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While back in Utah over the holidays I heard a remark about the Mormon church that I used to hear a lot when I was younger: “The Church is true (or good, perfect—there are several variations), but the people in it aren’t.” I remember a friend of mine reciting that same phrase and I answered by saying that I felt the exact opposite—“the Church isn’t good, but some of the people in it are”. He took offense. In other words, he found it okay for non-Mormons to dislike individual Mormons or even the entire Mormon community, but intolerable to critique the church itself—the institution. At the time, my friend’s reaction surprised me, but it shouldn't have.

Just a quick shout out to anyone still interested that thanks to Blogger eating my old blog while in the midst of migrating from the old to new version of Blogger, I have begun the arduous task of re-creating the blog in a new (if not necessarily improved) version: The Left End of the Dial v2.0 I've got archives going back to late summer of this year, and am slowly adding to the archive -can't let 3 plus years of work go to waste. I don't know if Nick Lewis is still checking this blog or not, but if so, Nick, please update your blogroll for the PBA. Peace and love, y'all.

One Flew East. It must have seemed so simple to them.

Scare them to death with "shock and awe", take Baghdad, capture Saddam, seize the oil fields, disband the army, and turn the economy into a capitalist entrepreneurial free-fire zone. Set up an "interim" administration to assure that Parsons, KBR, SAIC, and the others make millions "rebuilding" the infrastructure and creating a military launching pad. No problem. Just sit back and absorb the adulation from the emancipated Iraqi people and the good people of America. Next?

Well yeah. I guess there'll be a few folks killed along the way. But this is in the service of freedom and democracy. Those broken eggs will make a great omelet - a decidedly western omelet. And we might tell a few fibs in the process, too. The American people wouldn't understand and might be skeptical if we told the whole truth and nothing but the truth. The victorious outcome is all they want, anyway. Isn't that what they "elected" us for?

So please don't bother us with irrelevant details. Shi'ites and Sunnis and Kurds? A Muslim's a Muslim, right? Insurgency? You mean a few rabid al-Kayduh types rolling around in battered Toyota pick-ups? No match for American fire power. Not to worry. Anyway, we got God on our side (and a lot of frustrated right-wing Christians, too).

One flew west. Remember duct tape? Didn't you just love the pretty terrorist alert thingy? The President reminded us that, "when the going gets tough, the tough go shopping". Just keep watching "24" and we'll get you a new X Box.

Now look, folks . . . we're gonna have to make a few adjustments here at home to git it done. In support of our common security, we'll have to follow the "if you're not for us, you're against us" line. The Constitution just ain't helpful in situations like these. Everyone's the enemy, guilty until they're proven innocent (yeah, like that's gonna happen).

So don't complain, 'cuz complainers are terrorists (or liberals - same difference). Somebody gets "disappeared", just don't worry, OK? We got some real handy ways of convincin' 'em to 'fess up and rat out their fellow travelers. We got a war to win. Just keep knowing that Saddam masterminded 911, and we're gonna take good care of him.

Oh, yeah. And this is gonna cost a few bucks, too. So we're gonna keep taxes on the rich and on the corporations real low so they can pay for this. Goes without saying that we're gonna have to sacrifice some trees and rivers and po' folks, but good 'Mericans always are willing to sacrifice for their country in times of war. Just don't listen to those gutless ninnies who say that the good ole USA is going bankrupt behind this. After all, the bill won't come due 'til after we're all dead.

One flew over the cuckoo's nest. A couple of weeks ago, watching news clips of Americans trampling and beating other Americans in stores trying to buy the latest popular trinkets and toys, I was hit (again) with a deep, disillusioned depression. Why didn't we see this kind of thing happen at polling places two weeks earlier, with Americans fighting each other to vote? I guess it's because we value the latest video game more than the activity of democracy and self-government.

I could see little difference between these store rioters and fourth-worlders bum-rushing the UN truck when it pulls up with water and powdered milk. Except that the Americans tend to be obese and white, the fourth-worlders skinny and black.

It seems like, to Americans, this government stuff is just a bother, an inconvenience that some (but not all) of us tolerate every couple of years. The only reason most of us show up to vote is that election campaigns have become beauty pageants or survival games just like on "reality TV".

Only a month after the mid-term elections, Americans who did vote have congratulated themselves, washed their hands, and turned on "Who Wants to be a Trillionaire". Democrats are satisfied that they've repudiated the Republican policies. The war will be over soon.

Who notices that the Democrats have already lined up against "a precipitous withdrawal" from a lost war against a ravaged people. Who cares that they have also rejected executive impeachment out of hand? Who understands that Speaker of the House (maybe) Nancy Pelosi is fighting tooth and nail to put conservative party loyalists in leadership positions? Who realizes the implications of this excerpt of "CONGRESS IN TRANSITION: Pelosi hews to middle ground. With eye on 2008, new speaker works to keep Democrats united", from the SF Chronicle . . .

Pelosi may be among Congress' most vocal war critics, yet many Democrats worry that starving the Pentagon is a crude and ineffective way to end the war, with potentially disastrous political consequences. Pelosi has no interest in beginning her speakership with a divisive fight.

Similarly, while Pelosi voted against a GOP measure last week to permit oil drilling off the Gulf Coast, and another requiring that women seeking abortions be told that their fetuses feel pain, she chose not to use her leadership position to defeat the bills, which enjoyed a certain amount of Democratic support (the drilling measure passed; the abortion measure failed).

As the Republicans' 12-year-control of Capitol Hill came to a close, the Pelosi-led Democrats are steadfastly avoiding issues upon which they disagree and presenting a united front on matters from Iraq to congressional ethics.

Pelosi remains focused on a series of bread-and-butter items with broad support among Democrats that she will push when the party takes control of the House on Jan. 4.

"Ms. Pelosi has said many times that she will govern from the middle -- and that's what she is doing,'' said her spokesman, Brendan Daly.

Pelosi's agenda for the first 100 legislative hours of the new Congress includes House ethics, the minimum wage, college tuition costs, stem cell research, subsidies to oil companies and the security recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission. She has pledged to take up each of the issues before Bush delivers his State of the Union address in late January . . .

Er, uh, well what about The USA PATRIOT Act, tax breaks for the rich, critical environmental issues, investigations into the incredible corruption among US contractors in Iraq?

Speaking of the latter, here's a clip from this morning's NYT piece, "Iraq Is Failing to Spend Billions in Oil Revenues":

BAGHDAD, Dec. 10 — Iraq is failing to spend billions of dollars of oil revenues that have been set aside to rebuild its damaged roads, schools and power stations and to repair refineries and pipelines.

Iraqi ministries are spending as little as 15 percent of the 2006 capital budgets they received for the rebuilding — with some of the weakest spending taking place at the Oil Ministry, which relies on damaged and frequently sabotaged pipelines and pumping stations to move the oil that provides nearly all of the country’s revenues. In essence, the money is available — despite extensive sabotage, the oil money is flowing — but the Iraqi system has not been able to put it to work.

The country is facing this national failure to spend even as American financial support dwindles. Among reasons for the problems — like a large turnover in government personnel — is a strange new one: bureaucrats are so fearful and confused by anticorruption measures put in place by the American and Iraqi governments that they are afraid to sign off on contracts . . .

OK, Nurse Ratchett, I'll have that lobotomy now . . . and make it a double-lobe, if you don't mind.

Two Turks being held on suspicion of roasted deliciousness were personally released by President Bush today, following a ruling by Judge Ramona Frandle of the 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals. The prisoners, t'Om Gobbel and Drupee Wattle, had been held for an unknown period and at an unknown location, part of the Bush Administration's secret program known as extrasavory rendition.

The rendition program holds individuals suspected of having links to the terror group al-Tryptophan...

The rest of Mr_Blog's Left Turn for Nov. 23-30, 2006

Pahrump, NV, a Las Vegas satellite community home to radio's Art Bell and the setting for a recent "Studio 60" two-parter, has stood tall and done its bit to safeguard the American Republic. To wit, the Pahrump town council voted 3-2 last week to outlaw the flying of foreign flags--unless flown below the Red, White & Blue.

Violators would face a $50 fine and community service. The same ordinance also declared English the town's official language.

At the time Mr. Richard Stans, founder of the citizens group Pahrump Flags of Liberty, America and Glory (PFLAG), hailed passage of the law...

The rest of Mr_Blog's Left Turn for today, Nov. 22, 2006

The proposal to have Mayor Greg Nickels take over leadership of the Seattle Public Schools is a great idea!

The problems faced by the school district are traceable to weak, divided or ineffective leadership. The result has been a growing budget deficit, unmotivated staff, and way too much surplus district property sitting idle.

The obvious solution is a 180-degree turn. What is required is a monolithic unitary executive, an authoritarian top-down manager. Preferably one with an interest in trains, real estate and billionaires.

The rest of Mr_Blog's Left Turn for today, Nov. 21, 2006

FIRST TIME ANYWHERE! Excerpt from George W. Bush's memoirs!
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"Chapter 23 - My Baseball Skills Comes in Handy. The Asia Specific Economic Conference takes place in Asia every few years. I think the S is silent, because everyone says "pecific" and calls it "APEC." Go figure. Must have something to do with the United Nations. The 2006 APEC meeting was to be in Vietnam, which is a place I've always wanted to see...

The rest of Mr_Blog's Left Turn for today, Nov. 17, 2006

BUSH IN MOSCOW SHOCK!

(11/15, London Daily Crumpet) U.S. President George W. Bush has surprised the world with a startling career change, one week after his party was humiliated at the polls. The Presidential plane, Air Force One, had stopped in Russia for refueling en route to the Asia Pacific Economic Conference global trade talks in Vietnam. Suddenly...

The rest of Mr_Blog's Left Turn for today, Nov. 15, 2006

Fair Game, a new PRI program testing on Friday evenings on Seattle's KUOW-FM, ought to impress. The host is Faith Salie, of whom much is made that she's funny, a Rhodes scholar, actor and (nerd appeal) appeared as a "tradeable life form" on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Fair Game is also supposed to be a "Daily Comedy News Machine," so it also ought to be right up Mr_Blog's alley.

So why did I switch off the Nov. 9 installment after only five minutes? ...

The rest of Mr_Blog's Left Turn for Nov. 13, 2006

And now a special Holiday Season public affairs edition of... A Christmas Carol:

Announcer: From Washington-- "The McScrooge Group," an unrehearsed discussion of major issues of the day. For over two decades, the sharpest minds, the best sources, the hottest talk. This week, with- Rev. Ted Haggard; Carson Kressley; Britney Spears; and Eleanor Clift of Newsweek. Here is your moderator, Ebenezer Scrooge.

ES: Issue 1-- "Midterm Election: Moral Backfire?" Democrats
have swept to victory in Congress, you might say the Liberal Spirits have done it all in one night. The GOP planned to ride to victory on Terrorism and Values. Team Mehlman targeted the party base with warnings of unfettered abortions, gay marriage and Democrats taxing Americans into the poorhouses. Instead of a backlash, did the strategy backfire? What say you, Vicar Ted?...

Ballard. President George W. Bush attends a private event at Archie McPhee, 11am-4pm.

Tacoma. Pres. Bush dines at Chuck E. Cheese's, 5-7pm.

Seattle. Lynne Cheney reads from a new anthology of lesbian fiction, Bailey/Coy Books, 3-5pm.

Seattle. The Discovery Institute hosts Rep. Peter Hoekstra (R-MI), who will sign copies of the new government bestseller, "WMD The Iraqi Way: Easy A-bomb plans for the DIY enthusiast."

Jackson Hole, WY. Vice President Cheney hosts Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, Hillary Clinton and Charles Rangel for a special beertasting reception, 1-2pm. A quail hunt will follow.

The rest of Mr_Blog's Left Turn for today, Nov. 6, 2006

From P!: So. If you believe and trust the "polls", which I don't, the Democratic Party might take control of the House and has some sort of shot at the Senate. Do not, however, ever, ever, ever underestimate the je ne sais quois of the Repugnicant Rover. I haven't been watching the gubernatorial "contests" and never have been sure what they mean (having lived in Massachusetts with the likes of John Volpe, Ed King, and Mikey Dukakis, and in California with Jerry Brown).

I live in bright red state and neither Senator is up for re-election. My congressman is a middle of the road classic white liberal running against an absolute idiot who also happens to be black.

The November Surprise predicted in the title will be little, if any, surprise at all: the colors of the graphic may change from red to blue in some states, but there will be absolutely no other change. None. Nada. Ne Rien Pas. Nyet.

The black forces, eager to hide the pea under a different shell for awhile, have simply shifted the flow of money. The bucks are no longer funding Republican neoconservatives . . . now they're buying Democratic neoconservatives. The wars will not end. The march to war against other countries will not drop a step. The gap between rich and poor will not narrow. Tax breaks for the rich will not be repealed. Powerful people in Washington and in the churches will continue to put their hands where they shouldn't: in all sorts of forbidden cookie jars, not to mention chemical stashes.

That The Prince of Darkness has repudiated Bush's invasion of Iraq (implementing The prince's policies), that the military media is calling for Rummy's head (or whatever) mean nuttin' hunny.

The MSM has been given permission to refocus the sheep. "24" may not have another season; "Law and Order" may shrink down to "SVU" and "CCP" (Corporate Creep Patrol).

During VietNam, Country Joe sang, "What are fightin' for?" And now I wail, "What are we votin' for?" . . . [more at P!]

From P!

Imagine that you are a cinderblock. Imagine that all of us Americans are each a cinderblock. And that we are part of a wall. We are stuck in that wall, unable to move, unable to escape.

The mortar binding us all together in this impenetrable wall is an iron-like mixture . . . of lies. We are all bricks in a wall of lies. It's too late to opt out of being a part of the wall - we're already there. In fact, we've become so embedded in the wall, that we're unable to struggle for one tiny nanometer of wiggle room.

We are the wall, impervious, impenetrable. Those of us bricks who do see and hear the truth are unable to act on it. We're stuck.

We haven't always been the wall. But the wall is, in truth, older than we can remember. It certainly wasn't built by the Bush Administration, although they have contributed steely strength to the mortar of lies. The Doubleduh-Cheney Gang would not have been able to perpetrate such lies if the wall was not already fully in place . . . [continue at P!]

From P!:

Oh how I've agonized and remonstrated, wailed and gnashed, shook my poor, tired rhetorical finger in your faceless mugs. If I were to lay awake at night obsessorating (sorry, George) about something, that something would be the dreaded "third party" monster lurking behind the closet door or under the futon.

I actually don't toss and turn about it, but Pliva, Astze, and Wyeth are responsible for that, rather than any left-handed, enlightened political leaders. Um, so maybe they should be our third party? Well, since they and their pharma phriends already own a sizable stable of both elephants and donkies, that ho won't stroll. Sigh.

I'm not, of course, a learned political analyst, 'though I do play one here, so I'm not going to forward a complex and formidable theory as to why we remain stuck, at least at the presidential and congressional level, with just the Dumbocrats and Repugnantcans. Nor will I even mention the argument that these are not really two, but actually only one entity. God forbid. There are really only two factors: stupidity and laziness. How else to explain the Left's reliance on "reforming" the Blue Party through Howard "The Scream" Dean? If you look in the dictionary for the definition of "boondoggle" you get a pic of "Wowie" Howie hiding under a desk with the Illuminati symbol on it. 'Course, this is what the Dumbs have always done best . . . identify and espouse the least effective option, then shoot absolutely everyone involved with it. But I digress. Or do I? [more at P!]

Al-Jazeera have shown a video which supposedly shows Bin Laden meeting with some of the 9/11 hijackers, well at least that's the spin that the mass media have put on it. But is that true? I thought I was gonna see Bin Laden and Mohamed Atta standing together, shaking hands and smiling, but no. We get some ghosty, grainy images of someone that could be Bin Laden meeting with two guys that the US have decided were 9/11 masterminds. Not actually any of the 19 hijackers. How many masterminds were there for 9/11 anyway?

Pah...

Dave

MANCHESTER STOP THE WARMONGERS NO LABOUR WARMONGERS IN MANCHESTER! The Labour Party Conference is in Manchester 24-29 September RALLY OF RESISTANCE From 1pm, 27 September, St Peter’s Square For Peace and social justice! In 1819, in what is now St Peter’s Square, thousands gathered in protest, demanding the right to vote. Although the demonstration was violently suppressed the struggle continued and eventually the vote was won. In 2006 The Labour Party is holding it’s annual conference in Manchester, and many of us again feel the need to gather in protest in the same place, against what Blair’s Labour Government is doing, at home and abroad, and in defence of our democratic right to express our opposition. We invite others to join us who wish to express opposition to any or all of the following

I am sure most of you have been to a musical performance where the sound level is gradually increased without you even realizing it in order to prepare you for the main event. I call it the concert theory. Looks like it can be applied to other arenas as well.

The further the administration drops in the polls the more threatening the rhetoric around dissent becomes. The statements Donald Rumsfeld has been making are a few decibels higher these days.

For instance: Rumsfeld had this to say on America's moral superiority and blameless innocence in world affairs.

Rumsfeld:

"Can we truly afford to return to the destructive view that America — not the enemy — is the real source of the world's troubles?"

The message here is clear. The act of self-examination, of either self or your country is destructive to America.

This article is about the link between Mind and Social / Environmental-Issues. The fast-paced, consumerist lifestyle of Industrial Society is causing exponential rise in psychological problems besides destroying the environment. All issues are interlinked. Our Minds cannot be peaceful when attention-spans are down to nanoseconds, microseconds and milliseconds. Our Minds cannot be peaceful if we destroy Nature.

Industrial Society Destroys Mind and Environment

Subject : In a fast society slow emotions become extinct.
Subject : A thinking mind cannot feel.
Subject : Scientific/ Industrial/ Financial thinking destroys the planet.
Subject : Environment can never be saved as long as cities exist.

Emotion is what we experience during gaps in our thinking.

The right wing argument might be that it is better to be safe than sorry. Ordinarily I would agree with that statement, however there is something else I like to take into account and it is called the bigger picture. Right wingers, are not without their own bigger picture, but sadly it rarely reaches beyond their own self-interests and preservation of a rather narrowly focused status-quo.

I watch as many people who identify with this group swallow lies whole and glory in their dutifulness to authority in doing so.

In their most private thoughts do they ever question their allegiance? Do their leaders’ cries of wolf always work on them? Or do they accept the economy of truth as a necessary evil? I wonder if one ever really feels safe with a ruthless master. Who knows? I guess only they do.

But what if Bush saying Boo is not enough anymore for the rest of us?

So, the threat level has been reduced from critical to severe, so we can now relax because the terrorist threat is no longer imminent. Having said that, was the threat imminent anyway? There seems to be quite a lot of evidence to suggest that the suspects hadn’t bought plane tickets, and some of them didn’t even have passports. Coupled with the fact that British Intelligence wanted more time to monitor these suspects, I believe that JTAC’s decisions may be more politically motivated than the Home Secretary would have us believe.
 
So, what has this achieved? Well, the British public are scared (fear leads to the dark side etc, etc) and we’ve all forgotten how much we hate Tony. We’ve forgotten about the brutal Israeli assault on the people of Lebanon and Palestine. We will undoubtedly see an introduction of through-clothes scanners in airports and train stations soon (see Qinetiq’s profits soar), and there will be more passenger searches based on racial and religious profiling. The smear campaign against the Muslim Council of Great Britain and George Galloway is in full swing and last, but by no means least, the 90 day detention of terror suspects is back on the agenda.