CyberPirate

Re: Cindy Shaheen

2005-08-15T12:25:00.000-07:00

There's a lot of press coverage these days about Cindy Shaheen who is camping out in front of President Bush's ranch while he is on vacation. She says she will leave after she's had a chance to meet in person with the president, to reminisce about her son, Casey Shaheen, and to ask some questions. Mrs. Shaheen opposes the war. She thinks that Casey somehow died on behalf of Israel. She has questions.

I think that a meeting between President Bush and Mrs. Shaheen would be productive, constructive, and beneficial. While Mrs. Shaheen is engaging in inflammatory speech, it is no different from that of other anti-war protesters including many in Washington politics. Why single her out for criticism for using these terms? And why is President Bush somehow exonerated from being called these, when other OIF supporters, including me, have been called the same. I've been asked these same questions framed in the same way, and can reply with logical, rational criticism of their claims and support for Bush's policies and decisions (at least, most of them). He can too, can't he?

Mrs. Shaheen might be leftist, communist, anti-American, anti-Iraqi, antisemitic, or whatever label de jour is put on her, but she is above all a mother of an American hero. As an American, she is entitled to her opinion, and deserves nothing less than our respect when she presents it. Her terminology is not productive and is unnecessarily distracting and accusatory, but that is the fault of the American education system which has not shaped her character to present her beliefs in a rational or dignified manner.

At this point, I would like to hear two things:

1) More about Casey Shaheen - just the kid who grew up and became an American soldier. I want to know about his life, his courage, and his character. He sounds like a wonderful person, and has obviously inspired many people.

2) President Bush's answers to these loaded questions. I think it is fair for a moderator to correct the framework of the questions because they are poorly worded - straw men and false premise and such. Obviously enemy combatants killed Casey - not President Bush. It would be like saying WalMart killed kids at Columbine High School because they sell ammunition - but then that is also a Moore argument. We need to come to grips with causality. Other questions she asks are also incorrectly phrased. But she has a right to know why her son was called into active duty to serve in Iraq. Some disclosure and information is needed.

I can only feel sympathetic to Mrs. Shaheen. I can't find anger in myself toward her for anything that she has said, even though I don't agree with her. I hope that she finds answers and closure to the questions, and that she can proceed on a happy note and not feeling anger or guilt over what has happened. I wish like anything that President Bush would grant her request and meet with her - look at the photos of the Casey's childhood and get to know him and reiterate the reasons we are at war - in particular the fact that war was declared on us, not the other way around.

Re: Happy Independence Day!

2005-07-04T12:41:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since I've posted, I've been extremely busy.

Happy Independence Day!
Here's a pretty fireworks website:
http://www.njagyouth.org/liberty.htm

For some reason, whenever I think of jihadists shaving, I think of the old Burma Shave signs. I don't know why that is. I saw a few Burma Shave signs when I was little, but for the most part, Burma Shave signs were being phased out. I got an email recently with a number of the old poems in it and some facts about Burma Shave signs to share.

They were signs that had poems like:

She kissed the hairbrush
By mistake
She thought it was
Her husband Jake Use
Burma Shave

Burma shave signs were popular in the the 1930s and 1940's in the USA. Before Interstates, everyone drove on 2 lane roads that went winding through the countryside. Burma Shave signs would be posted all over the countryside in farmers' fields. They were small red signs with white letters. Five signs, about 100 feet apart, each containing 1 line of a 4 line couplet and the obligatory 5th sign advertising Burma Shave, a popular shaving cream.

Here are more of the actual signs:

DON'T LOSE YOUR HEAD
TO GAIN A MINUTE
YOU NEED YOUR HEAD
YOUR BRAINS ARE IN IT
Burma Shave

DROVE TOO LONG
DRIVER SNOOZING
WHAT HAPPENED NEXT
IS NOT AMUSING
Burma Shave

Trains don't wander
All over the map
'Cause nobody sits
In the engineer's lap
Burma Shave

BROTHER SPEEDER
LET'S REHEARSE
ALL TOGETHER
GOOD MORNING NURSE
Burma Shave

SPEED WAS HIGH
WEATHER WAS NOT
TIRES WERE THIN
X MARKS THE SPOT
Burma Shave

THE MIDNIGHT RIDE
OF PAUL FOR BEER
LED TO A
WARMER HEMISPHERE
Burma Shave

AROUND THE CURVE
LICKETY-SPLIT
ITS A BEAUTIFUL CAR
WASN'T IT?
Burma Shave

NO MATTER THE PRICE
NO MATTER HOW NEW
THE BEST SAFETY DEVICE
IN THE CAR IS YOU
Burma Shave

A GUY WHO
DRIVES A CAR WIDE OPEN
IS NOT THINKIN'
HE'S JUST HOPIN'
Burma
Shave

AT INTERSECTIONS
LOOK EACH WAY
A HARP SOUNDS NICE
BUT ITS HARD TO PLAY
Burma
Shave

BOTH HANDS
ON THE WHEEL
EYES ON THE ROAD
THAT'S THE SKILLFUL DRIVER'S CODE
Burma Shave

THE ONE WHO DRIVES
WHEN HE'S BEEN DRINKING
DEPENDS ON THE CAR
TO DO HIS THINKING
Burma Shave

CAR IN DITCH
DRIVER IN TREE
THE MOON WAS FULL
AND SO WAS HE.
Burma Shave

PASSING SCHOOL ZONE
TAKE IT SLOW
LET OUR LITTLE
SHAVERS GROW
Burma Shave

Deadly thoughts
About lights that shine
If he won't dim his
Then I won't dim mine
Burma Shave

And the all time favorite:

Don't stick your arm
Out the window too far
It might go home
In another car
Burma Shave

Things were different, back in the day!

_____________

Here's a joke:

Two ____ hunters got a pilot to fly them to Canada to hunt moose.

They bagged six.

As they started loading the plane for the return trip, the pilot said the plane could take only four moose.

The two lads objected strongly. "Last year we shot six and the pilot let us put them all on board; he had the same plane as yours."

Reluctantly, the pilot gave in and all six were loaded.

However,even on full power,the little plane couldn't handle the load and went down a few moments after take-off.

Climbing out of the wreck one asked the other,"Any idea where we are?"

"Yaaah I tink we's pretty close to where we crashed last year."

Re: The Incorrectness of Political Correctness

2005-04-14T17:32:00.000-07:00

Political correctness is the modern day form of McCarthyism. According to the dictionary, McCarthyism is:

"The practice of publicizing accusations of political disloyalty or subversion with insufficient regard to evidence."

and

"The use of unfair investigatory or accusatory methods in order to suppress opposition."

Words that are socially sanctioned are called politically correct words. Proponents of politically correct terminology seek to prevent excluding or offending people based upon differences of race, gender, ethnicity, handicap or other differentiating feature. It has been speculated that language's grammatical categories shape its speakers' ideas and actions, and this is another good reason for using political correctness. However in our days of bullets and sound bites, pc terminology is a dangerous doctrine akin to mind control and "double-speak". PC marginalizes speakers making it difficult to articulate important societal issues.

The only acceptable alternatives are socially sanctioned inoffensive words and euphemisms. The socially sanctioned words are engineered in the propagandists office and sent out like a pyramid scheme through the followers of that office until they become commonly used in mass media and then among all of society. Their usage is taught in a context that impels the values of their doctrine, making it obvious that users of certain terminology are to be vilified and ostracized. This context obviates a position that users of certain politically incorrect words are advancing an opposing viewpoint necessarily, all encapsulated within that word choice. It is political suicide to use the wrong word, and a speaker might find himself labeled "homophobic", "racist", or "sexist" just on the basis of having spoken a verboten term.

In general, euphemisms are first put forth by mass media and then adopted as generally non-offensive. The "s-word" and the "f-word" or even the "f-bomb" are alternatives to commonly used swear words. Archaisms, or deliberate use of words that have fallen out of vogue, can be used successfully in some circumstances, but most people would never dare venture into such dialog.

Political Correctness is divisive. One group calls abortion rights "freedom of choice" and people using them "family planners" the other side calls there cause "right to life" or "pro-life" and those that favor abortion rights, "baby killers". Group membership requires using the terms that are politically correct within the group. With such inflaming terminology, it is little wonder that these groups can never find common ground.

Political Correctness is intimidating. Whether to maintain behavioral expectations within a group, or to be meeting expectations of society at large, people are forced to use politically correct words or face the consequences of violating a social taboo by using the incorrect words. This obstructs the flow of communications, and inhibits some people who are unsure of the correct words, especially when words they used to use freely are no longer permitted. Society often changes its language to protect itself and to evolve further. But political correctness can be destructive to some members of society because it imposes a value system that allows audiences at large to infer motive and malfeasance on the speaker that might not be there - and just on the basis of word choice.

Political Correctness rewrites history. Like a Marxist doctrine, the ideology of the politically correct say that all of history can be explained by a single factor: power. To the politically correct, all historic events are seen as resulting from the power and control of one group characterized by race, gender, ethnicity, intelligence, religion, or some other "supreme" feature over other groups with different or opposite features. This myopic and overly simplistic view of humanity is reminiscent of our dinosaur brains: the primordial stem that is dominated by sympathetic responses. In the Lizard Logic of social hierarchy, those experiencing a "flight or fight" situation divide the world into two categories: good and evil. The good people are those that like them; the bad are those that oppose them or compete for the same position or resource. Political Correctness, imposed on the explanation of historical events, does just that.

In the rewriting of history, to make politically correct statements, all sorts of unprovable conjectures are put forth and treated as facts. Shakespeare suppressed women. Many of Einstein's theories were in fact from his wife, also a physicist. The King James Bible is all about race and gender.

New ways of describing past situations are created to appease the politically correct consumers. Some want it to be "Afrocentric". Others just want to get rid of any sort of "hero" or "good guy" that is a white European male. To explain the appearance of pyramids, calendars, math, astronomy and technology like writing or paper making or agricultural developments, today's texts speak of "independent invention". Independent invention is a dogma that maintains that there was no contact at all between white people and any Asian or pre-Columbian western civilization, or if there was it was bad because all white males are "imperialist exploiters". In other words, Marco Polo just went to China to sell his wears and Leif Ericsson visited North America just to shag Eskimos -- oops! -- Inuit. Another politically correct way of writing history involves "equalizing" all peoples. This tends to introduce biases in statistics that do not represent cultural truth.

Our conquest to be politically correct has had us altering fine works of literary and performing arts. Great literary works of the past are revised so that they are "appropriate" for school children. For example, in Rudyard Kipling's "Just So Story: How the Leopard Got Its Spots", in which a light colored Ethiopian and leopard paint themselves with black paint and the Ethiopian replies to the leopard about why he didn't just paint spots: "Oh, plain black's best for me." Originally, Kipling's quote used the "n- word". Mark Twain and Edgar Allen Poe have also experienced word sanitization. Even Loony Tunes "Bugs Bunny" did not escape the ax of PC censure.

Political correctness makes it impossible to gather and report important statistics, often data that once understood and acted upon, would reduce the very oppression that the PC dogma is trying to alleviate. For example, in order to not offend people who are completely deaf, the term "hearing impaired" was created to include people who might only be partially deaf. Naturally, statistical information is gathered for the "hearing impaired" category and not the "totally deaf" category. As with Marxism, politically correct categories give their engineers a method of analysis that automatically gives the answers they want. Actionable data that "proves" that one race, gender, ethnicity, etc., is being "immorally" dominated by another, and remedies of policies that reward one and punish the other.

Finally, political correctness is used to promote equalization via expropriation. By having race or gender quotas, jobs and university admissions otherwise attainable for some people, on the basis of skill and background, are denied. To be politically correct, all child participants of a sport might be given the same award. That way nobody feels bad, and nobody has that intimidating position of being up on a pedestal. Equalization via political correctness is used to destroy institutions by portraying them in a negative light - again impelling a value system on them that might not be fundamentally there.

The time has come to call a spade a spade, and let the highly sensitive get over it. We need real statistics to make quality changes, not socially engineered statistics to make people feel good. We need an in-depth and accurate understanding of history. We need to preserve our past culture even while progressing and advancing to our more enlightened age. We can do this without the PC doctrine.

references:

http://www.academia.org/lectures/lind1.html "The Origins of Political Correctness: An Accuracy in Academia Address by Bill Lind " Bernstein, Albert and Sydney Craft Rozen, "Dinosaur Brains: Dealing wiht All Those Impossible People At Work", John Wiley and Sons, 1989

Re: Attempting to translate Hnk's poem

2005-04-12T21:24:00.000-07:00

Here is Hnh's poem entitled "اشتعلت نار الحرب" on Hnk's Blog

Here's my attempt at translation of Hnk's poem. Warning: I don't know arabic and this could be completely backwards. Not sure!

Today's correspondence held a letter
sent by prayer and formed from a heart of silver.
The ancients spoke of forgotten events of long ago
these that continue to the end of time.
We quietly prepare for war with our enemy,
an internal, ideological conflict.
After a while, will I be more keenly aware that
Zionists and Jewish are unobstructed and Christian Islam
is the targeted religion?
Did they hear that dark, difficult days woud be endured?
Mother, does this come from man?
From the beginning to the final end
There are incidents of nuclear radiation
Pamphlets, Loud sounds and brilliant colors proclaim
We will be the Arab democracy
We alone among Arabs will express our own views
Our freedom the only among the Arabs
Vienna does not have
Nor did the ancient tribes
All books from Heaven which have descended to man
Clearly say to finally be yielding and gentle
The welcome month passed and poetic writing
Summarizes the good that is prevented these days
Intense devices surpassed all underground structures
To expose the enemies in Baghdad
bombing follows upon places where women, sheikh, and youthful live
A boy speaks of God, the creator of man, from bed
Mannerisms retuned and tastes the suffering
Iraqi and American fires destroyed statues of Saddam and pagan statues
The government schools and centers were looted
The head circles and the palaces were looted
The medical laboratories and the college was looted
The scientific offices and centers were looted
The vestigial banks and the museums were looted
Priceless ancient Babylonian and Assyrian artifacts are lost
We followed them to Jordan and demanded they be returned
This is one of the problems that the American imperialist has left behind
We see the evidence of gunfire
Tempestuous, volitile anger slumber
Despite the night gatherings of men of different religions
The Kurds cooperate with the American forces
In Arbil and Al-Sulaimaniya
In the belief that Iraq owns weapons.
America says that they have reconciled for Geneva Convention
And correct some military forces humanitarian methods for dealing with
Detention of prisoners of war.
We've lived this tragic life for many months
Nobody but the Lord of Humanity knows when this will end
They say that his war is not about oil or impelling values
The Americans say the war is not over
To TV audiences, this will be a historic day
When there is no security
The autrocities experienced by Iraq will become legendary
As when Saddam's relatives tortured innocent people
Yet most of America's character is sententious

Re: More Jokes

2005-03-13T21:25:00.000-08:00

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves. ~Bill Vaughan

-----

If joggers could jog at the speed of sound, would they still be able to hear their Walkmans?

An airplane is traveling 0.5 mph less than the speed of sound. A passenger at the back of the plane walks to the front of the plane at 1.0 mph. Does he create a sonic boom?

VisiBone's Color Lab - http://www.visibone.com/colorlab/
This is a great tool for choosing colors for web pages and other digital
graphic designs.

Matter is fundamentally lazy:- It always takes the path of least effort
Matter is fundamentally stupid:- It tries every other path first.
That is the heart of physics - The rest is details.

The high energy density variations of vacuum are mainly produced within
brains.

Re: Another Political Joke

2005-03-13T15:34:00.000-08:00

An American tourist in London decides to skip his tour group and explore the city on his own. He wanders around, seeing the sights, and occasionally stopping at a quaint pub to soak up the local culture, chat with the lads, and have a pint of Guinness.

After a while, he finds himself in a very high class neighborhood.....big, stately residences...no pubs, no stores, no restaurants, and worst of all...NO PUBLIC RESTROOMS.

He really, really has to go, after all those Guinness beers.

He finds a narrow side street, with high walls surrounding the adjacent buildings and decides to use the wall to solve his problem.

As he is unzipping, he is tapped on the shoulder by a London Bobbie, who says, "I say, sir, you simply cannot do that here, you know."

"I'm very sorry, officer," replies the American, "but I really, really HAVE TO GO, and I just can't find a public restroom."

"Ah, yes," said the Bobbie..."Just follow me". He leads him to a back delivery alley, then along a wall to a gate, which he opens.

"In there," points the Bobbie. "Whiz away, anywhere you want."

The fellow enters and finds himself in the most beautiful garden he has ever seen...manicured grass lawns, statuary, fountains, sculptured hedges, and huge beds of gorgeous flowers, all in perfect bloom.

Since he has the cop's blessing, he unburdens himself and is greatly relieved. As he goes back through the gate, he says to the Bobbie "That was really decent of you. Is that what you call "British hospitality?"

"No" replied the Bobbie, with a satisfied smile on his face, "that is what we call the French Embassy."

Re: If I'm Good, Good Things Will Happen To Me. (Except When Bad Things Happen Anyway)

2005-03-08T10:13:00.000-08:00

I had one of those moments when a lot of things suddenly made sense, a sort of "ah ha, that's what's going on!" moment. It was that the trauma of so many recent events and the conspiracy theories behind them are arising because of our common Western belief that if we're good, good things will happen.

The origin of this belief is with the ancient Hebrews. They believed that they had a covenant or contract of sorts with God. They believed that if they followed all of God's rules, they would be propserous. The ancient Greeks did not have this belief. They believed that many of the bad things that happened were a result of arguments between gods. They also believed that good things that happened were a result of a gift from a god, but did not necessarily have anything to do with the behavior or character of the recipient. Western beliefs are shaped by ancient Hebrew, Greek and Roman ideaologies. We have a sort of mixed up view when it comes to causality of events and how people influence what happens on Earth.

Today, our government is operated on the same basic principle. We have faith in eachother to uphold the laws that we agree upon. If someone breaks the law, something will happen to correct that behavior so they are law-abiding. Either they will be changed, or the system will be changed to prevent them from breaking the law.

We want our children to believe this. It seems morally superior to teaching kids to do the right things to avoid punishment. It seems logical and organized. It's as if we can negotiate with nature. To get our kids to do the right things, we reward them when they do, and correct them when they don't. But very few people would suggest that if lightning strikes your house and burns it to the ground, that it was the result of something wrongful that you were doing - that it was an act of correct from God or from nature or some higher order entity.

The problem is that people do illogical things with this notion or natural order of things. They develop conspiracy theories to preserve this notion. They twist the logic.

They are taught that as part of an agreement with an authority (or even nature's rule):
If I'm good and behaving and doing what I'm supposed to be doing, good things will happen.
sometimes even farther:
If I'm good and behaving and doing what I'm supposed to be doing, good things will happen to me.
or
If I'm good and behaving and doing what I'm supposed to be doing, good things will happen in our society.

A rather extreme view is:
If I'm good and behaving and doing what I'm supposed to be doing, onlygood things will happen.
The ancient Hebrews really believed this. They thought it was their agreement with God. If a disaster happened, it must have resulted from their bad behavior or it was a challenge and part of God's greater plan which in the long run held only prosperity for them. This belief fell apart in the 500s when the Babylonians attacked Jeruselum and broke the ark with the 10+ commandments. The belief became more inward or focused less on the physical world and more on the spiritual world. That as long as you followed God's rules, your relationship with God would be a good one. The older extreme belief was replaced with an identity of suffering that carries through to Christanity. To suffer was to become closer to God. Today, though, many people have regressed towards thinking that as long as they play by the rules, only good things should happen to them. They want to create a government system by which that is guaranteed. Moreover, people want a medical system that is that way. Afterall, if you are exercizing and eating healthy foods, you shouldn't get heart disease ever, should you? Some people have a hard time accepting genetics. If I'm a good person, how can I possibly have bad genes?

It seems to naturally follow that:
If I'm bad, bad things will happen.
Well, that's not quite a given, is it? If I'm bad, bad things might happen in retaliation. If I'm bad, corrective actions might take place so that I stop being bad. If I'm bad, I might 'get away with it' and only a few people would assert that I'd pay for it later in the afterlife. So the assertion "if I'm bad, bad things will happen" is wrong. The authority 'in charge' of doing bad things to bad people has to work within a complex context, and that might mean that nothing happens - or they might just wait for bad people to start behaving so that they learn by example and reap the rewards. Unfortunately, if people develop this notion as a belief, they will think that what they are doing is OK simply because nothing bad is happening as a result.

The next illogical assertion:
If good things happened to me, I am good (special).
Picture a famous movie star in his limo cruising through a lower class neighborhood. He wonders, what random set of events let me become something so much more than these slobs? Soon he might conclude that he really is something special. Somehow better and the only one suited for all the pampering and prosperity. The slobs, in order to retain order of thinking, might develop a sense that life on earth is short and what happens here isn't as important as our spiritual development so they are just as good. Or they develop a reverse-snobbery and think that the prosperity he has is somehow inferior to theirs. Or maybe they will just get a low self-esteem and think he's right. Face facts, it's random. If good things happen to me, I was lucky!

The next illogical assertion:
If bad things happened to me, I am bad.
This reinforces the notion that if I'm good and behaving, only good things can happen to me, around me, to my society and my people. Some people today really believe this. They can't accept the fact that there is no natural order that dictates that only good things can happen to good people. Shit happens. But believing that someone caused it to happen because of their wrongdoings - that's just plain silly.

The Italian Journalist

Conspiracy theories abound these days about an Italian journalist whos car was fired upon by US military when it failed to stop at a checkpoint on the road to the airport in Baghdad. People want to make sense of it. What if there's no difference between her car being fired upon, and any other car in Iraq that fails to stop for a checkpoint. What if it has nothing to do with who she was or what she wrote or how much was paid for her release? What if the only reason that her car was fired upon was because it didn't stop at the checkpoint? If you follow the rules, you'll be OK. But we haven't really heard stories told about her driver being shot at, only her. So that logic falls apart. What crime was she committing, they ask. And that's when the other issues suddenly become important to them. What happened to her was the result of wrongdoing of another person. So how does the "if I'm good, good things will happen to me" fit into the logic of her being shot at? The theories arise in order to preserve that ethic. To preserve our notion that good things happen to those who behave, and the notion that the Italian journalist was behaving people tend to do one of the following:

1) attribute criminal behavior to the military suggesting that they just wanted to shoot a car (and giving reasons like boredom) and were unlucky because they shot a car with a celebrity in it
2) attribute criminal behavior to the military suggesting that they targeted her (and giving reasons why anywhere from animosity over her writings to anger for funds given to terrorists)
3) attribute her predicament to her own behavior (the wrongdoing being going to a war zone without proper protection, negotiating with terrorists, giving aid and comfort to terrorists)

What people can't accept is the notion that randomly there are bad things that happen to people. Sometimes bad things happen to good people, bad people, pretty people, and ugly people. And that doesn't incriminate them. That doesn't mean they did something wrong. Shit happens.

Ward Churchill

When I read his writings, he seems to want to preserve the old ethic: if people do good things, good things will happen to them and if people do bad things, bad things will happen to them. The illogical twist he puts on it is: if bad things happen to people, they must have been misbehaving. He then concluded that since the 9/11 victims died in a horrible tragedy, they must have been guilty - they deserved it. Then he looks for the reasons why they are guilty. This is unbelievably illogical.

First of all, good things had been happening to the 9/11 victims. They held prosperous lives and prestigious jobs in New York, or were traveling for business and pleasure. Clearly they were blessed whether by nature or God or the fruits of their own labor. If you believe that bad things happen if you're bad; and that good things happen if you're good: then you have to also believe that the 9/11 victims were good. Churchill didn't acknowledge that part of his logic (or lack of).

What people can't accept is the notion that randomly there are bad things that happen to people. Sometimes bad things happen to good people, bad people, smart people, and stupid people. And that doesn't incriminate them. That doesn't mean they did something wrong. Shit happens.

December 26, 2004 Tsunami

OVer and over we saw it: mostly from religious leaders but also some people blame the government. The tsunami happened as a result of God's wrath, they say, his anger for people's bad behavior on Earth. They then conclude that since the tsunami victims died in a horrible tragedy, they must have been guilty - they deserved it. Then they look for the reasons why they are guilty. This is unbelievably illogical.

First of all, good things had been happening to the tsunami victims. They held prosperous lives and enjoyed the coastline of Asia where they could mix business and pleasure. Clearly they were blessed whether by nature or God or the fruits of their own labor. If you believe that bad things happen if you're bad; and that good things happen if you're good: then you have to also believe that the tsunami victims were good.

Most of the "hell and damnation" religious leaders will incriminate the tsunami victims and say that they got what they deserved as a direct result of their own behavior (those individuals had bad grades on their spiritual report card). Some of the "hell and damnation" religious don't incriminate individuals, but rather say that God sent his wrath as a result of collectively bad behavior on Earth (while the victims may or may not have had low scores on their spiritual report cards, our overall average spiritual GPA had fallen below the acceptable limit, and now God was making his anger known). Still others blame anthropogenic forces that disturbed nature: global warming, overdevelopment, etc., and worse that it's all the scientists fault because they saw it, and didn't know who to call on the phone to warn them. But there wasn't anyone to call. And even if there was, there wasn't a warning system in place.

What people can't accept is the notion that randomly there are bad things that happen to people. Sometimes bad things happen to good people, bad people, hi-tech people, and lo-tech people. And that doesn't incriminate them. That doesn't mean they did something wrong - or that anyone else did. Shit happens.

Conclusions

Get over it, bad things happen. Not everything in nature is designed for people. And people don't design perfect systems, and the victims of their poor design aren't always the inventors or the implementors. And sometimes the signals are crossed or good things are happening at cross-purposes. Life isn't easy. People die. People get injured. It's what we do as a result of bad things happening that defines us and our future success. It's not looking for some grand domino scheme that probably doesn't exist. Bad things happening shouldn't result in witch hunts. They should result in a dedication to do better, to remove ambiguity, to use science to understand the physical world, and to understand that people are not perfect and neither will be the systems they create.

Re: Inspecting Nuclear Facilities Will Safeguard Against Hazards Arising from Natural Disasters

2005-02-22T07:27:00.000-08:00

There's no doubt that the active lines in Iran are on the move and many people are dying in the earthquakes. Is this a reason to want nuclear technologies, even for peaceful purposes only, to be developed elsewhere? We've always wondered about the possibility of nuclear material being released as a result of a natural disaster. Putting power plants near faults may be a bad idea, and may be the impetous for demanding world inspections to ensure that the facility can withstand the anticiapted natural disasters for the region it is located in.

Iran is reporting [Source: Channel News Asia] that more than 270 people were killed and more than 700 injured, including 500 who needed hospital treatment, in the quake which measured 6.4 on the Richter scale. The US Geological Survey said the earthquake struck at 5:55 am (0225 GMT), with its epicentre located some 60 kilometers (35 miles) northwest of the city of Kerman. So far, Seismic Monitor reports it as the largest earthquake in 2005.


date 22-FEB-2005 02:25:26 
latitude 30.75 
longitude 56.80 
magnitude 6.4 
depth 42.4

location northern iran. To view a seismogram Select a station here

2003 Earthquake killed 30000

And remember the Magnitude 6.6 - SOUTHEASTERN IRAN that happened December 26, 2003.
USGS Report It killed over 30,000 people.

Seismograms for the February 2005 Earthquake in Iran

Station: GNI - Garni, Armenia
(Station Book for GNI)

Network: IU - Global Seismograph Network (GSN - IRIS/USGS)

Lat: 40.15
Lon: 44.74
Elev: 1609.00

Event Name: 20050222_022526.9.spyder
Available Channels: BHE,BHN,BHZ,LHE,LHN,LHZ,SHE,SHN,SHZ

Available Locations: 00,10

Sample Seismograms

Re: No Seismic Evidence of Iran's explosion

2005-02-17T19:03:00.000-08:00

"Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing
that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy."
~~attributed to Albert Einstein

Where's the boom?

Yesterday, (Wed 16 FEB 2005) it was reported that there was a loud explosion in southern Iran near Iran's Gulf port of Daylam [The blast was located near Daylam, about 150 kilometres (90 miles) from Bushehr, where a controversial nuclear power plant is being built with Russian help. Source: Iran Focus

Media reports as to its cause are varied:

a senior security official insisted there was no hostile strike, just major earthworks in an largely uninhabited area in the south of the country source: Iran Focus
witnesses reported seeing a missile being fired from an unidentified plane source: Iran Focus
some say a US surveillance drone was fired upon when it was spying on a nuclear facility Source
one Iranian government official said the noise was a fuel tank falling off an Iranian airplane Source
Iranian Revolutionary Guards said the blast occurred during dam construction
another Iranian government official said there had been a large bang but no explosion Source
"The Interior Ministry spokesman, Jahanbakhsh Khanjani, said there was a military base at Bushehr, and Iranian air force planes routinely fly in that area.
'There is a big possibility that it was a friendly fire by mistake. Several such mistaken friendly fire incidents have been reported there in recent days,' he said."
White House press secretary Scott McClellan, asked if there was no U.S. involvement in the incident in Iran, replied: "That's correct."
some bloggers have speculated that it was an Iranian nuclear bomb test
still others claim a UFO crash landed and that their remains have been quickly taken to an undisclosed location in Arizona

But where's the boom? If it was an explosion underground in a secret nuclear weapons plant, as some suspect, or if was an earthquake, as one official thought, it should have registered on the world wide seismic arrays - Iran participates and there are many seismic monitors in Iran. But nothing of interest has been reported. While it didn't show on the seismic arrays, it did result shaking the stock market!

The last major earth shaking recordings made by the seismologists were last month.


DATE                 LAT   LON   MAG DEPTH REGION 
25-JAN-2005 11:39:20 33.38 45.80 4.8 44.3 IRAN-IRAQ BORDER REGION 
25-JAN-2005 08:07:19 33.17 45.97 4.8 16.3 IRAN-IRAQ BORDER REGION 
25-JAN-2005 00:03:53 33.35 45.76 4.5 51.1 IRAN-IRAQ BORDER REGION

if people are worried about nuclear explosions, why not start looking here?


DATE                 LAT   LON   MAG DEPTH REGION 
15-FEB-2005 12:41:46 47.75 89.43 4.9 10.0 NORTHERN XINJIANG, CHINA 
15-FEB-2005 11:33:59 41.84 79.42 4.7 28.7 KYRGYZSTAN-XINJIANG BORDER REG. 
15-FEB-2005 11:16:16 41.62 79.46 5.3 35.2 KYRGYZSTAN-XINJIANG BORDER REG. 
14-FEB-2005 23:38:06 41.71 79.33 6.0 2.2 KYRGYZSTAN-XINJIANG BORDER REG. 
08-FEB-2005 02:42:16 39.51 75.50 4.9 43.0 SOUTHERN XINJIANG, CHINA 
19-JAN-2005 06:28:19 41.94 79.21 5.1 37.0 KYRGYZSTAN-XINJIANG BORDER REG.

There's probably some way to tell the difference between a nuclear explosion and an earth quake... but still, aren't these large and frequent occurrances creating emergencies there, and why haven't we heard about it?

The USGS lists some major earthquakes in the world Jan 1 2005. I don't recall hearing about most of these earthquakes, although I'm sure they must have all been in the news.


   SIGNIFICANT EARTHQUAKES OF THE WORLD, 2005


Earthquakes of magnitude 6.5 or greater or ones that
caused fatalities, injuries or substantial damage.
BRK--Berkeley.  PAS--Pasadena.  

 DATE  ORIGIN TIME      GEOGRAPHIC       DEPTH  MAG   SD  NO.
 UTC       UTC         COORDINATES                        STA
        HR MN SEC     LAT       LONG                      USED
[REGION, ADDITIONAL MAGNITUDES AND COMMENTS]

JAN 01  06 25 44.8   5.096 N   92.303 E   12 D  6.6  1.0  290  
OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA. MW 6.6 (HRV), 6.5 (GS).    
mb 6.0 (GS). MS 6.7 (GS). ME 7.1 (GS). Mo 6.7*10**18 Nm (GS), 
1.0*10**19 Nm (HRV), 6.3*10**18 Nm (PPT). Es 1.1*10**15 Nm (GS).

JAN 10  18 47 30.1  37.091 N   54.561 E   32 D  5.4  0.9  378  
NORTHERN IRAN. MW 5.4 (HRV), 5.3 (GS). mb 5.3 (GS). MS 5.1 (GS).    
Mo 1.3*10**17 Nm (HRV), 1.1*10**17 Nm (GS). Atl least 110 people 
injured in the Gorgan area.

JAN 10  23 48 53.9  36.882 N   27.880 E   37    5.4  1.1  269  
DODECANESE ISLANDS, GREECE. MW 5.4 (HRV), 5.3 (GS). mb 4.9 (GS).    
MS 4.8 (GS). Mo 1.6*10**17 Nm (HRV), 1.1*10**17 Nm (GS). One 
person injured at Marmaris, Turkey. Felt on Rhodes. Also felt in 
Aydin, Turkey.

JAN 12  08 40 02.9   0.996 S   21.169 W   10 G  6.8  1.0  292  
CENTRAL MID-ATLANTIC RIDGE. MW 6.8 (GS), 6.8 (HRV). mb 5.7 (GS).    
MS 6.0 (GS). Mo 2.1*10**19 Nm (HRV), 1.8*10**19 Nm (GS).

JAN 16  20 17 52.3  10.930 N  140.846 E   22    6.6  0.9  368  
STATE OF YAP, FED. STATES OF MICRONESIA. MW 6.6 (GS), 6.6 (HRV).      
mb 6.3 (GS). MS 6.6 (GS). ME 6.5 (GS). Mo 7.6*10**18 Nm (GS), 
1.0*10**19 Nm (HRV), 4.6*10**18 Nm (PPT). Es 1.2*10**14 Nm (GS).    
Felt on Ulithi.

JAN 19  06 11 36.8  34.118 N  141.543 E   28 D  6.5  1.2  173 
OFF THE EAST COAST OF HONSHU, JAPAN. 
MW 6.5 (HRV), 6.4 (GS), 6.5
(NIED). mb 5.7 (GS). MS 6.4 (GS). Mo 6.3*10**18 Nm (HRV), 
4.8*10**18 Nm (GS), 5.6*10**18 Nm (NIED), 1.1*10**19 Nm (PPT). 
Felt lightly in Tokyo and the surrounding area. A tsunami with a 
wave height of 30 cm was recorded on Miyake-jima. Recorded (1 
JMA) in Aomori, Chiba, Fukushima, Ibaraki, Kanagawa, Miyagi, 
Nagano, Niigata, Saitama, Shizuoka, Tochigi and Tokyo 
Prefectures. Also recorded (1 JMA) on Miyake-jima, Mikura-jima 
and Hachijo-jima.

JAN 23  20 10 14.0   1.134 S  119.957 E   23 *  6.2  1.3  102  
SULAWESI, INDONESIA. MW 6.2 (HRV), 6.1 (GS). mb 5.9 (GS). MS 5.9    
(GS). ME 5.9 (GS). Mo 2.5*10**18 Nm (HRV), 1.5*10**18 Nm (GS). 
Es 1.5*10**13 Nm (GS). One person killed, four injured and at 
least 136 buildings damaged (V) in the Palu area. Felt (III) at 
Parigi. New hot springs formed in the Bobo area.

JAN 25  16 30 38.3  22.520 N  100.742 E   10 *  4.9  0.8   18  
YUNNAN, CHINA. mb 4.9 (GS). At least three people injured and    
some houses damaged at Simao.

JAN 25  16 44 10.7  37.641 N   43.705 E    3    5.9  1.1  173  
TURKEY-IRAQ BORDER REGION. MW 5.9 (HRV), 5.8 (GS). mb 5.4 (GS).    
MS 5.7 (GS). Mo 7.6*10**17 Nm (HRV), 5.7*10**17 Nm (GS). At 
least two people killed, 22 injured and 80 buildings damaged in 
the Hakkari area, Turkey. Felt in Batman, Hakkari, Siirt, Sirnak 
and Van, Turkey.

FEB 02  05 55 17.2   6.962 S  107.832 E   10 A  4.9  1.1   27  
JAVA, INDONESIA. mb 4.9 (GS). One person killed and several    
injured; many buildings damaged or destroyed; power outages 
occurred in Garut. Felt (IV) at Garut and (III) at Pangalengan, 
Pelabuhan and Soreang.

FEB 05  03 34 24.9  15.989 N  145.851 E  139 D  6.6  0.9  192  
SAIPAN REGION, NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS. MW 6.6 (HRV), 6.5 (GS).    
mb 6.3 (GS). ME 6.4 (GS). Mo 9.2*10**18 Nm (HRV), 7.1*10**18 Nm 
(GS), 6.8*10**18 Nm (PPT). Es 9.9*10**13 Nm (GS). Felt (VI) on 
Tinian and (V) on Saipan. Felt (IV) at Barrigada, Hagatna, 
Tamuning and Yigo and (III) at Santa Rita, Guam.

FEB 05  12 23 16.5   5.358 N  123.209 E  501    7.1  1.1  178  
CELEBES SEA. MW 7.1 (GS), 7.1 (HRV). mb 6.4 (GS). Mo 5.1*10**19    
Nm (HRV), 4.7*10**19 Nm (GS). Felt at Davao and General Santos, 
Mindanao, Philippines.

FEB 08  14 48 21.8  14.242 S  167.285 E  206 D  6.8  0.9  254  
VANUATU. MW 6.8 (GS), 6.7 (HRV). mb 6.0 (GS). Mo 1.5*10**19 Nm    
(GS), 1.2*10**19 Nm (HRV), 2.2*10**19 Nm (PPT).

Compiled by Waverly J. Person and Pamela J. Benfield.
Hypocenters will be recomputed for 2005.

http://quake.wr.usgs.gov/recenteqs/

Re: United States Hate Crimes

2005-02-12T16:53:00.000-08:00

Someone has asserted that Red States commit more hate crimes than Blue States. I wanted to see what the statistics were. I found an
FBI Hate Crime Report for 2002 and it listed the number of hate crimes reported in each state. Then I compared that to the number of votes Bush received divided by the number of votes cast for either Bush or Kerry in 2004. Those figures came from Wikipedia - the US Presidential Election of 2004. What I found was that there were 4960 reported hate crimes for states in which more votes were cast for Kerry than Bush, and 2502 reported hate crimes for states in which more votes were cast for Bush than Kerry. This finding suggests that more hate crimes are committed in "blue" states than in "red" states.


                                      # Hate       bush
                                      Crimes   -----------
             Votes Bush  Votes Kerry  Reported (bush+kerry)    
DC               21,256      202,970     14    0.094797214
Mass          1,071,109    1,803,800    430    0.372571445
RhodeIsland     169,046      259,760     38    0.394224894
Vermont         121,180      184,067     18    0.396989979
NewYork       2,962,567    4,314,280    693    0.407122343
Maryland      1,024,703    1,334,493    211    0.434344158
Connecticut     693,826      857,488    129    0.447250524
Illinois      2,346,608    2,891,989    155    0.447945891
California    5,509,826    6,745,485  1,648    0.449586795
Maine           330,201      396,842     36    0.454169836
Hawaii          194,191      231,708      0    0.45595552
Delaware        171,660      200,152     13    0.461684938
Washington    1,304,894    1,510,201    174    0.463534623
NewJersey     1,670,003    1,911,430    570    0.466294637
Oregon          866,831      943,163     61    0.478913742
Minnesota     1,346,695    1,445,014    203    0.482390894
Michigan      2,313,746    2,479,183    416    0.482741555
Penn          2,793,847    2,938,095     92    0.487417179
NewHamp         331,237      340,511     27    0.493097114
Wisconsin     1,478,120    1,489,504     32    0.498081967
Iowa            751,957      741,898     46    0.503366793
NewMexico       376,930      370,942     15    0.504003359
Ohio          2,858,727    2,739,952    263    0.510607413
Nevada          418,690      397,190     62    0.513175957
Colorado      1,101,255    1,001,732     96    0.523662296
Florida       3,964,522    3,583,544    257    0.525236796
Missouri      1,455,713    1,259,171     64    0.536197127
Virginia      1,716,959    1,454,742    291    0.541336967
Arizona         573,182      470,230    238    0.549334299
Arkansas      1,104,294      893,524      0    0.55275005
NorthCarol    1,961,166    1,525,849     62    0.56241972
WestVirgin      423,778      326,541     41    0.564797106
Tennessee     1,384,375    1,036,477    129    0.571854455
Louisiana     1,102,169      820,299     15    0.573309413
Georgia       1,914,254    1,366,149     31    0.583542327
SouthCarol      937,974      661,699     70    0.586353586
Mississippi     672,660      457,766      3    0.595050008
Kentucky      1,069,439      712,733     76    0.600076199
Indiana       1,479,438      969,011     77    0.604234762
Montana         266,063      173,710     13    0.605000762
SouthDakota     232,584      149,244      4    0.609132908
Texas         4,526,917    2,832,704    347    0.615101919
Kansas          736,456      434,993     55    0.628670988
Alabama       1,176,394      693,933      2    0.628977714
Alaska          190,889      111,025      7    0.63226283
NorthDakota     196,651      111,052     18    0.639093541
Oklahoma        959,792      503,966     44    0.655704017
Nebraska        512,814      254,328     74    0.668473373
Idaho           409,235      181,098     43    0.693227382
Wyoming         167,629       70,776      5    0.703127032
Utah            663,742      241,199     54    0.733464392

More information from the FBI Report:

Victims
A total of 9,222 individuals, businesses, institutions, or society as a whole were victims of hate crimes in 2002.

Race Based

49.7 percent of all single-bias hate crime victims were targets of racial prejudice

67.2 percent of them were attacked because of an anti-black bias motivation

19.9 percent of them were attacked because of an anti-white bias motivation

18% of single-bias hate crime victims were targets because of the offender's bias toward the victim's religion

65.3 percent were targeted because of an anti-Jewish bias motivation

Sexual Orientation

16.4 percent of total single-bias hate crime victims were attacked because of the offender's prejudice against the victim's sexual-orientation

65.0 percent of them were victims of an anti-male homosexual bias motivation.

Ethnicity and Nationalism

15.3 percent of hate crime victims were targets of ethnicity/national origin bias

45.4 percent of them were victims of anti-Hispanic sentiment

Offenders
In 2002, there were 7,314 known offenders who committed crimes motivated by biases.

61.8 percent were white

21.8 percent were black

1.2 percent were Asian or Pacific Islander

0.6 percent were American Indian or Alaskan Native

9.8 percent were of unknown race

4.9 percent were groups of offenders consisting of multiple races

Re: Iraq From Space: It was slowly dying

2005-02-06T09:04:00.000-08:00

Weapons of mass destruction? Let's look at some more satellite images, maybe we can find them.

Maybe They're in the Marshlands

NASA Satellite Photos Reveal Ecological Disaster in Iraq’s Marshlands December 19, 2004

Hussein destroyed the world's largest marshlands. It is arguably the biggest ecological disaster in the world. We are becoming more and more cognizant of the fact that protecting marshlands and wetlands is vital to the maintenance of a potable water supply. This destruction was slowly killing Iraq and it's neighbors. There's little doubt that the drainage, while possibly intending only to conserve water for Iraq and make it available for irrigation and domestic use, was creating widespread destruction. The marshland is very important to the local ecosystem.

Today the marshlands are being repaired. Here is a paper describing the effort:

United States and the Iraqi Marshlands: An Environmental Response FEBRUARY 24, 2004 Hearing before the House of Representatives Committee on INternational Relations

Here is another article about the

Marshland project's first year

avalable in the website detailing

humanitarian relief efforts of the first year in Iraq

And a really nice power point presentation from Japan about the effort:

Support for Environmental
Management of Iraqi Marshlands – UNEP Iraqi Marshland Project Chizuru Aoki, Ph.D Iraq Project Coordinator United Nations Environment Programme Division of Technology, Industry, and Economics

Maybe They're in the Port of Umm Qasr

The port of Umm Qasr had not been dredged in a long time. This was cutting off the main supply line for food to areas in Iraq that were dependent on the oil-for-food rations.

scroll down this page for more images, facts, and figures about the widespread hunger, disease, lack of sanitation, lack of water. Corroborative information from UN and Amnesty Internation and Unicef suggested that many children were dying each day from lack of water, food, and medical attention. To me, it seemed that Iraq was possibly brooding a disease - an epidemic - that could spread rapidly through the region and then to the bordering countries.

Malnutrition of children is concentrated in non-Sunni areas - is this a form a genocide? Or was was it as if Iraq were dying as a whole from the borders and conserving life only at the core - like a human body does when someone is freezing to death - the body will lose the limbs to conserve heat for the core area. That's how I see Iraq when I look at these images.

Maybe They're in the Defense Systems Built for the Iran-Iraq War or the Invasion of and Retreat from Kuwait

Impacts from the defenses from the Iran-Iraq War and oil fires from the 1991 Gulf War caused widespread damage and pollution that undoubtedly was an environmental hazard. Click links on that page to see the satellite data and maps.

Oil fires in Kuwait set by Iraqi military

From A Distance - the Earth Usually Looks Quite Life-Supporting

Bette Midler sings a song with these lyrics:

From a distance

The world looks blue and green

And the snow capped mountains white

From a distance

The ocean meets the stream

And the eagle takes to flight

From a distance

There is harmony

And it echoes through the land

Its the voice of hope

Its the voice of peace

Its the voice of every man

From a distance

We all have enough

And no one is in need

And there are no guns

No bombs and no disease

No hungry mouths to feed

From a Distance

We are instruments

Marching in a common band

Playing songs of hope

Playing songs of peace

They're the songs of every man

The problem is, from a distance, Iraq was looking anything but. It appears the Iraq was slowly dying of poor land use and population management. The way they were dying threatened their neighbors - taking water from Iran in the marshland drainage effort and by having so many people without proper santitation, water, and nutrition, the possibility of outbreak of uncontrollable disease seems quite high.

Re: Suicide, Martyrdom, and Sacrifices

2005-01-26T09:07:00.000-08:00

The news these days...just a random stream of conciousness...

We hear about 'suicide bombings' and of course the 9/11 'suicides' of the terrorist hijackers. We also hear about people 'going postal'. From the children at Columbine who showed up one day at school with bombs and rifles to people angry at their bosses, coworkers or government, there are numerous reports of people planning to do widespread destruction and killing then not facing retribution on earth by killing themselves. What do they believe and why do they do it?

Richard Dawkins writes about evolution and the 'altruistic gene'. There are lemmings that will kill themselves if the population gets too high. There's always one penguin who jumps or is pushed off the ice shelf while the rest wait to see if there are sharks or seals looking for a snack. Does survival of a species require altruism? Does it require that one species be sacrificed for the common good? Is this a universal truth?

Perhaps it is like a disease. That it would be a natural population growth limiting factor so the population doesn't experience uncontrolled geometric growth. Is it just a happening because most species lack the technology to remove that limitation, to allow members to live longer, or the awareness that population can be controlled in better ways? Humans have combated diseases with modern medicines and better hygiene and food preparation and clean water. Is this an artificial way of mediating populating growth or is it natural - that people are part of nature and we use tools just as other species do.

Can we use our tools and technologies to stop the practice of martyrdom?

There are several related words that are often confused with each other:

suicide - the act of purposefully killing oneself

martyrdom - death that is imposed because of the person's adherence of a religious faith or cause

sacrifice - The act of offering something to a deity in propitiation or homage, especially the ritual slaughter of an animal or a person. A victim offered in this way.

altruism - Unselfish concern for the welfare of others; selflessness. Instinctive cooperative behavior that is detrimental to the individual but contributes to the survival of the species.

Christ was killed for his religious beliefs and that is why he is considered a martyr. Did the Romans sacrifice him? Not really, though they made animal sacrifices, it seems that Christ's crucifixion was, to them, execution in a prolonged, torturous, fashion that began with scourging, then forcing the victim to carry the cross, then breaking his legs and nailing him to it. Did the Jews sacrifice him? No, crucifixion is not known to be a ritual of ancient Jews. The modes of capital punishment according to the Mosaic law were, by the sword (Ex.21), strangling, fire (Lev. 20), and stoning (Deut. 21). This was regarded as the most horrible form of death, and to a Jew it would acquire greater horror from the curse in Deut. 21:23.

Did Christ sacrifice himself? He probably always held out hope that those who persecuted him would change and listen. But he knew that if he kept teaching that he would be executed. I suppose it could be argued either way. People say that he was sacrificed to be the for once and forever flesh sacrifice. As I see it, he was executed for some perceived crime and without any proper trial or evidence; he was executed for his religious beliefs and that made him a martyr. But I think the events at the last supper were his use of modern things - the ability to abstract and create metaphors, to make bread, to make wine - to replace the ancient practice of sacrificing animals.

Since ancient times, sacrifices were used to worship deities. The story of Abraham is one which many believe was to end the sacrifice of humans. Most religions of the children of Abraham believe that it is wrong to sacrifice a human being.

What the terrorists do when they blew up a truck, is to create a human sacrifice. The Muslims that were killed were not martyrs because they were not killed because of their Muslim faith. They didn't commit suicide either. Since they were killed in a belief that it was a service to a deity, they were sacrificed.

Since, as I understand it, none of the religions of the children of Abraham condone human sacrifice, it would seem that even by the standards of religious ideology these car bombings are unholy or sinful - the sin of murder.

While governments should not impose religious ideologies, that doesn't give followers of an ideology the right to commit crimes recognized by their government. Conspiracy to murder, hiring of assassins, accessory to murder, attempted murder, murder itself, and even brainwashing or intimidating a person to commit murder are all very high crimes by most governments. And is a person really being altruistic if they are brainwashed or intimidated?

Although we have conquered many of our population's limiting factors such as disease, poverty, malnutrition, etc. with our technology, notions of altruism, martyrdom, and values of human suffering remain. Why is that? We talk about the grandiose scales like jihad or mass killings. But these notions manifest themselves into our daily lives. We feel that we must suffer, or somehow, we aren't 'good' people or 'worthy' people. Why?

A lot of people associate the word martyrdom with actions of love. Love between two people. It might be unrequited love in which one person will do anything for the other's attention. It might be unending love, in which a person. There was such love in Charles Dickens' "Tale of Two Cities". The song below from "A Chorus Line" musical has been recorded by Me First and the Gimme Gimmes I think it makes people reflect on their values - about how we have been conditioned to think we have to martyr ourselves for our love of each other - that it somehow makes us better people.

What I Did For Love
Song from the "A Chorus Line" musical

Kiss the day goodbye
The sweetness and the sorrow
We did what we had to do
And I can't regret what I did for love, what I did for love

Look my eyes are dry
And towards always tomorrow
It's as if we always knew
But I won't forget what I did for love, what I did for love

Gone, love is never gone
And we carry on, love's what we'll remember

Kiss the day goodbye
And point me toward tomorrow
And wish me luck, the same to you
Won't regret, can't forget what I did for love

What I did for love
What I did for love

More Thursday Humor

2004-10-14T18:42:00.000-07:00

Thursday Humor

2004-10-14T13:56:00.000-07:00

Presidential Quotes

In Honor of last night's Presidential Debate...

"If Lincoln were alive today he'd roll over in his grave."
--Gerald Ford (president, 1974-77)

"A friend of mine was asked to a costume ball a while ago. He slapped some egg on his face and went as a liberal economist."
--Ronald Reagan

"I want to make sure everybody who has a job wants a job."
--George Bush

"It's the responsiblity of the citizens to support their government. It is not the responsibility of the government to support it's citizens."
--Grover Cleveland
[sounds like Kennedy was inspired by past leadership, eh?]

Did you know???

President Grover Cleveland tried to give Hawaii back to Queen Liliuokalani. He thought that the 1893 revolaution was a conspiracy of American sugar planters and President Harrison's foreing office!!! Queen Liliuokalani wanted the revolutionary leaders to be beheaded - she refused to pardon them. The sugar planters threatened "armed resistance."

Football and Confession

Years ago, the chaplain of the football team at Notre Dame was a beloved old Irish priest.

At confession one day, a football player told the priest that he had acted in an unsportsmanlike manner at a recent football game.

"I lost my temper and said some bad words to one of my opponents."

"Ahhh, that's a terrible thing for a Notre Dame lad to be doin'," the priest said. He took a piece of chalk and drew a mark across the sleeve of his coat.

"That's not all, Father. I got mad and punched one of my opponents."

"Saints preserve us!" the priest said, making another chalk mark.

"There's more. As I got out of a pileup, I kicked two of the other team's players in the . . . in a sensitive area."

"Oh, goodness me!" the priest wailed, making two more chalk marks on his sleeve.

"Who in the world were we playin' when you did these awful things?"

"Southern Methodist."

"Ah, well," said the priest, wiping his sleeve, "boys will be boys."

Lawyer Joke

An American attorney had just finished a guest lecture at a law school in Italy when an Italian lawyer approached him and asked, "Is it true that a person can fall down on a sidewalk in your county and then sue the landowners for lots of money?"

Told that it was true, the lawyer turned to his partner and started speaking rapidly in Italian. When they stopped, the American attorney asked if they wanted to go to America to practice law.

"No, no," one replied. "We want to go to America and fall down on sidewalks."

Bad Timing

A parish priest, Father O'Brien, was being honored at a dinner on the 25th anniversary of his arrival in that parish.

A leading local politician, who was a member of the congregation, was chosen to make the presentation and give a little speech at the dinner, but he was delayed in traffic.

Sooo.....Father O'Brien decides to say his own few words while they await the politician's arrival......

"You will understand," he said, "the seal of the confessional, can never be broken. What is confessed in there to me, is never repeated
on the outside. However, I got my first impressions of this parish from the first confession I ever heard here.

Realize, please, that I can only hint vaguely about this, but when I came here 25 years ago, I thought I had been assigned to a terrible place.

The very first chap who entered my confessional told me how he had stolen a television set and, when stopped by the police, had almost
murdered the officer. Further, he told me he had embezzled money from his place of business and had an affair with his boss's wife. I was appalled. But as the days went on I knew that my people at this congregation were not all like that, and I had, indeed come to, a fine parish full of understanding and loving people."

Just as the priest finished his talk, the politician arrived, apologized for his tardiness and then started in on his speech.

"I want to thank you all for letting me say a few words this evening in honor of Father O'Brien. 25 Years is a long time. In fact, when he arrived here, I had the honor of being the first confession he heard at this congregation."

Now that is bad timing.

Draft Version 2.0: "Bush Didn't Lie About WMD Threat"

2004-10-11T22:26:00.000-07:00


version 2 draft*version 2 draft*version 2 draft*version 2 draft*version 2 draft

Thesis: Hussein built Iraq’s defense strategy by cultivating a sense of ambiguity over Iraqi WMD efforts and capabilities: he intimidated his enemies while denying them the evidence to prove his guilt or innocence conclusively.

Note: If I successfully prove this these, Wadard loses the debate because he has acquiesced that this is enough to constitute a WMD threat.

Step 1: Show that Saddam had a motivation.

I assert that:

Saddam Hussein was a totalitarian and absolute authority of the law, he solely defined the Iraq military.
Fear of invasion by Iran was the pre-eminent motivator for putting up an impression of having WMD capability (Saddam probably wanted a capability as a deterrent, but looking like he had one was next best alternative.)
A desire to balance Israel's power was also a source of motivation.
Obtaining status, recognition, and respect in the Arab world was critical to Saddam. He had lost much since the Kuwait invasion, and complained that Arab leaders were violating agreements regarding oil sales prices and amounts. He indicated that gaining status among those leaders was critical to having fair play in oil exportation.
Deception is an underlying force of the Marxist doctrine of class struggle; Hussein was a reader and believer in the Marx doctrine and used it to obtain and hold his power in Iraq.
Continued threat against Kurds. For over 60 years, Iraq has fought Kurds in northern Iraq. Since he used biochemical warfare to kill Kurds in the past, maintaining the appearance of having a WMD capability was important for controlling the Kurd population. [note: there is no statute of limitations on mass murder is there?]
Continued aggression against Kuwait. Saddam never returned all the stolen property and prisoners of war his army collected during their invasion of Kuwait. To keep them, he needed to deter Kuwait from invading and collecting them themselves.
Cost considerations: much of Hussein's conventional equipment was destroyed in Gulf War I, and he was in debt. To be able to bluff capabilities was important for a defense system.

Step 2: Convincing People Inside the Regime

Evidence exists of making people inside Iraq and inside the Baathist regime believe that a WMD program existed. The following quote comes from this source "Revealed: Saddam's WMD plan ":

He had even bluffed his own ministers and intelligence service, which perhaps makes the mistakes of British and American intelligence more understandable. In the days when Saddam had WMD he was of a mind to use them. Among documents uncovered by the ISG is an audiotape which records Saddam sounding as paranoid as Richard Nixon. The conversation took place during the first Gulf war. Hussein Kamil, his son-in-law and WMD tsar, was asking where germ warfare should be deployed. "I want Riyadh and Jeddah, which are the biggest Saudi cities with all the decision-makers, and the Saudi rulers live there. This is for the germ and chemical weapons...also, all the Israeli cities, all of them."

"Sir, the best way to transport this weapon and achieve the most harmful effects," says Kamil, "would come by using planes, like a crop plane, to scatter it. This is, sir, a thousand times more harmful." "May Allah help us do it," Saddam replies. "We will never lower our heads as long as we are alive, even if we have to destroy everybody."

Defectors provided a lot of the information that lead the world to believe in Saddam's weapons program. Three Iraqi defectors said Iraq had mobile biological weapons labs in the 1990s that are now not accounted for. Defectors also spoke about his intent to restart a nuclear program.

It is very important to note that in months prior to the invasion, Iraqi officials in the regime thought that Saddam had WMD that he was hiding:

The former MIC director, Abd al-Tawab Abdullah Mullah al-Huwaysh, recounted that on one occasion in late 2002 when he met with Saddam and Qusay, Qusay boasted to his father, "We are 10 times more powerful than in 1991".

Step 3: Evidence of World Perceptions and that Saddam Intended To Lead People to Conclude that he had WMD

Press Releases From Iraq that Threaten the Use of WMD

Saddam threatens WMD use against Coalition forces:

"According to the latest report from UNMOVIC weapons inspectors, Iraqi president Saddam Hussein authorized his field commanders to counterattack with 50 Al-Hussein missiles armed with chemical weapons and 25 armed with biological agents if nuclear weapons were used against Baghdad. The warheads and the missiles were hidden at four sites outside Baghdad."

-10/3/2003 Los Angeles Times

Saddam threatens WMD use against Kurds.Iraq has threatened to attack Kurdish towns with chemical weapons in the event of an attack on Iraq by the United States. However, there is essentially no protective gear for civilians in the region.

We will gas you when US bombs fall, Kurds told (Filed: 28/02/2003)
If war comes to Iraq, the Kurds of Kifri will be right in the line of fire. Iraqi officials have threatened that the moment the first American bomb lands, they will reply with a chemical assault on the town.
But in the entire place, there is not a single gas mask to be had, and no detection posts, decontamination centres or safe houses.

-28/2/2003 Electronic Telegraph

Iraqi Kurds are continuing to make what preparations they can for chemical weapons attacks from Iraq in the event of war. They have heard credible reports that Iraq has transferred chemical weapons specialists to the Kurdish region.Several thousand Iraqi Kurds have been killed by chemical attacks by the Iraqi army since the 1980's and they fear that they will become a target regardless.

In Autonomous North, Preparing for the WorstWorried About Chemical or Biological Strike by Baghdad, Kurds Buy Masks and Plan Escape
By Karl Vick
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday, February 25, 2003; Page A16
SULAYMANIYAH, Iraq, Feb. 24 -- Iraqi Kurds have begun improvising civil defense strategies and making plans to escape cities because of growing fears that President Saddam Hussein's military could attack this Kurdish-controlled region with chemical or biological weapons if the United States invades Iraq.
...snip...
Senior Kurdish officials, struggling to promote public safety without promoting panic, said local history and recent intelligence underscore the gravity of the threat. Barham Salih, prime minister of the half of northern Iraq that is administered by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, said his government has received credible reports that chemical weapons specialists have arrived on the Iraqi military's front lines facing the Kurdish zone.
The specialists, wearing uniforms of the Republican Guard but no patch identifying a specific unit, joined units manning freshly placed missile batteries, said Faraidoon Abdul Qadir, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan interior minister. Qadir said the missiles could reach the cities of Arbil and Sulaymaniyah, where more than half of the region's 3.5 million Kurds reside.
...snip...
Salih said a tribal official quoted a senior Iraqi security official as saying that "hundreds of thousands will die. This will not be a picnic." Another source quoted a senior official declaring, "The Kurds will be eliminated."

-25/2/2003 Washington Post

The world thought that Saddam Hussein was pursuing WMD outside the limitations of the UN Resolutions. Evidence is in quotations of sources directly involved with Hussein:

Hans Blix, who was executive chairman of UNMOVIC, the U.N. arms inspection team, said in a telephone interview from Sweden that he has devoted much thought to why Hussein might have exaggerated his arsenal. One explanation that appeals to him: "You can put a sign on your door, 'Beware of the dog,' without having a dog. They did not mind looking a little bit serious and a little bit dangerous."

Also see quotes below from Democrats in Post Comparing Democrats and Republicans statements about Iraq

Step 4: "Form": The mode in which a thing exists, acts, or manifests itself

The intent of deceiving UN Investigators was to cultivate a sense of ambiguity of capabilities. While saying he had no WMD, the regime behaved as though it did. Saddam knew that the world suspected a WMD capability, and did nothing to diminish these beliefs.

Unaccounted for Weapons
The original UN resolution was that Saddam disarm in a monitored fashion: that inspectors be allowed to see the destruction of weapons and weapons programs and that inventories be declared and accounted for. Yet, many sources like Saddam Deceiving Not Disarming

show that a lot of known weapons and WMD materials were declared but never shown to be destroyed:
Specifically, Bush said Saddam has not accounted for up to 25,000 liters of anthrax, 38,000 liters of botulin toxin, 500 tons of sarin, mustard gas and VX nerve agent and more than 30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical weapons.

Inspection Deception and Aversion

Some people thought that Iraqi officials were hiding documents and materials. This has been shown to be true, for example, one scientist was asked to hide a vile of botulin and another was asked to bury a centrifuge in his garden.
Some people thought that Iraqi intelligence officers are posing as scientists that inspectors are supposed to interview.
To gain acceptance and access, Blix acquiesced to scripted inspections. He wined and dined and told where and when he would be inspecting, according to a trusted source who heard him say as much during an MTV interview.
Several underground laboratories were discovered by the US post-invasion that the UN did not know about at a site they were supposed to be inspecting. This suggests that the UN inspections were not thorough and complete.
UN Inspection Defiance (listed below)
Powell says that movements of vehicles around locations and times of inspections is consistent with hiding evidence of a program. It is not consistent with other traffic patterns.
Powell observes construction and removal of buildings, etc., that are consistent with developing or relocating weapons programs.
UN engages in several military 'interventions' like Desert Fox.

Inspections Find WMD Programs In Operation In Iraq Producing WMD After 1991

"By the time the UN inspectors identified and destroyed Iraq's principle germ warfare facility at Al Hakun in 1996, Iraq had amassed hundreds of thousands of gallons of liquid anthrax and many other pathogens."

-Ken Alibek, Biohazard

Paper Trail: Attempts to Acquire Equipment, Materials
It has been alleged that Hussein sought materials to restart his nuclear program. Much of Powell's evidence was along the lines of Hussein's acquisition of materials. The intimidation and innuendo continued.

Iraqi Documents Show Saddam Possessed WMD, Had Extensive Terror Ties is a set of 42 recorded papers in Arabic of purchases of WMD from and on behalf of Iraq. If there weren't WMD, records like this, and reported telephone calls and contacts with foreign countries for the purchase of equipment are an indication of WMD intent or deception.

From these 4 sections, I assert that ussein built Iraq’s defense strategy by cultivating a sense of ambiguity over Iraqi WMD efforts and capabilities: he intimidated his enemies while denying them the evidence to prove his guilt or innocence conclusively.

Saddam Hussein's Defiance of U.N. Resolutions : Fact Sheet

The State Department's Bureau of International Organization Affairs issued a fact sheet March 20 detailing Saddam

Hussein's defiance of United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) over the past 12 years.


U.S. Department of State

Bureau of International Organization Affairs

March 20, 2003

Fact Sheet
Saddam Hussein's Defiance of UNSCRs

Over the past 12 years, Iraq has violated more than seventeen United Nations Security Council Resolutions (UNSCRs) and remains in material breach of disarmament obligations. The Iraqi regime has also sought to circumvent economic sanctions.

The UNSCRs required that Iraq declare and divest itself, under international supervision, of weapons of mass destruction and related programs, delivery systems and ballistic missiles with a range greater than 150 kilometers; not commit acts of international terrorism, or allow others who commit such acts to operate in Iraqi territory; account for missing Kuwaitis and other individuals; return stolen Kuwaiti property and bear financial liability for damage from the Gulf War; and end repression of the Iraqi people.

Saddam Hussein is in violation of the following United Nations Security Council Resolutions:

UNSCR 1441 - November 8, 2002
Found that Iraq has been and remains in material breach of its disarmament obligations.
Gave Iraq a final opportunity to comply.
Demanded that Iraq submit a currently accurate, full and complete declaration of its weapons of mass destruction and related programs within 30 days.
Demanded that Iraq cooperate immediately, unconditionally and actively with the UN inspections.
Decided that false statements or omissions in Iraq's declarations and failure by Iraq at any time to comply with and cooperate fully in the implementation of this resolution would constitute further material breach.
Recalls that the Security Council has repeatedly warned Iraq that it will face serious consequences as a result of its continued violations.

UNSCR 1284 - December 17, 1999
Created the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspections Commission (UNMOVIC) to replace previous weapon inspection team (UNSCOM).
Iraq must allow UNMOVIC "immediate, unconditional and unrestricted access" to Iraqi officials and facilities. Iraq must fulfill its commitment to return Gulf War prisoners.
Calls on Iraq to distribute humanitarian goods and medical supplies to its people and address the needs of vulnerable Iraqis without discrimination.

UNSCR 1205 - November 5, 1998
"Condemns the decision by Iraq of 31 October 1998 to cease cooperation" with UN inspectors as "a flagrant violation" of UNSCR 687 and other resolutions.
Iraq must provide "immediate, complete and unconditional cooperation" with UN and IAEA inspectors.

UNSCR 1194 - September 9, 1998
"Condemns the decision by Iraq of 5 August 1998 to suspend cooperation with" UN and IAEA inspectors, which constitutes "a totally unacceptable contravention" of its obligations under UNSCR 687, 707, 715, 1060, 1115, and 1154.
Iraq must cooperate fully with UN and IAEA weapons inspectors, and allow immediate, unconditional and unrestricted access.

UNSCR 1154 - March 2, 1998
Iraq must cooperate fully with UN and IAEA weapons inspectors and allow immediate, unconditional and unrestricted access, and notes that any violation would have the "severest consequences for Iraq."

UNSCR 1137 - November 12, 1997
"Condemns the continued violations by Iraq" of previous UN resolutions, including its "implicit threat to the safety of" aircraft operated by UN inspectors and its tampering with UN inspector monitoring equipment.
Reaffirms Iraq's responsibility to ensure the safety of UN inspectors.
Iraq must cooperate fully with UN weapons inspectors and allow immediate, unconditional and unrestricted access.

UNSCR 1134 - October 23, 1997
"Condemns repeated refusal of Iraqi authorities to allow access" to UN inspectors, which constitutes a "flagrant

violation" of UNSCR 687, 707, 715, and 1060.
Iraq must cooperate fully with UN weapons inspectors and allow immediate, unconditional and unrestricted access.
Iraq must give immediate, unconditional and unrestricted access to Iraqi officials whom UN inspectors want to interview.

UNSCR 1115 - June 21, 1997
"Condemns repeated refusal of Iraqi authorities to allow access" to UN inspectors, which constitutes a "clear and

flagrant violation" of UNSCR 687, 707, 715, and 1060.
Iraq must cooperate fully with UN weapons inspectors and allow immediate, unconditional and unrestricted access.
Iraq must give immediate, unconditional and unrestricted access to Iraqi officials whom UN inspectors want to interview.

UNSCR 1060 - June 12, 1996
"Deplores" Iraq's refusal to allow access to UN inspectors and Iraq's "clear violations" of previous UN resolutions.
Iraq must cooperate fully with UN weapons inspectors and allow immediate, unconditional and unrestricted access.

UNSCR 1051 - March 27, 1996
Iraq must report shipments of dual-use items related to weapons of mass destruction to the UN and IAEA.
Iraq must cooperate fully with UN and IAEA inspectors and allow immediate, unconditional and unrestricted access.

UNSCR 949 - October 15, 1994
"Condemns" Iraq's recent military deployments toward Kuwait.
Iraq must not utilize its military or other forces in a hostile manner to threaten its neighbors or UN operations in

Iraq.
Iraq must cooperate fully with UN weapons inspectors.
Iraq must not enhance its military capability in southern Iraq.

UNSCR 715 - October 11, 1991
Iraq must cooperate fully with UN and IAEA inspectors.

UNSCR 707 - August 15, 1991
"Condemns" Iraq's "serious violation" of UNSCR 687. "Further condemns" Iraq's noncompliance with IAEA and its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iraq must halt nuclear activities of all kinds until the Security Council deems Iraq in full compliance. Iraq must make a full, final and complete disclosure of all aspects of its weapons of mass destruction and missile programs.
Iraq must allow UN and IAEA inspectors immediate, unconditional and unrestricted access. Iraq must cease attempts to conceal or move weapons of mass destruction, and related materials and facilities. Iraq must allow UN and IAEA inspectors to conduct inspection flights throughout Iraq. Iraq must provide transportation, medical and logistical support for UN and IAEA inspectors.

UNSCR 688 - April 5, 1991
"Condemns" repression of Iraqi civilian population, "the consequences of which threaten international peace and security." Iraq must immediately end repression of its civilian population. Iraq must allow immediate access to international humanitarian organizations to those in need of assistance.

UNSCR 687 - April 3, 1991
Iraq must "unconditionally accept" the destruction, removal or rendering harmless "under international supervision" of all "chemical and biological weapons and all stocks of agents and all related subsystems and components and all research, development, support and manufacturing facilities." Iraq must "unconditionally agree not to acquire or develop nuclear weapons or nuclear-weapons-usable material" or any research, development or manufacturing facilities. Iraq must "unconditionally accept" the destruction, removal or rendering harmless "under international supervision" of all "ballistic missiles with a range greater than 150 KM and related major parts and repair and production facilities." Iraq must not "use, develop, construct or acquire" any weapons of mass destruction. Iraq must reaffirm its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Creates the United Nations Special Commission (UNSCOM) to verify the elimination of Iraq's chemical and biological weapons programs and mandated that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) verify elimination of Iraq's nuclear weapons program. Iraq must declare fully its weapons of mass destruction programs. Iraq must not commit or support terrorism, or allow terrorist organizations to operate in Iraq. Iraq must cooperate in accounting for the missing and dead Kuwaitis and others. Iraq must return Kuwaiti property seized during the Gulf War.

UNSCR 686 - March 2, 1991
Iraq must release prisoners detained during the Gulf War.
Iraq must return Kuwaiti property seized during the Gulf War.
Iraq must accept liability under international law for damages from its illegal invasion of Kuwait.

UNSCR 678 - November 29, 1990
Iraq must comply fully with UNSCR 660 (regarding Iraq's illegal invasion of Kuwait) "and all subsequent relevant resolutions."
Authorizes UN Member States "to use all necessary means to uphold and implement resolution 660 and all subsequent relevant resolutions and to restore international peace and security in the area."
(end fact sheet)

(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:

http://usinfo.state.gov)


version 2 draft*version 2 draft*version 2 draft*version 2 draft*version 2 draft

Transliteration of Arabic Using Microsoft Fonts

2004-10-09T18:06:00.000-07:00

The following visual basic macro will work in Word for Windows. It will print the transliteration (as best as I could figure out) for arabic text. Cut and paste the arabic text into the word document. Select the text you want to transliterate. Then run this macro. I think it would work into an English artificial speech program to speak the arabic that you have written. You could probably even get your Microsoft Agent to speak Arabic! :-) Just cut and paste the following code into your MS Word (or other MS Office tool) and save it in the macros under tools. Let me know if it works because I don't know any Arabic actually. I'd like to learn but all Barnes and Nobel had was a phrase book by Dr. Yasin Alkalesi and some of the phrases are things I probably would never say like "idkum asliha bi-lbeit?"


Sub TransliterateSelectedFromArabic()

'

'

   Dim strText As String

   Dim Description As String

   Dim char As Characters

   

  'char = Selection.Text

   ' If the length of the selection is 1 character,

   ' then get Unicode value of selection. Otherwise,

   ' leave variable set to null value.

   

   strText = " "

   

   

For I = 1 To Selection.Characters.Count



Select Case AscW(Selection.Characters(I))

Case 1536

    Description = "NUMBER SIGN"

Case 1537

    Description = "SIGN SANAH"

Case 1538

    Description = "FOOTNOTE MARKER"

Case 1539

    Description = "SIGN SAFHA"

Case 1548

    Description = "COMMA"

Case 1549

    Description = "DATE SEPARATOR"

Case 1550

    Description = "POETIC VERSE SIGN"

Case 1551

    Description = "SIGN MISRA"

Case 1552

    Description = "SIGN SALLALLAHOU ALAYHE WASSALLAM"

Case 1553

    Description = "SIGN ALAYHE ASSALLAM"

Case 1554

    Description = "SIGN RAHMATULLAH ALAYHE"

Case 1555

    Description = "SIGN RADI ALLAHOU ANHU"

Case 1556

    Description = "SIGN TAKHALLUS"

Case 1557

    Description = "SMALL HIGH TAH"

Case 1563

    Description = "SEMICOLON"

Case 1567

    Description = "QUESTION MARK"

Case 1569

    Description = "HAMZA"

Case 1570

    Description = "ALEF WITH MADDA ABOVE"

Case 1571

    Description = "ALEF WITH HAMZA ABOVE"

Case 1572

    Description = "WAW WITH HAMZA ABOVE"

Case 1573

    Description = "ALEF WITH HAMZA BELOW"

Case 1574

    Description = "YEH WITH HAMZA ABOVE"

Case 1575

    Description = "ALEF"

Case 1576

    Description = "BEH"

Case 1577

    Description = "TEH MARBUTA"

Case 1578

    Description = "TEH"

Case 1579

    Description = "THEH"

Case 1580

    Description = "JEEM"

Case 1581

    Description = "HAH"

Case 1582

    Description = "KHAH"

Case 1583

    Description = "DAL"

Case 1584

    Description = "THAL"

Case 1585

    Description = "REH"

Case 1586

    Description = "ZAIN"

Case 1587

    Description = "SEEN"

Case 1588

    Description = "SHEEN"

Case 1589

    Description = "SAD"

Case 1590

    Description = "DAD"

Case 1591

    Description = "TAH"

Case 1592

    Description = "ZAH"

Case 1593

    Description = "AIN"

Case 1594

    Description = "GHAIN"

Case 1600

    Description = "TATWEEL"

Case 1601

    Description = "FEH"

Case 1602

    Description = "QAF"

Case 1603

    Description = "KAF"

Case 1604

    Description = "LAM"

Case 1605

    Description = "MEEM"

Case 1606

    Description = "NOON"

Case 1607

    Description = "HEH"

Case 1608

    Description = "WAW"

Case 1609

    Description = "ALEF MAKSURA"

Case 1610

    Description = "YEH"

Case 1611

    Description = "FATHATAN"

Case 1612

    Description = "DAMMATAN"

Case 1613

    Description = "KASRATAN"

Case 1614

    Description = "FATHA"

Case 1615

    Description = "DAMMA"

Case 1616

    Description = "KASRA"

Case 1617

    Description = "SHADDA"

Case 1618

    Description = "SUKUN"

Case 1619

    Description = "MADDAH ABOVE"

Case 1620

    Description = "HAMZA ABOVE"

Case 1621

    Description = "HAMZA BELOW"

Case 1622

    Description = "SUBSCRIPT ALEF"

Case 1623

    Description = "INVERTED DAMMA"

Case 1624

    Description = "MARK NOON GHUNNA"

Case 1632

    Description = "ZERO"

Case 1633

    Description = "ONE"

Case 1634

    Description = "TWO"

Case 1635

    Description = "THREE"

Case 1636

    Description = "FOUR"

Case 1637

    Description = "FIVE"

Case 1638

    Description = "SIX"

Case 1639

    Description = "SEVEN"

Case 1640

    Description = "EIGHT"

Case 1641

    Description = "NINE"

Case 1642

    Description = "PERCENT SIGN"

Case 1643

    Description = "DECIMAL SEPARATOR"

Case 1644

    Description = "THOUSANDS SEPARATOR"

Case 1645

    Description = "FIVE POINTED STAR"

Case 1646

    Description = "DOTLESS BEH"

Case 1647

    Description = "DOTLESS QAF"

Case 1648

    Description = "SUPERSCRIPT ALEF"

Case 1649

    Description = "ALEF WASLA"

Case 1650

    Description = "ALEF WITH WAVY HAMZA ABOVE"

Case 1651

    Description = "ALEF WITH WAVY HAMZA BELOW"

Case 1652

    Description = "HIGH HAMZA"

Case 1653

    Description = "HIGH HAMZA ALEF"

Case 1654

    Description = "HIGH HAMZA WAW"

Case 1655

    Description = "U WITH HAMZA ABOVE"

Case 1656

    Description = "HIGH HAMZA YEH"

Case 1657

    Description = "TTEH"

Case 1658

    Description = "TTEHEH"

Case 1659

    Description = "BEEH"

Case 1660

    Description = "TEH WITH RING"

Case 1661

    Description = "TEH WITH THREE DOTS ABOVE DOWNWARDS"

Case 1662

    Description = "PEH"

Case 1663

    Description = "TEHEH"

Case 1664

    Description = "BEHEH"

Case 1665

    Description = "HAH WITH HAMZA ABOVE"

Case 1666

    Description = "HAH WITH TWO DOTS VERTICAL ABOVE"

Case 1667

    Description = "NYEH"

Case 1668

    Description = "DYEH"

Case 1669

    Description = "HAH WITH THREE DOTS ABOVE"

Case 1670

    Description = "TCHEH"

Case 1671

    Description = "TCHEHEH"

Case 1672

    Description = "DDAL"

Case 1673

    Description = "DAL WITH RING"

Case 1674

    Description = "DAL WITH DOT BELOW"

Case 1675

    Description = "DAL WITH DOT BELOW AND SMALL TAH"

Case 1676

    Description = "DAHAL"

Case 1677

    Description = "DDAHAL"

Case 1678

    Description = "DUL"

Case 1679

    Description = "DAL WITH THREE DOTS ABOVE DOWNWARDS"

Case 1680

    Description = "DAL WITH FOUR DOTS ABOVE"

Case 1681

    Description = "RREH"

Case 1682

    Description = "REH WITH SMALL V"

Case 1683

    Description = "REH WITH RING"

Case 1684

    Description = "REH WITH DOT BELOW"

Case 1685

    Description = "REH WITH SMALL V BELOW"

Case 1686

    Description = "REH WITH DOT BELOW AND DOT ABOVE"

Case 1687

    Description = "REH WITH TWO DOTS ABOVE"

Case 1688

    Description = "JEH"

Case 1689

    Description = "REH WITH FOUR DOTS ABOVE"

Case 1690

    Description = "SEEN WITH DOT BELOW AND DOT ABOVE"

Case 1691

    Description = "SEEN WITH THREE DOTS BELOW"

Case 1692

    Description = "SEEN WITH THREE DOTS BELOW AND THREE DOTS ABOVE"

Case 1693

    Description = "SAD WITH TWO DOTS BELOW"

Case 1694

    Description = "SAD WITH THREE DOTS ABOVE"

Case 1695

    Description = "TAH WITH THREE DOTS ABOVE"

Case 1696

    Description = "AIN WITH THREE DOTS ABOVE"

Case 1697

    Description = "DOTLESS FEH"

Case 1698

    Description = "FEH WITH DOT MOVED BELOW"

Case 1699

    Description = "FEH WITH DOT BELOW"

Case 1700

    Description = "VEH"

Case 1701

    Description = "FEH WITH THREE DOTS BELOW"

Case 1702

    Description = "PEHEH"

Case 1703

    Description = "QAF WITH DOT ABOVE"

Case 1704

    Description = "QAF WITH THREE DOTS ABOVE"

Case 1705

    Description = "KEHEH"

Case 1706

    Description = "SWASH KAF"

Case 1707

    Description = "KAF WITH RING"

Case 1708

    Description = "KAF WITH DOT ABOVE"

Case 1709

    Description = "NG"

Case 1710

    Description = "KAF WITH THREE DOTS BELOW"

Case 1711

    Description = "GAF"

Case 1712

    Description = "GAF WITH RING"

Case 1713

    Description = "NGOEH"

Case 1714

    Description = "GAF WITH TWO DOTS BELOW"

Case 1715

    Description = "GUEH"

Case 1716

    Description = "GAF WITH THREE DOTS ABOVE"

Case 1717

    Description = "LAM WITH SMALL V"

Case 1718

    Description = "LAM WITH DOT ABOVE"

Case 1719

    Description = "LAM WITH THREE DOTS ABOVE"

Case 1720

    Description = "LAM WITH THREE DOTS BELOW"

Case 1721

    Description = "NOON WITH DOT BELOW"

Case 1722

    Description = "NOON GHUNNA"

Case 1723

    Description = "RNOON"

Case 1724

    Description = "NOON WITH RING"

Case 1725

    Description = "NOON WITH THREE DOTS ABOVE"

Case 1726

    Description = "HEH DOACHASHMEE"

Case 1727

    Description = "TCHEH WITH DOT ABOVE"

Case 1728

    Description = "HEH WITH YEH ABOVE"

Case 1729

    Description = "HEH GOAL"

Case 1730

    Description = "HEH GOAL WITH HAMZA ABOVE"

Case 1731

    Description = "TEH MARBUTA GOAL"

Case 1732

    Description = "WAW WITH RING"

Case 1733

    Description = "KIRGHIZ OE"

Case 1734

    Description = "OE"

Case 1735

    Description = "U"

Case 1736

    Description = "YU"

Case 1737

    Description = "KIRGHIZ YU"

Case 1738

    Description = "WAW WITH TWO DOTS ABOVE"

Case 1739

    Description = "VE"

Case 1740

    Description = "FARSI YEH"

Case 1741

    Description = "YEH WITH TAIL"

Case 1742

    Description = "YEH WITH SMALL V"

Case 1743

    Description = "WAW WITH DOT ABOVE"

Case 1744

    Description = "E"

Case 1745

    Description = "YEH WITH THREE DOTS BELOW"

Case 1746

    Description = "YEH BARREE"

Case 1747

    Description = "YEH BARREE WITH HAMZA ABOVE"

Case 1748

    Description = "FULL STOP"

Case 1749

    Description = "AE"

Case 1750

    Description = "SMALL HIGH LIGATURE SAD WITH LAM WITH ALEF MAKSURA"

Case 1751

    Description = "SMALL HIGH LIGATURE QAF WITH LAM WITH ALEF MAKSURA"

Case 1752

    Description = "SMALL HIGH MEEM INITIAL FORM"

Case 1753

    Description = "SMALL HIGH LAM ALEF"

Case 1754

    Description = "SMALL HIGH JEEM"

Case 1755

    Description = "SMALL HIGH THREE DOTS"

Case 1756

    Description = "SMALL HIGH SEEN"

Case 1757

    Description = "END OF AYAH"

Case 1758

    Description = "START OF RUB EL HIZB"

Case 1759

    Description = "SMALL HIGH ROUNDED ZERO"

Case 1760

    Description = "SMALL HIGH UPRIGHT RECTANGULAR ZERO"

Case 1761

    Description = "SMALL HIGH DOTLESS HEAD OF KHAH"

Case 1762

    Description = "SMALL HIGH MEEM ISOLATED FORM"

Case 1763

    Description = "SMALL LOW SEEN"

Case 1764

    Description = "SMALL HIGH MADDA"

Case 1765

    Description = "SMALL WAW"

Case 1766

    Description = "SMALL YEH"

Case 1767

    Description = "SMALL HIGH YEH"

Case 1768

    Description = "SMALL HIGH NOON"

Case 1769

    Description = "PLACE OF SAJDAH"

Case 1770

    Description = "EMPTY CENTRE LOW STOP"

Case 1771

    Description = "EMPTY CENTRE HIGH STOP"

Case 1772

    Description = "ROUNDED HIGH STOP WITH FILLED CENTRE"

Case 1773

    Description = "SMALL LOW MEEM"

Case 1774

    Description = "DAL WITH INVERTED V"

Case 1775

    Description = "REH WITH INVERTED V"

Case 1776

    Description = "ZERO"

Case 1777

    Description = "ONE"

Case 1778

    Description = "TWO"

Case 1779

    Description = "THREE"

Case 1780

    Description = "FOUR"

Case 1781

    Description = "FIVE"

Case 1782

    Description = "SIX"

Case 1783

    Description = "SEVEN"

Case 1784

    Description = "EIGHT"

Case 1785

    Description = "NINE"

Case 1786

    Description = "SHEEN WITH DOT BELOW"

Case 1787

    Description = "DAD WITH DOT BELOW"

Case 1788

    Description = "GHAIN WITH DOT BELOW"

Case 1789

    Description = "SIGN SINDHI AMPERSAND"

Case 1790

    Description = "SINDHI POSTPOSITION MEN"

Case 1791

    Description = "HEH WITH INVERTED V"

Case Else

    Description = "*"

End Select



strText = strText & " " & Description

Next I

   Documents.Add

   Selection.InsertAfter strText

End Sub

Thursday Humor

2004-10-07T14:53:00.000-07:00

Only drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.

Only in America...do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet coke.

Only in America...do banks leave both doors open and then chain the
pens to the counters.

Only in America..do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.

Only in America...do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.

Only in America...do we use the word 'politics' to describe the process so well: 'Poli' in Latin meaning 'many' and 'tics' meaning 'bloodsucking creatures'.

Only in America.do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.

EVER WONDER
Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin ?
Why women can't put on mascara with their mouth closed?
Why don't you ever see the headline "Psychic Wins Lottery"?
Why is "abbreviated" such a long word?
Why is it that doctors call what they do "practice"?
Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid made with real lemons?
Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?
Why isn't there mouse-flavored cat food?
Why didn't Noah swat those two mosquitoes?
Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?
You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don't they make the whole plane out of that stuff?!
Why don't sheep shrink when it rains?
Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?
Why doesn't phonics start with an "f"?
If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?

Political Quotes

"I resent your insinuendoes."

"If we don't make some changes, the status quo will remain the same."

"We're going to have the best-educated American people in the world."

"I support efforts to limit the terms of members of Congress, especially members of the House and members of the Senate." -- Dan Quayle

"If Lincoln were alive today, he'd roll over in his grave."

"We do not have censorship. What we have is a limitation on what newspapers can report."

"Candidly, I cannot answer that. The question is too suppository."

"Outside of the killings in Washington DC, we have one of the lowest crime rates in the nation." -- Marion Berry

"Let's jump off that bridge when we come to it."

"To be demeanered like that is an exercise in fertility."

"I deny the allegations, and I defy the allegators."

"If somebody's gonna stab me in the back, I want to be there."

"When you're talking to me, keep your mouth shut."

"Let's do this in one foul swoop."

"I want to thank each and every one of you for having extinguished yourselves in this session."

"We'll run it up the flagpole and see who salutes that booger."

"I would like to take this time to reirritate my remarks."

"The average age of a 7 year old in this state is 13."

"I hate to confuse myself with the facts."

"We have a permanent plan for the time being."

"Family planning has many misconceptions."

"The people in my district do not want this highway bypass, no matter if it goes through or around the city."

"My knowledge is no match for his ignorance."

"As long as I am in the Senate, there will not be a nuclear suppository in our state."

"These numbers are not my own; they are from someone who knows what he's talking about."

"People planning on getting into serious accidents should have their seat belts on."

"In 1994, Americans stand on the horns of an enema."

Iraq Then And Now - As Best As I Can Figure Out

2004-10-06T05:09:00.000-07:00

OK, so I've been looking for a picture of Iraq for a while now and can't find any credible sources that confirm things absolutely one way or another. There seems to be so many different opinions. This is just how I've been able to assemble a picture so far. If you disagree, please post a comment! I want to know the truth.

Iraq Before 1980

The US had little knowledge of Iraq prior to the Reagan era and 1980. Iraq had terminated all diplomatic relations with the US after Iraq's failed invasion of Israel in the 1960s. Reagan reopened relations with Iraq after 52 hostages were taken in Iran as a result of US giving medical treatment to the ousted Shah. During the Reagan years, economic and agricultural aid was given to Iraq by the US - and the US influenced World Banks to credit money to Iraq.

During the 1980s, Iraq standard of living rose significantly [Source for quote below]:

Iraq's social and economic indicators were generally above regional and developing country averages. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 1989 stood at 75.5 billion for a population of 18.3 million, $4000 per capita.
Iraq had one of the highest per capita food availability indicators in the region. Dietary energy supply averaged 3120 calories per capita/per day.
According to the World health organization (WHO), prior to 1991, Iraq health care reached approximately 97% of the urban population and 78% of rural residents. The health care system had an extensive network of health facilities linked up by reliable communications and a large fleet of service vehicles and ambulances.
Infant mortality declined from 1960 to 1990, with the rate at 65 per 1.000 live births in 1989 (1991 Human Development Report average for developing countries was 76 per- 1.000 live births). UNICEF indicates that a national welfare system was in place to assist orphans and children with disabilities and support for the poorest families.
Before 1991 the South and Center of Iraq had a well developed water and sanitation system comprising over two hundred water treatment plants ("wtp's)for urban areas and 1200 compact wtp's to serve rural areas, as well as an extensive distribution network. WHO estimates that 90% of the population had access to an abundant quantity of safe drinking water.

Post-Gulf War Iraq: The Affluent

This document details how the "haves" lived in post Gulf War "A Decade of Deception and Defiance". Yes, they were modern, yes they were relatively affluent and educated, etc. But the "primitive" aspects of this culture are rather self-apparent. An no, this wasn't how the majority lived.

What about the rest of Iraq in post-Gulf War era? According to a United Nations field office survey in 1994:

"..the country (Iraq) experienced a shift from relative affluence to massive poverty. In marked contrast to the situation prior to the events of 1990-91, the infant mortality rates in Iraq became among the highest in the world, low infant birth weight affected at least 23% of all births, chronic malnutrition affected every fourth child under five years of age, only 41% of the population had regular access to clean water, 83% of all schools needed substantial repairs. The Iraqi health-care system approached a decrepit state."

Many organizations have talked about the lack of sufficient drinking water. Yet the document "A Decade" above says that chlorine production there was well above that needed to provide adequate water for the population. It appears to the neo's that Saddam was using the sanctions as a way to suppress the peoples he didn't like, but still was sneeking around and militarizing. He was clearly supporting terrorism in Palestine and Israel. Why didn't that oil-for-food money go to what they said it was intended - for food?

Throughout both years of affluence and the years of poverty, this is what happened in Iraq during the Saddam Hussein regime years:

According to Amnesty International, female prisoners are "hung upside down from the feet during menstration."

According to Amnesty International, "objects are inserted into the vaginas of young women causing the hymen to break."

According to Amnesty International, reports that when the security services torture women, interrogators routinely force the women's children to stay in the room and watch their mothers being "debased."

Omar Ismael (a former captain of the Makhabarat who defected in 2000), said that female relatives of government or military officials are regularly drugged and filmed being raped to blackmail or extract confessions from the officials. On person, Taha Abbas Hababi, was the target of such, as having found nothing against him, officials drugged and raped his daughter, then murdered him anyway.

In 1994, the government of Iraq issued a decree that anyone who stole anything worth more than $12 would have their hand cut off, and repeated offenses would result in branding.

According to a 1998 Human Rights Watch report, Iraq had more unresolved "disappearances" than any other United Nations member state -- over 16,000.

Publicly insulting Saddam was punishable by death, often by beheading in the streets often following torture.

One Baath party member was arrested for being at party where jokes about Saddam were being told -- since he did not report that the jokes were being told. He and his entire family were executed.

According to Amnesty International, one man had his tongue cut out for slandering Saddam, and then was driven through the streets while information about his alleged offence was broadcast through a loudspeaker.

Children were routinely tortured to elicit taped confessions about older family members.

Amnesty International: "Allegations received have included the following: the extraction of fingernails, beatings, whippings, sexual abuse, electrical shock treatment, and deprivation of food and of the use of toilet facilities."

According to Middle East Watch (human rights group) the following was given as testimony of a former prisoner: "Each hour, security men opened the door and chose 3 to 5 of the prisoners - children or men - and removed them for torture. Later, their tortured bodies were thrown back into the cell. They were often bleeding and carried obvious signs of whipping and electric shocks...At midnight, the security men took another three of the children, but because they were so savagely treated they were taken from the cell to a military hospital." 29 children were executed and their bodies were returned to their families with their eyes gouged out.

Uday and Qusay were taken to these torture events in the prison to desensitize them to human torture -- very effective, since both grew up to be worse than Saddam and a more formidable future threat for the Iraqis.

Tens of thousands of "dissidents" arrested for "anti-government activities" ended up being killed in the Abu Ghraib prison, which according to Radio Free Iraq executed 2000 in a single day in April 1998. Some were hanged some shot. Many were returned to the street or family bearing marks of torture: eyes gouged, nails removed, genitiles removed, wounds, burns, acid disfiguration. Some things like an iron burn.

Shiite cleric Mohammad Baqe al-Sadr was killed by setting his beard on fire and hammering nails into his head in 1980.

In 1991-2 as many as 100,000 Shiites were murdered, their swamp land poisoned then drained, military assaults took place, bans on sales/imports of all food supplies took place in that southern marsh.

Kurds were killed in various waves usually 10,000 - 300,000 at a time. One time by chemical bomb. Other time by bombers.

Sanction money was used to benefit about 1 million of 23 million people.

The leadership was constantly angering member nations in the UN and sought to keep themselves in power by appeasing them - giving away valuable national oil assets.

This is Iraq During the Coalition Invasion

Living Hell.

This is Iraq today:

Terrorists control several areas. People are kidnapped by terrorists.

People can speak out without retribution. They can express their feelings.

Some people are eating now, that weren't before.

Some people are getting medical attention they never had before.

People have voted for local leaders.

People who never owned anything, will probably be able to own something now or soon. People are buying cars and appliances. People are studying and starting businesses at numbers greater than before and with susidy.

There is uncertainty and "chaos", but there is hope for a better Iraq and already people are convening -- Iraqi people -- to create a future for themselves.

The nation's debt of tens of billions of dollars has been paid by sympathetic countries.

Coalition forces are repairing damaged property and building as gifts new assets. Environmental problems are being fixed - like the marsh restoration project and the date palm restoration project.

Iraqis are being trained for security using Coalition dollars and donations from sympathetic countries.

Iraq is sovereign and an Iraq Interim Government controls the country.

Saddam and a group of his supporters are being tried for criminal behavior.

The door is open for a future Iraq -- if they chose so:

The world's best economy -- they sit on a huge supply of oil and have many customers.

The Middle East's most open cultural center and tourist grounds.

Education for all.

People can live without the fear that they or family members or dear friends will suddenly "disappear".

Democracy/Republic/Federation with all the principals of our democracy. Popular sovereignty. Separation of religion and state. Voting. Speaking. No ruling class. Fundamental human rights. All that stuff.

Comparing Democrats' and the Republicans' Statements On Iraq

2004-10-05T05:27:00.000-07:00

Democrats

"One way or the other, we are determined to deny Iraq the capacity to develop weapons of mass destruction and the missiles to deliver them. That is our bottom line."
--President Bill Clinton, Feb. 4, 1998

"If Saddam rejects peace and we have to use force, our purpose is clear. We want to seriously diminish the threat posed by Iraq's
weapons of mass destruction program."
--President Bill Clinton, Feb. 17, 1998

"Iraq is a long way from [here], but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face."
--Madeline Albright, Feb 18, 1998

"He will use those weapons of mass destruction again, as he has ten times since 1983."
--Sandy Berger, Clinton National Security Adviser, Feb, 18, 1998

"[W]e urge you, after consulting with Congress, and consistent with the U.S. Constitution and laws, to take necessary actions (including, if appropriate, air and missile strikes on suspect Iraqi sites) to respond effectively to the threat posed by Iraq's refusal to end its weapons of mass destruction programs."
Letter to President Clinton, signed by:
-- Democratic Senators Carl Levin, Tom Daschle, John Kerry, and
others, Oct. 9, 1998

"Saddam Hussein has been engaged in the development of weapons of mass destruction technology which is a threat to countries in the region and he has made a mockery of the weapons inspection process."
-Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D, CA), Dec. 16, 1998

"Hussein has ... chosen to spend his money on building weapons of mass destruction and palaces for his cronies."
-- Madeline Albright, Clinton Secretary of State, Nov. 10, 1999

"There is no doubt that ... Saddam Hussein has reinvigorated his weapons programs. Reports indicate that biological, chemical and nuclear programs continue apace and may be back to pre-Gulf War status. In addition, Saddam continues to redefine delivery systems and is doubtless using the cover of a licit missile program to develop longer-range missiles that will threaten the United States and our allies."
Letter to President Bush, Signed by:
-- Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL), and others, Dec 5, 2001

"We begin with the common belief that Saddam Hussein is a tyrant and a threat to the peace and stability of the region. He has ignored the mandate of the United Nations and is building weapons of mass destruction and the! e means of delivering them."
-- Sen. Carl Levin (D, MI), Sept. 19, 2002

"We know that he has stored secret supplies of biological and chemical weapons throughout his country."
-- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002

"Iraq's search for weapons of mass destruction has proven impossible to deter and we should assume that it will continue for as long as Saddam is in power."
-- Al Gore, Sept. 23, 2002

"We have known for many years that Saddam Hussein is seeking and developing weapons of mass destruction."
-- Sen. Ted Kennedy (D, MA), Sept. 27, 2002

"The last UN weapons inspectors left Iraq in October of 1998. We are confident that Saddam Hussein retains some stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons, and that he has since embarked on a crash course to build up his chemical and biological warfare capabilities.
Intelligence reports indicate that he is seeking nuclear weapons..."
-- Sen. Robert Byrd (D, WV), Oct. 3, 2002

"I will be voting to give the President of the United States the authority to use force -- if necessary -- to disarm Saddam Hussein because I believe that a deadly arsenal of weapons of mass destruction in his hands is a real and grave threat to our security."
-- Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Oct. 9, 2002

"There is unmistakable evidence that Saddam Hussein is working aggressively to develop nuclear weapons and will likely have nuclear weapons within the next five years ... We also should remember we have always underestimated the progress Saddam has made in development of weapons of mass destruction."
-- Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D, WV), Oct 10, 2002

"He has systematically violated, over the course of the past 11 years, every significant UN resolution that has demanded that he disarm and destroy his chemical and biological weapons, and any nuclear capacity. This he has refused to do"
-- Rep. Henry Waxman (D, CA), Oct. 10, 2002

"In the four years since the inspectors left, intelligence reports show that Saddam Hussein has worked to rebuild his chemical and biological weapons stock, his missile delivery capability, and his nuclear program. He has also given aid, comfort, and sanctuary to terrorists, including al Qaeda members ... It is clear, however, that if left unchecked, Saddam Hussein will continue to increase his capacity to wage biological and chemical warfare, and will keep trying to develop nuclear weapons."
-- Sen. Hillary Clinton (D, NY), Oct 10, 2002

"We are in possession of what I think to be compelling evidence that Saddam Hussein has, and has had for a number of years, a developing capacity for the production and storage of weapons of mass destruction."
-- Sen. Bob Graham (D, FL), Dec. 8, 2002

"Without question, we need to disarm Saddam Hussein. He is a brutal, murderous dictator, leading an oppressive regime ... He presents a particularly grievous threat because he is so consistently prone to miscalculation ... And now he is miscalculating America's response to his continued deceit and his consistent grasp for weapons of mass destruction ... So the threat of Saddam Hussein with weapons of mass destruction is real..."
-- Sen. John F. Kerry (D, MA), Jan. 23. 2003

from:
http://www.warroom.com/democratquotes.htm

Republicans

From the whitehouse website around July 2004:
10 WAYS THE LIBERATION OF IRAQ SUPPORTS THE WAR ON TERROR

With the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, Iraq is no longer a state sponsor of terror. According to State Department reports on terrorism, before the removal of Saddam's regime, Iraq was one of seven state sponsors of terror.
Saddam Hussein's regime posed a threat to the security of the United States and the world. With the removal of Saddam Hussein's regime, a leader who pursued, used, and possessed weapons of mass destruction is no longer in power.
Saddam Hussein would not uphold his international commitments, and now that he is no longer in power, the world is safe from this tyrant. The old Iraqi regime defied the international community and seventeen UN resolutions for twelve years and gave every indication that it would never disarm and never comply with the just demands of the world.
A senior al Qaida terrorist, now detained, who had been responsible for al Qaida training camps in Afghanistan, reports that al Qaida was intent on obtaining WMD assistance from Iraq. According to a credible, high-level al Qaida source, Usama Bin Laden and deceased al Qaida leader Muhammad Atif did not believe that al Qaida labs in Afghanistan were capable of manufacturing chemical and biological weapons, so they turned to Iraq for assistance. Iraq agreed to provide chemical and biological weapons training for two al Qaida associates starting in December 2000.
Senior al Qaida associate Abu Musab al-Zarqawi came to Baghdad in May 2002 for medical treatment along with approximately two dozen al Qaida terrorist associates. This group stayed in Baghdad and other parts of Iraq and plotted terrorist attacks around the world.
A safe haven in Iraq belonging to Ansar al-Islam -- a terrorist group closely associated with Zarqawi and al Qaida -- was destroyed during Operation Iraqi Freedom. In March 2003, during a raid on the compound controlled by the terrorists in northeastern Iraq, a cache of documents was discovered, including computer discs and foreign passports belonging to fighters from various Middle East nationalities.
The al Qaida affiliate Ansar al-Islam is known to still be present in Iraq. Such terrorist groups are now plotting against U.S. forces in Iraq.
Law enforcement and intelligence operations have disrupted al Qaida associate Abu Musab Zarqawi's poison plotting in France, Britain, Spain, Italy, Germany, and Russia. The facilities in Northern Iraq, set up by Zarqawi and Ansar al-Islam were, before the war, an al Qaida's poisons/toxins laboratory.
Abu Musa Zarqawi, the al Qaida associate with direct links to Iraq, oversaw those responsible for the assassination of USAID officer Laurence Foley in Amman, Jordan last October.
Saddam Hussein's Iraq provided material assistance to Palestinian terrorist groups, including the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, HAMAS, and the Palestine Islamic Jihad, according to a State Department report. This included paying the families of Palestinian suicide bombers, according to testimonials from Palestinians and cancelled checks. Also, according to State Department reports, terrorist groups the Iranian Mujahedin-e-Khalq and the Abu Nidal organization were protected by the Iraqi regime protected by the Iraqi regime.

Subliminals In Candidate Commercials

2004-10-03T17:15:00.000-07:00

Absolutely true: Bush is using subliminals in his campaign.

At a Bush-Cheney Rally in Exeter, New Hampshire last Tuesday, the podium said "W stands for Women" (as it was in the during a work day and mostly geared to women...) and behind the speaker in large letters:

Victory
in the
Granite State

So while his own mother is up there talking, the camera zooms and for awhile Barbara is among these words:

in the
nite
W
stands for Women

LOL! Someone once told me that the taller man usually wins. Then someone else said, no the man with the biggest dick wins. So, if Bush has Dick Cheney, does that qualify him as the man with the biggest Dick?

Casualty "Hostile Events" Correlate with Phase of Moon

2004-10-03T07:54:00.000-07:00

Continuing to look at correlations in the casualty data reported at Iraq Coalition Casualty Count. I thought maybe the trends weren't real because it was all the result of just a few events that had many injuries. To sort the data, an "event" was defined as consecutive entries with the same date, same cause, and same location. Even though 5 of on the peak "Day 20," in waning gibbous phase, had more than 3 fatalities, binning these into single events still showed a trend. There doesn't seem to be the same trend in non-hostile events.

The "Events" That Resulted In More Than 3 Fatalities


Date	   Moon	Casualties Event Cause &	Event Location

11/15/2003   20 17 Hostile - helicopter crash

                   Mosul

11/12/2003   17 16 Hostile - hostile fire - car bomb	

                   An Nasiriyah

11/2/2003     7 15 Hostile - helicopter crash (missile attack)	

                   Fallujah (near)

3/23/2003    20 13 Hostile - hostile fire	

                   An Nasiriyah

3/21/2003    18 12 Hostile - helicopter crash	

                   Umm Qasr (near)

4/6/2004     16 10 Hostile - hostile fire	

                   Ramadi

1/8/2004     15  9 Hostile - helicopter crash	

                   Fallujah (near)

3/23/2003    20  9 Hostile - hostile fire - ambush	

                   An Nasiriyah

4/29/2004     9  8 Hostile - hostile fire - car bomb	

                   Mahmudiyah (near)

4/4/2004     14  8 Hostile - hostile fire - RPG attack	

                   Baghdad (Sadr City)

9/6/2004     21  7 Hostile - hostile fire - car bomb	

                   Fallujah (9 mi. N of)

11/29/2003    5  7 Hostile - hostile fire - ambush	

                   Latifiya

6/8/2004     20  6 Hostile - hostile fire - mortar attack	

                   As Suwayrah (near) [Wasit Prov.]

5/2/2004     12  6 Hostile - hostile fire - mortar attack	

                   Ramadi

12/27/2003    3  6 Hostile - hostile fire - car bomb	

                   Karbala

11/7/2003    12  6 Hostile - helicopter crash (missile attack)	

                   Tikrit (near)

6/24/2003    24  6 Hostile - hostile fire	

                   Majar al-Kabir

4/2/2003      0  6 Non-hostile - helicopter crash	

                   Karbala (near)

3/22/2003    19  6 Hostile - helicopter crash	

                   Persian Gulf

7/8/2004     20  5 Hostile - hostile fire - mortar attack

                   Samarra

6/4/2004     16  5 Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack	

                   Baghdad (Palestine St. nr. Sadr City)

4/17/2004    27  5 Hostile - hostile fire	

                   Qusayba (Al Qaim)

3/31/2004    10  5 Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack	

                   Malahma (nr. Habbaniyah)

9/24/2004    10  4 Hostile - hostile fire	

                   Al Anbar Province

9/3/2004     18  4 Hostile - hostile fire	

                   Al Anbar Province

8/21/2004     5  4 Hostile - hostile fire	

                   Al Anbar Province

7/10/2004    22  4 Non-hostile - vehicle accident	

                   Fallujah (near) [Al Anbar Prov.]

7/6/2004     18  4 Hostile - hostile fire - IED attack	

                   Al Anbar Province

6/21/2004     3  4 Hostile - hostile fire	

                   Ramadi

5/3/2004     13  4 Non-hostile - vehicle accident	

                   Khalis (near)

4/24/2004     4  4 Hostile - hostile fire - rocket attack	

                   Taji (Camp Cooke)

4/11/2004    21  4 Hostile - hostile fire	

                   Al Anbar Province

4/5/2004     15  4 Hostile - hostile fire	

                   Fallujah, Al Anbar Prov.

3/29/2003    26  4 Hostile - hostile fire - suicide bomber	

                   Najaf

3/27/2003    24  4 Hostile - vehicle accident	

                   An Nasiriyah

Re: Coalition Casualties Correlate with Lunar Cycle

2004-10-02T20:17:00.000-07:00

Plotting the data for the lunar cycles from 21 March 2003 through September 2004, there appears to be a correlation between "age of moon" (day 1 - 29 on the lunar cycle) and numbers of casualties.

The recent coordinated attacks on the ribbon-cutting ceremony at the water treatment plant in Iraq sparked me to look into casualty statistics. Often we see the statistics by month over a several years, so that people can look for monthly or seasonal trends. These attacks happened very close to the full moon, and it is rumored that more violence in general occurs during full moons. I thought that had something to do with night activity.

The full moon in September in North America is called the Harvest Moon - when New Englanders tradtionally harvested crops all night because they had adequate light. The full moon happened on Tuesday September 28 at 13:08 Greenwich Time (9:08 a.m. EDT or 6:08 a.m. PDT).

But what do full moons mean in Islam? The Islamic calendar is based on the lunar cycle. But different sects have different ways of deciding when the moon is first in a particular phase that would mean they have do to some sacred action. The full moon has some significance. According to The Blessings of the Lunar Calendar:

When the Prophet (Sallallahu alaiyhi wassallam) was asked about those entering paradise, he responded, "The first batch (of people) who will enter Paradise will be (glittering) like a full moon..."

this source also says:

Traditional moon wisdom states that on the day of the New Moon the body's capacity for detoxification is at its highest. This is a time, tradition says, to make healthy lifestyle changes, break bad habits and withdraw symptoms of imbalance. This is in complete synchronization with the fact that the prophet used to fast on the days of the full moon, saying, "It is like fasting the whole year."

I started wondering if the terrorists were reacting to the fact that candy was being passed out at a time the Prophet traditionally fasted. So I thought maybe it makes sense to look at lunar cycles instead of Gregorian monthly cycles. I found a startling correlation between the lunar cycle and Coalition fatalities in OIF.

I downloaded the data from this site for the 1179 recorded casualties from 3/21/2003 to 9/30/2004.

Classifying the 29 days of the lunar cycle into the phases it appears that the day on which the New Moon takes place is the least active, and the days on which there is a waning gibbous moon are the most active. At first I thought it was because there was just one major event on those days, but it isn't. I'll try to show that tomorrow with some analysis of "events" that group casualties together that happened at the same place and time and for the same cause.

Why is this? Is it because of internal biological and psychological impacts of the moon? Or is it because of Islamic lunar cycles? Is it Islamic PMS? Is it all because there were harems of 40+ women, and all of their menstrual cycles were synchronizing (as they will when women live together) - did this cause Islamic men excess frustration and pressure have 40+ experience PMS simultaneously? Just wondering...

Charity and the US Constitution

2004-10-01T09:59:00.000-07:00

A few posts ago, I wrote about "love" and it was about universal love, and that sometimes different versions of the Christian Bible mix the interpetations of ancient text using modern words "love," "charity," and "God" interchangably. These would usually seem like totally different concepts. This is an essay about how during Colonial America days, Christianity influenced the way people governed themselves. Some of the faith doctrines were adopted into the doctrine of government.

The New England values and charitable practices probably date to John Winthrop, and his 1630 "Model of Christian Charity". Like many political leaders of his time, Winthrop justified his arguments with cherry-picked biblical passages. Winthrop asserted "that every man might have need of other, and from hence they might be all knit more nearly together in the bond of brotherly affection". Winthrop thought that people needed each other so that they would have to help each other and that was how God had crafted society. Winthrop also wrote that "sensibleness and sympathy of each other's conditions will necessarily infuse into each part a native desire and endeavor to strengthen, defend, preserve and comfort the other". The "each part" refers to the collective body formed by all people, a value is somewhat universal being found in philosphies, religions and cultures around the world.

The "New England Way" formed by Winthrop and others was a strange mixture of religious and political principles:

Self-Government

"Self-Government" was based on the idea of Congregationalism; that there be only local control over religious and political matters. This ideal lead to wide-spread anger at taxation without representation and the American Revolution.

Limited Government

"Limited Government" was first proposed as a religious ideal. That if man was conceived in original sin and thus cannot govern himself, how can he be trusted to govern others? That was the original argument for Limited Government proposed by the colonists. Limited Government remains an ideal to this date, especially for conservatives. It is the idea of Limited Government that put Madison's twist on the interpretation of our Constitutional preamble "to promote the General Welfare" as one of NOT having federal dollars for charity/welfare/needy but rather for saliance of individual responsibility to have control be at the state, local and private charity level. Notice "local" is in there -- local charity is preferred over federal. Local voting for a charitable matter is not totalitarianism; whereas a Congressional act to create a charity from federal tax dollars is arguably heading towards totalitarianism, and part of the unlimited growth of government that Madison opposed. The General Welfare clause has been used to create such things as the patent and copyright laws, etc. Social security and medicare have been challenged, and currently Reagan Federalists would like to see that for individuals who have contributed, a return made, but would prefer to have these systems faded out and back to individual responsibility. Again, the point is to limit the federal government, and to do so, that requires that local governments act responsibily according to community needs. If a community wants to do something that is a charitable or needy thing, like create a Soup Kitchen or vote to use their police 4x4s to deliver hot meals to elderly in inclement weather, the federal government won't stand in the way. That's fine and within the bounds of fairness toward taxpayers and citizens.

Individualism

"Individualism", ironically, is also a religiously based value. Colonists asserted that man has a one-on-one relationship with God, and everyone should be able to interpret the Bible for himself or herself. This use of the Bible had an obvious effect on education and literacy for Colonial America.

Community's Right To Control

The "Community's Right To Control" all its members in the common interest. Strict laws and rigid enforcement were necessary whenever when the community was held to be threatened - internally or externally. This makes for some interesting debates with things like gun control laws. We have to work harder to ensure that if someone buys a gun in location A that they can legally transport it to location B where they can legally use it; because the ideal is to keep the federal government out of such decisions. Threats from within or external can include the threat of poverty and disease. For example, communities can vote to needy people be provided with opportunity for a free flu shot that is paid for by tax dollars so that they community is protected from disease.

Combining Ideas into a Constitution: A Contract Between a Government and Its People

It was upon these five New England principles that the Consitution of the United States was written (though Jefferson et al added a whole lot more like checks and balances, separation of powers, and fundamental human rights down to limitations on the judicial process). It was written with Limited Government in mind, and to make it work, state, local and private institutions bear the responsibility for welfare and charity.

Preamble to the US Constitution

"We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

"Promote the General Welfare"?

What does that mean? Some people take it to mean that our government should be charitable where ever needed world-wide. Other people think it means that we have a responsibility towards domestic charity. Still others think that it means that government leaders are supposed to work for the benefit of all people in their domain, not just to serve their self-interests. Some believe that the word "general" is the salient point: that when the government acts in a way that promotes society it should be done so that it benefits everyone opposed to protecting the interests of a narrow section or class of the population. From Winthrop's time, that would have been a Christian value: they felt obligated to view all men as created equally because of a few passages in Genesis.

If we abandon charity saying it is all about personal individual responsibility and that we owe nothing because we got nothing (and most of us are seeing some charities as lotteries someone else won, when we had to work to get ourselves out of the same lot -- so it never feels 'fair'!), I fear that our system could collapse.

Can we always rely on the friendliness and charity of our countrymen can always be relied upon to relieve citizens in times of misfortune? Some people argue that federal aid in such cases encourages the expectation of paternal care on the part of the government, while it prevents people from donating through the kindness that strengthens our bonds simply because they think their tax dollars have already contributed.

Other people think the "Promote the General Welfare" statement has nothing at all to do being charitable to individuals, but rather it is an outclause for the government to take actions necessary to have exhanges that benefit the whole without encroaching on personal liberties. For example, general welfare can be promoted by government-imposed price-wage controls, import duties, restrictions on foreign investments, and scores of restraints like breaking up monopolies. But how can the government do that and simultaneously maintain the economic freedom of individuals to determine their own actions? It is quite paradoxical, really.

Finally, some people think this just meant that the government had the right to collect taxes for the purposes of investing in activities that improved society: entrepenurial development, science, the arts, environment, health care, etc.

I haven't found anyone that suggests the US Government is supposed to act on world charity behalf by Constitutional statements. So, I don't understand why our political leaders make such a brew-ha-ha about all the good they do in the world. That isn't in their contract. Don't misunderstand - I'm not opposed to the US undertaking such activities, I just don't fully see the mandate or rationale that is implied.

Sometimes I wish we could take the genetics of Jefferson and "re-Constitute" him to ask him what the hell was he talking about. I suppose our Constitution is rather enigmatic and paradoxical. But it seems to work. For us.

I'm starting to wonder if world religions are just out-dated government doctrines.

Thursday Humor

2004-09-30T06:28:00.000-07:00

SIGNS YOUR PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE IS UNDER-QUALIFIED
8. On the very first question of the debate, he attempts to use a Lifeline.
7. Promises to improve foreign relations with Hawaii.
6. His #1 choice to work on his cabinet is "That Bob Vila guy."
5. Anybody mentions Washington, he asks, "The state or the DC thingie?"
4. At the debates, answers every question with a snarled, "You wanna wrestle?!?"
3. Vows to put an end to the war in Pokemon and free the Pikachu refugees once and for all.
2. Says the Pledge of Allegiance as quickly as possible, then shouts, "I win!"
1. Runs a series of attack ads against Martin Sheen's character on "The West Wing."

Closing Thot for the Day:
The trouble with political jokes is they get elected.

Economy of Politics

2004-09-29T15:54:00.000-07:00

Kerry's "Big Dig" Boston reconstruction
Total area of Boston: 43.68 sq. miles of land
Population: 589,141
Project Features:
1 tunnel
1 bridge
less than 100 miles of highwaycost:


  $15,000,000,000 = Project Cost

     $343,000,000 = Cost per square mile

          $25,461 = Cost per person in area

              $55 = Cost divided by number of US citizens (270M)

Bush's "Iraqi Freedom" Iraq reconstruction
total area of Iraq: 167,975 square miles
Population: 23,331,985
Project Features:
Humanitarian aid
Removal of Baath party, installation of a democracy
Census for first time
more than 100 schools
Infrastructure repair to industry, power, water, communications
Bridges
Roads
Dredging ports, removing mines, etc.
environmental restoration of marshes
restoration of date trees
education of women for jobs and independence
small business start-up funds


 $150,000,000,000 = Project Cost

         $892,990 = Cost per square mile

           $6,429 = Cost per person in area

             $550 = Cost divided by number of US citizens (270M)

Gore's "Information Highway"


   $8,900,000,000 = Total cost of spam to U.S. corporations per year

   $4,000,000,000 = Business loss of productivity due to spam

             $874 = Cost per employee

Conclusion:
A business worker will spend less on the Iraq war than
the typical cost of monetary losses per employee DUE TO SPAM on the
internet!

Random Thoughts about Disturbing Trends in Modern Journalism

2004-09-28T20:24:00.000-07:00

Today I want to comment about observations of today’s' media coverage. These are factors that I believe adversely affect society. I don't want to rant and "bitch" because in general I think our US journalists are very dedicated, hard-working, truth-seeking individuals who appropriately exercise their freedom of speech to bring us a greater understanding of the world we live in. But there are some characteristics and ruts of today’s' reporting that I hope can be changed for the better.

Inability to Distinguish Between Military Policy and Criminal Behavior
The reports made it sound like inhumane prison treatment was some sort of military policy. It clearly is not. All the reports and documents needed to see that this is true are available through the Freedom of Information Act and the judicial system.

When a few police commit crimes, the media seems to know that it isn't part of police training. There might be a few corrupt cops here and there, who knowingly break the law. There are cops who use inappropriate and inhumane interrogation techniques to get a quick confession or information. And there are cops who get caught in the heat of the moment and behave grievously. Cameras on the cars tell the whole story there, and we see them on TV shows -- cops savagely beating up someone who they have been chasing. When these stories and pictures are on the air, there are several thousand cops currently on duty and the vast majority are upholding the laws and keeping the public safe. The media coverage sensationalizes the few that are extremely bad, but we haven't lost site of the fact that most police are very conscientious.

That isn't true of the military coverage however, and the coverage puts at risk our finest and bravest people overseas who are protecting US interests. The media villainizes the military. I don't know why. They seem to portray them in superlatives. Some of the superlatives fit, but others are inappropriate. Whether putting someone on too high of a pedestal - glamorizing and hero worshipping - or villainizing and dehumanizing them - there is a risk.

As a side note, this happens a lot in the portrayal of scientists as well. Scientists are either evil geniuses out to control the world or they're supposed to revolutionizing technology to save it. This portrayal of scientists in terms of extremes (nerdy, geeky, weirdoes, with weirdo experiments) has had an adverse affect on science education in schools. Scientists are just people who seek to understand the world around them, and do so following a path of experimentation, observation and critical thinking. But the point is, scientists are just people. They may have good intentions, but make mistakes. Sometimes these mistakes result in harm, such as inventions, processes or medicines that turn out to have long term side effects on people's health.

Military people are just people too. There are "kids" less than 2 years from high school graduation, and with minimal training, that are shipped overseas to hostile areas. The media talks about the criminal actions of a few like the whole lot of them are always committing crimes. And they are trained to believe that they are a team - with no "I" in team - and not individuals. I think the media reports do a lot of harm to these kids. This is especially true when they start comparing OIF to Viet Nam. The journalists have gone to professional schools and learned a lot about Viet Nam. Some of the kids serving in OIF probably learned about Viet Nam for a week or two in a history class in high school - and all they remember is that it was a US disaster, unpopular, and a failure. First people need to realize that the only thing that makes OIF like VN is that Kerry is protesting it -- sort of -- he sort of supported it also. These comparisons are meaningless. The next thing is that people need to be clear when reporting criminal behavior. There is a process by which that is appropriately done in the media. The words "alleged" "accused" "suspected" make a huge difference, and people are best treated as innocent until proven guilty in a court of law unless there is something that they said or that is shown to demonstrate wrongdoing.

Misplaced Villainization
For whatever reason, the media seems to enjoy finding fault with the US government and with US culture at the exclusion of finding fault in other arenas and in the absence of relevant context. There's a story about a man who loses his car keys and is looking under a street light for them. A passerby comes to help and after a while asks him if he is sure he lost them here. The man says that he didn't, but he only knew how to find keys in the light, over there where he lost them it was dark. And so the analogy is that when a culprit is needed, and can't readily be found, the media is all too willing to assign blame. They assign blame where it is easiest - to people who are not in a position to argue back at them either by law or for PC reasons. They assign blame where it is most likely to be effective - to people who can make improvements. But the point is, they don't always assign blame to true culprit. Why that is, I don't know. I think it might have something to do with being politically correct and fears of retaliation.

Another thing is the overemphasis on micromanagement criticisms. You can make anyone look ugly by focusing up closely on their nose hairs, but back up a little and take a look at their whole face and you might see something different. That's my analogy for some of these reports that pick apart a very small task in someone's day. I like lots of details, but I don't like cherry-picked details that collectively misrepresent the situation at hand.

Witch Hunt Mode vs. Systems Analysis
When things went wrong during the late 1600s, people in Salem MA tended to blame witches [Errata: Kat pointed out that I had written 1800s but the Salem witch trials took place in the 1600s. THANK YOU KAT! :-)]. It became popular to try to find the witch and kill them, so that things would stop going wrong. As a result, a lot of innocent people were hung or burned alive. It is shameful to see the same thing happening today, with witch hunts in the news.

There seems to be a need to have ad hominem rationale to explain bad events. The media reports something bad, and then to bring resolution or closure, points the blame at an individual. I could just list some initials - and you can immediately think of a report that says "that person is the reason ___ happened": GWB, WJC, OBL, SH, PM TB, etc. In a nation with checks and balances, I think we should be looking at systems that fail and not people that fail. Sometimes it really is one person's fault. But too often I feel that individuals are given too much credit and portrayed as having more power or ability than they do. Did OBL really single-handedly cause 9/11? Or was it a system?

The problem is that when people like GWB are blamed for some really bad event, then they have been discredited inappropriately. When the public loses faith in them, then progress can't be made. When people like OBL are blamed for some really bad event, then success or failure of responding is based on whether or not that one person is found. This is illogical. It is expensive. It leads to bad decision making. It is the wrong approach. We need to look at systems, find their weaknesses and exploit them or improve them as will benefit our situation.

Subliminal Stereotyping
In "Bowling for Columbine," Michael Moore talks about the fact that the US was conditioned to expect that criminals are usually black (African-American) because of media verbiage. How many times have we heard words that implied characteristics of some group of people: females, health care workers, college students, blacks, Muslims, Christian fundamentalists, etc.? Far too frequently, it is only coincidental that these groups are correlated. Continuing the correlation segregates society. It becomes a self-fulfilled prophesy. We need to be more careful and selective of words that are used to describe people - especially when describing trends in adverse behaviors.

Sensational Reporting That Loses the Big Picture Perspective
I think the reporters know that most of Baghdad is at work and living a normal life. But you wouldn't know that if you were an alien on Mars watching the evening news signal. When we see sensational reports about events in Los Angeles, people in the US can put it into perspective. They know that most large cities have crime, fires, horrific car accidents, etc., but that for most of the people life was normal, peaceful, and OK. But we have no idea what it is like in Baghdad. Watching the evening news to gain understanding about foreign countries is like trying to get a feel for a school day from a 5 year old coming home from school! Everything the 5 year old says might be true, but it probably loses sequential context and mashes a bunch of heated moments spanning several weeks into a single awful day of tantrums, bus drivers yelling, yucky cafeteria food, muddy playgrounds, etc. Short of going to the school, you'd need more information than just the 5 year olds sensationalized reports. There used to be reports called "a day in the life of ___" reports and they were very informative. Sometimes journalists would use a composite character to sketch out a typical person's daily life. I haven't seen anything like that for Iraq or Afghanistan or even France lately.

No Long Term Memory
I think it's a problem of information overload. There is so much data out there, and not enough time to analyze it all. How it all fits together into a bigger picture becomes lost - the stories that air are rather someone's thesis supported by select facts to prove that thesis. I think this comes from our short term memory.

A lot of reporting seems to have forgotten critical moments that lead up to a particular event. Why are we where we are in Iraq? Again the focus of media reports have been on a few statements that suggested a worse case scenario of stockpiles of WMD weapons ready to launch - only they forget to mention that it was a worst case scenario bound the limits of possibilities. There seems to be a lot of people who forgot that in 1998 Bin Laden declared war on the US. Or that in the late 1960s, Iraq terminated diplomatic relations with the US. Or that even in 1980, the entire country of Iraq was a no-go zone for US citizens. Or that there were people in Iraq that didn't have enough food, clothing, water, or medical supplies - that there was extreme poverty there in some places on the same scale as in Sudan. We need a better sense of continuity and direction. We need consistency in policy and ideology. We need to be able to say: this document we can take as factual and act upon it, rather than always trying to prove it or disprove it. And we need to be able to distinguish the difference of someone making a quality decision on believed data later found to be flawed and someone making a horrible decision based on quality data later found to be true.

Not Considering Outcomes and Perceptions of a Report
The reporters are doing a fantastic job of tailoring news to the US audience. The packaging and production is first rate. We're captured by it. Teasers tell us tempting leads and when that report will air. Chores are set aside by viewers waiting to hear that report. Advertisers love the news shows.

But these reports are being aired world wide. What about the outcomes of their being shown to foreign audiences? What sort of impact do these stories have on the US? What are the repercussions? Other cultures do not have the same preferences as the US audience, and don't have the same cultural context or values. How often are our reports confusing them or giving them the wrong impression of our behaviors, actions, intents, and values? I don't know the answer, but I think these needs to be studied more and acted upon. If reports are going to be shown to the world, then some care needs to be taken in the presentation. I don't believe in censoring and I want total freedom of speech. I don't want journalists to become a government propaganda machine. I like the independent nature of our journalists. I just also want journalists to think about how their reports might influence our relationships with other countries. I think journalism ethics needs to embrace the value of improving those relationships. That is, I think US journalists should also value being US citizens.

Re: Saddened by Kurdo's Blog

2004-08-31T21:29:00.000-07:00

Some comments and thoughts about religions to share:

1) All religious doctrines seem to be self-contradictory and ambiguous. Science is unambigious and clear, but religion, as a way of "knowing truth" is not.

2) It is not racist to identify some other group as being racist. I am not a racist for proclaiming the many of the world's best known religions are fundamentally racist. This is often in contradiction to their doctrines that have some verbage about love, harmony, and tolerance.

3) Religions that maintain uncritical acceptance of a doctrine as a final, superior manifesto of a deity, and give ultimate authority and legal immunity to religious leaders (or chosen members) are in direct conflict with values and requirements of the United States Constitution and with most world democracies with rule of law.

4) To varying degrees, religious doctrines impose inequity between genders and peoples of different classes or ethnicity. Again, this is in conflict to US values.

5) The horrible acts documented on this website go beyond what a reasonable person would consider "religious" because it is pure hate.

6) That being said, many Islamics think that reform is necessary at this time. Irshad Manji wrote a good book "The Trouble with Islam" about her opinions and observations as a female raised Islamic.

7) That being said, it would probably be fairly easy to cherry-pick quotes from the Christian Bible and other doctrines that would make those religions sound hateful and barbaric. One wouldn't have to go back very far in history to see hate crimes carried out in the names of these religions (even in the US!).

And that's why my parents left their faith many years ago. For me, science provides the physical world truth, and religion is a way to have spiritual world truth. It is like exploring with art or music.

Nonetheless, I find the writings of many religions and myths exciting and inspirational. I disagree with Freud who said all religion is "the universal obsessional neurosis of humanity": delusionary and therefore evil. I agree with Jung who says religions are imaginary but good. Jung regards religions as collective mythologies - not real in essence, but having a real effect on the human personality. Jung's collective unconscious has been described as a "storehouse of latent memory traces inherited from man's ancestral past, a past that includes not only the racial history of man as a separate species but his pre-human or animal ancestry as well.

Jung wrote:
"All esoteric teachings seek to apprehend the unseen happenings in the psyche, and all claim supreme authority for themselves. What is true of primitive lore is true in even higher degree of the ruling world religions. They contain a revealed knowledge that was originally hidden, and they set forth the secrets of the soul in glorious images."

And so, I look to the past, to the writings of others some 2000 years ago, for some guidance today and some understanding about people... especially when upset over these crimes of hate.

Love suffers long.
Love rejoices in truth.
Love bears all things.
Love believes all things.
Love hopes all things.
Love endures all things.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
From 1 Corinthians 13

I think they were trying to say that when we have faith that deep inside we are all the same... and when we have hope we will make the world better... and when we love eachother with the same love that a creator of the whole universe has for his creation... then we won't fail, we'll protect, we'll perservere, we'll endure, we'll thrive, we'll have happiness and prosperity here on Earth.

At least, that's what I think it says.

Re: The 9/11 Commission report will bereleased tomorrow. But will it be credible?

2004-07-21T18:53:00.000-07:00

The 9/11 Commission report will bereleased tomorrow. But will it be credible? Will the results be actionable and enlightening? Or will they simply open up more questions? Will they polarize our already polarized citizens?

http://www.9-11commission.gov
"The National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (also known as the 9-11 Commission), an independent, bipartisancommission created by congressional legislation and the signature ofPresident George W. Bush in late 2002, is chartered to prepare afull and complete account of the circumstances surrounding theSeptember 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, including preparedness for andthe immediate response to the attacks. The Commission is alsomandated to provide recommendations designed to guard against futureattacks.

The Commission will release its final report at 11:30 a.m. onThursday, July 22, in Washington, D.C.

1) Who are these commission members? Are commission members free of conflict of interest and are they credible?

Jamie Gorelick as a 9/11 commission member
http://www.9-11commission.gov/about/bio_gorelick.htm
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Part of the 9/11 Commission task was to review the actions and statements of Jamie Gorelick and her superiors. Can she really be impartial? Would her standing on the commission present a conflict of interest?
Some say that because of the nature of her former job, she should have beentestifying. She had a former job as Attorney General Janet Reno's deputy and a different former job as general counsel at the Department of Defense. During the Justice Department's prosecution of the 1993 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, Gorelick issued a classified memoto separate counterintelligence investigations from criminalinvestigations. The media has been reporting that because knowledge wasn't being shared betweenthe FBI and the CIA in 2001, this lead to intelligence failures that obstructed the prevention of the 9/11 terrorist attackes.

Gorelick's memo has been declassified and is available on-line at:
http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/1995_gorelick_memo.pdf
References:http://www.gopusa.com/commentary/lchavez/2004/lc_0414.shtml-

2) What are the documents the commission has reviewed? Are they complete? Are they credible?

Sandy Berger as a 9/11 testifier and provider of documentation.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Berger was acting as designated representative of Clinton and he allegedly "inadvertantly" took home classified documents from thenational archives while preparing testimony for the 9/11 commission. Can we believe the testimony of someone that is the subject of a criminal investigation involving classified documents. It is obvious that as the former National Security Advisor he should understand how to handle classified documents. Now some of the data that is missing was supposed to be provided to the9/11 commission. Should we believe him? He says he's innocent because he is just sloppy and forgetful. Until a few days ago he was John Kerry's Foreign Policy Advisor. Does that job present a conflict of interest given that it is an election year?

3) Where do we draw the line for the commissions findings and review? Have they overstepped their boundary in stating that there was no connection between al Qaeda and Iraq?

According to this source: http://conpush.com/2004/06/911-commision-wrong-on-iraq-al-qaeda.html
"The commision's recent statement, that, while meetings occured, there was no operational link between Iraq and Al Qaeda is completely false and adds to the panel's staggering lack of crediility. The job of the 9/11 commission is NOT to act as intelligence analysts. By taking individual intelligence reports, trying to interpret information given to the CIA, the commission itself has overstepped its mandate."

4) When political parties blame presidents, former presidents, and other elected and appointed leaders for the actions of foreign terrorists, we will never find ways to prevent them in the future. We have to identify the source and how to protect ourselves from that source. No one has said it better than Senator Cornyn: "But I think we ought to be clear about who is to blame for the terrible events of 9/11. It was not President Clinton or his administration. It was not President Bush or his administration. The individual and the organization at fault for the events of 9/11 were Osama bin Laden and al-Qaida." His statement about the 9/11 Commission entitled "Congressional Record: April 28, 2004 (Senate)Page S4449-S4450" is available on-line at http://www.fas.org/irp/congress/2004_cr/s042804.html.

5) Why are some people suggesting the commision, which is supposed to be bipartisan, has partisan language?

According to http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=3614 some activities of the commission "are most inappropriate and taint the work the commission with partisan poison."

Re: Revised Anti-War Songs... it's about pro-humanity anyway, isn't it?

2004-07-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

WMD Blowin' In the Wind
(with apologies to Bob Dylan)

How much evidence must the soldiers unveil
Before the UN admits there was a plan?
How many suicide bomb makers and terrorist camps,
How many factories and airplanes in the sand?
Yes, 'n' how many missiles must the soldiers find
Before the media admits they were banned?
The anthrax, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The anthrax is blowin' in the wind.

How many times must inspectors give up
Before they see through Saddam's lie?
Yes, 'n' how many years must the UN have
Siphoned sanctions 'though repressed people die?
Yes, 'n' how many deaths will it take till Kofi knows
With sanctions, too many people died?
The anthrax, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The anthrax is blowin' in the wind.

How many years can a tyrant exist
Burning evidence and planting mines in the sea?
How many years will the UN claim it don't exist
When weapons are plainly there as we can see?
Yes, 'n' how many times can a man turn his head,
Pretending there never were WMD?
The anthrax, my friend, is blowin' in the wind,
The anthrax is blowin' in the wind.

Some of Today's Headlines Are Favorable to Bush

2004-07-15T20:45:00.000-07:00

In today's news, I find some pieces in support the decisions of our politicians.

"British report links al Qaeda, BaghdadBy Bill Gertz The Washington Times"

Apparently, al Qaeda sought WMD expertise and training from Iraq.

"Bush and Blair Win Again"

excerpts from article: Concludes that British intelligence had indeed passed to the CIA credible data about Iraqi efforts to obtain uranium from the African nation of Niger. "It is accepted by all parties that Iraqi officials visited Niger in 1999," according to the Butler report. "The British government had intelligence from several different sources indicating that this visit was for the purpose of acquiring uranium. Since uranium compromises almost three-quarters of Niger's exports. the intelligence was credible." True, the information did not substantiate that Saddam Hussein's people had actually obtained uranium — but then, "the British government did not claim this." Saddam did have "the strategic intention of resuming the pursuit of prohibited weapons programs, including, if possible, [his] nuclear-weapons program, when United Nations inspection regimes were relaxed or sanctions were eroded or lifted." The Senate report was equally adamant: British and French intelligence reported separately to the CIA about Iraqi procurement efforts in Niger.

Re: Internet Political Humor

2004-07-10T10:08:00.000-07:00

During a campaign tour of the Apache Nation Wednesday,
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said he
had a plan to increase every Native American's income
by $40,000 a year. Senator Kerry refused repeated
requests for details of his plan. However, he also
told the Apaches that during his Senate career, he has
voted YES 9,637 times....for every Indian issue ever
introduced.

Before his departure, the Apache Tribe presented the
Presidential candidate a plaque inscribed with his new
Indian name, Walking Eagle.

After Kerry left, tribal officials explained that
Walking Eagle is a bird so full of crap it can't fly.

***rimshot***

Subject: FW: One yard stick for everything

I'm trying to get all this political stuff straightened out in my head so I'll know how to vote come November. Right now, we have one guy saying one thing. Then the other guy says something else. Who to believe. Lemme see, have I got this straight?

Clinton awards Halliburton no-bid contract in Yugoslavia - good...
Bush awards Halliburton no-bid contract in Iraq - bad...

Clinton spends 77 billion on war in Serbia - good...
Bush spends 87 billion in Iraq - bad...

Clinton imposes regime change in Serbia - good...
Bush imposes regime change in Iraq - bad...

Clinton bombs Christian Serbs on behalf of Muslim Albanian terrorists - good...
Bush liberates 25 million from a genocidal dictator - bad...

Clinton bombs Chinese embassy - good...
Bush bombs terrorist camps - bad...

Clinton commits felonies while in office - good...
Bush lands on aircraft carrier in jumpsuit - bad...

Clinton says mass graves in Serbia - good...
Entire world says WMD in Iraq - bad...

No mass graves found in Serbia - good...
No WMD found Iraq - bad...

Stock market crashes in 2000 under Clinton - good...
Economy slows under Bush - bad...

Clinton refuses to take custody of Bin Laden - good...
World Trade Centers fall under Bush - bad...

Clinton says Saddam has nukes - good...
Bush says Saddam has nukes - bad...

Clinton calls for regime change in Iraq - good...
Bush imposes regime change in Iraq - bad...

Terrorist training in Afghanistan under Clinton - good...
Bush destroys training camps in Afghanistan - bad...

Milosevic not yet convicted - good...
Saddam turned over for trial - bad...

Ah, it's so confusing!

****rimshot****

SOCIAL SECURITY:

Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat, introduced the Social Security (FICA) Program. He promised:
1.) That participation in the Program would be completely voluntary,
2.) That the participants would only have to pay 1% of the first $1,400 of their annual incomes into the Program,
3.) That the money the participants elected to put into the Program would be deductible from their income for tax purposes each year,
4.) That the money the participants put into the independent "Trust Fund" rather than into the General operating fund, and therefore, would only be used to fund the Social Security Retirement Program, and no other Government program, and,
5.) That the annuity payments to the retirees would never be taxed as income.

Since many of us have paid into FICA for years and are now receiving a Social Security check every month -- and then finding that we are getting taxed on 85% of the money we paid to the Federal government to "put away," you may be interested in the following:

Q: Which Political Party took Social Security from the independent "Trust" fund and put it into the General fund so that Congress could spend it?

A: It was Lyndon Johnson and the Democratically-controlled House and Senate.

Q: Which Political Party eliminated the income tax deduction for Social Security (FICA) withholding?

A: The Democratic Party.

Q: Which Political Party started taxing Social Security annuities?

A: The Democratic Party, with Al Gore casting the "tie-breaking" deciding vote as President of the Senate, while he was Vice President of the U.S.

Q: Which Political Party decided to start giving annuity payments to immigrants?

A: That's right! Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party. Immigrants moved into this country, and at age 65, began to receive SSI Social Security payments! The Democratic Party gave these payments to them, even though they never paid a dime into it!

Then, after doing all this lying and thieving and violation of the original contract (FICA), the Democrats turn around and tell you that the

Republicans want to take your Social Security away!

And the worst part about it is, uninformed citizens believe it!

Perhaps we are asking the wrong questions during this 2004 election year!

If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of awareness will be planted and maybe good changes will evolve.

How many people can YOU send this to?

Keep this going clear up through the 2004 election!! We need to be heard!

Re: My Views on the Abortion Issue

2004-07-09T10:44:00.000-07:00

A war on terror should insist upon stopping the anti-abortion movement in America.

The American Anti-Abortion movement is one of terrorism.

This group desires to override a woman's inalienable right to have sovereignty over her own body.

This group is damaging to the world and a threat to the freedom, dignity, and liberty of women world wide.

This group uses emotional threats and weapons to forward its position. They have physically attacked and harmed doctors and practitioners as well as women seeking medical advice and procedures. These tactics are illegal.

This group use government propaganda as a tool to forward its position.

The propaganda inappropriately demonizes and slanders pro-choice people by calling them "baby killers". The fact is that being pro-choice is not synonymous with condoning abortion as a practice. Being pro-choice says that it is a woman's right to chose what happens to her body. It does not mean that a person thinks abortion is morally justified. It does not mean people want to see abortions used for any purpose (to save women at risk, to prevent overpopulation, for gender selection, for reducing handicapped births). Pro-choice people want women to have control and power over their family life.

The propaganda also illustrates worst case abortions and calls them the norm of abortion. It is not representative of the typical abortion procedure and does not embrace the typical case.

This group uses hypocritical religious dogma to forward its position.

As a religious value, it ignores the words of the bible:
"Out of more than 600 laws of Moses, none comments on abortion. One Mosaic law about miscarriage specifically contradicts the claim that the Bible is antiabortion, clearly stating that miscarriage does not involve the death of a human being. If a woman has a miscarriage as the result of a fight, the man who caused it should be fined. If the woman dies, however, the culprit must be killed." Source: The Abortion Controversy

As a religious value, the power to say whether or not abortions are legitimate is with the religious institution and not with the state. Our legislature and judicial branch need to uphold abortion rights.

The left wing is right to screen federal judges on the abortion issue. It is a quality acid test for whether or not a person really understands inalienable human rights.

Re: HRW - Statement To Gov'ts Regarding Women's Reproductive Rights

2004-07-09T10:41:00.000-07:00

The following is the Human Rights Watch Statement Regarding Women's Rights over women's reproductive and sexual decision-making and actions

source: Human Rights Watch

To Governments:

· Governments should not promote, condone, tolerate, or acquiesce in the use of violence, coercion and discrimination to control women's reproductive and sexual decision-making and actions. Laws that criminalize violence, coercion and discrimination should also be applied to reproductive and sexual abuses. Such abuses include, but are not limited to: forced marriage; rape, marital rape and statutory rape; coerced virginity examinations; forced abortion, sterilization andpregnancy; and nonconsensual female genital mutilation or circumcision.

· Governments should ensure that no medical procedure is performed without the patient's full and informed consent.

· Governments should review and amend laws that exempt husbands who rape their wives or that treat adultery differently when it is committed by men and women.

· States should vigorously uphold the right of women to be free from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, other forms of violent or coercive acts, or discriminatory practices aimed at controlling their reproductive or sexual status, particularly their status as virgins. Governments should not only refrain from committing such abuse, but should also take necessary steps to protect everyone within their territories against such abuse. Governments should adopt legislation, implement public awareness campaigns, and take other appropriate measures to this end.

· Governments should articulate and implement human rights guidelines for national population programs. These guidelines should be widely distributed to family planning clinics and hospitals, and training should be provided to health care providers, with an emphasis on family planning officials.

· Governments should interpret the rights to privacy and nondiscrimination to guarantee to adult women the right to decide freely and responsibly whether, with whom, when and why to engage in private sexual relations. The age of majority with regard to sexual relations should be determined by domestic law and should be the same for males and females.

· Governments that have not yet done so should establish and enforce a minimum age of marriage under law as a critical step for eradicating child marriage and early child pregnancy. The legal minimum age should be nondiscriminatory, i.e., the same for males and females. Governments should also mandate the compulsory registration of all marriages.

· Regardless of the domestic legal status of abortion, every government should protect health care providers who perform or assist in abortions and women who seek and receive this medical procedure from violence from opponents of abortion. Where abortion is legal, governments should further prohibit professional regulatory bodies, such as associations of doctors and nurses, from coercing or retaliating against members who provide a lawful service.

· Governments should take necessary steps to uphold the right to freedom of expression. It is the duty of states to enact and enforce laws that guarantee the right of all individuals to seek, impart and receive information, including information related to all types of family planning services. Any derogation from this duty to protect public health and morals must be provided in law and necessary and proportionate to the legitimate interests pursued. At a minimum, governments should not interfere in private exchanges of information between doctors and patients.

· Governments should uphold the right to liberty of movement, including the right to leave one's country to seek family planning services. Restrictions on this right in the interest of public health or morals must be provided in law and necessary and proportionate to the legitimate aims pursued.

· In countries where customary and/or religious law co-exist with statutory law, governments should ensure that each legal regime is in full compliance with international human rights norms, with particular attention to matters of family and personal law. Respect for traditions and customs should not be allowed to override states' international obligations to uphold women's basic rights, including, among others: freedom from physical or psychological attacks on their integrity and dignity as persons, nondiscrimination and equality before the law, equal protection of the law, freedom of expression and movement, and privacy.

Human Rights Watch
350 Fifth Ave
34th Floor
New York, N.Y. 10118

Re: On-Line References About Saddam Hussein

2004-07-06T04:16:00.000-07:00

Bibliography About Saddam

Wanted for crimes against humanity

Crimes committed by the Iraqi regime (under Saddam)

Iraq Tales

Fear -- Saddam's Chosen Method of Staying in Power

Iraqi WMDs

More or Less Killers of the 20th Century

Saddam Hussein

Uday

Modern King of Babylon by Ken Raggio

Biography of Saddam Hussein

Saddam Hussein: Crimes and Human Rights Abuses (December 4, 2002) from The Iraq Foundation

The Iraqi Government Assault on the Marsh Arabs (January 29, 2003) from The Iraq Foundation

Saddam faces his past in Iraq's new future

Iraq: No Amnesty for Mass Murderers

Rush Limbaugh archive about Saddam
Baghdad press briefings

A Statement by the Iraqi Tribes

2004-07-04T20:44:00.000-07:00

A Statement by the Iraqi Tribes

In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.

"Fain would they extinguish Allah's light with their mouths, but Allah will not allow but that His light should be perfected, even though the Unbelievers may hate this to happen. "

A look on the events shows us incidents occurring in quick succession in Ashura, Karbala, and Al-Kazimiyah. Our sons are blown up by booby-traps everywhere. Sedition is transported to our formerly peaceable and sacred cities. They clamor, weep, and mourn for the days of Saddam and nostalgically remember the days of Haddam [word play on Saddam's name, destroyer], days that were prosperous only for them. We know that their objective is not to bring Saddam back but an altogether different goal. They kill intentionally and brutally after kidnapping anyone who belongs to the jurisdiction of the Prince of the Faithful. They do not distinguish between an Iraqi, Arab, or foreign national. However, they respect, release, and apologize to anyone who is not loyal to the jurisdiction of the Prince of the Faithful regardless of his nationality. The best proof of their behavior is what they did to the Lebanese citizen and the Iraqis whose bodies they mutilated, but they set the Egyptian and the Turk free.

On 5 June 2004 a group of young men who own trucks and who transport goods went to Al-Fallujah to do work for one of its inhabitants. After they delivered the merchandise, they were taken captive by a group calling itself the "mujahidin," but should actually be called evildoers. The young men's families sought the help of the city's police and contacted Abdallah al-Jinabi, imam of Sa'd Bin-Abu-Waqqas Mosque, and Zafir al-Dulaymi, imam of Al-Hadrah al-Muhammadiyah Mosque. The two imams refused to cooperate to help secure the young men's release. The kidnappers brutally tortured them, executed them, and then mutilated their bodies. They robbed them of all their possessions including their clothes. The incident was covered up and the media organs that sympathize with the culprits and lament their calamities refrained from reporting it. The media that remained silent about this occurrence included Al-Jazirah and Al-Arabiyah television channels, which generally make mountains out of molehills. This action is unacceptable by any standard and by the rules of all heavenly religions. It violates all divine and man-made laws and all the values and ethics of all societies.

Hence we declare the following:

1. Do you wish us to strike a siege around Al-Fallujah and Al-Ramadi area in general and separate it from Iraq? Perhaps it is this that you want because you seek independence. In this way we will make it easier for you.

2. We swear by God that our patience has been exhausted by your treacherous, cowardly acts. We have been patient for long. Otherwise we will kill the owners of companies, offices, and businessmen who are natives of your area but who now resid

2. We swear by God that our patience has been exhausted by your treacherous, cowardly acts. We have been patient for long. Otherwise we will kill the owners of companies, offices, and businessmen who are natives of your area but who now reside in the south, the Central Euphrates region, and Baghdad. We will kill any of you who enter Baghdad or are now residing in Baghdad or our other provinces. If this is what you want, then it is your choice.

3. The Iraqi Government needs to adopt prompt measures to arrest the culprits and turn them over to the tribes of the men who were martyred. The tribes will judge them in accordance with civil and tribal laws.

4. The coalition authority must not take these events lightly. What has happened to the conditional truce? Was the truce only between Al-Fallujah's inhabitants and the Americans, or was it meant to provide security to the entire country and its people?

In light of the foregoing, we declare that we should not be blamed for what we will do because we have already given a warning. Beware of the wrath of the patient.

The Names of the Martyrs:

1. Hamid Faysal Matar 2. Khalid Latif Matar 3. Hamid Abbas Abal 4. Yas Khudayr Abbas 5. Ahmad Ali Hilal 6, Basim Muhammad Faris

The Names of the Tribes that Regard this Issue as their Private Cause and the Feud their Own Feud:

Al-Sadah Tribes: 1. Al-Musawiyah Al-Sadah Tribes 2. Al-Yasiriyah Al-Sadah Tribes 3. Al-Bukhat Al-Sadah Tribes 4. Al-Sharaa Al-Sadah Tribes 5. Al-Shawk Al-Sadah Tribes 6. Al-Jaza'ir Al-Sadah Tribes 7. Al-Ashraf Al-Sadah Tribes 8. Al-Sadah al-Sawad 9. Al-Sadah al-Makasis 10. Al-Sadah al-Husni 11. Al-Sadah al-Husayni 12. Al-Sadah al-Hammash 13. Al-Sadah al-Battat

The Tribes: 1. Bani-Lam Tribes 2. Al-Bu Hamad Tribes 3. Bani Asad Tribes 4. Al-Fartus Tribes 5. Al-Juwaybir Tribes 6. All of Al-Sawa'id Tribes 7. Al-Bahadil Tribes 8. Al-Fukaykat Tribes 9. Al-Subayh Tribes 10. Al-Ghurrah Tribes 11. Banu-Humayr 12. Al Laftah 13. Al-Akrad al-Afiliyah 14. Al-Ahlaf 15. Al Rusaytim 16. Al-Dalfiyah 17. Al-Izzah 18. Tallafar 19. Mandali 20. Khaniqin 21. Badrah 22. Banu Ka'b 23. Al-Sudan 24. Banu Malik 25. Al-Bu Zayd 26. Banu Zayd 27. Banu Hasan 28. Al-Ghazzi 29. Khafajah 30. Rubayah Ammah 31. Al-Isa and Al-Bazzun 32. Banu Layth 33. Banu Wa'il 34. Bayyat 35. Al-Husun 36. Al-Subayh 37. Al-Mayah 38. Al-Bu Daraj 39. Al-Dhahabiyat 40. Al-Jamamisah 41. Al Budayr

We urge everyone to act and publish this statement in all the media so that the world will learn about the real situation in Al-Fallujah and what the people of Iraq think about it.

posted in comments section of IRAQ THE MODEL
by
Neonknight | Email | Homepage | 07.04.04 - 10:11 pm | #

Farenheit 9/11

2004-07-03T19:49:00.000-07:00

My 15 yr old daughter and I saw the Farenheit 9/11 movie today.

Did it all just happen or was it a dream? Moore asks as he shows the Gore team cheering their victory and Gore's thank you speak to Florida.

It starts with the Florida vote, basically with sound bytes that make it appear unarguable that Gore won. That upset me a lot because I know one of the vote counters that was called in during the media circus, etc., to count votes. She would never be party to crime even though she is a democrat, she would have given the honest count. I also saw reports that said they went back and recounted and Bush had definitely won, but Moore finds sources that say Gore won.

Moore points out that Fox news manager John Ellis (the station that started the report that Bush won and not Gore) is a relative of Bush's. Then he shows footage of numerous people objecting to the vote, but because they don't have a Senator signature the laws won't recognize their objection. I'm confused, why didn't they get a signature from a Senator?

Then Moore talks about excessive "vacation" time that Bush took.

The 9/11 part is just a black screen and you hear the sounds of the planes crashing, traffic, and people screaming. He doesn't show the gore of that day.

It appears Bush spent 42% of his time on vacation until 9/11 when he went to a photo opportunity in a school in Florida. Moore says Bush knew about the first attack before the photo session, yet spent about 20 minutes there reading a book about a Goat with 2nd graders and not responding to the attacks.

Moore has a lot of off-camera footage, showing the preping and grooming of key speakers.

Moore talks to the author of "House of Bush, House of Saud" about the Saudi relationship with Bush. The Saudi's invested $1.4Billion in business interests of Bush (I think it was the Carlyle Group). Prince Bandar bin Sultan is also a friend. They make lots of money at companies like Halliburton and others. Moore talked to Thomas Kean.

Then Moore talks about the bin Laden connection to Bush and the scandel about them being able to leave the USA. He intervies Jack Cloonan the former FBI guy who ways they held hundreds of hostages but not these guys. That these guys should have been intereeved before allowing them to leave the country. He said that's what detectives do -- is to interview the relatives of criminal suspects. I think they should've been questioned also before leaving, and he does point out that numerous innocent people were detained just because they came from here or there. My daughter thought it was poor that Moore kept finishing the sentences of the people he interviewed. It came across as scripted or prompted to her, and not their true feelings. Senator Dorgan also spoke to the issue. Bandar said he had met Osama bin Laden once (Larry King live) and that was when he came to thank the Saudi's for encouraging the USA to come to the aid of Afghanistan rebel fighters. Bush gave a reason for not allowing Congress to conduct a 9/11 investigation: "we don't want to reveal how we collect information."

Moore takes up the scandal over Bush's military records. He has copies that were less censored than the one's presented in the media. In 1972 Bush and James Bath failed to take a required medical exam. Bath later became the Texas money manager for the bin Laden's in Texas. Moore says that's why James Bath's name was censored on the copies released to public. James Reynolds Bath invested money in the bin Laden's and in return in Bush. When Harken Energy bough one of Bush's companies, he was successful. There was a debacle regarding Bush's sale of Harken stock slightly before value plummetted. Moore implies wrongdoing and insider knowledge. Moore says the Carlyle Group benefited from 9/11 and involves a number of political leaders.

Moore criticizes the Afghanistan invasion with footage of the Taliban's visit to USA previously (suggesting they were friends of the BUsh's and Halliburton and such) and then that the installed leader after the war was a former advisor to one of their companies. Moore criticized the fact that only 11,000 troops were sent to Afghanistan. Moore interviewd Richard Clarke who was quite critical of the fact that it took 2 months to get special forces into Afghanistan and that not enough was done to get Osama bin Laden.

Then Moore talks about the "war on Terror" being the war on america. An old man is questioned by the FBI for bad-mouthing Bush, mother's can't take breast milk on the plane, but they can take 4 boxes of matches and 2 lighters, etc. Moore shows that none of the congressmen actually read the Patriot Act before voting on it, so he goes around the Capitol in an ice cream truck reading it to them through a bull-horn. Moore intervied Congressman Jim McDermott. He talks about Tappahamuck Virginia being a possible target. He talks about John Ashcroft scandel being beaten by someone who died on a plane in the Missouri election.. getting appointed. He talks about the Peace Fresco group in Fresno California and how they had an FBI infiltrator and how they are such innocent cookie eating folks who just want world peace. Some phone number 202-225-2536 And an Oregon state trooper who there wer usually no more than 8 on duty in Oregon and it had such a coast line there should be more.

Moore shows footage of happy Iraqis in peaceful Iraq. We're supposed to think the footage is from before the war started, but it represents how Moore saw things: kids flying kites, and playing, and people cleaning their shops. Then Moore talks about Iraq and how Iraq was never a threat to the USA and never attacked the USA so why are we going there? Some footage of Baghdad burning and such. He shows the soldiers are listening to rock music while they attack. He shows small children that have been killed, and angry Iraqis screaming into the camera. He shows major demonstrations in Iraq and unhappy people. He interviews disgruntled soldiers. He shows a night time raid on the house of a college student.

He talks about recruiting for the military in Flint, Michigan and how that's the best option for people there. Moore says that demographically, the USA military is comprised of people who live in the worst houses and attend the worst schools. That they are the ones called upon to protect the system that gives them the worst of everything. He shows severely and permanantely wounded soldiers returning from Iraq. He says that Bush did not support many bills to increase pay and benefits of soldiers, that prescription drug prices doubled, etc.

A big segment is about Pedersen. Moore interview his mother, she reads his last letter and describes how the news of his death affected her. She goes to Washington and meets anti-protesters and cries.

Microsoft holds a conference to figure out how people can make money from Iraq.

It was a sad and depressing movie. The theme seemed to be "Bush is a bad person and every decision he makes is the wrong decision". There didn't seem to be any other statement than that.

Re: Draft in 2005???

2004-06-09T06:09:00.000-07:00

Apparently it was another internet "hoax," but this email was circulating http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/draft.asp:

http://www.congress.org/congressorg/issues/alert/?alertid=5834001&content_dir=ua_congressorg

Pending Draft Legislation Targeted for Spring 2005

The Draft will Start in June 2005

There is pending legislation in the House and Senate (twin bills: S 89
and HR 163) which will time the program's initiation so the draft can
begin at early as Spring 2005 — just after the 2004 presidential
election. The administration is quietly trying to get these bills
passed now, while the public's attention is on the elections, so our
action on this is needed immediately.

$28 million has been added to the 2004 Selective Service System (SSS)
budget to prepare for a military draft that could start as early as
June 15, 2005. Selective Service must report to Bush on March 31, 2005
that the system, which has lain dormant for decades, is ready for
activation. Please see website: www.sss.gov/perfplan_fy2004.html to
view the sss annual performance plan — fiscal year 2004.

The pentagon has quietly begun a public campaign to fill all 10,350
draft board positions and 11,070 appeals board slots nationwide..
Though this is an unpopular election year topic, military experts and
influential members of congress are suggesting that if Rumsfeld's
prediction of a "long, hard slog" in Iraq and Afghanistan [and a
permanent state of war on "terrorism"] proves accurate, the U.S. may
have no choice but to draft.

Congress brought twin bills, S. 89 and HR 163 forward this year,
http://www.hslda.org/legislation/na...s89/default.asp entitled the
Universal National Service Act of 2003, "to provide for the common
defense by requiring that all young persons [age 18--26] in the United
States, including women, perform a period of military service or a
period of civilian service in furtherance of the national defense and
homeland security, and for other purposes." These active bills
currently sit in the committee on armed services.

Dodging the draft will be more difficult than those from the Vietnam
era.

College and Canada will not be options. In December 2001, Canada and
the U.S. signed a "smart border declaration," which could be used to
keep would-be draft dodgers in. Signed by Canada's minister of foreign
affairs, John Manley, and U.S. Homeland Security director, Tom Ridge,
the declaration involves a 30-point plan which implements, among other
things, a "pre-clearance agreement" of people entering and departing
each country. Reforms aimed at making the draft more equitable along
gender and class lines also eliminates higher education as a shelter.
Underclassmen would only be able to postpone service until the end of
their current semester. Seniors would have until the end of the
academic year.

Even those voters who currently support US actions abroad may still
object to this move, knowing their own children or grandchildren will
not have a say about whether to fight. Not that it should make a
difference, but this plan, among other things, eliminates higher
education as a shelter and includes women in the draft.

The public has a right to air their opinions about such an important
decision.

Please send this on to all the friends, parents, aunts and uncles,
grandparents, and cousins that you know. Let your children know too —
it's their future, and they can be a powerful voice for change!

Please also contact your representatives to ask them why they aren't
telling their constituents about these bills — and contact newspapers
and other media outlets to ask them why they're not covering this
important story.

Origins: As U.S. military involvement in Vietnam came to an end in
1973, so did the draft. For the first time since the days of World War
II, the U.S. military shifted to an all-volunteer force; all vacancies
in the armed forces were filled through recruitment and re-enlistments
rather than conscription. (The requirement for young men to register
with the Selective Service was not abolished until 1975, however, and
it was reinstated in 1980.)

As recent U.S. military involvement in places such as Afghanistan and
Iraq has required the largest commitment of American troops since the
mid-1970s, and the military has had to double the deployment periods of
some units, call up additional reserves, and extend tours of duty by a
year in order to maintain adequate staffing levels, the specter of a
resurrected draft has been looming on the mind of many a young person.
Although the possibility of a reinstatement of conscription cannot be
ruled out, a renewal of the draft anytime soon appears unlikely, and
one implemented as early as June 2005 seems rather improbable.

As reflected in the message quoted above, the draft issue has largely
come to public attention due to pair of bills introduced in Congress
(S.89 and H.R.163) which seek to obligate all citizens and residents of
the U.S. beween the ages of 18 and 26 (both male and female) to perform
a two-year period of national service (not necessarily as part of the
military), and the Selective Service's advertising for volunteers to
man draft boards around the country. However, both the Congressional
bills were introduced back in January 2003 and have languished in
committee ever since with seemingly little support, and the Selective
Service maintains that the timing of ads to fill draft board positions
was coincidental, part of a process of filling expired board positions
that has been underway for several years:

About 10,000 to 12,000 people serve 20-year terms as unpaid board
members. [Selective Service spokesman Pat] Schuback said because the
current board system was set up in 1979, and the bulk of volunteers
stayed the full 20 years, many of the appointments expired beginning in
1999.

That means hiring replacements has been going on for several years.
Confusion arose in recent weeks when someone posted the hiring notice
on www.defendamerica.mil, a Pentagon Web site about the war on terror,
even though the Selective Service System is not a part of the Defense
Department.

"Serve Your Community and the Nation — Become a Selective Service
System Local Board Member," it said.

Several newspapers around the world wrote stories, leading to
questions about whether the government was planning to restart drafting
enlistees. The stories appeared as news media wrote increasingly about
the Pentagon's extensive mobilization of National Guard and Reserve
troops for duty in Iraq.

"It was a case of bad timing because of the war in Iraq and news about
deployments," Pentagon spokesman Maj. Michael Shavers said of the Web
posting. "It created a tempest in a teacup."
Opinions — from both those inside and outside the military — differ as
to what the manpower requirements of the U.S. armed forces will be in
the near future, and whether the services will be able to continue to
meet those requirements under the current all-volunteer system. And
certainly not everyone agrees that general conscription is the best
solution to potential staffing shortfalls, for a variety of reasons:

While many in the military support conscription on the grounds of
social equity or national service, nearly all professional soldiers
think that bringing back the draft now would reduce the quality of the
military, while driving up its cost.

"The draft would be the Army's worst nightmare," said retired Lt. Col.
Leonard Wong, now a research professor at the U.S. Army War College at
Carlisle Barracks. "We have a high quality Army because we have people
who want to be in it. Our volunteer force is really a professional
force. You can't draft people into a profession."

A fundamental problem with a draft today, experts say, is that the
historic two-year period of conscription isn't enough time to get a
return on the investment in training that modern soldiers require.
"There's just too much equipment [draftees] could break," Pike said.

A related problem: the cost of feeding, clothing, training and paying
a large influx of unskilled personnel would gobble up funds the
military needs for other purposes.

"We're a personnel-based institution," Wong said. "If we have a lot
more people walking in the door, it would suck up all of our
resources."
Since a reimposition of conscription would require Congressional
approval, which has not yet been given, it is unlikely that a draft
(even if approved by Congress) would be underway as early as Spring
2005:

And even if the draft were reinstated tomorrow, it would take at least
two years before it could produce additional soldiers for Iraq and
Afghanistan, the experts say.

"It will take 193 days from the time that we get started until the
first person is presented to the Department of Defense," said Alyce
Burton, a spokeswoman for the Selective Service. It would then take a
year and a half to two years to train the draftees and form them into
new combat units, Krepinovich said.
Even if the draft started up again, it might be of a much more limited
nature than in previous years, with only those who could fill
specialized positions in certain fields (e.g., health care,
linguistics, computer technology) being conscripted.

There is as yet no definitive answer to the question of whether or not
the U.S. will reinstitute a draft. Obviously some thought has been
given to the issue, but the possibility that such thoughts will be
turned into reality appears rather small at this point. Still,
conditions and attitudes can change very quickly — another event of the
magnitude of the September 11 attacks could prompt some rapid shifts in
government policy and public opinion.

Last updated: 25 May 2004

The URL for this page is
http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/draft.asp

Urban Legends Reference Pages © 1995-2004
by Barbara and David P. Mikkelson
This material may not be reproduced without permission

----------

Sources:
Gross, Karen. "Feel the Draft."
Philadelphia City Paper. 20 September 2001.

Kelly, Jack. "Rumor Aside, Draft's Return Most Unlikely."
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. 24 May 2004.

Lindorff, Dave. "Oiling up the Draft Machine?"
Salon.com. 3 November 2003.

Associated Press. "Selective Service Notice Creates Flurry of
Press Reports Suggesting Return of Draft."
USA Today. 10 November 2003.

About Me

2004-06-01T10:01:00.000-07:00

I have wanted to be a physicist since I was three. I majored in physics in college and graduate school.

I think life on Earth evolved from anaerobic fungi that existed long before the Earth exhaled all the O2 and CO2 it breathed in during its earliest years -- and life didn't evolve from some primordial soup of ammino acids that coagulated when lightning struck. For this reason, classical biologists never seem to understand me - or maybe it's the other way around.

I'd like to be involved in the pursuit of greater knowledge of the interstellar medium and optics - like optical computing - I'm also interested in studying optical phenomena of the atmosphere and lightning and the interaction of the atmosphere and ocean. I love image processing. My regret from school is that I didn't study cold temperature physics more because I think it is really cool (LOL!).

I'm very interested in Iraq Freedom. There are a lot of exciting things going on in science these days like trips to Saturn and Mars, SpaceShipOne, and finding new species of fish and squid in the vast oceans. We live in wonderful times. But I agree with what Feynman said:

"No government has the right to decide on the truth of scientific principles, nor to prescribe in any way the character of the questions investigated. Neither may a government determine the aesthetic value of artistic creations, nor limit the forms of literacy or artistic expression. Nor should it pronounce on the validity of economic, historic, religious, or philosophical doctrines. Instead it has a duty to its citizens to maintain the freedom, to let those citizens contribute to the further adventure and the development of the human race."

-Richard Feynman "The Uncertainty of Values" (in the collection The Meaning of it All)

I think the reason we are seeing so many advances in the US is because the scientists are less bridled - I don't want to say "unbridled" because that isn't true. But there are a lot of opportunities to have your own independent ideas and persue them. It's harder to get money, but in some of these countries like Iraq and Iran you have to only research stuff the religious leaders or government leaders are interested in. I think Operation Iraqi Freedom will open the doors for scores of scientists and artists in those regions to persue greater things and we'll see medical advances and new technologies. Not to mention the great social engineering undertaking we have of creating democracies that recognize fundamental human rights. I'm excited and want to see this succeed. :-)