Tannishblog

My favorite righty blogger friend sites an article exposing a Y2K bug data glitch in US temperature data graphs used to project climate change as the Holy Grail of truth to prove her long-held hypothesis that global warming is a scam. I don’t blame her, though. She’s entitled. Most bloggers only rely on sources they are predisposed to agree with to parse their rhetoric. I do it all the time…

What alarms me is how she clearly ignores other signs of climate change. The recently exposed islands in Greenland that, so long covered in thick ice, had always been thought to be connected to the main land mass. The satellite photos of recent large-scale fractures in Antarctic Glaciers. The sinking of small island-states like Trinidad-Tobago. Even the changed migration of Canadian geese, much noted here in Illinois where we both live, is a fact ignored in favor of an irrational belief.

And what about the problem-that-shouldn’t-be-named? No one mentions pollution these days. That shopworn buzzword of the last century is taboo in the tabloids lately. My aforementioned friend lives in a semi-rural small town where, I surmise, she can forget the sight of sunrise over the Kennedy Expressway in all it’s brownish, hazy glory. Nor, I think, can she envision the silt of airliner fuel exhaust that coats my car every evening, as I leave the industrial park that nestles next to O’hare Field. While her neighbors dream of corn fields of ethanol-grade hybrid grain, I awake to the reality of human congestion flavored by addiction to fossil fuels.

Global Warming, as a catch-phrase, has unfortunate connotations. Replacing it with Climate Change is, while more accurate, less visceral, and less likely to get our fat arses out of the easy chair to take action. What needs doing is simply to open our eyes. When we can see for ourselves the thickening of our thin atmosphere from our own collective wastes, then perhaps we can make pollution the center point of a political movement to care for the fragile ecosphere we all rely upon. Only through politics will America take up the sword against our most insidious of enemies: ourselves.

The right may scoff. Let them. When we can gather enough steam to provide purchasable alternatives to old-school technologies, then the market to which Conservatives pray will put out of business whole industries that refuse to ride the forefront of ecological stewardship. When hit in the wallet, they will finally listen. As for the exurbian naysayers; the brown skies will find then soon enough.

Finally, after weeks of testimonies, accusations, hearings and subpoenas, attempts at oversight and retroactive accountability, conservative bloggers have something to crow about. Two cars were found yesterday in London that were crudely rigged for detonation. This is great news for the embattled right. Now, they can get busy bolstering flagging support for a fail mission, stoking the fires of fear and strutting their ideology again. They can echo their Commander in Chief’s word about this age being the battleground for the fate of civilization itself.

Notwithstanding the fact that the two car bombs were identified and defused, were, in fact, crude and bungled attempts, supporters of Neo-Con Artistry now have "proof" of how dangerous the world is and how necessary their pre-emptive aggression. Again can they drive forward a God-given agenda of pre-Armageddon policy so they can have a front seat at The Rapture. Ahh! Sweet vindication!

Using what Al Gore would call “the language and politics of fear” to try to “drive the public agenda without regard to the evidence, the facts or the public interest,” the British Government spins it this way:

British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said, "We’re currently facing the most serious and sustained threat to our security from international terrorism."

Meanwhile, the feeling on the street was quite different.

Some Londoners seemed unfazed by the news of the botched attacks. “It’s something you get used to, living in London,” said Andrew Fowler, a 39-year-old lawyer sipping coffee at an outdoor cafe near Piccadilly. “And given the stance our government made on the war in Iraq and elsewhere, I think we are just getting used to being a target.”

[…]

“It’s only when I got to work that I realized what was happening,” said Renee Anderson, 32, a New Zealander from her country’s nearby diplomatic mission. “I feel surprisingly all right about it. We all kind of thought, ‘Well, you could be hit by a bus anyway.’ ”

Yeah, the world is a dangerous place. Even more so since the accelerated advancement of American Economic Imperialism so nakedly perpetrated by the Bush Administration. But it’s not more dangerous than ever. London had it worse in the 1940’s, American had it worse in the 1860’s. Life goes on…

It boils down to personal choice: One can cower in fear or get on with life. As long as people advocate a "God and Country" mentality to the exclusion of responsible social politics, the world will continue to be hazardous. How to deal with that is up to you.

My Buddha nature is in remission today. I’m bitter and despondent regarding my blog, the news and most everything else. As a result, the following is an unedited rant. You have been warned.

WTF!?! STFU!!! Whew! I feel better. The state of the nation SUCKS these days. I cannot believe we’ve fallen so far from grace as a country, a people and a culture. It’s disgusting. From the outrageous claims of a rogue Vice President to cronyism and incompetence in government offices, from belated oversight committees trying to sort out truth to political appointees committing perjury when not suffering from selective amnesia, the sorry state of our nations is abysmal.

So what do the news editors offer us? Paris Hilton and Anne Coulter. These two women should NOT be in the news. One is an anorexic, ugly, bleached blonde and spoiled brat drug addict, who would be dead of an overdose in a back alley if not for the privileges afforded by vast wealth. A non-wealthy, non-white person of similar age, childishness and physique would never be paid such attention. Who cares? How is the travails of a immature bimbo newsworthy?

And the other… Anne Coulter is an attention whore. I mean that literally. She will say anything to make money. There are no depths too deep. She makes money being outrageous, controversial, adversarial and hateful. She cannot possibly believe all she spouts; anyone who truly harbored that much sociopathic bile would have shot up a Burger King long ago. She’s a charlatan. The only reason she gets air time is to bolster media’s capacity to sell advertisements. Controversy sells. Outrage sells. Sensationalism sells. Anne Coulter should be ignored. By reacting as Elizabeth Edwards has, by caller her out in prime time, we feed the beast credentials. That’s the worst thing to do. Given that Coulter’s words helped raise cash for the Edward’s campaign, it’s clear political motivations abound on both sides of the issue.

What does this say about a culture that so worships the dollar we will condone any insanity to feed the Demon of Economy. Willow faux-blondes acting out will grab eyeballs for the media to shove adverts at. Money is the core of Ms. Coulter’s behavior; greed. Money is the root of Paris’ problems; unearned affluence. Money is the mechanism by which media outlets force feed un-newsworthy antics to us instead of handling the truly important stories.

But then, Money is behind all of those, too. The Iraq war, unarguably the biggest problem in our world today, is only a business deal. It’s just another phase in American global economic imperialism. But, that’s not newsworthy; that’s not even "news."

Dick Cheney is a pompous ass. His arrogant disdain for governmental procedures and due process is soon to be legendary. It will be his downfall. This week, he refused to comply with an executive order regulating the handling of sensitive information. for the past four years, the Vice President has refused requests to monitor his handling of classified material. Senator Henry A Waxman, chairman of the Oversight Committee, has this to say:

The Oversight Committee has learned that over the objections of the National Archives, Vice President Cheney exempted his office from the presidential order that establishes government-wide procedures for safeguarding classified national security information. The Vice President asserts that his office is not an “entity within the executive branch.”

As described in a letter from Chairman Waxman to the Vice President, the National Archives protested the Vice President’s position in letters written in June 2006 and August 2006. When these letters were ignored, the National Archives wrote to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in January 2007 to seek a resolution of the impasse. The Vice President’s staff responded by seeking to abolish the agency within the Archives that is responsible for implementing the President’s executive order.

Do we need a clearer example of corporate mentality? Mr. Cheney is saying that not only does he not have to answer to anyone, by asking for him to do so, he’ll fire you! That kind of hubris is common in business. It is unacceptable for a - Vice President? Are you listening? - PUBLIC SERVANT!!!

Cheney thinks his office is not part of the executive branch. Than what is it part of? My guess would be his office is still part of Halliburton, perhaps as chairman of the company’s military division. Ever since the closed-door meetings in which energy magnates were invited to frame American foreign policy and open the gates of Hell to invade Iraq. Cheney is a business man. Iraq is a business plan.

Did you know that Dick Cheney is adamant about keeping Gitmo open? Did you also know that a division of Halliburton is getting over $90 million a year for operating the compound that at best housed just over 600 prisoners. Half of those have already been set free. Think about that: $90 million to "care for" just three hundred people. Since these detainees aren’t relaxing in the lap of luxury, what is the money for?

Make no mistake - Dick Cheney has never stopped working for his company. Since that’s so, then he’s right: He’s not part of the executive branch of government. Illinois’ Rahm Emanuel has the right of it:

Representative Rahm Emanuel said he plans to propose next week, as part of a spending bill for executive operations, a measure to place a hold on funds for Cheney’s office and official home until he clarifies to which branch of the government he belongs. Emanuel acknowledged that the proposal is just a stunt, but he said that if Cheney is not part of the executive branch, he should not receive its funds. "As we say in Chicago, follow the money," he said.

No more Air Force Two for you, Mr. Cheney, no more secret service agents or limousines. You’ll have to pay out of your own pocket or use your Hallibuton expense account. Oh, and move our of the White House. That is bought with taxpayer’s money.

On June 19, 1964, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was approved after surviving an 83-day filibuster in the United States Senate. A recreation of the NY Times front page article is available here.

Voting for the bill were 46 Democrats and 27 Republicans. Voting against it were 21 Democrats and six Republicans.

Except for Senator Robert C. Byrd of West Virginia, all the Democratic votes against the bill came from Southerners.

Senator Barry Goldwater of Arizona voted against the bill, as he said yesterday he would. The five other Republicans opposing it all support Mr. Goldwater’s candidacy for the Republican Presidential nomination.

[…]

The bill passed by the Senate outlaws discrimination in places of public accommodation, publicly owned facilities, employment and union membership and Federally aided programs. It gives the Attorney General new powers to speed school desegregation and enforce the Negro’s right to vote.

The Senate bill differs from the House measure chiefly in giving states and local communities more scope and time to deal with complaints of discrimination in hiring and public accommodations. It allows the Attorney General to initiate suits in these areas where he finds a "pattern of discrimination, but does not permit him, as did the House bill, to file suits on behalf of individuals.

As for the filibuster, it was the longest verbal blockade in congressional history. Those good-ol’-boys sure didn’t want blacks to vote. If I didn’t know better, I’d think they felt guilty about something and feared the possibility of political retribution caused by a black voting block.

Forty-three years ago, this was. Still we struggle with the same issue. TPM Muckraker notes today notes Hans von Spakovsky, a Republican nominee for commissioner at the Federal Election Commission, has testified before the Senate Rules Committee against allegations that he orchestrated the suppression of vote fraud cases against black voters in various states.

Von Spakovsky blocked a major suit against a St. Louis suburb and two other suits against rural governments in South Carolina and Georgia and halted at least two investigations of election laws that appeared to suppress minority voting, one of them in Wyoming, said Joseph Rich, the former voting rights section chief….

Monday’s letter included the first allegations that von Spakovsky torpedoed suits and investigations over alleged state, county or local laws that diminish the voting strength of African-Americans, Native Americans or other minorities or prevent them from voting altogether.

Von Spakovsky, the letter said, stripped the voting rights section chief of his authority to open investigations of discrimination without his superiors’ approval.

Some things don’t change, even when they should. All Americans deserve the right to vote. What I find notable of the extreme right activists that have our Great Experiment by the proverbial gonads, is their unuttered, unanimous definition of an American: White, wealthy and preferably Christian. Others need not apply.

This world view is as inaccurate as it is anachronistic. In the University of Chicago’s SSA magazine (of the School for Social Service Administration, Vol. 14 issue 1,) an article highlights recent research on multiracial identity and society. (Because I don’t condone the fallacy of "race," I’ll use the phrase "hyphenated Americans.") Such research avenues are new due to the changes made in the 2000 Census when respondents were able for the first time to list all ethnic groups with which they identify.

Some facts from the article: 

• As much as 20% of Americans will consider themselves as hyphenated Americans by 2050.
• Nearly a quarter of the US population in 2002 was immigrants and their children
• In the 2000 census, 2.4% of the population identified with more than one ethnic group, equaling 6.8 million respondents, 2.8 million of whom were under 18.

In the nineteenth century labels such as "mullato" and "mixed-blood" were used not only in attempt to classify the population, but to reinforce class divisions and strata. Now, while we have widened choice and expanded our visions, we still have a long way to go.

"Our people has had a mixed race people for a long time," Ann Morning, an assistant professor in the department of sociology as New York University points out. "But now that the OMB lets poeple mix-and-match in a way they didn’t in the past, sociologists and demographers are picking up the baton and thinking about the context of mixed race. Part of the reason we are acknowledging it now is that in some ways racial classification doesn’t matter. Before, race dictated who you could marry, where you could live, and it was a way to enforce class."

Racial identity is fluid, researchers have discovered, dependant upon social groups and circumstances. Gina Samuels, whose research focuses in the white-black transracial experience, is quoted in the SSA article:

"The one-drop rule says if you have any black heritage you should be identified as black. But developing an identity is more complicated than that. The idea that one racial heritage always trumps another, or that identities are fixed and don’t change, does not reflect how many multiracials develop a racial-ethnic sense of self," says Samuels, who herself is multiracial and adopted. "It is much more complex than just identifying how society views and individual, or the individual simply choosing any identity he or she wishes. It’s the individual and society operating simultaneously, at different force, and one’s daily context that shapes identity across one’s lifetime."

[…]

Samuels also found that people don’t necessarily identify themselves the same way all the time. High school students among African-American friends or family call themselves black, while with their white friends or relatives, they may say they are mixed race. "And what someone calls themselves when they are 10 may be different then when they are 30 or change again at 40," she adds.

So what of the experiences of the millions of multicultural teenagers in America? Learning one’s identity is of paramount importance during the middle school years. This can be difficult for kids of only one ethnicity. Hyphenated Americans must deal with cultural discrimination from many directions every day.

As if to illustrate the problems of acceptance for multiracial children… hard right extremists used the results (of recent research) as ammunition for their arguments for limiting immigrations and interracial relationships. "I was surprised by that reaction. That is exactly what puts these kids in trouble," says researcher Yoonsun Choi, "If people hate me because of my article, that’s okay, I’m misunderstood. But if this is what these kids have to deal with every day, then we have to do better."

Being of one ethnicity or another is not problematic. The desire to promote dominance of one racial group over another, however, is a problem - as with the legendary filibuster in 1964 and the recent allegations of vote suppression and a lack of response by appointees in key government bureaus shows. American history is full of examples of race relations be used to promote the welfare of European descendents at the expense of others. This is a huge black mark in our nations history and in the history of civilization.

I maintain that racial divisions are fictitious. The concepts of race is a tool for suppression which has no basis fact. Recent work in the field of genetics and DNA sequencing support my theory that since we all can interbreed, be must therefore be only one breed of mammal. Mankind can only progress when it removes the chains of outdated societal modes and embrace our true unity. The world is getting smaller, cultures are intermingling in ways unprecedented, strengthening our genome and merging into one race. We’ve always been that. Soon (if we don’t kill ourselves in the process,) humanity will be so mixed as to negate the conceived racial divide for good.

I can’t wait.

I’m about three steps shy of giving up on America. Honestly. The political divide in this once-great (or so I was told ) nation rivals the Grand Canyon. It may be only a matter of time before the War on Terrorism is fought on Main Street, USA. What today is slander, rudeness and dehumanizing marginalization,  tomorrow will be violence.

I’m bored with complaining about BushCo’s Blood-for Oil/ Oil-for Profit Energy Policy. I’m sick of the heavy-handed tactics and mean-spirited mentality of conservative supporters. I’m disillusioned by the Democratic Majority (sic) that will not follow words with matching deeds.

Our so-called "two-party system" is broken. For an average human in these Divided States, we go to the polls (if we’re allowed near them) and vote between The Party of Corporate Greed and Warfare, or The Party of Wistful Words without Concrete Results. Both parties are guilty of robbing the cookie jar. Both parties are more interested in self-preservation than public service. Both parties ride the see-saw of carefully crafted public opinion secretly hoping the grafted gold in their pockets doesn’t weight them down too much, so as to stay above the other.

American politics are corrupt, and everyone knows this. The Bush administration has raised the bar of corruption and instituted unprecedented power grabs in order to maintain this higher level. Most American accept this as well. For the rest, therapy is an option…

End result? A negative feedback loop. People don’t bother to vote because they no longer believe in the power of a single vote, no longer believe in the sanctity of the electoral process. So less people vote, further undermining the broken system by abdicating to a shrinking minority of voters who use the system for personal or corporate gain. the government, therefore, goes to the highest bidder. In Twenty-first Century America, the highest bidder is the energy bloc.

R. I. P. "of the people, by the people, for the people."

Cindy Sheehan has left the Peace Movement. It is as sad as it is inevitable. Her diary entry on dailykos.com exudes defeat, resignation and weariness. No as many people are cheering her "demise" as are saddened by it.

Cindy, you did Good. And you did it well. You kick-started a national awareness movement, and that alone justifies your sacrifices. Only in the face of great adversity will people arise from their self-imposed stupor to pay attention, let alone take action, and to peer around blinking. You started this. Thank you.

In fantasy fiction the largest beats always move slowly. Much energy is needed to more such mass. So, too, the bureaucratic behemoth that is the United States also moves ponderously. Once it does, it moves inexorably. You started it. You’ve done more for America than anyone else by awakening sleeping beast of Democracy. Again, thank you.

Two questions remain: Where will it go? How far will it travel? Only fools will guess. While the entrenched Republic half of our Great Experiment continues, the Demon of Democracy is now alert and pondering. What more can one person do?

You’ve earned your rest. Go home not in defeat, but peaceful in the realization that you, on behalf of Casey, did more for the future of this nation than anyone in recent years. May your years be good ones.

One aspect of my job is to make delivery runs throughout four-city quadrangle of Chicago and Rockford, Illinois and Milwaukee and Madison, Wisconsin. I’ve been known to drive to Minneapolis/ St. Paul occasionally. Such experience, as well as constant comments from my out-of-town colleagues, cause me to rename home turf as Gridlock City. I’m sure there are worse cities in the world in which to drive, but for the upper mid-west, Chicago is the toughest commute for your money.

And it takes a lot more money, too. The Chicago Tribune today features Gridlock City’s Number 1 status at the gas pump: we pay the most in the nation for our juice. A separate article tries to explain the whole mess. Refinery problems, local taxes, extra fuel processing to counter act smog - I’m not convinced.

Two things keep creeping into my mind, things the stories don’t cover: War uses fuel, and Unprecedented profits by oil companies last year. Why isn’t that on the table? Hush-hush, closed door meetings between Vice President Halliburton and the energy moguls a few years back might have something to do with why I’m gouged for gasoline every summer.

In Gridlock City, not only will you pay a premium for gas, but you’ll spend more of it while sitting in traffic jams and breathing the brown haze. Such are the perils of modern times.

I’m sick of the Baby Boomers. We all know of them - the children of the Greatest Generation, born after WWII and before 1960 (roughly), who found themselves, by virtue of numbers, a force to be reckoned with early in their lifecycle. Clearly, it went to their heads.

During the Summer of Love, America gave the keys to our nation to a group of hippies. The media taught them they mattered, they were powerful, they were the future. Now we live in that future, and the Boomers, cannot hide the effects of wanton capitalism, reckless consumerism, exploitation of developing nations, and pollution. These are the same issues the hippies were denouncing 40 years ago. Instead, they conformed, reformed, and accelerated the same vicious cycles.

So many of them, draft dodgers and war haters in their youth, became chicken hawks when they realized how wars can affect stock portfolios. So many of them, once advocates of affirmative action, desegregation and civil liberties as defined by the 1960’s, have reversed themselves or - as Don Imus represents - exposed their inner racist and innate misogyny to the world. Too many children have been born to Boomer parents who ignore them in favor of selfish monetary pursuits, fleeting sexual adventures, and narcissistic preoccupation with angst never outgrown.

People refer to those born after the Baby Boomers as "the ME generation." This is an error perpetrated by members of the Boomers, who themselves are the greediest, most selfish generation in American history. Just look at the people in power now, how they comport themselves. Read the news. Our government is run by a generation of bloated self-worth, fed by a media designed for them in mind, now run by them, too. Paul Wolfowitz, architect of the New American Century, has been found to have secured his girlfriend a fat pay check using clout gain by his patronage-begotten position as head of the World Bank. His response was to refuse the option of stepping down. Selfish bastard.

And then there’s the Bush Administration… Every thing they touch, from the Iraqi Oil Grab debacle and the breaking of the Geneva Conventions to the firing of US attorneys for political gain, shouts out their greed and selfishness, their convictions that they can do whatever they want, just as they were told when they were children. In fact, in many ways they still are children: just watch the pouting tirades of our President. (Anyone who flips the bird at a running camera and thinks it’s funny is truly unfit for public office.)

Now we learn that Boomers aren’t as healthy as their parents. Perchance a a lofe of drug abuse, rehabilitation and excessive consumerism is hard on the body?

The world may still survive them, but the whole of the 21st century will be dominated by reparation for the damage done by one generation of people. It’s good that they are finally dying off, to leave the world a shambles for their estranged offspring to try and fix. Humanity can learn from them what not to do in the future. Sometimes negative lessons are the most potent.

Good Riddance.

It annoys me how Republican "pundits" are attacking every idea with which they disagree. Most especially the whole Stay The Course / Get them Out debate. Yes, its a tough decision.

What everyone seems to agree upon is that Iraq is a mess. In four years, the greatest military machine in the world cannot re-stabilize what it has destroyed - namely the sovereignty and economic stability of Iraq. We broke it. We should fix it. But how long do we continue to try?

The same opinions that rile me scoff at the Democratic congress’ recent attempts to pin down a plan from the president: timetables, measurable progress by the Iraqi government, and conditions met to bring our soldiers home. In order to show they’re serious, the tackle the issue when money is on the table. Money is what all Americans understand: when money is involved, people pay attention. Surely, congress did get the president’s attention - along with its attendant anger - and a threat to veto. The Righty opiners think this proves (yet again) how the left is unsupportive of our military. The Lefty pundits say that a veto of the appropriations bill without stipulations of progress would endanger the troops just as surely as the alternative.

This argument should have taken place two years ago, but a Republican majority refused to oversee expenditures. Since the start of Armageddon until today, the richest nation on Earth blindly wrote blank checks to fund a questionable military pursuit. Most of the money wasn’t real, but borrowed from future Gross National Product and from taxes our children have yet to pay. The Righties seem okay with that.

If our World’s Greatest Military(tm) cannot manage a regime change in more time that it took to end WWII, then it’s high time to rethink things. If a thirteen-digit expense account cannot fund this endeavor - or any, for that matter - how is the delaying tactic currently being played on the beltway going to change anything one way or the other? In a war of trillions of dollars, what’s a few billion between rivals?

Four years. Eight TRILLION dollars carte blanch. How much is too much? How long is too long? How many thousands more dead and injured? How many more survivors psychologically damaged?

We blew it in Iraq. We’ve broken something that we cannot fix. Conventional warfare does not account for amorphous combatants and suicide troops. We cannot win by doing "What we’ve always done." We’ve already spent too much money and time. Staying the course and expecting different results is a textbook definition of insanity. The whole Iraq situation is insane.

Let’s be sane, now. It just might help.