Bush SO doesn't get it

Frank Ford sent me an article entitled "Bush, the Revolution and the Iraq War: The President Fails American History, Again" and here's how it gets started:

On July 4th, 2007, President Bush compared the U.S. struggle in Iraq with the American Revolution. He reminded his audience of West Virginia Air National Guard personnel and their families that the first July 4th celebration in 1777 took place in the midst of "a bloody and difficult struggle that would not end for six more years before America finally secured her freedom." Although "it is hard [today] to imagine the Revolutionary War coming out any other way," he said, "at the time, America's victory was far from certain." He then turned to the war in Iraq. "You're the successors of those brave men," he told the crowd. "Like those early patriots, you're fighting a new and unprecedented war." He commended them for "showing that the courage which won our independence more than two centuries ago is alive and well here in West Virginia."

What makes the American Revolution an inspirational example to people everywhere is that the first Americans were, like the Iraqis today, trying to end an occupation. Bush never got it, even though he pointed out that in 1777 "we were a small band of freedom-loving patriots taking on the most powerful empire in the world." Today it is the Iraqis who are "taking on the most powerful empire in the world" and our own military that constitutes the occupation. This is the stark and obvious analogy between the American Revolution and the Iraq occupation and it does not bode well for U.S. military success.

The American Revolution jettisoned foreign rule and subjection to the English throne. It should not be surprising to Americans that other peoples want to free themselves from occupation and foreign rule. Being a colony and suffering foreign troops on our soil infuriated our ancestors and would infuriate most of us today.

Why is this so hard to get? It's the utter stupidity of the war mongers that baffles me.

Arctic ponds disappearing

I so pity the poor animals. Take a look:

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Ancient ponds in the Arctic are drying up during the polar summer as warmer temperatures evaporate shallow bodies of water, Canadian researchers said on Monday.

They said the evaporation of these ponds -- some of which have been around for thousands of years -- illustrates the rapid effects of global warming, threatening bird habitats and breeding grounds and reducing drinking water for animals.

For the past 24 years, researchers at the University of Alberta in Edmonton and Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario, have been tracking ponds at Cape Herschel, located on the east coast of Ellesmere Island in Nunavut, formerly the Northwest Territories of Canada.

Last year, when they went back to check, some of these 6,000-year-old ponds had vanished.

"We were surprised. We arrived in early to mid-July and the ponds we had been monitoring were dry. Some of them had dried up completely. Some were just about to lose the last remaining centimeters of water," said Marianne Douglas, director of the Canadian Circumpolar Institute at the University of Alberta.

"It's really interesting to see how quickly it is happening. We could see this trend had started a while ago but at no time did we expect it to accelerate," said Douglas, whose work appears in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Douglas said a study of the fossilized sediments in these pools of water -- which are less than 6.6 feet deep -- showed climate changes beginning as long as 150 years ago.

The researchers had thought these ponds were permanent. But change has come rapidly.

And it's going to continue. The ecosystem is in grave difficulty.

The Ugly American

Oh my. This is so embarrassing. I am truly ashamed to be an American sometimes. Take a look:

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) -- In a joke that made Brazilians cringe and forced the U.S. Olympic Committee to apologize, a USOC worker scrawled "Welcome to the Congo!" on a board in the organization's Rio de Janeiro media center for the Pan American Games.

Rio's O Globo newspaper published a photo of the message on its front page Saturday, and ran a headline saying the joke was "full of prejudice." The message was condemned in a nation extremely sensitive about being compared to less-developed countries, especially by Americans -- who often are perceived as arrogant by Brazilians.

The controversy occurred as American athletes arrived in Latin America's largest country to compete in the event that starts Friday.

The USOC issued a "deep apology to the people of Brazil and Rio de Janeiro" in a statement Saturday, and said the worker who wrote the phrase was disciplined and is no longer a member of the U.S. delegation to the games.
...
On Rio's Copacabana Beach, Brazilians said it reinforced their belief that Americans frequently stereotype other countries.
...
The newspaper also produced a full-page graphic showing a map of the globe, pointing out that the Congo is in Africa and an ocean away from Brazil. The graphic included bright red arrows and a headline in English and Portuguese, saying "Watch and Learn."

But will we?

Our religious heritage

Frank Ford sent me an article entitled "The American Ideology" by Samir Amin. It makes for interesting reading. I particularly want you to see the following paragraph:

The particular form of Protestantism that found its way to New England continues to shape American ideology to this day. First, it facilitated the conquest of the new continent by grounding its legitimacy in scriptural reference (biblical Israel's violent conquest of the promised land is a constantly reiterated theme in North American discourse). Later, the US extended its god- given mission to encompass the entire globe. Thus North Americans have come to regard themselves as the “chosen people” — in practice, a synonym for the Nazi term, Herrenvolk. This is the threat which we are facing today. And this is why American imperialism (not “Empire”) will be even more brutal than its predecessors, most of whom never claimed to have been invested with a divine mission.

Samir Amin is an Egyptian now living in Senegal who was educated in France. He has produced an impressive list of political writings.

How to answer the global warming deniers

Just watch it:

Interesting Argument About Global Warming - Watch more free videos

Heat

We're lucky here in Oklahoma that it has been relatively cool compared to other places in the west. I want to call your attention to an article entitled "Forecast calls for more sweltering heat in West". Take a look at these excerpts:

HELENA, Mont. - An oppressive heat wave eased a bit in some parts of the West, but forecasters predicted little relief in the days ahead for a region where many cities have baked in triple-digit temperatures.

The National Weather Service issued a red flag wildfire warning for Saturday in eastern Utah and western Colorado, where temperatures were again expected to approach or top 100.

Extreme heat plagued much of Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Oregon and Washington state again on Friday. In Montana, where cattle outnumber residents by more than 2 to 1, livestock and people sought shade and drought-weary farmers watched for damage to grain.
...
In Montana, temperatures above 100 degrees are usually not seen until August. The normal July high in Helena is 83 degrees — not the high 90s seen Friday. Triple-digit records were set or tied in Great Falls and Billings at 104 degrees each. The mercury reached 105 in the north-central Montana town of Havre, 106 at the Gallatin Field Airport near Bozeman and 107 in Missoula.
...
In Montana, temperatures above 100 degrees are usually not seen until August. The normal July high in Helena is 83 degrees — not the high 90s seen Friday. Triple-digit records were set or tied in Great Falls and Billings at 104 degrees each. The mercury reached 105 in the north-central Montana town of Havre, 106 at the Gallatin Field Airport near Bozeman and 107 in Missoula.

We are in such serious trouble as a species. Such serious trouble. What is it going to take for the global warming deniers to wake up?

UPDATE: Take a look at an interesting piece called "A Denunciation of the Arguments against Global Warming".

Friday cat blogging!

Leroy

Photo by Ellie Finlay

The temperature

Remember that lake that simply disappeared?

This would not be happening if the temperature had not increased.

-- ANDRES RIVERA, a glaciologist with Chile's Centre of Scientific Studies who says global warming caused a five-acre glacial lake in Chile to disappear within two months

Prescription costs and health consequences

We need universal health care in this country including prescription benefits. I want you to see an article entitled "Study finds higher drug costs discourage use". Take a look:

CHICAGO, July 3 (Reuters) - Pushing more of the cost of prescription drugs onto consumers causes patients to cut back, sometimes with adverse health consequences, according to a review of two decades worth of studies published on Tuesday.

Such devices as higher co-payments, monthly limits and benefit caps are "associated with lower rates of drug treatment, worse adherence among existing users, and more frequent discontinuation of therapy," said the report from RAND, Santa Monica, California.

"For each 10 percent increase in cost sharing, prescription drug spending decreases by 2 percent to 6 percent, depending on class of drug and condition of the patient," added the study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

For some chronic conditions such as congestive heart failure, high cholesterol, diabetes, schizophrenia and perhaps asthma, higher cost sharing seems to result in increased use of medical services, such as visits to emergency rooms or hospitals, the report said.

And, of course, emergency room care is the most expensive form of medical care there is. When will we learn that it will be cheaper for society in the long run to help people stay on their meds?

This Supreme Court

I want to call your attention to an opinion piece by that marvelous grand lady of the press, Helen Thomas. The title is "High Court Takes Giant Steps Backward" -- and hasn't it just? Take a look:

The new Supreme Court is more conservative than it has been in decades. It’s also meaner.

It is a dream come true for Republican presidencies dating back to the “strict constructionist” court aspirations of President Nixon and now made possible by the conservative George W. Bush.

Before closing down for the summer last month, the high court tossed out a flurry of decisions that overturned or reinterpreted long-standing liberal precedents.

The court under Chief Justice John Roberts seems intent on rolling back advances in race and gender relations that have helped America achieve a more equal and humane society.

The 5-4 decisions of the conservative court dealt with race, abortion, free speech, church-state relations and a host of other issues. They also showed a pro-business and anti-consumer slant.

Here's an example:

In a blow to the principle of separation of church and state, the court rejected a challenge by the “Freedom From Religion Foundation” against a White House program that helps church charities competing with government programs obtain federal grants.

The ruling is a bow to the president who for the first time in history set up a White House office to promote faith-based entities.

And this bears pondering:

[Justice Stephen] Breyer summed it up when he said: “It is not often in the law that so few have so quickly changed so much.”

It's tragic. Simply tragic.

Bring them home

Found in a comments section on AMERICAblog:

"Bring Them Home" (2004)
By Pete Seeger

If you love this land of the free,
bring 'em home, bring 'em home.
Bring all troops back from overseas,
bring 'em home, bring 'em home.
It will make the generals sad,
I know,bring 'em home, bring 'em home.
They want to tangle with the foe,
bring'em home, bring 'em home.

Patriotism

Words from a very wise and courageous man who is truly missed:

But if uncritical lovers of their country are the most dangerous of patriots, loveless critics are hardly the best. If you love the good you have to hate evil, else you’re sentimental; but if you hate evil more than you love the good, you’re a good hater. Surely the best patriots are those who carry on not a grudge fight but a lover’s quarrel with their country…. Beyond saluting the flag, let us pledge allegiance ‘to the earth, and to the flora, fauna and human life that it supports; one planet indivisible, with clean air, soil and water, liberty, justice and peace for all.’

-- William Sloane Coffin

In memory of liberty

Much as I am appalled by what has been happening in this country over the past six years, this gave me a truly patriotic thrill. Listen:

What amazing musicianship. This is truly virtuoso playing.

Happy Fourth of July everybody!

Climate tragedy

I just got this in an email:

Causes and effects
Nature tells an urgent story about global warming and climate change
By Peter Gwillim Kreitler

[Episcopal Life] Everyone is talking about it, magazines are featuring stories about what to do about it, but still much is not being said about global warming and climate change. When we really listen to nature, the story becomes more urgent and challenging by the week.

The kittiwakes, skuas, arctic terns and guillemots -- magnificent shorebirds that nest in the cliffs of Scotland -- no longer can feed their young, lamented the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. The warming of the North Sea by 1 degree has forced the bait fish to move north to find colderwater.

It's not a challenge for the human family, because we just build bigger and more far-ranging fishing fleets. However, the range of birds is predicated upon evolution, and they can not, even if they choose to, coax a few more miles out of their weary wings. With the birds no longer able to reach the sand eels, their young are not able to be fed, and extinction is a very real possibility. Even former Prime Minister Tony Blair weighed in on this story and commented that it's "a challenge so far-reaching in its impact and irreversible in its destructive power that it radically alters human existence."

Full story

This simply breaks my heart. What must it be like for those poor birds who can't understand why their food supply has suddenly disappeared? We humans have much to answer for come Judgment Day.

Trumping the rule of law

Take a look at what the San Francisco Chronicle has to say:

In commuting the sentence of former White House aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby, President Bush sent the message that perjury and obstruction of justice in the service of the president of the United States are not serious crimes.

Never mind the president’s words about our system of justice relying on “people telling the truth” — and that those who don’t “must be held accountable.” His bottom-line action speaks louder than all the platitudes and caveats in the president’s statement.

Libby was sentenced to 30 months in prison after being convicted by a jury for his part in trying to stymie an investigation into the 2003 leak of a CIA operative’s identity. The sentencing judge seemed determined to see that the vice president’s former chief of staff serve time for his felony convictions.

Now, thanks to Bush’s intervention, Libby will not spend a day behind bars.

The president’s rationalization that Libby has suffered immensely with the damage to his reputation, the hefty fines — and the resulting strain on his wife and children — could be said of just about anyone with a previously clean record who is about to enter a federal prison.
...
Perhaps the underlying message here is that Bush feels his administration has suffered enough for its manipulation of intelligence before the Iraq war and its attempts to chill voices of dissent.

I guess I'm so cynical about all this that I don't even have any energy for outrage. This turn of events was utterly predictable.

R.I.P. Beverly Sills

Beverly Sills

She was an inspiration to me as a young person. What a wonderful career and a really beautiful human being. From CNN:

NEW YORK (AP) -- Beverly Sills, the Brooklyn-born opera diva who was a global icon of can-do American culture with her dazzling voice, bubbly personality and management moxie in the arts world, died Monday of cancer, her manager said. She was 78.
...
Beyond the music world, Sills gained fans worldwide with a style that matched her childhood nickname, Bubbles. The relaxed, red-haired diva appeared frequently on "The Tonight Show," "The Muppet Show" and in televised performances with her friend Carol Burnett.

Together, they did a show from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera called "Sills and Burnett at the Met," singing rip-roaring duets with funny one-liners thrown in.

Long after the public stopped hearing her sing in 1980, Sills' rich, infectious laughter filled the nation's living rooms as she hosted live TV broadcasts. As recently as last season, she conducted backstage interviews for the Metropolitan Opera's high-definition movie theater performances.

Sills first gained fame with a high-octane career that helped put Americans on the international map of opera stars.

That Sills and Burnett show was truly memorable. I hope it's re-broadcast soon as a tribute.

Scooter Libby's sentence is commuted - suprise, surprise.

Okay. So nobody's surprised. But I want to quote what Fire Dog Lake had to say:

Demonstrating his complete contempt for trial by jury, rule of law and his own Department of Justice appointees, George Bush thumbed his nose once again at the very concept of democracy and the Beltway Brahmins are cheering. The dirty unwashed masses who populate our juries are fit to judge each other, but evidently not the ruling class. David Broder can breathe a sigh of relief that People Like Him are safe from those overly zealous US Attorneys who might want to hold them accountable to the same absurd standards that the little people must live by.

How quaint.

The White House has turned off their phone lines. Evidently they don’t want to hear what you think. There will still be phones tomorrow, and I don’t imagine anyone who cared enough to drop Dubya a line is going to forget.

Revolting. Just revolting.

Something you should know

Take a look:

Earlier this year, in a New York Times/CBS News poll, 64 percent of those asked agreed that “the federal government should guarantee health insurance to every American.”

Why aren't the powers that be listening to the people?