What next for my bedtime friend and "dream maker"? (I leave my XM blaring as I drift off.)

From everything I catch on the net while surfing -- and everything I hear from Air America itself on my trusty XM Myfi -- it's twirling randomly and emitting smoke -- not unlike a Japanese Zero going down in the South Pacific in the early 1940s. [Yes, I'm that old!]

The end of Mike Malloy's show (it would be on as I'm keying this in right now ... sob) seems to be only the beginning. Peter Werbe (a Detroiter like both myself and Swami Richard) is holding the fort down, but the past week has been non-stop confusing talk radio for me. Of course, the right-wingers (vomit-mouth Rush Limbaugh, Bush sycophant Sean Hannity and that blofiating buffoon, Bill O'Reilly) are having a field day over the problems and really went into orbit when Webster Griffin Tarpley (a Lyndon LaRouche type, although seemingly relatively intelligent) took at least one and maybe more (intelligent or not, even I shut him off!) of Air America's shows recently as the regulars [sic] were/are taking vacations.

Most ironic of the ongoing confusion was when WLIB in New York City (I'll bet my brother, Swami Richard from Connecticut, listens to it) switched their programming from Air America to Gospel music. Talk about a turn-about! Do any of you know what's going on? My dreams have been mighty peculiar of late.

Is that a promise or a threat to Israel, Kofi?

After viewing the "progress" being made in securing the "DMZ" or whatever it will be called, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan told the world (and Israel) that Israel's forces will be out of southern Lebanon as soon as 5,000 UN troops and 16,000 Lebanese troops are in the area ... in ten days!

The interesting aspect of his statement is that UN Resolution 1701 stated that the ceasefire depended on 15,000 UN troops plus and indeterminate number of Lebanese forces. Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has repeatedly stated that Israel will not lift the naval and air blockade -- nor exit the "DMZ" until all conditions of UNR1701 are met, but even after saying "no dice!" once again yesterday, they are withdrawing their troops in an expeditious manner today. [Mediawingnuts says: Yogi Berra had it right -- "It ain't over till it's over!"]

Was it the Jewish lobby? Is Randi Rhodes next?

Well, listening to some audacious and noisy rant at the "Bush Crime Family" as I slowly cruised off to dreamland ... is a thing of the past. Mike Malloy has been fired by Air America and America is the loser, believe me!

True, Mike would go "over the top" at times and was often more vulgar in his verbiage than I would have preferred, but he was a very caring person (or so it seemed -- I know he is/was "only" an entertainer) who could bring tears to me eyes as easily as he could bring me to intense anger. His readings from some of the emails he received from New Orleans are still extremely poignant memories.

The "rumor" (who really know?) is that he was fired for his rapping the Israelis too hard for their insensitive bombing of Lebanon, especially the Beirut area, but we'll never know, I suppose. In the end, the "Bush Crime Family" got him before he "got" them ... and before his promised revelations in time for the November Midterm elections.

Muqtada al-Sadr's militia defeats Iraqi military forces and takes Ad-Diwaniya

The powerful (take an old Middle East hand for it!) Muqtada al-Sadr's militia has taken the initiative and cruelly attacked and chased the US-trained Iraqi forces out of a key city in Iraq. Al-Sadr (left) is another radical Shiite Muslim (remember the Hezbollah a month ago?) who has a militia that many are comparing with Hezbollah.

Yes, we (the US military) could move into Ad-Diwaniya and chase the Shiite killers out, but that would increase American casualties and President Bush doesn't want that (neither do I!) in the two month period before the Midterm Elections. Besides, the militia knows how to "vaporize" into the surrounding region and we would capture or kill very few, I suspect. This exact scenario was played out by the Royal Saudi Air Force with senior ground force leaders as early as about ten years ago.

Mr. Bush, America (our forces there first, but all of us!) and the new Iraq Government are clearly between the rock and the hard place. To rub sand in the eyes of the new Government in Iraq, al-Sadr's militia executed several of the Iraqi soldiers in the public square. Al-Sadr is an evil animal who can not be trusted, but whose "faction" is a part of the very Iraqi Government which he is slaughtering.

The downhill slide in Iraq continues ...

Who says that Democrats and Republicans can't agree on the really important matters?

How 'bout that? Governor "Terminator" Schwarzenegger and the Democratic leaders in California agree that enough is enough! They are jointly endorsing landmark legislation that could lead the way for the entire nation vis-a-vis reducing greenhouse gases. (aka: attacking Global Warming head-on!)

Besides being one of roughly a dozen states that are suing the US Government for not regulating greenhouse gases, California is pushing through legislation that will put California back to 1990 levels (25% reduction!) by the year 2020 with the regulations beginning to take effect in 2012. Of course, some diehard Republicans are fighting the legislation tooth and nail, but "the Terminator" will shut them up in short order.

Great show, California!

Please, Mr. Bush, go slowly on all of this ...

The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) will be telling us all about Iran's latest enrichment activities -- and maybe their plans -- sometime tomorrow. Indications are that Iran has again begun enriching small amounts or uranium, but at much too low a level for it to be used in any weapons program.

Yes, they are technically thumbing their nose at the UN's threatened sanctions, but maybe ... just maybe ... one Evangelist can speak in friendly tones to another Evangelist, even if one is Christian and the other Muslim. Iran has offered to talk; why not give it a chance before a cycle of tit-for-tat escalation of tensions puts us into another war in the Middle East -- one we can ill afford to prosecute, if I am to believe the US generals who worry aloud on the evening news.

Let's at least try something "new" for a change and ... will unconditional talks really be that harmful? Saying we won't talk until they suspend their program -- which Iran claims is for producing peaceful nuclear energy (and I don't believe the Iranians on that either, Mr. Bush!) -- might just enhance Iran's popularity -- and influence -- among Shiite countries from Iran to southern Iraq to Syria to Lebanon. And as I mentioned in an earlier posting, we can ill afford to take on a Shiite insurgency in the southern Shiite provinces of Iraq right now.

Let's at least be practical about all of this, Mr. Bush. Talking with that right-wing religious madman, Ahmadinejad, may be the best way to "support our troops" in Iraq at this time.

Percentage of persons without health care climbing ... what next?

Medium per-capita income is down (although "average" household income is up, thanks to the tax cuts for the wealthy and increasing families having more than one worker to make ends meet) and now, the percentage of Americans without health insurance has climbed to almost 16%.

What next, Mr. Bush? A war to send defense stock prices and oil prices back to where your friends in Texas will "put out" for the 2008 campaign when Jeb runs?

39-8-2-4-47 with the NYT having it leaning to the Republicans in the Senate races

The New York Times has finally updated their projections, although Guru Mediawingnuts and Swami Richard are in disagreement. (As you know, GM and SR see it as leaning overall towards the Democrats with a chance of grabbing onto both Houses of Congress.) And by the way, just to make it clear (in response to a couple of your comments), yes, Swami Richard, my brother in Connecticut, is substantially younger than me, although I regard him my "blog-mentor" in every way. Oh yes, he wears his hair somewhat shorter in recent years too.

Anyway, the New York Times sees it as:

39 - 8 - 2 - 4 - 47

with the Democrats having only 39 "safe" seats and 8 "leaning" Democratic versus the Republicans having 47 safe seats and 4 leaning (they see 2 seats as anybody's guess) ...

For the details and an excellent interactive"map" go to the New York Times' projections.

Ooooh ... I wish he hadn't said ... that!

The Vice president (Richard Bruce Cheney, left) made the following statement while speaking at a VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) convention yesterday "To have come this far without another attack is no accident."

He gave the credit to "sound decisions by President Bush [mighty humble of him, considering who tells whom what to do and say] and vigilance by US agencies and the military." He went on to state that, "Iraq is a key part of the Administration's anti-terror effort and pulling out would be a tragic mistake."

I wish he hadn't said that.

He didn't even knock-on-wood ... or say or do anything to break the obvious jinx he placed on us all.

Oooooh! ... I just wish he hadn't said that!

Seldom do I recommend a book after only watching and listening to the author being interviewed on both television an the radio ... but!

Professor Vali Nasr (left) who teaches at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPG) spent a full hour on Air America and then another on television giving what I consider to be a great "short course" on Islam -- with emphasis on the distinctions between Sunnis and Shiites. He also explained very carefully all of the reason why we should never have gone to war against Iraq ... and ultimately made that famous "regime change" that was part of the neocon strategy from the day they made George Bush our President.

Shiites (rightly or wrongly) had been marginalized in Iraq -- much as they had been marginalized in the entire Arab World before our occupation and the Israeli - Lebanon War of last month. That might explain why Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Yemen, the UAE and dozens of other Islamic countries think we are out of our friggen' minds.

Indeed, I had thought I really understood Shia and Sunnis, but then Nasr's interviews set everything I thought I knew right on its head. He was born in Iran and is obviously one of the most learned Islamic scholars alive. Of most importance are the "unintended consequences" of a war that Bush's minders believed would stabilize the Middle East under Democracy ... and with Iraq's (and, in time, Iran's) oil safely in the control of US oilmen.

He focused very heavily on Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and never again will I look on him as simply a "second in command" to the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei who is Iran's "Supreme Leader." He (Ahmadinejad) is clever, devious and, even worse, apocalyptic in every sense -- almost as apocalyptic as are the Evangelical Christians whose votes the neocons count on to keep them in power long enough to take down Iran, but with less trouble than Iraq has been, of course. And he is a likely successor to Khamenei as "Supreme Leader."

The "holy date" of August 22 has passed, but the "days following August 22 are all around us. See them? They would normally be on your television. They are the scenes that Jon Benet Ramsey's murder case and the airplane scares/crashes have shoved aside. The ongoing exercises in Iran -- now extending to more than twenty provinces both inside and outside Iran's borders -- are the fiercest and most noticeable (except here in America where the nabbing of some polygamist in Nevada and the tortuous replaying of Katrina dominate the airwaves and our television screens) in the Islamic Republic of Iran's history.

The nations of Europe are transfixed on the maneuvers ongoing in and near Iran while the neocons have our eyes focused on everything else and anything but. And oh yes, I should mention that Israel's eyes are watching Iran, even if ours aren't.

And meanwhile, Iran continues to pump oil and develop its nuclear weapons capabilities -- a capability that Bush says will not exist when he leaves office. And Israel says it will not continue. And Ahmadinejad has said that Israel and America will soon not exist.

And all the while, Ahmadinejad has successfully stirred the ancient fury between the rather secular Sunnis (they evolved from the Prophet Muhammad's companions and stressed "getting along" with secular governments around them) and the "evangelistic" Shiites (they evolved from the Prophet Muhammad's children and blood line and believe that they will evangelize the world -- after retaking Jerusalem, of course). Iraq is only a microcosm of the larger Sunni-Shia arm-wrestling that is ongoing worldwide.

Nasr's final words in his Air America interview were, "Watch the southern provinces of Iraq! If the insurgency spreads south, your efforts to bring peace to Iraq will triple." In other words, Iran is running the show, not the Iraqi Government that we have installed, and Nasr sees an Iranian push (simply using their fellow-Shia influence) to distract our attention southward even while we have yet to "pacify" Baghdad.

Recent and ongoing events remind me of the book and movie, The Perfect Storm. [From his interviews, I would think that The Perfect Storm would be a good title for Vali Nasr's book.]

The Perfect Storm may even overwhelm our seemingly important Midterm Elections in November. Wouldn't that be a hoot?

Safeco Tower to become part of UW (this posting is only for those who even know what "Safeco" is ... or was ...)

There was no sadness in my eyes to read that University of Washington was buying the entire Safeco campus, including the "Tower" from where I watched the 9/11 "Twin Towers" implode and collapse on television five years ago.

Of all of my "tours of duty," none was as easy -- or as hard -- as my last one in Seattle when I joined the IT Education Directorate at Safeco in the "Tower" for my last five years in civilization before Mike McGavick (running against Maria Cantwell for her US Senate seat this fall) closed down the entire Directorate and then I allowed myself the humility or honor (I know not which, really) of remaining on as the last instructor left there at Safeco so as to be the remaining soul on that floor to stack and box the books, desks and other teaching paraphernalia before turning out the lights in the empty rooms that would no longer be used as classrooms -- or so I thought!

How Ironic! The same university, from which my eldest daughter received her Ph.D., might use those same classrooms that I cleaned out before moving to the ocean as real classrooms again. I wonder ...

Anyway, let's win back the US Senate (and the US House too!) and "retire" Mr. McGavick (actually, a very nice person) to a cabin at the ocean! We could use a guy like Mike to teach Political Science classes at Grays Harbor College. LOL!!

I do wonder how the university will undo the huge "SAFECO" that is carved into the concrete at the top of the tower and can be read from miles away down I-5 into Seattle. Look closely at the photo above and you can read the word "SAFECO" at the top of the tower.

With the Katrina "memories" playing all day, I needed you, Andre ...

With nothing but Katrina dominating all of the other channels last evening, thank God for you and your great play, Andre [Agassi] (left) and your incredible tenacity at age 36 -- almost as old as my brother, Richard in Connecticut. But who would have believed you would "win one more for the Gipper" in so many overtimes? For you to get into the second round that way was as dramatic as for almost anyone else to win the US Open.

We old folks are pulling for you, but you've already won in my books.

Team Rove stabs Richard Armitage in the back ... and the knife will be cruelly twisted in the days and weeks ahead ...

The closing statements in the latest National Review Online read, "Those who tried to turn the Plame kerfuffle into Watergate threw around words like 'treason' and 'slander' (though interestingly, not 'godless'). Armitage appears to be guilty of nothing of the sort. But it does seem that he was careless with secret information, eager to cover his own backside, and heedless of the consequences his actions had for others."

Clearly NRO was trying (NOT) to be "nice" to Mr. Richard Armitage (above left) -- one of the finest public servants ever, in my opinion, with its kindly conclusion to the Plamegate Affair, which NRO entitled, "Eternal Plame."

But, of course it got the knife in deep earlier in the article. It mentioned in passing that, had Mr. Armitage come clean early in the affair, (1) millions of taxpayers dollars would have been saved, (2) "innocent White House officials" [would not have been] distracted from serving their country, (3) Scooter Libby [would not have] lost his job and [would not be] under indictment, and (4) "the Democratic left, putting its faith in scandal to bring down the Bush Administration, ... [would not have]... become even more fatuous and ineffective."

But the knife hasn't even begun to be twisted in Mr. Armitage's (and Colin Powell's by extension) back.

I don't have the answers, but take my word for this:

1. Richard Armitage was NOT careless with secret information,

2. Richard Armitage was NOT eager to cover his own backside, and

3. Richard Armitage was NOT heedless of the consequences his actions had for others.

4. Further, Karl Rove is in some way behind all of this -- the most hideous backstab about which I ever recall having seen or heard.

Richard Armitage may take the fall for this, but I hope not! He is a Vietnam veteran and tireless worker for truth who puts his country first. The truth in this entire affair will come out. My personal guess is that this is, in some way, related to Undersecretary Armitage's and Secretary Powell's pre-Iraq War belief in containment ... versus preemptive invasion.

I have faith in Patrick Fitzgerald ... as my Brother, Richard from Connecticut referred to him ... the Eliot Ness of 2006!

Please, Mr. Fitzgerald, do not close the investigation down ... not quite yet!!

My Brother, Richard's, predictions for the Midterm elections ...

Well, I spoke with Swami Richard from Connecticut (left -- a slightly dated photo) and he said that all he could see was a pinkish cloud that showed the Senate splitting evenly and the Democrats "taking" the House. He did say that he hadn't finished tallying the Senate races that he is "seeing" (analyzing) individually. Also, he mentioned that he has some work to do before he'll have final numbers for the House of Representatives. Still, it's amazing how close his "general prophesy" is to Guru Mediawingnuts' more specific predictions.

Gee ... How could anyone vote against this woman?

Katherine Harris gallops towards senate seat

I never really liked Katherine Harris after she did all in her power -- even taking her case to the Supreme Court -- to stop the hand counting of the ballots back in 2000 when Al Gore beat George Bush for the Presidency, only to have the hand count stopped short and GWB enthroned. At that time, she was Florida's Secretary of State and has since become a US Congresswoman. Of course, she is now campaigning for the upcoming (voting already started a couple of days ago) primary to become her party's candidate for the US Senate. She's come a long way ...

But hey, that was then and now is now ... and well, I may be in my seventies, and she may have her feet in the stirrups improperly, but she certainly makes a fine looking member of the House of Representatives. I have to ask myself, who could vote against this woman? Who could vote against her, that is, ... if she only were honest, intelligent and fully committed to defending our laws and our Constitution?

Her most recent remarks to a magazine published by the Florida State Baptist Convention were her final downfall, I think.

Besides stating that the "Separation of church and state is a lie because ... God is the one who chooses our rulers," she also managed to state that "if you're not electing Christians, then in essence you are going to legislate sin."

Hey man, I'm a Christian and I find those statements offensive!!!

Besides ... and all of you who know me to be both a tree-hugger and an animal lover would agree ...


Katherine Harris abuses helpless animals!

And while on the subject of Adolf Hitler ...

For the record -- and for the sake of good taste, kindness and my own deepest Christian beliefs -- I am sick and tired of hearing or reading some piece of garbage that tries to connect or even hint at connecting any of our current politicians with Adolf Hitler. I've heard or read items that compare both George Bush and Hillary Clinton, both Ned Lamont and Joe Lieberman, etc. ad nausium ... with the likes of Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin or even the Biblical Satan. As much as I disagree with almost any of the neocons currently giving directions to George Bush, I would never ever compare any of them with any of the animals who ran the Nazi Party in Germany in the 1930s and 40s.

The Nazis were persons who deliberately killed millions of human beings; persons who believed in ethnic cleansing and even believed in the superiority of certain persons based on their racial ancestry. People like that do exist in this world.

But our leaders were and are elected and/or appointed officials who, by nature, education and goodness (for the most part) do their best to obey the laws of the land and to adhere to the tenets of the Constitution. I might disagree with whether they succeed in that endeavor, but I don't doubt their own beliefs that they are doing so.

Just so you know ...

Yeh, I have to admit that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is giving Adolf Hitler a run for his money ...

Add six and a half decades and you have ... Mahmoud Ahmadinejad!!

And it's not just because he denies the Holocaust or wants to wipe Israel off the map. Even Adolf didn't deny what he was doing during those horrid years for our planet ... and Hitler certainly wouldn't try wiping Israel from the map today ... he now knows better!

But look at what is happening in Iraq today and likely to happen in Tehran -- and the rest of Iran -- tomorrow. If the massacre of Sunnis in Iraq isn't ethnic cleansing, I don't know what is! And sadly, our US Military has its hands tied behind its back while Iran-led Shiite "death squads" are emptying buses, entering homes and stores, randomly driving by pedestrians, etc. killing all Sunnis who can't identify themselves to the gunmen's satisfaction.

(Note: The IED attacks -- improvised bombing against vehicles -- against both Shiites and Americans is largely a Sunni activity.)

The Sunni massacres are occurring throughout Iraq and all indications are that the Iranian Atatollahs have similar plans in readiness for the eastern provinces of Saudi Arabia (we knew that while I was working as an analyst in Riyadh), Lebanon and Azerbaijan. And yes, they are directed against all civilians, including women and children.

Of course, the "removal" of Jews and Christians from Israel (and where applicable, Lebanon) goes without saying. That activity will begin after the Hezbollah is in complete control. We have to support the Lebanese Government to the extent possible.

Hopefully, the Iranian people -- who are generally secular, friendly and intelligent -- will stop this madman and his Ayatollah minders before he completes his Hitler-like plans -- and before the US or Israel is forced into doing something that will set the Middle East ablaze.

As if I didn't have enough to worry about ...

As if Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld weren't enough! (And the picture to the left is not Dick Cheney -- look at it carefully and you will see that it is a seemingly rabid raccoon!) The Olympian (one of our local rags) published a warning to all of us on the Olympic peninsula to be on the watch for a new breed of raccoons that chase down and kill cats! They are called (for lack of a specific species/genus/family name), urban raccoons.

The scare is real in that they have already killed ten cats (that they've counted) and it seems to be an epidemic-sort of phenomenon. Of course, they are warning us not to feed any raccoons and so my kitty bowls are all indoors today and I keep my cats indoors 100% of the time. PAWS (to which I belong) has recommended having a large dog, but with so many cats, that's not an option for me. The raccoons who live under my front porch are not fierce (not urban raccoons i don't think), but I am taking no chances. I don't even hand them a piece of dry bread when they sit on their hind legs and slap my pantlegs begging for a treat. They just scurry back under the porch when they see that I'm not going to feed them.

Of course, they still come up to my window in the front after dark and play with my kitties through the glass.

Hopefully, my colleagues in the biology department at Grays Harbor College can/will come up with a solution to this serious problem. Some of my neighbors have picked up large dogs from the animal shelter and we all (among the cat owners/lovers on my little peninsula) have pepper spray, just in case. One woman has taken to walking along the Pacific Ocean beach (walking distance from my home) with a tire iron in her hand.

This is not a Republican versus Democrat sort of situation, I don't think, but have put out my Kerry-Edwards sign in front just in case. I think they were regarded the more animal-friendly of the candidates in 2004 and I saved my signs.

The picture at the top left does indeed look a lot like Dick Cheney, I think (when Cheney snarls), but the ones under my front porch are much sweeter looking. I'll post a picture of them playing with my cats as soon as I finish my current roll of film and scan the pictures.

August Predictions for Midterm Elections

A Later Photo of Guru Mediawingnuts ... Taken in Mid-August

.

As for my current and not-so-forever predictions for the 2006 Midterm Elections:

The Democrats will still pick up more seats in the House of Representatives (not much change from July) than most talking heads on TV seem to be saying. It will shake out about as follows:

Democrats: 223
Republicans: 211
Independents: 1

The Senate is still tougher for the Democrats to "take" but we will still manage to grab five or so seats:

Democrats: 51
Republicans: 49
Independents: 0 [Lieberman loses]

Guru Mediawingnuts has spoken!

You probably have noticed that my brother, Richard from Connecticut, is still pondering his predictions. He has promised that he will provide his best guesses prior to November 15.

How's this? Iraqi PM says US can soon withdraw from Iraq?

Iraq -- click on map to zoom in

Something's wrong somewhere ...

President Bush said their would be no withdrawal "so long as I am president!" ...

Yet, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said, "We are on a level of strength that we could, if the multinational forces want to lessen its presence, it could do that because we could [continue] with the rest of the operation, and have stability and security to protect the democratic process."

And even the action on the ground is contradictory. While July (last month) was the bloodiest since the invasion with 3400 dead and even up in Kirkuk, the Kurds are chasing the Shiites south (out of what we might call "Kurdistan"), we are hearing nothing but laudatory remarks from the Republicans (the party in charge in Washington) as regards how we are "winning the war." The Administration particularly cites Baghdad as an area where "significant progress is evident."

These statements were being made during the same week -- last week, on Friday and on Saturday!

Something's wrong!

I would be willing to state only one fact about the occupation in Iraq and that is that our young servicemen and women are doing the best they can ... under the circumstances.

Maybe Ray Nagin's comment wasn't that bad ...

By now, the entire world (most of America anyway) has heard or seen the videotape of mayor Ray Nagin (left) answering a question given him on 60 Minutes relating to the seeming lack of improvement in New Orleans over the past year since Katrina.

He said, "You guys in New York can't get a hole in the ground fixed, and it's five years later. So let's be fair."

Admittedly, this might seem a little politically incorrect, considering that many persons in New York regard the site of the Trade Center as "sacred ground."

But my brother, Richard from Connecticut, suggested that I look at Nagin's response in its most down-to-earth sense. It has been five years since 9/11 and the damage to New York City was certainly less (overall) than the massive damage to New Orleans only a year ago, so why shouldn't the mayor of New Orleans have been a little ticked off by such an insensitive question?

Also, Mediawingnuts still wonders why the steel and other critical debris was so quickly shipped off to India and China for recycling (rather than stored for possible criminal analysis), yet the site is still pretty much a flattened area of South Manhattan. But of course, that's only one of many, many questions left unanswered by our Government -- and even ignored in the 9/11 Commission Report.

Time out! Let's put politics and the World's sad shape aside for ... Tiger!

I'm sorry, Drunken Samurai, and any others who happened to be looking at this blog for a posting that might get your blood curdling.

But I think it's time to take a time out and just enjoy the thrill of watching Tiger Woods (above right) win his fourth-in-a-row PGA Tour event (his 6th of thirteen PGA Tour events this year). Of course, we had to suffer through yesterday when he also bogied four straight holes -- the first time he's done that in almost exactly ten years!

Between the Tigers (Detroit!) and Tiger (Woods), my sports favorites are doing well ... knock-on-wood.

The cute chick below goes by the name, Drunken Samurai

Who next? Himself? Dick Cheney? Condi? Rummy? Gonzales?

Medal of Freedom

Who will be the next to receive the Medal of Freedom (our highest award)? The excellent op-ed by Bernard Weiner gives some ideas. Surely 2600-plus dead and another 20,000 wounded in Iraq is worth something ... and oh yes, who should get the Medal of Freedom for the mishandling of katrina? ... or for the crimes committed vis-a-vis the recent Supreme Court decision on torture and extended incarceration at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib? ... or for the even more recent decision by the Honorable Anna Diggs Taylor vis-a-vis warrantless surveillance? ... or for the intelligence leaks that were the "payback" to Valerie Plame for her husband's op-ed piece? etc., etc., etc.

No need for me to write a thing. The pictures below tell it all ... These are for the War on Terror which we (apparently) are winning.


George Tenet gets Medal of Freedom after Allowing 9-11

General Tommy Franks gets Medal of Freedom after "Mission Accomplished" with too few troops

Paul Bremer gets Medal of Freedom after year and a half as interim leader in Iraq -- after the insurgency diminishes [sic] among the Sunnis and Shiites in Baghdad

Ernesto??? Is it just me, or ...

Is it only me, or does it seem that more and more of these tropical storms-cum-hurricanes are Hispanic? Katrina, Alberto, Ernesto (left), etc., etc., etc.

It's one thing to get us excited while the storms are still more than 150 miles south-southwest of Port au Prince, but it's quite another to hint at extending the fence/wall between Mexico and the U.S. through the Gulf of Mexico to ... Guantanamo?

Ernesto? Who came up with that name?

A scary combo ... (now I'm saying, "be afraid!")

Just put together the following two stories -- taken from today's Jerusalem Post:

1. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has stated, that he would "sacrifice half of Iran for the sake of eliminating Israel"

... and ...

2. Today's word from senior sources within the IDF (Israeli defense Forces) is that the growing consensus is that "the US will not attack Iran and thus, Israel might be forced to act independently to stop the Iranian Islamic Republic from obtaining nuclear weapons"

As most of you who follow this blog's postings know, I believe that that would be the worst of all scenarios -- even worse than a unilateral US attack on Iran's nuclear facilities -- almost certainly leading to a sizeable Islamic force (which countries, I wouldn't even try to guess) taking on Israel.

Where that goes, I don't like to conjecture ... except that we can be sure that the US would not remain aloof.

Just a couple of items from today's Jerusalem Post ....

Support our Troops in any Way You Can -- They are our Finest!!

Sgt. Maj. Michael L. Scarbrough, battalion sergeant major, hands out a toy to an Iraqi girl near Mudiq, Iraq Aug. 11. Scarbrough and other members of Jump Platoon, Headquarters and Service Company, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment were on a mission to build good will by meeting Iraqi locals. On their way to there, the unit encountered enemy fire from a nearby cemetery. Iraqi Army soldiers were in the area within minutes to assess the insurgent activity. No Coalition Forces were hurt. After the incident the members went on to meeting local Iraqis. Scarbrough is from Detroit, Michigan -- Mediawingnuts' home town -- He is currently serving a seven-month deployment in the Habbaniyah area under Regimental Combat Team 5.

I hope that some of you will visit Sage's website/blog. He mixes humor and the realities of war and the world quite well.


Sage

Treaties, Schmeeties ... we are tossing them out like broken dishes ...

That last posting relating to our withdrawal from the International Criminal Court got me to thinking. Yes, Richard, I do think ... sometimes!

Actually, I knew nothing about Mr. Bush's having pulled the United States out of the International Criminal Court until I was reminded of it by the Honorable Benjamin Ferencz's thoughts on Saddam's and Bush's violation of International Law. And I'm sure that most of us were unaware until recently that the U.S. no longer regarded the Geneva Conventions as applying to us -- that last one even surprised Senator John McCain, as you recall.

But the fact is ... from the ICC (last posting) to the Kyoto Treaty, from the biological weapons treaty to the Peaceful Use of Space Treaty ... and oh yes, we might or might not have been aware of our stance on land mines (the kind that blow the legs -- and more -- off of small children or farmers working in their fields years after a war has been concluded) ... etc, etc. etc. ... the list is seemingly endless, and very well might be.

But thanks to googling about, I was able to compile the following list that shows just how much progress can be destroyed in a mere five and a half years. The list includes as many as I could find of the treaties and agreements that Mr. Bush has professed to ignore ... meaning we, the people of the United States of America are choosing (through the ballot box) to ignore:

1- Ban of nuclear weapons (ignored by the USA, the only nation that used a-bombs already)

2- Stop of nuclear weapon tests (ignored by the USA -- but have you noticed our concern about North Korea preparing to explode "something" underground during the last week?)

3- Convention against biological weapons (ignored by the USA)

4- Treaty against chemical weapons of 1993 (production of narcotized chemical weapons)

5- Ban against mines and cluster bombs (ignored by the USA) -- just this week, several Lebanese were killed by unexploded (until now) cluster bombs (made in the USA) used by the Israelis in the recent conflict

6- ABM contract (Quit by the USA)

7- Kyoto agreement (US boycott, even though USA is the world champion for CO2 emissions)

8- Contract for the creation of an International Court against crime (US boycott)- and menacing countries that want to join!

9- International Patent law (Bayer-Anthrax case)

10– International Criminal Court (complete withdrawal)

11- Agreements for diplomatic care of foreign prisoners (ignored in spite of numerous protests, especially in Texas)

12- Prohibition of torture (US torture prisons)

13- UN Convention for the rights of children 1989 (death penalty even against teenage offenders)

14- Convention of Geneva for prisoners of war (Guantanamo)

15- GATT agreement for free international trade (US steel policy)

16- Other (than those already mentioned above) specific provisions of the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty and the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

17- ...

As I said ... the list goes on and on and seems to grow every year that George W. Bush is in office.

Sad ...

I'm sure that Molly would say, "No!"

Even a much younger Molly (above) says "No!"

Although I decided not to call my brother, Richard in Connecticut, tonight to check this out ... I'm sure that he and Molly (above) would both agree with me that George Bush should not be tried for war crimes along with Saddam Hussein -- as was suggested this week by Benjamin Ferencz, a chief prosecutor at the Nuremberg War Crimes trials following World War II.

Specifically, Ferencz reminded us all that "Nuremberg declared that aggressive war is the supreme international crime." He believes that Bush's preemptive invasion of Iraq (for no reason) in 2003 qualified under provisions set forth when the International Criminal Court (ICC) was established in 2002 -- already ratified by more than 100 countries.

Of course, he believes that Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait back in 1990 also qualifies as a "war crime" under the same provisions, even if he was led to believe that he could get away with it after conversations with our (then) Ambassador to Iraq.


Still, I don't think -- and I think that both Richard and Molly would agree with me -- that Mr. Bush's crimes should warrant no more than a painless impeachment, whereas Mr. Hussein should spend his remaining days behind bars.

Oh, I should mention that I don't believe in Capital Punishment and thus, would not want either Saddam Hussein or George W. Bush to be hanged ... no matter how many innocent civilians have died as a result of their respective wars.

A little note of interest is that on May 6, 2002 -- less than a year before the US invaded Iraq -- the Bush Administration withdrew its signature on the ICC Treaty ... and then ... three months later, President Bush signed a law prohibiting "any U.S. cooperation with the International Criminal Court."

I wonder how many little laws or agreements slip through like this without even 0.5% of the American population (including me!) knowing anything about it.

[Now we all know why we didn't put Saddam Hussein on trial for his invasion of Kuwait back in the 1990s.]

Bush's tenacity pays off! He's right, so it seems, for a change.

Well, it looks like it can be done -- that is, stem cell colonies can be populated without (intentionally) destroying embryos in the process. It hasn't been fully "authenticated" yet, but it surely seems certain that, if not today, then quite soon, it will be accomplished.

The diagram (left) plucked (no pun intended) from the Seattle Times shows in a graphic that I call, Embryonic Stem Cell Plucking for Dummies, how a single cell can be taken from an embryo and used to generate an entirely new colony of cells that might (theoretically) be used in the many ways that embryonic stem cells might be used -- to save lives, create or repair human organs, eliminate certain diseases, provide unheard of (today) medical breakthroughs, etc.

More to come, but I feel justified in supporting Bush on this matter (my brother, Richard from Connecticut, and I owed him support on at least one issue) as the stem cell research moves inexorably ahead.

Re-Elect McCain/Lieberman In '08 (huh???)

Before reading the scenario below published today in Truthout, you might read a previous Mediawingnuts posting from early July.

This is from Chuck Keller's Blog

--------------- quoted -------------------

Re-Elect McCain/Lieberman In '08

Re-elect? Well, here's the 7 part scenario that makes that happen:

1. The Democrats take the House and Senate in November.

2. Impeachment is imminent.

3. Cheney either "takes one" for the team and resigns (for health reasons: they can pretend he has a heart again) or "Georgie" runs him off with a Quail gun or his heart really gives out and he needs to be replaced (Remember Nixon/Agnew)/ (Nixon/Ford)

4. "Georgie" 'APPOINTS' John McCain Vice President.

5. "Georgie" resigns (Nixon style to preserve his pension and Secret Service protection)

6. Hail to the "Chief!" McCain grants a "full pardon" for war crimes and all other crimes against humanity committed by "Georgie."

7. President McCain convinces the strong "Republican" Senator from Connecticut to assume the now vacant Vice Presidency.

And there you have it... No President "Pelosi."

Remember you heard it here first.

Aug 24, 2006 -- 05:33:10 PM EST

-------------------- end of quote --------------------

It's an interesting scenario, but Mediawingnuts is more interested in seeing Nancy Pelosi become the president in 2007 or 2008 after both Bush and Cheney are simultaneously impeached ... and she could then run for re-election in 2008 with Obama or Gore as her running mate. I posted a scenario more or less along those lines about two months ago, as you might recall.

Be afraid! Be afraid! This time, it's Pat Buchanan who is pushing our buttons ...

No! I have not read the book, nor do I ever intend to! The reviews were enough and I certainly do not want my hard-earned pennies (no longer dollars) to support such a racist enterprise as the latest book (left) written by Pat Buchanan.

Sadly, I think that Mr. Buchanan is a smart and creative person who is capable of being a spokesman for peace and unity in this already too divisive world within which we live. His scare tactic is just what the Republicans were hoping for with their support of very restrictive immigration laws and the natural tendencies of people to be "afraid" of persons of a different color, religion or culture. (To his credit, Mr. Bush has separated himself from the rest of the Republicans on this issue and proposed reasonable legislation.)

Buchanan goes so far as to "threaten" Americans with a conspiracy on the part of the Mexican immigrants to "retake" the Pacific Southwest. What bunk!

Just reading the reviews online, I have never read such anti-Mexican and anti-darker skin (what it really boils down to) malarkey. Interestingly, if the English (and others) had been able to act on their own anti-Irish rhetoric in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries, Mr. Buchanan would probably have been born in Dublin.

And my brother, Richard in Connecticut, and I would have been born in a brothel in Zambia.

As if enough world events weren't at the extreme of intensity ...

Zalmay Khalilzad (right), our Ambassador to Iraq, is usually 100% positive about anything and everything re. our occupation in Iraq. I don't think he's had a chance to see, hear or read President Bush's press conference earlier this week or he might rethink what he's written in the Wall Street Journal today.

But at least he was reasonably honest in his op-ed piece in today's WSJ and I think it's very well-worth reading! We often forget that nearly a quarter of Iraq's population lives in Baghdad and that it better depicts the polyglot of Muslim groups in Iraq than any other Iraqi area (or city). The terrible carnage of the past month or two is something that must be addressed, but how? More American military involved in the carnage? A complete redeployment of the Iraq Army itself into the capital?

I don't know the answer, but I am very concerned that, just as the Qana bombing was the turning point in the Israeli-Lebanon War, the bombing of the Samarrah Mosque last winter -- when the increase in Baghdad violence really began -- was a turning point with which both we and the newly "elected" government in Iraq must deal.

Molly is concerned about the direction that Iran may be going ...

Molly in 1995 ... or thereabouts

With my old photos, one never knows ... but I believe that this has to be of Molly when I was in Ann Arbor, whatever year that might have been. Richard: What year did I visit you in Ann Arbor -- or was this taken when I visited you in Trumbull (the library)?

Whatever, it looks to Molly like both Russia and China will go along with tough sanctions (being written by neocons buried in our State Department) and that Iran is quite likely to reply with some very serious oil embargo. And that could set our economy on its head for a short while anyway. How long Iran might extend the embargo is questionable -- as is the possibility that either the US or Israel will take out Iran's growing nuclear capability, or at least their ability to produce weapons grade (enriched) uranium.

And after that? What then, Molly?

Richard: I have this picture also, but it doesn't have a label except "after she took him for a walk!" Do you recognize the tile or linoleum flooring?

Ooooh! Be careful, Mr. Bush ... we're in that post-August 22 period now and "expedited" sanctions sound a bit premature ...

Iran's foreign minister, Manouchehr Mottaki (photo on left -- pronounce that one, Richard!) said that they simply wanted to talk -- and talk has never been bad in and of itself. Starting to talk (unilaterally) about "expedited sanctions" before the month is even close to ending (Western calendar, which is what was meant in the UN resolution) sounds premature to me. It surely makes the US State Department's spokesman, Gonzalo Gallegos (there's a little competition going on as regards tough-to-pronounce names) sound a bit too aggressive in stating that we are already working with the UN Security Council to adopt the provisions of Article 41 of Chapter 7 of the resolution, doesn't it?

Surely, Secretary Condi Rice's phonecalls to Russia and Germany (and I presume China) are reasonable precautions so as to avoid a hassle at the end of our month, but I think that we just might go a bit slowly on doing anything (in any possible sanctions) that goes beyond not allowing the Iranians to compete in our (baseball) World Series in October ... at least for the time being. I'm not ready for $8.00 per gallon gasoline quite yet.

What does Molly say on this, Richard?

My very excellent mother just served us nine ... if not pancakes, what?

My very excellent mother just served us nine pancakes. How many of you (like me!) learned this little sentence so as to memorize the nine (now eight) planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and ... Pluto? But Pluto just went the way of the dinosaurs ... extinct, at least as a bona fide planet.

Al Gore, we need you! You have been so busy saving the earth from Global Warming, you took your eye off of another ball in the sky (the one shown in the image above is Pluto made from multiple Hubble photos taken over its rotation). It needs saving from the International Astronomy Unit (IAU) who have laid out new "rules" for what does and what does not qualify as a planet.

I am, among other things, a professor in physics who makes his first lesson (when introducing Astronomy as a unit) the memorization of the sentence, "My very excellent mother ...", so that we can more easily study the Solar System -- which is where astronomy usually begins.

The IAU now defines a planet as "a celestial body that (1) is in orbit around the sun, (2) has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (3) has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit."

Whether another celestial body in the "Kuiper Belt" is a moon of Pluto or whether the two objects are a "double planet" (of sorts) is being sorted out, but for now, we'll have to get used to memorizing, "My very excellent mother just served us ... nosephlegm?

Yuk!

Noodles might be better, but students would remember nosephlegm. Neocons would be easy to remember, but has political connotations and naphtha reminds me too much of my own childhood ... after I'd use a forbidden word in the house. I'll check with my brother, Richard in Connecticut on this one. Grays Harbor College ... and high schools and middle schools nationwide are waiting for you, Richard.

[For the record, the IAU is considering renaming mini-planets -- and there are plenty of them (15 additionnal non-planets are larger than Pluto) -- as Plutons. That might make the residents of Pluto -- assumed to number zero -- happier about the recent changes. And oh yes, we might end up with as many as twelve solar planets within the next decade besides.]

Paint me green ... and yes, I think I feel the water getting warmer!

Yeh, I know! I shudda known better.

But when I heard on the news this morning that involuntary conscription of a few thousand marines was being authorized to fill in certain gaps in specific specialty codes, I felt very much like the proverbial frog who was boiled to death by turning up the heat after he (or she) had been placed in a pan of lukewarm to cool water.

The number I heard on the radio this morning was 2,500 (marines), but later in the day, I heard that 14,000 army personnel were being "recalled" to active duty to fill yet additional specialty codes needed as a result of the continuing (interminable, we now know, thanks to President Bush's moment of honesty in the press conference two days ago) occupation of Iraq -- having nothing to do with 9/11 (also now known thanks to yet another moment of honesty in that same press conference).

Even John McCain (pro-war all the way ... at least until tomorrow or so) admits that we weren't told the whole truth ... he referred to what we were told as being something like an invitation to "a day at the beach."

The compulsory recall to active duty was not a part of any of the early actions after 9/11, but the events since that tragic say five years ago have been slowly leading to what no one could have imagined at that time.

The "boiling frog syndrome" wins again. Just as Al Gore correctly used that analogy vis-a-vis Global Warming in his great movie, An Inconvenient Truth, it applies yet again as Americans are totally sanguine about the announcement of an involuntary callup -- almost not even noticing it, in fact -- as thousands of our finest are being called to serve a second and third time ... and we're not talking reservists or "weekend warriors" this time; we're talking about persons who served their entire enlisted tours of duty.

Oh, it's 100% legal, only it's just one more step in the process of turning up the heat under the pan containing the frog -- we, the American people are the hapless frog. How many of us have even noticed that the troop strength has slowly been going up in Iraq -- at the same time that Donald Rumsfeld has been telling us that we are "about to reduce our troop strength in Iraq"? How many of you noticed that Runny announced the increase of troop strength in Baghdad on the very same day that his man in the White House was stating that "things are really improving in Iraq" and that "we will see substantial troop reductions soon"?

What next? Well, we can ask Richard my brother in Connecticut and he can ask his dog, Molly. That will get you closer than listening to tonight's news, I think.

For those of you unaware of the story of the "boiling frog," I suggest that you find your favorite armchair, a cuddly kitten and a glass of warm milk. It goes like this .... Once upon a time there was a frog who was told that he could bathe in this nice warm kettle of lukewarm water which just happened to be on the stove ..."

Molly says ... we missed the real import of what Bush said two days ago ...

Wow! How could I have missed the most important faux pas in Presidential history ... almost!

I was on the phone with my brother, Richard from Connecticut earlier today and he mentioned to me something his dog, Molly, asked him yesterday. She asked the following, "if Mr. Bush says that we will stand down when the legitimate Iraqi military and police forces stand up, and then he says that we will stay in Iraq 'so long as I am president!' ... is this his way of saying, "the legitimate Iraqi military and police forces will not stand up as long as he is president"?

Just a question from Molly ...

Bad news! Conservatives are out-producing liberals!

Politics has entered the maternity ward. Sadly, the Wall Street Journal has reported that conservative parents are out-producing newborns at a rate of about 41% (i.e., 41% more babies per "family") and that 80% of all persons tend to vote the same as their parents vote. This will increase the Republican margin against Democrats by about 0.5% (one-half of one percent per year).

This is science, folks, and we're losing!

The WSJ also mentioned that at this rate, even California "will be decidedly conservative" in only ten years.

My brother, Richard from Connecticut and his wife aren't planning on having children yet, but I think they should begin visiting orphanages soonest. We're depending on you all! Orphanages are a good source for those of you over forty -- and foster kids can be "liberalized" too, I believe.

My wife and I had twelve (including three adoptions), but unfortunately, they are averaging fewer than 1.2 babies for each couple, so the trend seems accurate from my vantage. And yes, I'd say that 80% of our children tend to be liberal -- like their mom and dad.

So let's get the message out to all Liberals! Have babies! Impeach Bush -- or at least let's try to impeach the Bush that follows the Bush that follows the Bush that follows the bush that follows Jeb Bush in 2016! Go team, go!!! Rah, rah, rah!

Nuclear Schmooklier .. it's OIL !!

Orizont Rig

As if we'd forgotten ... I did ... in all of this concern about Iran continuing its uranium enrichment program! Who is the world's third largest oil producer? Who controls the Strait of Hormuz? Who could sanction themselves (as regards oil production) even while we are threatening such sanctions? Weren't they the folks who embargoed us back in the late 1970s? They are as aware as we are that oil is a nonrenewable resource, and they could cut production the moment the UN (or the US) did anything.

And who was it that earlier today fired upon and boarded a Rumanian oil rig -- the Orizont Rig -- maybe to remind us that they can pose a much more immediate and dangerous economic threat? And what company was the Orizont Rig drilling for? How many of you might guess ... Haliburton! (Call "Lulu" in Dubai ... or any of my former American University in Dubai students.)

August 22 is slowly passing into history, but that "period" that follows August 22 only began on their side of the world ... today! And the key parameter from the beginning as regards our involvement in that general region has been ... oil!

Wake up, fellow Americans! This 'nuclear weapons development' threat is a diversion! At least as regards Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his minders are concerned. I wondered why Iran was making such a stink over weapons that can't even be manufactured for five to ten years ...

The Orizont Rig attack is a major clue. Let's keep our eyes open! Watch closely for a likely oil crisis brought on by ... God knows what -- but it will be Iran!!

Okay, it's time to back off the "personal" crap and get on with the real issues, right?

Actually, you need go no further than Wikipedia's marvelous encyclopedia and read through Chapter 6 to get a chance to write your Congressman or woman and suggest an Article of Impeachment or two. Reading that Chapter (if that's what that paragraph in Wikipedia might be called) is like strolling down Memory Lane with a rattle snake in your vest pocket (blouse pocket for women).

My brother, Richard from Connecticut, believes that we should treat all persons kindly and even suggests that we love our enemies. I agree with him in principle and so I suggest that he be Impeached with Love. Jesus made similar statements when he preached his Sermon on the Mount and so I will implore all of you who might feel so inclined, to write to your Congressman or woman and ask that they draft the Articles of Impeachment with kindness and love ... to be gentle in all ways.

Does that do the trick, Richard?

Anyway, my favorite among the possible articles was highlighted by some dialog in the current movie, World Trade Center. The marine who ultimately heard the policemen's cries for help in the rubble went on to serve two tours in Iraq, but made the statement in the movie that "the marines would need good men to avenge the ..." [trade center disaster upon which he was walking].

Good movie, by the way ... see it!

Of course, we heard the President state unequivocally only yesterday that there was no connection between Iraq and/or Saddam Hussein and the World Trade Center horror. Of course, we all remember what he was saying during the runup to the Iraq invasion, don't we? He referred to "active links to Al-Qaeda" and indeed, 72% of our military as of earlier this year (who hadn't heard or read his earlier refutations of Saddam's implication in 9/11 -- or yesterday's press conference wherein he was abundantly clear) believed that we were in Iraq to "avenge 9/11."

Oh yeh, the other possibilities are endless -- ignoring the Geneva Conventions, creating a new label for certain of our enemies (unlawful combatants) so as to ignore the War Crimes Act, breaking the law vis-a-vis warrantless surveillance, involvement in leaking classified information (the Valerie Plame affair), declassifying -- and asking his subordinates to declassify classified documents -- for political purposes, mishandling the worst natural disaster of which most of us are even aware -- Katrina, ... and the list goes on and on.

But we must remember always ... to keep my brother, Richard's, admonition in mind -- be gentle and love Mr. Bush with all of your heart as you are writing the letters to your Congressmen and women.

Oh yes, the House Resolution is H.R. 635 and was introduced by Rep. John Conyers of Michigan. We still need additional representatives to agree to examining any Articles of Impeachment, so this also suggests which way to vote in November. The Republican-plus-Lieberman Party is still in control, so our votes are important.

Congratulations to my son, Jim!

Congratulations, Jim and Leah!! -- and to Jeffrey (grandson too, of course)

I think they are hitching up in November, but you can check their website or whatever yourselves. Little Jeffrey lost his mother (of breast cancer) two years ago and Leah has been a blessing to him too.

Excuse me, Mr. President ... we're looking over your shoulder ...

Ummm ... excuse me, Mr. President, but do you recall Rumsfeld versus Hamdan ... that was only two months ago, after all.

Admittedly, we've had the breakout of a Civil War in Iraq since then, plus a Middle East crisis of almost Biblical proportions and then, there's the Jon Benet Ramsey confession last week and the 200 or so terrorist threats (airliners, cargo containers, chemistry sets, air bags, etc.) ... but ...

The nine highly astute and unbiased -- but highly judgmental -- Supreme Court justices are waiting to see just what cockamanie ploy you have up your sleeve so as to get around the Geneva Conventions and the War Crime Act that you had been (and likely still are) skirting around.

One rumor has it that you are planning to have Joe Lieberman lead a bill through Congress that would forbid any prisoner to use the Geneva Conventions as a source of rights in any American court. Of course they are trying to convince the other Republicans (Lieberman may be alone among Republicans on this one) and all of the Democrats to agree that this would not change the United States' obligations under the Geneva Conventions. This might get Lieberman the SecDef post after November, but his esteem among members of both parties is likely to erode over this issue.

They are also trying to push through major modifications to the War Crimes Act, but this one is bouncing about in the House of Representatives and Joe Lieberman (who's in the Senate) can only give so much time to supporting Bush's "War on Terror" [sic].

Even if these bills and amendments to existing laws are passed through the Republican-plus-Lieberman Congress, they are sure to be challenged by Constitutional lawyers and even the two new US Supreme Court justices appointed by Mr. Bush are not likely to want their names associated with a low point in Supreme Court decisions, should they support the President on his contention that the torture and such at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib were "above the law" in these perilous times.

Our Six Daughters ... Mediawingnuts isn't entirely a Moonbat!

This is a pic taken during the recent (two weeks ago) reunion in/at Lake Tahoe .... uhh ... Truckee, California. They are (not in the order shown): Mary, Rachel, Kim (adopted while I was in Vietnam), Rebecca, Elizabeth and Jeannie -- plus an unidentifiable grandchild. My wife and I also have six sons, but I can't post a recent picture of them until we get them all together in one spot at the same time. In the meanwhile, you can always see all twelve of the Mediawingnut-juniors as of a dozen or so years ago at my (pretty sloppy and not-well-kept-up) website.

This is probably uncalled for, being that this Blog is supposed to be a highly intelligent compendium of thoughts (all thoroughly correct in every aspect) dealing with matters political, military, cultural, historical and scientific, more or less.

Just don't tell my brother Richard in Connecticut; he might disapprove.