The New Republic
There are two very different experiments in direct democracy happening in this country right now.

The first, more hyped, more ill-conceived of the two is the Grand Guignol of Politics we call the California Recall Election, which came into being after paid volunteers worked day and night to get 2% percent of the population to over turn an election that was decided by 8 million voters. Now, 135 candidates have 8 weeks before they appear on a punch card ballot that could be up to 4 pages long and, on that date, even if 49% of the voters support Gov. Davis, a he can be replaced by anyone who's fortunate enough to get just one more vote than his nearest opponent. No majority needed and no run-offs in place. Our new governor could have a mandate from a whopping 5% of the electorate before trying to undo an $8 Billion dollar budget deficit in a legislature that requires a 2/3 majority to raise ANY new taxes.

Alot of numbers, I know. The short answer: a guy with very little political clout could be replaced by a guy with NO political clout or expertise in the midsts of a legislative crisis. And, if Davis is kicked out and replaced by The Terminator or, god forbid, Bill Simon, does anyone think that the Democrats will waste one second to stage their own recall?

The other exercise in direct democracy is Howard Dean's asymetrical political campaign.

As Dean campaign manager Joe Trippi describes in this interview, Meetup.com and Dean's Blog For America have created an environment where a politician can have a direct line of communication with his consituents, and where both Dean and his supporters assume responsibility for his campaign.

Case in point: one of the ideas yours truly suggested on Blog for America was a series of Dean tailgate parties. If you assume that the vast majority of the population isn't interested in the politics that effects their daily lives, then what are they interested in? Well, sports, for one. So, my idea was to make a showing at some sporting events. Don't be annoying and pester people about politics. Go there for the game, but were your Dean colors as a group. Eventually people will come talk to you.
Well, here's a recent posting on Dean's Blog:

Politics is not a Spectator Sport -- Baseball for America



Yesterday I asked Gray to find examples of Dean supporters using the Get Local website to rally at baseball games. Here are just a few:

Phillies Game, September 6, 7 PM, Veterans Stadium
Join us for one of the final baseball games at the Vet! We need 25 people or more to get the Philly4Dean.com up on the marque! If we get 40 or more people we get a deeper discount on tickets, so invite all your friends and neighbors to see the Vet one last time.

Dean Visibility at Fenway Park, Friday, Aug. 29.
Politics is not a spectator sport. Join in on a large visibility at, around, and in Fenway Park. Spread the word about Dean while greeting all the Fenway faithful (35,000 fans!) as the Red Sox face the Yankees on Friday, August 29th. Wear your Dean shirt, red socks, and bring your friends, family, and flyers.

The community impacts the candidate and each other. Can you imagine, just for a moment, what a White House Blog would be like? What kind of impact that could have?

I were my Dean button daily these days, and I generally get two responses. Most women say "I love Howard Dean! I think he's great!" and that's it. Most men say, "I love what Dean has to say, but he doesn't have a chance in Hell of winning." To which, my response is this:

If people who think he's great but can't win actually voted for Dean, he just might win.

Voting your conscience might actually elect a President this time around. Imagine that.

Now, I've spoken at length in the past about this issue of electibility, but I'd just like to consider one thing: if so many people think Dean is great, who do they think are the people who will vote for Bush? More importantly, WHY do they think these people will vote for Bush?

Anyway, keeping in line with the activism of the campaign, Dean is compiling a petition calling for a scaling back of the USA Patriot Act and opposition to it's successor, The Victory Act, which seeks to let John Ashcroft creep even further inside your business. Check the link above and sign up.

leaving the children behind.....
Princeton University's motto is "In The Nation's Service". Wendy Kopp, who graduated from my alma mater in 1989 took that idea to heart when she founded Teach for America in 1990 as a way to provide higher quality teachers in some of the most disadvantaged neigborhoods in the county. TFA would provide college scholarships to students who committed to teaching in inner city schools for 2 years after graduation. Over the last decade, TFA has helped over 9000 students through college, who then, in turn, helped educate over 1.25 million kids across the country.

A large part of why Teach for America was so successful was because it received substantial grants as a part of President Clinton's AmeriCorps initiative. Which is why many people breathed a sigh of relief last year when President Bush praised TFA as a model of the kind of civic volunteerism he envisioned for the whole country.

That is, of course, before Bush cut the funding to AmeriCorps and dropped Teach for America from the program completely. Over 3000 college students who'd been accepted into Teach for America this year are suddenly finding themselves without their scholarships just before the new school year and just as state universities across the country are increasing tuition by as much 40%. Let alone the kids who won't have the value of a young, dedicated teacher through the program.

This is the true face of Bush's fiscal policy. Don't forget it.

I'm still bigger than you, girlie-man!
Ah-nold has not made life easier for El Presidente. He can get so touchy if it's not all about him, you know.

The Truth You Can't Handle
Yours truly is an aberration. I'm one of the few men in my family who has never done military service. Partly because my father recognized that my talents lay elsewhere and pushed me as such (I think Dad is still coming to terms with the fact that he'll probably never be able to call me "Dr. Young"). And Partly because I knew I was really, really not going to do well in a place that required following orders without question. At heart, I'm a scientist. I'll ALWAYS ask questions. I'd make a much better CIA analyst than a soldier any day.

However, I've been around enough soldiers to know that this country wouldn't even exist today if it wasn't for some very, very bad MFs in BDUs. People like my cousin, an ex-drill sargeant who gets practically orgasmic at the thought of making a new recruit do push-ups until he cries.

Which is why this essay by blood-n-guts WWII & Vietnam combat vet turned correspondent David Hackworth is so riveting. Here, he details a trip to a Basic Training base to see what a decade of political correctness and a good economy did to recruitment & training, and what it means now that our fearless leader has fully embroiled us in a brand spanking new quagmire.

Personally, I have mixed feelings about this. The military needs to reflect the values of the society, otherwise our values are meaningless. Therefore, we have to admit EVERYONE. And you have to train them equally, too. If the standard is 200 push-ups, and you're a woman who can't do 200 push-ups, you shouldn't be in the army. Period. On the other hand, you cannot stick a bunch of 19-year-old men and women together in close quarters in a physically intense environment and not expect them to bone like they're trying to repopulate the planet.

Government Issue
So those American soldiers that get shot at on a daily basis in Iraq are about to get a pay cut because the Pentagon says they can't afford it.

I'd like to say two things:

"Tax cuts" and "unilateralism".

That's all.

Death Rays
Those of you who know your comic book history know that The Incredible Hulk was born when scientist Bruce Banner was caught in an explosion from a gamma bomb, or a bomb that emitted gamma radiation.

Well, today, munitions scientists are within striking distance of developing the real thing, through the use of the available high energy states, or nuclear isomers, of certain heavy elements, such as hafnium.

Using the technique described in this New Scientist article, a single gram of this stuff could be more explosive than 50 kilograms of TNT. And they would not necessarily be subject to the nuclear test ban treaty.

Failing Upwards
Conan O'Brian, distinguished alum of the 3rd best undergraduate school in America (following, of course, the imminently glorious Princeton University and Deep Springs College), gave a great commencement speech on the Hah-vahd Yahd back in 2000 on the value of risk & failure.

Laugh out loud funny.

FireStorm
Well, since civilization as we know it is on the brink of collapse here in California, I've decided to take the Emperor Nero approach. Rather than lamenting that Mr. Universe is about to be handed the reigns of the 5th largest economy in the world (because, hey, how can you not like "Hercules In New York", right?), I'm just going to whistle past the Golden State's grave and give a review of a comic book.

Of course, that's not entirely true, is it?

This week's top pick is Stormwatch:Team Achilles #14, written by progressive gadfly and former Special Forces soldier Micah Wright.

So, for starters, here's a little background on the title:
In this fictional universe, superpowered beings (SPBs) are everywhere, and they think they own the place. Some think they're heroes, others just don't give a hoot, but, on the whole, they're making a mess of things. So, the United Nations created Stormwatch, an elite military force made up of a bunch of former covert ops specialists and a handful of SPBs on the UN payroll designed to police these supermen. And, considering that most superheroes just know how to hit each other really hard, they really don't stand a chance against a team with military tactical skills.

But, the story gets more interesting because the United States government views superhumans as the next arms race, and doesn't like the UN interfering. So Stormwatch has effectively found itself engaged in a secret war with the right wing reactionary forces in our government. So far, the US has tried to assassinate members of the general assembly, while Stormwatch has kidnapped a racist American senator and replaced him with a shape-shifting SPB who's using all of his floor votes to dump billions of taxpayer dollars onto HBCs and the United Negro College Fund. Crazy stuff.

This issue, the best so far in the series, introduces Citizen Soldier, a thinly veiled Captain America analogue, who is so dedicated to the American Dream that he's decided to completely destroy the country to protect it.



Check the preview of the first 6 pages, then check it out at your local comic shop, where you can also get the trade paperback that collects the 1st six issues of the series in one volume.

Man of Action
You knew it was only a matter of time. Blue Box Toys, a company that proudly promotes its enormous manufacturing plants in China, has created a G.W. Bush action figure, dressed up as a fighter pilot, a la his "The War Is Over" announcement on that aircraft carrier back in May. You can get one for yourself in K&B Toys.

Personally, I'm hoping it's just a matter of time before this thing shows up in a Democratic campaign ad, beating up Destro & Cobra Commander.

Beware His Power
You know the story: A spacecraft carrying the last survivor of an alien race crash lands in the heartland of the United States, where he's found and raised in the good clean values of a simple, childless farming couple to become a champion of Truth, Justice, and the American Way.

Nice fairy tale.

But in the real world, the U.S. government would have had their special ops teams and black helicopters on that farmhouse's doorstep within hours. No way Uncle Sam would let a couple of farmers keep living proof of extraterrestrial life as their favorite son. And what about that spaceship anyway?

This is the premise for my favorite new comic this week, "Supreme Power", written by J. Michael Straczynski, whom many of you may know as the creator of Babylon 5. DEFINITELY worth checking out at your local comic shop.

Lies. Lies. Lies. Yea-ah.
Speaking at NYU this week on behalf of liberal activist group Moveon.org, Al Gore stops just short of telling The President that his pants are on fire.

Babel
There are about to be some VERY angry people in Saudi Arabia.

In this Newsweek article, a German historian (who's using a pseudonym to avoid joining Salman Rushdie in exile) contends that the Quran has been mistranslated. For centuries, people believed that it was dictated to Mohammed by Allah in Arabic. But, historically speaking, Arabic as a language didn't appear on the scene until 150 years AFTER Mohammed's death. Which means that the document was more likely written in the language of the time, Aramaic.

What does this mean? Well, for starters, the section that promises 70 "virgins with swelling breasts" in the afterlife for those who die in Jihad would actually be "white raisins with juicy fruits".

Excuse me while I laugh my you-know-what off.

The All Seeing Eye Blinks

The All Seeing Eye Blinks
John Poindexter, the definitive "shady character" who was convicted of lying about both Iran-Contra (later overturned on a technicality) and fed misinformation about Libya to the American press, is no longer head of the Information Awareness Office.
After coming up with the latest brilliant idea of creating a futures market for terror, even surly-eff-what-you-think Rumsfeld had to admit that the guy had to go.
This is what amuses me about the far right--they are often guilty of the naivete that they accuse the far left of. It is true that markets are very efficient ways of obtaining information since they reflect the knowledge of all the participants. But looking for a financial scam is one thing. Setting up a create-your-own-bounty system is insane.
Of course, anyone who would choose the pyramid and all-seeing-eye favored by conspiracy theorists and dystopian authors and game designers for decades as the logo of their secret spy-on-the-public agency isn't too bright to start with.

White Flight
Now, I've been a fan of Evan Byah, the Democratic Senator from Indiana, for quite some time. His thoughtful, soft-spoken style was always a refreshing change from the frothy, vein-bulging rhetoric that seems to increasingly be the norm in Washington.

Which is why it's so disappointing that, as the current chairman of the Democratic Leadership Council, he has become the public face of a faction in the Democratic party that is trying to undermine Howard Dean's campaign as "unelectable", even though they have yet to identify an alternative, more palatable candidate.

Now, as the good (yet slightly shrill) folks at Black Commentator have pointed out, this is merely the most current iteration of conservative White male Democrats deciding to take their ball and go home, and it usually revolves around issues of race & class. The most recent instance was when Strom Thurmond and his Dixiecrat buddies tried to run against Truman as segregationist insurgents before deciding to take up residence in the GOP. And, of course, the original move involved southern Democrats leaving the entire freakin' country, and taking half the states with them during the Secession crisis that led to the Civil War.

What's particularly interesting to me about the DLC in comparison to the Dixicrats and the Confederates is that, at least the old guys were acting on principle. Yes, the integrity of slavery and "whites only" water fountains are inherently whack principles, but it was something to which they were deeply committed.

The DLC, on the other hand, doesn't seem to stand for anything except getting elected and staying in power, by any means necessary. As a group, their long stated goal has always been to find the best way to get Democrats into elected office, as opposed to developing a vision for the country and trying to lead America by a set of values & principles. I would suggest that part of the reason why Al Gore and most Dems in 2002 lost is because the party has this image that its candidates will say anything to get into office. The Republicans, on the other hand, seem to be bulletproof - they can say anything and people respect them for the strength of their convictions. Like Bubba Clinton said, "Strong and wrong beats weak and right every time." A DLC-tailored candidate cannot win because they embody everything that the public hates about politicians.

Lock and Load
I read alot of web verbage on a daily basis. And it's extremely rare that I read something that makes me want to stand up and shout like the "Amen Corner" in Second Baptist Church, but this is one of those sites.

This guy has compiled a manifesto on how to describe, confront, and reject 40 years of reactionary, right-wing, conservative ideology and boiled it down into a single perjorative phrase:

"Cheap-labor Conservatives"

My Hallelujah moment came when he talks about the ulterior motive behind running a massive Federal deficit. And I quote:
"Wealthy cheap-labor conservatives like say, George W. Bush, buy the bonds and then earn tax free interest on the money they lend the government.[Check out Dubya's financial disclosures. The son of a bitch is a big holder of the T-bills that finance the deficit he is helping to expand.] The deficit created by cheap-labor conservatives while they posture as being "fiscally conservative" – may count as the biggest con job in American history."

Read, and arm yourselves to do battle with the Stormtroopers of Compassion.

Eight-Pound Gorilla

Eight Pound Gorilla (but it knows Judo)
For all you progressive types. It is easy to be intimidated by the pseudo-scientific and often plausibly rational arguments of the right. Conceptual Guerilla takes the tack of meeting right-wing arguments head on, using the same logical patterns, historical facts, and trends casually employed by your favorite conservative talk show hosts to draw different conclusions. As always, draw your own conclusions and beliefs, but this is potentially powerful ammo for your next political debate. At the least, it shows that just because the right can talk a good game doesn't mean that they know any more than you do.
And when you get done there, be sure to check this awesome call-to-arms for the progressive/liberal side of the house. I'm a bit to the right of both of these groups, I'll freely state. However, they have a very real point. If the progressive idealists don't start fighting in the trenches, idea for idea, blow for blow, then the terrorists have already won. And I don't mean Al-Qaeda.

Thumb Wars
Since, I clearly need to invent new and improved ways to generate text.

I love comic books. But, unlike my other great love, film, there aren't NEARLY enough places to read reviews of comics. I suppose I got hooked on comic reviews thanks to the now-defunct Warren Ellis Forum, and I struggled to get my fix on forums for writers Mark Millar & Micah Wright, but, quite frankly, the people on those lists weren't reading enough of the same things I read, so it wasn't really as enjoyable. This week has been particularly frustrating, since Millar's forum seems temporarily dead, and Micah is too busy worrying about how President Bush is taking this country to Hell in a handbasket (see below for more details). And this week's haul was particularly good.

With all of that in mind, I'm going to point my critical pen away from the President for a little bit and towards the four-colored world from time to time. Hopefully, both the fan and nonfan alike will get what I think is cool and not cool about the various titles on my list (althought the not cool doesn't stay there for vary long). So, with out further ado:

Empire, vol 2., No. 1
This comic, from writer Mark Waid & artist Barry Kitson, posits this question: what would happen if a supervillain actually succeeds in conquering the world? In this series, the main character is Golgoth, a paranoid, bloodthirsty tyrant in a suit of high tech armor who, after a decade, has succeeded in placing the entire world under his thumb. There are no superheroes here, unless you could the zombi-fied one Golgoth keeps chained up in his basement, draining his blood and feeding it to his inner circle as a performance enhancement drug. But, as they say, heavy is the head that wears the crown. When you conquer the world by kicking everyone else's ass, you can't help but lose sleep every night worrying about who's sharpening the knives to stab you in the back. Everybody's bad here, which makes for great, wicked fun. Besides which, I've seen two instances of implied oral sex in three printed issues of this title. Definitely a keeper.

Global Frequency #10 (of 12)
The latest from the previously mentioned Mr. Ellis tells the story of a "smart mob" super-emergency response team. All 1,001 people on the Global Frequency are regular human beings with specialized talents, all connected with the highest-tech wireless technology who can draw on the collective knowledge of the entire agency with the push of a button. Some are scientists & technicians, others are ex-spies & soldiers, and all are dedicated to protecting the world from the left-over mistakes of 20th century warfare run amok.
Each issue is self-contained, with a different artist each month, chosen by Warren to suit the given story, although all the exquisite covers are done by Brian Wood.
In this issue, a terrorist/martial artist, trained in biofeedback techniques (i.e. a mental discipline to "re-route" pain sensations in his brain so that he can continue to function at optimal physical levels despite horrific injuries), is sent in to kill everyone at a bioweapons facility. A single agent on the Frequency, a French martial artist also trained in biofeedback, is sent to stop him. This whole issue is just a single fight between these two men, that just escalates in violence and brutality until the final image which is something so grotesque that I really had to laugh. Great stuff.

The Ultimates #11
So, in the regular universe of Marvel Comics, each superhero really represents a part of New York City in the 1960's. Daredevil is the paton saint of Hell's Kitchen. Spider-Man is the stereotypical teenage smart-aleck from Queens, The Fantastic Four are a family of rich Midtown celebrities, etc. Which would make the Avengers, a huge government-sanctioned team of superheroes lead by Captain America and including members like Iron Man, the Russian spy Black Widow, Slavic gypsie siblings Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch, and Thor, the Norse God of Thunder, Marvel's answer to the United Nations. Recently, Marvel decided to re-imagine their whole line as if they were born out of a 21st Century New York instead. With that in mind, Mark Millar took the concept of The Avengers and turned them into The Ultimates. It's still Captain America, Iron Man, Thor, and others, but all with a modern slant. Captain America, instead of a speech-ifying Uncle Sam poster, is closer to a suped up version of modern-day American Special Forces. Iron Man is like an American Richard Branson who only straps on his armor when he's good and drunk. Quicksilver & Scarlet Witch are probably into some serious consenual incestuous behavior, and Thor could be a New Age crackpot with a big-ass hammer who just suffered a nervous breakdown and now THINKS he's a god. All of these folks are now in the employ of SHIELD, Marvel's version of the Defense Intelligence Agency, designed to stop superhuman threats against National Security. It was all going good until they, along with 20,000 covert ops troops, all got blown up by a tactical nuke on a little island in Micronesia while staging a raid on a site that may or may not have been a staging area for an extraterrestial invasion by giant shapeshifting lizards. This might be the best comic on the stands right now.

Long winded, I know. But all of these are worth checking out at your local comic shop.

The Highest Stakes
OK, this time they've gone too far.

John Poindexter, the man who brought you Iran-Contra and Total Information Awareness (remember the "All-Seeing Eye" post from a few months ago), is at it again. This time, his organization, DARPA, which is sounding more and more like Marvel Comics' A.I.M. every day, has developed the Policy Analysis Market, a futures market where investors can buy contracts to predict the likelihood of events like a terrorist attack, assassination, or a military coup in the Middle East. The argument is that futures markets are good predictive instruments and it would be a way by which they could act preemptively.

Needless to say, members of Congress share my disgust.

New Power Generation

New Power Generation

In this month's issue of Discover magazine, Bill Gross, inventor and founder of Idealab, talks about a new method of solar power generation. Instead of using photovoltaics like the flat panels we are used to, it uses a relatively simple combination of mirrors that focus heat on an engine in the center containing pistons powered by the heated air. The mirrors track the sun throughout the day, ensuring a constant power level. The real beauty of the invention is that they have nearly reached their goal efficiency cost of one dollar per watt, at which point the quarter kilowatt device can actually be cost-effective for businesses and homes that want to reduce costs or add power to the grid. Unfortunately, the Discover article isn't available on-line, but the web site of the Idealab spinoff, Energy Innovations is. Discover does have several links to more information about the underlying technology. If this radical and inexpensive approach bears out, this device could radically alter our approach to power generation, especially in power-hungry yet sunny areas like southern California.

Dollar for Dollar
Monday, Vice-President Cheney is expected to raise roughly a quarter of a million dollars for Bush/Cheney 2004 after a bunch of folks in South Carolina pay $2,000 per head to eat lunch in the same room with him.

Starting last night, Howard Dean is challenging his supporters to match that through the same small contributions they've been making all along. They're hoping to match the Cheney luncheon, dollar for dollar, by Monday at midnight.

At the moment I'm making this post (see the timestamp), they've already raised over $110,000 in less than 12 hours. So, feel free to jump on the bandwagon by clicking the link above.

And, in case you're still undecided, check out this post from Gov. Dean's blog, where he outlines in gory details everything that I said in "The King's English" post below: Bush's actual policies are the exact opposite of what he says to the public in speeches and press conferences.

The Plumbers would be proud
Man, the hits just keep on coming today.

So, Joseph Wilson was the last American ambassador to Iraq and lauded as a war hero by Bush 1.0 after the Gulf War. Apparently, he was recruited to investigate the claims about Iraq's desire for Niger's yellowcake. He recently came forward to proclaim as much and to say that he debunked this evidence for the U.S. months before the war.

Days after this revelation, unnamed White House officials revealed to Robert Novak that Wilson's wife is an undercover CIA agent, which he then proceeds to report, including her full name, in his syndicated column.

Now, Mr. & Mrs. Wilson will neither confirm nor deny this, but, if it's true, the White House blew the cover of one of their own intelligence operatives. You've all seen Mission: Impossible. You know how bad it is when someone named on the Non-Official Cover, or NOC, list is exposed. This woman's life could be in danger.

Is this incompetance? Payback? Or are they making examples of them?

Incidentally, I'd just like to say that the only reason why I know about this is because I read it on Howard Dean's blog.

The Royal Flush
There are at least two senior Iraqi officials who voluntarily surrendered to coalition forces at the end of the war, namely Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz and scientist Amir Saadi. One would think that these two guys would know where the Iraqi WMDs are hidden, or, at least, whether they had them or not.

They want to cooperate. They want to talk.

So why is the coalition keeping them on ice in the make-shift prison at the Bagdad Airport?

Unless Bush & Co. don't like they story they're telling....

Most Terrifyingly Appropriate TV Quote of the Day


"It's happening...... again."


- The mysterious Giant, warning FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper that a new murder, reminiscent of previous killings, had just occured in Twin Peaks.

Dr. David Kelly, a former UN weapons inspector who may or may not have been a source for the BBC on reports that Tony Blair's government had "sexed up" reports of Iraq's WMD capabilities, was just found dead three days after testifying in front of a Foreign Affairs committee. The committee had given him five days to consider his next round of testimony. No cause of death has been determined.

Irony abounds. Just last night, I watched a little indie thriller called Interview With The Assassin, about a old man who claims to be the 2nd shooter on the grassy knoll who actually killed Kennedy. The DVD details all the people associated with the assassination who died under mysterious circumstances in the following decade.

Word of advice to George Tenet: try not to end up like your predecessor, William Casey, did during the Iran-Contra Affair.

The Last of the First
It's occurred to me that the Bush family is, in many ways, kind of a Bizarro-version of The Kennedy family. Of course, All egalitarian, political families of all persuasions scare me a little. Remember, this is America: aristocracy = bad. However, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't think JFK, RFK, and, finally Ted Kennedy, didn't have something real to say about how to make this country better. But, then again, the other problem with dynasties: Too much power leads to corruption, hatred, and death. Especially if the next guy is more ruthless.

Anyway, let me get off my allegorical soapbox. The elder statesman of the Left stll has some gas in his tank. And he's dousing the President with it. Enjoy.

The Comforter?
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is actively involved in buying AIDS vaccines for Africa. But the laws that govern patents and intellectual property that keep African nations from buying cheaper, generic versions of these vaccines are also the same laws that protect Microsoft's international patents on things like Windows & Office.

Alterior motives, anyone?

Greg Palast seems to think so. If you skip over all the stuff about Tony Blair on Palast's blog, you can see what he's getting at.

Shock & Awe, Incorporated
So, when the Cold War ended, nations around the world began to reduce the size of their military, which meant there was a glut of guys skilled in things that they couldn't talk about in polite conversations that suddenly found themselves without jobs. But, as we all know, military budgets are inflated, and there are things that the government does for a dollar that the private sector can do for 10 cents.

Enter the next generation of mercenaries: Corporations that offer military services for hire, everything from operations and security to special ops and intelligence. Very profitable.

The problem is, since these guys aren't actually soldiers representing a given government, they're not subject to the Geneva convention or any of the presumed rules of engagement. Moreover, most of the places they're sent aren't exactly governed by the rule of law. Imagine the temptations available when you enter a ravaged nation with the physical prowess of the United States Military, with the burden of the law to check your behavior.

See what writer P.W. Singer had to say about all this on NPR as he plugged his new book: "Corporate Warriors".

The King's English
So, please, indulge my stream of consciousness rif for a moment.....

I'm a writer. I love words.

I make it a habit of immediately looking up any and all unfamiliar words that I encounter. I dream about, one day, being able to afford to buy my very own, hardbound copies of the Oxford English Dictionary. When I hear Liev Schreiber say that Shakespeare had around a 20,000-word vocabulary, while the average speaker of modern English uses only about 8,000 words, I get jealous.

So, you may begin to grasp one of the many reasons why I loathe George W. Bush.

His "Clear Skies" initiative actually pollutes the air more. The "No Child Left Behind" Act creates an enormous unfunded mandate for state governments that are already suffering through budget crises that will, inevitably, lead to cuts in education programs for children. The "USA Patriot Act" presupposes the treachery of all American citizens by giving the Justice Department dramatically invasive powers that far exceed habeas corpus. "Operation Iraqi Freedom" has, thus far, plunged that country into widescale looting, lawlessness, and chaos. Claiming to be "a uniter, not a divider", Bush has not only escalated the partisan conflicts in the Federal government, but he's also driven away millions of people around the world who had nothing but grace for us after September 11, 2001. And he spouts out words like "freedom", "liberty", and "evil" so liberally and robotically, does anyone in this country still know what they mean?

I think about the lyrics to Lee Greenwood's popular soft rock anthem, "God Bless The USA":
If tomorrow all the things were gone I’d worked for all my life,
And I had to start again with just my children and my wife.
I’d thank my lucky stars to be living here today,
‘Cause the flag still stands for freedom and they can’t take that away.

And I’m proud to be an American where as least I know I’m free.
And I won’t forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.
And I’d gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today.
‘Cause there ain’t no doubt I love this land God bless the U.S.A.


People love this song. But are they actually paying attention to what he's saying? Let me paraphrase:

If I lost my entire nest egg, and my entire family were destitute and homeless, I'd still gladly enlist in the military to go shoot our enemies, because, if nothing else, I've still got my freedom.

But what is "freedom"?

Wasn't "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" intended to have an economic root at it's core? "Taxation without representation" and all that jazz. Are you really free when the Green Berets can beat the crap out of any other military on earth, but you can't, as the President has said, "put food on your family"? Or when you get mercury poisioning from the local power plant, or your children can't read because there aren't enough textbooks or qualified teachers because the states are out of money?

Freedom is not just a pretty flag we wave under expensive pyrotechnics in the middle of summer. Freedom is not the glory of the United States Marine Corps Marching Band. And freedom is certainly not being branded a traitor when you question the actions of a public servant with a dubious electoral mandate.

I love words, and I fear that, among his many transgressions, our President has accelerated the pace by which the language loses it's meaning. When words are meaningless, the keys that allow ideas to unlock the doors to our brains are lost.

Think of all the young black men, filled with anger & frustration over the hand dealt to them, who struggle to say what's on their mind, but who's vocabulary is limited to "bitch", "motherfucker", and "nigga". They writhe and flex and screech on stage because they know something in their hearts, and it's literally pounding on the walls of their bodies, desperately looking for a way out.

Knowledge isn't just power. People suffer in silence. Words can save your life.

This is just the simplest, most basic reason why our nation suffers when the people are uneducated. Let alone being able to understand what your government is doing in your name, or what laws are passed that tell you what you can or cannot do.

This is the price of having a culture that scorns knowledge.

Yesterday, I realized that I could never live long enough to read all the books I want to read, and it made me sad. But it also made me want to squeeze as many as possible into the time that I have.

I just wish there was a way I could infect more people with my bibliophilism. I think they'd be less tolerant of the madness.

OK. Enough rambling....

Spacious Skies
So, I have good news and I have bad news.

Bad News
President Bush introduced legislation called the "Clear Skies Inititiative" to congress back in February, and it's now going through hearings in the House & Senate. It's billed as a revision to the Clean Air Act of 1970 that intended to reduce air pollution, but, the reality is that it actually increases the amount of toxins that power plants are allowed to introduce into the atmosphere. And it doesn't even get into the fact that the President has altered EPA regulations so that old polluting power plants that receive upgrades no longer need to be reviewed for environmental safety after receiving new equipment.

Good News
Not content to just run a campaign to help him become the next President of the United States, Howard Dean is now seeking to use his new-found political supporters as a grass-roots lobby group. His campaign is encouraging everyone on their ever-growing network to sign a petition to the White House demanding them to stop the Clear Skies Initiative.

Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but this sounds unprecedented to me. I've NEVER heard of a candidate pushing his supporters to get directly involved in the legislative process.

Granted, for a president who says he thinks making policy decisions based on public opinion is as distasteful as listening to a focus group, a doubt a petition alone will sway our commander-in-chief. But, somehow, I doubt that this is the end of it. Brilliant.

Ministry of Information
Maybe Jayson Blair was just following the example of his peers, huh?

I must admit that the world that Greg Palast is conjuring in his writing is profoundly frightening. If he's right, the national media is colluding with the Bush administration to intentionally lie to the public about world events to justify a grossly imperialist policy.

Now, I know some of you are laughing. After all, isn't this what I've been saying about Iraq all along?

True. True. But it's one thing to fudge, hint, & misdirect about Iraq being in a WMD-ladden bed with Al Qaeda. It's another thing entirely to say that a democratically elected head of state, in this case Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, has "resigned", when, in reality, he'd been bound, gagged, and kidnapped at gunpoint by a radical militia seeking to overthrow his government.

Did I mention that Venezuela is one of America's biggest oil suppliers? Is there a pattern forming here?

The Elephant In The Room
While Nine Democrats via for attention and Presidential credibility in the public eye, General Wesley Clark waits. And watches.

Here's what he has to say about Bush. And his comments regarding Condolezza Rice are chilling.

"A" for Effort
Well, I think MSNBC has hit it on the head. You can probably split the American electorate in half.

There are those who are political junkies, on both side of the aisle, who devour every tidbit of news out of the nation's capital and make their voting decisions based on their own interpretation of the President's performance.

And then there are those who've long since conceded that the daily workings of our democracy isn't something they either can or should follow in much depth. They make their voting decisions based on how the President makes them feel. Policy complexities be damned.

Now, arguments can be made that both are equally valid ways to pick a President.

But, of course, one of those arguments would be utterly false.

After all, there are plenty of con men who can make you feel like the Queen of Sheba while their sending you to an unmarked plot in the Potter's Field. Ignorance is only bliss while you still have a roof over your heads.

The problem with representative government is that it only works if the electorate is actually paying attention to what their representatives are doing in their name. Otherwise, how is it different from a monarchy? In the three-branch system of government established in the Constitution, the people themselves are the ultimate check on government power. Isn't it time we used it?

Watching The Watchmen
So, if the government is going to keep a close eye on you to see if you're the next John Walker Lindh, then these jolly fellas at MIT think it's all good and dandy for you to keep an eye on them to see if they're going to become the next Nixon Administration.

Total Information Awareness?

Meet GOVERNMENT Information Awareness.

Here's a website where, not only can you get information about public officials, you can actually POST whatever it is that you know about these government officials as well. So, if you're Trent Lott's secret octaroon love-child, you don't have to wait for the Washington Post to find you.

Of course, the creators of GIA say they have no intention of editing or censoring anything that anyone has to post, so lots of madcap antics will ensue.

Venom
So, remember a few days ago, when I said Alan Moore is one of the most prolific and influential comic book writers in the world?

He also happens to be a complete madman.

How can I make such a harsh judgement, you may ask? Well, for starters, rather than have a run-of-the-mill midlife crisis when he turned 40, the man decided to declare himself the sorcery-wielding servant of his own, personal Serpent-God.

I think that reaches the threshold of madness in my book.

But, consequentially, as a madman, his writing is always entertaining. Here, he turns his rapier wit to the history of Iraq and the West on page 14 of "Arthur" magazine.

Scathing.

Where No Man Has Gone Before
Well, they're one year off the mark that Arthur C. Clarke set in his Space Odyssey sequel, but NASA is pressing ahead with their plan to develop a nuclear-powered space vehicle to search for the possibilities of life on Jupiter's icy moons. If the unmanned craft leaves on schedule in the year 2011, given projected technology, it will still take 7 years to get there, but the scientific benefits of simply building the thing are off the charts.

Submitted for your nerd-gasmic pleasure.

Graffiti Quote of the Day

"Repent - The End Is Extremely Fucking Nigh"


- scrawled in blood on the walls of a church in an ominously deserted London, in "28 Days Later", the latest film from Danny Boyle (director of "Trainspotting") and screenwriter Alex Garland (who wrote the far-superior novel version of "The Beach").

This is the scariest English-language horror film I've seen in YEARS.

And I see alot of horror films.

The Japanese film "Ringu" is still, far and away, the scariest movie I've ever seen, but "28 Days Later" is definitely in the ballpark. Moreover, unlike "Ringu" (which was just remade for American audiences as "The Ring"), this film wants to do a little more than just scare you.

Can I also say, it also features Naomi Harris as the most ruthless, ass-kicking sista I think I've ever seen on film. I mean, there is a scene with her and a machete that has to be seen to be believed.

Go see it.

Right now.

"You've Got The Power!"
Howard Dean's presidential candidacy announcement speech from this past Monday. Good stuff.

I find myself reminded of a line from JFK: "This is not the America I was born in, and it's certainly not the America I want to die in." Now, to be perfectly honest, I grew up during Reaganomics, so, sadly, this really is the America I was born in, but for eight years, I had a glimpse of a better one. Dean seems to at least have the conviction to bring that one back.

In Darkest Night
Many of you may not know who Alan Moore is. But, if you've seen either the movie "From Hell" or plan to seeSean Connery's "League of Extraordinary Gentlemen", you've seen the remnants of his handiwork. Starting with "Swamp Thing" back in the mid 80's, Moore is one of the most prolific and influential comic book writers in the world, including books like "V for Vendetta", "Promethea", the vastly superior original graphic novels for the two movies listed above, and, of course, his definitive work, "Watchmen".

At the height of his Watchmen-spawne popularity, Moore pitched the attached story idea to DC Comics as a sort of Ragnarok for the Justice League of America, and it was promptly rejected, contributing, in part, to his long estrangement from the publisher. While it probably would have been a little too intense 17 years ago, it makes for a great read today. If you don't know much about comic book continuity, just remember one thing as you read it: Martians are shape shifters and they're afraid of fire.

Enjoy.

The Capitalist versus The Aristocrat
Slate magazine caught this really interesting speech that Senator John Edwards gave last week. In it, Edwards says that, by seeking to eliminate virtually all taxes on so-called "unearned" income, like capital gains, dividends, and inheritance, President Bush has demonstrated that he feels the burden of running the country (demonstrated by paying taxes) should only be shouldered by those who actually work. In other words, there is a threshold of wealth that, once you surpass it, you are no longer responsible or accountable for providing for the nation, you only need reap the benefits. To Edwards, this is not conservativism, or even capitalism, but a cleverly disguised form of radicalism that has the potential to create an economic caste system in this country.

Edwards is, in essence, calling Bush a feudalist.

Incindiary stuff.

Deals With The Devil
According to the Asian Times, as the anti-American guerilla war has escalated in Afghanistan, coalition forces have quietly begun a dialogue with The Taliban-

Excuse me. Let me say that again.

The United States of of America
is negotiating
with
The Taliban.

-to give them a hand in maintaining and restoring order. And, not surprisingly, Mullah Omar and the boys are playing hard to get.

See, this is what happens when you're willing to do anything to achieve your ends: You end up in bed with anybody.

Revisionist History
Remember former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney? The official story is that she accused President Bush on the floor of the House of Representatives of having prior knowledge of the 9/11 attacks and doing nothing to stop them so he could enrich his corporate masters. Rep. McKinney was lambasted in the press for being a conspiracy nut and she was promptly defeated for re-election in 2002.

The problem with this story, according to Greg Palast, is that there is no evidence of any such statement by Rep. McKinney in the Congressional Record. Anywhere.

What she DID ask, however, was why had the White House discouraged the FBI from investigating links between the Saudi royal family and an Islamic youth group that was suspected of being a front for Al Qaeda in the months BEFORE September 11, 2001? Rep. McKinney had also been poking around into the particulars of race-based election fraud during the 2000 Presidential Race. She'd also been asking questions regarding George H.W. Bush's business dealings.

Check the article. It just gets better and better.

Fading Light
So, The American Film Institute is my most recent alma mater ("Old Nassau" and the Gilman School notwithstanding). And, as much affection that I have and as much gratitude as I feel towards that institution, I must agree with this commentary from Patrick Goldstein in the L.A. Times that AFI does seem to have lost it's way in recent years. By losing it's tether to the National Endowment for the Arts, AFI seems really to be in danger of losing itself in the blinding light of celebrity worship instead of fulfilling its stated mission of promoting and celebrating the art of moviemaking in America.

Storytelling matters.

Not just who tells those stories, but HOW those stories are told, and WHY they are told. This is why we need places like AFI. Someone needs to make a point of remembering "how" and "why" for civilization to move forward. Otherwise, we simply undergo the same lessons over and over and over again.

The Hate That Hate Made
Hamas is a terrorist organization.

And, regardless of what you may think of the policies of the Israeli government, it doesn't change the fact that Hamas is directly responsible for the murder of hundreds if innocent Israeli civilians and has done more than their share to propagate a culture of death in the Middle East by recruiting, arming, supporting, and celebrating suicide bombers.

However, comparisons between Hamas and Al Qaeda are extremely limited. for one thing, Al Qaeda doesn't run any schools. They don't feed the hungry or give shelter to the homeless. In many ways, Hamas is a twisted, nightmare version of what the Black Panther Party could have become if things had gone down only slightly differently here in the United States. Which makes them a particularly nasty obstacle to peace in the region. After all they've done for the people, they probably have more legitimacy than Abbas and the Palestinian Authority in many circles. And Hamas has stated repeatedly that their mission isn't complete until they've pushed the Israelis completely off their land and into the Mediterranean, if necessary.

Originally, I was for the idea of sending in US troops or UN peacekeepers or somebody with a little more muscle than the Palestinian Authority to deal with Hamas, but, in retrospect, that could turn into the Tet Offensive overnight. Now, I'm not sure. Which, I suppose, puts me in good company.

Here's something from the International Herald Tribune that expounds upon the schizoid history of Hamas.

Next In Line?
Grant did it. Ike did it. Can Wesley Clark, former Supreme Allied Commander of NATO & Rhodes Scholar, follow in their footsteps to the White House? Frankly, if this guy runs, he's instantly a threat to the President because NO ONE can trump his foreign policy credentials. He's someone who can speak with authority about what Bush is not doing to keep this country safe.

So, for those of you keeping score, the candidates to watch, IMHO, are Dean, Edwards, and, if he gets into it, Clark.

And these people keep talking about the junior senator from New York. They need to let it go. If you think Bush/Gore was divisive, Clinton/Bush II would be a bloodbath. It would literally rip the country in half. She's not that stupid. There are better ways for her to undermine the Bush agenda.