8.30.2007

Note to Gonzales

Look, bud, this is the way the Bushies operate: they wring all of the credibility out of you and then kick you to the curb. But that is not the end. Then they blame you for everything. Be prepared to be labeled the Attorney General of torture. They have to have some fall guy for it, and that's you. It was always you.

Sorry, bud. Hate to be the one to tell you. All those bar-b-ques really didn't mean anything.

8.27.2007

14th & Girard

When a person is told that five police forces patrol in DC, the first comment that comes is "Wow, I bet it's safe!" The implication that "more is better" would be untrue.

The true implication is: where many entities in charge, no one does anything.

Who's going to shut down 14th & Girard, NW? There is about one killing every other month there. Are we going to wait until a middle-class pedestrian gets shot? Or a child?

This rant is not just about that particular park. The US Park Service is responsible for many parks in DC, and are very reluctant to do anything at all. It took two years to get a fence around 11th and Monroe, NW. And half the time the Park Service doesn't lock it at night.

If the US Park Service wants to exercise bureaucratic control over an area, they need to be responsible for patrolling it as well. We're getting sick of this. We pay taxes, we get no vote, and we have no say over half of the city.

8.21.2007

"The Communist Party is the Most Sympathetic"

"Nature has no sympathy, people have sympathy, but the Communist Party is the most sympathetic."

A banner with this saying was displayed for the relatives of the 181 Chinese coal miners who are trapped in a flooded mine. Convincing, eh? People often talk about the power of propaganda. But the power of observation wins every time.

If the Chinese Communist Party is the "most sympathetic" how did this happen? Why is the Chinese environment polluted so badly? The Chinese Government is more sympathetic to profits than people and workers.

The relatives of the trapped miners know this and demonstrated it by violence. If you can believe it, the families were told to go home and wait for news, and not to talk to anyone. No news came. Frustrated that international journalists were being given information when they were not, about eight relatives smashed the offices of the coal mine company.

Communism and industrialization were to go hand in hand. Wouldn't it be ironic if now that China is really becoming industrialized that Chinese workers begin to organize and strike?

8.19.2007

"CIA" As An Epithet

One of the disadvantages of being known to have once worked on a contract at the CIA is that you are subject to the slur of "CIA." That's it. I didn't know that "CIA" was an epithet unto itself. However, it seems that it is.

One would expect at least an adjective, such as "slimy" or "lying." Or that "CIA" would be used as an adjective itself, as in "CIA pig." Some people get really sensitive about these things. Not I.

It seems that the association itself with a person is enough of a put-down. And that is truly sad.

8.13.2007

Denmark and Russia in a Battle to the Death

The North Pole is the globe's hottest disputed territory right now. Russia, still sore at its loss of Eastern European domination, is now fighting over ice flows.

"Mine!" shouts a balding Putin, shaking his fists over a map of the Arctic. "All mine!"

And now a team of Danish scientists are going into the North Pole area for research. A threat if I ever saw one! Stayed tuned for military hi jinks by the Russian government.