Good Idea

There's an event (some might call it a circus) called Annapolis. Actually, Annapolis is a place. A city. The capital of Maryland. And most famously the location of the United States Naval Academy. That's where there's a gathering this week to Make Peace in the Middle East. At first I thought this was a great example of my Primary Working Hypothesis

"Good Idea - Too Bad It's Wrong".

But, umm, that's wrong! Truly, this idea of peace is not wrong at all; it's very right. Extremely right, even. The meeting is an example, rather, of "Good Idea - Too Bad It Won't Work."
The underlying problem is that in the Middle East there are just too many versions of the One-And-Only-God; each with it's own set of adherents, each calling on it's fans, apparently, to rid It's Favorite Place On Earth (rumored to be Jerusalem) of all the fans of the other versions of Itself. This (or those) is (or are) a very violent and self-sentered God (or Gods).
As is to be expected. How can an only entity learn to play well with others? THis (these) God(s) are as a result of this isolation, very poorly socialized. Also extremely needy.
I'd like to think that if only there were lots and lots of Gods, they wouldn't need to be worshipped quite so violently. But when we consider Hinduism, which has more Gods than you can shake a stick at, still the violence; still the killing. Onlly now it's not to establish which one is the true One-And-Only-God; it's to raise my favorite One-Among-Many-Gods in the hierarchy. Give It a boost in the pecking order, so to speak.
Maybe this isn't about God at all - maybe it's about people and the reasons they use to justify killing others.

So Predictable...

Pakistan... Failed State... Military takeover... United States ally... Officials See Few Options for U.S.(New York Times, Nov. 4)
Basically, our brutal thug dictator isn't capable of remaining in power on his own, unlike the brutal thug dictators we are continuously trying to oust. Really depressing isn't it?
Of course, if the President and the Congress paid a modicum of attention to the outside world (that would be different, wouldnt it?), we might not have this problem.
A suggestion: let's stop working the public perception by wasting time and effort on symbolism, and start working on working with real events actually occurring now!
Instead of passing a resolution condemning the Ottoman Empire for genocidal acts (the while pretending that the United States never, oh no never, gave those smallpox-infested blankets to the Indians!). How about working with the people who are alive today? Threaten Iran for trying to make an A-bomb. Suck up to Pakistan, which made an A-bomb. Why? Threaten North Korea, but wring your hands and ask Burma to make nice. It seems to be diplomacy-by-wishful-thinking. Well, for the answer as to why some dictators are acceptable, and some are not, perhaps you'd better ask dictator-wannabe Dick Cheney. Maybe it would be better to ask Fox News (motto: we lie, but we do it with a straight face.) to ask him. Whatever the answer, it's sure to be a love-fest in the studio.

Paranoia Central

"He didn't believe that the FBI would be stupid enough to believe him - when he reported his son-in-law as an al Quaeda agent.

Man angry with son-in-law fingers him as terrorist to FBI

So, of course, the FBI had the man's son-in-law deported. Now he's being sued for libel.
I think he should be sued for naivete. How could he not know about the incredible depths of Institutional Paranoia in the United States Dept. of Homeland Security (brought to you courtesy of crypto-Republican Joe Lieberman [I - Ct.])? Of course, the man is from Sweden; so he hasn't been bombarded by the continuous barrage of scarey news propagated by the fear-mongering Bush administration.

Paul Tibbets: 1915-2007

Gen. Paul Warfield Tibbets Jr. died at home on Nov. 1. He was, of course, famous as the pilot of the B-29 bomber, named after his mother, that dropped the bomb on Hiroshima in 1945.



The event has had a huge impact on the world ever since. For shock value, it's hard to imagine anything greater. The controversy was intense then, and it's still around, though it's been overtaken by newer and more immediate outrages. Some say it was barbaric and killed thousands of innocent people. Some say it ended the war and saved millions of lives. The first is certainly true; the bodies were there to be counted. The continuing effects of the deadly radiation are there to be seen.



I personaly think the second claim is unproven, and unprovable. Japan had not surrendered. The news/propaganda said the mainland was mobilizing to resist an invasion. The army troops on Okinawa had faced violent opposition. Kamikaze planes had damaged and sunk a number of navy ships (it's a good idea to remember here that the amphibious ships were pretty much a one-way thing anyway; "sinking" an LST on the beach counts only nominally). Anyway, The Japanese were armed and waiting; The Troops were battle fatigued. They were also likely watching Movietone News clips showing their comrades coming home from Europe to family, friends, and parades. Would the Japanese have fought an invading force? Yes. Would they have been an effective resistance? I think that's the part that's forever unknowable. Millions of people killed in the invasion? I doubt it. I wonder if people who blithely make the claim have other certainties that are by no means certain.



I do know that a visit to the Hiroshima Memorial, at "Ground Zero", the old Prefectural Hall, is almost an emotional overload. Such a visit should probably be prescribed to the lot of draft-dodging warriors who are running things in the United States at the moment. And seem bent on starting more and more wars, until they find one they can win.