October surprise? Will Cheney stage a 'terrorist' attack?

So with the growing realization that invading Iraq was a monumental mistake, that every U.S. household owes $550 per month (so far) for the next 30 years to pay off the national debt, with the increasing exposure of corruption in Washington (Jack Abramoff, Ralph Reed, the latest bit from Foley, etc), the blatant greed of KBR and Halliburton and others flagrantly overcharging for 'services' in Iraq and elsewhere, the methodical dismantling of the Constitution, torture of 'enemy combatants' (the definition of which continues to broaden), mounting death toll in Iraq and Afghanistan ....

With all of this mess from the Bush Administration, recent polls show Republicans losing ground in the upcoming elections. I can't help but wonder if Cheney will stage some kind of terrorist attack ...something between now and the elections to try and bump up the support for the neocons. Stranger things have most certainly happened.

Hopefully, the elections will come and go and no 'attack' will happen ...and some will think me a fool. I can live with that.

USA economy will collapse if we stay in Iraq

We need to get out of Iraq. Now. The alternative is the collapse of the economy of the United States of America.

Consider:

• The current cost of our occupation of Iraq is over $2,300 per year PER US CITIZEN (cost is approximately $7 BILLION per year divided by the 300 million USA citizens). And the cost is going up.
• The current National debt is over $28,000 PER US CITIZEN. And the debt is rising.
• The average USA household owes about $72,800 ($28,000 x the average household size of 2.6 people). With the additional debt we're incurring in Iraq, the household share is expanding.

If the national debt did not increase, your household's share would work out to $534 PER MONTH for the next 30 years (at 8% amortized over 30 years). The $534 that you need to be paying each month will, of course, be going up rather steadily as Bush continues to steamroll our nation into financial ruin, with the complicity of our rubber-stamp Congress.

A sad prediction along these lines was written almost 2 years ago: The United States damages future living standards

The Iraq war is immoral ...thousands - or tens of thousands or more - civilians have died. Over 2,700 US troops have died; 20,000+ have been wounded. The casualties in Afghanistan number fewer, but are no less tragic. This "pro life" administration has demonstrated a callous disregard for human life - indeed an utter disdain for any semblance of decency. And so, the argument must turn to all that they care about: Money and Power. I am choosing to discuss money, since it can be quantified.

It doesn't matter if the neocons want to call leaving Iraq "cut and run". I don't care what kind of ridiculous spin these bastards want to put on any strategy that calls for ending our occupation in Iraq. Just get us out!

Amy Goodman; Tampa parking

Last Tuesday Shirley and I joined a throng of fellow truth-seeking liberals and popped over to the historic Tampa Theatre to hear Amy Goodman speak. I listen to Democracy Now! almost every day (via audio podcast while driving or running). So I knew she'd be worth hearing. And she was. And it was just good to sit amongst others who are sick of the lies of Bush, et, al; sick of so many dying needlessly (and now we have the report stating what so many of us already felt, that our invasion and occupation in Iraq is making the terrorist threat worse!)

It's a treat in Tampa to be around liberals, because, well, coming from the Pacific Northwest, we were accustomed to the majority of people caring about mass transit and the environment and education and freedom of religion and ...you get the idea. One of the benefits of being in Tampa is that it is truly a melting pot. Well, a mixing pot anyway. We have many different cultures and nationalities here, and there are lots of conservatives folks. So it sometimes makes for good discussion.

But the parking in 'downtown' Tampa is terrible. It was pouring Tuesday night (if you have never been in a tropical downpour, then you cannot know what I mean!). I dropped Shirley off at the theatre and went to find a place to leave the car. A couple of blocks away was a lot with some open spaces. And a machine where one pays to get a parking receipt to place on one's dashboard. And there was a rather long line. In the pouring, driving, dumping deluge of a tropical rainstorm that decided to unload on Tuesday. So after about 30 minutes, it was finally my turn to pay for my parking. I was, of course, completely drenched by this time (yes, I had a jacket and hat on, but they can only help so much). And the machine was having a problem reading credit cards, so I inserted a $20. And tried a different $20 bill when that one was rejected. And then reinserted it. And after I don't know how many attempts, I did get the machine to accept my payment ...and it issued my change: 15 one-dollar coins. I have not seen one of these in years (actually there were 2 kinds, the Sacagawea coin and the Susan B Anthony coin; I received several of each). And I was either short-changed, or dropped a coin, or missed taking all of my change, as I ended up with only $14. Yay.

It's always wonderful to see the look of delight on the face of the recipient when you pay for goods or services with these coins (note to anyone outside of the USA who may not know: folks hate these coins, since they're about the same size as a 25-cent piece, yet worth 4 times as much ...and they are so rare that they are hard to recognize ...but not rare enough to be worth more than face value :)

But hearing Amy Goodman was worth it.

Airlines: no hair gel, no problem

Well, I thought we weren't allowed to bring hair gel on airplanes anymore. After the terror plot was  foiled that was going to blow up planes in the UK using liquid explosives, the ruling was made to disallow passengers from carrying liquids and gels when boarding a plane. This happened right before the primary elections, but I'm not saying that there was any connection.

Not that we have any definite plans to travel soon, but I do typically pack a little hair gel. I don't have much hair, so I try to keep both of them looking reasonably in order. But with no hair gel allowed, what could I do? I downed a mojito for courage (or because I'd been working in the yard for hours in the 90F+ sun and was feeling like a cooling-off treat) ...and went inside and trimmed my beard ...and the rest of what was left on my dome. The pic on the left shows the sink after the trim (the color is a bit off; my hair's not that dark). The pic on the right shows my new 'do:

OK, so now that I have my aerodynamic and exercise-friendly haircut (not to mention very quick and easy and free to refresh the haircut :) ...it turns out that now we can take liquids on planes. WTF? Could it be that Nigel Wylde is right, and the idea is untenable that evildoers could be able to take a few chemicals on board and mix them and blow up a plane?

If it were truly that easy to toss a few chemicals together and cause a massive explosion, then why, after the alleged terror plot was foiled, did the security folks have everyone pouring all of their liquids together into the same containers before passing through the security check? Wouldn't the danger be at least as great of a massive explosion? Someone else posed that question a couple of weeks back, and it is worth considering!

Oh well. At least I can now save the 34 seconds per day that I used to have to spend combing my hair.

The philosophy behind Bush and the neo-conservatives

I've been struggling for some time to understand just why the hell Bush was so intent on invading Iraq. The reason for the invasion was stated differently as time went on, and Bush has always (as recently as LAST NIGHT) tried to get Americans to associate the attacks of 11 Sep 2001 with Iraq. None of this made sense.

Now it does.

My wife and I have been watching The Power of Nightmares, a 3-part BBC documentary. We have one hour left to watch of the 3 hour series. This series describes the history behind the neo-conservatives in the USA, and the fanatic fringe Arab minority claiming to be Muslims.

A short summary about Leo Strauss, the father of the neo-conservative movement is available for reading in the AlterNet article, Leo Strauss' Philosophy of Deception. The father of the radical Islamist movement, Sayyid Qutb, is outlined in the NPR article, Sayyid Qutb's America. Or you can simply search the web with either gentleman's name for plenty of information.

In short, philosopher Leo Strauss believed that there is a right of the superior to rule over the inferior, and that this requires Deception, leveraging the Power of Religion, and the fostering of Aggressive Nationalism.

The neo-conservative followers of Strauss believe that for the most part Americans are adrift without moral compass, and that this will lead to the downfall of our society. It is therefore necessary to deceive the masses. The masses need to be reigned in by religion (which needn't apply to the enlightened rulers). The masses should be told only what the rulers choose to tell them; the truth is irrelevant and indeed harmful. Order is to be maintained through constant external threat.

Until now, I've not understood why some seemingly intelligent people could also express an irrational total hatred toward Bill Clinton. These folks pressed and pressed to find anything to pin on Clinton, finally impeaching him for lying about a blow job. Meanwhile, Bush starts a war of choice for false reasons, resulting in the deaths of thousands of brave Americans and coalition forces, the deaths of 100,000 Iraqi civilians, and the plunging of Iraq into civil war ...yet there still exist some who think of this man as "pro-life". Incredible. Well, in light of the philosophy of Strauss, I now understand the basis of the neo-conservative agenda. These deluded folks believe they are saving humanity, just as the radical Islamists believe that they are fighting to save humanity . But they are all trying, if you will, to cut off the nose to spite the face.

The real-life implications are, sadly, orders of magnitude more tragic than the loss of a nose.