See No Evil, Become That Evil: Supporting the War As An Act of Unpatriotic Cowardice - "Nowadays, Americans have to actively journey far out of their way to blind themselves to how the country was utterly duped into fighting a completely unnecessary war in Iraq. ... It’s getting to the point where you have to very badly want to believe whatever the president says in order to do so. It’s getting to the point where you have to actively hide from the evidence in order to keep your faith-based war politics safe from the cognitive dissonance induced by overwhelming empirical evidence to the contrary. Unfortunately, that is precisely what many conservatives are now choosing to do."
The Long War - "Long wars are usually strategic disasters for winners as well as losers, because they leave all parties exhausted. If they work to anyone’s advantage, it tends to be the weaker party’s, because its alternative is rapid defeat. The Rumsfeld Pentagon certainly does not see the United States as the weaker party in its “Global War on Terrorism.” So why has it adopted a long war strategy, or more accurately lack of strategy, unless one sees national exhaustion as a plus? The answer is a common strategic blunder, but again one that is seldom seen up front; it normally arises as a war continues longer and proves more difficult than expected. The blunder is maximalist objectives. In a speech announcing the QDR, Secretary Rumsfeld said, speaking of our Fourth Generation opponents, Compelled by a militant ideology that celebrates murder and suicide, with no territory to defend, with little to lose, they will either succeed in changing our way of life or we will succeed in changing theirs. It would be difficult for war objectives to be stated in more maximalist terms. Either they will succeed in turning us into Taliban-style Muslims or we will turn them into happy consumers in globalism’s Brave New World. Since most Americans would rather be dead than Talibs and most pious Moslems would rather perish than lose their souls to Brave New World, Mr. Rumsfeld has proclaimed a war of mutual annihilation. That will indeed be another Thirty Years’ War, with little chance of a renewed Westphalian order as the outcome."
Orwell wrote Bush's script - "Bush and Co.'s battle against terrorism has turned into a power grab and a war on Americans. Fear and contorted language are the weapons of choice. ... Orwell might have got the year wrong, but his nightmarish vision of a super-nation at perpetual war, dominated by a government only concerned about control and party preservation, could gain purchase in 2006. ... The use of powerful and well-placed words and images worked for INGSOC. Its slogan — war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength — fits like a truncheon in the cradle of shattered bone with Bush's recent State of the Union address: War is peace "There is no peace in retreat." Freedom is slavery "The terrorist surveillance program has helped prevent terrorist attacks. It remains essential to the security of America." Ignorance is strength "... We have benefited from responsible criticism and counsel offered by members of Congress of both parties ... Yet, there is a difference between responsible criticism that aims for success, and defeatism that refuses to acknowledge anything but failure." Political doublespeak is nothing new, but has become a real threat to democracy in the hands of this administration. Bush has taken communication strategy to new heights, said David Domke, associate professor of communications at the University of Washington. ... The Republicans have made no secret about what they will run on this year. A recent Pew poll showed that Americans believe the Democrats could lead the nation better on every issue except national security. Bush aide Karl Rove has given speeches about national security and the president skips across the nation talking about the importance of spying on Americans to keep us safe. This strategy works only if the electorate is fearful that a hostile world is ready to overrun America. Bush's fear-mongering resembles a version of INGSOC's Two Minutes (of) Hate, in which party members watch a video of legions of the enemy army marching behind a bleating political enemy. American democracy has buckled under the weight of Americans voting scared, a weak press diluted because of consolidation by mega-public companies, and no real political alternative." -- This is an editorial in the Seattle Times.
Senate Panel Decides Against Eavesdropping Inquiry, for Now - "The Senate Intelligence Committee decided today not to investigate President Bush's domestic surveillance program, at least for the time being."
Russia Warns U.S. Against Striking Iran - "He said that while Iran's military potential cannot compare to the United States', "it is hard to predict how the Muslim world will respond to the use of force against Iran." "This may stir the whole world, and it is crucial to prevent anything like that," Baluyevsky was quoted as saying." -- Unless that is the goal.
'In our blood' - "Implicit in this analysis is the belief that mankind is innately violent; we humans have to learn how to be peaceful. In answer to the long-standing debate, it appears that it is nature — meaning that which is coded in our DNA — and not nurture — how we are raised — that makes humans incline towards bloodshed and war. Sapolsky's thesis is not without dissenters, and many of us take comfort from the knowledge that peaceful societies exist in the world, groups that appear to have no taste for war. But if his argument is true, that humans enter into conflict because they are biologically compelled to do so, then there must be an evolutionary purpose to conflict."
War threats follow Countries dumping US dollar - "Countries dump dollar in dealings for oil. dumping the dollar - Syria, Iran, Iraq, Venezuela. THE OIL-CURRENCY-WAR THEORY"
Patriot Acting: Congress, "Compromise," and the USA Patriot Act - "Last year President Bush explained, "See, in my line of work you got to keep repeating things over and over and over again for the truth to sink in, to kind of catapult the propaganda." The president has employed this communication strategy with the USA Patriot Act, persistently imploring Congress to renew the law. ... One of the most controversial parts of the Patriot Act -Section 215- allows the FBI to obtain "any tangible things (including books, records, papers, documents, and other items)" as long as these items are "relevant" to a terrorism investigation. The law does not require the FBI to demonstrate that the records are those of a person linked to suspected terrorists."
Police chief wants surveillance cameras in Houston apartments - "Houston's police chief is suggesting putting surveillance cameras in apartment complexes, downtown streets and even private homes."
Climate change: On the edge - "A satellite study of the Greenland ice cap shows that it is melting far faster than scientists had feared - twice as much ice is going into the sea as it was five years ago. The implications for rising sea levels - and climate change - could be dramatic. Yet, a few weeks ago, when I - a Nasa climate scientist - tried to talk to the media about these issues following a lecture I had given calling for prompt reductions in the emission of greenhouse gases, the Nasa public affairs team - staffed by political appointees from the Bush administration - tried to stop me doing so. I was not happy with that, and I ignored the restrictions. The first line of Nasa's mission is to understand and protect the planet."
America's Moral Decline and the Rise of False Christianity - "“This is the year God wants to make you a millionaire.” The visiting evangelist stomped back and forth on the stage of the rented school building. His “hallelujahs” and “praise God” crescendos were followed by jumping up and down. Sweat ran down his face as he proclaimed that the church members would not need to be afraid if the economy collapses and their neighbors houses are foreclosed upon because they are blessed and will have all of their needs met. The service ended with the explanation that the first step to becoming a millionaire is to pledge $200 of “seed faith money” to the church. ... Is it the entrepreneurial spirit or the Holy Spirit which is enticing the converts to this new religion? Some used to say that the love of money is the root of all evil and the rich man (like the camel) will forever be outside the kingdom. I guess that is just “too first century” for the modern believer. The millennium church makeover is all about Christian capitalism, he who the free market has set free shall be free indeed! Remember, this is the year God wants me to be a millionaire."
Driver's license or national ID card? - "Motor vehicle agencies must link their databases together, and perhaps implant chips in driver's licenses, as necessary steps to ease the way for a national ID card, the head of a group of motor vehicle officials said Thursday."
Corporate America's Education Myth - "The New York Times has a piece today on the latest myth being peddled by our government and the corporate interests who run it. It goes something like this: job outsourcing and declining wages is happening in America because Americans are getting more stupid, and thus the only way for America to stop the bleeding is to produce more students educated in science and math. This is a brilliantly crafted storyline because it both reinforces Americans' concerns about its public school system and, more importantly, distracts from the corporate-written trade policies that are really at the heart of America's economic problems. Oh yeah, one other thing - the storyline is also a shameless lie."
Literacy Limps Into the Kill Zone - "Today, I want to talk about one of the byproducts of all this mediocrity. Today I want to talk about the all-out assault on the English language and the role technology plays in that unprovoked and dastardly attack. I especially want to talk about the ways dumbing down the language is not only seen as acceptable, but is tacitly encouraged as the status quo."
How babies do maths at 7 months - "Babies have a rudimentary grasp of maths long before they can walk or talk, according to new research."
Terrafugia's flying car - "It's just a scale model now, but the Transition "personal air vehicle" could be scooting through the air in just a few years. That's the goal of start-up Terrafugia, which is aiming to produce a fully operational prototype by 2008 and at least a few production models by the end of the decade."
Get out of the way... he hasn't forgotten - "The reputation that elephants have for never forgetting has been given a chilling new twist by experts who believe that a generation of pachiderms may be taking revenge on humans for the breakdown of elephant society. The New Scientist reports today that elephants appear to be attacking human settlements as vengeance for years of abuse by people."
Quote of the Day
"A new poster had suddenly appeared all over London. It had no caption, and represented simply the monstrous figure of a Eurasian soldier, three or four metres high, striding forward with expressionless Mongolian face and enormous boots, a submachine gun pointed from his hip. From whatever angle you looked at the poster, the muzzle of the gun, magnified by the foreshortening, seemed to be pointed straight at you. The thing had been plastered on every blank space on every wall, even outnumbering the portraits of Big Brother. The proles, normally apathetic about the war, were being lashed into one of their periodical frenzies of patriotism."
~ George Orwell, 1984
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