The General Speaks

"... We have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. Added to this, three and a half million men and women are directly engaged in the defense establishment. We annually spend on military security more than the net income of all United States corporations.

This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. The total influence -- economic, political, even spiritual -- is felt in every city, every State house, every office of the Federal government. We recognize the imperative need for this development. Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. Our toil, resources and livelihood are all involved; so is the very structure of our society.

In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.

We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted. Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together... "
-- Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower (Ret.)
17 Jan. 1961; Farewell Presidential Address

The Holy See

After many entries here critical of politicians, it is perhaps time to be critical of those managing religion.

The Roman Catholic Church, governed by the Holy See at Vatican City, has had many ups and downs over it's history. If we shine the light of critical inquiry on what (still) goes on in the fancy palaces of the Pope, we quickly uncover much that is indefensible. That's sad, because the Church is mostly well-meaning.

In fact, the topic is still politics when dealing with the Holy See. While many believers see their Church as incapable of doing wrong, there is too much bad.

Thanks to widespread reforms, the unbeliever is no longer threatened with torture and death. The final agonies of too many people were amplified by the sight of a fat priest chanting sanctimoniously of divine pity.

Yet there are key internal reforms still wanting:

The Church is sexist: women are wholly banned from priesthood.

The Church is unscientific: key works somehow inconvenient are condemned: Copernicus (for 215 years his work was banned by the Index Librorum Prohibitorum), and Galileo (grabbed by the Inquisition, required to recant his views and all were forbidden to publish his work), etc.

There are various other areas that provide ample dissatisfaction. Declaring Meister Eckhart's work 'heresy' is one, the massive and sometimes corrupt Roman Catholic bureaucracy another. I reject teaching that the Church is a necessary mediator, and sole access to God. Some would support the revival of this Church as Holy Roman Empire. All the best to believers, but don't tread on me.

Guns not butter

Guns not butter, by Genki

The high school has no music class
Our younger kids lost art
To play school sports requires cash
The poorer never start

"I can't care less" say many folk
"It's not a lot we've lost"
Get-rich-quick mirror tricks with smoke
Cheap goods in bulk near cost

A flimflam artist cheated me
His White House friends are quiet
My pension's gone; so's referee
I'm being forced to diet

Our leaders with a bit of wit
Give us the roundabout
Deny deny just don't admit
Uncertainty or doubt

My nation's got no sympathy
For stupid, slow or lame
The USA should charge a fee
To watch our growing shame

"No child left behind" has meant
We're going nowhere fast
Yes with democracy's consent
Our time on top has passed

World rankings show our sharp decline
Some titter it's a stain
But as I feed the drive-thru line
My ignorence is pain

It's "guns not butter" experts say
"Hava-gudday" to all
As dreaming proles, we've lost our way
Just bred to fight and fall.

Escalation, surge, occupation forces = dumb

Americans in their nervous Homeland have been taught to use the terms 'surge' and 'weapons of mass destruction' - alternative phrases are now forgotten.

Too few Americans have read the below story:
>>> Experiment... failed

describing the neo-con social engineering policies of Bush's government. Wow!

Another great article interviewed Gen. Jay Garner (Ret.), the first US administrator in Iraq (three week term; replaced by more radical visionaries). Readers might overlook what to me was a key point in the below article: Many Iraqi people are educated, urbane and clever. These are people exposed for years to Western ideas, many with overseas family members or education abroad. Let them build their own nation; it ain't the business of the U.S. of A.
>>> Gen. Garner interview

Myku by Genki

Tray of coarse red foods
Lone Seoul diner, tepid soup
Floating chili oil



Carafe of water
Cool and clean, full and sweating
Absorb; Refresh; Thanks !



Remove fingernails
Enhanced interrogation
Undamaged organs



today gone wasted
was the bright tomorrow craved
by yesterday's corpse
- (derived from Kim Yai Hee)



artists share with me
new worlds perhaps mean or trite
the sound of water

Colin Powell: Cat got yer tongue?

Rats now abandon the sinking ship Bush. Many keep their mouths shut, or work to obscure mendacity and lies. Until now, Colin Powell has been quiet - might we hope he'll speak out?

Try transparency. Please.

Thanks for spurning Easy Street

On 4th April 1967, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was already a world famous Nobel Prize winner when he delivered an important speech at Riverside Church, New York City. Rather than resting on his laurels, Dr. King spoke out - "A time comes when silence is betrayal."

He spoke about war and violence and the need to work for a better world. Forty years later his words still resonate; the same violence continues, fueled by greed and ignorance. (A year after this speech, Dr. King was murdered).

Excerpt:
"We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered. A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. On the one hand we are called to play the good Samaritan on life's roadside; but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway.

True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring."

from
Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence
full text and audio at:
http://www.americanrhetoric.com

Cooking War Criminals

Recent awakenings among US Democrats (and others) claim they were blindsided by government assurances over Iraq and its dangers. It was clear from way back, however, that the Bush regime were peddling stinky fish.

British MP Robin Cook had just resigned as Leader of the House of Commons in protest over the planned invasion of Iraq when he delivered a well-reasoned and impassioned speech to Parliament on 17 March 2003. Cook is clear in his speech (which received a standing ovation from both sides of the House) that invading Iraq was being planned with no clear & present danger, and without multilateral agreement - Britain and the USA were embarking on an illegal war.

Here is an mp3 version of that famous speech:
Robin Cook resigns over Iraq attack plan 2003-03-17.mp3

and a transcript:
Robin Cook resignation speech

This was not a tiny voice from the fringe, but a mainstream warning against unilateralism, bullying and wielding war in doubtful circumstances (Robin Cook had been Foreign Secretary for more than four years under PM Tony Blair). Those who ignored his warnings might yet be convicted for criminal acts. The death, destruction & huge costs they've sown are tragedy for all.

Illegal Foreigners

Immigrants have a hard time in making their lives in a new nation. And immigrants have helped many nations in fundamental ways. We can celebrate the immigrant. But illegal foreigners should not be encouraged. Let's reserve the term immigrant for those who properly follow legal immigration procedures. Hiking across a border should not confer the title 'immigrant' -- an honorable word.

The United States of America confers citizenship on people born within US territory. This is the law of jus soli (also lex soli). Citizenship is granted to a child born in the USA; parent nationality or legal status is immaterial (with the exception of children born to foreign embassy or consular officials posted to the USA, or the offspring of occupying enemy soldiers).

This system should be revised. When citizenship is granted to the babies of illegal foreigners, or to the offspring of tourists or short-term visitors, great confusion arises. The parents may soon need to leave, or already illegally resident (the legal status of parents is unchanged) but the infant has a citizen's right to stay. This condition is sometimes called 'birth tourism' or having an anchor baby...

Nutty! Little American children without the right to keep their parents with them. Of course we feel something is odd & unfair.

Revision of jus soli is complex because of the US Constitution's 14th Amendment, (excerpt): "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." The law has been upheld on challenge: United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898); Plyler v. Doe, 457 U.S. 202 (1982).

This anomaly can and should be fixed.

"Immigration reform" in the USA

Perhaps US immigration rules are flawed in fundamental ways. The long delay in processing spouse visas for US citizen family members is terrible. The bureaucracy of the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) often seems deliberately oppressive & unfriendly. Giving citizenship under jus soli rights to children born in the US to foreign students and visitors (yet not to their parents) seems illogical -- in some ways unduly liberal, in another sense regressive.

Should foreigners be given amnesty after criminally entering the USA? I think not.

Of course they have contributed. Their illegal work has received compensation. Most are nice people. Private parties may be satisfied, but the social contract is damaged by these illegal operations.

Americans should be encouraged to invest in their communities and nation. Allowing unrestricted entry is costly. Providing services to new arrivals subtracts something from the common wealth. Perhaps future contributions by immigrants might offset many such costs. Yet who is to be "welcome in" should be a decision for the citizenry. Otherwise there is little incentive to invest in society.

Many Americans may believe that kindness and charity should guide such policies. But the world's people outnumber Americans 20 to 1. Too many to integrate. Darwinist competition and raw untrammeled dog-eat-dog capitalism grow closer with unrestricted immigration.

I know there are many nice, hardworking and friendly people everywhere in the world. But those who force their way into my home and demand feeding at my table are abusive and should be strongly discouraged.

Who's the bigger Jerk?

The USA is endangering East Asia and wasting huge resources jerking around with North Korea. Why?

The US agreed many months ago to return $24 million in frozen North Korean funds they'd demanded confiscated in September 2005 due to what the USA considers irregularities.

North Korea is fundamentally irregular. They wish to be irregular (examine juche ideology to somewhat understand). They're part of the "Axis of Evil" according to President Bush.

But returning those funds was a clear condition for dismantling North Korea's nuclear program. Weeks and months have passed; numerous news reports have cited progress; but the North Koreans still don't have their money.

Now US$24 million may seem like a lot of money to you or me, but to nations it ain't much at all. The South Koreans are forced to remain on alert with 650,000 troops: the North keeps 1,000,000 troops, while US deployment in South Korea is 30,000 troops. How much does that cost? Let's be silly and make a very conservative estimate: for a US soldier, $100 each day: for South Korean soldiers (most under mandatory conscription) $10 per day; and let's say a soldier's maintenance in North Korea costs $1 each day. Thus pure costs are (3,000,000 + 6,500,000 + 1,000,000) well upward of US$10 million each day. How much damage will a nuclear accident do to East Asia? How much would military intervention cost? The USA now spends $195 million every day on the Iraq conflict. And how much are the lives of soldiers and civilians worth? The agreements were reached in so-called "Six Party Talks" requiring great coordination. A one-off $24 million is clearly cheap. But some plump jerks in Washington are stringing this along, and angering close allies in the process.

C'mon USA - you said you'd return North Korea's money. It's clearly more a matter of principle than the funds themselves. Fix it. Cough up. Don't endanger us all with dumbass brinkmanship.