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.

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.

"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?

"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.

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.

Cheney Has a Heart?

Dick Cheney had the battery to his pacemaker changed. So in the event that his heart skips a beat, say, if he gets a chance to detain more teenagers for torture, a little electric shock will go off and get him back to normal. The miracle of modern science. Now if we could only do the same thing for a conscience ...

Clinton and Obama - Talking to the Enemy

Clinton accuses Obama of being naive because he is willing to talk to nations like Cuba, North Korea and Iran if he gets elected President. She is wrong. Having a list of countries with problematic behavior and refusing to talk to them about it means conducting communications through the press and third parties. You will always have to have communications. It's just a matter of how.

Look at this Administration. They are finally talking to Iran. They had to. If there was ever a group of people invested in not talking to Iran, it would be this Administration. But essential discussions needed to be had, and you should have thought of that when you decided to invade the country next to Iran. So now you have to talk to them.

U.S. Talks With Iran: Is War Still in the Air?

Yes. Don't be fooled. The Bush Administration acknowledged that the country cannot be run like Texas when it agreed to have conversations with Iran. It only took them six years. As a national leader, you have to talk to people you hate. Freezing them out is ineffective.

But the Bush Administration is populated with people who don't change their minds and hate new ideas. So their thoughts from twenty years ago, namely, to invade Iraq and then Iran, are still driving their thinking and policy decisions.

It would be wise to watch the news reports and the rhetoric. Recently, an article appeared about Iranian problems with drug smugglers. It was a sympathetic article to Iran and likened their border issues with ours. The appearance of this article can be seen as a signal that the U.S. position towards Iran is open to cooperation. It would be a declaration of "common ground," if you will. The Bush Administration would be feeding the notion that Iran and the U.S. could unite in fighting narcotics trafficking.

How strong would that "common ground" be? Almost illusionary. Iran should not be baited into any conciliatory stance.

Don't be surprised if a sudden reversal of rhetoric occurs, painting Iran as an enemy of the U.S. One would be mistaken to think that any gains in understanding between the U.S. and Iran would preclude manic accusations from our President. That is not the case.

And when the President speaks, he is speaking to his political base. So the reassurance of "don't listen to what I say, watch what I do" would be hollow.

Russia and Official Murder

Another Western publishing worker was murdered in Russia. Putin does not stop at killing Russians in London. He does not stop at killing critics in the Russian media. He does not stop at killing rivals at home. Why would he stop at killing troublemakers here in Washington, DC?

London has expelled four Russian diplomats because Russia refuses to extradite the killer of a Russian exile critical of Putin, Litvinenko. The man, a former KGB agent, was killed in London. In other words, allegedly acting under Putin's orders, someone in London was killed. I hope I am not the only person outraged at this.

Where is the screaming right-wing media on this one?

Food Quality Through Public Executions

So the Chinese have shot the guy in charge of their food quality. Do you feel better now? Given the Chinese government's penchant for shooting people it hardly gives me any comfort, anyway.

Fundamentally, if someone at the top is allowing lousy and dangerous food to be exported, no one in China cares until they get caught. China doesn't even have one consistent set of trade laws. How are they going to enforce "quality" even assuming they agree with us on what that means.

If you want a great example of the failures of deregulation of business, the import of bad foodstuffs into the American diet would be a good place to start. Profit motive fails as a substitute for good policy. Profit motives are short-term and short-sighted. U.S. business has an equal share in the blame for poisoning our food supply.

Imagine: all the dogs that died from bad food from China could have been children. Would we be embracing the free market then?