timing...

What better evening to watch Jonathan Demme's remake of "The Manchurian Candidate" than Election Day!?

As I sat watching this otherwise "acceptable" feature film, my appreciation for it was heightened by the fact that I had come directly from voting...gave the evening a whole new twist.

It wasn't the performances that made this movie so mediocre. In fact, Denzel Washington, Liv Schrieber, Meryl Streep, et al were quite excellent in their portrayals. Demme's direction was intelligent although occasionally predictable. The work was somewhat pedestrian, though, and I can only attribute this to the old theatrical adage "a series of fine performances does not a great play make"...or something like that!

When you have a cast and crew of this calibre, all under the guidance of a director who used to be exquisite in his sensitivity....I don't understand what he hoped to achive by remaking an undeniable classic...

Tuesday, November 02, 2004

I can't stand the waiting!...

Exit Polls aren't proving consistent enough, pundits are running scared, given their bravado of 2000, so where to turn?...

Try this

So you couldn't be bothered, huh?

Find yourself on the chart below... (courtesy of John Stewart's recent release "America")

Get back out there!!

Have you voted today? If you are a registered voter in the USA, you should be wearing a little "I VOTED" sticker on some legally permissible part of your body right now...are you? If not, why are you sitting at your computer reading this blog?!?!


GO VOTE!

Monday, November 01, 2004

World Voting Day

If the rest of the world had its druthers, we'd have a Democrat landslide tomorrow....

Check out the details here (the link is sometimes sluggish)

Dirty Tricks

This is not going to be a pretty week...:

http://www.sptimes.com/2004/10/29/news_pf/Decision2004/Dirty_tricks_litter_p.shtml

Closer still the day creeps....

Here are some numbers and sites that will, I hope, help you avoid any Election Day mishaps. Thanks to the Swing State Project for furnishing this valuable info:

866-MYVOTE1 is a hotline where you can report all manner of voting problems, such as broken voting machines. They'll also connect you to local election officials at no additional charge, although you'll probably have a mighty long wait trying to get through to them on the actual day.

You can use the above number to find your polling place, or click here for the information.

The other useful hotline, 1-866-OUR-VOTE, is being staffed by volunteers of the Election Protection Coalition, and it can apparently handle 15,000 calls a minute. The EPC, by the way, is totally non-partisan. If you encounter any legal difficulties, such as spurious voter registration challenges, call this number immediately. MoveOn calls this "the 911 of voter hotlines," so only use this if there is a serious emergency.

Many of the people who are likely to experience voting-day problems - the elderly and those in poorer communities - are less likely to use the Internet, so please share these phone numbers through word-of-mouth. MoveOn has created a handy printable card (PDF), containing all the hotlines, etc.

I sincerely hope you will make the right decision on Tuesday. Whatever you do, so long as you are a registered voter, I urge you to perform your duty, and take advantage of your right to vote. Even if you live in a state that is already considered a "shoo-in" for one or the other candidate, your vote can only help clarify what the popular vote numbers may represent.

GO VOTE, or don't ever call yourself an American again. Tuesday will be an irreversible moment in history, and I hope your part in it will be driven by hope for what this country might build in the future, and not fear of what is threatened in the shadows of the present.

Saturday, October 30, 2004

Site update

FYI, I've posted some of my more recent magazine articles on my website, if you're yearning for something to read...(!)

Just go to the "Sample Articles" section.

Friday, October 29, 2004

Swingin' Xenophobia

There's no denying that the conceit is an amusing one, and that the imitation is astonishingly good, but just as the stunt brings a smile to the lips, it brings a grimace to the face - this is indeed how so many Americans feel: a somewhat ignorant assessment of smelly, turban-headed foreigners who wish us nothing but horrific deaths...It's so simplisitc that one would hope that the majority of US citizens would look askance at this blunt portrayal, but unfortunately, the majority of Americans are quite happy to think in simple, single-syllabic, primary color formats. It may seem harsh, but the one assessment that cannot be deemed simplistic is the following:

The United States' inability over the past 25 years or so to effectively educate its general populace as citizens of the world has placed us in the unenviable position of once more returning to our 19th and early 20th century standing as a nation comprising a very small collection of "landed gentry", and a mass majority of ill-educated and disenfranchised yokels.

It may seem innocent enough, but you decide: Sinatra sings

I'm proud to be American, but ashamed to be a part of a country where so many of the citizens lack the mental sophistication to think for themselves, let alone with international sensitivity. The Romans, Germans, British, and Austro-Hungarians (among others) all reached this pinnacle of arrogance...just before the collapse of their vaunted "Empires". Is that the history waiting to be written for the United States of America? I shudder at the prospect...

100 Facts, and one Opinion...

I'd be interested to hear what your thoughts are on this article by JUDD LEGUM
[from the November 8, 2004 issue of The Nation]

Click here to download, circulate and distribute a PDF version of this article.

IRAQ
1. The Bush Administration has spent more than $140 billion on a war of choice in Iraq.
Source: American Progress

2. The Bush Administration sent troops into battle without adequate body armor or armored Humvees.
Sources: Fox News, The Boston Globe

3. The Bush Administration ignored estimates from Gen. Eric Shinseki that several hundred thousand troops would be required to secure Iraq.
Source: PBS

4. Vice President Cheney said Americans "will, in fact, be greeted as liberators" in Iraq.
Source: The Washington Post

5. During the Bush Administration's war in Iraq, more than 1,000 US troops have lost their lives and more than 7,000 have been injured.
Source: globalsecurity.org

6. In May 2003, President Bush landed on an aircraft carrier in a flight suit, stood under a banner proclaiming "Mission Accomplished," and triumphantly announced that major combat operations were over in Iraq. Asked if he had any regrets about the stunt, Bush said he would do it all over again.
Source: Yahoo News

7. Vice President Cheney said that Iraq was "the geographic base of the terrorists who have had us under assault for many years, but most especially on 9/11." The bipartisan 9/11 Commission found that Iraq had no involvement in the 9/11 attacks and no collaborative operational relationship with Al Qaeda.
Source: MSNBC , 9-11 Commission

8. National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice said that high-strength aluminum tubes acquired by Iraq were "only really suited for nuclear weapons programs," warning "we don't want the smoking gun to be a mushroom cloud." The government's top nuclear scientists had told the Administration the tubes were "too narrow, too heavy, too long" to be of use in developing nuclear weapons and could be used for other purposes.
Source: New York Times

9. The Bush Administration has spent just $1.1 billion of the $18.4 billion Congress approved for Iraqi reconstruction.
Source: USA Today

10. According to the Administration's handpicked weapon's inspector, Charles Duelfer, there is "no evidence that Hussein had passed illicit weapons material to al Qaeda or other terrorist organizations, or had any intent to do so." After the release of the report, Bush continued to insist, "There was a risk--a real risk--that Saddam Hussein would pass weapons, or materials, or information to terrorist networks."
Sources: New York Times, White House news release

11. According to Duelfer, the UN inspections regime put an "economic strangle hold" on Hussein that prevented him from developing a WMD program for more than twelve years.
Source: Los Angeles Times

TERRORISM
12. After receiving a memo from the CIA in August 2001 titled "Bin Laden Determined to Attack America," President Bush continued his monthlong vacation.
Source: CNN.com

13. The Bush Administration failed to commit enough troops to capture Osama bin Laden when US forces had him cornered in the Tora Bora region of Afghanistan in November 2001. Instead, they relied on local warlords.
Source: csmonitor.com

14. The Bush Administration secured less nuclear material from sites around the world vulnerable to terrorists in the two years after 9/11 than were secured in the two years before 9/11.
Source: nti.org

15. The Bush Administration underfunded Nunn-Lugar--the program intended to keep the former Soviet Union's nuclear legacy out of the hands of terrorists and rogue states--by $45.5 million.
Source: armscontrol.org

16. The Bush Administration has assigned five times as many agents to investigate Cuban embargo violations as it has to track Osama bin Laden's and Saddam Hussein's money.
Source: Associated Press

17. According to Congressional Research Service data, the Bush Administration has underfunded security at the nation's ports by more than $1 billion for fiscal year 2005.
Source: American Progress

18. The Bush Administration did not devote the resources necessary to prevent a resurgence in the production of poppies, the raw material used to create heroin, in Afghanistan--creating a potent new source of financing for terrorists.
Source: Pakistan Tribune

19. Vice President Cheney told voters that unless they elect George Bush in November, "we'll get hit again" by terrorists.
Source: Washington Post

20. Even though an Al Qaeda training manual suggests terrorists come to the United States and buy assault weapons, the Bush Administration did nothing to prevent the expiration of the ban.
Source: sfgate.com

21. Despite repeated calls for reinforcements, there are fewer experienced CIA agents assigned to the unit dealing with Osama bin Laden now than there were before 9/11.
Source: New York Times

22. Before 9/11, John Ashcroft proposed slashing counterterrorism funding by 23 percent.
Source: americanprogress.org

23. Between January 20, 2001, and September 10, 2001, the Bush Administration publicly mentioned Al Qaeda one time.
Source: commondreams.org

24. The Bush Administration granted the 9/11 Commission $3 million to investigate the September 11 attacks and $50 million to the commission that investigated the Columbia space shuttle crash.
Source: commondreams.org

25. More than three years after 9/11, just 5 percent of all cargo--including cargo transported on passenger planes--is screened.
Source: commondreams.org

NATIONAL SECURITY
26. During the Bush Administration, North Korea quadrupled its suspected nuclear arsenal from two to eight weapons.
Source: New York Times

27. The Bush Administration has openly opposed the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, undermining nuclear nonproliferation efforts.
Source: commondreams.org

28. The Bush Administration has spent $7 billion this year--and plans to spend $10 billion next year--for a missile defense system that has never worked in a test that wasn't rigged.
Sources: www.gao.gov/new.items/d04409.pdf, Los Angeles Times

29. The Bush Administration underfunded the needs of the nation's first responders by $98 billion, according to a Council on Foreign Relations study.
Source: nationaldefensemagazine.org

CRONYISM AND CORRUPTION
30. The Bush Administration awarded a multibillion-dollar no-bid contract to Halliburton--a company that still pays Vice President Cheney hundreds of thousands of dollars in deferred compensation each year (Cheney also has Halliburton stock options). The company then repeatedly overcharged the military for services, accepted kickbacks from subcontractors and served troops dirty food.
Sources: The Washington Post, The Tapei Times, BBC News

31. The Bush Administration told Saudi Prince Bandar bin Sultan about plans to go to war with Iraq before telling Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Source: detnews.com

32. The Bush Administration relentlessly pushed an energy bill containing $23.5 billion in corporate tax breaks, much of which would have benefited major campaign contributors.
taxpayer.net, Washington Post

33. The Bush Administration paid Iraqi-exile and neocon darling Ahmad Chalabi $400,000 a month for intelligence, including fabricated claims about Iraqi WMD. It continued to pay him for months after discovering that he was providing inaccurate information.
Source: MSNBC

34. The Bush Administration installed as top officials more than 100 former lobbyists, attorneys or spokespeople for the industries they oversee.
Source: Source: commondreams.org

35. The Bush Administration let disgraced Enron CEO Ken Lay--a close friend of President Bush--help write its energy policy.
Source: MSNBC

36. Top Bush Administration officials accepted $127,600 in jewelry and other presents from the Saudi royal family in 2003, including diamond-and-sapphire jewelry valued at $95,500 for First Lady Laura Bush.
Source: Seattle Times

37. Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge awarded lucrative contracts to several companies in which he is an investor, including Microsoft, GE, Sprint, Pfizer and Oracle.
Source: cq.com

38. President Bush used images of firefighters carrying flag-draped coffins through the rubble of the World Trade Center to score political points in a campaign advertisement.
Source: The Washington Post

THE ECONOMY
39. President Bush's top economic adviser, Greg Mankiw, said the outsourcing of American jobs abroad was "a plus for the economy in the long run."
Source: CBS News

40. The Bush Administration turned a $236 billion surplus into a $422 billion deficit.
Sources: Fortune, dfw.com

41. The Bush Administration implemented regulations that made millions of workers ineligible for overtime pay.
Source: epinet.org

42. The Bush Administration has crippled state budgets by underfunding federal mandates by $175 billion.
Source: cbpp.org

43. President Bush is the first President since Herbert Hoover to have a net loss of jobs--around 800,000--over a four-year term.
Source: The Guardian

44. The Bush Administration gave Accenture a multibillion-dollar border control contract even though the company moved its operations to Bermuda to avoid paying taxes.
Sources: The New York Times, cantonrep.com

45. In 2000, candidate George W. Bush said "the vast majority of my tax cuts go to the bottom end of the spectrum." He passed the tax cuts, but the top 20 percent of earners received 68 percent of the benefits.
Sources: cbpp.org, vote-smart.org

46. In 2000, candidate George W. Bush promised to pay down the national debt to a historically low level. As of September 30, the national debt stood at $7,379,052,696,330.32, a record high.
Sources: www.georgewbush.com , Bureau of the Public Debt

47. As major corporate scandals rocked the nation's economy, the Bush Administration reduced the enforcement of corporate tax law--conducting fewer audits, imposing fewer penalties, pursuing fewer prosecutions and making virtually no effort to prosecute corporate tax crimes.
Source: iht.com

48. The Bush Administration increased tax audits for the working poor.
Source: theolympian.com

49. In 2000, candidate George W. Bush promised to protect the Social Security surplus. As President, he spent all of it.
Sources: georgewbush.com, Congressional Budget Office

50. The Bush Administration proposed slashing funding for the largest federal public housing program, putting 2 million families in danger of losing their housing.
Source: San Francisco Examiner

51. The Bush Administration did nothing to prevent the minimum wage from falling to an inflation-adjusted fifty-year low.
Source: Los Angeles Times

EDUCATION
52. The Bush Administration underfunded the No Child Left Behind Act by $9.4 billion.
Source: nwitimes.com

53. In 2000, candidate George W. Bush promised to increase the maximum federal scholarship, or Pell Grant, by 50 percent. Instead, each year he has been in office he has frozen or cut the maximum scholarship amount.
Source: Source: edworkforce.house.gov

54. The Bush Administration's Secretary of Education, Rod Paige, called the National Education Association--a union of teachers--a "terrorist organization."
Sources: CNN.com

HEALTHCARE
55. The Bush Administration, in violation of the law, refused to allow Medicare actuary Richard Foster to tell members of Congress the actual cost of their Medicare bill. Instead, they repeated a figure they knew was $100 billion too low.
Source: Washington Post, realcities.com

56. The nonpartisan GAO concluded the Bush Administration created illegal, covert propaganda--in the form of fake news reports--to promote its industry-backed Medicare bill.
Source: General Accounting Office

57. The Bush Administration stunted research that could lead to new treatments for Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, diabetes, spinal injuries, heart disease and muscular dystrophy by placing severe restrictions on the use of federal dollars for embryonic stem-cell research.
Source: CBS News

58. The Bush Administration reinstated the "global gag rule," which requires foreign NGOs to withhold information about legal abortion services or lose US funds for family planning.
Source: healthsciences.columbia.edu

59. The Bush Administration authorized twenty companies that have been charged with fraud at the federal or state level to offer Medicare prescription drug cards to seniors.
Source: American Progress

60. The Bush Administration created a prescription drug card for Medicare that locks seniors into one card for up to a year but allows the corporations offering the cards to change their prices once a week.
Source: Washington Post

61. The Bush Administration blocked efforts to allow Medicare to negotiate cheaper prescription drug prices for seniors.
Source: American Progress

62. At the behest of the french fry industry, the Bush Administration USDA changed their definition of fresh vegetables to include frozen french fries.
Source: commondreams.org

63. In a case before the Supreme Court, the Bush Administrations sided with HMOs--arguing that patients shouldn't be allowed to sue HMOs when they are improperly denied treatment. With the Administration's help, the HMOs won.
Source: ABC News

64. The Bush Administration went to court to block lawsuits by patients who were injured by defective prescription drugs and medical devices.
Source: Washington Post

65. President Bush signed a Medicare law that allows companies that reduce healthcare benefits for retirees to receive substantial subsidies from the government.
Source: Bloomberg News

66. Since President Bush took office, more than 5 million people have lost their health insurance.
Source: CNN.com

67. The Bush Administration blocked a proposal to ban the use of arsenic-treated lumber in playground equipment, even though it conceded it posed a danger to children.
Source: Miami Herald

68. One day after President Bush bragged about his efforts to help seniors afford healthcare, the Administration announced the largest dollar increase of Medicare premiums in history.
Source: iht.com

69. The Bush Administration--at the behest of the tobacco industry--tried to water down a global treaty that aimed to help curb smoking.
Source: tobaccofreekids.org

70. The Bush Administration has spent $270 million on abstinence-only education programs even though there is no scientific evidence demonstrating that they are effective in dissuading teenagers from having sex or reducing the transmission of sexually transmitted diseases.
Source: salon.com

71. The Bush Administration slashed funding for programs that suggested ways, other than abstinence, to avoid sexually transmitted diseases.
Source: LA Weekly

ENVIRONMENT
72. The Bush Administration gutted clean-air standards for aging power plants, resulting in at least 20,000 premature deaths each year.
Source: cta.policy.net

73. The Bush Administration eliminated protections on more than 200 million acres of public lands.
Source: calwild.org

74. President Bush broke his promise to place limits on carbon dioxide emissions, an essential step in combating global warming.
Source: Washington Post

75. Days after 9/11, the Bush Administration told people living near Ground Zero that the air was safe--even though they knew it wasn't--subjecting hundreds of people to unnecessary, debilitating ailments.
Sierra Club , EPA

76. The Bush Administration created a massive tax loophole for SUVs--allowing, for example, the write-off of the entire cost of a new Hummer.
Source: Washington Post

77. The Bush Administration put former coal-industry big shots in the government and let them roll back safety regulations, putting miners at greater risk of black lung disease.
Source: New York Times

78. The Bush Administration said that even though the weed killer atrazine was seeping into water supplies--creating, among other bizarre creatures, hermaphroditic frogs--there was no reason to regulate it.
Source: Washington Post
79. The Bush Administration has proposed cutting the budget of the Environmental Protection Agency by $600 million next year.
Source: ems.org

80. President Bush broke his campaign promise to end the maintenance backlog at national parks. He has provided just 7 percent of the funds needed, according to National Park Service estimates.
Source: bushgreenwatch.org

RIGHTS AND LIBERTIES
81. Since 9/11, Attorney General John Ashcroft has detained 5,000 foreign nationals in antiterrorism sweeps; none have been convicted of a terrorist crime.
Source: hrwatch.org

82. The Bush Administration ignored pleas from the International Committee of the Red Cross to stop the abuse of prisoners in US custody.
Source: Wall Street Journal

83. In violation of international law, the Bush Administration hid prisoners from the Red Cross so the organization couldn't monitor their treatment.
Source: hrwatch.org

84. The Bush Administration, without ever charging him with a crime, arrested US citizen José Padilla at an airport in Chicago, held him on a naval brig in South Carolina for two years, denied him access to a lawyer and prohibited any contact with his friends and family.
Source: news.findlaw.com

85. President Bush's top legal adviser wrote a memo to the President advising him that he can legally authorize torture.
Source: news.findlaw.com

86. At the direction of Bush Administration officials, the FBI went door to door questioning people planning on protesting at the 2004 political conventions.
Source: New York Times

87. The Bush Administration refuses to support the creation of an independent commission to investigate the abuse of foreign prisoners in American custody. Instead, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld selected the members of a commission to review the conduct of his own department.
Source: humanrightsfirst.org

FLIP FLOPS
88. President Bush opposed the creation of the 9/11 Commission before he supported it, delaying an essential inquiry into one of the greatest intelligence failure in American history.
Source: americanprogressaction.org

89. President Bush said gay marriage was a state issue before he supported a constitutional amendment banning it.
Sources: CNN.com, White House

90. President Bush said he was committed to capturing Osama bin Laden "dead or alive" before he said, "I truly am not that concerned about him."
Source: americanprogressaction.org

91. President Bush said we had found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, before he admitted we hadn't found them.
Sources: White House, americanprogress.org

92. President Bush said, "You can't distinguish between Al Qaeda and Saddam when you talk about the war on terror," before he admitted Saddam had no role in 9/11.
Sources: White House, Washington Post

BIOGRAPHY
93. George Bush didn't come close to meeting his commitments to the National Guard. Records show he performed no service in a six-month period in 1972 and a three-month period in 1973.
Source: boston.com

94. In June 1990 George Bush violated federal securities law when he failed to inform the SEC that he had sold 200,000 shares of his company, Harken Energy. Two months later the company reported significant losses and by the end of that year the stock had dropped from $3 to $1.
Source: The Guardian

95. When asked at an April 2004 press conference to name a mistake he made during his presidency, Bush couldn't think of one.
Source: White House

SECRECY
96. The Bush Administration refuses to release twenty-seven pages of a Congressional report that reportedly detail the Saudi Arabian government's connections to the 9/11 hijackers.
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer

97. Last year the Bush Administration spent $6.5 billion creating 14 million new classified documents and securing old secrets--the highest level of spending in ten years.
Source: openthegovernment.org

98. The Bush Administration spent $120 classifying documents for every $1 it spent declassifying documents.
Source: openthegovernment.org

99. The Bush Administration has spent millions of dollars and defied numerous court orders to conceal from the public who participated in Vice President Cheney's 2001 energy task force.
Source: Washington Post

100. The Bush Administration--reversing years of bipartisan tradition--refuses to answer requests from Democratic members of Congress about how the White House is spending taxpayer money.
Source: Washington Post

OPINION
If the past informs the future, four more years of the Bush Administration will be a tragic period in the history of the United States and the world.

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Florida Voters take notes!

This speaks for itself:
http://www.boomchicago.nl/images/Voting_Machine.wmv

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Some reading for the long dark nights of waiting ahead...

As we count down to whatever future holds in store for our nation, and world, here are some interesting sites, containing articles and essays of note:

The Washington Monthly

Mystery Pollster

Kerry versus Bush Values Chart (Democratic leaning) (PDF file)

And for a little contemporary "entertainment", catch Eminem's newest Video:
http://mosh.eminem.com/video/

Tuesday, October 26, 2004

Truth in Advertising?

I was fed up years ago with the mudslinging and lies that seem par for the course in election seasons, but things are bordering almost on the compellingly excessive this year, especially when you see some of the ads coming out on TV. There is a tone of mean-spirited desperation, as if the ends truly do justify the emans, regardless of principles of ethics, legality, or manners.

So imagine how pleased I was to discover the following non-partisan web site!:

http://www.factcheck.org/

In the site's own words, "We are a nonpartisan, nonprofit, "consumer advocate" for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics. We monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews, and news releases. Our goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.
The Annenberg Political Fact Check is a project of the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. The APPC was established by publisher and philanthropist Walter Annenberg in 1994 to create a community of scholars within the University of Pennsylvania that would address public policy issues at the local, state, and federal levels.
The APPC accepts NO funding from business corporations, labor unions, political parties, lobbying organizations or individuals. It is funded primarily by an endowment from the Annenberg Foundation."

Sunday, October 24, 2004

Swift Boasts refuted

For those still seeking clarification on the issue of Kerry's worthiness in combat, here is an interesting revelation which seems to finally justify the award, or at least put to shame the partisan lies of O'Neill et al:
http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/print?id=166434

Saturday, October 23, 2004

Comparison Shopping

So, let's stretch things a little, and assume there are really 3 candidates in the upcoming Presidential election: Bush, Kerry, and Nader. While we all know Nader hasn't a hope of getting close to elected, he must be included in consideration because, as with 2000, his presence in the race could have a profound effect on the outcome...the ubiquitous "spoiler". As I continue my research on these three chaps, I've discovered some facts that make for good comparison and contrasting. Below are the positions of each candidate, relative to the issues shown (in each instance, the issue is listed first, then Bush's position listed next in the line, then Kerry's, then Nader's) :

Bush Kerry Nader Republican Democrat Independent Abortion Outlaw Abortions Except for Rape/Incest Strongly Favors Strongly Opposes Strongly Opposes Death Penalty The Death Penalty Favors Opposes Opposes National Review of Death Penalty Fairness Strongly Opposes Strongly Favors Strongly Favors Education No Child Left Behind Act Strongly Favors Somewhat Favors Strongly Opposes Increase Federal Funding for Higher Education Somewhat Opposes Somewhat Favors Strongly Favors Environment Oil Drilling in the Arctic Wildlife Refuge Strongly Favors Strongly Opposes Strongly Opposes Mandatory Clean Air Emissions Standards Somewhat Opposes Strongly Favors Strongly Favors Tougher Fuel Efficiency Standards Strongly Opposes Strongly Favors Strongly Favors Foreign Trade U.S. Involvement In NAFTA Strongly Favors Strongly Favors Strongly Opposes Mandatory Labor/Environment Strongly Opposes Somewhat Favors Strongly Favors Gay Rights Constitutional Gay Marriage Ban Strongly Favors Somewhat Opposes Strongly Opposes Equal Rights for Civil Unions Strongly Opposes Strongly Favors Strongly Favors Allow Gays to Openly Serve in the Military Strongly Opposes Strongly Favors Strongly Favors Gun Control Safety Devices on All New Guns Strongly Opposes Strongly Favors Strongly Favors Background Checks on Gun Show Purchases Somewhat Opposes Strongly Favors Strongly Favors Require Safety Course, License Before Gun Strongly Opposes Somewhat Favors Somewhat Favors Health Care Universal Government-Supervised Health Care Strongly Opposes Somewhat Opposes Favors Expand Medicaid to Cover More Uninsured No Opinion Strongly Favors Strongly Favors Homeland Security The Patriot Act Strongly Favors Strongly Opposes Strongly Opposes Tighter Immigration Controls Strongly Favors Strongly Favors Strongly Favors Iraq The War in Iraq Strongly Favors Somewhat Opposes Strongly Opposes Turning Over More Political Authority to U.N. Strongly Opposes Somewhat Favors Strongly Favors Immediate Withdrawl of U.S. Troops Strongly Opposes Strongly Opposes Somewhat Favors Jobs Raise the Minimum Wage Strongly Opposes Strongly Favors Strongly Favors Extend Unemployment Benefits Strongly Opposes Strongly Favors Strongly Favors Social Security Raise Retirement Age No Opinion Strongly Opposes No Opinion Privatize Social Security Strongly Favors Strongly Opposes Strongly Opposes Cap Payments to Wealthy Strongly Opposes Somewhat Favors No Opinion Tax Cuts Roll Back the Middle Class Tax Cuts Strongly Opposes Somewhat Favors Strongly Opposes Roll Back Cuts for People Making Over $100,000 Strongly Opposes Strongly Favors Strongly Favors Additional Tax Cuts for Businesses Strongly Favors Strongly Opposes Strongly Opposes Welfare Reform Hiring Welfare Workers Somewhat Opposes No Opinion No Opinion Tax Incentive Welfare Benefits for Legal Immigrants Strongly Opposes Strongly Favors Strongly Favors *Sources: AOL, AP, CBS News, Fox News, iwon.com

Friday, October 22, 2004

2004 Interactive Election Guide

First off, let's explore the way this election might be borne out on November 2nd. The New York Times has a very user-friendly voter guide, showing the potential breakdown of electoral college votes by state, the Nader factor, the swing states, how the Senate and House runnings might fare, the governorship races..everything on the numbers...and it's updated constantly. The guide even lets you manipulate the scenarios, so you can see how one state might affect the outcome more than another, and so on...

Check it out here.

(UPDATE - 11/02/2004 - The above link has expired, replaced by an "election results" tracker, viewable HERE)

Let the Countdown begin...

November 2nd is just over a week away, and I'll be posting thoughts and insights, however pithy or personal, in this run-up to what may be the most important election of your lifetime.

Political groups are running false ads, and meddling with facts, in an attempt to overwhelm our emotions, believing that we voters do not possess the self-discipline or intelligence to avoid such blatant scaremongering. I choose to vote with my head as well as my heart, and will be spending the next week or so educating myself as to the candidates, their positions, and their messages.

I admit that I already now for whom I'm going to vote, but my decision will be reinforced with information, not guided by propaganda. Indeed, if I learn something that has the ability to conclusively change my mind, I am prepared to accept the possibility. I recommend you commit yourself to the same goal, because on November 2nd, you are running this country, and - by extension - you are dictating the relationship the US will have with the rest of the world.

Are you up to the challenge?

Monday, October 18, 2004

"Nominee, que, nique, nique!"

Was invited this evening to the Kirk Douglas theatre in Culver City, the newest jewel in the Center Theatre Group's crown. I was among 150 or so nominees for the 2004 Ovation Awards, who were honoured to see the inside of the new space before it was opened to the public (the season begins on Halloween night). It's an impressive space, with seating for well over 300, in a raked auditorium space. The stage is very flexible in its layout, and I'm sure some very exciting productions will take place here.

Wednesday, October 13, 2004

Letters from the Road - All the rest:

I realize (perhaps a little belatedly!) that my attempt to republish all 29 of the Boulder Institute's letters in this, my blog, is proving to be too specialized a focus for a journal supposedly housing my own rants and raves in predominance. So I've decided to stop here, and urge you to continue the journey yourself below, where I've placed links to the remaining 15 letters:

LETTER # 15, What About Saddam? Colorado, March 7, 2003. Elias.
LETTER # 16, Creating a Nonviolent Culture, Colorado, March 19, 2003. Rabia.
LETTER # 17, A Gesture, Colorado, April 11, 2003. Elias.
LETTER # 18, On Pilgrimage, Colorado, May 1, 2003. Elias & Rabia.
LETTER # 19, From a Desert Monastery, Nebek, Syria, May 27, 2003. Elias.
LETTER # 20, Jesus Wept, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Ramalla, Hebron, July 26, 2003. Elias.
LETTER # 21, Gaza, Gaza, July 30, 2003. Elias.
LETTER # 22, Being Alone, Hell Roaring Canyon, Utah, September, 2003. Elias.
LETTER # 23, Syrian Pilgrimage, Damascus, Syria, November 22, 3003. Rabia.
LETTER # 24, The Believer's Candle, Damascus, Syria, November 24, 2003. Elias.
LETTER # 25, A Dream from the Holy Land, Israel-Palestine, December 24, 2003. Elias & Rabia.
LETTER # 26, In the Fourth World, Samoeng, Thailand, January 6, 2004. Elias.
LETTER # 27, Indigenous Survival, Samoeng, Thailand, March 3, 2004. Elias.
LETTER # 28, The Way of the Bard, Brazil, May-June 2004. Rabia.
LETTER # 29, Our Great Loss, Mexico, July-August 2004. Rabia.


Now that we're all caught up, I will be publishing future letters here on my blog, as they come in. The reason for my desire to share these letters is straightforward: they offer a little exposed perspective on the way our actions affect the world about us, and - as you walk into your local polling station on November 2nd (you are registered, right?!) - I hope you will be voting from a full informed, and globally compassionate point of view. Nationalism is to the 21st Century what indentured servitude was to the 20th Century...out-of-date.

Wednesday, October 06, 2004

Letters from the Road - #s 11-14

These are the last in this block of letters from the Middle East. The next letter will come from Colorado.

For those of you who have missed the full complement of postings thus far, you may find them under the following dates below:

#1 - Friday, September 03, 2004
#2 - Friday, September 10, 2004
#3 - Wednesday, September 15, 2004
#4 - Wednesday, September 22, 2004
#5 - Sunday, September 26, 2004
#6 - Wednesday, September 29, 2004
#7 - Saturday, October 02, 2004
#8 thru 10 - Monday, October 04, 2004

LETTER FROM THE ROAD, 11
ELIZABETH ROBERTS (RABIA)
11 FEBRUARY 2003

DARK NIGHT OF THE SOUL

But we, like sentries, are obliged to stand
In starless nights, and wait the 'pointed hours.

-John Dryden

Elias has been busy for the past days making banners, getting tents and setting up sites for a series of actions the Iraq Peace Team will initiate during the coming week. In contrast to his energy, I am paralysed by a deep dread. I feel the war's shadow over my shoulder. And at the moment its darkness has me in its grip. I don't want to meet new people or have new experiences. What's the point, I think? This place is over! When I do talk with some old friends from my previous visit to Baghdad in November-December, we cry together. The future approaches and millions must stand silently through the coming night.

Those Iraqis who can afford it have already left Baghdad. United Nations officials are taking their vacations and humanitarian groups are being sent home. Businessmen have relocated their families. Foreigners are returning to their homelands. Journalists are surveying hotels for their structural soundness. People are selling their cars, their possessions, anything they have to help them get out of the city.

But the vast majority have nowhere to go. Five million men, women and children must stay here and endure the rain of bombs, the lack of electricity, clean water, food supplies and medicines. Schools and hospitals will close; so will shops and businesses. No one knows when and where the shells made with depleted uranium or other chemical, biological or nuclear weapons will be used. Rumors are that marshal law will be enforced.

Hassan is an out of work electrician. He tells me that he and his wife have put extra food by, but they worry that if the war lasts too long, looters will come for their supplies. He is a mild man. He tries not to discuss the war in front of his four children "but they hear it in school and from their friends. Yesterday Alla (his 9 year old son) asked if we are going to die. This is their great fear, not their own death, but the loss of their mother and father."

Why? Why? Why? This is the one question every person I talk with asks. "Will you destroy so much just for the oil? Do Americans know what a catastrophe this will be? Nothing will be good between the Arabs and the Americans again - not for 100 years." I can only bear witness to this pain. I have no answers.

Every day in the hotel, in small groups, the Peace Team people discuss the countdown to war. How many more days before the invasion? When should we leave? Will those who choose to stay through the war be safe? What can we do to prevent the coming disaster? Will anything stop it? The U.N. Security Council? France and Germany? The American public? Saudi Arabia? Most of us have given up hope for a last minute reprieve. Bush will have his war. And we will stand in solidarity with the Iraqi people as long as each of us can.

Khaled, our Yemeni graduate student friend looks at me and says I have "the fear sickness". He says he is seeing it a lot. He says I should leave Iraq. It's true I have a little fever, no appetite and sleep a lot. I do feel despair. Today a memo was slipped under my door. It had 14 questions. The first one: "In the event of your death, do you agree to your body not being returned to your own country but being disposed of in the most convenient way?" With decisions like this how does one not have the "fear sickness?"

Elias and I do have an exit date that we believe is safe, but of course it is not fool-proof. And the very fact that we can exit only heightens my despair for those we leave behind. Perhaps staying through the war with the Iraqi people would be easier on the soul. But not on the body - some people here say the survival odds given to the American peaceworkers staying through the invasion is about 30%. I am simply not ready (yet) to face the end of my life or to answer the second question: "Have you written a letter that can be sent to your loved ones in the event of your death?"

While I puzzle about how to avoid death, life goes on all around me. The shoeshine boys still play in front of our hotel, hoping for spare change. Amal, my friend with the art studio, opens her shop every morning, offers tea, weeps quietly and then shows me the new fabrics from Kurdistan. Kamel, the Imam's assistant from a nearby mosque still comes to work every day, tall and dignified, serving coffee to us and teaching us a few words of Arabic. Last night seven wedding parades, complete with ribbons and music, drove down our street - seven! Across the street the Palestine Hotel has begun to tape its large glass windows to try and prevent them from shattering or imploding when the bombing starts. And on the grounds right below these windows there are two Iraqi men still tending to the few green plants and small garden that are in front of the hotel. Preparing for death, tending life. The truth of this lesson breaks my heart. A small green shoot pushes through the ruins. Surely the very least I owe these beautiful people is the energy of my smile and good cheer. What right do I have to despair when everywhere life continues. I pray that with the help of grace this "fear sickness" will pass. Insh'allah!

*****

LETTER FROM THE ROAD, 12
ELIAS AMIDON
12 FEBRUARY 2003

TO END THE SCOURGE OF WAR

A wonderful thing happened this morning at our vigil in a field across from U.N. headquarters here in Baghdad. We've made an encampment there with an open-sided tent and several large banners that read LET THE INSPECTIONS CONTINUE and INSPECTIONS YES, INVASION NO and LET THERE BE PEACE ON EARTH. There are TV and newspaper crews from around the world who interview us each day.

This morning while we were standing silently I read aloud the preamble to the U.N. Charter. "We the peoples of the United Nations determined to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war..." When I finished we stood silently again. After a few minutes a man came out of the U.N. compound and crossed the road. He was a U.N. inspector. He approached us, rather shyly, and called out, "We, over there, just want to thank you all. You are a real encouragement to us. Your being here has greatly helped our morale. Well, that's all...thank you." And he turned and crossed back over the road. We applauded as he left.

There was something so human and generous about that particular encounter in a dusty field in Baghdad, with the tensions of the entire world bearing down on it. On each side of the road the people of the United Nations worked to end the scourge of war. We helped their morale, and they in turn helped ours. Even Hans Blix took part. At his news conference the other day he was asked if there was much support here for the continuation of the inspections. He said he believed there was, and described the "large demonstration at the airport" (ours) he saw upon his arrival. He said, "They had a banner saying 'Inspections Yes, Invasion No.' This is just what we want."

But like Rabia in her last letter, I begin to wonder what's the use of all these actions and appeals for peace. "Bush will have his war." It may come very soon. We are scheduled to leave in a week and the idea of leaving, as well as the idea of staying, fills us with dread. How can we save our own skins while the Iraqi people around us, and our fellow Peace Team members, remain facing such peril?

Of the 50 of us here, about 18 members of the Peace Team intend to stay. I've been asking them why they are staying. Their answers suggest they are moved by a force more powerful than fear and violence. Here are a few examples.

Lisa, a 32 year-old woman from Rwanda, now living in Toronto, told me, "This is the first time in my life I've settled down. Here in Baghdad I fit in at last. It's like my people in the refugee camps in Rwanda - we have to go home and get what's ours. We have to get what belongs to us. And what is that? That's the question. Here, in Baghdad, I've found what it is. It is the power I have. The power I have to say 'this is unacceptable.' It's like people say 'land mines are unacceptable.' How can you unaccept something that is there? You can. This is the power I have here. I won't stand for this war. I stand for something else. You have to position yourself in one way or another."

Mike, a Vietnam vet, said something similar: "You know, most things in life are defined for us. We fit into somebody else's definitions. The reasons for my staying here are something I can define myself. If I say my intention is for peace, it is. No one can say otherwise. I'm here to put my life where my truth is."

Or Cathy, a 50-year old Catholic Worker: "I don't want to be in the country that's dropping the bombs. And if I'm here and am killed under those bombs, what difference does it make if it's me or the Iraqis?" As she talks I feel her echo an early Christian ideal of self-sacrifice. I ask her if this is not her own "imitation of Christ." She answers plainly, "I try to live a surrendered life."

Or Cynthia, a 73-year old librarian from upstate New York: "I will stay because it's the place for me to be. You know, we are one family on earth, no matter what. The Iraqi part of my family is in danger now. I must be with them. If you ask anybody in the world what they would do if their family was in danger, they would say they'd want to go be with them. That's all I'm doing. I'm here to be with my family in their hour of danger. It's simple. You act because your conscience tells you to act. Anyway, I've already had my three score years and ten. Every day now is a bonus for me."

A full day has now passed since writing the last paragraph. Things have gotten very intense and busy. The press is paying a lot of attention to our actions and vigils - we've held dozens of interviews. Everyone awaits the inspectors' report to the U.N. tonight. Some say the bombing could start in two days, others say not for another week, and a very few still say the war will be called off. There are more prayers, and deeper ones.

Last night Cardinal Roger Etchegaray, the special envoy from Pope John Paul II, celebrated Mass in St. Joseph's Cathedral here in Baghdad. During his homily he said the following:

Peace? Who doesn't talk about it today everywhere in the world without thinking about the huge threats that weigh on Iraq? Who does not desire peace? But how many among them think that peace is still possible? How many truly want it with all their will? How many see in prayer something other than a refuge during hours of panic? Something other than a simple alibi from human engagement?

Today, tonight, here, we pray for peace in Iraq and in the entire Middle East. It is most certainly a test of faith and the harder for those of us who take seriously both prayer and peace. They go hand in hand.

*****

LETTER FROM THE ROAD, 13
ELIAS AMIDON
16 FEBRUARY, 2003

THE PEOPLE YES!

It is Sunday, the day after the massive international peace demonstrations. We here in Baghdad are so heartened by this historic event. Thank you world! It felt like a great prayer, a shout, an uprising sweeping across the land, a call for sanity against the insane accumulation of weapons and the war-making heritage of our species. The great historian Will Durant once calculated that in all of recorded history there has been only 29 years without war. And now, at last, the people are finding their power and linking arms across all that divides them and calling out to the politicians and the generals and the arms-dealers, "Stop this madness!"

Even here in Baghdad - you should have seen it - the first international peace march! We of the Iraq Peace Team began by hosting a large press conference, inviting all the other international delegations we knew of: "Bridges to Baghdad", "Human Shields", plus a large group of Okinawan musicians calling themselves "Weapons into Musical Instruments!" The hall was filled with TV and newspaper reporters, the Okinawans dressed in bright yellow and red, the Italians with their multi-colored flags, and Germans, Swedes, Spaniards, French, Slovaks, Poles, English, Irish, Americans, Canadians, Australians.

I began the briefing: "As we gather here this morning President George Bush, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, and Secretary of State Colin Powell are still asleep in their beds in Washington, D.C. We have come here to trouble their sleep, to trouble their sleep with dreams of people around the world coming out of their homes and workplaces this day to say no to war and yes to peace. By the time these men wake up, people all over the Middle East, Russia, and Europe will be on the streets. In a few hours they will be joined by millions of people across the United States and Canada, and beyond. We few hundred internationals here are their representatives in Baghdad. Together we are millions! May our voices be heard!"

After the leaders of each group gave a statement and answered questions we poured out onto the street and took up our banners. We couldn't believe how big our procession had become - it stretched back several blocks and soon was joined by Iraqi children and mothers, an Iraqi Benedictine monk and Islamic clerics. The police blocked off the main street and let us march down the middle. Iraqis came out of their homes and shops, looking surprised to see all these smiling foreigners marching with their huge banners in Arabic, English, Italian, and Japanese calling for peace. By the time we had gone a mile crowds had gathered on the sidewalks to see us. The Okinawans were a great hit, chanting and singing with their huge red drums, spinning their drumsticks up into the air and leaping to catch them.

Then suddenly an Iraqi woman on the sidewalk started ululating in a high-pitched call. Another woman brought out a basket and began throwing bunches of candies up into the air over us. Another pulled blossoms from a basket of flowers and tossed them in front of us, and then embraced several of the women marchers. Further on, as we turned a corner, a larger crowd of men had gathered. Suddenly one of them started clapping, and another and another, until the whole crowd of Iraqis was applauding. It sounded like rain on a dry land, like something that would outlive all the distrust of the world.

We called out to them, "Asalaam aleikum!" (Peace be with you!) and several called back, "Wa Aleikum salaam, Iraqi!" (And to you peace, Iraqi!)

We proceeded up onto the Al Rasheed Bridge spanning the Tigris River. The bridge is a simple arc with low railings about a quarter of a mile in length. It commands a majestic view up and down the river. When we were all on the bridge our procession stopped and we spaced ourselves and our banners along one side. There we stood for a few moments in silence. The sun was shining and a light breeze billowed through the banners and peace flags. Then the TV and newspaper teams caught up with us and the march ended with individual interviews with them and much good feeling. We joked, "Have you heard? They called the war off! If there can be a peace march in Baghdad there will be thousands of them around the world!"

Of course, they haven't called it off, at least not yet. We heard today the Americans have moved troops closer to the border. The Pentagon claims it will take Baghdad in a day, though the U.N. people here estimate they won't be able to come back to Baghdad for three to six months because of unstable conditions.

If war does come, will this great movement for peace by the people of the world have been in vain? Will we have lost? No, as the marchers chant in dozens of languages, "The people, united, will never be defeated." We are building new neural pathways for the human mind and the entire human project. It may take a little time, but once these landscapes of imagination have been opened they will not be closed again. We are using the threat of yet another war to collectively take a leap in human evolution. As a Carthusian monk once wrote, "The darkness of the future is the necessary space for the exercise of our liberty and our faith."

*****

LETTER FROM THE ROAD, 14
ELIAS AMIDON
20 FEBRUARY 2003,
AMMAN, JORDAN

SHOCK AND AWE

Last week my Iraqi friend Fais told me how he used to take his son fishing. "I liked to sit there doing nothing, I liked just to watch the river go by. But we don't go anymore. No one relaxes now. We're only nervous about the war coming."

Yesterday morning Fais and I said goodbye. When we embraced he said, "When you come back to Iraq, God willing there will be no more talk of war. Maybe then we can go fishing together."

For an unspoken moment we both held that image of the two of us lazily sitting by the Tigris River, fishing but not caring if we caught anything, watching the fish plop and the herons wait in the shallows for minnows.

But then we drew away from each other and the image disappeared. In its place the familiar war-anxiety returned. "Fais," I said, "you take care of yourself. If the war starts, stay home, don't go out, stay with your family."

"Yes, yes, I know," he said. It was unnecessary for me to warn him like that. He had told me the same scenario of American war planning I had read about a few days earlier, the one called "Shock and Awe."

It goes like this: according to the Pentagon the war will begin with "the most intense air attack in history", and that in the first 48 hours the U.S. will unleash more bombs and guided missiles than were used in the entire Gulf War: 3000 smart bombs and 800 missiles. Much of this will be directed at military targets in Baghdad. The 3rd, 4th, and 5th days of the attack will see the firepower of 800 allied jet bombers let loose with 1500 missions a day, 24 hours a day. Then the 101st and 82nd Airborne Divisions will attack under the cover of hundreds of Black Hawk and Apache helicopters. In another day they will be joined by thousands of U.S. Abrams and British Challenger tanks roaring in from the north and south, along with the 3rd and 4th Infantry Divisions, British forces and the U.S. Marines. The idea is to overwhelm and demoralize the Iraqis with the enormity of the attack, and be able to occupy Baghdad quickly with minimum fighting.

Of course, Saddam Hussein knows all this, and he knows that his country does not provide natural cover for a protracted guerrilla war against U.S. forces in the way the jungles of Vietnam provided cover for the Viet Cong. Except for urban buildings. The Pentagon says it would be immoral for Hussein to use civilian areas as shields for Iraqi forces. It may be immoral, but Saddam has little choice. And the citizens of Iraq fully expect it. From my conversations with Iraqis, they believe many of their countrymen will join the regular forces in resisting the Americans in both urban and rural areas. They are armed and have said to us many times, "Even Iraqis who don't like our government will resist an invasion. We are a proud people and do not want to be occupied by any foreign power. You Americans would do the same if someone invaded your country."

There is no way to know for sure if the Iraqis will dig in for long-term resistance after the initial weeks of Shock and Awe. But it is a distinct possibility. Baghdad could turn into Gaza. Wrecked buildings, no clean water, no sanitation, homeless kids, nervous GI's patrolling bombed-out neighborhoods.

The possibility that this could happen haunts all of us: Fais, me, the Iraqis on every street, the American military planners, the soldiers of each side, the peace advocates marching in a hundred countries. None of us want this to happen. And because we share this revulsion for war, there is hope.

In the 14 letters we have sent from Iraq we have shared many little stories and images of the ordinary people there. That has been our central purpose in writing: to help remind ourselves and anyone who cares to listen of the human costs of this imminent war.

"The struggle of man against power," the novelist Milan Kundera wrote, "is the struggle of memory against forgetting." The stories in these letters are a small part of a vast web of conversations happening around the world concerned with helping each other remember. We are trying to remember what matters to us, and how to protect and nurture it. The centers of accumulated power in our time, economic, military, and political power, are sustained by our collective amnesia. To join in this struggle against forgetting is why we went to Iraq, and why you have taken the trouble to read this.

Before we left last November I wrote a statement about why we were going, a few lines from which I would like to conclude with here. We were going to Iraq, I wrote, to appeal "to something inside us, inside me and inside all of us, the place where we are startled by the realization of our common origin, spirit, desires, and destination. If we could truly touch that place, I believe, swords would fall from our hands."

May the shock and awe of that remembering guide us!