Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Joining The Party


Or; Crossing The Aisle, as it used to be called, is Sen. Arlen Specter R. (now D.) - Pa. It's a rare occurrence. The last one I recall was that strangely appellated Ben (Nighthorse) Campbell - Colorado crossed from D. or R. Pretty much the same circumstances, only different...erm.
It's now easy to understand why the Dems decided they'd better give Crypto-Republican Sen. Joe (Smite Them Hip And Thigh) Lieberman DI - Connecticut enough perks to caucus with the D.'s.
Still, Strange Bedfellows aside, I scent a real opportunity here. After the manner of modern "Sports Teams" (as some entertainment corporations are called), Let's Make A Deal. While we're about it, lets make it a Blockbuster. I propose a swap of Sens Lieberman and Dianne Feinstein D.(sorta) - Ca. for Sens Olympia Snowe R. - Maine and Chuck Hegel R. - Nebraska. It might be enough to keep Sen. Hegel in the Senate (if he's still there, in fact). All of these pols (except Sen. Feinstein) are known for their mavericky ways, so it would not actually make a lot of difference except for the warnings on the labels.
It might cause a minor reduction in the Dishonesty Quotient, however - a Good Thing in my way of thinking.

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

DOD Pork


..."At a time of economic difficulty, it makes no sense to take a strategically important weapons system and cap it and cost 95,000 jobs in a relatively short period of time," said Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.), talking about
Weapons Programs that might get removed from the DOD budget. Amazing! WMD as a jobs program! Why bother with all that Stimulus Spending (labelled by Sen. Isakson's Party-Of-No as Porkulus) when we can just shovel more money into DOD programs to develop more effective Killing Devices?
Considering how frequently the United States is called on to Defend Itself; far more than any other country (except for Israel), it might make sense to spend every possible dollar on guns 'n stuff. Especially since it'll create Lots Of Jobs! (in My District)

Monday, April 27, 2009

Does It Worry You

That it seems to be no problem at all to find people who are willing to carry out what they're now euphemistically calling "Severe Interrogation Techniques". In fact, it's never been difficult to fine torturers and killers. In any society. Civilization doesn't necessarily mean civilized behavior.
There've been some comments in the news about the principles established by the Nuremburg Trials, where a number of Germans were convicted of War Crimes. The principle of personal moral responsibility in the face of illegal orders was, however, established in the trial of


Captain Henry Wirz
of the Confederate Army. His defense of "Following Orders" was judged to be insufficient to clear him of crimes against POWs in Andersonville Prison. Still, when people ask Why do the CIA "Operatives" seem to be immune from prosecution?; I have to say Because the ones we tried were "Them", and the ones we aren't going to try are "Us". It seems as if the presence of Pogo The Possum were never more apparent. We have Met The Enemy.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

The


Classified Documents that former VP Dick "If I Only Had A Heart" Cheney claims knowledge of: ("...classified documents that prove...") are filed right next to that famous "List Of Communists In The State Department" that Senator Joseph R. McCarthy waved about but never allowed to anyone to actually see. Isn't it interesting how the (blessedly) former administration can cite so many documents that it also claims have to be kept from sight lest they provide Comfort To The Enemy. Just guessing here - The Enemy is Anybody-But-Us.

Monday, April 20, 2009

It's A Nightmare


...This whole thing about the Disappearing Newspapers.
In a nightmarish sort of Maunderingstate it occurred to me that if the Print Media all close up shop (something I think as inevitable as GM going belly up), eventually they'll also pull the plug on their Archives.
Now, I really don't spend a lot of time looking at Old News. It is, after all, OLD. However, I suddenly had a panicky realization that all those URL's I've embedded in all those postings on FranksMaunderings (here, that is), will suddenly lead to nowhere. The Bit Bucket. It's happened before. I discovered while searching through an old posting that links to, specifically, http://news.yahoo.com/ articles disappear after a few days. Yahoo, it seems, is rather impecunious regarding storage of old items. I had to muck about looking for the equivalent-or-nearly-so items on other websites to replace the missing links (ehh) where I'd witlessly relied on Yahoo to keep the articles I linked to. It took a lot of time, and was a pain in the ...
But, I now had nothing but Good Links to my sources.
Or So I Thought.
But yesterday I realized that some or any or most or all of those sources are likely to disappear over time. Being nothing if not inventive. Or stubborn. Or obsessive, I Hatched A Plan. I'll simply add a new Blog to my stable, follow the links in my postings, Cut 'N Paste the actual web document into my new blog, and Link To That!.
I created the blog. I began searching thru this blog - yes, this one here, where you are, I hope reading with Great Anticipation for the denoument. I found, among other things, that I put out a lot of stuff without any external links. Not until September 11 (yoww!) of 2006 did I ever include a link to outside sources. Sure enough, on that very first post where I had included external links (How Dems Can Win the Midterm Elections) I discovered that it had already happened! One of the links went to an extinct location: "http://www.newt.org/backpage.asp?art=3547". Yes, Newt Gingrich's .org had been cancelled. YES! But unfortunately, this meant that you, the reader, were now unable to sample the wierd wisdom of the New Intellectual Leader of the Party Of No. Also, it makes my otherwise semi-impeccably maintained blog look shoddy. So, I did a little searching, and found another place where those words of wisdom were posted. Think about it: how likely is it, really, that the Words Of Newt will actually be extinguished? Anyway, I followed my above mentioned prescription and replaced the links in that posting with links to copies I made of the original (sort of) articles.
You can see the New Improved Post at the link above.
It's gonna be a while before I get through all those postings.
Some of 'em, I might simply delete. Save myself a little time and effort.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Don't Do The Crime


... If You Can't Do The Time. This was the theme (patter-)song of a popular police drama on TeeVee way back in the (I think) '70's. Oddly, the star of the show, a retread from Spanky And Our Gang child stardom, would later be tried for murder. Found not-guilty, as those with high name recognition often are. Not making a judgement here - I'm just saying...
Anyway, here we have Michael V. Hayden speaking up (Former C.I.A. Director Defends Interrogation) in an attempt to justify criminal acts that he previously admitted were criminal acts! Based on the interesting theory that the Evildoers (and we Know Who You Are!) will take advantage of the fact that we claim we won't torture them anymore - so that they can prepare for a future time when, presumably, a more bloodthirsty President (like the current President's immediate predecessor) will instruct his spies to go back to torturing their prisoners.
Remarkable! One wonders what mental gymnastics the General had to commit to reach such a ermmm... Tortured conclusion.
In lockstep of course "Senator John Ensign, a Republican from Nevada, also criticized the administration on Sunday, saying that the disclosure would limit future options against terrorism. 'The harm is that if we ever return to those policies, one is they can train against them now,' he said on CNN’s 'State of the Union.' 'Do we really think that having advanced interrogation techniques is something we don’t want to use if we find Osama bin Laden?'"
Ahh, Yes: the Reveal. What we (well, not Me, but some of You, apparently) really want to do is to extract Vengeance on a Hated Enemy (Osama bin Laden) for vengeful acts he instigated against us! How can we get back if all we can do is Try and Convict him for crimes committed? NO! Heat Up The Irons. Ready The Tongs. Grease Up The Rack. Check The Bamboo Splinter Supply Is Sufficient. Ready The Water Tub. We just gotta inflict as much pain on this hated enemy who's also a member of a despised minority. Not Really A Human Being At All, is he?
Please, Please - Don't Take My Torture Chamber Away!
And, certainly, Don't Jail Me For Following Orders!

Friday, April 17, 2009

75%


Of Texans in This Poll say they don't want to secede from the United States. Too Bad!, I say.
Interestingly, 31% say they believe Texas has the "right" to secede. Gov. Rick "Goodhair" Perry claims to believe it too. Guess all those school reforms didn't stop at least 31% of Texas' schoolchildren from being shut out of an education. Maybe it's that Texas Schoolbooks are a little shy on discussions of the Civil War, which many of us thought put the idea of secession to rest. Still, there are a lot of those "The South Will Rise Again" bumperstickers to be seen. And with the Flat-Earthers joining with the My-Mom-Wasn't-A-Monkey-ers (Creationists on Texas School Board Prevail), it seems unlikely that the kiddies will be getting any schoolbooks that deal seriously with reality any time soon.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

He's Speaking, Of Course,


Not About intelligence, but rather about the difference in test scores between the Rich and the Poor: How to Raise Our I.Q. I'm a fan of Nicholas Kristof; he knows a lot about a lot of places in the world that few people visit. He studies things - uncommon these days. He thinks about things - well-nigh unheard of in these days of Cable "News". Like so many, however, he has mistaken I. Q. Test Scores for actual Intelligence. In an article from the very same NY Times, almost two years ago, that I somehow managed to save; Joseph Berger (This Is a Test. Results May Vary) does a lot to shred the myths that have given rise to Test-O-Mania not only in the US but around the world.
As they say in Texas (an otherwise benighted state); "You don't fatten a calf by weighing it." (Thanks, Molly Ivins).
An interesting check to see if Rich vs. Poor actually has anything to do with I.Q. might be to repeat the I.Q. Tests on the hosts of now Poor and Stupid who were until recently Rich and Smart. I speak here, of course, of the Wizards Of Wall Street (and other participants in the loot-and-plunder schemes now unravelling). Did they lose IQ points along with their fortunes? Did they suddenly become stupid?
Or were they always stupid, blessed only with an ability to substitute "Innovative Financial Instruments" for reality? And, of course, to successfully Fill In The Box on the Answer Sheet.

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Seems Odd


... Doesn't it?That a Senate election in 2008 "...a Senate Race Without End" is taking longer to resolve than a Presidential election in 2000. I guess the megabux spent on Diebold voting machines, and spent trying to keep Diebold from rigging them, didn't really solve any 'problems' with voting. I note that there are those among us (I include myself here) who think it better to get it right than to get it instantly. Horse Races; sure, get that photo-finish machine to give instant results. When (s)electing a leader; let's not leave it to a machine. Let's count all the votes. As many times as needed.

Monday, April 13, 2009

An Example


A Tutelary (ahem) Example of my thesis regarding Rules & Regulations: "When all the rules-that-make-sense have been made, the rule-makers, having nothing better to do (my suggestion - Self Destruct) commence upon making non-sensical rules." Such appears to be the case here: Amazon responds to queries, blames a 'glitch'. I really do not suppose that Amazon.com has any formal policy saying something like Gay Books Are Yucky - Hide Them From The Kids. I think some flunky with too much time (and too little brain) simply decided to Clean Up a minor personally irritating loose end.
I think it encouraging, in these benighted times, that people not only noticed, but inquired about this imbecilic situation.
A little embarrassment for a corporation can be a rejuvenating thing. Of course, The Great American Corporation& ™ has been getting a lot of that lately. See, for instance, what Google News has to say about General Motors.
Remarkable how an "Iconic Company" managed to maneuver itself so handily into such a dire end. There's Irony there somewhere, but I don't really know just where.

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Not A Surprise


Not surprising that we are seeing (ok, reading about) an increase in the bombings shootings and general mayhem in Iraq. It's been a nice exercise in global realpolitik to (ahem) "recruit" several brigades of disaffected Sunni combatants. At a cost of a few hundred US$/warrior/month, the United States occupying forces in essence bribed the insurgents to turn around and shoot at their unregenerate (unbribed) friends.
The visible signs of conflict subsided. This is an unsurprising result. It was a pretty tough slog for the insurgents, trying to mount a resistance with little weaponry and little training. As part of General Petraeus "Surge", however, in addition to getting paid to fight, they're being armed and trained by US trainers. A pretty good way to take a break from the dangers of fighting a guerilla campaign against a massive occupying force. The currently ruling Shi'ite government was undertandably nervous, of course. They couldn't say too much about the situation, but it was clearly going to make it tougher to mount a Payback Operation against their traditional foes - now better armed and better prepared. Now that the occupying forces are on their way out, the maneuvering for advantage in the upcoming Civil War is beginning to show. The U.S. military recently stopped paying the Sons of Iraq, and the former insurgents now need to become former turncoats and return to being insurgents if they're to survive the New Iraqi Civil War. They're likely going to end up between a vengeful Iraqi (Shi'ite that is) regular army and an even more vengeful rebel (Sunni that is) irregular army. It appears that's what the Unregenerate Insurgent Sunnis are doing now: Another suicide bombing, letting the turncoat Sons Of Iraq know it's dangerous for them to try to collect their pay from the occupiers.
The Sons Of Iraq had better have a pretty good story to tell: something about how they always intended to take the money and the guns, and then return to the welcoming arms of their fellow Resistance Fighters, better able to kill the enemy (which by now is pretty much everybody in the world).

Monday, April 06, 2009

Why On Earth...


Do These Politicians expect us to be fooled by this kind of politicrap? "Alaska politicians renew calls for missile defense funding". Sen. Lisa Murkowski, Sen. Mark Begich, and Rep. Don Young, who constitute the entire Alaskan Congressional delegation (if congress were truly apportioned according to population, AK would have to share a congressman with two or three other states), are foursquare on this. I think it a bit paranoid - okay - Hugely Paranoid to claim that No. Korea is somehow willing to destroy itself in a holocaust of explosive reprisal, just in order to drop a load somewhere in Alaska. What could they hit? An oil slick, perhaps. Until a few years ago, they could have killed a bunch of Salmon, but the fishermen and miners have beat 'em to it.
Really: its politicians like this that give politics a bad name. Couldn't these Bozoes at least pretend to believe that we're smart enough to know better than this?

Tempest...


In A Crackpot, so to speak. "North Korean Missile Launch a Failure" - Say The Experts. Just The Facts, man.
First, the twilight-zone nation of No. Korea got lots and lots of front-page ink (Look where the NY Times put the writeup).
Second, lots of other people got pretty-good mileage (politically speaking) from the event.
Third, anyone who gives it more than a cursory thought will know that it's quite impossible for No. Korea to actually attack anywhere outside its own territory.
Any foreign adventure that goes beyond barking loudly will surely cause the destruction of the country.
Sure, they can kill lots of "Enemies", but they wouldn't survive the exercise. The only reason to fear that they might actually make the attempt is the fact that the government of that sad little nation is not known at all for its rational behavior.
Oddly, I take some comfort in their sortie, back in 1968, when they successfully attacked and siezed USNS Puebly, which was spying on them. All other considerations aside, such as that attacking a ship on the high seas should have attracted a massive military response (They got an apology instead), it showed that there's at least one Machiavellian Political Genius in the country that understands How Things Work in the international world quite well. Let's hope that that operative is still umm... operating. Him/Her, or a well-taught successor.

Wednesday, April 01, 2009

It Takes A Cop


Just how insecure; or lame; or limp, is a man who so fears his wife's rejection of his sexual advances that he needs a law. A law that says, in essence, "If you don't let me f... you, I'll call the cops!" Yes, that's what the government (such as it is) of Afghanistan - "Afghan Law Ignites Debate on Religion, Sex" - has decreed. So it goes when you are beset by a Shame-Based Society. Sex is a secretive shameful thing. You have to ask a Higher Power, like God, or Allah, or, in a pinch, an ordinary stiff (ahem), like a Mullah, or a Pope, or President, for permission to engage in some kind of sexual activity. Pass the responsibility for your feelings and urges to somebody else. Now I have to admit that this is actually a pretty good idea! "Not My Fault!", you can say. "God Told Me To Do It!"
But ultimately I suspect it's just another case of

"Good Idea; Too bad it's wrong"