Your Heart has Stopped...

Imagine your heart has stopped. An EMT team arrives, hooks you to life support, then asks: What's your position on abortion? Should illegal aliens receive emergency health services?

Americans are held hostage on health care. Each American should receive premium care. If you ain't (and many are not) you're being jerked around... Everyday, many such suckers die. My uncle died prematurely - you could be next.

Banning Religion

Swiss voters recently approved banning Islamic minarets: referendum support for the ban was 57.5%.

I live very near a large Christian church. Repeatedly the bells toll for off-hour celebrations - nothing to do with my life. It would be easiest to say: quiet them bells; forbid celebration. But instead I hope that people are enjoying & celebrating life. Yes, baptisms and christenings are a bit noisy, as are call to prayer and Bar Mitzvah celebrations, but that's the joy of community.

This news simply shows that 57.5% of Swiss are shrewish & small-minded...

Pashtun Palin?

The USA should disengage from Afghanistan & Iraq. We've imposed foreign troops serving distant politicians. We'll never bring stability or security to the region; our chosen local warlords will probably depart with the "Coalition of the Willing" -- to enjoy new lives in Florida or Switzerland. It is foolish, presumptuous, even criminal that we have taken over so much in these ancient lands. We follow the Soviets in Afghanistan, ignobly rejected - quick withdrawal will save many lives.

Obama, even if reelected to a second term, will not fix these nations. Will we next have President Palin, as with Baby Bush, pretending expertise on ancient Babylon, Kandahar, and the Hindu Kush? Better the USA stop sacrificing its soldiers, and save its money to spend at home.

Mr. Obama, Tear Down This Wall

Twenty years ago when the Berlin Wall was broached, the end of the Cold War and German reunification were positive steps for humanity.

Can we dream of a future when Israel's Apartheid Wall will be dismantled?

Peaceful transition is unlikely to come through rational argument; hardliners on both sides of the Wall stifle the doubts and voices of moderates. Progress toward peace is avoided while elements aimed at expanding a Zionist homeland enjoy key funding flows from the USA. The Israeli High Court and the World Court have condemned much of the Wall's construction through the West Bank. Violence generates more violence, at huge cost. Squatter settlements multiply; the displaced grow militant; extremists dominate most debate. Mr. Obama, Tear Down This Wall!

Billowing Wanker at BU

Boston University honors it's "distinguished alumnus" Bill O'Reilly:
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/10/23-7

The problem with Bill O'Reilly is outside left or right. Inviting comment but interrupting, quashing consideration of alternatives, name-calling & violence mongering, are beyond traditional journalism and should be recognized as a step backward. The dude's a goon. The temptation to imagine "he's opinionated, but he's our goon" is beyond political opinion - it supports the destruction of discourse.

My dad's Scottish Drummond forebears descend from Atilla. His politics likewise. But his thought & opinion are not really 'right wing' except as coopted by wealthy media. Three political alternatives are offered by US mainstream media: bad, worse, do nothing...

No Money for US Wars

Last November the American people elected legislators pledging to end America's foreign wars. But the wars continue - while costs & damage escalate.

Meanwhile, the USA suffers repeated & continuing shortfalls of budget. Many domestic services are being cutback, including future-oriented education. It's past time that America withdraws from overseas warfare. Iraq & Afghanistan must fend for themselves. No need to further analyze the situation. Simply say: we can't afford war.

Obama Report Card = D

The U.S. administration of President Barack Obama, operating for about nine months, has failed in many key ways. Hope for Change (as promised) remains -- thus grade D instead of F for failure.

It's very clear the administration is not discontinuing assorted overseas U.S. military operations; even forced-feeding of Guantanamo detainees continues. Funded by Americans, belligerence in the Middle East persists unabated. U.S. civil rights remain threatened by self-serving government coverup. Bipartisanship has been a non-starter... No health care reform... Crippling bad investments in corrupted and corrosive systems... Poor oversight & financial sector reform. The USA remains a toxic corporate state, with Obama & Hillary Clinton glib shills - placeholders until new wingnuts such as Palin or Lieberman take the stage.

-----------------
(2:20 PM) It's now reported that President Obama today won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize, for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and co-operation between peoples." I hope the prize inspires him to help create a more peaceful world...

Memoirs of a Meal

It's 4AM in Seoul, and the hunt nears its end. For many nights now I've been a blood meal for hungry mosquito. How do they enter this simple room? Through the drains? Via the air con system? The doors and windows are tightly closed, but each few hours more arrive, replacing their dead cousins whose carcasses dot the floor & smear the walls. As I write these words, two bloodsuckers die on approach. The waves of attack become bolder, welts from past bites itch & swell, the tracking of evasive flight patterns seems tougher. This is a zombie attack, beyond complex reasoning. If I stayed longer, I'd screen the drains, seal door & windows, cut-off access. But I'm a brief visitor, a huge attractant for these few grams seeking my blood. Such a welcome! A single discomforted meal in a buzzing metropolis, I gladly depart in a few hours for home & family, escaping thirst & vengeance.

(Until then, I protect my remains. The last mosquito spotted evaded extinction & hides behind a heavy desk, quite noisy to move.)

(-- PS, she's now a goner; too sodden with blood to escape a hunt).

Wreck of the "Neocon"

The Obama administration inherited a horrible mess of a bankrupt economy, a skeptical electorate, and unwinnable overseas wars. They've not done well thus far in turning things around.

Obama took the responsible route in supporting Bush's bank bailouts. Perhaps he should have done as FDR did, and watch the previous administration struggle in their own morass until Inauguration Day. There are still far too many Americans who learned little or nothing from the financial meltdowns one year ago: some remain apologists for the neocon vision of American Empire, some remain banking officials - once again gambling with the vast funds in their care for personal gain.

The strangled US medical system is hostage to big insurance and loud insider interests. Many Americans die earlier & substantially poorer due to lack of needed reform; the Republican Party while in power did almost nothing positive with the medical system, and they refuse to cooperate now. Our nation's now obese & sick; just let them eat cake. No comfort food will help. So sad !