Announcement...

Lately I've been working hard at another blog  that deals with American politics. It's always an interesting but sometimes sordid and depressing topic. I just love the investigation, the education and the research. It keeps my mind working. Also I am an extraordinarily curious person. I ask myself why such and such happened, or what such and such means? And off I go. In my past life, I was probably an encyclopedia. 

Well, lately I decided that instead of contributing to somebody else's blog, I had enough posts (essays, really) that perhaps they needed a new home. The blog I had been writing with had a lot of readers, many of them well-informed and as curious as I am. So it meant losing my audience for the sake of independence. If blog owners are possessive, you can also find that long-time blog readers can be quite cliquish. (It's not the exact word.) 

http://nomadicpolitics.blogspot.com/

If you are interested in American politics- and I'll warn you, I lean toward the liberal side- then I'd like to invite you to stop in and become a follower. 

In the next couple of weeks, I am posting my older things (mostly from the past year). In the fast-moving world of politics, anything from last year is pretty stale. I will soon be serving the newer vintage material this week. 

For example, starting on Thursday (March 1) I will have a two-part series which asks the question:

In 2012, Is Ronald Reagan Electable? (The answer, of course, is, NO, mainly because he is dead. But then the Republicans seem a lot more in love with Reagan now that he is not among the living.) 
But actually, the basic thesis of the essay is this: Given the general level of intolerance and the lack of compromise, who on earth could ever fit the bill? 

On the weekend, I will present another two part post which explains why, if there is a brokered convention in the GOP party this year, "Jeb" Bush is probably not a wise choice. If you thought Newt Gingrich has baggage, that's an old lady's change purse compared to this Bush. 

If you enjoy reading, or perhaps you are interested in being a contributing writer, let me know. Just pitch my your idea, and let's take it from there. In any case, do drop in and tell me what you think.

Republican Faust: The Rise and Fall of Mike Connell - 1

Blunt Force

At about 6 p.m. on Friday December 19, 2008 a single-engine 1997 Piper Saratoga aircraft, with only the pilot aboard, crashed into a residential area in Uniontown, Ohio as it was preparing to land at Akron-Canton airport. Upon arriving to the scene, fire crews found only burning wreckage of the plane scattered between homes on Charolais Street. The pilot had been thrown upon impact and had died instantly of massive blunt force trauma, his belongings scattered in the yards.

First responders arrived on the scene immediately after the crash. Even then, irregularities began. Simon Worrall in an article The Mysterious Death of Bush's Cyber-Guru, writes of those first minutes:

Capt. Lorin Geisner of the Greentown Fire Department was the first person to arrive at the scene. “We received a 911 call, so we contacted the tower and asked what size plane it was and how many souls were on board,” he recalls. “But we were informed that the tower was in lockdown and that no information was available.”

This was to be the first of many abnormalities in a case that would send shock waves through the blogosphere with speculations of sabotage and foul play. In the bewildering reality-bending world of conspiracy theories, the events that surround the Connell crash belong in a class all their own.

Imagine…

But Imagine 30 years of Bush, and you'd be angry too.

The Myth of Absolute Security

As everybody knows by now, over the Christmas holidays an attempt was made to blow up a plane headed to Detroit, Michigan. Despite various systems in place which should have prevented this incident from ever getting to this stage, the bomber managed to conceal the explosives in his underwear, set off the chemical reaction to act as an explosive charge. As it happened, it was only the quick thinking of another passenger and the response by the airline staff that saved the nearly 300 other passengers.

Since this time, there has been a lot of hand-wringing and finger-pointing, charges and counter charges. To top it off, last weekend, a man at Newark International Airport in New Jersey jumps a security checkpoint (to kiss his girlfriend) and causes a complete shutdown of the system, delaying flights and creating chaos for thousands of passengers. Last week, Obama addressed the nation, following an preliminary investigation about what went wrong and how we can improve security.

Despite all this turmoil and rhetoric and interminable news coverage , there are some points I think are worth mentioning. All security- whether it is a full body scanner or a lock on your front door- is mostly about giving one the “illusion” of security. Without this practical illusion of safety, we- as individuals and as a society- could not function. For example, we have to be able to turn off the lights at night, knowing-or at least, believing- that the alarms and locks in our home will work properly and effectively prevent a criminal from entering. If we didn’t have this illusion, we would worry ourselves silly- probably needlessly- every minute of the day. Life would hardly be worth the effort.

In point of fact, absolute security is probably an impossible target and no administration could honestly promise such a thing. And we are wrong and foolish to expect it. If your adversary is clever enough, he will find a way to outwit the security devices. This is a fact of life and something as adults we must come to grips with. That is the bad news but it doesn’t mean we should throw up our hands in resignation.

There is a bright side. Firstly, if everybody- not just the police or agencies but all of us- keeps a heightened degree of vigilance- not hysterical panic and over-reaction - we have a better than average chance of preventing a disaster. A thousand pairs of eyes means a thousand filters and checkpoints that a potential terrorist must avoid.

Secondly. adequate training can help to minimize the consequences of an attack. This requires civil training- things to watch out for. in effect, training people to observe, as well as first aid training and procedures in an emergency. This kind of training should be free of charge, and should work at all levels, home, school and the workplace. A kind of new nationwide Civil Defense Program? All of us must be able to look catastrophe in the face without blinking.

One of the best films I ever watched was a training video on hotel fires. Many of the facts were gruesome and, on the surface, quite discouraging. And yet, knowing now what I know about “the opening and closing of windows of opportunity” I now feel more confident that, in such a situation, I would do the best I could do. Maybe I would fail, but at the very least, I can base my decisions on accurate information and not blind panic.

Thirdly, the public has a duty to report suspicious behavior and in an emergency, act independently to save lives. Additionally, the public needs to feel certain that authorities are actually listening and following up on any leads, no matter how unlikely. This also requires security staff that are easy to contact, that can interview and evaluate the validity of reports and, when necessary, implement follow-up action. The idea that the public is only recipient of protection and not a participant is a fundamental flaw in the present system.

Can anybody imagine how difficult it was for the Nigerian father to go to the American authorities and report his own son? And yet, in the end, it seems to have been a failure of the authorities to take this important lead seriously.

And finally, if the authorities constantly upgrade their standard operating procedures and follow them with regards to security protocol, then our illusions of security may be based something more than wishful thinking.

LiveJournal Tags: Terrorism,Newark Airport,Civil Defense

Enough

Barack Obama’s Birth announcement- August 31, 1961

Barack Obama’s Birth announcement- August 31, 1961

 

Copy of Obama’s Birth Certificate.

Technorati Tags: Obama,Birth Certificate,Birth Announcement

Excuses for a Closed Mind

 

After listening to Obama’s speech in Egypt yesterday, I was amazed to hear how dismissive regional leaders seemed to be.  I was very discouraged how leaders seem intent on continuing the sad cycles, repeating history and the same mistakes. 

In order to help them in this folly, I have decided to give them a short list of excuses to use in order to reject any prospect for peace and security. 

1.  It is a waste of time to even think about it.

2.  It is not realistic.

3. We have tried it before.

4. We didn’t start this. They did.

5. First, they must do it. Then we will.

6. It can not be done.

7. Why should WE compromise?

8.  We are victims. They are the problem-makers.

9.  Who will pay for it? 

10. There will never be peace in the Middle East until they are destroyed.

11. They are not human.

12.  They cannot be trusted. 

I am sure this is not a comprehensive list but it is a very good start. Anyway, how many excuses does one need to destroy the world?

LiveJournal Tags: Middle East,politics,excuses,closed minds

Cheney v.s. Obama

Expedients are for the hour; Principles are for the ages.             

H. W.  Beecher