DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ

The larger-than-expected turnout in Thursday's election seems to indicate that Iraqis are optimistic about a political solution to their troubles. Probably a large factor is their desire to run their own country their own way and hurry us on ours.
This was expressed last month at the meeting of the Arab Foreign Ministers in Cairo. they (including Iraq's), were unanimous in their desire to see us gone from Iraq. If our present administration is displeased with the results of the election - if the "right people" were not democratically elected or if those who were elected decide against cooperation with us, will we honor the democratically expressed will of the Iraqis, will we honor their decision or try to pressure them into another path?
The following (probably apocryphal) story has been floating around the internet, it underscores the problem of confusing moral values with democracy and the confusion our present administration has with its stated goals:
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A young Iraqi woman was kidnapped in Baghdad. Her family received a ransom notice stating that she would be raped and killed if the ransom was not paid. The family paid the ransom and the daughter was released, but she had been raped. The honor of the family required that she should be killed.
The father and brother could not bring themselves to do the deed. A cousin, who is a member of the police force in Baghdad was present at the time, and since he had just come from work he had his service revolver. He volunteered to kill the woman, and did so. She was buried, and the family's "honor" restored.
When interviewed, the cousin stated that Iraqis are a tribal people and this is a tradition that goes back generations. He said that the tradition is stronger even than the dictates of the Quran and Islam, and that the rage runs deep.
Americans are fighting and dying to bring "democracy" to the tribal peoples of Iraq. A voice in my heart tells me that they are clearly not prepared or even remotely ready for democracy.
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These people are "democratic". They were not complaining about the terrible wrong done them by the government - they were doing their moral thing.
If the Iraqis vote for a legislature that endorses or condones this moral attitude, do we grit our teeth and support them, or - to quote G.W.Bush, kill "twenty or thirty thousand" more?

SOCIO/POLITICAL LABELS

Both "Conservative" and "Liberal" mean far different things to those embracing the labels and those opposing them.
Liberals tend to think of themselves as espousing the best Jeffersonian qualities of America - working for Liberty, Freedom, the Pursuit of Happiness, and encouraging others to move toward the bright new horizon of perfection.
Conservatives tend to think of themselves as the guardians of all America stands and has stood for and as vigorous opponents of those who would give up our freedoms or attempt to change those things which have made America great.
Both groups tend to attract extremist ideologues who attempt to use the American basic beliefs to push extremist ideas, recently, in the case of "Liberals" (read Radical Leftists), a movement away from individualism and individual freedom and toward group identity and rights.
In the case of "Conservatives" (read extreme reactionaries), vigorous attempts to use the American basic beliefs to push extremist ideas concerning the relationship between citizens and their government; recently pushing the idea of denying freedoms in the name of protecting them while using America's power to influence other parts of the world.
Maybe I'll get into discussing how each label fits nowadays.

SPINS, LIES, and WEAPONS of MASS DESTRUCTION

I'm too lazy right now to write a clever update to this Blog, so here's a comment from one of my other blogs:
Our President took the opportunity afforded by the chance to speak at a Veteran's Day Rally to insist that he is not a liar. this politicalization of a solemn occasion irritated some (most?) of those present but I suppose he has to take whatever pulpit he can find whenever he can find it.
The interesting thing is that while few people openly accuse him of lying about the WMDs that were supposed to be in Iraq, most Americans feel he was less than truthful about his reasons for invading Iraq and the WMD question is one of the best smokescreens to pull over the rather sordid truth of the matter.
In the 9/11 Report, Section 10.3 (Beginning on page 351) has a pretty good summary of the thinking of the Administration at the time. Apparently the President speculated about the possibility of Iraq's participation in 9/11 but no intelligence reports indicated a Saddam- Al Qaeda link, rather there seemed to be some animosity. Never the less, at the Camp David meeting there was agreement that the three general areas of concern in the War on Terrorism were the Taliban, Al Qaeda, and Iraq and that Al Qaeda and Iraq were imminent dangers to the U.S., Iraq because of Saddam's interest in Weapons of Mass Destruction. Wolfowitz was apparently the chief proponent of War on Iraq but his ideas were shelved in favor of an invasion of Afghanistan as a direct attack on Al Qaeda.
There was apparently some belief that Saddam was involved with 9/11 but his long argument with the UN regarding his weapons programs was apparently seen as a more believable reason for Attacking Iraq. When it became apparent that despite evidence produced (including Powell's - in hindsight, rather embarrassing - speech); the UN was not going to authorize force against Iraq, The U.S. and Britain attacked Iraq and soon toppled Saddam.
Did Bush lie about weapons of mass destruction? He probably thought he was right but he certainly asserted as fact statements that were based on faulty or false intelligence which he made no effort to correct later. He would undoubtedly like to shift the spin on justification for the Iraq War to either ridding Iraq of a loathsome dictator, bringing peace, hope, and democracy to the Middle East, or ridding the world of an Al Qaeda or other terrorist base; but the fact remains that he used the WMD argument to sell the war to Americans and when none of consequence were found, the buck stops with him.
The reference to a "Slam dunk" by CIA Director George Tenant probably had a double meaning: We would find those pesky WMDs and Iraq would be a pushover and a positive step in winning the War on Terror. Besides, this would take the focus off Afghanistan, where we didn't seem to have much to show for our efforts (no Osama bin Laden or other top Al qaeda people captured so far). Two years later, Afghanistan looks like the "slam dunk" in comparison with Iraq.

WEIRDER WEATHER

Well, two or three hurricanes later, and we still have a month the go in the hurricane season.
The difference in media coverage between the disaster in New Orleans and the one in South Florida is interesting. I suppose it's because the NO disaster was dramatic, photogenic, and rife with government scandal while Miami and Ft. Lauderdale were more or less expected to get what they got.
A major difference in what has happened since is that while most of Katrina's victims were refugees who went someplace else for help, those in South Florida are right where they were to start with - suffering in the destruction.
Almost a third of those down there still don't have electricity and safe water. And if you're in your seventies or eighties and live on the 14th floor and neither your oxygen machine or the elevator works, and no one is working to move you anywhere - or even knows about you - you're in trouble.
According to arial surveys, about 70% of the buildings in Broward County have major damage. About twice as many people live there (1.7 million) as did in New Orleans. Add Miami-Dade's two million more and you see the magnitude of this.
The Red Cross, who is mandated by law to offer relief in these situations, is broke. They just borrowed over $300 million .
Maybe you should send them something.

WEIRD WEATHER

It looks like hanging around Maine for the Fall foliage wouldn't have been much fun after all. While it has ben unseasonably hot down here in the South, all of New England seems to be in danger of being washed away. Our lake in DownEast Maine was much higher than usual to start and with and with all the rain they've been having, is over-running docks and some shorefront camps. I hear the dam will be opened today, but this will put more water into the next lake, then into the river, then into the next lake, whose dam overlooks the city of Ellsworth - with no spillway. The last time that dam broke was in 1932 and it took them years to get back to normal.
As the rain is supposed to move off today or tomorrow, I suppose there will be little more damage, but the Fall foliage is, I suspect, pretty much gone. Of course it's a good thing this happened before the cold weather set in. an ice storm not only takes the leaves, it takes trees, power-lines, and occasional bridges.
I'm sure the road and drive to our place is gone. Oh well, it will give us something to worry about all winter.

MY DAY WITH THE DOCTOR

Well, the big operation day has come and gone and I am an inch taller- that’s the height of the bandage covering the top of my head.
I been to dermatologists on many (too many) occasions but this was an experience.
The doctor, a Mohs surgeon (one of the fancier types of dermatologists) was concerned over the diagnosis of the Bangor Pathologist and insisted on reviewing all the slides, reports, and MRI scans. He concurred with the diagnosis of LMS (Leiomyosarcoma) and said he would do a “slow Mohs” which means cutting the tumor out then letting at least two pathologists look at it and then coming back and cutting a “safety zone” around the clear margin of the tumor; altogether a hole about the size of a silver dollar.
He did this, and by the way, discovered another basel cell carcinoma nearby which he cut out at the same time, the analysis of which showed TWO more carcinomas, which were also removed. This meant another dollar-sized hole.
Incidentally, covering these things up meant a much larger trimming and sewing job.
The other pathologist brought in to look at the excised tumor disagreed with the diagnosis. He said it was a AFX (Atypical Fibroxanthoma) but as the treatment was the same - the argument is academic, and will be a long dry report in some obscure med journal, I suppose. Both of these types of tumors are fairly rare as skin cancers and can be deadly.
All this took from 1 PM until well after 5 PM in the operating chair. At one time there was the surgeon, two PA’s and four nurses all standing around admiring the cutting and sewing. For a while there were four of them all with their hands on/in my head.
I looked at the result with a mirror. Frankenstein’s monster has nothing on me!
The surgeon is a happy man. He said everything came out perfectly with absolutely clear margins and no sign of any other linkage (or leakage). He thinks I should have no more trouble with these.
As a matter of fact we just got back from dinner out (I did get some pitying looks) but aside from my head feeling like I am wearing a to-tight hat, no problems.
Continued next morning--Now I know how custer felt after Little Big Horn.

REBUILDING NEW ORLEANS

Here's my prediction for the future of New Orleans. The city will rise again, partly through massive infusion of federal taxpayer's money mostly directed toward rebuilding the infrastructure and replete with the usual scandal. Almost all of the money given or loaned to private individuals will be directed toward commercial rebuilding. there will be little or no effort to rebuild the black ghetto areas, as a matter of fact the ninth ward may well be bulldozed and allowed to return to wetland "to protect the city". the poor who were helicoptered/ boated/driven out won't find anybody helicoptering them back in. As a matter of fact the NO power structure (except maybe the mayor) will breath a hugh sigh of relief at how easy it was to remove them. This process has already started, apparently everyone except business interests are still being kept out of the city and already about half of the displaced refugees have indicated that they won't be back.
Actually this is about par for the course, whenever there is "urban renewal" the "renewees" are shifted out of sight (and mind).
Curiously enough, the very mixed racial culture of the Mississippi gulf coast will probably rebuild, as they did after Camille, and continue much as they have for the past century. their rebuilding will be much encouraged by the gambling interests who have heavily invested in the Gulfport-Biloxi-Pass Christian area and who, I am sure, will get taxpayer's money to relaunch their gambling boats.
I'm not condemning or criticizing this process, just trying to predict how it will turn out...stay tuned.

DOCTORS!

Me: Well, Doc, here's all the reports from pathologists, MRI analysts, Oncologists in Maine, what do we do now?
DR: Hmmmm, this will take some careful reading and study. I'll have to think about this... I sure can't do anything this afternoon. I'll have to send for the slides.
Me: Of course not. Will it require major surgery? Hospital time, What?
DR: Well, the oncologist says it's probably localized in the skin. I've only ever seen one other case like this (involving leiomyosarcoma) and I'll have to study up but I'll probably do a "slow Mohs" (several operations and skin grafts) I'll get back to you.
So I sit and stew. I could be sitting and stewing in the cool comfort of Maine. It's going to be in the 90's and wet here for the forceable future.

IT'S HOT DOWN HERE!!!

Well, we just drove down from Maine to North Florida, and frankly, I'd rather be in Maine.
Average Maine temps for this time of year are 60-70 in the daytime and 35-50 at night.
Yesterday down here it topped out at 99 but fell to 70 overnight.
We generally come home from ME in early October after the leaves have all fallen off and hopefully won't have to come home this early again.
There weren't nearly as many cars on the highways as usual. Still plenty of trucks, but I guess the high price of gas is having a travel effect.
I start seeing Doctors tomorrow, which I'm not looking forward to.

DAMN!

Well, it looks like we'll have to cut the lobster eating short and drive home, just when the Coast of Maine is at its most spectacular. The crowds have gone, days are cool and sparkly and the trees are beginning to color up, but we will have to drive back down to hot, humid, hurricaney Florida so I can get my head hacked on.
The problem is about as slight as it could be but it will still mean a large part of my scalp being removed and a skin graft. It's a good thing I'm bald, or I would really look strange.
We leave in about a week.

SUMMER'S END

On a more personal note, today I got the pathology report back on the hole in my head.
Turns out it isn't the normal Basel Cell carcinoma (skin cancer) I've had so many of; but a rare type called a Leiomyosarcoma. Look it up on the net (but not just after eating).
As we're out in the woods, I'll have to go to Bangor for a MRI then back again next week to talk to a surgical oncologist. I expect I'll wait unto we get back home before having any kind of operation.
Other than that, it's been a beautiful summer - one of the nicest we've seen in the past thirty-five years.

THE HIGH COST OF OIL

Our way of life is based on cheap, abundant energy, which until recently, has meant oil. Obviously that has changed.
What concerns me is the apparent lack of any serious planning, or even discussion, of alternative sources of energy.
Back in the eighties, Meadows & Meadows described this course of events in "The Limits to Growth" - a book widely condemned and discredited in its time. Turns out they were on target - the target was and is pretty obvious- you can't keep using up a non-renewable resource forever.

There are several alternatives to oil, coal, and gas which are already in use and which could be readily expanded: Nuclear power -NIMBY- so starve in the dark; Hydrogen (needs nuclear-generated electricity for production), sunlight, wind, water, geo-thermal -all relatively non-polluting and not liable to develop shortages.

For some reason, there has been little effort expended in developing these resources. We have shut down atomic power plants, torn down dams and torn up railroads (a much more energy-efficient way to haul stuff long distances than trucks. All in the name of cheap oil. Well, we don't have the cheap oil any more, so lets get with it.

Right now Americans seem to be feeling pretty good about their financial situation. they haven't cut down on their driving, they are still buying gas-guzzlers and even at close to three dollars a gallon (and clearly doomed to continue the cost climb) gas consumption is actually up over last year.

As the cost of energy begins to impact us - you can't produce anything or get it to the market as cheaply as last year- I see a world-wide economic collapse and retrenchment with the U.S. suffering the greatest hit (we have more to lose).

Can we do anything about this? Well we should at least be seriously talking about it. the new energy bill is a bad joke, designed to make us more, rather than less, oil dependent. I suppose it's our own fault, we elected and have re-elected and supported those who got us in our current mess and are doing nothing to get us out.

I NOW HAVE A HOLE IN MY HEAD

The traffic to Bar Harbor was about what I expected and the Hospital is in the most congested part of town but we did find parking. There is much debate about making bypasses around the center of most of these small towns, but nothing will come of it - it's too expensive and the town merchants don't want to give any more advantage to Walmart (which is on the outskirts). They apparently like to see a parade of logging trucks making it impossible for shoppers to cross the main street in town.

The doctor I saw is a member of the "cookie cutter" school of dermatology; when he does a biopsy, he goes down to bedrock, but what's one more scar. I'll hear what the verdict is in a couple of weeks, I suppose. If it requires more hacking, I'll wait until I get back to FL. I'd have to drive a couple of hundred miles to get to a Mohs surgeon anyway.

The loons are beginning to raft up in large groups and are talking about heading south for the winter. the loon chick is now flying (clumsily). He's in for a shock in a few weeks when mom and pop fly off and leave him. That's how loons do it. Ma and Pa take separate vacations leaving junior to fend for himself. They will be back next summer (loons mate for life) and junior will be also, if he's lucky.

LIFE AMONG THE LOTUS EATERS

My goodness, I'm getting lazy with this journal. I know I don't keep a daily blog, but this is ridiculous.
My only excuse is that accessing and updating is tedious here in the north woods and there is lots more to do (Admire the lake, watch the rocks grow, argue politics, drink wine, eat lobsters, pick wild blueberries, etc).
It's full summer at Bar Harbor and I have to drive out there in the midst of all the rat-race this afternoon (Dr.'s Appointment). I'll update you on the traffic if I survive.

LIFE ON THE LAKE

Sorry about the long delay in updates. Here in Maine I have to communicate over a rusty fence wire and by the time I've checked all your blogs, I'm timed out.

For the past couple of weeks, we seem to have been the only cool (well, mostly cool) place in the U.S. but even DownEast has its warm days and weird weather. We had a line squall/thunderstorm yesterday and all of the area down east Bangor to Bar harbor lost power for five hours. there was a time when this would not have bothered us, but, like everyone else, we are now dependent on electricity and we don't really miss the days of kerosene and pumping water.

Our lake is very high this summer and this has apparently affected the loon population. I suspect some of their nests were washed out. We have only one or two chicks this summer, which our resident Bald eagles eye with hungry interest. Loons are big, quite aggressive birds but seem terrified by the eagles, at least judging from the alarm calls. Most of the other water birds (mergansers, cormorants, ducks) stay well away from the loons, who will not hesitate to attack and kill them. Only the seagulls and crows ignore them.

TRAFFIC

I see our part of Maine just made the NTSB or AAA list of "worst places to try to drive" or something like that.
Maine has unique traffic problems. They have a 6-lane turnpike (an EXPENSIVE Turnpike) that basically goes from Portsmouth NH to the State Capitol at Augusta, and I-95 which is partly turnpike but goes on through Portland to Houghton. These are places you probably never heard of, but a place you probably have heard of is Bar Harbor, which is located on Mt. Desert Island, has Maine's only National Park, and is accessible only by two-lane roads running from Bangor to Ellsworth (US 1A) or up the coast from Rockland (US 1) which both funnel into ME Route 3, all of which are two-lane roads and currently under construction. They are always under construction. If you enjoy junky roadside scenery, that's your road.
The problem is compounded by Maine's extreme winter weather, they can only fix the roads during the tourist season and since approximately half of ME is (very carefully cultivated) woods and pays minimal taxes, the road repair budget is always strapped. Some Maine towns have built alternative routes around the center of the town but Ellsworth has resisted. You can imagine the scene when a manufactured home or wood truck tries to make the right angle turn from Main Street (US 1) to High Street (US 1 & US 1A & Rt 3 - the road to Bar Harbor and on up the coast).
The locals know how to avoid much of this and it's used to be a problem just when the "summer complaint" was here but I suspect it lasts for most of the year now. I suppose it will be a problem for the rest of my lifetime.

MAINE WOODS CRITTERS

We have had an interesting visitor for the past couple of nights. About 11PM we heard a faint noise at the bird feeder, which is right outside a window. I peeked out and there was a flying squirrel helping himself. I got the flashlight so I could see him better and he wasn't alarmed at all by the light, just turned his back and kept on raiding the feeder.
Flying squirrels are not particularly rare but they are completely nocturnal and secretive so this was the first one we'd ever seen even though we'd heard them sometimes. The squirrel is about as big as my hand, has a funny flat tail and when spread out looks like a little rug. He doesn't eat much (he's about 1/4 the size of a regular grey squirrel) so he's welcome any night.

WE GOT HERE
I'm just as glad we have a all-wheel drive vehicle. Our camp road is washed out, but we made it. The guy wil come with dirt and a buldozer "Sometime after the fourth".
It was drizzling and in the 90's when we arrived yesterday. Today it did not make it to the 70's here at the lake. We're thinking of all you swelterers.

ON TO MAINE

We leave for Down East on sunday. We have a fairly gas-efficient SUV (Honda CR-V), which we need to access our place and haul our stuff, but will still try to go easy and conserve as much as possible. We stay off inter-states for most of the trip, which means we go a little slower, but the scenery is nicer and it's much less of a hassle. I'll post when we arrive if I can get WWW access.

ENERGY CONSERVATION

It now seems apparent that the present high price for fossil fuel will continue to rise as the shortages predicted by groups such as the Club of Rome ( The Limits To Growth; Universe '72 ) in the last century begin to develop. We have not done adequate planning for this eventuality and are now playing catch-up. Our largest trade imbalance is in oil imports. A friend of mine in the fossil fuel industry claims that much of our gas is now imported from Europe where they have a surplus due to the growing prevalence of more efficient diesel cars and trucks. This is obviously inefficient (you have to waste fuel getting the fuel here from there) and so far there seems to be little interest in some of the obvious alternatives such as atomic power plants and hydrogen fuel cell technology.
I am seriously considering a diesel-electric hybrid as my next vehicle.

THE YEARLY TREK
The thermometer got into the nineties the other day, so I guess it's time to start making lists, eating out the freezer, and getting the road to our Maine cabin made usable for the summer.
The Red Hills of North Florida and South Georgia have had a glorious Spring. The Love Bugs are out and about, the Roses are rosy, and Kudzu is upon us. It will be good to get to Maine, but I hear they have had a very wet Spring which means BUGS, BUGs, BUGS; all of which bite, bite, bite.
We won't leave for another month as down-east mud season is not very much fun. I'll keep you posted.

AMERICAN VALUES - AMERICAN CREED

In his provocative book: " Who Are We? The Challenges to America's National Identity", Samuel P. Huntington makes some interesting points. He describes American culture in terms of our Basic Value system, most of which he terms our "American Creed".
These core values include: The importance of the individual, the concept of equality, the demand for Liberty and Justice, the Work Ethic, Representative Democratic Government, Private Property, Protestant Moral values (which have been stretched to include Catholic Christians and other religions) , and the English language. He discusses the problems immigrant groups have had in adjusting themselves to this value system and expresses his concern about how immigrants who don't subscribe to American Values can become American and the problems which arise when large numbers reject those ideas which basically define americans.
Criticisms of his ideas have often focused on his assertion that the American Creed is based on a value system brought over from England by the first settlers. He distinguishes settlers from immigrants by suggesting that settlers are settling new lands and establishing the social system while immigrants are moving from one established social system to another and must adapt to the new system. He pretty much rejects the "melting pot" idea and suggests as an analogy "adding spice to the soup" as more expressive of the influence immigrants have had.
Certainly no one can deny that our present value system contains pretty much the same Basic Value Set which is straight out of 17th century Puritan and Enlightenment England and Holland. The first waves of immigrants, from Germany, Ireland, and France took up these values with little re-interpretation. The Black slaves, whose importation started even before the Mayflower landed, were more or less forced to accept them - at least to the extent that they were allowed into the system. If you look at the demands of the Civil rights Activists of the 1960's they read like a basic value list. It's no surprise that Gunnar Myrdal in his famous study of America's racial problems ( An American Dilemma - Harper '62) Listed virtually the same value set deToqueville mentioned in the previous century.
America continues to have the strongest "work ethic" values of any developed country as well as the strongest Religious value system of any developed country, indeed one of the strongest in the world. That surely helps to account for the religious dimension of our current sociopolitical arguments.
Huntington points out the changes taking place in our culture now. He suggests that the "Elite Establishment" has, for reasons which seem right to them, elected to "deconstruct" some of our values - notably those concerned with individual worth and rights- by emphasizing group rights with policies such as affirmative action, quotas, and acceptance of group activities somewhat at odds with our value system as it has been interpreted. Most voters have expressed displeasure with this "Liberal" attitude and the present administration has used it to further their own agenda.
Huntington sees the rise of Hispanic culture as a threat to American democratic values, apparently because they seem to retain allegiance to their homeland more than past immigrant groups have. In my opinion, this is an unfounded concern. All groups newly come the America have kept some allegiance to their past culture, but within two or three generations, have absorbed our value system and made it their own. We are in the midst of a period of social change with the concurrent basic value reinterpretation. Those like huntington who want things to remain the same will be as disappointed as those who want a radical realignment of our values. Those that have been ours for centuries will remain, though they may be interpreted somewhat differently. We have one of the most dynamic and strongest cultures in the world, that's why we are who we are.

GEOGRAPHY AND YOU

For some reason, Americans tend to be among the world's more geographical knowledge deficient nations. To be sure, Geography is more-or-less taught in school but this is often a case of the halt leading the blind as most public school teachers haven't a clue, seem to be afraid of maps, and don't "know the way to San Jose".
I'm not going to rail about college curriculums, but I am going to suggest that this lack of knowledge is a fairly severe problem.
The Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka of Nigeria, sums it up this way:
" In an interview last month, Soyinka, who has braved death many times in his native, turbulent Nigeria, said that for all of our technology, Americans are now among the most insular and least curious people in the world.

He said it remains common for him to hear people wonder whether Africa is still colonized by the British, and conflate world events to where "they think the Yugoslav war was taking place in Asia against Chinese communists." He says Americans' lack of curiosity is stunning.

"It doesn't matter whether it's blacks, it doesn't matter the class, it doesn't matter the level of education," Soyinka says. "Some of the most brilliant of my colleagues in universities here are so insular that it hurts. I find it very difficult.

"The basis of it is a lack of an integrated exposure to other societies. This is one of the most insular societies I've ever encountered anywhere. And I'm not talking just about ghetto kids. Professors ... parents ... legislators. It's across the board. That is something you do not find to that extent in the rest of the world."

Soyinka extends that insularity all the way to the White House, describing President Bush as a religious fanatic who has helped Americans become "slaves of fear" with his rhetoric about weapons of mass destruction. In his current book "Climate of Fear," Soyinka likens Bush's you're-with-us-or-with-the-terrorists rhetoric to McCarthyism, "where the mere failure to denounce the communist ideology with satisfactory fervor or to denounce one's colleagues for communist sympathies became an unpatriotic act.".........
"I believe it is impossible for him not to realize by now, even though he may not admit it, that he has committed a very grave blunder. It seems to me just impossible for somebody in that position, with the kinds of pronouncements he's made, not to realize that he's been living in a fool's paradise he has created.

"The world is far more complex for a nation, however strong, however big, to say that he doesn't care what the rest of the world thinks as long as he's doing what God intends. That kind of language, that kind of belief is what makes any leader, any human being dangerous. ... Many Americans are in a mental bunker. Any information that tries to penetrate that bunker is rejected as enemy intellectual action."
Americans so reject the world, this man of letters says he would not even recommend a book as the first step to critical thinking. "I would begin by saying geography should become a compulsory subject," he says. "If geography is not taught in schools, parents should begin to teach it in the home.
"For me, geography is the summit of human existence. It dictates the culture, it contains the history of how human beings actually re-created existence depending on the environment." In the United States, he continued, "Geography is 'What is the capital of California?' and once they say that, they think they know the world.
"The way we were taught geography, it is what made us so confident in the critical assessment of other nations. We know them, I mean, you don't know them all the way, but we know them in a way that is fundamental to the relationship of humanity to the natural environment.
"Once people understand that, you understand why Eskimos live in igloos, and you don't see that as backwards but as an intelligent use of resources. You understand why certain peoples eat horrible looking grubs and you recognize them as superior to hamburgers. Curiosity precedes critical thinking. If you're not curious, you can't think."
Soyinka laughs one more time when he says geography was even more important than history."History can always be cooked up, written from the winner's point of view. History is 90 percent fiction. Geography is the material reality from which everything else derives."
Soyinka is certainly not alone in his views. I don't think having an attic piled with back copies of The National Geographic Magazine answers the problem either.

THE CONSTITUTION AND RELIGIOUS RADICALS

I. as are many others, am concerned about the Religious Radicals trying to subvert our way of life. These conspirators have managed to seduce otherwise perfectly rational people into supporting them by claiming that for some reason the United States would be better off if it was run according to strict religious principals - their strict religious principals. Their hypocrisy is evidenced by their statements of said principals, which they carefully tailor to suit their audience and their actions which are hardly religious. They piously protect the state from needless expense by giving hospital and medical committees the right to determine when life support should be denied, even if the family objects (At least that's how it is in Texas, due to a law signed by our present president.) while at the same time piously "deciding on the side of life" (Bush again, in a recent speech about Terri Schiavo) if they think the case suits their political agenda.
On a more local level, a new church is just opening in my town. Seats thousands, has a cafeteria, coffee bar, giant TV screens and other amenities as well as a staff of 45-50. That's a single church. and not even from one of the "old" mainstream religious sects. They apparently see their calling as one which guides the whole life of their members. Not surprisingly, they have a political viewpoint.
For more than two hundred years the U.S. has been pretty careful to "make no laws respecting religion or preventing the free exercise thereof" but these radicals have seen how they can make religion work for them in taking political control by seeming to support the concerns of religious groups and by encouraging the fear engendered by an attack which was led by members of a religion which sees Christianity as an enemy and is still pretty much mired in the past.
Now these "wing nuts" have decided to mount a direct assault on the Constitution with a law called the
"Constitution Restoration Act" which stands a pretty good chance of passing.
Look it up here: (or this if you can't link):http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=104&ItemID=7569
See what you think.

JOHN PAUL II AND THE COLLAPSE OF COMMUNISM

John Paul II was, in my opinion one of the two most important Popes of the past century or so. He and John XXIII certainly had an impact on Catholics and on the World. John XXIII for his bringing the Catholic Church as close to the twentieth century as he could and JP2 for his political impact on Communism in Europe. Perhaps the fact that he was (I'll say was even though his death is not yet official) a stern traditionalist as far as doctrine went and very firm in his opinions, gave strength to the Poles who defied and toppled their government and started the collapse of the whole house of cards that was the Soviet Empire. For that alone he will be remembered by history. As an aggressive and untiring spokesman for his religion, he energized Catholics around the world.
I'm not sure his popularizing of religion was necessarily good for America - it did lead to some Bishops condemning a presidential candidate who is apparently a good practicing Catholic and led to a peculiar alliance of some catholics and the theo-con fanatics; but if you are a religious person, you must admire his faith and stamina.
Concerning the collapse of communism in Russia, John Paul II, Michael Gorbachev, and Ronald Reagan have all been praised for their part in the collapse.
I was a visitor in Russia during the Gorbachev era and, even though the Reagan was still muttering about the Evil Empire, it was plain that Russia was on the verge of economic and social collapse. They were well into the "We pretend to work and they pretend to pay us" phase of communism and were obviously not much of an economic or military threat.
Gorbachev had a lot to do with changing the face of Russia. He was an economic realist who attempted (unsuccessfully) to save all he could of Soviet power. Reagan was a very lucky, very bull-headed. very opinionated actor, who happened to be president when the USSR collapsed. His pressure on Russia was the straw that broke the camel's back but he was just continuing pressure begun by Truman and Eisenhower and continued by every succeeding administration . John Paul II surely had a more direct impact, both as "the Polish Pope" and as a powerful world leader who used his power carefully and successfully.

OUR STATE OF FEAR

I just got through reading Michael Crichton's latest: STATE OF FEAR.
While the major thrust of this novel is debunking the politically hyped assertions about the impending environmental collapse because of global warming and other miss use of natural resources, its subtext about the dynamics of our crisis-ridden society is very interesting.
Crichton suggests that our society uses fear to keep its citizens loyal and submissive. He points out how in the late nineties, as the cold war ended, suddenly ecology and the environment replaced it as the cause for alarm. For about ten years, until Sept. 11 2001, the environmental doom-sayers held center stage, maintaining the sort of crisis mentality our society has become used to and the world's politicians have learned to exploit. As they have seen themselves supplanted by the Fear of Terrorists they have become more and more aggressive in attempting to maintain their place in the sun.
Crichton's comments about our fear-driven society are interesting and thought provoking.
Looking at social change through this lens leads you to consider how politicians have been encouraging and manipulating us by using our fear of terrorists to gain an ever tighter control over us and make America over in their image: "A Right-wing Christian Fortress Amerika" much like the bad dreams of the protestors of the sixties and seventies.
If Crichton is right, politically the only way to win is to go is negative- because that enhances our fear. Bush used it deftly and very successfully.

BUSH AND THE RIGHT TO DIE

When he was governor of Texas, Bush signed their law which makes it legal for a hospital to remove a person from life support if they can't pay even though their family objects. Has this been done? You bet. See below.

March 15, 2005, 8:16PM
Baby born with fatal defect dies after removal from life support
By LEIGH HOPPER
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

The baby wore a cute blue outfit with a teddy bear covering his bottom. The 17-pound, 6-month-old boy wiggled with eyes open and smacked his lips, according to his mother.

Then at 2 p.m. today, a medical staffer at Texas Children's Hospital gently removed the breathing tube that had kept Sun Hudson alive since his Sept. 25 birth. Cradled by his mother, he took a few breaths, and died.
Sun's death marks the first time a hospital has been allowed by a U.S. judge to discontinue an infant's life-sustaining care against a parent's wishes, according to bioethical experts. A similar case involving a 68-year-old man in a chronic vegetative state at another Houston hospital is before a court now.

"This isn't murder. It's mercy and it's appropriate to be merciful in that way. It's not killing, it's stopping pointless treatment," said William Winslade, a bioethicist and lawyer who is a professor at the Institute for the Medical Humanities at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. "It's sad this (Sun Hudson case) dragged on for so long. It's always sad when an infant dies. We all feel it's unfair, that a child doesn't have a chance to develop and thrive."
The hospital's description of Sun — that he was motionless and sedated for comfort — has differed sharply from the mother's. Since February, the hospital has blocked the media from accepting Hudson's invitation to see the baby in the neonatal intensive care unit, citing patient privacy concerns.
.........
On Feb. 16, Harris County Probate Court Judge William C. McCulloch made the landmark decision to lift restrictions preventing Texas Children's from discontinuing care. However, an emergency appeal by Hudson's attorney, Mario Caballero, and a procedural error on McCulloch's part prevented the hospital from acting for four more weeks.
Texas law allows hospitals can discontinue life sustaining care, even if patient family members disagree. A doctor's recommendation must be approved by a hospital's ethics committee, and the family must be given 10 days from written notice of the decision to try and locate another facility for the patient.
Texas Children's said it contacted 40 facilities with newborn intensive care units, but none would accept Sun. Sun was born with a fatal form of dwarfism characterized by short arms, short legs and lungs too tiny to sustain his body, doctors said. Nearly all babies born with the incurable condition, often diagnosed in utero, die shortly after birth, genetic counselors say.
Sun was delivered full-term at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, but Hudson, 33, said she had no prenatal care during which his condition might have been discovered. He was put on a ventilator while doctors figured out what was wrong with him, and Hudson refused when doctors recommending withdrawing treatment.
Texas Children's contended that continuing care for Sun was medically inappropriate, prolonged suffering and violated physician ethics. Hudson argued her son just needed more time to grow and be weaned from the ventilator.
Another case involving a patient on life support — a 68-year man in a chronic vegetative state whose family wants to stop St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital from turning off his ventilator — was supposed to be heard today by the Houston-based 1st Court of Appeals.

POLITICS AND ETHICS - THE SCHAIVO CASE

The latest conservative hooraw is over Terri Schiavo, In case you've been visiting Mars, I'll summarize the case:
She suffered severe brain damage as a result of a botched hospital procedure about fifteen years ago. She has been in a persistent vegetative state since then. Her husband says she told him she did not want to live as a vegetable and despite her parent's vigorous protests, has attempted to remove her life support and let her die. The press accounts call this life support a feeding tube - it's not.
Here's a brief description from a report:
"The proposed measure appears to misunderstand that percutaneous endoscopic gastronomy (PEG) tube placements are surgical interventions. To use the term 'feeding tube' in this context is a misnomer; 'feeding' requires some level of human interaction with and appreciation of food. Use of a PEG tube implanted through the skin and stomach wall for infusion of liquid nutrient compounds over long periods of time does not constitute 'feeding' in any ordinary sense of the word," the bioethicists' group said in a March 7 report.
Mrs .Schaivo has no higher brain function and has not had for fifteen years. this has been through the courts many times and Mr. Schaivo has been upheld. The tube was supposed to be removed about thirty minutes ago.
Meanwhile - in the Congress of the United States, the Senate Majority Leader, one Bill Frist MD(?) has summoned Terri and Michael Schaivo to appear before a committee of Congress that will hold hearings on patient care.
This is a cynical and cruel pandering to an ignorant vocal group led by religious fanatics; and is a clear violation of the separation of powers set up in the Constitution itself.
I suppose Michael Schaivo could have his wife transported to Washington and wheeled before congress who could then take testimony from her. I await her testimony with baited breath.

SPRING has SPRUNG

While much of the rest of the country is still wrestling with the last winter snows, we are having a fabulous Spring. The combo of cool nights, warm days and rain has caused first the Camellias and now the Azaleas, Dogwood, and Redbuds to explode.
Our yard has thousands of Azaleas this year. The squirrels think they are in heaven (They eat them!) but even they can’t make much of a dent. We had three inches of rain today, so I suppose our place will become even lusher.
When we lived in the midwest (Southern Indiana) we had lots of woods and by the end of March we were beginning to get wildflowers like crazy. They had to be up and running before the trees leafed out in April and May.
Here in North Florida, the live oaks never lose their leaves so we are pretty green most of the year - that’s not to say they don’t shed- they do but get new leaves immediately.
Our grass doesn’t stay green all year like the rye grass of the midwest, but it’s beginning to show signs of life. My yard maintenance doesn’t start until April 1, I’m afraid they will have quite a job by then. I can’t do it- I left my yard tractor and mower in Indiana (heh heh).

BUSH AND THE MEDIA

I saw this in my local paper and thought it interesting enough to post in its entirety:

Bush's deceptive media tactics continue to amaze
By Tom Teepen
COX NEWSPAPERS

The Bush administration has handed out government contracts to at least three journalists who speak and write approvingly of administration policies.

The administration created phony TV newscasts, with actors pretending to be reporters, and shipped the tapes to local TV stations to be broadcast as if they were real reports.

The administration is straining to imprison journalists who refuse to rat out sources who blew the whistle on administration misdeeds and back-stairs maneuvers but, as near as anyone can tell, has left unbothered the journalist, Robert Novak, who outed a CIA agent in order to embarrass an administration critic.

The administration has held "town meetings" to showcase President Bush that were actually political rallies with controlled attendance and pre-screened questions.

And now it turns out the administration infiltrated the White House press corps with a specially credentialed "reporter" who was in fact an operative for a Republican outfit and then used him to ask Bush softball questions that were really diatribes against Democrats.

This latest flap, over "Jeff Gannon," is only the most recent in an ever-lengthening string of dodges by which the Bush presidency has tried to bamboozle the public in ways whose difference from fraud is only a legal technicality. Gannon, supposedly Washington bureau chief for Talon News, turns out to be one James Dale Gucket, a Republican cadre who was active recently in the campaign that defeated Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle.

Even under his supposed cover, Gucket was never more than a GOP plant. Talon News is an arm of GOPUSA.com, the political plaything of a group of Texas conservatives. The administration greased his way into the White House press corps with extraordinary daily passes, a rare privilege.

Every administration tries to get away with spinning matters to its own advantage, but this one is running up something of a record in outright deceitfulness.

It favored conservative syndicated columnists Maggie Gallagher and Michael McManus with $21,000 and $10,000 contracts respectively, and columnist and ubiquitous TV talking head Armstrong Williams walked off with a cool $240,000 in contracts. In effect, taxpayers were tapped to pay for their own deception. (And what is more, wastefully: The three were Bush boosters in any event.)

The Government Accountability Office has formally warned federal agencies that the resort to video news releases that pass as real TV news violates laws against using appropriated funds for propaganda. The scam has been used - that we know of - by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy and, to tout the Medicare drug policy, by the Health and Human Services Department's Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The "Karen Ryan" and "Mike Morris" you may have seen holding forth on Bush policies were actors playing journalists, real-world version of the jokey "I may not be a doctor, but I play one on television" routine.

This White House is at once deeply secretive and aggressively deceptive. If you sometimes feel as though you've been hustled into a mirror maze, that's because you have.

Tom Teepen is a columnist for Cox Newspapers. He is based in Atlanta. E-mail: teepencolumn@coxnews.com.
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