Friedman never fails to amuse--I laughed, I cried...his latest column became a part of me, already.

Outsourcing is good for us because, like, now Indians won't blow us up on buses, man....


Miracle at Bangalore
"Put de gun down, angry Bhim...de Americans are gibbing us deir jobs..."

Your non-college-educated 20-year-old kid may not have a snowball's chance in hell of competing with the kids from Bangalore, but at least they'll be safe from those pesky Indian suicide-bombers. Which pesky Indian suicide bombers, you ask? Oh----uh-------never mind.

Hypocrisy in diplomacy

And so it goes----

"The return of the U.S. oil executives was facilitated by the lifting of the U.S. travel ban on Libya..."

As if we hadn't seen that one coming.

While most Democrats would rather not have us talk about this in a public forum at present, I think it's good to get the truth out there so we may decide for America's future

Imagine November 3, 2004 with a
newly-elected Democratic President-

I came across this article at Counterpunch.com, and it gives me cause to investigate further:

Proponents of "progressive internationalism" are a lock to control leadership positions at the State Department and key civilian posts at the Pentagon in a John Kerry administration. How do we know this? Because these New Democrats obviously ghostwrote Kerry's campaign book, A Call to Service: My Vision for A Better America. Place the Progressive Internationalism manifesto and Kerry's chapter on foreign policy side by side and you'll immediately notice the similarities.

Some people will tell me to keep quiet because progressive pundits are simply "helping Bush". They will tell me the only nominee capable of defeating Bush is the Democratic nominee. My consolation prize for silence will be that Kerry/Edwards/whoever will have less repugnant domestic and foreign policies than Bush.
I do want a far better plan and vision than Bush's. I do think Democrats are capable of leading a better way. However, I will never squelch the questions that will lead us to the answers to a clearer truth, a straighter path, a better America. I think we should all give the Counterpunch article and the New Democrats' PPI foreign policy manifesto a thorough reading and start a dialogue about its content.

Adam Clymer vs. John Kerry-
When pollsters go to war

One man's recommendation for GOP war on John Kerry

One pollster's recommendation war against the front-running Democratic candidate reaches the pages of the NY Times:
From the get-go, Adam Clymer saw great
Kerry-damaging potential with this Kerry-circa-1971 story.

From the Harvard Crimson 2-11-04:

Adam Clymer '58, political director of the National Annenberg Election Survey at the University of Pennsylvania, said Kerry's comments would likely find their way into Bush campaign materials.
"If I were them, I'd use this," said Clymer, a former Crimson president. "I'd use it in direct mail."

In a way, Mr. Clymer respresents "them"--leads "them" with his poll-ideology. I guess Mr. Clymer really meant business when he (basically) said 'Use it, GOP-- use it'! Not only did he mean business, he drummed up some good business for his Election Survey. He made it into today's NY Times article:

A recent poll by the University of Pennsylvania's National Annenberg Election Survey found that Mr. Kerry's antiwar activity was mostly a concern to people who had already made up their minds against him, just as Mr. Bush's wartime service in the Texas Air National Guard was mostly a concern of those who already opposed him.

What's my point here? It's to show you how smear campaigns get professionally rolling and set the stage for the mainstream media mouthpieces. You will note I have not offered my opinion on the topic here--at it shall remain as such. I opt to reserve judgement on the issue until I've had more time to delve into the issue and not simply make a "surface-judgement". The Adam Clymers of the political world understand that most people won't "delve" and will make those "surface-judgements". Opinion based on headlines and polls are not the opinions I treasure or respect. Polls, to me, are like having to deal with a used car salesman. They aren't going away anytime soon, they're in your face, they don't give you the real truth, and you know you have to deal with them-- so you plug your nose and move on.

CHANGE FOR AMERICA


photo credit: changeforamerica.com


Joe Trippi's "Cummings Creek Compact" featured in Boston Globe

Last weekend, Trippi gathered about 40 of his supporters at his farm, where they ate breakfast, worked together to clear brush downed by Hurricane Isabel last fall, and debated the outlines of what would become the Cummings Creek Compact.

Quote of the day:

"Bibles, like history, are written by the winners."

-Nicholas Kristof

The Economist / Iran
Iran Elections: Ordinary Iranians are the real losers
"They are sick of having their personal freedom curtailed by the clerics, and frustrated at the economic stagnation that the Islamic revolution has brought..."

Points from the article:

- Voter apathy might have handed the religious conservatives victory again in the parliamentary elections.

- ..the dodgy parliamentary elections will not help Iran’s case—already, Jack Straw, Britain’s foreign secretary, has hinted it may hamper efforts by the European Union and Iran to reach a trade agreement

- ...the most interesting struggle to watch may be that between the two main groups of conservative clerics—the hardline, isolationist ones and the more pragmatic ones who want Iran to continue improving its relations with the rest of the world.

- Victorious hardliners must hope that most Iranians channel their disillusionment into passive resignation rather than angry demonstrations.

- With the reformists marginalised in the next parliament, the most interesting struggle to watch may be that between the two main groups of conservative clerics—the hardline, isolationist ones and the more pragmatic ones who want Iran to continue improving its relations with the rest of the world.

Hey! No fair! How come I'm staggerin' and you're not?

A Literary TOOL Chest.

Can a Dubya clone be far behind?

Can you spell h-e-l-l ? He's into Nazis, porn, stealing--hey, guess what? He's a p----

Once wasn't enough

Restful vacation or one eye open all night?

Kookie wasn't alone-
Blix: I was a target too


bugged?

Hans Blix, retired chief UN weapons inspector, believes he was bugged in his office and home in New York. He says he "expected to be bugged by the Iraqis, but to be spied upon by the US was a different matter".
~~~~~~~~

Juan Cole at Informed Comment raises an interesting question:

The Blix wiretaps raise an interesting question. Did the US and UK know even more about the lack of evidence for weapons of mass destruction than we thought, from what Blix was saying privately in spring of 2003 before the war?

HPR Online on the Help America Vote Act
Nightmare Redux?
Fast forward to the morning of Nov. 3, 2004....

"Fast forward to the morning of Nov. 3, 2004, the day after the next presidential election. You wake up, flip on the television, and are greeted by a pugnacious newscaster yelling that once again, we do not yet know who won...

In 2002, Congress passed and President Bush signed into law the Help America Vote Act. The legislation authorized over $3.8 billion in grants to states to replace outdated voting equipment with new electronic devices, train poll workers to use the new equipment, increase voter education efforts, and involve America's youth in the voting process by encouraging high school volunteerism at the polls. The legislation generated widespread praise and bipartisan support. Since then, however, supporters of election reform have faced an uphill battle....'

Here are some major points brought out in this article:

--Confronted with a half-trillion dollar budget deficit, a shaky domestic economy, and a costly war in Iraq, Congress and the White House are proving reluctant to appropriate the funds authorized by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA).

--Leading computer scientists have voiced concerns that the electronic voting devices to which many states are switching may be vulnerable to tampering.

--Progress has stalled. As of September 2003, 27 states still used controversial punch-card ballots, which were the focal point of a legal challenge prior to California's October recall election.

--Some civil rights groups are also raising concerns that the Help America Vote Act's (HAVA's) anti-fraud provisions will unintentionally prevent legitimate voters from casting their ballots.

This is what democracy-in-politics is all about. Reminds me of last night's debate in L.A...
I wanted to share this article with you because it is full of truth about the fact that, like him or love him, Kerry is being molded carefully by the media as the "annointed one". (In last night's Democratic debate in L.A., it seemed to me that all the moderators were doing was edging John Edwards out of the realm of nominee-possibilities by constantly telling him there were no differences between him and Kerry.)

The article discusses a media photo-shoot where Dennis Kucinich's entire being was obstructed (This reminded me of last night's Democratic debate in L.A. when Dennis finally got a token question thrown his way. When the cameras finally showed his face, it was totally obstructed by one of the moderators -Janet Clayton- who was rudely talking to Larry King as Dennis tried to give his reply!)

The article talks about the importance of voting in your state primary in order to get the delegates representing the ideas of candidates such as Dean and Kucinich to the Democratic convention. (Reminds me of Al Sharpton at the Democratic debate in L.A. last night. At every (rare) opportunity to speak, he stressed the same importance of delegational representation in the nominating process.)

Read the article..please. It makes a lot of realistic sense in this crazy all-too media-tinted world.

Harvard Political Review on Alan Dershowitz' book "The Case For Israel"

"It is unfortunate that the question "Is Israel the prime human rights violator in the world?", which should simply be dismissed out of hand, requires a serious answer in today's political climate. But however intuitively outrageous the question, it must be answered, and Dershowitz has done us a service with his calm and reasoned reply."

I think HPR's done a good job reviewing Mr. Dershowitz' latest book. I've read parts of this book already and highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in the Israeli-Palestinian troubles. It's a well-reasoned explanation for the necessity of what many believe will be an eventual two-state solution.

Thomas Friedman imagines he's "getting real" on outsourcing....

"Yes, I want to be able to huff and puff about complex issues — like outsourcing of jobs to India — without any reference to reality. Unfortunately, in this life, I'm stuck in the body of a reporter/columnist..."
-Thomas Friedman

This is what I'd say to Mr. Friedman:

I'm stuck in my body, too, Mr. Friedman. Here's my problem with your column. You said

"...total exports from U.S. companies to India have grown from $2.5 billion in 1990 to $4.1 billion in 2002. What goes around comes around, and also benefits Americans..."

Unfortunately, you completely neglected to mention the fact that, despite the nice news about the exports, the U.S. trade deficit with India has still managed to soar to the tune of $8 billion or so. This being the real world and all, and being stuck in this writer's body (just like you), I felt compelled to mention that you either conveniently neglected to mention the monstrous deficit... or perhaps you overlooked the fact. Comparative advantage is fine if all reasonable attempts toward trade balance are ensured. In a dynamic economy there are supposedly plenty of ways that new jobs are created and old jobs are made obsolete. So I ask you, Mr. Friedman, where are the new American jobs? I agree we should trust individual initiative more than government programs to deal with those circumstances, but let's not assume that government intervention is not a realistic necessity here. Our American middle class is put into near-direct competition with second and third-world workers. If you have your ideological differences, Mr. Friedman, please discuss them within a reasonable economic framework and do not tell us we are not looking at the matter 'realistically." I see what could be a rush of American businesses to outsource jobs with too much arrogance about the eventual effects of a lack of reasonable trade equilibrium between nations. Billionaire investor Warren E. Buffett warned last November that allowing the trade deficit to grow amounted to transferring America's net worth abroad "at an alarming rate." I guess you don't recall that. At the going (growing) trade deficit rate, China's economy will surpass our American economy by 2041. I guess you don't know or don't care how cocky we're getting here in America about this issue. I guess you don't think too hard about that.
Jadoo Works sounds really cool and all, but you've missed some very important points in your nice slice of business-life tale.
Maybe you'll do better next column.
I really hope so.

"If a traveler tripped over a rock in their path 700 years ago, and from this event altered the course of their life, we might conclude the rock was only incidental. But if that same rock trips thousands, through the centuries, each walking away with a different message and a different lesson, then can we call this incidental?



When foolish people trip, they get up and walk away as if nothing happened. They learn nothing. A wise person will find a greater meaning for their fall. But a rock that trips travelers in every age, each time imparting a different meaning, that is not just a rock. That is God."

--Fihi Ma Fihi (Discourses of Rumi) translated by A.J. Arberry

For lo, the multitudes did gather in multiplexes across the land, as the prophets had foretold. And at last they beheld The Passion of the Christ, and did render unto Mel Gibson millions upon millions of dollars in ticket and merchandising sales.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today in history...


photo credit: angelfire.com

"Sunday a soldier of Company A died and was buried. Everything went on as if nothing had happened, for death is so common that little sentiment is wasted. It is not like a death at home."

-Elisha Hunt Rhodes, 2nd Rhode Island Volunteer Infantry
photo credit: angelfire.com


1862- Civil War, In camp with Elisha Hunt Rhodes

1935- Hitler organizes Luftwaffe

1993- A bomb built by a group of Islamic extremists exploded in the parking garage of New York's World Trade Center, killing six people and injuring more than 1,000 others


Today's Headlines and Opinions

GUILTY NEOCON FLIES THE COOP! The Prince of Darkness has left the building, leaving the lives of over 500 American troops and countless lives of Iraqi citizens (and no WMDs) in his idealistic wake. Here's his resignation letter.

U.S. lifts Libya travel restrictions after 23 years-Removal follows Tripoli affirming it was behind airliner bombing
Hello? Would that mean we'd open relations with Osama Bin Laden and/or the Taliban as long as he/they admitted to being the masterminds of 9-11? How would that sit with you as a parent of someone killed on 9-11?
Ask Susan Cohen what she thinks. Susan's the mother of Thea, a Syracuse University student who was killed at the age of 20 when
Pan Am 103 was blown from the skies over Lockerbie, Scotland in December, 1988. Susan has not forgotten that tragic day. Susan is aware that all Moammar Gadhafi has done is to "buy peace" from our nation. She's disgusted, and you know what? I cannot blame her. Libya's Prime Minister has admitted they needed to buy peace from the U.S.::
"After the sanctions and after the problems we have [been] facing because of the sanctions, the loss of money, we thought that it was easier for us to buy peace and this is why we agreed to compensation."
--Shokri Ganem, Prime Minister of Libya
In a recent Reuters article, Susan Cohen is quoted as saying: "For the Bush administration, Lockerbie is just an issue to get around. It is typical of the Libyans to say one thing one day and another the next," said Susan Cohen, whose daughter died in the bombing. She accused the administration of trying to "whitewash" Lockerbie and of making Gaddafi into a hero..."

Can the father be far behind? A son of Osama bin Laden's top lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahiri , has been captured by Pakistani forces , one of Pakistan 's leading newspapers reported on Wednesday.

I hear the investigation's really heating up on this Rep. Nick Smith-Medicare-House of Representatives bribery case. The House Ethics Committee may not be the only investigators...I hear there may also be an ongoing criminal investigation.


Macedonia's president killed in plane crash


When I read this, my first thought was that Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan isn't telling us anything we don't already know. While a lot of people would like to jump all over the messenger, conservative leaders Grover Norquist, Paul Weyrich, and Karl Rove have been talking about shrinking U.S. social programs for years. If we keep voting the GOP ticket, I don't see how we will be able to complain if and when markets sag and security nets disappear (and the Ken Lays are still thriving). Perhaps we will then know we've been officially bilked. The Boston Globe editorial on Greenspan's announcement says, in part:"No raid on retirees...Congress needs to find the money to keep Social Security solvent."

According to The Hill, Republicans plan to stage a lengthy Senate debate on Iraq today to respond to intensifying Democratic attacks on President Bush over his conduct of the war and its turbulent aftermath. The debate, is meant to catch the Democrats off-guard.

Also from The Hill, Senator Ted Kennedy has asked his staff to put together a case that he hopes will prove that President Bush’s recess appointment of Alabama Attorney General William Pryor to the U.S. Court of Appeals was unconstitutional.

Political strategist Dick Morris says the only way President Bush will be re-elected in November is, basically, to continue to frighten us into electoral submisson.
Quote:

"He [Pres. Bush] must underscore the limits of his own success and focus upon the huge tasks and enormous dangers that lie before us. It is only by summoning the sense of national urgency — that we should, in fact, be feeling — that he can win.
Americans want Bush for one thing and one thing only: to lead us out of danger from terror. We don’t really think he is much good at anything else..."

What does it say about the Democrats that they appear to feel their best hope of winning is to ask the competition to politely bow out?

SAFIRE: Manipulating Bloviator Extraordinaire-
Seeing a prominent opiner such as Mr. Safire manipulating news of the actual developments on the war on terror will not help Americans make educated decisions. His own newspaper directly refutes him (almost daily) with a bothersome thing called "FACT", yet they continue to let him blather on. What does that say about the integrity of the Times? With recent journalistic failures such as Jayson Blair and Judith Miller, one would think they would try to be as ethical as possible.

Front-running presidential candidate John Kerry says he backs Massachusetts state ban on same-sex marriage
Quote: "If the Massachusetts Legislature crafts an appropriate amendment that provides for partnership and civil unions, then I would support it, and it would advance the goal of equal protection," the senator said yesterday, stressing that he was referring only to the [Massachsetts] state, and not the federal, Constitution. He has said he would oppose any amendment that did not include a provision for civil unions. "I think that you need to have civil union. That's my position," he said Tuesday.

Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Anti-Gay Proposals:
"The debate over this issue, the latest battleground in the culture wars that have so divided the nation, is more about politics than principle..Misusing the very constitutional documents that bind us together as a people doesn't protect marriage, it defiles and cheapens them."


Kucinich: "I do not view the media as a monolith. I know there are people . . . who want to do the right thing [and] others want to use their influence to achieve a certain outcome. I understand where that's coming from. I also know if I had a fraction of the coverage these other candidates have had, I'd be running away with the nomination."



credit: Get your War On

FYI: The Week magazine provides some basic information about
Iraq’s Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Husseini al-Sistani

9-11 Shame...

"I can't understand why these elected officials, particularly the president and vice president, aren't willing to come before the American public and testify...That raises a concern they're hiding something."

--Kristen Breitweiser of New Jersey, whose husband, Ronald, died in the World Trade Center



The [9-11] commission has requested a 60-day extension, which would place the report date uncomfortably close to the 9/11-anniversary-timed Republican convention in September 2004. Obviously, the administration will do everything it can to avoid that, and House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) has already announced that he "can't imagine a situation where they get an extension."

--Eric Alterman, January, 2004

~~~~~~~~~~~~~



9-11 families beg for proper investigation

Condi turns her back

Hastert turns blind eye on American victims for politics' sake

Stanford Daily Online: Osama in the house?

There is a valid complaint, in my opinion, that the American press on the whole doesn’t push hard enough than accepting the Defense Department’s press releases while, in most cases, the truth lies somewhere between the official military report and the story carried in the foreign press. As I've discussed here recently, two British papers, The Sunday Telegraph and The Sunday Express, have reported that Osama Bin Laden is surrounded by U.S. Special Forces in an area of land bordering northwest Pakistan and Afghanistan. (Attributed to “a well-placed intelligence source” in Washington.) The writer of this article, Kathryn Wallace, explores the question:

"...you haven’t seen this reported in the U.S. press — not even the story that other press organizations are reporting an Osama capture. But does that mean the story is pure fiction?"

Ms. Wallace reminds us that embedded journalists in Iraq failed to check power while they were a little drunk on the idea of "playing soldier in the desert".

Today in history..


Ted Hughes and Sylvia Plath
photo credit: chicklit.com

"I am solitary as grass. What is it I miss?
Shall I ever find it, whatever it is?"

From: Three Women by Sylvia Plath

1956- Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes meet.