Karen Hughes : Does not Know History of Middle East

Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes and a long-time communications aide of Bush and Rove is on an Islamic public relations tour for the US. She passes out media kits which include a US presidential historical primer- the cover shows Bush, Wasington, Lincoln and Kennedy. What's wrong with this cover? One of the pitches that Ms. Hughes repeats many times is that Bush is the FIRST American president that supports a Palestinian state. This is not true. It's easy to see why she has a credibility gap with her listeners.

Palestine's ancient existence is found in historical records from many different sources.Even the Book of Exodus in the Bible records that. Israel was created out of the partition of Palestine in 1947 by the rigged vote in the UN. The voting members were voting for a reduced- gerrymandered Palestinian state . President Truman who gave the go ahead for the partition wanted Palestine to remain in existence.

The claim that Bush wants to establish an independent Palestine comes off as a lie or stupid or probably both. The people in the Middle East know their history. Bush and Hughes are learning the hard way.

SLAVERY : Good and Bad Results ?

On October 7, 2005 The New York Historical Society will present " Slavery in New York ". It chronicles the period from the 1620's to July 5, 1827 when an emancipation act ended slavery in the state. Since those times, the guilt of slavery has weighed on American culture and politics.

History has been filled with other examples of slavery. The Greeks, whose philosophy and culture were the basis for Western Civilization were enslaved by the Romans. But the Greeks made the most of it and Rome learned Greek ways. Rome invaded and conquered Greece. Africa was not invaded. Slaves that were bought by American traders were delivered to the shores by tribal chiefs who were paid for their service.

The question is what were these slaves deprived of ? Was their leaving Africa a better or worse fate than remaining? Nobody knows that answer. Looking at Africa compared to America in the last 300 years may suggest to some that getting out of Africa might have been a blessing in disguise.

Guilt for slavery in America has been overdone and probably not justified with all things considered. There is a lot of money in the "race business " and that is why it lingers.

PROSTITUTION & POLITICS : Oldest Professions

As long as there is money to buy there will be prostitutes or politicians who will sell. Prostitutes own and should have control to sell. Politicians on the other hand sell things that don't belong to them or that they should not have effective control of on an auction basis.

Voters should limit what government has control over. A good start would be having the right to declare war being exclusive to a majority vote of a national referendum.

Marilyn Monroe and JFK

Recently the Antiques Roadshow had highlights of past shows. One segment had an autographed photo of Marilyn Monroe valued at $ 4000-6000. Another segment had an autographed photo of JFK valued at $ 1500-2000. Marilyn and JFK were involved in a now famous affair( Bobby Kennedy made it a menage a trois) .It ended badly for Marilyn with talk of Bobby having a hand in silencing the actress. Monroe's momento was 3 times JFKs. One would think that the president's signature would have been more valuable or at least as valuable as Monroe's.

But there is something about Marilyn Monroe that moved people that was lacking in JFK' s persona. Her acting parts were suitably picked to resonate with her knockout looks and a particular vulnerability. She just played herself. This is the requirement of all actors , to be believable. On the other hand John Kennedy was largely a creation of his father Joe Kennedy.

Joe was enormously wealthy and had a backround in the motion picture business with his share of RKO ( K for Kennedy). He knew how to project a theatrical voter- friendly image. JFK's best-selling " Profiles in Courage" is suspected to have been ghost written by Ted Sorenson. Joe's money is widely suspected of criminally-delivering Illinois, Texas and W. Virginia in a extremely close national vote.

Marilyn played from her heart and personality. JFK followed his father's script and showed a lack of character . In the real world, only the truths last and are more valuable.

Africa Should be a Nature and Game Preserve.

Recent debt relief for Africa now allows more lending and grants to go forward.

Paul Wolfowitz, president of the World Bank has big plans for Africa. Recently he said, " Entrepreneurs and farmers [ in Africa] could not begin to realize their potential if they lacked electricity and roads to move their products to market". For Wolfy, electricity means building dams and road-building means building industrial infrastructure.

Don't do to Africa what has been done to most of the world. There must be places that are left alone. Africa's best use and cheapest to realize is letting it be a nature and game preserve. Nature tour dollars are the least destructive on the environment. Also the" human infrastructure" of Africa is more suited to supporting tourism.

Africa's malnutrition is a sympton of the root problem of overpopulated dry-land ecosystems. Any aid to Africa from the rest of the world must be tied to population control and conservation of land.

Victims of Katrina: Is That the Wrong Name?

If the 134,000 people who didn't leave New Orleans are victims, what do you call the people who left?

Cheney Tells Bush the Bad News

Dick Cheney is recovering from aneurysm repairs to both knees. After getting a quote on Halliburton, he phoned our boy-president to tell him that clutching Cheney's knees for security would have to stop. He did tell Dubya that in place of his own knees he would provide a duplicate life-like model. The mock-up would have a night-light and travel case. It would also have an inscription on the knee caps, " Nobody learns because nobody remembers".

With the affairs of state settled, Dick booked a " canned hunt" of pheasants in Texas. His last hunt bagged 70 unsuspecting birds. Some had to be drop-kicked to make it sporting.

Bush's Character and Fate

The 5th century B.C. philosopher Heraclitus remarked " man's fate is in his character not in his stars".

Recently there were more revelations of Iraqi prisoner abuse " for amusement" by members of the 82nd Airborne. Bush has made no pretense that his mission in the Middle East is in part god-directed against " evil doers". Are some of our armed forces taking Bush at his word? Is the torture of " evil doers' permissable in holy wars?

Hurricanes Katrina and Rita are fateful events in the Bush presidency. But would we have been better prepared if Bush was focused more on domestic issues rather than god-directed imperial ones?

LOBBIES ANOTHER NAME FOR TRIBES

Lobbies/special interests are expensive and need money to prosper and maintain loyalty. Money is the " mother's milk" of politics. Tribes are a hybrid. They run best on personal/familial/regional relationships with barter as a medium of exchange. But they also can run on money . In our adaptive Darwinian world, the the tribes that run on relationships rather than money will last longer.

If we want to rein in Washington's imperial arrogance, the states must assert their hybrid vigor. Bring home the taxes, the legislative power and the troops.

Bush: "Roveing Maniac"

Yesterday Bush spoke before the Republican Jewish Coalition. This group has to be patient with our evangelical president considering how much he has done for Israel in these " end days". In the speech he used the tactic of the 2000 election of collapsing the 9/11 terrorist event into the Iraq invasion. Yesterday Bush/Rove collapsed the Katrina disaster and response into the Iraq response and disaster. He claimed, " both challenges will make America stronger".

Is it a cheap con? Is it mental masturbation? Or worse does he believe it ? Has he become a " Roveing Maniac"?

JERUSALEM SHOULD BE THEME PARK

In the interest of world peace and educating the secular-minded and to guarentee a sustaining income stream to world-wide religions.

a) Jerusalem should be an open city. Only an international honor guard will be it's security force.

b)Ticket sales to the three major religious holy places will be the only revenue source. Ticket sales and a small commission will be handled by the Israelis with an international audit committee looking on.

c) Explanations of the religious locale ( individuals relevance to particular religion) will be displayed side-by-side with a secular explanation ( real estate, weather etc. ) of locales desireability. Oh, Revisionist (lies) about history of particular origins of people will not be censored.

With a secular and spiritual explanation side-by-side maybe there will be some mitigation of all-too-serious approach that man ( frivolous primate ) views his/her place in the world.

America's Needs too Big for Planet

a) A nasty hurricane one hundred years ago would have done less damage because of less environmental degradation and a population with an ethic of " can think, can do" would have engaged the challenges.

b) An American Empire foreign policy that requires obediece so oil will flow and the commerce of perpetual war will pay dividends.

c) Jobs are outsourced to other countries so corporations can make more money to support the 12.7% people in the poverty level who can't compete with foreign workers.

d) America's muscle-bound legal system among other examples requires an act of Congress regarding the personal choice of having a child.

Does government do for us what should be a personal responsibility? What's to be done? All politics are local. Local solutions preclude national problems. It's not perfect but perfection is the enemy of the good.

HOUNDS & BITCHES: Hunting Strategies

When hunting for game, one should have all areas of the field covered. Hounds will cover the left and bitches will cover an area somewhat to the right. Of course that can be reversed if the terrain changes, Mongrels that have been raised in the streets are more resourceful than priveledged kennel-raised moronic runts.

Yesterday on a similar circumstance, Bill Clinton was talking to his estranged friend George Stephanopoulos on ABC. Clinton said, " You can't have an emergency plan[ New Orleans] that works if it only affects middle-class people up [he is against the disappearing middle-class?]

The fact is that 350, 000 mainly African-Americans evacuated New Orleans when they were told to. The ones that stayed behind for whatever reason will be generously compensated by the" middle-class people up". Clinton's bark of class and race prejudiced after 40 years of the Great Society and trillions spent should remind people why some dogs should be kept outside.

Afghanistan and the Realities of Democracy

Afghanistan votes for a parliament today. There are 5800 candidates running for 669 seats. The elected will be paid hard dollars by the US, Britain and NATO. What will the voters get?

Per capita yearly Afghan income is app. $ 200 . Democracy needs wealth. Without wealth to distribute/redistribute why would anyone vote their own self-interest? Who can afford to pay taxes? What programs will the new government initiate or afford?

Of course these are questions that would get in the way of empire and it's client states that are being bred to consume.

Sharon at U N : Whining & No Gratitude

The Prime Minister of Israel, Ariel Sharon A.K.A. " Butcher of Beirut" ( involved in app. 17,000 deaths in Lebanon in 1980's) spoke to the UN yesterday. He said, " Israelis had not forgotten dozens of harsh and unjust decisions made by the United Nations over the years".

What chutzpah. Most of the U N decisions were about Israel's killing innocent people and taking land that did not belong to them. Israel was created in 1947 by the UN when Palestine was partitioned. The vote at the UN was rigged with bribes and intimidation by the United States. Sharon's whining about " what have you done lately for Israel " falls increasingly on deaf ears.

The country has enough historical evidence to qualify as a theme park. Nothing more.

Bush : Deja VU of LBJ

Presidents Bush and Johnson have similar roots and increasingly similar performance profiles.

a) Both are/were commanders-in chiefs of unpopular wars that started suspiciously. Both had to learn about world geography and history by starting a war.

b) Both the philosophical rhetoric, costs and scope of Hurricane Katrina relief and Great Society programs are similar.

c) Insiders to both presidents profited from both wars and both social reconstruction and initiatives.

Some differences include:

a) LBJ could ride a horse. Bush rides a bike.

b) LBJ could intelligently string more than two sentences together. Bush can't.

c)LBJ had a plain cloth carpetbag. Bush has an endangered species brief case.

By the way. What is the remaining balance of this " historic opportunity" to pay for past injustices?

Maggie: Alaska's Only Elephant

Maggie is a long way from home. But the elephant makes the most of her home in Anchorage. She has learned to paint, play the harmonica and use a 20' by 8' treadmill for exercise. Maggie is an example of making use of one's time productively and by so doing dealing effectively with the problems of life that are dealt randomly to all of us. I wish she were free in her native jungle. But it probably will never be.

Compare Maggie's ingenuity with the 134,000 New Orleans residents who didn't leave town when ordered to in the face of a looming disater. What is their problem and excuse?

Does Bush Need An Exorcist?

Pope Benedict XVI welcomed a convention of exorcists to Rome yesterday. Exorcism has become very popular with priests in the past 4 years. The Regina Apostolorum offers courses.

Bush's speech yesterday in the UN talked about " poverty being a source of terrorism". What about super-wealth being a source of arrogance and ambition to empire from the safety and armchair- comfort of a F-16?

What about an exorcist for Bush? A few less vapors from his greedy, opionated and righteous god might make him more qualified to be a grouchy manager at a Dairy Queen in the rural south.

Liberal Courts and Civil Rights Act

The liberal Warren Court struck down the arrogant " seperate but equal" of school segregation in 1954. It introduced the condescending "different but equal" which set up affirmative action, bussing etc.

One extreme out and another extreme in.

We are known by our differences. Laws that reflect that reality will last longer, be less expensive to enforce and have happier law-abiding citizens.

The Warren Court and the Civil Rights Acts provisions and directives for human behavior read like a manual sent out with an appliance.

Rice: " soft bigotry of low expectations"

Secretary Rice was defending President Bush's race record yesterday. She was being questioned by reporters if race played a part in the Katrina disaster. She denied it. She recalled how in 1990 she was moved by Bush's remarks about the " soft bigotry of low expectations". She then went on to say that the rebuilding of New Orleans " gives us an opportunity to rectify historic injustices " that she also experienced as an African-American growing up in the South.

Sound like she has " low expectations" also. The meaning of "opportunity to rectify historic injustices" is another thrown low ball of guilt to anyone who still feels an obligation to make life pleasant and understandable for a hardcore of people of all colors who just won't put some energy into improving their lives.

War: Only by National Referendum

Special interests instigated the preemptive war in Iraq-primarily Evangelicals, Zionists and military-industrial complex.. Both parties signed off on giving Bush the authority to invade preemptively. Preemptive war is still American policy. Neither party has introduced legislation to rescind that policy. Special interests are still directing American foreign policy.

Therefore American voters should limit what their representatives can control. Wars should be declared only by a national referendum.

Katrina : Personal Responsibility & The Guilt Merchants

Michael Moore on Sept. 1, posted an open letter to Bush on Alternet.org . He made his points for the negative review of Bush's enthusiasm for a preemptive war in Iraq compared with his lack of interest in domestic matters including care of the environment which is really the basis for the New Orleans mess.

He then went on to make the hurricane response a race issue. He had a lot of company. The usual suspects included Jesse Jackson, Congressional Black Caucas, NAACP and others. These organizations have endured because of their ability to market and monetize guilt issues (real or imagined) relating to race. They have been so succesful that no race issue ever gets settled.

App. 400,000 residents of New Orleans evacuated the city by order of Lousiana's governor. More than 134,000 choose to stay behind- they were mainly comprised of poor African-Americans. Enter Moore et al. peddling guilt.

No sale. Over 40 years into the Great Society, trillions spent, schools politicized, welfare and medicaid systems straing under the ever increasing "entitlements", America can't afford any more guilt trips or inequality windmills to tilt at. All people must take responsibility for their actions . They must at least demonstrate that they are trying. People will help those who try to help themselves.

To that end the Red Cross has raised over $500, the relief efforts of the Federal, State and local governments are spending enormous amounts of time and resources also. But there would have been a lot less to clean up and a lot less tears if people in New Orleans evacuated in total. And that includes walking out if need be.

Katrina & Iraq: Natural and Man-Made Disasters

There is a lot of finger pointing from the fallout of Katrina. Nobody is mad at Katrina. They are mad at the response by local, state and federal agencies. Probably the seminal mistake that tripped everyone else that followed was the decision by 100,000 residents not to leave New Orleans. No one in town- therefore no casulities. What were they thinking? New Orleans is below sea level and a Force 5 hurricane is coming down the tracks. Do you feel lucky? What percentage were opportunists? What percentage just couldn't cope with such a big decision? Some didn't want to leave their pets and I would probably have stayed behind also if I couldn't round my pets up.

There is another aspect of this disaster that bears looking at. Bush, prior presidents and Congress are somewhat to blame for not preparing and preventing the tragedy in the first place. Our government is largely influenced by special interests and powerful lobbies. Simply there was not much lobbying for prepartion and prevention of hurricane and flooding threats to New Orleans. Unlike the intense lobbying for the war in Iraq. There is a lot of money in warmaking .

For flood prevention and preparation, America will need to attract better men than Bush. To attract better men , the power and influence of lobbies will have to be mitigated. The only way to that goal is to have less federal power and more state power. It won't be perfect. But it will be better. Then money from Louisiana won't go to Washington to be spent on an Iraq war . Instead the money will stay at home and solve the flooding threats to New Orleans.

Same -Sex Marriage: Handmaiden for AIDS

The California Senate passed legislation yesterday that will legalize same-sex marriage. It now goes to the Assembly where its fate is not certain. Is this good legislation?

If the legislation is passed, the message to the young and uninitiated will be its OK to experiment with alternative sex and lifestyles. This is the dangerous part. Sodomy is a source of AIDS. Liberalizing the application of marriage to include same-sex marriage will add to the spread of the disease.

What people do in private is their affair. But spending billions of taxpayer money and changing cultural standards to make the world safe and attractive for sodomy is going in the wrong direction.

Illegal Immigrants, Taxes & US poverty

The top 20% ( $ 86,000 and higher ) earners in America pay 80% of Federal Income Taxes. The top 50% (56,000 and higher) pay 97% of Federal Taxes. And 44% (122 million people) pay no taxes.

The Census Bureau on Tuesday reported that the poverty rate moved to 12.7% in 2004-app 40 million people. The poverty rate is $ 19,157 for a family of 4. Significantly, once classified in the poverty level, people immediately qualify for extensive government assistance. On average this assistance will amount to app. $ 25,000 for the family of 4.


There are app. 12 million illegal immigrants ( mostly Mexicans ) in America. They make enough money to support themselves and send back to Mexico app. $ 9 billion per year.

How can America afford giving assistance to app. 40 million welfare recipients and not requiring that they do the work that 12 million illegals do ?