Loyalty without truth
is a trail to tyranny.
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a middle-aged George Washington
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Saturday, 9 October 2004 at 23h 53m 31s | Philosophically rambling | So I found myself thinking about why the universe was round and whole and I
came to this resolution, namely, that which each resolution comes another
solution, but then what follows is something other than a rational universe,
yet in the end there was but another solution, another illusion, another
resolve, another time to wonder, another, another, and another.
It just didn't make sense after a while. But then what does. It was but one
solution followed by another, simply the aftermath of what followed due to a
decision.
But in that decision, likened close to the answer whatever it is that might
become what would still be regarded as the final decision, and thereupon hung
the nature of ones being, as if clung to the wall like ivy hoping the rains
would come soon, lest they starve due to lack of precipitation. And of course,
it was the precipitation that the decisions were after, the recourse of the
respite, of the neverending rapture of what lay ahead. Tomorrow. There was
always tomorrow.
And yet tomorrow comes, and there is another transition.
So therefore, in any event, lest we be resolved to dreadful notions, it seems
that the evidence is rather conclusive that nowhere what may come in the way of
circumstances, in the way of haphazard events, it was just plain that nothing
was stronger that what was coming at you, when it comes, when comes down upon
like waves of various amplitude, like light gently falling against the shadows,
shedding another answer on just the other side of tomorrow, whereupon you had a
glimpse for today, just a glimpse.
Just a glimpse, is that all we who are mortals can understand -- bloating
however that glimpse out of all proportion to reality. Obsessed with our
glimpses, we try to hasten our views upon the minds of others, who may or may
not have any mental association with or perspicacity of these visions.
So we come to a shared understanding, by talking with one another, by getting
to know those people whom we meet, so that we are not alone in that lonesome
capacity of life's analysis, a task to which no one alone can hope to fathom or
understand. We can only hope to come close to the truth when we take into
consideration the perspectives of others.
This world contains a great myth about the greatest of the individual, when the
individual is only a reflection of the society which produced the individual,
because every individual is but the fragmented product of the world with which
one interacts. Since we are proud creatures, we like to ascribe to ourselves
too much talent when we are just blessed with the right psychic mix to meet the
challenges of life. And at every step of the way, everyone is subject to
constant challenges. There is never a moment when one can come to expect to
escape the inescable human condition. Arrogance and hypocrisy can appear when
that expectation arises, thereby protecting the self from self realization, but
this is only an illusion.
| Monday, 4 October 2004 at 7h 39m 37s | The first Kerry-Bush Debate in Miami, Florida | Here is a link
to my navigatable transcript of the Bush-Kerry Debate on September 30, 2004
at the University of Miami.
Bush retorts to reiterating that he wants to go on the offensive. He
touts "Prime Minister Allawi" for the ex-spy appointed by the administrative
Iraq apparatus to be the new leader after the old appointed leader Ahmed
Chalabi fled to Iran.
At times Bush scowled and sneered when Kerry spoke. When answering tough
questions, like explaining about bin Liden, he literally glowered in disgusted,
and appearred uncomfortable while hunched over the podium.
He kept talking about not sending "mixed signals" then said that we needed to
stay on the "offensive" in the "war on terror," or that he would never shirk
from "defending America." He reassured us that being President was "hard
work" but neglected to mention that he has spent 40% of his presidency on
vacation.
Excuse me, Mr. President, what I do as a teacher is very hard work, and
although we get 12 weeks cumulative vacation as a teacher, even I do not get
40% vacation time -- which would equate to 21 weeks of vacation. In other
words the President goes on vacation almost 2 weeks every month.
Not once did Mr. Bush even admit to making mistakes, even when asked point
blank by moderator Jim Lehrer,
You have said there was a, quote, "miscalculation," of what the conditions
would be in post-war Iraq. What was the miscalculation, and how did it happen?
to which Mr. Bush says :
No, what I said was that, because we achieved such a rapid victory, more of the
Saddam loyalists were around. I mean, we thought we'd whip more of them going
in.
But because Tommy Franks did such a great job in planning the operation, we
moved rapidly, and a lot of the Baathists and Saddam loyalists laid down their
arms and disappeared. I thought they would stay and fight, but they didn't.
And now we're fighting them now. And it's hard work. I understand how hard it
is. I get the casualty reports every day. I see on the TV screens how hard it
is. But it's necessary work.
And I'm optimistic. See, I think you can be realistic and optimistic at the
same time. I'm optimistic we'll achieve -- I know we won't achieve if we send
mixed signals. I know we're not going to achieve our objective if we send mixed
signals to our troops, our friends, the Iraqi citizens.
We've got a plan in place. The plan says there will be elections in January,
and there will be. The plan says we'll train Iraqi soldiers so they can do the
hard work, and we are.
Do you hear a legimate explanation of why Mr. Bush said there was
a "miscalculation" ? He goes on to cite that training of Iraqi troops is going
on despite a recent report which said only 8% of the necessary were being
trained BECAUSE RECRUITS ARE DIFFICULT TO FIND AND KEEP.
Then Mr. Bush finishes his explanation of the "miscalculation" quote with this :
It is hard work. It is hard work to go from a tyranny to a democracy. It's hard
work to go from a place where people get their hands cut off, or executed, to a
place where people are free.
But it's necessary work. And a free Iraq is going to make this world a more
peaceful place.
It is such "hard work" to appoint Lobbyists named Paul Brenner to Iraq spending
the last year promulgating the Iraqi constitution, selling off Iraqi
enterprises to multination corporations. It is "hard work" for halliburton to
spend only $8 out of $118 billion available on reconstruction, and unable to
account for $3.2 billion in costs. Make that unwilling to account for $3.2
billion, threatening not to pay subcontractors after the Army requested for the
third time. All while only 25% of Iraqi sewage treatment plants are
operational and electricity still only 18% of necessary capacity (4 hours out
of 24 hours.) Depleted Uranium is everywhere along with food and medical
shortages.
Currently the military is overstretched, and National Guard units are doing a
large part of the Iraq operation than is warranted by tradition and common
sense. The national guard belongs here in the United States guarding the
nation, not supporting the military operation in Iraq.
This administration is not sensitive to the impression of imperialism in Iraqi.
Creating 14 permanent military bases in Iraq, appointing and selecting the last
2 "prime ministers", and promulgating the current Iraqi constitution with laws
that permit expropriation of 100% of all profits by foreign multinational
corporations. What Iraqi nationalist can be pleased with the lingering
resemblance to colonialsim? How can an Iraqi be reassurred that they are not
merely trading one thug (Saddam Hussein) for another (Allawi, U.S.
colonialism.) At least, we must acknowledge this in the realm of ideas for the
average Iraqi.
Are these really a lot of ex-Baathists and Saddam loyalists? Or just a whole
lot of angry citizens very angry about what's happening in their country?
| Monday, 4 October 2004 at 0h 21m 5s | Two Human Traits | The mind is nothing but an imprint of what the surrounding environment has put
upon it. This occurence is largely a matter of choice, but nevertheless still
results from the largely uncontrollable experience of one's childhood years. No
child ever has a choice as to what environment into which that child was born.
However, at the same time, once adulthood comes, it becomes a little harder
each time to excuse mistakes on account of the origin of environment.
There's no sorry to it. The art of blame comes in two flavors. Either you tend
to blame others for your own faults, or you inflate your self superiority in
order to compensate for your own inadequacy. On rare occasions, there is a
person who embodies the worst of both traits. To be aware of these faults in
our self psychology is the best possible to cure, for surely to exist unaware
is but certain guarantee that we will plow forward with ignorance.
When you begin to blame others, when you begin to assess your own weakness in
measure with a criticism of others, you begin to separate your self from self-
awarenesss because you begin to allow an a minimal acceptance of your own fault
in the events that were untoward. because we all have a fault in any
relationship to which we accede. If a presumed friend does you some wrong, you
were foolish to make an assumption. Rather than becoming angry, instead the
most healthy response is to understand the cost of wisdom. You are learning the
strengths and limitations of all those people whom you encounter. The only
certainty is your willingness to learn and be flexible.
The other psychosis which arises in the human condition, is that which props up
that hubris of superiority, or what is otherwise known as arrogance. This
originates as a primative defensive mechanism, whereby one is enabled to avoid
insecurity by reassuring oneself of one's mastery or superiority. But this
yields the ultimate delusion, because all other points of view can thus be
decimated by the belief in one's own superiority.
Pity for the unfortunate possessor of both these traits, the individual who
both blames the world and inflates the notion of self, for this person has
escaped all potential for shame. One who seeks blame as an escape will become
confronted with that weakness's misnomer : responsibility. One who seeks to
elevate one's esteem, will reach a point where an inhibition to admit fault
crosses the uncrossable line of self-respect. When the two traits merge
into one, a certain guilelessness awakens in the monstrous ego which cannot
recognize honor nor respect the humility of shame.
All of us are guided by the desire to attain our fanciful illusions. We
live our days in pursuit of these unquantifiable resolutions. Meanwhile we can
never be free of our childhood insecurities, and however infrequently we are
reminded of them, they nevertheless reappear. It is during these reappearances
that we develop the traits of a lifetime. Do we permit ourselves to blame, or
do we protect ourselves with the assurances of our own superiority?
Or do we seek to hear the silent whisper that is wisdom?
| Saturday, 25 September 2004 at 21h 58m 45s | A Polite Discussion with some genuine Republicans | Today there was a group of Republicans tabling at the corner of Fillmore and
Sacramento in San Francisco. I tried very hard not to approach them, but after
an hour my will broke down. There were three people, an older black woman who
said she had a small business. She wore a red business vest and struck me as
very sincere. Another women was a dental student at the local dental school,
who plastered a non-moving smile on her face as if in rigid self-assurance.
The third member of the trio was an older white man, with a grey beard who
hardly spoke.
I approached the black woman and asked where she was from. She is from
Southern California but has been a resident of San Francisco for 25 years. I
asked her to tell me why I should vote for the Bush-Cheney team in 2004.
The first issue was national security. I mentioned that not one penny has been
spent securing our ports, chemical, and nuclear facilities. Then I mentioned
that the administration has wasted a lot of resources on the way it has managed
Iraq in the last year, hiring multinational corporations to do the business
native Iraqi's could have done and hiring Somali's and Indians for cheap labor
instead of local Iraqi's. Then I mentioned that very little of the funds for
reconstruction has been spent, and said that I did not believe the Bush
administration has any credibility on National Security.
The next issue she brought up was fiscal responsibility, which is
unbelieveable. I was calm however. My intention was to be polite and
informative. I asked about the latest figures on the deficit and the federal
debt, then I mentioned that we only sustain this debt burden thanks to China
and Japan's willingness to buy our debt bonds, and that the pressures on the
bond market are going to increase interest rates. I next mentioned that 18% of
businesses with a yearly revenue of 10 million have 50% debt burdens, which
means that they will be squeezed with the inevitable rise in interest rates.
Then I mentioned that it was fiscally irresponsible to offer 2 extensive tax
cuts in lieu of this debt burden.
She mentioned that she benefited from the Bush tax cut. I agreed that
targeted tax cuts are beneficial, but that Bush said in his 2000 presidential
campaign that "by far the vast majority of my tax cut goes to the middle
class." Now in my mind the vast majority means more than 50%, which is a far
cry from that fact that only 16% of the total tax cuts went to those with
incomes less than $200,000. 66% of all owners of small businesses have
incomes less than $200,000, only the top 10% has incomes greater than
$200,000. I then said "If you are going to make a statement in a campaign, you
need to follow through when you are in office, and that is not what happened."
A young teacher approached and we got into the Leave No Child Behind
Act. I called to attention the item in the law which makes it law that all
high schools must give names of students to military recruiters unless the
parents sign a form. It was agreed that the law was in need of help. I
mentioned that the administration has not spent all of the money that was
authorized, up to an aggregate of 32 billion over the last 3 years.
At this point, the young teacher mentioned that she just wanted to get a few
stickers to put in her classroom so she could have both sides represented. The
dental student began to face me with her changeless smile. I mentioned that
she smiled a lot, and she just said that was because she was a dental student
and had to practice showing her teeth. So I asked her if she also listened
while she was smiling. She said sort of, but then said that she had a
different opinion. I said that the issue wasn't a matter of opinion. I
mentioned plenty of facts and I would be willing to listen to her refute
them.
So she says that she didn't think government should get involved with social
services.
Wait, I replied, are you saying that the education of our children is a social
service, and that education is local controlled and is not the same thing as
the government. Education in the United States grow at the local level and
has always been supported by local taxes. The problem is that not every
district has a strong local tax base, and so not every school district is
equally funded. Most schools don't use Title One funds, but those districts
that do are the very poor school districts who don't have a strong local tax
basis.
The dental student mentioned that it should be handled at the states. But the
states don't have the money, I said. (The black lady almost cut me off to say
the same thing, but let me speak instead. I think she was the only one who
really listened to me -- but again I reiterate that this was a very civil,
peaceful discussion.) Only the federal government has the resources to deal
with this problem. That the Bush administration has decided to underfund the
Leave No Child Behind Act is an indication of its priorities. You can upgrade
the standards and not help fix the problem. If you have a rusty car, you can't
pass the inspections unless you fork up the money to repair the engine.
The older man with a beard than said that they were of a different opinion. I
again stated that I respect their right to have an opinion, but still, I just
wanted to hear a reason to vote for the Bush-Cheney ticket and so far I have
not been convinced. As regards having an opinion, I have stated a lot of facts
and would be more than willing to hear you refute these facts.
But at a certain point you have to let it go and move on. The trio of genuine
conscience Republicans were uncomfortable with having a discussion. They
seemed fixed to a set philosophical prescription, so I made my graces to
leave. I said I didn't want to give them any trouble, and said that I was glad
they were out hear expressing themselves. I thanked them for being kind enough
to talk with me and shook their hands. It was truly a beautiful experience,
because all of us had a sophisticated level of respect.
This kind of civil discussion is what democracy is supposed to be about. All
too often our society gets the false impression that having a different opinion
is more important than having an open discussion where people can agree to
disagree. The whole point of democracy is to be heard, not to insist that you
are right, but to make sure that all points are available to be expressed.
When you listen to only one side of an argument you become blinded by the
inherent imperfections of one set of observations. An opinion only becomes
refined when it is viewed or challenged by a different perspective. Which is
why I like to engage in these polite conversations, because I want to hear
other points of view. How else is one to know how other people think if they
do not allow themselves to listen to what others think?
| Saturday, 25 September 2004 at 7h 25m 11s | The reign of paranoia | Why is the Bush administration and Dick Cheney in particular so negative and
terrorism-on-the-brain minded? Why accuse and talk negatively, and resort to
talking about rosy untruths in order to speak positive? At least Herbert
Hoover merely had to worry about the woosy economy, not the failed foreign
policy and national policy initiatives made by an administration that has spent
4 years blaming everyone but themselves.
You see, George W. Bush doesn't make mistakes. He miscalculates, and then
continues making the same mistakes.
But then ... according to Bush (source)
"The government of prime minister Allawi has earned the support of every nation
that believes in self-determination and desires peace," he said. "The UN and
its member nations must ... do more to help build an Iraq that is secure,
democratic, federal and free."
Playing down the instability and huge loss of life of Iraqi civilians and US
soldiers, Mr Bush said: "Not long ago, outlaw regimes in Baghdad and Kabul
threatened the peace and sponsored terrorists ... Today the Iraqi and Afghan
people are on the path to democracy and freedom. These two nations will be a
model for the broader Middle East."
Warning that there would be worse days ahead, Mr Bush conceded that "we can
expect terror attacks to escalate" as elections approach in Afghanistan and
Iraq. But he vowed that his mission was "not to retreat, it is to prevail ...
We will be standing with the people of Afghanistan and Iraq until their hopes
for freedom and liberty are fulfilled."
Coming the day after Mr Kerry, accused him of "stubborn incompetence"
and "colossal failures in judgment" on the war in Iraq, Mr Bush will have been
acutely aware of his domestic audience.
Then mister Bush starts criticizing Kerry because he doesn't become infatuated
with ex-spy now prime minister Allawi, next in kin to the old house-nigger
Ahmed Chalabi, that old sycophant who grew fat on the government payroll for
the last 20 years as the nominal head of the "official" Iraqi exile group --
for 100,000 dollars a month.
Meanwhile Cheney is busy going from undisclosed location to another telling the
nation that Kerry will result in guaranteed terrorist attacks. Yet the same
Cheney who as prior head of Halliburton still earning $100,000 per month in
deferred salary -- in order to avoid taxes -- condescendingly said in the 2000
debates with Senator Lieberman that he never earned a dollar from the
government in order to castigate the senator democrat as the sloth on the
government dole, while Cheney, the great bastion of integrity earned his
millions as an independent business person.
Now of course it would be ludicrous to assert the known facts that Halliburton
gets its contracts completely from government, via defense contracts. That
would be not only absurd, but unpatriotic, so I must refrain from saying that.
But going around and making inneuendoes denouncing the integrity of the
opposing candidate has become the norm. Maybe it's an indication that the
stakes are too high. Dear God I hope this is high enough.
| Saturday, 18 September 2004 at 0h 4m 29s | War as a tool | Have you seen the latest piece of sarcastic wisdom on the back of a car
bumper? While driving down Divisadero Avenue, I saw the most memorial epitath
of bumper sticker-ism since I saw "There's a terrorist behind every Bush" on
the back of an old faded-purple volkswagon bug. This bumper sticker was on the
back of an expensive new black Lexus.
Except for ending Slavery, Fascism, and Communism, war has never solved
anything.
Frankly I was struck immediately with the audacity of this ignorance. While
presuming to speak on a higher moral ground, this syllogism has distorted the
past with a skewed observation of the present.
Because of the ambiguity, and the fact that war has no adjacent adjective, we
have to assume that the statement discusses both the war on iraq and the war on
terror. In either case, the logical assumption of the statement is not only
inappropriate, but completely ignorant of any contemporary historical context.
As the old military adage goes, we are fighting the wrong war with the tactics
of the last war.
Slavery was a social condition that evolved from the decision of aristocratic
landowners to import black laborers to perform agricultural labor in the new
world. After 230 or so years, the American social-economy had evolved to an
impasse. The civil war was a result, not a solution. The incorporation of the
ex-slaves, the issues of black civil rights lasted another 100 or so years.
The process did not have to begin with a war, and could have been legislated,
as was the case in England and Brazil ( although to be fair, Brazilian
emancipation occurred in a different background, with more violence, including
the creation of an independent nation of ex-slaves in Bahia.)
Nevertheless, to say or imply that the civil "war" solved slavery is
ridiculous. The solution, if that is what we are to call black civil rights,
took another 100 years, after the carpetbaggers, the Jim Crow laws,
sharecropping, the Ku Klux Klan riders, the lynchings, the separate but equal
laws, and the poll taxes.
The word Fascism used by the bumper sticker must be construed to mean Hitler
and Japan and World War Two. Certainly we can't say World War One, because
that war would be a perfect example of war's potential for folly and bumbling
stupidity. But the sticker wisdom infers that any war is justified on account
that war is often the only solution. World War Two consisted of two world
governments on a rampage of nationalistic military conquests aimed at world
domination. War was the only choice, not a solution. What the hell else were
we too do.
World War Two doesn't deserve to be the bastion of justification for stupidity
that it has become.
Communism was never Russian ideology taking over the world. War did not defeat
communism anyway. After the end of the old colonialism before World War Two,
the developing world was in a moment of transition into a shift of global
power. The social disruptions that became civil wars in the rest to world were
merely pawns in the new global power players. The places where "communism"
took root longer than 50 years (China and Russia) were also places with an
ancient tradition of bureaucratic centralization of authority. The moniker of
the word "communism" ignores the historical tradition of political
bureaucracy. The very notion that war ended communism disguises the foreign
policy decisions that are involved, namely what government to support and where
the support of government ultimately resides.
Assassinating an elected socialist leader, replacing the government with an
unelected military government using military units trained in the United
States, is not a war against communism. It is a military takeover.
Supporting corrupt governments, providing ammunition and military weapons to
the dictatorship in the interest of centralized government is not a war against
communism. It is a military dictatorship.
And the presumption that we "won" the cold war is only an illusion. Now that
we cover the entire globe with military bases, more than 140 in all, we have
made investments that have negligible economic value, and have actually
diminished our security. How many other nations in the world have anywhere
near that many bases across the globe?
Centralized despotism evolves new descriptions as time passes. Caesars, Kings,
Lords, despots, dictators, fascists, and tyrants do not need modern fancy
terminology to describe the same results. Communism by another name is not
something that got defeated by this mindful policy called war. Russia and
China simply evolved into new relationships with the global world, and so to
the United States. Not because of this policy called war that was a solution
provided by the United States.
War is more unavoidable, than it is necessary, and it is really the only choice
rather than a foreign policy tool. A society that uses war as a tool has lost
sight of what real foreign policy choices have been made, and what choices
there actually are that could be more effective.
| Saturday, 11 September 2004 at 19h 58m 46s | The forgery accusers have Republican ties | The identities of the critics are important, especially in light of the Ohio
expert Philip D. Bouffard who changed his mind when he looked at 300 samples of
type from an IBM Selectric Composer, and also noted that "as early asApril
1969 -- three years before the dates of the CBS memos -- the Air Force had
completed service testing for the Composer, possibly in preparation for
purchasing the typewriters." (SOURCE: Boston Globe.)
According to Salon.com writer
Geraldine Sealey
William Flynn, a forensic expert, has been cited in several news accounts
claiming the Killian memos were almost certainly faked. A few people have sent
us this link showing that Flynn is also famous for alleging that the KGB forged
John "Ivan the Terrible" Demjanjuk's death-camp ID in order to "frame" him.
As for one of the other "debunkers" cited in the AP account among other
stories, Sandra Ramsey Lines, it turns out that she has strong GOP ties and is
a member of the WISH List, a group that raises money for Republican women
running for the House and Senate.
And Eric Boehlert writes in Salon that a PR firm pushing the CBS memo forgery
story was also a force behind the anti-Kerry Swift Boat campaign.
| Saturday, 11 September 2004 at 20h 14m 35s | More on the Killian memo forgery scare | Today, in a Boston Globe article, forensic expert re-
analyzes the Killian memos and compares the type to the IBM Selectric
Composer. "Philip D. Bouffard, a forensic document examiner in Ohio who has
analyzed typewritten samples for 30 years, had expressed suspicions about the
documents in an interview with the New York Times published Thursday, one in a
wave of similar media reports. But Bouffard told the Globe yesterday that after
further study, he now believes the documents could have been prepared on an IBM
Selectric Composer typewriter available at the time."
Further,
"Bouffard, the Ohio document specialist, said that he had dismissed the Bush
documents in an interview with The New York Times because the letters and
formatting of the Bush memos did not match any of the 4,000 samples in his
database. But Bouffard yesterday said that he had not considered one of the
machines whose type is not logged in his database: the IBM Selectric Composer.
Once he compared the Bush memos to Selectric Composer samples obtained from
Interpol, the international police agency, Bouffard said his view shifted.
In the Times interview, Bouffard had also questioned whether the military would
have used the Composer, a large machine. But Bouffard yesterday provided a
document indicating that as early as April 1969 -- three years before the dates
of the CBS memos -- the Air Force had completed service testing for the
Composer, possibly in preparation for purchasing the typewriters.
As for the raised ''th" that appears in the Bush memos -- to refer, for
example, to units such as the 111th Fighter Interceptor Squadron -- Bouffard
said that custom characters on the Composer's metal typehead ball were
available in the 1970s, and that the military could have ordered such custom
balls from IBM.
''You can't just say that this is definitively the mark of a computer,"
Bouffard said."
The White House has released documents from that time with the same type, and
has not denied the existence of such documents.
Notice how the heated controversy has overtaken all discussion upon the
implications of said document. Namely, if Bush willfully ignored his
responsibility to pass a physical and perform regular service in Alabama. That
he used his political connections to wiggle out of his responsibities has been
muted by the uproar.
This reminds me of the illegitimate uproar about Sandy Berger stuffing
documents in his pants, that were admited as baseless and non-existent one week
later. The uproar however did re-direct focus from legitimate criticism of
the Bush administration at the time -- namely, why did Condellezza Rice
publicly utter the name of the Pakistani mole?
These tactics have been repeated throughout the Bush administration. Don't
look over there, look over here, look over here, look over here.
The white house knew of the existence of these documents, and it appears to me
they had a plan ready when and if the documents ever surfaced. Why else would
the White House not deny that the existence of such documents are possible?
At this point, that is my view of this matter. I'm open to other
interpretations. But again, my desire is the best explanation, not whether I
win or lose. I will gladly admit an error or shed my previous opinion in
devout surface to the truth. Sometimes everyone of us allow our emotions to
color what we perceive, but we also have to listen and hear what other people
think, and weigh the merits based upon the most reasonable explanation. If an
explanation can be refuted, or muted by reasonable alternatives, then all of us
must in good conscience set aside our sentiments. You have to be wary of
people who always adamantly assert absolutism.
That being said, CBS News anchor Dan Rather made some comments in the news
(SOURCE:www.davidcorn.com for 11 Sept 2004
Yesterday Dan Rather told CNN, "I want to make clear to you, I want to make
clear to you if I have not made clear to you, that this story is true, and that
more important questions than how we got the story, which is where those who
don't like the story like to put the emphasis, the more important question is
what are the answers to the questions raised in the story."
And furthermore, there is this contention by Ken Jackson,(SOURCE
I served in the US Navy from 1954 to 1974 and in the mid 60's I started seeing
the IBM Selectric in our units.. They had several different type balls and you
could change them for the job you were doing.. I would probably say that an O4
and above would have one on his desk. They did have the (th)on the balls as I
still have documents done in the late 60's and early 70's which were not forms,
but letters of commendation that were typed in superscript type on these
machines...
Nope, I trust Dan Rather a hell of a lot more than anyone connected to or
believing in this huge pile of fecal matter that just seemed to fall in the
oval office a little over 3 1/2 years ago....
Posted by: Ken Jackson on September 10, 2004 07:04 PM
David Corn himself also concludes:
So the argument that the memos are fake is, at this point, hardly a slam-dunk.
The interesting thing about the memos, as I noted in an item below, is that
they mostly confirm the existing story rather than introduce new elements. If
one was going to go through the trouble of faking documents, one probably would
want to add a dramatic turn to the tale. But, of course, we cannot deduce the
truth of these records via armchair speculation. At the moment, though, the
memos seem as real as not. And Dan Rather is right; the issue remains the
questions about Bush's service, not this particular set of records. All this
talk of forgeries only has benefited Bush by serving as a distraction.
| Saturday, 11 September 2004 at 6h 44m 39s | Animals called pets | I have often felt very enamoured by animals throughout my life. Notice I did
not say pets. Pets are those symbolic resemblances of the ego that is put on a
leash, or held and stroked with utterances of ga-ga affection. Not that I
haven't felt the same way, but there is a certain anthropocentric line which
often gets blurred.
Such as when you are seated out in the public view and you happen to have -- oh
lets say -- a dog. Now if you had no dog and happen to be sitting by yourself,
there would not be one person who would come within 5 feet of you to squat down
and bellow out "oh he's a sweetie poh" repeatedly. But there you sit, with the
great human portal that is dog, and wham. You get to make aquaintances by a
constant steady few who happen to walk by. It's enough to cause a fellah to go
get a dog.
Single males for SPCA dogs.
But then there are those who act quickly in that infinitesmal one second
between recognition and the hands immediately on a dog's face. I ask, how many
people do you meet for the first time by putting your hands all over a their
face? Why should a dog's face be any different?
What is it in the psyche that allows us to let go of our filter systems when we
see and experience that dog?
Maybe that's the difference between animals and pets?
| Saturday, 11 September 2004 at 8h 19m 11s | A war of accusations without merit | These people are something else. Kerry is attacked with accusations
that are not supported by every single military document. Kerry's accusers get
to travel freely around the media circuit for two weeks. The accusers parse
their words and all are refuted/contested by other witnesses who were either
more directly involved with the said events, or the accusers themselves
admitted they had no first-hand knowledge. 4 members offered by the accusers
contested the use of their names.
Now we have a rampage of first-hand sources offering multiple testimony about
George W. Bush. The bush records consist of 3 groups: those obtained by
reporters prior to and during the 2000 election, those submitted by the bush
administration, and those obtained by reporters since the 2000 election.
There should be no contest about Bush's irresponsibility, because there are
many first-hand witnesses and documents independent of one another. The Swift-
boat accusers are all inter-connected by the same organization and public
relations firm. The whole panoply of witnesses and documents that involve
George W. Bush have been obtained by different organizations, independent
researches and reporters, and consist of 6 witnesses of completely different
backgrounds.
Witness One is Linda Allison, the ex-wife of the Bush family friend who
was to "watch" George Bush when he was in Alabama keeping the family out of
trouble. ( go here
for the story. )
Witness Two is Ben Barnes, the ambitious ex-Texas lieutenant governor
who got a lot of wealthy Texas scions into the champagne unit to avoid
Vietnam. Yes he's a Democrat. So what. The Kerry accusers are all
Republicans, and what they say is refuted by documents. Where are the
documents that refute Ben Barnes? Answer: they don't exist.
And Witness Three supports Ben Barnes. This witness is Colin Powell,
who wrote in his own book that so many scions of the wealthy got into safe
posts in the national guard. This is called corroborating background in a legal
court of law. That is, the events in the testimony did occur to such a degree
that the statement is believable. How many officers historically acted in the
why attested to by the Kerry accusers? And A man who is in a war by default is
taking the chance that he might be killed.
Witnesses Four and Five are Bob Mintz and Paul Bishop. Members of the
Alabama Unit who attest George Bush was never there.
There are well-known records of drunk driving and partying by George W. Bush at
the time that add further corroboration background.
But the hacks in the corporate media will tell you a lot of nonsense.
Currently CBS obtained a group of memos from Lt. Col. Jerry Killian. These
memos provide further proof of what should be incontestable, but the Bush
administration insists otherwise. Media matters goes through the litany of
accusations and refutes each one here.
The gist of the arguments are that certain parts of the of the type in the
memos were "not available." Thus it has been said by certain forensic experts
that the memos come from a computer. But a few forensic experts can say what
they want, because other forensic experts uphold the documents.
Superscripted "th" keys were available by IBM since the early 1960's. I know
this for myself because my grandmother had one my father used when he typed
letters, and I remember the "th" key. A military unit had plenty of uses for
the "th" key because of the need to type service units in almost everything.The
thing is, the key was all the way to the far right (I think, maybe it was left)
and many an officer preferred to type "th" with the two index fingers, which
are each quickly adjacent to the "T" and "H" keys. Think about that.
An officer would have to thus consciously want to use the key. Consider that
the only sentence where the raised "th" occurs is in the May 4th memo, where
Lt. Killian orders Bush to report to the "111th" F.L.S. Administrative Office.
I know this is purely speculation but, think about that.
Then there is the issue of proportional spacing, whereby the shape of the
letter determines how much space a letter is given. But IBM had proportional
spacing on it's models since 1941. Richard Nixon's resignation was typed on
one in 1974, so were a lot of government documents.
The curlicue-type apostrophe was also available by IBM in 1953.
And the kicker is that the Font was not available. But...
In fact, Times Roman font dates back at least to 1945, as this short history
explains....IBM specifically hired its designer, Stanley Morison, to adapt the
font to the Selectric typewriter. In fact, the Selectric Composer typewriter,
introduced in 1966, not only could insert superscript but also featured
proportional type and a font called Aldine Roman , a font similar to Times New Roman that
appears to match the font in the memos
...
Plus the the Bush administration gave documents to the press with the same "th"
and the documents don't have a perfect horizontal baseline like a computer
document would. Each line has a curved baseline from left to right. Had the
documents come from a computer, the baseline would be perfect. There wouldn't
be a difference of 3 or 4 pixels from left to right in the baseline.
Oh did I mention Witness Six retired Maj. Gen. Bobby W. Hodges, who
(according to the Washington Post ) said "these are the things that Killian
had expressed to me at the time."
The argument that the documents come from "Microsoft Word" is ridiculous.
Anyone who has used a typewriter that is that old will recognize the type is
legitamate. By the way, I used the said typewriter that my father had.
Look at the documents yourself here.
----- from Salon.com
-----
"The CNS News.com story, echoed by other conservative outlets, helped sparked a
debate over proportional spacing, fonts, electric typewriters and superscripts
as independent typographical experts weighed in with their own doubts. Some
experts contacted by the Washington Post, New York Times and Salon suggested
that the raised, or superscripted, "th" in one of Killian's memos was a
telltale sign that the documents were created well after 1972. Yet independent
researcher Marty Heldt notes that he had received an undisputed Bush military
document in 2000 from the Vietnam era that clearly contains a
superscripted "th." He also notes that when Killian's Aug. 18, 1973, memo is
enlarged and the word "interference" is examined, it's clear the two middle e's
rest higher on the page than the other two e's; that is not something a modern-
day word processor would likely do."
---------------------------------------------------------------------
The salon story is from Eric Boehlert, who in my opinion is a trustworthy
source. It's worth a full read.
You can check out the documents yourself by looking at the pdf files. PDF is
a file format called "post-script document files" -- a world respected digital
representation. It makes an exact scan.
You can go to the CBS site above to get the pdf document files. I insist. I
did.
They are obviously not from Microsoft Word Documents. These slanders are
relying on people not seeing the documents for themselves. Once you see the
documents, the idea that someone would say they come from a computer is
incredible.
Desperation is what this is.
And if you can't see that well, what can I say.
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