Intentional Fallacy

Surging Troops, Falling Numbers

2007-05-25T00:04:00.000-07:00

Here we are, rapidly approaching that point at which we were to start seeing results from the so-called "surge" Dubya pushed so hard for early this year. What I want to know is this (well, I want to know a lot of things, but a project I am pursuing reminded me of this one): What happened to the troop drawdowns Rummy announced in the waning days of 2005?

These Versus Those

2007-04-17T13:26:00.000-07:00

A tragic school shooting that results in 33 dead = Dear Leader arrives to said school to pontificate, I mean show his concern and compassion, within 48 hours.

Thousands die when a major US city is wiped off the map after a hurricane = Dear Leader stays on vacation for four days. (And P.S. there are Katrina victims who still haven't been identified!)

I'm Thinking NO

2007-03-08T17:36:00.000-08:00

Could an atheist be elected to national office?

Come to think of it, are there currently any publicly "out" atheists or agnostics serving in Washington?

I had never asked before. I had assumed the answer would be no. It has always seemed to me that those politicians are sort of forced to talk about how great "God" is and how they go to church with family every Sunday and all of that horseshit although I've never understood WHY. Despite what they would have you believe, morality and religion are not interdependent.

Civil War

2006-11-30T15:25:00.000-08:00

So NBC is calling the mess in Iraq a civil war, but the BBC is holding off. Colin Powell (prepping for a run at the White House?) says yes, but General Jack Keane, who developed the invasion plan, says not yet (but it's getting there).

Sadly, and many before me have said this same things, civil war may be necessary. Indeed, we got our nation through civil war. Let's be clear about one thing here: The only things that may remain of the Iraq that stood before the invasion are the name and the borders. This is not an improved Iraq; this is a new nation. New nations are not created by those in existence, they are created by people. Sadly, the people have little say right now in where things are going, and no elections are going to change that fact until the violence is stopped from inside.

Better Dead Than Red

2006-11-14T14:24:00.000-08:00

Let the new meaning of that phrase sound across this land for ages as the heralds proclaim an end to the politics of private deals and public hatred.

Bush Takes Credit

2006-11-10T01:23:00.000-08:00

Bush has taken credit for a lot of things since taking office (note I did not write "since being elected"), but after Tuesday's midterms he finally took credit for something good: helping create the environment that lost the House and the Senate for the red team. Heck, he even managed to be in office when an avowed Socialist (that's the other red team) took a seat in the senate. That's a neat trick.

Dickie Gets An F

2006-11-10T01:22:00.000-08:00

Yep, it became official yesterday: Cheney gets an F, either for misunderstanding math or failing to read well enough to differentiate between (D) and (R).

The Math

2006-11-06T21:43:00.000-08:00

Yeah, let's see if Rove passes the course after 36 more hours.

Clues:
Wednesday
All Things Considered
Arrogance

I Know You're Out There

2006-10-18T10:03:00.000-07:00

So come on, someone, tell me. What the hell is the so-called "gay agenda"?

Consider this article about the problems that religious conservatives in the Republican party have with gays in the Republican party. Check near the bottom of the first page for a couple references to the "gay agenda." I have been hearing about and reading about this fanciful beast for far too many years, but as yet, it apears to be a day behind a unicorn in showing up anywhere.

Here's my challenge to all you folks out there who may stumble this way: Detail for me this "gay agenda." Oh, and don't forget the evidence. You know, that stuff that allows an argument to ascend above the level of that dogma crap.

There is a Tide. . .

2006-10-17T21:25:00.000-07:00

. . . and it is turning.

Can you say impeachment, boys and girls?

Nukes

2006-10-09T23:33:00.000-07:00

Apparently there is a term that describes nations that cannot be counted on for reason: they are not "fully rational players" in international politics. It one thing when a nation that mistekenly gets described as "democratic," is not a fully rational player, but adding nuclear arms to that mix is a bad idea.

Now the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has joined that group. Wasn't it bad enough when the United States, not currently fully rational and not really "democratic," had nukes? The world is going to hell in a mushroom cloud.

Here's What's Funny

2006-09-09T03:14:00.000-07:00

Iraq (upon invasion) had has much to do with the "War on Terror" as my cat has to do with licking itself to be ironic.

George al-Bashir

2006-07-22T14:28:00.000-07:00

I finally understand why the US isn't doing more to aid the civilian people of Darfur. Apparently, our fine leader condones the behavior of the Sudanese government and its affiliated violent militias: "[US]Soldiers say officers commanded them to kill all military age males in Iraq"

Zarqawi

2006-06-08T01:14:00.000-07:00

I will not say that the news of Abu Musab al Zarqawi's death is in any way bad, but I fear we will spend days, quite possibly months, listening to the administration crow about how effective the U.S. and Iraqi militaries are and what a red letter day this has been. I cannot get behind that kind of attitude.

Zarqawi's organization, not even named al Qaeda in Iraq until some months after its formation (until after he had communicated with bin Laden), was formed in order to fight the American and coalition forces in Iraq after the invasion. In short, while it seems we have not been doing much to get bin Laden of late—if we have, we are proving just how poor the same military that killed Zarqawi can be—we still took years to get Zarqawi, including one case in which the Iraqis had him in custody and released him.

Worse, we have to acknowledge that Zarqawi, who entered Iraq after the U.S. invation, wouldn't have had anything to organize against had the U.S. not chosen to make a detour into that country in order to find more interesting targets. We made Zarqawi, in effect. Yesterday's killing has reversed, in part, a Frankenstein's monster of our own creation, and good as that is, it would have been better had we never needed to do get rid of him in the first place.

Eye of Newt

2006-03-30T18:45:00.000-08:00

Apparently, " . . . real change requires real changes" (speaking with Fox News pundit Sean Hannity about 3minutes ago).

I am so pleased he is up with the "What would this nation be without this land of ours?" kind of Reagan thinking.

Texas Needs to Secede

2006-03-08T07:42:00.000-08:00

Really, please someone tell me what is wrong with Texans?

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/03/07/delay.election/index.html

They apparently think it's fine for a House Representative indicted for money-laundering, connected big-time to Jack Abramhoff, and party to multiple other ethics snafus to serve them in Washington. What the fuck? Sheeple are even more stupid than I thought.

Christmas is Number One with a Depleted Uranium Shell

2005-12-20T15:45:00.000-08:00

The controversy over how Christmas should be recognized is still as fresh and interesting as Calcutta sidewalks, but the United States Postal Service has really taken this issue to a whole new level, Ted Nugent style.

My wife received a Christmas card from a friend today (how sweet). The USPS, a private company, used an interesting cancelation mark:

Celebrating the 230th Army Birthday.

It includes the Army logo to its right, of course.

Now, I don't know about you, but I am of the opinion that Christmas should not be closely linked to the armed forces. The sad part about this is that it is probably the same people who are complaining about Sears' (67% Republican donations) and Wal-Mart's (78% Republican donations) decisions not to greet customers with "Merry Christmas" this season who will be most in favor of putting what may well amount to recruitment advertising on people's Christmas cards.

I will be attending Christmas services at my old church in Kirkland, WA, this year. I attend that service every time I visit my family for the holidays. I also don't need a lecture about the religious roots of Christmas, especially from someone who doesn't understand the Germanic, Druidic, and pre-Christian Roman origins of the holiday's key elements. If ever there were an assimilationist holiday, Christmas is it, and perhaps that is an argument in favor of the Army stamp; however, anyone wishing to take that stand must be prepared to surrender the Christian value of the holiday in the process.

After all, if he were to be stopped by an Army recruiter in the United States in our time, WWJD? Yeah, I agree: the M4 and body armor look good, but the haircut is all wrong.

Bush, a Hypocrite? Say it ain't so!

2005-12-17T16:07:00.000-08:00

In response to the New York Times' article about secret NSA wiretaps, Bush addressed the nation, live. Yep, he went on the air without taping, though not without a controlled room. Here's his justification: We can't go into details about intelligence matters because doing so might undermine ongoing activities against (suspected) terrorists.

Gee, why doesn't that same standard apply to other intelligence assets such as CIA agents?

It's Tough Being a Centrist in a Polar World

2005-12-07T19:59:00.000-08:00

As one who gets called a liberal by the right and a conservative by the left, I know I am doing something right. Sadly, we now live in a world that demands we become strident in order to get any real attention. Ah well, that's why we have Intentional Fallacy.

The right has really been giving us all kinds of fodder—more than the left lately, in fact. If the right doesn't slow the hell down, the number of Republican former members of Congress barred from voting due to felony convictions may soon exceed, nationally, 50% of those Democrats whose registrations Washington state Republicans challenge in Belltown (just north of downtown Seattle). Sadly, that is more of a comment on the number of challenges made in Belltown than on the number of Republicans currently under indictment.

Still, we have managed to garner a couple of readers, though many have come because of blogs Xaos and I have elsewhere. Recently, a former schoolmate—we're talking about all the way back to elementary school—Googled my name and found my blogger ID. We're now back in touch, and he seems to be aligned nicely with my fellow writers. Check out Thor's blog here. I need all the links I can get to other blogs that might restore my moderate appearance. Wait, then I might get ignored again. Aw, shit!

Patience becomes me

2005-12-07T19:56:00.000-08:00

Just wait little freaks. Just wait. President Asshole and his merry sycophants are obstinately attached to the war that cannot be won. The Rovian smearing of any patriot who dares speak negatively of the conflict, its maker, or the corruption of the GOP is in high gear. Anyone who has the balls to talk about what the American people really want, that is to say WITHDRAWAL, are attacked as anti-American, troop bashers.

Watch your calendars, kiddies, because when the 5 turns into a 6 and we're in election year, you'll start hearing a change of tune. By the time, election season is in full swing you can expect a detailed withdrawal proposal to be touted by George II and it will look remarkably like Murtha's plan. Nothing this man or his administration does has anything to do with anything other than a political agenda. That political agenda makes them richer and more powerful and kills the rest of us.

Riots in France

2005-11-16T02:03:00.000-08:00

The media have been all over this one, but what is disappointing is the lack of critical thinking on the part of citizens. Note that I did not call this surprising.

A blog I came upon randomly (I would provide a link but do not wish to increase traffic to that tripe) contained a comment on the "Muslim wilding" in France. After a brief email exchange with the blogger, I found myself mentioned in an update that includes the claim that 97% of the rioters are Muslims. Wow! And here I was wondering just what percentage of the rioters were Islamic, when all I needed to do was take a census. Never mind that no one in France has reported any concrete figures; that would be using fact.

Let us continue. The blogger noted that two churches had been burned, which may well be true enough. He went on to claim, however, that no synagogues or mosques had suffered. Oops. It turns out that at least one mosque was fire-bombed on 11 November. Then again, including information such as that would be using fact.

Never mind that the riots began in an area plagued by greater than 30% unemployment and that unemployment, not Muslim population, has proven a better indicator of which areas would get engulfed in the riots. It's much easier to blame it on religion. Might some be out in the streets because of religious fervor? Sure. Does this blogger—does anyone, for that matter—yet have the facts to make that determination? No.

My central problem with the blogger was the presumption of causation. I doubt that someone teaching seventh grade needs, as part of his job description, any skill in avoiding non sequiturs, but I had hoped that perhaps such a person might have learned it along the way.

C'est la vie!

Hot and Fresh Flame Bait, Expertly Prepared by Your Sous Chef

2005-11-10T12:35:00.000-08:00

I'll make this short and sweet. Or not so sweet. While I can see some similarities between the L.A. riots and the riots in France, I am unable to push past one glaring distinction:

Rodney King was clearly mistreated by the police, although he was guilty of a crime, (evading police).
These kids were not mistreated. No one beat them. No one hurt them. They were running from police.

Race aside, if you f*ck up, you f*ck up. If the police have to chase you, it's because you're running away. And if you're running, you're doubly a criminal---you're evading capture! It hardly needs to be said that only a person truly guilty of something would run from law enforcement.

If you're 12 or 120, it doesn't matter. Don't f*ck up. Or at least, if you're going to f*ck up, try to f*ck up in some minor way, like wearing two different socks or using whole milk in the pie recipe instead of cream. And if you do f*ck up in some non-minor (read: illegal) way, and you get hurt or die, too goddamn bad. And people who riot, claiming racism or whatever else, spurred by your f*ck up, are idiots and deserve the full force of penalty under the laws of their nation. Racism my ass.

DISCLAIMER:

Now, just so there's no panty-twisting, I will say this: I do not fully trust the media and am, therefore, unsure of which version of the story to take as truth, (or closest to it). I have read reports that the youths in question were not actually being chased by police, only that they thought they were. Other reports seem to suggest that they were being pursued as suspects in a crime. Until I am confident concerning how things actually took place and why, then I am perfectly willing to be corrected or enlightened. Not that the two are mutually exclusive. The axiomatic nature of my post still stands, though: you f*ck up, you deserve what you get. Screw racism, (in the context of committing crime and suffering the consequences, not racism in general. In general it is a real problem.)

And don't think I haven't considered the deeper problems that may, (or may not,) exist in France in reference to racial inequality: I'm not a bigot. I realize that it would be unimaginably awful to live life feeling as though you were an outcast, a pariah, a lesser human being. I can only begin to really imagine what that might inspire someone to do. But that doesn't excuse illegal behavior. Your persecution, (real or imagined,) doesn't grant you immunity. You don't get to commit crime just because someone is picking on you---or because you think they are picking on you. The "Rule of F*ck Up" still applies. That's my disclaimer. Consider it a delicate demiglace to accent the delightful flavor of FLAME.

Celebrate!

2005-11-09T20:25:00.000-08:00

Eight for eight is not bad, I say. Well-intentioned and ill-conceived too often go hand in hand with statewide propositions, and this season was no exception in California. Let's take a look:

Prop 73: Is there a problem when minor girls are having abortions without notifying parents? Yep. The problem is worst when they don't feel as if they can notify their parents without some real risk (no, being grounded doesn't count). Is a state-mandated notification system (which can be circumvented by the girl if she works with her doctor to fill out paperwork and then sits down with a judge who is willing to grant an exception) the way to solve the problem? Um, no.

Prop 74: Is tenure a bad system, inherently? Nope. Are there problems with how it is abused to protect poor teachers in a relatively small number of cases? Yep. Is making tenure a five-year process instead of a two-year process good? Not really. Supporters are right when they say that tenure is not why people get into teaching. They should also note, however, that pay, which is nothing stellar is also not a great motivator, and that given what educators get paid, stability is often all that remains as a reason to stay in the profession. Add to that the lack of any appeals process for tenured teachers fired for two consecutive bad reviews, and there is a horrible risk that personality conflicts with the boss—something that rarely affects quality of instruction—could lead to the dismissal of even qualified teachers. This one was not designed with reality in mind.

Prop 75: Unions, apparently, have too much political power. Unions that include public employees, however, were the only ones targeted here. This would have made two sets of rules for unions (those with and those without public employees) regarding when unions could use money for political purposes such as lobbying. That's just unfair. A friend suggested that it would have had no chance if it had covered every union, which is probably true; however, that does not begin to excuse the imbalance in its design. Give me a system under which all union members must specify whether or not they wish to have their dues used for union fees (neither the proposed opt-in system nor the existing opt-out system) before the union application will be processed. Further, make that initial position stand until overtly changed (not an annual re-affirmation), and you might have something I could get behind. Everyone would have to decide. Now, that's the way to build participation.

Prop 76: The so-called "Live Within Our Means Act" was really the "Give The Governor Total Budget Discretion Act." While it had a good definition of fiscal emergency, provided a "rainy day fund," and forced the legislature to create a new budget (in any quarter a fiscal emergency was discovered), it also gave the governor complete control of the budget. See, even if the legislature passed a new budget, the governor had the power to veto it and any other until time ran out. Then the governor could make whatever changes he or she desired, with no legislative approval process. No. No, no no. Bad prop! No pass for you.

Prop 77: Redistricting is handled in almost every state by legislatures. This is nothing new, and it was designed to give elected officials who had won popular support the ability to secure future elections. True, gerrymandering has made some obscene districts, and there is a need to enforce more reasonably rules, but handing the process over to three judges picked from a pool of twelve was not the way to do. Sure, voters had to approve the new districts, but how many are going to understand enough to say no? I wouldn't, and I am pretty good about tracking such matters. I would need municipal and population density overlays for a state map just to begin making a decision, and even then I would be woefully underprepared.

Props 78 & 79: Because the Medicare discount drug cards are such a great idea. We had one that was a great way for drug companies to promote certain drugs while getting full price for others. We had another that had no chance of passing unless it could secure two waivers from federal agencies not eager to cede power to states. Both had a great goal. Neither had a decent plan.

Prop 80: Energy re-regulation is something I can get behind. Prop 80 was not. Basically, it was an attempt to put the Public Utility Commission (PUC) back in charge of regulating power rates, but it would have done it badly. The result might have been good, but it had the potential of becoming more costly than the pre-deregulated regulated times in California. Deregulation allowed companies like Enron to hold the state hostage a couple years ago, and we need some methods for preventing that sort of thing in the future. Trusting businesses is not working right now. Sadly, locking consumers into bad deals with utility companies, possibly with the risk of serious service interruptions because of turf wars (too many things were not well explained), is worse. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, they say. Well, it's broke. This was just the wrong way to try fixin' it.

Still, despite the cost of $50M for the statewide election, we seem to have survived unscathed. Let's hear it for the year of (gubernatorial) reform. Maybe the new Arnold will be worth something as a political, possibly (for once since his first year) populist, leader.

Hypocrisy

2005-11-06T14:38:00.000-08:00

For a couple years now, business organizations and industry lobbyists have been waging war on Southern California. OK, by itself, that could mean almost anything about any industry, but I am talking about the film industry. Arizona has been billing itself as the solution to the film industry's woes, offering lower production costs and a significant variety of locations. What's been happpening west of the state line? The Governator, among others, has been trying to find methods for keeping the film industry right where it is already.

Enter a 40% approval rating, a slate of unpopular ballot initiative, four of which were put there at the governor's behest and paid for with California taxpayer dollars, and suddenly Arizona's exceedingly popular Sentaor John McCain is riding the bus (literally) with Arnold in a last-ditch effort to get something, anything, passed next Tuesday. As things stand, Proposition 74 looks like the only one with any hope. Mind you, "any hope" here refers to fewer than 50% of voters opposed, though it still lacks 50% support.

Let's now look at this from the outside: An increasingly unpopular governor is failing to defend Southern California's film industry from Arizona's raiders while he faces a humiliating, possibly critically debilitating defeat at the polls in two days. Arizona's senior senator, who has higher approval than disapproval numbers, gets called in to back the man trying to stop his state's efforts to steal the film industry from Hollywood back lots. Maybe it's just Republican comraderie, but I shudder to think of the backroom deals that may have been made in order to secure McCain's cooperation. Then again, I don't really care where films are shot.

If Only Life Imitated Art

2005-11-03T21:10:00.000-08:00

In the pilot episode of The West Wing, the fate of White House Deputy Chief of Staff is in question because he called a conservative, religious bigot on the carpet.

In reality today, we have a Deputy White House Chief of Staff at the center of an investigation that inevitably leads to treason and that's. . . okay?

Harry Reid for President!

2005-11-02T06:39:00.000-08:00

Much needed backbone and LEADERSHIP displayed by Democratic Senator Harry Reid yesterday on the floor of the Senate. Imagine - putting the citizens and national security AHEAD of politics. Forgot that was possible under the Bush regime, didn't you?

I have a new fave

2005-10-28T21:32:00.000-07:00

I have to say, based solely on how he handled his press conference today, that Patrick Fitzgerald would make a fine pick for SCotUS. He demonstrated a focus and understanding of the issues before the grand jury that surpassed everything I had hoped for. He was cautious, measured, and reasoned. He elected to pursue, via the grand jury, only those charges he felt met the standards of provable criminal activity, setting aside for later or abandoning altogether those charges he did not feel were supported by the investigation.

While it is not entirely fair to compare Fitzgerald, a Special Prosecutor, to Kenneth Starr, who was operating as an independent counsel (and special prosecutor), it is tempting. Fitzgerald kept the doors sealed, brooked no leaks, and refuses to produce a report, even if it is determined that such an act is within his rights.

He impressed me, in short, in much the same way as Chief JusticeRoberts impressed me during his Senate testimony. I have no idea where Fitzgerald stands on any issues, though he did indicate that he is not registered with any party. Since there is every possibility that he will impanel a new grand jury, he would not be able to accept a nomination to replace Justice O'Connor. Then again, he's not likely to fit the mold that the Bush administration is hoping to use, so this is all moot.

Wilma Comments

2005-10-27T01:34:00.000-07:00

Florida Governor Jeb Bush has accepted responsibility for recent failures to get critical supplies to survivors of Wilma. He went on to point out, however, that residents had plenty of time to stock up before Wilma made landfall. Wow! So, while it's his fault, those who are suffering are really to blame?

Syria's Delay Tactics

2005-10-21T12:43:00.000-07:00

A recent UN report blames high-ranking officials (without naming anyone) in both Syria and Lebanon for being behind or failing to prevent the assassination earlier this year of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri. President Bush and his ambush, er, recess appointment to the UN, John Bolton, both of whom are strong critics of the organization, find the report troubling and are calling for a deeper examination of the findings. So far, so good.

Syria, for its part, is denying the allegations, citing a lack of detailed evidence or indeed names. This seems like pretty solid ground for making basic objections, but then the Syrian government goes one better. It claims that the report is "politically motivated" and based entirely upon information from people who are Syria's enemies (Syria has friends?). OK, that's not so great.

What interests me, of course, is the whole "politically motivated" findings part to this all. Neither Bush nor Bolton is willing to accept that defense, and rightly so. My question is, then, how do they feel about that defense when Texas Tommy "The Hammer" Delay uses it?

Now that would be a great one for a straight answer.

Harriet Who?

2005-10-20T18:46:00.000-07:00

1. Go to Amazon.com.

2. Search: supreme court for dummies. (Yes, such a book exists.)

3. Look at the first customer review.

4. Laugh heartily and enjoy sharing the evil.

OR
click here

and skip to step 4. above.

Scottie v. Miers: Brain Cell Wars

2005-10-19T02:02:00.000-07:00

Miers' life is under the microscope, of course. She's a nominee to SCotUS. Apparently, she made a comment while running for office in Texas in which she said she would do everything in her power to criminalize abortion (overturning Roe v. Wade would merely drop abortion from the status of a right under federal law). That's kinda scary, but she may have been in the throes of a (relatively) youthful passion about her newfound faith.

Along comes Scottie, White House spokestwit, and declares that nothing Miers has said indicates how she would vote on the court if the issues behind Roe v. Wade came before SCotUS. Um, what? Roe v. Wade guarantees that women in every state may receive abortions legally. Miers' comment about criminalizing abortion, then, was either a) the worthless ramblings of a candidate desperately trying to get attention, or b) a statement of her intention to use any means to make it criminal to receive an abortion in Texas—a task only possible if Roe v. Wade is overturned. In the first case, she doesn't present herself as a very judicious thinker, and I don't want her on the court. In the second case, she would be coming to the court with a little too much pink showing on her litmus test and could not, by the arguments the Republicans have been making since the Bork hearings, be considered a valid choice for the court.

Roberts has already proven himself a more than competent jurist, and the new court has already held balanced and interesting oral argument sessions. It would be sad to think that Miers might be the second most intelligent possible nominee as a "good conservative judge." Then again, no one has ever accused Republicans, as a group, of intelligence.

H5N1: The Plan

2005-10-14T22:45:00.000-07:00

Yes, folks, the Bush administration has promised that by month's end it will have made public a plan for response to an outbreak of the H5N1, or Bird Flu, virus in the "United" States. Yep, that's right. By Halloween, we will know who in this country will get treated with our meager stockpile of Tamiflu. As I understand it, first responders (rightly, by the way) get first crack at it, but we don't yet have enough to treat 40% of that population, much less elderly and children or people with auto-immune problems.

Then there are the people who are probably ahead of the first responders, most of whom are of far less value to the nation than firefighters, police, and medical personnel. Anyone want to bet on Bush's chances of getting one? I suppose we should not risk any president under such circumstances, but Laura and the girls are of no value. Give their doses to doctors. Cheney is the only reason we even want Bush to get a dose, so Cheney and his family can forego doses. I suspect we'll need the extra officers, anyway. We could stand to lose a few blowhards on both sides of the aisle and in both chambers of Congress. Get doses to the entire court, though. Bush has gotten two appointments, and he doesn't need more. Governors and local officials must remember that they serve us, so they can get in line behind our cats if they want doses.

The simple truth is that Tamiflu may be the only thing that does anything to combat the H5N1 virus, but we have no idea when any pandemic may begin, specifically where it will begin (though Vietnam is the #1 suspect), and how quickly it may spread with migratory bird populations with respect to its detection as a form capable of human-to-human transmission. We can spot the virus, but if it has moved from Vietnam to Turkey before we realize that it can be passed easily amongst human, we're in one nasty shit house. Ah well. At least we'll have a plan.

Scritch-Scritch, Scratch

2005-10-13T13:42:00.000-07:00

I know i can't be the only person who is feeling rather itchy lately over the fact that Rove, Miers and that evil sack of shit Dobson seem to be, to some unspecified degree, in cahoots.

Nothing to See Here, Subtitle: How You Like Me Now, Bitches?

2005-10-08T12:16:00.000-07:00

What does W do when things aren't going his way? He raises the terror alert, that's what. But wait, the sheeple are catching on to that color-coding bullshit, aren't they? What could one do instead? Manifest a panic about Avian Flu, that's what. This flu virus and its potential pandemic repercussions have been known for years and yet the US had done very little to prepare for it. Now all of a sudden, the Administration has a "plan."

Thanks to MSM it's getting plenty of coverage, too. A news program this morning reported on said "plan" vis-à-vis the bird flu. The anchor was talking about how the "plan" acknowledges that there will be vaccine shortages, likely riots at clinics, and that hospitals in every big city will be so over-burdened they will have to turn people away.

It's a two-pronged attack on the citizens of the country by their leader, not the flu.

1. Create fear and panic so the sheeple won't notice those pesky and ever-growing scandals plaguing D.C. Repubs these days. Not to mention, the Miers nomination, which has his base more pissed off than the other side of the aisle. Aside: can you believe he thought that "trust me" coming from his petulant, bullying, lying, deceitful, hypocritical mouth was enough to actually make this happen?!

2. The devious, ugly, Rove-ian part of the plan; the side effect to the misdirection gambit (1). When the sheeple are afraid they love their Big Daddy W and begin to equate the accent and stupid grin with leadership ability.

My loathing and contempt are boundless.

The Intelligently Designed Curriculum

2005-10-06T18:42:00.000-07:00

The President of The University of Idaho has banned intelligent design (ID) in its science classes. So far, the only serious complainer at Inside Higher Ed is a man named Donnell Duncan, and his (supposedly) best argument (he says, about one of my comments, that he "could not have said it better [himself]") is that ID should be taught in the classroom because ID "does not fit into science" (his words) and that by bringing it up, science professors could demonstrate just that point in class.

Wait a minute. His claim is that we should teach ID in science classes because ID can then be proven unscientific. Why waste the time?

Miers Redux

2005-10-06T14:48:00.000-07:00

The real problem with Mier, given her record and Bush's stated intention of denying senators any access to her work product, is that not even Philip Glass could write music about the woman. There's just not enough substance.

Miers' Qualifications

2005-10-06T12:27:00.000-07:00

Philippines? Indonesia? Nah...

2005-10-06T10:56:00.000-07:00

For more than a decade now, the Philipppines and Indonesia have been locked in a struggle, each besting the other for months—even a year or two—at a stretch. Now, things have changed: The Big Boys are in the ring, and who, after all, can beat The Big Boys?

With the assistance (monetary) of the Philippine government, an ex-Marine working for the FBI and inside the White House has finally proven that someone with a connection to real intelligence spends time in that building. Sadly, said intelligence is intelligence gathering, not good ol' fashioned smarts. Oh well.

Yes, with the assistance of the Philippine government, for whom our own spy was spying, and with minor boosts from the likes of Karl Rove, Bill Frist, Tom DeLay, David Safavian, Jack Abramoff, Scooter Libby, Duke Cunningham, George W. Bush, and Michael Brown, The Big Boys (that's the United States, in case you didn't know) have thrown their hat in the ring, trying to win—nay, demanding they be voted—the most corrupt nation on Earth.

I think we have a real shot, don't you?

Polls, Schmolls

2005-10-03T20:13:00.000-07:00

The majority of Americans demand withdrawal from Iraq (or at least a withdrawal plan).
We are denied the very notion by the Administration.

The majority of Americans want a non- or bi-partisan investigation into the disastrous Katrina response.
We are denied by both GOP-led houses of Congress and the President who could make it happen IF he wanted to. Q: What are they afraid of? A. Political fallout, of course. Not the loss of life, livelihood, and New Orleans, but political fallout.

The majority of Americans disapprove of how both the President and Congress are performing their jobs. Let's summarize, shall we?
Tom Delay: two indictments. One, two, that's two!
David Safavian: arrested.
Jack Abramoff: indicted.
Karl Rove: leaker of classified info for political retribution?
Scooter Libby: see Karl Rove.
Rep. Duke Cunningham: indicted.
Bill Frist: inside trader?
Lest we forget that it has been alleged that both the P and VP were involved in the discussions surrounding Plamegate.
Excellent job, Repubs!

And the majority of citizens believe that America is being led in the wrong direction.
I guess GW does have some leadership ability after all.

War IS Peace

2005-09-30T12:48:00.000-07:00

" . . . to preserve the peace, sometimes my country believes war is necessary . . . "
—Karen Hughes, Undersecretary of State for Public Relations, speaking to women in Turkey on 9/29/05

Yeah, and Florida really did vote for Bush in 2000. But then Hughes wouldn't know about that.

Once upon a time...

2005-09-28T21:09:00.000-07:00

What irritates me the most about the Government response to Hurricane Katrina is the manner in which government officials handled themselves in the presence of the Media. The spin that was put on the whole affair sickened me: what a horrible, unprecedented effect this hurricane has had on the Gulf Coast region and New Orleans in particular.
I call "Bullshit".

Not only did coast guard, meteorologists and others actually track the hurricane as it approached and warn, repeatedly, about the severity of the storm, but there were years---count them, YEARS---of petitioning and lobbying by state and local agencies for money from the federal government to repair the existing levees in New Orleans that were known to be weak and in desperate need of reconstruction. The levees were a huge factor in what came to be one of the worst disasters in American history. Katrina was only unprecedented in the sense that she wasn't. She was staggeringly powerful---but not particularly bizarre. Katrina was a natural disaster. The sort that happens every day, in removed parts of the world, that you may or may not hear about on your Fox News Channel. But she was not to blame for what happened in New Orleans.

There begins to form in the public mind a concept of this event as being entirely out of the hands of human beings. That's the spin. "It couldn't be helped." In one simple, declarative sentence, every human being is relieved of responsibility for what happened.

Except that human beings, largely speaking, were responsible. The money that should have been allocated to Louisiana for the reconstruction of the levees was, instead, divvyed up and used to plump out other interests...such as the U.S. Millitary. And the very quality and state of the "natural" architecture of the city was the fault of human beings---The marshes surrounding the Mississippi had been destroyed to allow for more effective economic undertakings in the area. (Marshes, if you aren't aware, are naturally occuring wetlands with "water-absorbing" features such as thick rush forests and underwater weed growths, that are found near large bodies of water in flat areas. They slow and retain water during periods of flooding.)

FEMA wasn't being run properly---there wasn't enough money and Brown wasn't asking for any. But that was a relatively small factor in the overall disaster. Even if FEMA had the necessary funds to respond to a hurricane like Katrina, they wouldn't have been able to help much more than they did.

And there were people who could have evacuated the city who didn't. Granted, many were in situations---financially and otherwise---that prevented them from leaving New Orleans, but p-l-e-n-t-y of them could have left and chose not to. That I can't really figure out.

I'm not about to say that there was one single thing that made Katrina as bad as she was in total effect on the city of New Orleans. The disaster was definitely a combination of various incompetencies on many levels, even citizen. But I will say that Katrina could have been dealt with like any other major natural disaster had the levees been in good repair and had the natural marshlands not been raped for corporate profit. I really do believe that. Because of the (completely expected) failure of the flood management systems, Katrina was a worse catastrophe than any combination of governmental agencies could respond to. Even with the shortage of Nat'l Guard troops, FEMA's overdrawn bank account, Bush's staggering ineffectuality on several fronts, and the general confusion that proliferated due to poor communication between emergency response units on the ground, the disaster lay in the selfishness and laziness of the relevant governmental agencies to protect New Orleans BEFORE Katrina came along by strengthening and updating the flood walls and levees and replenishing the marshlands.

Katrina wasn't really an outrageous storm with unprecedented effects. She was awesome, but her laurels weren't earned, they were handed to her by Americans in positions of authority.

Unfortunately, the bedtime story that they've told us is that no one saw her coming and nothing could have been done in the face of such a horrifying natural disaster.

"...And they put America to sleep with warm milk and a cliche." ~Ani Difranco

Rita's Yellow Brick Road

2005-09-22T21:20:00.000-07:00

Some right wing nuts believe that Hurricane Katrina was a message direct from God Herself sent to punish America for its sins. She chose New Orleans, apparently, because the city is a seething example of sexuality, decadence, and debauchery. (My kind of town, Amen and Hallelujah!)

The freaks may have something there, but I think they're slightly off target on the message. Picture this: Katrina was the set-up for the message. Katrina was the wind that blew back the curtain to reveal the feeble, little man pretending to be the Great Oz. She revealed to the entire country that someone has been too busy playing politics and taking vacations to secure our nation and protect its citizens.

The real message comes with Katrina's big sister, Rita, and she'll be wreaking her havoc in Texas. Ah, Texas, the home of such evildoers as ethics challenged Tom Delay, truth/leadership/IQ challenged George W., and soul/decency/conscience challenged Karl Rove. See a pattern here?

Three's Company

2005-09-21T20:55:00.000-07:00

While we're expanding, Xaotica has joined the team. In her words, she has "an unending supply of righteous indignation." Take that for whatever you may feel it's worth, but I have a strange sense that any questions about it will be answered in short order.

Double the Pleasure, Double the Pun(dits)

2005-09-21T20:14:00.001-07:00

My wife has joined me here at Intentional Fallacy. She and I differ sometimes in degrees and other times on issues. This remains a place to let loose on contentious issues, and Sunshine has no interest in sugar-coating her views. I'm sure she'll liven things up.

Hatching Roe

2005-09-13T19:13:00.000-07:00

It seems that Senator Orrin Hatch (R-UT) has decided that it is now OK to discuss Roe v. Wade during the Roberts hearings. Can I be the only person surprised by this?

The Science of God

2005-09-12T21:54:00.000-07:00

Yes, folks, it seems we will soon be treated to scientific evidence of the existence of God. You may think that I, a former Sunday School teacher and youth group leader who still holds to his faith, would be thrilled by this, but I am not. No, I can barely stomach the possibility that anyone might claim to have proven the existence of God—a feat that is tantamount to claiming to be the Rabbi Ben Levi of the Longfellow poem.

I learned this quite by accident, in fact. In peering through my Sitemeter data, I found that someone had visited (quite randomly with the "Next Blog" button) my site from a blog maintained by a man who has co-authored a book on Intelligent Design (we won't get into that issue here). I left a comment, and a discussion emerged via email. In a recent reply, Jim informed me of his intention to publish in the near future an article that provides scientific proof of God's existence.

I await it with great anticipation. In the meantime, I asked him which God's existence he can prove.

Rebuilding is Rebuilding is Rebuilding, Right?

2005-09-11T17:24:00.000-07:00

It might look as if the Bush administration is treating Iraq and the Gulf Coast (what the heck, they booth have gulfs and petrochemical value) as fungible. Kellogg Brown and Root (that's Halliburton, folks) and Bechtel, both of which secured huge contracts associated with the reconstruction of Iraq, are recipients of huge contracts related to the relief and rebuilding efforts in the Gulf Coast region.

Some might say that these companies receieved these contracts because they are in a better position to supply the needed services than many oftheir competitors, but what have we learned about Halliburton billing practices? You know, the billing practices that make Enron accounting look GAAP-compliant?

I hope I am worrying about nothing, but for some reason I just don't trust Cheney's former company beyond its first three letters.

Brownie Points

2005-09-09T14:07:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week (Wednesday, I believe) Scott "Scottie" McClellan accused a prominent member of the White House Press Corps of trying to play the "blame game" (see how many supposedly ordinary citizens are using that phrasing in letters to the editor around the country now) by asking whether or not the President retained full confidence in Michael "Brownie" Brown (I swear that these are actual nicknames that Dubya uses), head of FEMA. The reporter, of course, was asking because the level of criticism of FEMA's handling of the post-Katrina situation has risen, and late last week, Bush openly put his support behind Brownie (using that name). The whole thing got a little ugly in the briefing room, but that's another matter (neither Scottie nor the reporter in question came out smelling much better than downtown New Orleans, in my opinion, nor was either less poisonous).

Brownie has been kicked back up to D.C. by his boss, Michael Chertoff (I have never heard him called "Mikey" or any other such thing, so leave the Life commercials aside). Whether or not the White House admits to having or even did have a hand in that decision is irrelevant. If the President didn't order it, Chertoff, a cabinet member, certainly did, and that's a smack in Brownie's face. Some, however, have suggested that Brownie, the man who was, shortly before getting a position with FEMA, fired from a position in which he managed some aspect of horse show judging, might be the Republican Party's fall guy on this. Maybe, but if ever this administration has had a chance to lean on a less substantial scapegoat, I have not heard of the incident.

The Mayor of New Orleans screwed up a little. The state of Louisiana (I understand that other states were hit, as were other cities in LA, but I want to look here at the Big Easy because it is also the Big One) screwed up a little. The federal government screwed up a lot. That puts the bulk of the blame at the federal level, to my eyes, and that includes appointments by a man who claimed during one of the 2004 presidential debates that he had not made a single mistake during his first term. Let's engage in the blame game a little (sorry, Scottie, but I can't beam the survivors up, and neither can you).

The local mistake was in failing to understand and properly implement—in a timely fashion—the existing (and quite insufficent) disaster plan. The mayor called for an evacuation only two days before Katrina hit New Orleans, but there was neither the time nor the travel infrastructure to effect such a mass migration of citizens.

The state's error was much the same as the city's. A plan was on the books, yet it remained there days after it should have been acted on. State officials bear some of the blame, and clearest among those is the governor.

The federal failure was of on a grander scale, for two reasons. First, the delay in local and state plans should have placed the feds, most notably FEMA and DHS, on highest alert and sent both agencies into a flurry of action, possibly involving the federalizing of the remaining state guard and reserve so that they could move in immediately. Let's face it: FEMA, DHS, and the military have the people and the machines to get into any location in the country inside of a day of an incident. Reporters managed it without helicopters, and the military has helicopters and manpower. Second, the feds had the same amount of warning as the state and local agencies, yet they have vastly greater budgets. There was time to prepare for the response. Hell, there was time to aid in the evacuation!

Pretty much everyone screwed up, but the man whose job it is to handle these types of situations was, along with his agency, AWOL for days. Brownie's back in Washington, and the Coast Guard has a man in charge. Things are looking up now, or at least they are looking less down. Will this move score "Brownie" points with a public more distressed than ever before with the domestic policies and management of the federal government? I doubt it. Katrina may have petered out, but its full force has yet to his Washington. Justly or not, that will happen soon, and some as-yet-unidentified heads will roll. Maybe a little DNA testing or dental records will help us identify the casualties of the political storm to come.

Official Language?

2005-08-24T11:41:00.000-07:00

For decades now, duly elected members of Congress have been trying, on almost an annual basis, to pass legislation making English the official language of the United States. I have always been opposed to such a move in the past, but in the last few years I have seen some things that have begun to wear down that resolve. Should my opinion move so far, however, as to place me on the other side of the issue, it would certainly be with the understanding that there would be a generation-long federally-funded transition period, along with continued assistance for those who need Braille or sign language (ASL) support. Here are the points as I see them:

Government
While all major functions of government at every level are conducted either primarily or exclusively in English already, there is no law requiring that they be. The largest expenses for non-English speakers are in translation, voting, and tax services and forms. A non-English speaker or Limited English Speaker (LEP) who must appear in court (as a defendant or otherwise) is guaranteed access to translation services. This has been the case for longer than I have been alive, and it was expanded in 2000 by Executive Order 13166. Ballots and tax forms are also provided in a stunning array of languages. The expenses for the translation services would likely not diminish significantly for some time, but government spending on translated documents would likely decline rapidly after the first decade.

Education
The debate over bilingual education has been raging for as long as I can remember, and it is no closer to a definitive resolution now than at any time in the past. Students educated in our schools need to be prepared to live and conduct business in the United States, and for most that means achieving at least moderate English proficiency in reading, writing, and speaking. I'd like to see that achieved with native speakers, quite honestly, but many things would become simpler, particularly in the field of English education, if we were to have English as the official language. Does this mean we would serve the students better by such a move, though? Here I am not sure. I have no doubt that a student population more capable of using the language upon graduation as today's students would do better, on the whole, but I can't say that such a change in policy would affect such an improvement.

Immigration
Here's the big one, the reason I am writing this (a senator is currently proposing federal immigration legislation that includes an official language component). After an initial transition period (perhaps twenty years), anyone not able to communicate in English could be identified as a possible non-citizen. This assumes, of course, that citizenship requirements come to include stricter English language competence (we have had some measure for almost a decade now), but such a change in the citizenship test seems a no-brainer under such a change. The question, then, is this: What do we do with all of the citizens who are not currently able to use English with any measure of proficiency? While this might make the INS's job easier, it leaves many problems.

My greatest concern is, and has always been, that an English-only environment threatens a return to Jim Crow politics. You want to vote? Prove that you can read and understand the ballot. Hell, most Americans raised on English can't understand a ballot, and I know of no one who reads the supplied full-texts of ballot initiatives (I do this only for those issues about which I find it difficult to decide or on which I wish to hold discussions, though I spent years doing it with every initiative). You want to file your tax return? Great, but if you don't know English, you'll have to pay someone to prepare it for you, and any auditors we send will not be required to communicate in anything except English. Ouch! You're a Navajo? Oh well, nobody really uses your language for anything anymore, right? We can complete our destruction of indiginous cultures rather quickly by having the BIA do a few tweaks to rules for the rez, right?

You see what I mean? For all of the cost savings (and I am a fiscal conservative who belives we need to pay of our debt, not lower taxes and put sparkling pavement into Pennsylvania towns) and possible improvements in immigration policy (including enforcement) and education, I still cannot bring myself to back such legislation.

VFW Speech

2005-08-22T20:37:00.000-07:00

Bush, in speaking to the VFW in Salt Lake City, described the foundation of a democratic constitution in Iraq as a "landmark" event in the country's history. Um, no. Iraq (including what is not Kuwait) had a democratic government before the Brits popped in, savaged the land, and split the country. Yay. I wish our leaders would act as if history exists.

Gaza

2005-08-20T00:58:00.000-07:00

I have been asked to comment on the Israeli pullout from the Gaza Strip. I have plenty to say, but I think I can keep it uncommonly brief, at least given the scope of the issue.

The studies I have seen indicate that the relative birth rates of Palestinians and Jews in Israel (including Gaza and the West Bank) would put the Jewish population in the minority no later than 2015. If that is the case, force of law may be even less effective in maintaining even the outward appearance of control than is true at this point. Twice, now, there has been an Intifadah, and as ineffective as the rocks and Molotov cocktails may have been in having a real effect at the time, another one started by a Palestinian majority could be devastating. From this perspective, a Palestinian state seems the best solution, and the Gaza pullout is the first step in establishing such a state.

Such a move also suggest the removal to the territory of the (future) Palestinian state of Palestinians living in the (future) reduced Israel. The question of the Right of Return, which would allow at least those Palestinians dispossessed by the foundation of Israel, and in some cases their descendents, to live in the new Israel, is difficult. However, the same problem of relative population exists. The new Israel would instantly have a Jewish minority, and the foundation of a Palestinian state would leave the population problem. Right of Return cannot be granted. Again, however, a Palestinian state seems the best solution, though one that would, initially anyway, require a division of populations into Palestinian and Jewish.

Finally, the settlers who are resisting—this is, I understand, more prevalent in the south—seem not to recognize that their hardships, brought on by the urging of earlier Israeli governments, are likely to imrove regional stability. I would hate to be driven from my home (we won't get into eminent domain here, though I am tempted to go there when the next ruling kicks in), but provided I received compensation and support that made up for it, I would accept it if it led to a better life for my family. Still, a Palestinian state, begun with this first pullout, seems the best solution.

The settlers are justly upset, but their response is, I think, out of proportion to the long-range benefits such a move promises. If there were a way around this, I would love to hear it, but a Palestinian state is pretty much a foregone conclusion at this point. The Israelis know this, and the majority of the Israeli population—including a majority of Jews, if the polls I have heard are accurate—support the foundation of such a state. Sadly, like much in that region, it seems, violence must precede any hope.

How Did I Miss This Before?

2005-08-14T22:34:00.000-07:00

The latest ads for Windows are not ads for Windows. The latest ads are for "The world of software and devices that run on Windows." Mind you, that is pretty much the same world as for the Mac OS and Linux, but who's counting, right?

Not to long ago, Microsoft used the "Where do you want to go today?" tagline to represent the operating system itself in ads. The idea was that Windows offered something to users. Now, however, the message is that it is third-party things, not the OS, that is great.

Is Windows headed for the trash bin? Oops. Sorry, that would be the recycling bin under Windows.

8/15

2005-08-14T05:58:00.000-07:00

Will August 15th become another day associated with destruction, much as December 7th and 9/11? We could say, of course, that the earlier association of August 15th—the unconditional surrender of the Japanese at the end of WWII—is anything but destruction, having ended the war. Then again, we did effectively wipe out many key elements of Japanese culture and tradition with that act.

This year, of course, it is the deadline for the interim Iraqi government to deliver a draft constitution. I don't have a problem with deadlines, though my students sometimes do. I do, however, have a problem with the fact that the U.S. government's primary mouthpiece to the media, when this issue has come up over the last month, has been our Secretary of Defense.

I would have liked it if Bush had been doing this. Heck, even the Press Secretary is a better choice. Or the Veep. We need to ask ourselves, however, why the person who oversees our military as a whole is encouraging an interim government to get its job done on schedule—a schedule, I might add, that was put forth by the United States.

This is why diplomacy has been lacking in more than a few places of late. Then again, Rumsfeld has never served a day in his life, so he's not really a warrrior, is he?

Yeah? So what?

2005-08-12T06:10:00.000-07:00

I'm here, and you don't care. Know what? I don't care that you don't care. I was a little too nice on my other blog, so when I lost it there, I was not terribly pleased with myself. Here, however, it's ON.

This is my kingdom. I post what I want. You comment as you wish. It's all about the title, people. Oh yeah, and whatever else I decide it can be about. Ya hear that? Whatever else I decide. Are we clear?