It's a miracle!

White House aide resigns over NYC flyover
By PHILIP ELLIOTT, Associated Press
8 May 2009
WASHINGTON – A top White House aide resigned Friday for his role in Air Force One's $328,835 photo-op flyover above New York City that sparked panic and flashbacks to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Louis Caldera said the controversy had made it impossible for him to effectively lead the White House Military Office.

Who knows - maybe "taking responsibility" and accountability WILL be a hallmark of the Obama administration!

I hope they listen!

Rush Limbaugh wants Sen. McCain & Colin Powell out of the Republican party.
Today we have (via Think Progress):

Cheney: ‘I think it would be a mistake’ for the GOP to become more moderate.

Me? I'm hoping the GOP listens to these folks!

Why?

Why is Keith Olbermann talking about Joe the Plumber & Sarah Palin?

letting others speak for me (part 2)

Bystander Syndrome:

Bystander syndrome was a term coined in 1969 after a man stabbed and killed a woman named Kitty Genovese while 38 people watched and did nothing. Similar occurrences have happened since. Some people are scared that they would be hurt or their families threatened with retaliation if they intervene or call for help. Others assume someone else is calling the police or will do something.
We had eight years of criminals running our country, violating their oaths to preserve the constitution, engaging in a war based on lies with the intent of making a few favored corporations wealthy in first tearing the country down and then rebuilding it. Anyone with half a brain knew what they were doing and why they were doing it. These leaders did not try to cover their crimes, they openly boasted of them, or at least denounced what they were doing with a wink and a nod.

Bush clowned around about trying to find weapons of mass destruction

Cheney made speeches talking about the need to resort to dark tactics to get information.

Bush mentioned in a state of the union address, "Many who opposed us are no longer with us." A wink and a nod reference to assassinations.

After the abuses were found at Abu Gahrib Bush gave another wink and a nod by saying that the US doesn't torture, but did anyone really believe that whopper? At that point he had no credibility, everyone with half a brain knew he was lying through his teeth every time he opened his mouth.

Before leaving office Bush admitted to giving the go ahead on waterboarding.

Before and after leaving office Cheney had made repeated statements justifying the use of torture, which amount to a confession that he ordered it.

Condoleza Rice just admitted on tape to a college student that she passed on the orders, making her a co-conspirator in the use of torture.

This is not a complete list of all the crimes Bush and his minions committed by any means, but you get the idea.

This brings to mind the questions, why aren't these guys and gals under indictment? Why are they out on the speaking circuit making money instead of testifying before congress under oath?

My theory is bystander syndrome. While these crooks were robbing the treasury and destroying the economy, while they were fighting two wars on the cheap leaving our military overextended, over deployed, under provisioned, under protected, the wounded under cared for, and the dead disrespected. While they set up an illegal concentration camp, tortured and killed without getting any useful intelligence destroying this country's reputation and losing us allies as well as making us more enemies. Where was the fourth estate, a free press to report these crimes? Where were the democrats? Where was public opinion?

I note that in addition to the Kitty Genovese case-study cited above, there are two infamous social psych experiments that are relevant to the abuses of the Bush era:

Zimbardo's Stanford prison experiment
The Stanford prison experiment was a study of the psychological effects of becoming a prisoner or prison guard. The experiment was conducted in 1971 by a team of researchers led by Psychology Professor Philip Zimbardo at Stanford University. Twenty-four undergraduates were selected out of 70 to play the roles of both guards and prisoners and live in a mock prison in the basement of the Stanford psychology building. Those selected were chosen for their lack of psychological issues, crime history, and medical disabilities, in order to obtain a representative sample. Roles were assigned based on a coin toss.

Prisoners and guards rapidly adapted to their roles, stepping beyond the boundaries of what had been predicted and leading to dangerous and psychologically damaging situations. One-third of the guards were judged to have exhibited "genuine" sadistic tendencies, while many prisoners were emotionally traumatized and two had to be removed from the experiment early. After being confronted by Christina Maslach, a graduate student in psychology whom he was dating, and realizing that he had been passively allowing unethical acts to be performed under his direct supervision, Zimbardo concluded that both prisoners and guards had become too grossly absorbed in their roles and terminated the experiment after six days.

... and

the Milgram experiment
The Milgram experiment was a series of social psychology experiments conducted by Yale University psychologist Stanley Milgram, which measured the willingness of study participants to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts that conflicted with their personal conscience. Milgram first described his research in 1963 in an article published in the Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, and later discussed his findings in greater depth in his 1974 book, Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View.

The experiments began in July 1961, three months after the start of the trial of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem. Milgram devised the experiments to answer this question: "Could it be that Eichmann and his million accomplices in the Holocaust were just following orders? Could we call them all accomplices?"

Milgram summarized the experiment in his 1974 article, "The Perils of Obedience", writing:

The legal and philosophic aspects of obedience are of enormous importance, but they say very little about how most people behave in concrete situations. I set up a simple experiment at Yale University to test how much pain an ordinary citizen would inflict on another person simply because he was ordered to by an experimental scientist. Stark authority was pitted against the subjects' [participants'] strongest moral imperatives against hurting others, and, with the subjects' [participants'] ears ringing with the screams of the victims, authority won more often than not. The extreme willingness of adults to go to almost any lengths on the command of an authority constitutes the chief finding of the study and the fact most urgently demanding explanation.

Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process. Moreover, even when the destructive effects of their work become patently clear, and they are asked to carry out actions incompatible with fundamental standards of morality, relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority.

Strange as it seems, YES - social psychology does have predictive value!

p.s. full-disclosure: My undergraduate degree is in social psych... the Kitty Genovese case-study, and the Milgram & Zimbardo experiments were much-discussed in my core classes.

letting others speak for me

Crazy Religious Kooks Back In The Cornfield

I am somewhat comforted by this:

Obama Administration Takes Stronger Line With Israel

I remind my loyal readers that my views on the Israel-Palestinian conflict were and are largely shaped by Leon Uris's Exodus, which I read at age 13. I spent summer between 10th & 11th grade glued to TV, watching Abba Eban assert Israel's right-to-existence at the U.N. during Gulf of Aqaba crisis - as a firm supporter of Israel!

Abortion

This post motivated by the following headline from WSJ via HuffPost:

White House Begins Effort to Bridge the Divide on Abortion

I struggle with the "rightness" of abortion, but come down on the pro-choice side of the issue.

For a well-informed, dispassionate, pre-Roe v. Wade discussion, I highly recommend:

Who shall live? Man's control over birth and death, 1970

by the American Friends Service Committee (a Quaker organization).

I read this in 1972. It presents a balanced discussion of the issues involved.

It's your money, but...

It's your $$$ and you can spend it anyway you want to.

But! - May I suggest you fund good Dem senate candidates directly, and NOT thru DSCC?
I suspect DSCC will be promoting Specter in 2010.

(If I get a fund-raising note from DSCC, I'll send 'em a check for $2.79, with a letter explaining my reasons for NOT supporting the DSCC.)

My ebay currency index

Today: $ equivalent for item listed for 499.99 GBP is $748.39.
As reported previously:

The dollar dropped today...
... again I know this because of eBay:
An item listed for 499.99 GBP is currently showing $ equivalent of $740. This is the worst exchange rate I've seen. (The last time I reported on this, the $ equivalence for the item was $704!).

You might want to reconsider that European vacation!

I almost forgot!

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Cinco de Mayo (Spanish for "fifth of May") is a regional holiday in Mexico, primarily celebrated in the state of Puebla, with some limited recognition in other parts of Mexico. The holiday commemorates the Mexican army's unlikely victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862, under the leadership of Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza Seguín.

The outnumbered Mexicans defeated a much better-equipped French army that had known no defeat for almost 50 years. However, Cinco de Mayo is not "an obligatory federal holiday" in Mexico, but rather a holiday that can be observed voluntarily.

While Cinco de Mayo has limited significance nationwide in Mexico, the date is observed in the United States and other locations around the world as a celebration of Mexican heritage and pride. However, a common misconception in the United States is that Cinco de Mayo is Mexico's Independence Day, which actually is September 16 (dieciséis de septiembre in Spanish), the most important national patriotic holiday in Mexico.
[Wikipedia entry, Cinco de Mayo]

I note that it's a particularly fitting American Mexican holiday: celebrating the triumph of the little guy!

I hope he's right!

Bernanke: Economy should grow again later in 2009

I hope he's right.
For a couple of reasons.

First, as a U.S. citizen, I really DO want my country to prosper!
Second - this is my evil, politically-partisan twin speaking - if the economy revives by mid-2010 the Dems should be very well positioned for mid-term elections!

Winning hearts and minds

Afghan officials say dozens dead in airstrikes
By RAHIM FAIEZ and JASON STRAZIUSO, Associated Press Writers
Tue May 5, 2009
KABUL – Bombing runs by U.S.-led coalition jets killed dozens of civilians taking shelter from a fierce ground battle between Taliban militants and Afghan and international forces, two Afghan officials said Tuesday.

Air-power is a blunt instrument. No matter how often the Pentagon brags about the "surgical" capability of air power, the fact remains: missiles and bombs, no matter how 'smart', only blow things up. When the opposing force can be counted in the dozens, there's a really good chance that the bombs & missiles will blow up civilian by-standers.

The U.S. "strategy" in Afghanistan - such as it is - seems to be based entirely on "killing bad guys". At least, that's what I glean from news reports.
Are we making any serious attempt to hold and control territory? - This seems to me to be a prerequisite for building local infrastructure, local institutions, local economy: the ability to keep the bad guys out - letting the locals know that they're safe to pursue trade, education, road-building without fear of attack.

How much does it cost to maintain high-tech warplanes in the Afghan theater? How many ground troops could be deployed at the same cost?

I hesitate to write this...

BUT... I'm going to, anyway!

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL) has just been named the ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee - to replace Arlen Specter (?-PA). Much is being made of his none-too-subtle racist past.
As a U.S. Attorney he unsuccessfully prosecuted blacks for election fraud; reportedly said of a white lawyer who defended blacks in civil rights cases, "He's a disgrace to his race."; and reportedly described the NAACP as "un-American" and "Communist-inspired."
The Senate Judiciary Committee denied him a federal judgeship in 1986, his opponents citing his "gross insensitivity" on racial issues.

I know next to nothing about Senator Sessions.

Why I hesitate to write this post: in my ignorance, I'm going to defend him... sort of... by analogy.

Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black was a member of the Ku Klux Klan during the 1920s. FDR appointed him to the Supreme Court in 1937.
As a Supreme, Black strongly supported First Amendment rights, often writing the dissent in anti-Communism cases (in favor of freedom of speech & freedom of assembly). He wrote the Court's opinion in Engel v. Vitale (1962), effectively removing prayer from public schools.

He joined the majority in Shelley v. Kramer (1948), which invalidated the judicial enforcement of racially restrictive covenants. Similarly, he was part of the unanimous Brown v. Board of Education (1954) Court that struck down racial segregation in public schools. Black remained determined to desegregate the South and would call for the Supreme Court to adopt a position of "immediate desegregation" in 1969's Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education.
[Wikipedia, Hugo Black]

A later wag commented:

"When he lived in Alabama," the saying goes, "he wore a white robe and scared the Blacks to death. When he got to Washington, he wore a black robe and scared the Whites to death."

It IS possible for a person to change, to grow.

Perhaps Senator Sessions will exhibit that personal growth.

McCain's creature LIVES!

No, not her... McCain's other creature...

Q & A: 'Joe the Plumber'
The man who became a metaphor for the average American in the 2008 election tells CT about his Christian faith and the future of the Republican Party.
Interview by Sarah Pulliam posted 5/04/2009
Christianity Today
Samuel Wurzelbacher was launched into the public arena after Senator John McCain used him as an example of an average American during a presidential debate last fall. "Joe the Plumber" quickly became a celebrity because he questioned then-candidate Barack Obama about his small business tax policy during a stop in Ohio. Now, Wurzelbacher travels the country promoting his book, campaigning for candidates, and speaking at conservative rallies. Wurzelbacher spoke with Christianity Today at an event near Chicago.

My hope? That Sen. McCain dreams about Joe the Plumber every night!

A not-well-thought-out suggestion (go ahead: ridicule me!)

In a previous post I wondered what recourse We the people had against a usurping, abusive Executive.

I still don't know.
BUT... for a different example of abusive power, I DO have a suggestion.

I note that a lot of folks seem to be upset about the hubris exhibited by financial sector CEOs who are happy to take tax-payer $$$, but somewhat less-inclined to curb what to many of us seems a "heads I win, tails you lose" compensation system.

Here's a simple suggestion: If you've had it with BofA's & Citi's management taking YOUR tax-dollars but still raking in oodles of $$$ in executive compensation, and IF you have a savings or checking account with Citi or Bank of America, withdraw all your funds... TODAY! Get a cashier's check, and open an account with a local bank or credit union.
For you this has a couple of advantages:

1. It'll make you feel better. You've taken direct action against the offending bank to let 'em know that you're less-than-satisfied.

2. You'll be strengthening a LOCAL institution - your local bank or credit union - perhaps helping them remain solvent & lessening the chance that they'll be EATED by the feds.

3. If enough folks do it, who knows? - maybe it'll get the attention of the geniuses in charge.

I'm pretty sure this idea has some serious flaws... but I'll stick with it till someone enlightens me!

Update & full-disclosure: my cash is in a credit union.

Now they tell us!

Former MI6 chief says Britain was 'dragged' into Iraq war
Britain was "dragged into a war in Iraq which was always against our better judgment" the former deputy head of MI6 has claimed, in a remark that will reignite the debate over political interference in the war.
[By Duncan Gardham, Security Correspondent, Telegraph.co.uk, 3 May 2009]

Where was this guy when it mattered?

Just in time!

Fed says more banks tighten home loan standards

Something about, "Closing the barn door..." comes to mind.

Frankenstein's monster

Iraq: No extension of US pullback date from cities

Our creature lives!
Al-Maliki's government is asserting itself. - Good for them!!!
Me? I view this as a hopeful sign.

This is what I had in mind...

"Five Cents a Spot"
Jacob Riis, 1888/9
[From Jacob Riis: Shedding Light On NYC's 'Other Half', by Robert Siegel, NPR]

This is something like what I had in mind when describing tenement conditions that would make me truly fearful of swine flu or a repeat of the 14th-century Black Death.
... though the conditions pictured predate by 30 years the 1918 influenza pandemic, I'm betting many urban dwellers found themselves in 1918 in comparable squalor.

[Thanks to an old Army bud for directing me to the NPR article.]

Man's most enduring technology: chipped flint [update]

When Homo sapiens appeared on the scene, the genus Homo had long been using stone tools... but I'll start with Homo sapiens anyway.

H. sapiens first appears about 250,000 years ago.
His tools were made of chipped flint.
Up until the Bronze Age (ca 6000 years ago), men's tools were made of chipped flint.

For 97.6% of our time on earth, our dominant technology was chipped flint.

update: commenter PM Prescott points out that chipped flint characterized the Paleolithic period which ended about 12,000 years ago.
So chipped flint was our dominant technology for only 95.2% of our time on earth.

the "weird" world in which we live & swine flu

I note that the 1918 flu pandemic occurred in a much different world than ours.

Most fatalities were urban (this is probably a tautology).
"Urban" meant "crowded tenement".

Living patterns have improved with standard of living - most of us no longer share a few rooms with a dozen others, with no running water.
(For similar reasons, I do not fear a repeat of the 14th-century Black Death.)