Hope in the oddest places

The following letter was published in the Montgomery (AL) Advertiser. I quote it in full.

President Bush is no Truman

We continue to hear that America is a Christian nation. President Bush is now telling us he is comparable to former President Harry Truman.

I suppose if you consider Americans to be fools, you can tell them anything and expect them to believe it.

If citizens of another nation look at America, what do they see? They see political figures such as President Bush, Vice President Cheney, and religious figures such as Rev. Jerry Falwell and Don Wildmon who loudly claim to be Christians but seem to do religion for money, sex, or political power.

There is little evidence of biblical Christianity. In the face of the evidence, it is a desecration of the term "Christian" to claim America is a Christian nation. Likewise, it is a desecration of the memory of former President Harry Truman to compare him to Bush. Truman had faults, but he also had a moral compass and basic integrity.
Carl L. Hess
Ozark

Well put Mr. Hess. I just hope it's not too lonely for you in Ozark.

Nice day for a WHITE wedding

Do not confuse Belgium with its more tolerant neighbour the Netherlands. As an example we hear that three couples in the town of Sint-Niklaas have refused to be married by the town clerk, Wouter van Bellingen, because he is black. Showing his magnanimity Hr. van Bellingen has refused to take the matter court and is instead organising a mass wedding ceremony on 21 March, the International Day Against Racism, on the Grote Markt Square in Sint-Niklaas. He is also, thanks to the publicity surrounding his bigoted potential customers, fully booked until the middle of next year.

It's the politics stupid

The people of the world are not as naïve as their political leaders would have you believe nor as stupid as the politicians would hope for. It would seem that they, in general, they see through the "clash of civilisations" rhetoric surrounding the "war on terra" and understand that the root cause is really about political power. The worldwide poll, conducted for the BBC, found that those in the UK, France, Mexico, Canada and Italy were most likely to believe that there is common ground to be found between the West and Islam. Even in the US 64% believed this but 31% felt that conflict is inevitable. These are probably the same people who think that the world is going to end this year!

The full poll results are to be found here (PDF).

Straightening up the church

Taking a leaf out of Tony Blair's book the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams has patched together, at least for now, the rift within the Anglican communion by seemingly promising to betough on treating gays like human beings and tough on the causes of treating gays like human beings. If this doesn't do it the days of "the sun never sets on the Church of England" would seem to be numbered.

Poisoned chalice

How will Tony Blair be remembered? What will his legacy truly be?

1. As the leading light of a rejuvenated United Kingdom boldly and proudly striding into the 21st century with a world class health service, an extraordinary education system and the respect of the world?
2. As George Bush's succubus?
3. As the agent of unemployment for New Labour ministers?
   

If a new poll conducted for the Guardian by ICM is to be believed option 3) will certainly be a part of it. The results show that Gordon Brown, hamstrung by his loyalty to Big Tone, is trailing the youthful and exciting David "Stoner" Cameron by 13 percentage points. That quite a lot of ground to make up and the longer Blair refuses to leave office the harder the task ahead of Mr. Brown will become.

Absurdum extremis

As the winner of this year Newberry Prize for children’s literature, Susan Patron’s new book, The Higher Power of Lucky, ought to be found in virtually in virtually every library across the United States. Instead the book is being banned in school libraries across the country.

Why, you may ask. Because it contains that incredibly offensive word scrotum. It’s not a dirty word is it?

When is America just going to grow the hell (can I say that) up?

Iraqi turnaround

No. It's not what you think. Iraq, blessed with the rivers Tigris and Euphrates, is one of the more agriculturally blessed states in the Middle East and, until recently at least, was a net food exporter. Now that is not the case and many Iraqis have to rely on handouts of food in order to survive. This is leading to a burgeoning food crisis in a country where everything else is falling apart. The Iraqis are now reliant on imported food provided by firms from Australia and other "coalition of the willing" countries. This food is generally not what the Iraqis are accustomed to eating and is also often of substandard quality. Staples are in short supply and costs are skyrocketing despite the unilateral removal of tariffs brought in by American viceroy Paul Bremer.

Little electricity, little water, little sewage or rubbish disposal, little petrol and now little food. They must love democracy a great deal to be willing to suffer so much.

Immigration v assimilation

There is a great deal of chatter in this country about the need for immigrants, code for Muslims of African and Asian descent, to "assimilate" into the British culture. At least one of the arguments makes sense; learning enough English to communicate in the public square. The rest of the reasoning smacks of hypocrisy, racism and fear. When for instance was the last time anyone went walking through Chinatown or Golders Green thinking "I just wish these people would integrate". I mean if they did where would we go for Kung Pao chicken or salt beef bagels? Why can't these immigrants retain their culture, their religion, their language and their dress whilst continuing to live within the larger British community?

If they don't move to the West with the intent of becoming just like us we feel that they shouldn't come. Yet if a Westerner moves somewhere in the emerging world and learns the language, adopts local dress, eats the local food and lives in the same way as the residents of that country do he or she is said to "go native" rather than saying that they have assimilated.

There wouldn't be any inherent racism buried not to deep here would there?

What's for lunch?

Two years ago the US federal government tested a number of plastic lunch boxes for, amongst other things, lead content and reported that they found no problems. However they refused to release their test results. Unfortunately for the government it would seem that they were telling a porky and someone with access to the data leaked it to the Associated Press. The actual results weren't nearly as good as they had said. They had found significant problems with 20% of the samples. Oops.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission, who ostensibly is there to protect consumers, still stands by their results which gives them the appearance at least of wanting to protect corporate interests more than the public.

Stealth cows

Cattle are big. Cattle are smelly. Cattle are ponderous. None of this seems to have stopped hundreds of the bovine beasts slipping past "government safeguards" and getting into the US from Canada without the proper documentation. According to the Chicago Tribune (reg. req'd.) cattlemen from Washington state have got their hands on correspondence between meat companies and government officials which seem to indicate that the tracking systems are breaking down.

And they won't let me give blood in the US because I've lived in the UK for too long. Ha!

Looking out for number one

Six of the seven US attorneys who were recently sacked by the Bush administration and are to be replaced without Congressional oversight under an obscure provision of the Patriot Act had had positive performance appraisals but had also had political conflicts with the administration over "issues ranging from immigration to the death penalty". Perhaps most importantly "most of the prosecutors were overseeing significant public-corruption investigations" at least four of which have Republicans or Republican supports as their targets. I am certain however that there could be no political motivation for these sackings and anything which makes it appear that way is just an unfortunate coincidence.

The life of Reilly - Baghdad style

This week the Guardian is publishing extracts from Rajiv Chandrasekaran's new book Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone. Based on today’s extract I suspect that I am going to want to rush out and buy it even though I know it will only make me more depressed. A few snippets from today:

• All foodstuffs, including the water in which they boil the hotdogs* and all fresh meat and vegetables, comes from contractors outside of Iraq. Breakfast cereal, in a nod to keeping America's greenhouse gas emissions at the top of the chart, is flown in from the States.
• The water in the swimming pool is a beautiful, clear blue.
• Halliburton's customer-service liaison is a spotty 22 year old man whose previous experience was as a junior aide to a Republican congressman. Halliburton hired him and then asked to see his CV.
• Paul Bremer's armed guards earned a cool quarter of a million USD per annum.
• Most staff leave the Green Zone only rarely if at all.
• Despite all of this luxury the coddled individuals living in this la-la land still feel the need to have a "combat stress clinic".

When asked about a recent suicide bomb attack by three separate bombers not far outside the walls of the enclave one of the staffers replied, apparently without irony:

"Yeah, I saw something about it on the office television...but I didn't watch the full report. I was too busy working on my democracy project."

* Note: do you think that the American embassy in Israel serves pork? I don't.

Hearts and minds - fading fast

Iraq was once a reasonably prosperous state with a burgeoning middle class, good education and health services and a fairly low rate of poverty. Now, thanks largely to years of sanctions and the recent and illegal invasion by America and her allies, 30% of the population now lives in poverty with around 5% living in conditions of extreme deprivation.

Oh Irony thy name is....

...well I don't know what her name is but I do know Irony when I see it.

Guardian headline: "60 killed in Iraq as leaders hail fall in violence"

Meanwhile the carnage continues.

A man of conviction

In today's Guardian Gary Younge comments about George Bush and Iran in a piece entitled "Once George Bush has got hold of a bad idea he just can't let it go". Key quote -

"Just because it is irresponsible, irrational, unpopular and unconscionable doesn't mean he won't do it."

That pretty much sums up what we are up against, doesn't it?

Only the lonely

The mummified remains of a 70 year old man have been found in his home in Hampton Bays NY approximately a year after he died. He neighbours couldn't seem to get up the energy to check on him despite the fact that he was diabetic and blind. A year's worth of post had piled up by the mail box. He was found seated in a chair with the telly on. It is amazing to think that if he was watching Faux News the whole time it is unlikely that he would have missed one "fair and balanced" story.

Caps off

The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is preparing to tell global governments that it is likely that material loss of the polar ice sheets may be unavoidable due to greenhouse gases irrespective of current and future efforts to reduce them. Such a loss could lead to sea level rises of four to six metres which would have catastrophic effects on human life including creating tens, if not hundred, of millions of refugees and displaced peoples and radically reshaping ecosystems. Time to say goodbye to Bangladesh, Kiribati, the Seychelles and New Orleans (if we haven't already).

This comes at the same time as we find out that British CO2 contributions are significantly higher than official figures due to the fact that major companies are underreporting their emissions, perhaps deliberately.

Well at least I'm not young!

A message to Californians

If you do not go to the VoteYesMarriage website and do everything you can to support The Voters' Right to Protect Marriage Initiative normally heterosexual men and women in the state will be forced, possibly at gunpoint, to partner up with members of their own sex against their will and God will be very, very upset. There is no telling what she will do.

Do it. Now! If you don't no one will be safe.

The end of civilisation in New Jersey

On Monday the law that allows civil unions between same sex couples goes into effect. If the Garden State was ever civilised, and there is considerable debate on the subject, it ends right there. I assume all God-fearing, extra-heterosexuals have already left the state for a more Christian state, possibly Utah.

England return to the scene of the crime

Next Saturday the English Rugby Union side takes on Ireland in the Six Nations competition. What is historic about the occasion is that it is the first time that an English side has played at the venue since the Bloody Sunday killings in 1920 when British Black and Tans shot into the crowd at a Gaelic Football match.

Northern Irish Secretary Peter Hain has no plans to mark the occasion.

The end of the special relationship

After so many good years it is probably time to declare the special relationship between the United Kingdom and the United States over. The UK, now more properly named the United Queendom, has apparently decided that the greatest film kiss of all time took place between two blokes (ick!) in Brokeback Mountain.

Maybe the United Arab Emirates is still available.

Sex and Iraq

Is it possible that the Attorney General, Lord Goldsmith, got his advice on the illegal invasion of Iraq wrong because, due his being in the midst of a tawdry extramarital affair and therefore was thinking with the wrong brain. You know, that other one that always gets you into trouble?

Zimbawbwe in meltdown

Could this be Mugabe's last stand? Officers from the Army and the police force are deserting in droves as inflation tops 1500%, electricity supplies become increasingly undependable and sewage and water services continually breakdown.

A man can only and dream.

Britney shears

Who gives a shit?

Let's all just let the poor girl have her meltdown and return to poor-white-trashdom in peace.

Jap crap

NASCAR is normally a safe haven for the beer bellied, tattooed, God fearing, patriotic and absurdly heterosexual American alpha male. It is rich with the scent of testosterone and motor oil. It throbs to the sound of American muscle cars endlessly going around in circles with Lynyrd Skynyrd on the radio.

Well it may be a safe haven no more as Japanese manufacturer Toyota makes its debut on the formerly all-American circuit. The true fans seem to be upset. Herewith a few snippets of outrage from NASCAR chatrooms:

"Toyota in Nascar... its just aint (sic) right! It's like putting a turd in a bowl of M&M's, it just dont (sic)fit and stinks the whole thing up."

"I just read Toyotas (sic) are the No1 choice among gays and lesbians. And im (sic)not gay bashing either, my cousin is a lesbo. but i am saying anyone who favors Toyotas over the big three is gay."

"I wish I had a billion dollars to give Nascar to keep all the race cars American, screw any and all Japcrap cars, drivers and fans. I'm done after this year, no more races on tv or at the track."

Where would Jesus dump his waste?

I am not sure this really qualifies as news, I mean we all knew this didn't we, but a new study out of the University of Michigan shows that hazardous waste facilities are disproportionately to be found in poor and non-white neighbourhoods. I could have sworn there used to be one in Bryn Mawr.

NY Daily News headline

"Mike defends free condoms as lifesavers"

Don't lifesavers have a hole in them?

"They'll just make claims anyway."

State Farm Insurance has announced that it will no longer issue homeowner's insurance in Mississippi. An unnamed employee suggested that the southern state was "just too fucking poor" for the industry giant to bother.

Not Sly enough

Philadelphia native and the greatest actor (after Ronald Reagan) to not win an Academy Award Sylvester Stallone has had a spot of bother in Sydney Australia after he was stopped in customs and questioned over prohibited items in his luggage.

There has been no news as to whether Mr. Balboa was treated to a cavity search or not.

Pennsylvania in the news

It is always good to see Pennsylvania in the news although they must have had the wrong kind of snow near Allentown the other day. Cue Billy Joel.

"Well we're stranded here in Allentown
And they're closing all the off ramps down"