My Mom's Act of Generosity

My Mom's Act of Generosity




One August day my mother decided to be generous. She'd had an extra-bountiful harvest from her gardening efforts. Plump tomatoes and zucchini were bursting forth from their many green stems. She wasn't in the mood for canning. We'd already eaten enough zucchini to make us sick that season. Zucchini bread, fried zucchini, zucchini in our pasta, zucchini in our soup - what was next? Zucchini milk shakes? The zucchini had to go, but my mother did not believe in wasting a thing.

She decided to share with complete strangers. The neighbors had already accepted more zucchini than they could handle. We couldn't possibly ask them to accept more of the big green gifts. No - it would have to be strangers who would be the recipients of Mom's generosity this time.

"How can I carry out this kind and generous deed?" she wondered. She tore some cardboard off of a box in our garage and created a sign with black magic marker.

It read:

"Please take - FREE!"

Proud of herself, she went into the back yard and dragged one of her picnic benches all the way to the front yard - to the street. We lived on more of a rural highway than a street. Cars would whizz by at about 50 mph on the average. I'm not sure how she expected anyone to be able to see her little sign and stop in time.

She enlisted me to help her carry the bounty of tomatoes and zucchini out to the bench, and when we were done, we looked proudly at our display. Mother was teaching me a lesson about sharing.

Back inside the house, we waited for a time at the front window with proud anticipation. Cars sped by - no one stopped.

The morning wore on and we got tired and just a bit disappointed. At one point, I recall someone finally stopping and taking many of the vegetables, leaving a few behind.

We lost track after a while - forgetting about the display.

Evening fell - and when Mom went out to retrieve the picnic bench, it was gone.

For the longest time, we scratched our heads and wondered what could have happened to it - and we laughed when we realized what had probably happened.

We found nothing but her cardboard sign laying on the ground.

Someone must have come along and taken the last of the vegetables - and left the sign propped up on the empty picnic bench - the one that had read:

"Please take - FREE!"

So someone took the bench!

It was the last time we shared that way.

High Energy Costs Stunting Economic Growth

High Energy Costs Stunting Economic Growth

The Dow Jones industrial average fell 1.96 percent yesterday, erasing its gains for the year. It was the sharpest one-day decline since May 2003. Stocks tumbled after crude oil surged past $68 a barrel and several corporate giants reported disappointing earnings. Shares of Google fell 8.5 percent, their biggest decline ever, after the company said it would fight federal prosecutors' demands for records on Internet users' search queries.

For investors, who just two weeks ago were celebrating the Dow's climb above 11,000, there has been a marked shift in mood. The earlier optimism, fed by expectations that profit growth would remain strong as the Federal Reserve put the brakes on interest rate increases, has eroded in recent days. - NY Times, 21 January 2006

Even though the war machinery has pumped the pedal that moves the wheels of the American market in the past, the uncertainty in Iraq is markedly hurting our economy.

As the standoff between Iran and Western nations drags on, the concern among oil experts is that a diplomatic or military confrontation with a major Middle East oil producer will curb oil supplies at a time when all other producers are pumping at their maximum capacity. - NY Times, 21 Jan 2006

The most frightening part is that the people hurt the most and hit the hardest are not even the market investors. It is the average American whose pockets are being picked by Big Oil; and Big Oil cannot stay above water without gouging the customers because of the Bush administration, who thought they could enrich Big Oil (and the RNC coffers) by showing American dominance in Iraq...all the while telling the public they were 'spreading democracy' and 'keeping us safe.'

Now, analysts fear that oil prices could surge much higher - even beyond $100 a barrel - if the UN Security Council imposes trade sanctions on Iran over its nuclear activities.

It appears that they've failed everyone.

On a very much-related note, the witty Molly Ivins is serious. She is sick of fear, timidity, and hypocrisy among the Democrats. She's gone as far as to say that she won't support Senator Clinton for President.

What kind of courage does it take, for mercy's sake? The majority of the American people (55 percent) think the war in Iraq is a mistake and that we should get out....The majority (87 percent) thinks big oil companies are gouging consumers and would support a windfall profits tax. That is the center, you fools. WHO ARE YOU AFRAID OF? [CNN]

Kosovo's President Rugova is Dead

Kosovo's President Rugova is Dead

According to Fisnik Abrashi of the Associated Press, Kosovo President Ibrahim Rugova's death leaves the province's political scene in disarray at the most sensitive time since the end of the 1998-99 war between Yugoslav government forces and Kosovo Liberation Army.

A New York Times article reminds us that Rugova's popularity was not universal, but that he was regarded by many as the "father" of Kosovo. He'd drawn criticism for meeting with former Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic in Belgrade at the height of the 78-day NATO bombing campaign and appeared on Serbian television to call for a "political solution."

The feud that ensued between his party and the Kosovo Liberation Army, which had broad support of the ethnic Albanian population, led some analysts to conclude his political career was over, but his party regained support when the United Nations and NATO moved in to administer the province and the Kosovo Liberation Army was disbanded. - NY Times, 22 Jan 2006

Regardless of past criticism, Rugova was regarded as an international icon of the Kosovo-Albanian struggle for independence. His death leaves the future of Kosovo in questionable balance. Negotiations between ethnic Albanians and Serbs over the future of the province were set to start in Vienna, Austria this Wednesday, when it will be decided whether Kosovo’s majority ethnic Albanians will win the outright independence they've wanted. It's a great loss at a very important and sensitive time.

The head of parliament, Nexhat Daci, is expected to be named acting president until the parliament chooses a new leader.

Dennis Anderson Pays Tribute To Jill Carroll

Dennis Anderson Pays Tribute To Jill Carroll

Journalist Dennis Anderson, a two-time embed in Iraq, has written what I consider to be a lovely tribute to kidnapped journalist Jill Carroll. He brings to mind what I know as agape love - the love for God and mankind, and all of creation in the human heart. It's the spirit that draws special people like Jill Carroll and the late freelance journalist Steven Vincent to dangerous places like Iraq. It's what drives the soldier on to defend his brothers-in-arms, regardless of who sent him on his mission. It's the quality that enables a person to face all danger with self-command, with strength, and resolution. It is everything that politics, for the sake of politics, is not.

Mr Anderson employs symbolism in the form of the mythic unicorn, "rare creatures, who should be celebrated and revered, not hunted down," to frame the sorrow of Jill Carroll's current plight:

It’s a shame, and shameful. It is not that the journalists are stupid or lack sense. More, it is a comment on the murderous and thuggish nature of the terrorists and criminal swine who want to pull Iraq back into the pit of medieval tyranny from which it is emerging.

So, Jill Carroll was not foolhardy. She answered the call of the brave. Idealists, people of generous spirit and brave nature do this work because they believe it serves a higher purpose.

They want to feed or comfort the afflicted. They want to be peacemakers. They want the world to have a full and fair report of the sufferings of others. And for this there is great risk, and for this the thankless reward is that the ultimate price of that pure intention might be a horrifying death. The military who are serving in Iraq should be respected for the work they do, trying to restore sufficient safety so the unicorns will no longer be hunted and killed.

Why did Jill Carroll want to go to Iraq in the first place? She tells you in her own words.

What do we do at a time when we feel that we can do little else? We hope.
And we pray.

Italian Election is Reason for Troop Pullout from Iraq

Italian Election is Reason for Troop Pullout from Iraq

Listen to this meaningless mumbo-jumbo from Italy's Defense Minister Antonio Martino. [Toronto Star] His announcement to withdraw Italian troops from Iraq by the end of this year was made to a parliamentary commission yesterday:

Martino in his speech to the commission said the pullout, by year's end, "will achieve a worthy conclusion to an operation crowned by success...It will be a dignified re-entry, without any concession to the requests for immediate withdrawal, backed by positions of misunderstood pacifism and by presumptuous anti-Americanism," Martino said.

Crowned by what?! Has this guy read the news - or does Berlusconi depend upon his lackeys to read him selected headlines a la George W. Bush?

No concessions to the peaceniks or U.S.-haters? If that were the case, they wouldn't be admitting to pulling out the troops at the very same moment that Osama bin Laden is offering a truce.

The Italian emporer's been caught without his clothes.

The naked truth is, Berlusconi has an election to win this Spring, and by God, he's certainly not going to win it by ignoring the peaceniks and the U.S.-haters.

Chris Matthews Was Out of Line with Moore Comment

Chris Matthews Was Out of Line with Moore Comment

Listen to MSNBC's Chris Matthews spit out, in his usual machine-gun-style of speaking, this incredibly insulting and unfair comment about the controversial Eagle Scout/documentarian with a passion for justice and democracy, Michael Moore.

Mr. Matthews' flippant slander of Mr. Moore, comparing him to the murderous Isamic fundamentalist Osama bin Laden is so close to Freeperdom that it is beginning to scare me. In a rush to segue to his usual hyperbole, Senator Joe Biden's sickening cackle and wide chiclet-toothed smile after Matthews made the disgusting comment was a wink and a nod to the slander that is all too easily wielded by pundits in the mainstream media.

Crooks and Liars has the video.

Kos makes the point that it's not liberal who are in power. He says, "It's been George Bush and his neocon pals. It is THEY who have failed to capture or kill Bin Laden. It is they who have made our country less safe, and created a world in which terrorist attacks have increased. It is they who are making a mess out of the war in Iraq.."

"Mr. Matthews was out of line.
In essence, what he did was to tell every one of us that when we give any critical thought to the ways in which our government is conducting our business, that we are all Osama bin Ladens."

Kos provides other links to the story out in the blogosphere, including one by Peter Daou at Salon.com.

Chris Matthews needs to apologize to Mr. Moore and to all of us - if he wants to restore public confidence in him and in MSNBC as objective television journalists.

Mr. Matthews was out of line. In essence, what he did was to tell every one of us that when we give any critical thought to the ways in which our government is conducting our business, that we are all Osama bin Ladens.

_______






UPDATE - There's more to the MSNBC scandal of idiot pundits calling Democrats "Osama bin Ladens".

See Sarahlane and Grand Moff Texan's diaries at Daily Kos.

"We need to hear more Democratic leaders speaking to this issue and demanding action from MSNBC"

Senator John Kerry has spoken out on this, and I credit him for it. We need to hear more Democratic leaders speaking to this issue and demanding action from MSNBC, unless MSNBC wants to remain being seen as the dirty Republican-hugging pigs they appear to be right now.

Clean Up Washington

Clean Up Washington


Forty-three percent of members of Congress who left office since 1998 and were eligible to lobby have become lobbyists, indicating that Congress has increasingly become a way station on the path to the lucrative influence-peddling industry.

A list of Pioneers and Rangers painfully shows the hypocrisy of President Bush condemning the influence of Special Interests while he accepted at least $6.5 million bundled by lobbyists in 2003.

It's time to Clean Up Washington.

See the new Clean Up Washington website here.

What Do You Think These Folks Are Doing?

What Do You Think These
Folks Are Doing?



Nope, it's not an episode of CSI or Grey's Anatomy.
Click on the photo to find out what the heck is going on.

Bush-Tough Guy Myth Relies on Pop Fiction

Bush-Tough Guy Myth Relies on Pop Fiction

Blogger Sarah Devon of Athens, Georgia has made a comment about Maureen Dowd's latest column, Looking for a Democratic Tough Guy, or Girl.

If the Republican party is Jack Bauer, maybe Edwards is a stronger breed of Democrat, one that doesn't really have a place in today's pop culture. Maybe he's a Robin Hood of sorts. Maybe that's what Dowd wants to see. I know it's what I want to see.

The GOP has a guy doing his darndest to play a Jack Bauer role. Of course, we all know that Bauer is a fictional character played by a (very good) actor who is a tough-guy beholden, with respect, to the power of those who command him. Kind of like Bush, pulled by the strings of those who read the newspapers for him - that is, if you take away the courage to face war and gunfire; if you take away Bauer's extremely uncanny sense of intuition; and if you remove Bauer's ability to tell the truth to those he serves; and if you rely on pop fiction.

If the show "24" featured a Jack Bauer that hung around the office hiding under a desk while his comrades were being shot at, Maureen Dowd's simile might come closer to reality.

In recent polls, we see that the public clearly understands that the Jack Bauer they've been seeing on their TV screens gets different results than the bumbling Bauer wanna-bes in the Bush administration. The real Jack Bauers are the ones they irresponsibly stuck on the battlefield. You know their faces. They are the ones who are sitting ducks today in Iraq because of the idiotic missteps of the leader who would not listen to the voices that mattered.

I agree with Sarah - I want the real deal - and not an actor. We don't need a scripted brave man/cave man. John Edwards isn't a "Johny-get-angry." He's a passionate fellow with principles who, like most honorable characters and great leaders in literature, will not hide behind a mask of false bravado; will not lie or mislead; will call a duck a duck when everyone can see it's a duck - (maybe even before others can even spot the duck); is respectable; trustworthy; standing strong in his convictions. Cheery, reverent, thrifty - maybe John Edwards is more like a Boy Scout leader than a 'blam-blam' Bauer. What's wrong with that?



WE WANT A LEADER WHO IS.....



More Mr. Smith Goes to Washington than Ernest in the Army.



More Mr. Darcy than Mr. Ed.


More Viggo Mortenson from Lord of the Rings and less Sonny from "I, Robot"


More Jesus in the temple than Satan in the torture chamber.

Pssst, Hey, Osama -

Another bin Laden tape.....

Pssst, Hey, Osama-

Screw you.
Wait - I'm sorry. That wasn't a very Christian thing to say, was it?
Let me try again.
Go to hell.

You kill innocent people.
You torture people.
You employ fear to destroy peace.
You manipulate stupid men and women into doing the same things, thinking they can defeat your ideas when they are only acting in accord with them.

Only fear gives you the power you do not deserve.

I'd just as soon you kept your murder plots to yourself.

The extreme stupidity of some world leaders, including America's President, has exalted you to achieving a very much undeserved 'hero status' among some of your own misled people.
That's a shame - a damned shame.

I know all too well about misled people. You're a good manipulator, and you surely know how to keep the world a frightening and violent place for the poor sheep that actually believe that their political leaders will be their all-protective Daddy.

I'm not afraid of you or any of your minions.
Shove your tape and your truce.

It's faith, hope, intelligence, and the strength that only people of peace and principle can bring that will reduce your murdering little ass to meaningless dust, Osama - and put an end to the morally pointless wars that you've egged on.

______________

The best thing America could do is to end the charade in Iraq and concentrate on true justice, of which we lost sight when George W. Bush and Dick Cheney decided to forget that the rule of law ever existed. Bush and Cheney should both be impeached for their weakness in leadership and their unlawful, democracy-destroying behavior.

They should have never played by the rule of Osama.




**It's a travesty of all that is righteous and just! Why is this jerk Osama bin Laden still a free man - while over 2100 of our men and women who wear the uniform of the US armed forces - almost as many who died in the World Trade Centers - lie dead in their graves...going on five years from the time New York was attacked?

*** Bouldin knows what I'm talkin' 'bout.

Poverty in the News

Poverty in the News

Pauline Hovey writes about a recent conference called "Politics and Spirituality: Seeking a Public Integrity," held Jan. 14-16 on Capitol Hill:

Today countless people are enslaved by poverty, across the globe as well as in our country, and God is calling us to help. "Poverty is the new slavery," said Jim Wallis, who has traveled across the country promoting his recent book God's Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It and listening to people of faith who want to change the direction of public policy. As he explained in the second session, Action to Contemplation, "The two great hungers today are spiritual integrity and social justice." He views this as what he calls a "kairos moment," a time when things are "opening up" for change. "The country," he said, "is hungry for a politics of solution and hope." It appeared from the reaction of the participants that the hunger is growing....But rather than seek to align ourselves with a particular political party or label, Wallis suggested, "Don’t go left; don’t go right. Go deeper."

A painting contractor from New Hampshire talks about his recent Habitat for Humanity experience in Jonesboro, Mississippi.

I have seen urban poverty before, but uniform rural poverty like this was a new condition for me, and more disturbing. At times it was hard to believe we were in America and not some Third World country. [Union Leader]

Spiritual leader Deepak Chopra has a new idea about "rebranding peace," including the poverty alleviation issue:

[One]strategy to rebrand peace is to identify, connect, and expand the constituency of individuals and organizations that will spread the message of peace as a pragmatic reality. To do so, we are enlisting Internet leaders, such as Michael Karlin, the cofounder of the world's first Internet bank, to help create a Web-based community. A website, under the banner name "Constellation," should be launched later this year. This community will be engineered to connect individuals working on similar projects across many cultures and communities.

For example, in a model similar to Amazon.com - where when one purchases a book and five other related titles emerge - our Web community will provide lists of people and organizations building peace under a variety of categories - such as poverty reduction activities, education, or conflict resolution efforts. These individuals will then be able to communicate with each other, consolidate efforts, and reinforce the message that thousands are aligned to build peaceful futures for their families and their communities.

When we consider how individuals can make an impact on world affairs, we often only think of terrorists as having that impact through violence. Isn't it time to demonstrate the power of individuals through the actions of peace?

Jamie Anson at the Daily Evergreen [Washington State University] writes:

Any sociologist can speak of the links between crime and poverty, and the country that harbors no social responsibility for poor and repressed neighborhoods is doomed to suffer the consequences. Forty-five million Americans have no health insurance, and 37 million live in poverty, according to the article [What King Really Dreamed]. Dr. King would hold these numbers in contempt. Until the basic needs of these people are realized, their struggles will manifest themselves in some form of social unrest.

King colleague urges fight on poverty, racism, war

On what would have been the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 77th birthday, a fellow civil rights pioneer called Sunday in Minneapolis for Americans to rededicate themselves to the principles for which King lived and died.
"Martin called us to fight the three-headed monster: poverty, racism and war," the Rev. Joseph Lowery told about 900 people gathered in the Basilica of St. Mary for a Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration...."We're still judging people by the color of their skins and not by the content of their character," said Lowery, echoing one of King's most famous speeches. He said overt, legal segregation has been defeated

Washington State march:

"...about 250 parents, students and activists marched to the Capitol [in Washington state] on Monday in a rally organized by several anti-poverty groups on Martin Luther King Jr. Day....
...Poverty Voice, a publication sponsored by the action network and other groups, reports that 612,000 Washington residents live below the federal poverty line, but that number is low because the federal level is well below what a family needs to survive..The federal line is $16,090 a year for a family of three, the equivalent of one person making $7.74 an hour full time, according to the state..The poverty groups contend 1.7 million state residents make 80 percent or less of the state median wage, which is $44,158 a year.
- [Activists take poverty agenda to the streets]

John Edwards a Guest on NPR

John Edwards a Guest on NPR

Former senator and vice presidential candidate John Edwards was a recent guest on NPR's Talk of the Nation with Neal Conan.
Listen here. [app. 17 mins]

The Silk Road Leads to Queens

The Silk Road Leads to Queens



The Silk Road leads to Elmhurst?
Who knew?
Western Queens Gazette

This delicious NYT article by Julia Moskin made me hungry. I can't wait to get back to Queens and try some of these places.

Tenet: Slam or Sham?

Tenet: Slam or Sham?

I hear George Tenet's writing a book and he says he will also provide "the real context" of his own now-famous "slam-dunk comment" about Saddam Hussein's suspected pre-war weapons of mass destruction. (This, according to his publisher).


Yawn......

I wonder if it will be as "meaningful" as the confessions made in fellow Medal of Freedom winner J. Paul Bremer's book.

I have a sneaking suspicion that it will be an attempt at a "startling revelation" (fake gasp here) from just another guy who's reputation was ruined when he decided that his loyalty to a figurehead meant more than doing all he could to stop Bush from steering our nation toward disaster. Do I sound bitter? Jaded? Sick of seeing these people rake in millions for lame admissions once we've been had?

You might be right.

Josh Marshall: The Headline You Haven't Seen

Josh Marshall on The Headline You Haven't Seen

Josh Marshall wants to know why a key part of the Abramoff story is not being investigated or talked about in the mainstream media.

The wunderkind blogger is all over the Jack Abramoff saga. If you want to stay 'in the know', be sure to read Josh - several times a day if possible.

Iran: Diplomacy and the UN Security Council

Iran: Diplomacy and the UN Security Council

From Reuters -

European powers began circulating a draft resolution on Wednesday that asks the U.N. nuclear watchdog to report Iran to the Security Council, though diplomats said any U.N. sanctions would be a long way off...

....The chief of France's defense staff said the idea of Iran possessing a nuclear weapon was "a real nightmare" but added that a negotiated solution remained possible and that any hasty resort to military action would be "completely mad."

"That would create a dreadful drama in the Middle East," General Henri Bentegeat told Europe 1 radio. "Maybe one day we will get to that point. But today it is exclusively the diplomats who are having their say."

The EU draft asks IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei to keep up inspections to try to provide "credible assurances regarding the absence of undeclared nuclear materials and activities in Iran."

The text, being circulated among key IAEA board members, may undergo changes as they discuss it. [Reuters]

from the Guardian UK -

.....diplomacy is the right way to respond. The Islamic Republic is within its rights to want to develop nuclear energy, like all signatories to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT). It is not entitled to build nuclear weapons, though despite denials there is circumstantial evidence that it may be trying to do just that. Past evasion and concealment do not inspire confidence. The CIA's best estimate is that Iran is 10 years from building a bomb, though with dual-use technical breakthroughs or black-market purchases it could be sooner. Intelligence though, as the Iraq war showed, is notoriously unreliable. If accurate - and not exaggerated by spies, spin doctors or exiles - it can pinpoint capabilities. Intentions are a different matter. [editorial Guardian UK]

The Washington Post gives you the key players in the game.

Janine Zacharia at Bloomberg is reporting that Russia's proposal to hold off on a formal referral of Iran to the United Nations' Security Counci suggests disharmony ahead of an emergency (Feb. 2) IAEA meeting. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said what action the IAEA will take may not be clear until the last minute. A majority vote by the 35-member board of the IAEA, the UN's nuclear watchdog, is required for a referral to the Security Council.

Russia has offered to allow Iran to enrich uranium in Russia. Iran rejected this request, insisting it has the "right" to carry out enrichment on its own soil, and resumed research, triggering calls Jan. 12 from France, Germany, Britain and the U.S. to refer Iran's nuclear program to the UN.

In other news..

Russia's foreign minister warned Tuesday that sanctions were not the best way to resolve the Iranian nuclear crisis and urged all nations to keep non-proliferation as their goal. - CTV.ca

The Progressive website hosts an article by Amitabh Pal which points out that "the nuclear hypocrisy of the five established powers has been one of the major reasons that Iran’s nuclear program has widespread support among its populace."

Why was even Nobel Peace Prize-winner Shirin Ebadi, who has never hesitated to fight for her principles, recently reluctant to outright condemn Iran’s nuclear ambitions?

Last August, I blogged about a comment that Mme. Ebadi had made:

Listen to the reasoning of Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi of Iran (quoted below-see LINK).

"Iranian Nobel Peace Prize laureate Shirin Ebadi has said that while she, too, opposes nuclear weapons, the West would do more good by focusing not on Tehran's nuclear programme but on promoting democracy in the Islamic Republic.

"In a country or a society where people supervise decisions and everything else, like a democratic country, the existence of an atomic bomb cannot be dangerous," Ms Ebadi said."

There could be many possible geopolitical consequences, depending upon the outcome with the IAEA and/or the UN Security council - look at this article:

Syria and Iran, an axis of evil upheaval

Veteran Smears From the Right Will Cost Republicans

Veteran Smears From the Right Will Cost Republicans

The political tactic of playing up the soldiers on the battlefield while tearing down the reputations of veterans who oppose them could eventually cost the Republicans dearly. It may be one reason that a preponderance of the Iraq war veterans who thus far have decided to run for office are doing so as Democrats.

A young American now serving in Iraq might rightly wonder whether his or her service will be deliberately misconstrued 20 years from now, in the next rendition of politically motivated spinmeisters who never had the courage to step forward and put their own lives on the line.

Rudyard Kipling summed up this syndrome quite neatly more than a century ago, writing about the frequent hypocrisy directed at the British soldiers of his day:

An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;

An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool - you bet that Tommy sees!

- James Webb, a secretary of the Navy in the Reagan administration, was a Marine platoon and company commander in Vietnam

[NYT Select]

Warren Buffet: Trade Deficit Threatens US Economy

Warren Buffet: Trade Deficit Threatens US Economy
AP-Scott Sonner -

The U.S. trade deficit is a bigger threat to the domestic economy than either the federal budget deficit or consumer debt and could lead to "political turmoil," billionaire investor Warren Buffett warned. "Right now, the rest of the world owns $3 trillion more of us than we own of them," Buffett told business students and faculty Tuesday at the University of Nevada, Reno. "In my view, it will create political turmoil at some point. ...
...The U.S. trade deficit soared to a record $665.9 billion in 2004, and Buffett said he expects it to top $700 billion this year.

"That's $2 billion a day. We are like a super rich family that owns a farm the size of Texas. You sell off a little bit of the farm and you don't see it," he said. Fifteen years ago, the U.S. had no trade deficit with China, he said. "Now it's $200 billion. If we don't change the course, the rest of the world could own $15 trillion of us. That's pretty substantial. That's equal to the value of all American stock," Buffett said.

Forbes' Chris Noone says -

Fixing the trade deficit--which soared to a record $665.9 billion in 2004, and is expected to top $700 billion this year--is becoming rather like turning around an ocean liner by dipping a teaspoon in the water.

E.J. Dionne on Murtha Slander

E.J. Dionne on Murtha Slander

E.J. Dionne tells the bitter truth about the lengths the right wing will go to in order to politically protest (and destroy the reputation of) a veteran who dares to speak out.

"...there is no honor given to those who serve if they choose later to take on the powers that be."

Mr. Dionne says:

What's maddening here is the unblushing hypocrisy of the right wing and the way it circulates -- usually through Web sites or talk radio -- personal vilification to abort honest political debate. Murtha's views on withdrawing troops from Iraq are certainly the object of legitimate contention. Many in Murtha's party disagree with him. But Murtha's right-wing critics can't content themselves with going after his ideas. They have to try to discredit his service.

What's maddening, to me, is seeing the Washington Post's Howard Kurtz and Shailagh Murray irresponsibly spreading the crap around without any objective investigation. They - and their editors - make it a piece of cake for the right-wing mouth machine to get hold of a megaphone.

War and politics may be a nasty business, but responsible mainstream journalism is supposed to be an objective business.

Lt. Gen. Vines Replaced After One-Year "Stint"

Lt. Gen. Vines Replaced After One-Year "Stint"

Hmmmm.....

Last week, I sensed a definite clash between Generals in the opinions about the state of civil war in Iraq. I'd quoted this NY Times piece:

Sectarian rivalries and inefficient Iraqi ministries could turn the Iraqi security forces into "militias or armed gangs," Lt. General John Vines, the senior US operational commander in Iraq, said in an interview....In the weeks leading up to the December election, however, General Vines differed with his boss, Gen. George W. Casey Jr. over how and where to assign troops to ensure a peaceful and successful balloting.

At the time, I had asked this question, not realizing that Lt Gen Vines was already being replaced:

"Which opinion will be gagged and muffled? If this public split in philosophy does not die down, who will back down? Is it a civil war in Iraq or not?"

Lt. General Vines will be replaced by Army Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli - and I'll bet he'll be a lot more careful about keeping his message in line with General Casey's.
Now....

Army Lt. Gen. Peter Chiarelli replaces Army Lt. Gen. John Vines on Thursday as the No. 2 general in the U.S. command, said Lt. Col. Barry Johnson, a military spokesman in Baghdad. Vines, who last week forecast continuing violence in Iraq, is ending a year-long stint as the U.S. operational commander amid a bloody and continuing fight with insurgents. His departure is part of the regular rotation of senior U.S. commanders in the war, which began in March 2003.

Casey will stay - doing "terrific job"

The Pentagon said Casey, top U.S. commander in Iraq since July 2004, will remain in his post. Casey previously had been expected to wrap up his duty in Iraq this summer. "There are no plans or intentions to relieve him in the foreseeable future," said chief Pentagon spokesman Lawrence Di Rita, who said Casey is "doing a terrific job."

The article states that Lt Gen. Vines' departure is "part of the regular rotation of senior U.S. commanders in the war, which began in March 2003."

Meanwhile, shots of truth continue to tear through the curtain of the "happy talk."

Guardian Unlimited (Julian Borger):

An official assessment drawn up by the US foreign aid agency depicts the security situation in Iraq as dire, amounting to a "social breakdown" in which criminals have "almost free rein".
The "conflict assessment" is an attachment to an invitation to contractors to bid on a project rehabilitating Iraqi cities published earlier this month by the US Agency for International Development (USAid).

The picture it paints is not only darker than the optimistic accounts from the White House and the Pentagon, it also gives a more complex profile of the insurgency than the straightforward "rejectionists, Saddamists and terrorists" described by George Bush.

Lt Gen. Vines entertained questions from the press last Friday. Here are a couple of questions with answers that lead us to believe that the majority of the violence against the US/Iraqi force is coming from disgruntled Iraqi groups, many with whom we are negotiating for political settlement. As Jill Carroll reported just before she was kidnapped, we are negotiating with the same groups who are committing major acts of violence against us.

Jim Miklaszewski of NBC news went as far as to ask about the deals we're cutting with political figures in Iraq who've had direct ties to the insurgency:

There have been also reports that U.S. military is, in fact, talking to some of these insurgents. Is that underway?

Here are some other questions:

Q. [Al Pessin with Voice of America] - Even if all or most of the Sunni Iraqi part of the insurgency were to decide to support a broad-based government, how big an impact would that have on the overall picture of violence? In other words, how much of the violence is by the Iraqi groups and how much by the foreigners?

GEN. VINES: I believe that the majority is by Iraqi groups -- some who feel like they run the risk of being disadvantaged, and perhaps they're using violence as a bargaining tool to influence the political process; other insurgent groups and other terrorist groups have done that in other parts of the world, and you know them as well or better than I do. There is a portion of the Iraqi population that opposes the presence of the coalition, and they feel like that their resistance is nationalistic in basis, and they attempt to conduct operations in an effort to force the coalition presence out. So I believe it would have a very significant impact if they laid down arms and participated in a democratic process as opposed to violence.

Q: General, I'm Carl Osgood; I write for Executive Intelligence Review. You may know that one of the things that Congressman Murtha has been saying about the U.S. presence in Iraq is that the U.S. troops themselves are a target of the violence and a catalyst of the violence. I wonder if you could comment on that to the degree to which you think that may or may not be true.

GEN. VINES: Without question, some Sunni -- well, in fact, some Iraqis -- do view the coalition presence as a reason to conduct violence against them. That is without question. The extent of that I could not characterize.