The Hollow Men

Here it is, in a nutshell -- the basic problem with the Bush administration.
At an event in Holland, Bush was asked whether there would come a day when the Patriot Act was not needed any more. He said "[We] must balance the government's most important duty, which is to protect the American people from harm, with the civil liberties of our citizens."
He has said this type of thing before -- he has used this description of his job to justify every post-911 monstrosity from the Patriot Act to the preemptive strike doctrine to the Iraq War to Guatanamo.
But he is wrong. Here is the oath that each president takes as he is sworn into the presidency: "I do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States."
His duty as president is not to the people but to the Constitution. It is only through his commitment to protect the Constitution that his people can also be protected.
But Bush just doesn't get it, and neither do the people around him. "Protecting the people" is the corrupt justification for illegal acts that we hear in the speeches of every tin-pot dictator from Stalin to PolPot to Idi Amin. The idea that one person is actually responsible for protecting an entire nation is romantic megalomania. It leads to the pretense that the country is surrounded by and infested with enemies who must be beaten regardless of any illegality. Without the Constitution, in fact, the very concept of illegality becomes hollow. Thus Bush turns Americans into a nation of hollowmen who promote the demonization of Muslims and pregnant women and gay people, deny the legal authority of judges, support religious zealots, and justify torture.

. . . Remember us -- if at all -- not as lost
Violent souls, but only
As the hollow men
The stuffed men . . .

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper

Yay, Steve!

Victoria's Steve Nash, at only 6'3", is not a dominating figure on the court -- until the tossup. Then his absolute DETERMINATION to get the ball kicks in. It is a joy to watch.
We always knew he was the best player in the NBA; now the sports world has recognized this too.
The Reuters story describes the Canadian reaction -- joy, joy, joy:

News of Nash's selection received unprecedented coverage in Canada, knocking the country's bid for a third consecutive gold medal at the ice hockey world championships out of the spotlight. His honor was compared to golfer Mike Weir's victory at the 2003 U.S. Masters and Jacques Villeneuve capturing the Formula One drivers' title . . . Leaked news of his selection made the front pages while the official announcement was broadcast live on national sports channels and radio.

And the story ends with this tidbit: "Soft-spoken and thoughtful, Nash is not afraid to express his opinion and wore an anti-war T-shirt to a news conference during the 2003 NBA all-star weekend." Way to go, Steve.
UPDATE - Height is now correct!

Gravity and evolution - both 'just theories"

Thanks, Phong, for telling me about this terrific article - UBC geneticist proves evolution:
Here is how it ends -

Since Darwin published Origin of Species in 1859, many religious leaders have gone to great lengths to convince the public that the concept of evolution is a theory, not a scientific fact. Their reasons for this are understandable: evolution stands in direct opposition to Biblical mythology. When I asked Darren Irwin whether his research had established evolution as a fact, his answer was enlightening: "Scientists are never able to completely prove any theory. Science is a process by which incorrect theories are shown to be incorrect, leaving us with the theories that are most consistent with the evidence. The theory of evolution is one of the most successful theories ever, in the sense that it is highly consistent with abundant evidence. We understand the mechanisms by which evolution operates, and these mechanisms have actually been observed on short time scales. This establishes evolution as a more successful theory than the
theory of gravitation. The theory of gravitation is also consistent with evidence, but we don't yet know how it works. The theory of gravitation, however, does not contradict religious doctrine, and so is universally accepted. "

Born to be gay

Gay Men Respond Differently to Pheromones
Let's stop pussyfooting around the main question, like this article does. Yes, its genetic, goddammit! Pretending that it isn't so you can continue to discriminate against gay people is just vile, vile behaviour.

Stupid is as stupid does

In Kansas, A Sharp Debate on Evolution: ". . . a strategy letter from a Kansas Citizens for Science member . . . said the way to defeat the anti-evolution forces was be to portray them as political opportunists, evangelical activists, unprincipled bullies and ignoramuses."
Yes, that sounds about right.

Good, bad, ugly

Good:

VE Day in Ottawa, 1945

Bad:

Mike Keefe, Denver Post

Ugly:

Andy Donato, Toronto Sun

Picking a fight with Russia to avoid facing the truth in Washington

Hmmm -- people like Armando are asking WTF is Bush doing talking about who did what to whom 60 years ago and how freedom is on the march in Eastern Europe and how, by the way, the left-wing hero Roosevelt sold out the Baltic states. And Steve Gilliard is explaining here and here the backstory and how right-wingers have been mad at Roosevelt for years about this supposed sellout. All this has pissed off Putin to the extent that he is appearing on 60 Minutes to attack Bush
But it still didn't make any sense -- why is this coming up NOW, including the last minute plan for Bush to drop into Latvia and Georgia for a couple of needlessly inflammatory speeches? The only explanation I have seen is that Bush is paying back the Baltic states for their support in Iraq. But this still doesn't explain why this is happening right now, when Bush could have said these things anytime in the last three years or the next three.
But I just realized one other thing -- picking a needless fight with Russia over events of 60 years ago means that now everybody is completely distracted from this story about the events of three years ago: 88 Members of Congress Call for Immediate Answers about Secret Bush/Blair Pre-War Deal .
The Bush/Blair deal is, of course, an impeachable offense, involving the high crime of lying to Congress and the American people to start an unjustified war just to gain control of Iraq's oil and to protect Israel. By sucking Russia into attacking Bush, the Bush administration also tricks the American public into a knee-jerk patriotism which requires that the real story of Bush's betrayal of the trust of the American people will continue to be ignored.

Got milk?

Is there some double secret code word in these Louie Louie lyrics that I cannot find? A Michigan school superintendant says they are too "raunchy" for 12 to 14 year olds. But at least these lyrics don't refer to "milking" stallions.

Stop, please, in the name of humanity!

Bride reveals why she ran away
I have one comment about the latest revelation in the year's top non-news story:
Try to imagine how little I care.

Kent State - 35 years ago today

Photo by John Filo, May 4, 1970

Tin soldiers and Nixon coming,
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drumming,
Four dead in Ohio
(Neil Young; Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young)

One soldier

A photograph posted at the Democratic Underground website.
". . . he observed mutilation of the dead, trophy photos of dead Iraqis, mass roundups of innocent noncombatants, positioning of prisoners in the line of fire—all violations of the Geneva conventions. His own buddies — decent, Christian men, as he describes them — shot unarmed prisoners." From an interview with an Army reservist posted at the Online Journal website.

Do it in the name of Heaven, you can justify it in the end.
There won't be any trumpets blowing, come the judgement day.
On the bloody morning after, one Tin Soldier rides away.

Strange days indeed

Does anyone agree with me that we've seen some seriously creepy stuff lately?
George Bush and the bald man fetish.
Rush Limbaugh and 'Abu Ghraib Day' -- "The Democrats, that is who we need to get presents for. One thing, have you thought about handcuffs? . . . A whip. You know, to go along with the handcuffs . . . you might give them a little pyramid game, something that is in the shape of a pyramid . . . Jumper cables. A pair of jumper cables . . . Give them a German shepherd . . . Obviously, at the top of the gift list has to be women’s underwear . . . remember all of the pictures of Abu Ghraib prisoners with bags on their heads, with eye holes cut out. Give them some of those. Those are cheap. Go to the grocery store, get groceries, then give them the empty bags with the eye holes cut out . . . Then, of course, there is a leash. A leash can be found at any pet store and it goes along with the German Shepherd that you are going to give away to a democrat here as they celebrate the one year anniversary of Abu Ghraib Day . . . We forgot, a water board would be a great gift. For some libs, if you could find a naked Iraqi inflatable insurgent doll that would be a thrill . . . "
Laura Bush and George's most memorable hand job: ". . . Laura had jabbed at her husband for not reading books, had suggested he was no powerhouse in bed, and had encouraged everyone in the room . . . to envision George W. Bush pulling on the penis of a horse. . ."
Pat Robertson and how judges are a worse threat than AlQaeda because the US has "controlled" AlQaeda but so-called liberal judges "are destroying the fabric that holds our nation together".

This explains it

So this is why the Bush administration was in such a panic to confirm the Bolton nomination -- ABC News: Global Nuclear Meeting Opens
I suspect Bolton was supposed to make a big splash at this conference.
The US delegation told the conference that the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is "facing the most serious challenge in its [35-year] history. We must confront the challenge". But the fearmongering didn't generate the coverage in the US media which Bolton's first appearance leading the US delegation at a major UN conference would have garnered.
Now logically, one might assume that the US is talking about Pakistan, whose top nuclear scientist sold nuclear technology to rogue states.
Or about how Israel, India and Pakistan need to be brought onside with the treaty.
Or about the danger posed by the old Russian nukes and the risk that they will be sold to terrorist groups or nations.
Or about North Korea, which was the first country ever to pull out of the treaty two years ago and now says it has already built nuclear weapons.
Nope, none of the above.
It's Iran of course. Ooooohhh!
The buildup to declaring war on Iran has started, kicking off with the attempt to bully the UN into demonizing Iran instead of continuing to try to negotiate. So the theoretical danger of Iran must be inflated, while the incidents and issues listed above are minimized. So much for world leadership.

Don't get your tits In a wringer

Women beware: Can you trust your mammogram? Thousands of women across Canada are screened on equipment of questionable quality
This kind of health scare story really annoys me -- the story is NOT about the trustworthiness of the mammograms or the quality of the machines, in spite of the subhed. Its actually about whether or not mammogram machines have been accredited by the Canadian Association of Radiologists.
The article does not list any missed diagnoses or false positives, even by the radiologists who are complaining. There is not a single oncologist who is quoted as blaming a poor mammogram for a missed diagnosis -- in fact, there aren't any interviews with oncologists at all. Instead, the article includes a lot of complaints from mammogram clinic operators about how the accreditation process is unnecessarily costly, difficult, and inflexible.
What concerns me is this: a mammogram is one of the most unpleasant medical procedures that women undergo -- plainly, it hurts, and the test requires that the pain be repeated at least four to six times, and while the pain is brief, its is pretty intense (men, think of the first burst of pain you experience when kicked in the balls, and you'll be about right) Women will seize on just about any excuse to avoid this test, so even the possibility that the equipment might be defective and therefore the test useless might be enough to convince some women not to bother. But the story doesn't identify any machines anywhere in the country as actually defective at all -- some may be, of course, but the article doesn't give us any clue about this.
Its hardly the kind of health panic story which justifies front page treatment in the Globe and Mail -- unless its the Saturday edition of a slow Canadian news week, and you want a lot of women who are out shopping to see the big, black headline and buy the paper.

They're coming now for the teenage girls . . .

It's starting.
Remember the German anecdote about how first they came for the communists and then they came for the Jews etc, etc, and then they came for me?
Well, first, the Christian Right came for the gays. They spent four years racheting up the attacks, and now have established the anti-gay hatefest as the mainstream, conventional view in American culture.
Next, they're starting on the teenage girls. And they're obsessed with sex, again. I wonder if maybe they are thinking - or hoping, in a secret wishful-thinking wetdream kind of way - that all teenage girls are really just lusting to emulate the Britney Spears baby-Lolita act and only the Christian right can stop them
This week the Child Interstate Abortion Notification Act was approved in the House of Representatives. And the Republicans were incensed that Democrats would even try to amend the bill. Not only does the bill violate a Supreme Court ruling that requires such laws to include alternatives, it also actually endangers teenagers who are impregnated by incest.
But danger to teenage girls is not a concern of the Christian right. They also don't want teenage girls to be vaccinated against the human papilloma virus, which causes cervical cancer. Why? Because the Christian right is thinking, in a secret wishful-thinking wetdream way, that then these young girls might think the vaccination is a license to have sex. And better they should continue to risk dying than that they should think that having premarital sex is OK.
And certainly they should never be permitted to chose abortion on their own, even if they are so young that a pregnancy is a serious health risk. A 13-year-old foster child and frequent runaway was prevented this week from terminating her pregnancy when the Florida Department of Children and Families took her to court -- the very agency which is supposed to be protecting her. In court, a witness from the DCF was babbling about her risk of "post-abortion syndrome", but then had to admit that this so-called condition isn't recognized by the AMA or the APA. The case may well turn into another Schiavo media storm, too. Newsweek writes "The clash raises the prospect of another showdown between Florida state agencies and the judiciary. And yet again, a vulnerable individual lies powerlessly in the middle."
And who will be next? Should we have a pool?
High school science teachers aren't much of a target anymore because they have already mostly given up on teaching evolution whether its still in their textbooks or not. So maybe the next devils will be all those librull college perfessers.
Or how about immigrants -- the Minutemen are going after Mexicans in particular, but why be chosey, just go after them all!
Or how about a group which no one has thought of targeting since the Reagan administration. I'm talking about those lower-middle class people who live in cities (and who often vote Democrat -- there are the places where most of the vote suppression occurred in the last election.) They're already been marginalized as their factory jobs disappeared, their streets deteriorated, they lost their health care benefits, and their schools turned into dumps. But this is the group whose children are needed in the military, so if they can be demonized than a draft aimed at them could be brought in with much less uproar. Just a thought.