The irony is bitter and painful, just like the memories still haunting the Vietnam veterans who George Bush used to get reelected.
Warned that Iraq could become another Vietnam as they took us to war, Cheney/Bush denied it, after once admitting it. (See it here). Now that we may finally be hauling our boots out of this quagmire, Cheney/Bush says we should stay, or else this could become another Vietnam.
The president who ducked Vietnam, who brought us a replay of Vietnam, who said this was not Vietnam, now says we have to stay to keep Iraq from becoming Vietnam. After once preening under a banner that proclaimed "Mission Accomplished," after challenging religious Muslims to "Bring it ON!"
Outrageous. Amoral. Callous. The man should not be allowed to even say the word Vietnam to the people of this country. And those of you who still support this fool, you have another chance.
Oh people, the bills that have yet to be paid for this tragic mistake are not yet received. The loss of national treasure, national prestige, the coming home of the maimed and the broken and their care, the lost investments, the lost productivity: the debts will last at least another generation.
You want a war? This is a war. You want a hero? That writer, that soldier Sean, he is a hero.
Not the braying smarmy little jackass from Texas, the bantam cock Bush who failed at everything he undertook in his adult life, not this small man so indifferent that he has brought failure home by comparing his war of vengeance in Iraq to Vietnam, he has sullied the memory of those that served there then, he abuses the trust of those who serve in Iraq now.
God forgive him.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Saturday, August 18, 2007
bin Laden in Chitral
The other day I was giving a speech on context and chaos and was asked if I knew where Osama bin Laden was hiding. Since I didn’t have any facts, I just said yes, he is living in the town of Chitral in Northern Pakistan.
When asked how I could be so certain, I replied I had no reason to be certain, just that I had been to Chitral, and if I was bin Laden, that is where I would be.
Chitral is a small town near the border where Pakistan, Afghanistan and China meet. It sits in the shadow of Tirich Mir, a great peak in the Hindukush range of the western Himalayas. To get there by road, when passable, requires a two-day trip from Peshawar, because Pathan tribesmen will not offer safety to those who travel after sun down.
The Pathan of Pakistan’s Northern Territories are among the fiercest, most ethics-bound people anywhere on earth. Smugglers, opium growers, descendants of Ghengis Kahn, they are a people as hard as the mountains they call home. The Pathan code of hospitality is iron bound. If bin Laden is their guest, they will protect him with their lives.
It is an exquisitely beautiful valley, with a couple of inns, a river rushing over the granite boulders in deep canyons. Terraced fields bear local grain. The last leg of the trip from the lowlandsis on a jeep trail over a 10,000 foot mountain pass, easily seen by residents below. Helicopters find difficulty at the altitudes of these mountains, and the valleys are deep.
"If you know where he is, why doesn’t the government go in and get him," I was asked. Because bin Laden has more value as a bogey man than a corpse to the Bush/Cheney regime, I replied.
But now that Cheney/Bush has proven itself irrelevant when not outright catastrophic (“Bring it ON!”), that might change. The capture or killing of bin Laden may be the last hope this administration has to avert classification as the worst in U.S. history. It might even divert attention from the lending crisis. Watch the news.
When asked how I could be so certain, I replied I had no reason to be certain, just that I had been to Chitral, and if I was bin Laden, that is where I would be.
Chitral is a small town near the border where Pakistan, Afghanistan and China meet. It sits in the shadow of Tirich Mir, a great peak in the Hindukush range of the western Himalayas. To get there by road, when passable, requires a two-day trip from Peshawar, because Pathan tribesmen will not offer safety to those who travel after sun down.
The Pathan of Pakistan’s Northern Territories are among the fiercest, most ethics-bound people anywhere on earth. Smugglers, opium growers, descendants of Ghengis Kahn, they are a people as hard as the mountains they call home. The Pathan code of hospitality is iron bound. If bin Laden is their guest, they will protect him with their lives.
It is an exquisitely beautiful valley, with a couple of inns, a river rushing over the granite boulders in deep canyons. Terraced fields bear local grain. The last leg of the trip from the lowlandsis on a jeep trail over a 10,000 foot mountain pass, easily seen by residents below. Helicopters find difficulty at the altitudes of these mountains, and the valleys are deep.
"If you know where he is, why doesn’t the government go in and get him," I was asked. Because bin Laden has more value as a bogey man than a corpse to the Bush/Cheney regime, I replied.
But now that Cheney/Bush has proven itself irrelevant when not outright catastrophic (“Bring it ON!”), that might change. The capture or killing of bin Laden may be the last hope this administration has to avert classification as the worst in U.S. history. It might even divert attention from the lending crisis. Watch the news.
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Heisenburg's geese
The pheasant has disappeared. At least from the brush pile past my bedroom window. I miss the hollow hooting call as he sought company.
He has been replaced by geese, hundreds and hundreds of geese. They fly over twice a day, in the rose gold of sky just before dawn and just after sundown. Formations of 10 or 20 or 50 just clear the short juniper and taller pines of my hilltop, I can tell whether it will be a large or small gaggle by the number of voices I hear before they even come into view, I hear the whistle of individual wings as they just clear my second story deck, I see even their eyes.
I don’t know where they go or where they come from. They sleep somewhere at night, they feed somewhere else during the day. They are quite regular, and for all that, quite mysterious.
Are the formations made up of the same birds day after day, or is there a randomness in the grouping? Is that group of four the same I saw, or is there a new mix wing to wing? The group that flies around that giant pine, is it the same group that did so yesterday, or are some of these birds the ones that yesterday flew just over the pheasant’s brush pile?
The Heisenburg Uncertainty Principle applied to water fowl. I know that the geese will spill over my hilltop, but I don’t know where an individual bird will be in the flight. If I stop that bird, it will no longer be part of the flock. The wave in which it exists is a numerical prediction of position, not the description of a goose.
He has been replaced by geese, hundreds and hundreds of geese. They fly over twice a day, in the rose gold of sky just before dawn and just after sundown. Formations of 10 or 20 or 50 just clear the short juniper and taller pines of my hilltop, I can tell whether it will be a large or small gaggle by the number of voices I hear before they even come into view, I hear the whistle of individual wings as they just clear my second story deck, I see even their eyes.
I don’t know where they go or where they come from. They sleep somewhere at night, they feed somewhere else during the day. They are quite regular, and for all that, quite mysterious.
Are the formations made up of the same birds day after day, or is there a randomness in the grouping? Is that group of four the same I saw, or is there a new mix wing to wing? The group that flies around that giant pine, is it the same group that did so yesterday, or are some of these birds the ones that yesterday flew just over the pheasant’s brush pile?
The Heisenburg Uncertainty Principle applied to water fowl. I know that the geese will spill over my hilltop, but I don’t know where an individual bird will be in the flight. If I stop that bird, it will no longer be part of the flock. The wave in which it exists is a numerical prediction of position, not the description of a goose.
Financial turbulance
Quite a week inn the international financial markets. And perhaps another interesting week to come.
It is quite extraordinary that the Fed pumped $62 billion into the financial system in two days: $24 billion on Thursday, and when that did not work, another $19 billion Friday morning, $16 billion a few hours later and then another $3 billion Friday afternoon. The Fed bolstered their action with words: They are ready to do what it takes to preserve the markets.
Not since the September 11 attacks on New York have we seen this kind of action. Think about the situation then, how we were feeling, and compare it to now. Do you hear strain in the voices?
Your writer is a dilettante when it comes to economics and finance. But I believe that the pros were glad this crisis came late in the week and there was weekend, a “time-out,” for everyone to to catch their breath. Now the focus is on next week, when a slew of financial data will be revealed.
My guess is that inflation numbers will come in worse than expected, though those are part of a rigged game. At some point, high oil prices have to be reflected in transportation costs. I know how much a tea pot costs at my local hardware store.
At some point, the fact that washers and dryers are made more cheaply in Korea will not be a moderator on prices here in Oregon. The loss of American jobs will not be adequate to offset higher prices, the new balance of production will be come the benchmark.
I think consumer confidence numbers will come in worse than forecast. At some point, we are going to realize that the value of our homes can go down as well as up. That the new washer and dryer is more than I can afford and I need to find a used unit. And by the way, I need to save for retirement, because social security is not secure.
The subprime situation is being given more credit than it deserves: like blaming the trigger for the noise of a gun. If, after all this liquidity has been pumped into the markets, things are still snarky, it will be the beginning of a purge. We have been living beyond our means. Time to pay the bill. At some point, retail sales should fall.
I think the Fed will be limited in what they can do, pinned between inflation (cost driven versus demand driven, therefore less amenable to easier credit, more in the control of offshore factors) and a slowdown driven by real world experience (higher prices, fewer assets, fewer jobs). Stagflation like we had in 1980.
Gonna be an interesting week.
It is quite extraordinary that the Fed pumped $62 billion into the financial system in two days: $24 billion on Thursday, and when that did not work, another $19 billion Friday morning, $16 billion a few hours later and then another $3 billion Friday afternoon. The Fed bolstered their action with words: They are ready to do what it takes to preserve the markets.
Not since the September 11 attacks on New York have we seen this kind of action. Think about the situation then, how we were feeling, and compare it to now. Do you hear strain in the voices?
Your writer is a dilettante when it comes to economics and finance. But I believe that the pros were glad this crisis came late in the week and there was weekend, a “time-out,” for everyone to to catch their breath. Now the focus is on next week, when a slew of financial data will be revealed.
My guess is that inflation numbers will come in worse than expected, though those are part of a rigged game. At some point, high oil prices have to be reflected in transportation costs. I know how much a tea pot costs at my local hardware store.
At some point, the fact that washers and dryers are made more cheaply in Korea will not be a moderator on prices here in Oregon. The loss of American jobs will not be adequate to offset higher prices, the new balance of production will be come the benchmark.
I think consumer confidence numbers will come in worse than forecast. At some point, we are going to realize that the value of our homes can go down as well as up. That the new washer and dryer is more than I can afford and I need to find a used unit. And by the way, I need to save for retirement, because social security is not secure.
The subprime situation is being given more credit than it deserves: like blaming the trigger for the noise of a gun. If, after all this liquidity has been pumped into the markets, things are still snarky, it will be the beginning of a purge. We have been living beyond our means. Time to pay the bill. At some point, retail sales should fall.
I think the Fed will be limited in what they can do, pinned between inflation (cost driven versus demand driven, therefore less amenable to easier credit, more in the control of offshore factors) and a slowdown driven by real world experience (higher prices, fewer assets, fewer jobs). Stagflation like we had in 1980.
Gonna be an interesting week.
Friday, August 10, 2007
Tougher times
The financial news is bleak at 5 a.m. this morning (read it here). Two to three percent drops in stock markets yesterday, it might be worse today. Central banks scrambling to squirt liquidity like grease into a system seizing up with fear. The man who wanted to buy our beach lot, he withdrew his offer. It would have solved the last issue in a divorce still high-centered on the rock of assets versus income.
Times are getting tougher, and they ain’t at their toughest yet.
It is always those closest to the edge who get sandpapered first. Carpenters, plumbers, waiters and waitresses, cooks and busboys. I don’t think this beast is going to be content gobbling a few small fry, though. This one feels like it’s hungry, the stock market bubble “correction” not enough.
This one is spreading like ebola around the world’s financial markets. It feels like it wants more than a few bond traders and househusbands who thought they could “flip” three houses like a pro and why worry. This one feels not so much of a market correction but more of a market driven comeuppance, punishment for our excesses.
Interesting times.
Times are getting tougher, and they ain’t at their toughest yet.
It is always those closest to the edge who get sandpapered first. Carpenters, plumbers, waiters and waitresses, cooks and busboys. I don’t think this beast is going to be content gobbling a few small fry, though. This one feels like it’s hungry, the stock market bubble “correction” not enough.
This one is spreading like ebola around the world’s financial markets. It feels like it wants more than a few bond traders and househusbands who thought they could “flip” three houses like a pro and why worry. This one feels not so much of a market correction but more of a market driven comeuppance, punishment for our excesses.
Interesting times.
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