Sometimes, You Just Gotta Laugh

From Fat to Thin, and Back Again
Chocolate maker Nestle is buying weight loss company Jenny Craig. This is a perfect example of a vertical monopoly. Nestle will sell us the products to make us fat and provide us with the service to make us thin again. To celebrate getting thin we will buy some Nestle chocolate and start the whole cycle over again.

The Champagne of Planets
Those of us who cling to the belief that the Earth is the center of the Universe have had a tough time with scientists the past few centuries. Now comes news to cheer our hearts. The Earth is surrounding by giant, fizzy bubbles. We're floating in a celestial sea of champagne.

When All Else Fails, Run a Commercial
The United States is making a glitz, million dollar television commercial to convince Iraqis that suicide bombings are not cool. It will show a Matrix-style, slow-motion explosion to demonstrate that bombs kill people. Just a guess, Iraqis probably already know this. The best part, it is being filmed in Los Angeles and most of the "arabs" in the production are Latinos.

Ten Commandments - More What You'd Call
"Guidelines" Than Actual Rules
Three of the top contenders for President from the Party of God, you know, the Republicans, are self-confessed adulterers. John McCain dumped his wife who raised his three children for the rich, young hottie he had cultivated an affair with who would finance his political ambitions. Newt Gingrich famously harrassed his first wife over divorce negotiations while she was hospitalized for cancer. He has a special attraction to young staffers. While mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani brazenly took his mistress to official functions. They will still run on a holier than thou platform.

The Future of Political Ads*

*if Democrats are smart.
Look at What Would Jesus Do? from the brilliant young activist Ava Lowery of Peace Takes Courage.

You know the traditional political commercial, they all look pretty much the same no matter which party is doing them, right? They show the candidate with family walking in some pretty spot (here in California that is almost always the beach), talking to a small group of elderly folks, and playing with his children if he has any (and someone else's children if he hasn't). A couple of innocuous policy positions nobody could disagree with are included and, voila, another media consultant has pocketed a sweet profit. With the uninspiring pablum that passes for political discource today, it is a wonder election turnouts aren't lower.

But, I can hear my consultant friends telling me that campaign commercials must be uplifting and inspiring. Try Making History for inspiration. What about attack ads, they tell me? Only attack ads really work. Tell me one political commercial you've seen that was a more powerful attack than Who Is George Bush?

Boldness wins elections. Only boldness deserves to win elections. Ava Lowery's productions are bold statements of principal that touch the heart and soul. A lot has been made about the death threats that Ms. Lowery, age 15, has received. That only makes my point. Even hard right-wingers can see the power of her message and have nothing to answer her. All they can do is lash out, impotently. It isn't the money that goes into a commercial that matters, it is the message.

If Ava Lowery inspires the future production of political commercials, Democrats will win in a landslide.
tag: ava lowery

The Truth Is Out There, It Is Just Stamped 'Secret'

Press Secretary Tony Snow says "there's a lot going on" in Iraq. True enough. If you want to know what is going on, don't listen to Tony, hunt down some secret embassy memos. A secret cable from the US embassy in Baghdad reveals a different Iraq than you'll hear described by the Propaganda Ministry.

Working for the Embassy is Hazardous
Guards in the Green Zone are harrassing US embassy employees, loudly announcing that they work in the embassy: "Such information is a death sentence if overheard by the wrong people." Embassy employees are keeping their work secret even from their own families.

Life Would Have to Improve to Become Hell
Death is so common, many neighborhoods hold funerals every evening. Fuel lines are as much as 12 hours long. Electricity is one hour on, six hours off. Temperatures are 115 degrees. "Even upscale neighborhoods 'have visibly deteriorated' and one of them is now described as a 'ghost town.'"

Watch What You Wear
Women are being harrassed to cover their faces, the full Taliban abaya. Men are being attacked for wearing shorts or jeans in public. Even children are attacked for wearing shorts.

And It Is Hopeless
"In March, a few (embassy) staff members approached us to ask what provisions would we make for them if we evacuate."

Update: Think Progress has the original document.

Father's Day

Remember today the fathers who have lost their sons in George Bush's War.

A Ten Commandments Primer

Republican Congressman Lynn Westmoreland (GA-8th CD) embarassed himself this evening on the Colbert Report by not being able to remember the Ten Commandments. Normally, such ignorance would bore me, but Westmoreland is one of the co-sponsors of HR 214, which require the Ten Commandments be posted in the chambers of the House of Representatives. He should know what it says before sponsoring legislation requiring it. As a service to Westmoreland and other benighted Republicans, I present a simple primer.

The Ten Commandments

1. Thou shall have no other Gods before me. For many Republicans, the worship of money is placed above God. Ralph Reed, running for lieutenant governor in Georgia, prayed hard at the altar of Jack Abramoff's payoffs, to the tune of at least $4.2 million.
   

2. Thou shall not make graven images. One of the great ironies of our times is that when Christian devotees of Alabama Justice Roy Moore worship at this huge slab of granite it was because it is a graven image of the Ten Commandments.
   
3. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. Whenever you name God as justification for your petty hatreds of liberals, gays, immigrants, and Democrats, you are breaking this one.
4. Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy. I feel bad pointing this out, but Saturday is the sabbath. Sunday worship is a remnant of Roman paganism.
5. Honor thy father and thy mother. The bureaucratic nightmare that is Bush's prescription drug program was a cruelty inflicted upon the elderly to service drug company profits.
   
6. Thou shalt not kill. Some 40,000 civilian Iraq War dead.
   
7. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, 'nuff said.
8. Thou shalt not steal. I could use Jack Abramoff again or Duke Cunningham, but Halliburton's war profiteering is a better example.
   
9. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor. Bush, Cheney, Frist, Hastert, Santorum, the Swift boaters, Ann Coulter. Where do I start? Where does it end?
10. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's everything. Coveting defines Republicanism. Power, money, oil - coveting what others may have is the core belief of evangelical Republicans.
    

The last commandment is found in the Constitution instead of the Bible, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion."

You cannot use your political power to erect crosses (another graven image, by the way) or post your favorite biblical quotes in government buildings. That violated the covenant upon which our country was founded. Erect a cross on you own front lawn or post the Ten Commandments at your place of business, these acts are protected by the Constitution. But don't compel the government to express your religion for you. It's lazy and it's wrong.

tags: ten commandments, colbert report

Got your Global Warming Proof Right Here

Shrinking Canadian glacier.

I can find any argument I want from the Global Warming deniers. Most base their opinions on the theory that, once you dismiss all of the symptoms, there is no definitive proof. My favorite denier is the guy who admits it is happening but believes Global Warming will be a boon to mankind.

Like cancer, the symptoms are the most important clues to diagnosing a plantary disease. What are the symptoms?

• Warmer Temperatures. Seems obvious. Nineteen of the 20 hottest years in historical record have occured in the last 25 years.
  
• Warmer Water and More Intense Rain. Not just all the catagory 4 and 5 hurricanes, there have been historic floods in Europe the past several years.
  
• Droughts. The heavy rain in some places means severe droughts in others. The current East Africa drought is of biblical proportions. Global warming is a zero sum game when it comes to rainfall.
  
• Shrinking Glaciers. The linked article includes photos showing what has happened to several glaciers in the past 100 years. Glaciers are freshwater reservoirs in many parts of the world. As they disappear, so will the freshwater they hold.

• Rising Sea levels. As the oceans heat up and the polar ice caps melt, the oceans will rise. Of course, the Global Warming deniers will claim that it will not make any difference if the oceans rise a few feet. It will make a difference to the people living on this Polynesian atoll. Their homes will completely disappear.
  
• Deadly Heatwaves. In 2003, a heatwave in Europe killed 30,000 people. A nationwide heatwave in 2005 killed scores of Americans. Japan, India, and South Africa have also had killer heatwaves. Deniers like to pretend only the winters are getting warmer. It is the summers that will get us.
  
• Wildfire. Near Flagstaff, over 1000 homes are currently endangered by wildfires. In my hometown, San Diego, in October 2003, wildfires destroyed over 2400 homes, burned over 370,000 acres, and killed 17 people. For days, the smoke was so thick you could look directly at the sun at noon with your naked eye. Texas, Colorado, Alaska, Australia, Europe, and Africa have all seen massive wildfires in recent years. Photos of the San Diego inferno are here and here.
  

more research: GlobalWarming.org, National Academies Press

tags: global warming, Climate Change, Environment

Canoeing Down Fire Dog Lake

I'm floating across Fire Dog Lake and I notice a couple of interesting things in the water with me.

Joe Lieberman's Divine Right to the Senate
Uber-hawk, pro-war to the last drop of American blood, Lieberman has spent the past five years shilling for George Bush. This has earned him, not unexpectedly, heaping praise from Republicans as a good little Democrat. And, it has earned him a strong primary opponent. Joe's reaction is to hint at bolting the Democratic Party and running as an Independent. Joe believes the Senate seat does not belong to the people of Connecticut, it is his personal property. One of his spokespeople said it was insane to allow the voting population of the state to "terrorize" a three-term senator.

There once was a time that Joe Lieberman served the people who elected him. No longer. He now serves in the Senate to serve himself and inflate his own ego. It is a sad decline of a once proud man.

All Will Be Well If We Only Close Our Eyes
President Bush's quick trip to Iraq is proof things are going well - as long as we don't notice that that Bush was afraid to tell most of the Cabinet. Forget not trusting the Iraqi leadership (FDL's point), Bush didn't even trust his own leadership. Bush did not even want the Secretary of Labor to know he was going to be out of the country for a few hours. That is a level of terror that is hard to imagine. All is very much not well.

I'll return to original thought when I can find one.

tags: lieberman, bush, Iraq

What Is the Worth of a Man?

Philosophers and poets have wrestled with this question since the dawn of civilization. The Bush Administration, with the inhuman calculus that they are noted for, has answered this riddle. When US servicemen kill civilian non-combatants in Iraq, the American goverment pays $2500 in compensation.

One average Iraqi man is worth...

• a San Diego doghouse (at housing prices over $400/square foot).
• Seven small cows (at current prices of $70 per hundredweight for Kansas feeder cattle).
• Two minutes of Tommy Franks time (the general who commanded the invasion force into Iraq charges $75,000 per speech).
• 4 to 5 pounds of a marine (the death benefit gratuity to marine families is $100,000).
• 4 grams of Osama Bin Laden ($50 million reward).
• Half of an American's forehead (used for advertising purposes).
• A 1987 Ford Taurus station wagon.
• The fine for sending one junk fax in California.
  
• Less than the weapon he was killed with (the M249 automatic weapon costs $4000).
  

tags: Iraq, War, haditha

Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here

Three Gitmo prisoners commit suicide. Base commander Rear Adm. Harry Harris raged at being deprived of more time to torment them.

They are smart. They are creative, they are committed. They have no regard for life, neither ours nor their own. I believe this was not an act of desperation, but an act of asymmetrical warfare waged against us.

How cunningly sinister those Arabs are. Four years of cruelty inflicted upon them with no hope of it ever ending and, at the end, the only thing they can think about is how to make Harry Harris' life inconvenient.

How are the prisoners treated? Look closely at the picture above, or better still, the one to the left. He is wearing earmuffs, blinders, mittens, and a face mask. It is called sensory deprivation. The prisoner is also short shackled, he cannot move from the painful position he has been forced into. As practiced at Guantanamo, this is clearly torture.

When prisoners attempt hunger strikes they are restrained, a tube is shoved up their noses and down their esophagi, and food is forcibly pumped into their stomachs. Without any anesthetic.

The title of this post quotes Dante's Inferno, it is inscribed on the gates of Hell. It should also be on the front gates of Gitmo. The imprisonment is endless as is their torment. We Americans have created a Hell on Earth.

I would be remiss if I didn't point out that Republicans believe that Gitmo is a tropical paradise. Here is a photo of Republican Congresswoman Melissa Hart (PA, 4th CD) on her recent vacation trip to Gitmo. Notice how happy she is. Obviously, a wonderful time was had by all.
Additional links: 60 Minutes interview of a former Gitmo translator, treatment of hunger strikers, early report of prisoner mistreatment, Gitmo eyewitness, Hominid Views, Liberty Street.
tags: gitmo, Guantanamo, torture

Congress of Clowns

What purpose does the legislative process serve now adays? This past week, anonymous Republican staffers removed a ban on building permanent military bases in Iraq. The ban was passed by both the House and Senate and included in an emergency spending bill. It was deleted by unelected clerks.

SEC. 7032. None of the funds made available by title I of this Act (HR 4939) may be made available to establish permanent United States military bases in Iraq, or to exercise United States control over the oil infrastructure or oil resources of Iraq. ~ text of the Sen. Biden amendment.

Both houses pass language that expresses the will of the people that we do not want permanent colonial bases in Iraq. That language disappears down the Memory Hole without so much as a "fuck you" to the legislators who voted for it. To his credit, Rep. David Obey (D-WI) tried to restore the language in the conference committee but Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-AZ) blocked the effort.

Add in Sen. Arlen Specter, who gave it up like a five dollar whore over the Administration's warrantless wiretap law breaking. Once feigning outrage at the warrantless taps, Specter's new legislation makes warrants optional. Specter wants to grant a blanket amnesty to everyone in the Administration who broke the law and violated the Constitution. With his signing statements, President Bush rewrites any legislation that reaches his desk to fit his mood.

The result is a legislature that serves no function except making noise and taking bribes. Laws debated and voted upon are rewritten behind closed doors. The result bears no resemblance to the original legislative intent. Senators are so timid they shrink from confrontation and willingly throw away the law and the Constitution as if it were confetti. As Glenn Greenwald points out, theirs is a cowardice shared by both Republicans and Democrats.

Congress has become a joke. Since they are jokes by their own acts, that makes them clowns. George Bush, Dick Cheney, and Karl Rove are laughing at our Congressmen as they swallow each humilation. There once was a thing called courage in politics. Now, there are only red noses and floppy feet.

tags: Iraq, congress, iraq bases

The Head of a Slime Mold Is Dead

The internet and cable news shows are atwitter with the news that Abu Musab al-Zarqawi is dead. The liberal blogs are happy, the conservative blogs are unhappy that the liberal blogs aren't more happy, and cable news is just thrilled they have something to fill all of their empty hours. So, what does it all mean?

• The world is better off without him.
  
• It will make as much difference as the capture of Saddam Hussein did. (ie. none)
  Two 500-pound bombs are not nearly as destructive as I thought. I would have thought that much fire power would have left just a few red stains on the rubble. Check out the official Pentagon picture. You can see a zit on his cheek but not a scratch on his face. He looks like he's sleeping.

The slime mold reference in the headline refers to the fatal flaw in American anti-insurgency efforts. The US military believes, as an article of faith, in decapitation as a battle strategy. They believe that if you "cut off the head, the snake will die." Asymmetrical warfare is more like slime mold. Slime mild is a small cell, amorphus blob that grows to massive proportions if it is in the proper, nurturing environment. You can hack away at perceived heads all you want and it will do no damage. The best way to control it is to discourage its growth.
Slime mold can be pretty, though.
tags: zarqawi, Iraq

Death, Drugs, and War - a History

America has fought three major colonial wars in her history - the Philippine Insurrection (1899-1913), the Vietnam War (1965-1973), and the Iraq War (2003-present). All of them have two things in common - war crimes and extensive drug use by American soldiers.

Philippine Insurrection
Following our victory in the Spanish-American War, the United States bought the Philippine Islands from the Spanish. This came as a surprise to Filipinos, who had declared themselves an independent country. We sent over troops and told the Filipinos they had new masters. The ingrates decided to fight. The fighting quickly devolved into a classic asymmetrical guerrilla war. The drug of choice was smoking opium to dull the fear and guilt. The war crimes included concentration camps, torture, and summary executions.

It is an inevitable consequence of war that the innocent must generally suffer with the guilty ~ Gen. J. Franklin Bell, U. S. Army
I want no prisoners. I wish you to kill and burn, the more you kill and burn the better it will please me. ~ Instruction from Gen. Jacob Smith on how to deal with any Filipino prisoners over the age of ten.

There was an active anti-war movement that included Mark Twain and Andrew Carnegie.

Vietnam War
Drug Use
Pot smoking started early in the war. Marine commanders estimated 70 to 80 percent of their soldiers were smoking pot. Heroin, usually smoked or snorted, eventually took over. In 1971 U.S. Army medical officers estimated that 10 to 15 percent of enlisted men used heroin; other estimates go as high as 90 percent. The reason for the drug use was fear, bordom, and the uselessness of the battles.
War Crimes
While My Lai is being talked about again, there were many less famous crimes. Soldiers went into the bush with orders to pacify an area, to clear it of the enemy. But this was a guerrilla war where anyone - men, women, children, the elderly, the lame - anyone could be the enemy. Where anyone can be the enemy, everyone becomes the enemy.

Iraq War
Drug Use
There is an interesting twist in this war. The Pentagon is the most active drug pusher in theater. There is no time, no interest in caring for soldiers who have been traumatized by the conflict. Drug them up and keep them out there is the order of the day. Antidepressants and tranquilizers like Valium instead of R&R or counseling; "go-pills" to keep the soldiers awake and wired for 24 to 48 straight hours; sleeping pills to undo the effects of the go-pills and numb away the nightmares.

It concerns us when we hear military doctors say, "It’s wonderful that we have these drugs available to cope with second or third deployments.” ~ Joyce Raezer of the National Military Family Association

Remember the predictions that the army was on the edge of breaking? Well, it is broken and the only thing keeping it together is drugs. American street gangs are marketing more traditional drugs like heroin to the troops. Military families are distraught over what is being done to their children and spouses.
War Crimes
When Rush Limbaugh reads this (yea, right) I want him to realize I am neither ecstatic nor gleeful. Like Vietnam and the Philippine wars, what is happening now is the natural outgrowth of placing good, decent American servicemembers in impossible situations, ordering them to do the absurd, and riding them until they break. As before, the guerrilla fighters are ghosts. Like during the Philippine war, our soldiers have come to fear even the children.

Conservative talking points dismiss each incident that becomes public, like Abu-Ghraib and Haditha, as an aberration. The aberration is when they become public at all. For those interested (I suggest you not consider the chances of NSA surveillance if you go here), this is an Iraqi resistance website that lists the war crimes they believe we have committed. Most of the links on this site are to western news sources; several are also no longer valid. My point in linking to it is to show that many incidents have been reported upon that have never filtered through to the public conscious.

Additional Links: Common Dreams, Another Fine Mess, Information Clearing House

tag: iraq, war crime, Military, iraq war, Iraq-War

Legalizing Abu-Ghraib

This is the fine hand and blunt fist of Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney. The Army Field Manual is being rewritten to permit torture using "humiliating and degrading treatment." No more canards that what Lyndie England and Charles Graner did to prisoners in Abu-Ghraib were aberrations. No more claims that we would never permit such things ... nudge, nudge, wink, wink.

There are a few, minor, problems with this rewrite mostly being that it is patently illegal.

The United States ratified the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment in 1994.

torture means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity.

This applies to any prisoner held for any reason. The right-wing meme that you can do anything you want to unlawful combatants falls beneath this treaty. The Geneva Convention, which specifically deals with prisoners of war, prohibits, "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment." And then to reinforce the law, last year's McCain Amendment says:

No individual in the custody or under the physical control of the United States Government, regardless of nationality or physical location, shall be subject to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment.

By law and by treaty humilating treatment of prisoners is torture and is illegal. The Bush Administration is trying to play an Alice In Wonderland game, pretending the clear language of the law doesn't mean what it says.

Interesting Links: Conservative Andrew Sullivan calls the United States a "rogue nation", Protein Wisdom thinks it's just hunky-dory, Philadelphia Freedom Watch, Blogotitlan, Nether World, First Draft, Politics Made Simple, Blognonymous

tag: torture, Guantanamo, army field manual

Stanley Cup Thoughts

Life isn't only politics. I have a secret passion. Okay, not so secret. I love ice hockey. Not the thuggish, "I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out" style of hockey. I love the fast, flowing artistry that is the game at its finest.

Bobby Orr was the first great offensive defenseman. His end-to-end rushes were things of beauty.

I came by this love honestly. My father was born and raised in the Iron Range of northern Minnesota. Ice hockey is in the blood there. When I was young, my father introduced me to hockey and pizza at about the same time. Both became addictions.

Doug Harvey anchored the defense of the greatest dynasty in sports history, The Montreal Canadians of the 1950's.

I have wonderful memories of Saturdays eating pizza and watching the Toronto Marlboros junior hockey games on television. What they were doing on San Diego television was a mystery to me even then.

Gordie Howe was the greatest hockey player ever prior to Wayne Gretzky. This is Gordie in his prime. At the age of 51, he played in the NHL All-Star Game along side the 19 year-old Gretzky.

Fortunately, minor league hockey arrived in San Diego in 1966. The Western Hockey League was one step below the NHL. I didn't see the greats but I could watch some pretty damn good players.
The San Diego Gulls fed my passion for the game throughout my high school years.

Bobby Hull was the great goal scorer of the 1960's. His slap shot traveled nearly 120 MPH.

I began losing interest in the game when the goons took over. People who could barely stand upright on ice skates were going to the major league solely for their fighting skills. My interest returned with the coming of the Great One.
Wayne Gretzky was a magician. He was the Babe Ruth and Michael Jordan of ice hockey. He wasn't just the best that every played the game. He was so much better than second place that comparisons were impossible.
Every hockey team needs a goaltender. Gump Worsley may not have been the best to ever wear the pads but he is in the top half dozen. I just loved his nickname. Who couldn't root for a guy named Gump. Besides, Gump played when goaltenders didn't wear masks. They were a different, crazy breed of man back then.

During last year's labor lockout it seemed that the owners and players were conspiring to kill off the sport. I'm happy my cynicism was wrong. Major league hockey used the time off to study what the game had become. They changed some rules to reward speed and tone down the thuggery. The result is a game that appears the same to the unseasoned eye, but is faster, flashier, and better than it was before. My only regret is that Wayne Gretzky couldn't play under these rules. What he would have done.

I'll return to depressing subjects like war and politics next time.

tag: stanley cup, ice hockey

Do It Yourself On-Line Presidential Leadership Quiz

This is not to be missed. The Do It Yourself On-Line Presidential Leadership Quiz was all the proof I needed that I, too, have what it takes to be Leader of the Free World.
My thanks to Nikahang Kowsar whose cartoon I have shamelessly borrowed.

tag: bush, george bush

The Decay of the Art of Lying

As Mark Twain noted in his day, it is not the custom of lying that has suffered. You will seldom be wrong if you assume everything coming from the Bush White House is a lie. It is the skill in the art of lying that has suffered.

No high-minded man, no man of right feeling, can contemplate the lumbering and slovenly lying of the present day without grieving to see a noble art so prostituted. ~ Mark Twain, On The Decay Of The Art Of Lying

Take the case of Tony Snow. Just last Friday at his press briefing (proudly preserved here) Tony said that Iraq's Prime Minister had been misquoted when he said American troops “smash civilian cars and kill on a suspicion or a hunch,” and called the Haditha massacre a crime.

The wise thing is for us diligently to train ourselves to lie thoughtfully, judiciously....Then shall we be rid of the rank and pestilent truth that is rotting the land; then shall we be great and good and beautiful, and worthy dwellers in a world where even benign Nature habitually lies. ~ Twain, ibed ibid

It was a poor effort. Prime Minister al-Maliki was speaking Arabic, always a tricky translation. Snow could have claimed the al-Maliki was really praising the tulip blossoms along the Tigris and no one in the White House briefing room could contradict him, but Snow just babbled about it being convoluted. Bad form. It does not help that Condi Rice called Snow a liar on Fox News today. Tony, your friends need to have your back.

If one is to be called a liar, one may as well make an effort to deserve the name. ~ A. A. Milne

What about the case of Karl Zinsmeister? Replacing Karl Rove as chief domestic advisor requires more than having the same name, he needs a certain skill with fabrication. The Z-man (So, what do you think Bush's nickname for him is?) rewrote a story about him published in a Syracuse, New York weekly newspaper and plopped it on his own website. When you do this, you have to be certain all the original copies have been destroyed. (Study the Memory Hole from 1984.) This lame effort is just getting him sued by the Syracuse New Times and "zinsmeistering" is a now a new word meaning, "The practice of reprinting news stories under the original author's bylines, but re-written to suit your purpose."

Oh, I used to tell lies but I've given it up. The field is overrun with amateurs. ~ back to Twain

An argument could be made, not by me, that George Bush had mastered the political lie. We went to war because of MWDs that were not there. The Iraqi people would greet us a liberators, celebrating our soldiers occupation with explosive devices. IEDs are just firecrackers that remove limbs. But, this was not mastery of lying so much as brazenness. His brutish, blustering practice has demeaned the art. That it has worked so well helps explain the popularity of velvet paintings of Elvis.

The best liar is he who makes the smallest amount of lying go the longest way. ~ Samuel Butler

When Republicans speak you feel insulted that they think you would believe their load of horseshit. They don't even try to plant a few flowers, fry a little bacon, something to cover the stench. It's like they don't care. Where is the creativity? Where is the pride of workmanship? If Republicans can't govern honestly they should at least learn to lie with panache.

The most outrageous lies that can be invented will find believers if a man only tells them with all his might. ~ Twain again

tag: mark twain, bush, lying

The Young and the Restless - White House Edition

I want to believe. There are some stories that go beyond the realm of gossip, that you know must be accurate without any supporting evidence. From Wayne Madsen via Pissed On Politics comes the intriguing report that Laura Bush has moved out of the White House and is living in a suite of rooms in the Mayflower Hotel, four blocks from the presidential mansion. Laura caught George, the story goes, having an affair with Condoleezza Rice.



Now is a good time to insert this photo. Okay, I know, hideous. Besides, their relationship is far more likely dominatrix and submissive. Witness the photo below.



So, can it possibly be true? The best evidence is a Freudian Slip Condi made in a dinner speech a couple of years ago.

"As I was telling my husb-...As I was telling President Bush." ~ Condi Rice via Boiling Mad

This is a slip that just doesn't make sense. Rice has never been married. My husband is a phrase that should never accidently cross her lips. Unless their relationship is more complex than employee-boss. When I heard it, my ears perked and my spider-sense tingled.

Of course, Laura Bush uses the Mayflower Hotel frequently for special events so the presence of her entourage may simply be a matter of security and convenience. But, I would rather not believe that. Never let the risk of the truth get in the way of a really sweet story.

tag: laura bush, White House, Condoleezza Rice

It Is the Nature of This Sick War

A pregnant woman being rushed to the hospital to give birth is gunned down at an Army checkpoint; both mother and child die. Willy Pete (white phosphorus) is dropped on the civilian population of Fallujah, burning to the bone any flesh it contacts. Haditha. It is the nature of the Iraq War that American soldiers continue to commit what the civilized world considers to be war crimes.
Reading between the lines of a San Diego Union-Tribune article reveals Iraq is a hell for both American troops and Iraqi civilians.

Three years of breaking down doors and rushing into small, dark rooms where Marines might encounter a man with a gun or a family frozen in terror. Three years of chasing snipers who shoot and then fade into the crowds. Three years of seeing buddies dismembered or killed by roadside bombs when their big hope is to go home in one piece. ~ Rick Rogers, San Diego Union-Tribune reporter.

It is a mistake to pretend that atrocities are rare. It is the rare ones that get publicity. At Abu Sifa on March 15, 2006 American soldiers killed six adults and five children, one child was six-months old. (the official battle assessment claimed four dead - one woman, two children and one "enemy") According to reports, the Iraqis were bound and blindfolded before they were shot. As Dahr Jamail points out at Truthout, massacres have become the norm.

The killing of an Italian intelligence officer at an American checkpoint in Baghdad last year got headlines. But checkpoint shootings are common, the victims rarely have their fates noticed.

It would also be a mistake to pretend these atrocities don't take a toll on the Coalition soldiers forced by circumstances and superiors to preform them. Suicide and Post Tramatic Stress Disorder are epidemic with returning troops. Spc. Douglas Barber suffered with the memories of what he had done in Iraq. One day last January, Doug Barber embraced the muzzle of his shotgun and pulled the trigger.

All is not OK or right for those of us who return home alive and supposedly well. What looks like normalcy and readjustment is only an illusion to be revealed by time and torment. Some soldiers come home missing limbs and other parts of their bodies. Still others will live with permanent scars from horrific events that no one other than those who served will ever understand. We come home from war trying to put our lives back together but some cannot stand the memories and decide that death is better. We kill ourselves because we are so haunted by seeing children killed and whole families wiped out. ~ Douglas Barber, January 12, 2006 (four days before his death)

That this war is a disaster is well known. How disastrous has yet to be discovered. It is an unmitigated evil that corrupts all it touches.

Addition links: Story of a British soldier who tried to commit suicide by inducing a policeman to kill him from Scotsman. Predictable Atrocities by Wade Sanders. More on Douglas Barber from Bradblog and Doug Basham. Art is a detail of Massacre of the Innocents by Guido Reni, 1612.

tag: iraq war, Iraq, Haditha

Killing for God Is Fun

Given I don't generally hang out with faith-based psychopaths, this story has slipped my notice. Crooks & Liars has found the ultimate in proof that fundamentalist Christianity is the Religion of Death. The faithful can celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace this coming Christmas by giving their young holy warriors "Left Behind: Eternal Forces."
This screen shot from GameSpy shows Elite Soldiers of God gunning down unarmed women. In the game, the player leads the angelic Tribulation Forces as it butchers the unGodly in a style that has been likened to Grand Thief Auto. Tim LaHaye, author of the Left Behind series, says this killing game will lead young people to salvation. The marketing plan is to sell the game at megachurches.

Christian activist Jack Thompson is an opponent of violent video games. To his credit, he is outspoken in opposition to this game that he says will train "kids that to kill nonbelievers is fun and consequence-free."

I am beginning to believe we should take all the fundamentalist Christians and all the fundamentalist Muslims, put them in some isolated place (Greenland will be ice-free soon) and let them kill each other in a place that will not involve the rest of us. See also the LA Times article.

I'm Not an Addict, I Can Quit Anytime I Want

Kick the Oil Habit has an excellent video on their website. Go. Watch. Learn.
Thanks to Hecete for finding and sharing.

Art is The Addiction by Martin A. Maddox.

tag: oil, Energy, oil addiction

And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda

Memorial Day. Remember the cost of the Iraq War - 2,464 dead and the 17,659 wounded, many grievously so. One of the most heart rending songs I know is "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda" by Eric Bogle. It tells the story of Australian soldiers at the Battle of Gallipoli in World War I, but it speaks of every war in every time. I defy any person claiming to possess a soul to listen without tears.

Lyrics ... Listen

They collected the crippled, the wounded and maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia
The armless, the legless, the blind and insane
All the brave wounded heroes of Suvla.
And when our ship pulled into Circular Quay
And I looked at the place where me legs used to be
I thank Christ there was nobody waiting for me
To grieve and to mourn and to pity.

And the band played "Waltzing Matilda",
As they carried us down the gangway
Nobody cheered, they just stood there and stared
And then turned their faces away

tag: memorial day

The National Languages of the United States

English has never been the single, unifying language of the United States. Since the earliest days, the colonial days preceeding the republic, English has been the predominate language but never the sole language. The country has survived, even flourished, as a polyglot society.

The English-Only Movement
is not some new phenomenon. Benjamin Franklin campaigned against speaking German in Pennsylvania in 1753. There were attempts to outlaw French in Louisana in the early 19th century. In 1851, my state of California required all landowners to prove title in English-only courts. This resulted in most Mexican landowners losing their property. In 1879 California passed a law requiring all official business be conducted in English. Shortly after capturing Puerto Rico from the Spanish in 1898, the use of Spanish was banned in Puerto Rican schools. There were many attempts to eliminate Native American languages in the 19th and 20th centuries in what has been called linguistic genocide. The reasons given then are the same as those given now. Assimilation, the noblesse oblige canard that "it's for their own good." The real reason is simple fear of another people, another culture.
Bilingual States
Louisana - Cajun French is the most famous of the indigenous European dialects in the United States. Reviled by English speaking Protestants, the Catholic French Acadians have preserved their language for over 200 years. Once considered the mark of a Bayou hick, the younger generation is preserving the language out of cultural pride. Louisana is officially a bilingual state, English and French.
Pennsylvania - A variant of German, Pennsylvania-Dutch has been spoken in the United States for 300 years. There are over 200,000 speakers. The number is shrinking as the younger generation is not bothering to learn the dialect. Until the 1950's Pennsylvania was officially bilingual.

First Peoples Languages
There are many Native American languages still spoken in the United States. Navaho is the most widely spoken. Navaho should be a revered language to patriotic Americans as it was used by the Code-Talkers as an umbreakable code during World War II. Dakota-Lakota Sioux and Yup'ik (eskimo) are two other large populations that have maintained their native tongue. There are 28 Native American language families and an additional 25 language isolates indigenous to the United States.

English Dialects
These variants are so different from standard English that people unfamiliar with the dialects have difficulties understanding them.
Hawaii - Hawaiian English is the standard version of English used in Hawaii. This is English which preserves the Hawaiian pronounciation of Hawaiian words. Hawaiian Pidgin is commonly spoken on the islands. The Hawaiian language is preserved intact by the 250 people living on the island of Niʻihau.
Black English is derided by some as uneducated slang but experts agree it is a creole language blend of English and African dialects dating to before the Civil War.
Chicano English and Spanglish is neither Spanish or English but a blend of the two. This dialect is still evolving, the Texas version, Tejano, is different from the Los Angeles version.
There are several regional dialects. The New York dialect is famous. Personally, I find a deep southern dialect almost unintelligible.

Immigrant Tongues
Spanish (28 million) is the most common immigrant language. Chinese, Vietnamese, Polish, Yiddish, my father's Finnish, my mother's German and countless other languages have all contributed to the tapestry of the country.

I believe everyone in this country should learn English (surprise). It is the language of commerce in the United States and it is common sense to learn the language. Besides, English is a really neat language; it is, after all, the language of Shakespeare. But that is the only reason. The United States of America is a unique blending of cultures from around the globe. Like forging an alloy, this blending makes us stronger. Trying to impose some single, unitary language and culture is insane, impossible, and can only divide us.

My thanks, perversely to All Things Beautiful for getting me angry enough to do proper research. Literacy Loop has some interesting observations.

tag: english only, immigration

'No One's Panicking," Except DHS, Capitol Cops, Lawmakers...

Shots fired at the Capitol! The radio was abuzz with the news as I drove to my yoga class this morning. But these early reports struck me as odd. No one had actually seen anything or heard anything. But, there were these reports. Capitol Police and Homeland Security agents were running around the Rayburn Office Building with guns drawn. Capitol Hill was locked down for five hours. People were herded to "safe" locations. A room-to-room search was done.
Oh, what was it? Was it an Islamic terrorist, a right-wing gun-nut, the oggie-boogie man? No, it was a workman using a pneumatic hammer to fix an elevator throwing trash in a dumpster.

“No one’s panicking, everyone’s calm,” said Charles Isom, spokesman for Rep. Chris Cannon, R-Utah. Sorry Charlie, everyone panicked. The police were running around like Chicken Little, the media was hyperventilating, the Department of Homeland Security went on alert. Well, one person did not panic. The workman knew exactly what was going on if anybody had calmed down enough to ask him.

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself -- nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror...

~ President Franklin Roosevelt, 1933

tag: terrorism, capitol

What Is Two Percent Of ....?

Note: I promise I am not going to write about that 2005 poll that said only 2 percent of African-Americans supported George Bush. That's old news, I have fresher fish to fry.

Two Percent Is ...
... The ratio of women to men in the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra - 3 out of 149 musicians.
... The number of women who define themselves as "beautiful."
... The percentage of dogs and cats in the United States with health insurance.
... The percentage of Muslims in China - still 24 million people.
... just 840 fans if San Diego Padres Petco Park sells out.
... The number of teenagers in the country who are vegetarians.

Two percent of the people who voted in the 2004 presidential elections is exactly 2,445,866. That is less than the number of people in all the United States jails and prisons today.

The Diageo/Hotline Poll released today reports that only two percent of the 801 people interviewed were "very satisfied" with the current state of politics in the United States. Two percent, the amount of fat in low-fat milk, is all that's left in this country who are really happy with the way things are going. But, it makes me wonder, how many women who think they are beautiful, have health insurance for their cat, a vegetarian teenaged son, and really love the President will there be in Petco Park tonight?

Ninety-eight percent of the adults in this country are decent, hard-working, honest Americans. It's the other lousy two percent that get all the publicity. But then - we elected them. ~ Lily Tomlin

tag: bush, poll, Politics

O Frabjous Day! Callooh! Callay!

Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling were found guilty - Lay on all charges, Skilling on just nineteen charges. Nineteen? That'll do. Even these convictions only touch the edges of their crimes. As for their sins, there is no human law to punish the hypocrisy and hubris that was Kenneth Lay's creed.

The Crimes Convicted
Lay and Skilling were convicted for bank and securities fraud and conspiracy relating to the collapse of Enron. They were lying to investors, lying to their employees, lying to the banks. Building Enron into more of a confidence scam than a business. Because of their acts countless families were financially destroyed.

The Crimes Not Addressed

In 2000-2001, California was hit by an energy crisis. Enron gamed the electricity trading system using schemes called "Death Star" and "Get Shorty" to drive the price of electricity up by 1000%.

There is a single connection between northern and southern California's power grids. I heard that Enron traders purposely overbooked that line, then caused others to need it. Next, by California's free-market rules, Enron was allowed to price-gouge at will. ~ Former Enron employee in a letter to Senator Barbara Boxer, 2002

Hubris and Hypocrisy
Skilling blamed others for the collapse of Enron. It was short-sellers, faithless stock analysts, anybody, everybody else. Lay went to a God. He started having photo ops at church. He began carrying a bible more prominently than Elmer Gantry. His PR campaign presented him as almost the thirteenth apostle.

With certain appeals, and plenty of dirty money for bail and lawyers, it is hard to believe either man will spend much time paying for their crimes. Still, there was a little spark of justice today. In these times, even a spark is remarkable.

tag: kenneth lay, enron

Bungling Villainy with Transparent Motive

Understanding the motive is key when it comes to unlocking the criminal mind. The FBI raid on Rep. William Jefferson's (D-LA) congressional office is a case in point. I'm not talking about Jefferson, greedy little bastard covers his motives pretty completely (allegedly). I'm thinking about House Speaker Dennis Hastert's reaction.

Hastert has demanded that the FBI return all the materials they seized and that all the agents investigating Jefferson be "frozen out of the case." Hastert alludes to the Constitution in his demand. The Constitution does apply here, as it does always in the country.

(Senators and Representatives) shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.

~ U.S. Constitution - Article I, Section 6, Clause 1

Rep. Jefferson is being investigated for several felonies. He has no constitutional privilege. So, why is Hastert in such a snit defending a felonious Democrat?

Between the Jack Abramoff case and Duke Cunningham's scandal, there are dozens of Republican congressmen facing felony indictment. Hastert wants to use the investigation of a Democrat to squelch all of the ongoing investigations of Republican corruption. The compromise he is seeking is for the FBI to pledge to not seek any additional subpoenas for Congressional offices. Hastert is using the Jefferson case to appear altruistic. His true motive is to protect his Republican colleagues in their criminal conduct.

Update via ThinkProgress: It turns out that Dennis Hastert is the target of an FBI probe related to the Abramoff scandal. So, Denny is not just trying to protect his criminal colleagues, he is covering his own sorry ass.

And they all lived together in a crooked little house. ~ Nursery Rhyme

tag: dennis hastert, william jefferson, congress, Corruption

The Whole World's Goin' Crazy

Am I the last sane man in a world gone crazy? The news today is ringing in wackiness.

Christian Fatwa
A Roman Catholic in India has offered a bounty of 1.1 million rupees ($25 000) for the death of "Da Vinci Code" author Dan Brown.

Sexual Politics
The New York Times, the "All the News That's Fit to Print" New York Times, wastes valuable front page space randomly musing about Bill and Hillary Clinton's sleep patterns and how much sex they are having with each other. Breathlessly, (Oh, my, I'm getting vapors.) they speculate on the macro political ramifications of their sex lives as if any one over the age of four, in the world, gives a flying fuck.

God Given Superpowers
Pat Robertson, the 76 year-old Patron Saint of Lunatics, claims his secret protein shake receipe gives him the power to leg press one ton. That right, 2000 pounds, fully 665 pounds more than the all-time Florida State University record. Take that you sons of Satan!

Sis-Boom-Mahaha
According to ABC news, Democrats are root, root, rooting for Americans to get killed and maimed in Iraq. Funny, because the last time I looked we wanted them safe at home right now. Either ABC got over that whole having their phones tapped business quickly or they have learned that, when the government is listening, it is best to say lots of really wacky Limbaughesque stuff.

Look Who's Nazi Now
Fox News is saying that Al Gore's movie An Inconvenient Truth will cause the collapse of the nation's economy and is just the sort of thing Joseph Goebbels would have done. I've heard it will also cause ingrown toenails in virgin women. So, be careful out there.

Democrats in California's 52nd CD - Dream the Impossible Dream

Congressman Duncan Hunter owns the California congressional district I in live in pretty much the same way King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz owns Saudi Arabia. He is the absolute monarch of his congressional fiefdom. Most election cycles even I don't care which sacrificial lamb is running against him. This year is different. There is ever so faint a chance of an upset.

Hunter is tied to Duke Cunningham. Hunter was Cunningham's mentor in Congress and even now considers him a friend. There is a chance that Duncan's dirty little hands were playing in the same muck. This time, I want to be sure we field a lion of a candidate.

There are five names on the Democratic primary ballot but, in my opinion, only two have the chops to compete.
Karen Marie Otter
Karen is a veteran, businesswoman, and mother. She was born and raised in the district and has strong family ties to San Diego's East County. She appears to have set up a good, professional campaign on a shoestring budget.
John Rinaldi
Also a veteran, a Marine, John was born back east but fell in love with San Diego while serving in the military. He has been a policeman, minister, and businessman. He has also put together a professional campaign with little money.

Karen is my personal favorite, but either candidate has the ability to run a strong general election campaign. Should the stars align properly, I believe both Karen and John have the ability to pull off an upset.

Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world. ~ Harriet Tubman

The other candidates are Derek Casady, Connie Frankowiak, and Peter Moore-Kochlacs.

tag: Karen Marie Otter, John Rinaldi, duncan hunter,

What Is the Adult Population of Connecticut?

Almost the same number of people as the United States has in jails and prisons across the country - 2.6 million. Source: Jurist. Taken for Ranted has more evidence how far from civilized our "lock 'em up" society is.

Kilowatt was an aging con of 65
Who stood a chance to stay alive
And leave the joint and walk the streets again
As the time he was to leave drew near
He suffered all the joy and fear
Of leaving 35 years in the pen

And on the day of his release
He was approached by the police
Who took him to the warden walking slowly by his side
The warden said You won't remain here
But it seems a state retainer
Claims another 10 years of your life.

He stepped out in the Texas sunlight
The cops all stood around
Old Kilowatt ran 50 yards
Then threw himself down on the ground
They might as well just have laid
The old man down.

And we're gonna raze, raze the prisons
To the ground
Help us raze, raze the prisons
To the ground ~ Prison Trilogy, Joan Baez

tag: prison

The Return of Freedom of Speech

For too long Americans have been cowered into silence. Questioning those in power was rude, unpatriotic, treasonous even. Those few citizens who managed break through the walls surrounding the President and his cronies to address them directly were dismissed in the main stream media as wackos. Cindy Sheehan's credibility as the mother of a soldier fallen in the Iraq War should have been beyond reproach, yet "Cindy is crazy" was the meme.

When Jean Rohe spoke directly to John McCain at the New School commencement she was repectful yet firm. She answered his condescending address point-by-point before he delivered it. The initial reaction was to denounce her "bad form." McCain dismissed her and the New School as "living in a dull world where they can't listen to the views of others." McCain's speechwriter, I can't imagine anyone being proud of that job, called her an idiot.

In the past, that would have been enough to erase the brief flush of democracy and restore autocratic order. It hasn't worked. People are actually reading Ms. Rohe's remarks. The truth and verve of her speech stands up against the banality of McCain. Her respectful approach impresses far more than the rudeness of McCain's staff.

Americans are standing tall and proud again. They are standing up to the despots and racketeers who claim a divine right to rule over us.

Caesar had his Brutus; Charles the First his Cromwell; and George the Third— [Cries of "Treason! Treason!"] George the Third may profit by their example. If this be treason, make the most of it. ~ Patrick Henry

tag: new school, john mccain, Jean Rohe

Neck Deep in the Big Muddy

The right-wing Real Clear Politics calls it the straw that breaks the Republicans backs. Tapscott has similar views. It is an op-ed article by Richard Viguerie in the Sunday Washington Post titled Bush's Base Betrayal. Bush's "conservative base" has been struggling in its harness for months. Viguerie is fed up beyond forgiveness. He is one of the biggest old-line, small government religious conservatives around. He suggests, "at the very least, conservatives must stop funding the Republican National Committee and other party groups. (Let Big Business take care of that!)"

The captain told us to ford a river,
That's how it all begun.
We were -- knee deep in the Big Muddy,
But the big fool said to push on.

Far be it for me to try to delve into the conservative mind, the last time I was called a conservative wuss was when I inched across a moss covered log bridging a wilderness river. But, I know that conservatives like the Iraq War, no matter how badly it goes. The start was Hurricane Katrina.

It'll be a little soggy but just keep slogging.
We'll soon be on dry ground."
We were -- waist deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.

The sight of the administration's helpless fumbling while New Orleans drowned was a sobering moment for even the most Bush-drunk neo-con. George Bush's incompetence had accomplished something Bin Laden had never even dreamt, the total destruction of a great American city. Never again could citizens reassure themselves that Bush was smarter than he seemed.

"All we need is a little determination;
Men, follow me, I'll lead on."
We were -- neck deep in the Big Muddy
And the big fool said to push on.

Harriet Miers and Dubai Ports followed. Us Americans on the left took them as more of the same from Squinty McChimp, Chronyism on Parade. But, right-wingers were surprised and grossly insulted. They had expected more and felt betrayed. They had expected some quo for all of the quid they had poured into Republican campaigns. They were being ignored. (Now you know how the rest of us have felt for the past five years.) The raft of Republican corruption leaves the morality wing of that party squimish. While conservatives still try to defend domestic spying, it is a hollow defense. Domestic spying is antithetical to all they believe.

All at once, the moon clouded over,
We heard a gurgling cry.
A few seconds later, the captain's helmet
Was all that floated by.

Now comes immigration, Karl Rove's wedge issue that would turn the election. Conservatives were expecting something spectatular - an Iron Curtain from San Diego to Brownsville or at least mass deportations in the spirit of the Final Solution. What they got was a few National Guardsmen who can sharpen pencils in the office but can't patrol the border, a small demonstration fence, and something that has all the duck qualities (looks like...quacks like) of amnesty. The wedge has exploded in Karl's face. President Bush is a man rapidly losing the last of his friends. Even the Nixon years were never like this.

Waist deep! Neck deep! Soon even a
Tall man'll be over his head, we're
Waist deep in the Big Muddy!
And the big fool says to push on! ~ Pete Seeger

tag: bush

Patience of the Grave

Tommy Franks was the general responsible for the botched planning of the Iraq War. He spoke at the National Rifle Association annual banquet Saturday night counseling patience in the Iraq War. To him, it doesn't matter if 2400 die, or 24,000 or 240,000. The only important thing is the fight against terrorists. The NRA attendees cheered his speech. Tommy Franks gets $75,000 a night to tell groups of fat, middle-aged louts that not enough young people have died.

Some of the people Tommy Franks sent to war demonstrating their infinite patience at Arlington National Cemetery.

Who will remember, passing through this gate,
The unheroic Dead who fed the guns?
Who shall absolve the foulness of their fate,
Those doomed, conscripted, unvictorious ones.
~ Siegfried Sassoon

tag: iraq war

Sticking It To the Oil Man - 1938 Mexico Edition

The Great Depression was still withering the economies of the world in 1938. Standard Oil of New Jersey (now ExxonMobil) and Royal Dutch/Shell owned all of the oil production in Mexico. Mexico supplied over one-fifth of the oil used in the United States. The companies had been using every union busting tactic they knew to prevent Mexician workers from organizing. The workers had struck the previous year.

Bolivia's President Evo Morales has signed a decree placing his country's energy industry under state control. ~ BBC, May 2, 2006

Mexico's President, Lázaro Cárdenas, tried to negotiate but the oil companies were intransigent, claiming they couldn't afford to pay their workers a living wage. The Mexican government performed an audit where, as the story was told to me, the oil companies low-balled the value of their assets to support their claims to poverty. The audit showed the oil companies had been bleeding Mexico for their profits.

The tax paid by foreign oil companies operating in Venezuela will be almost doubled, says President Hugo Chavez. ~ BBC, May 8, 2006

The government and later the Mexico Supreme Court ruled in favor of the workers. The oil companies threatened to take their assets and leave Mexico. They engaged in a propaganda campaign to smear Cárdenas. On March 18, 1938, Mexico nationalized the oil industry in their country. There was a spontaneous six-hour parade to celebrate.

The US says it is cancelling free-trade negotiations with Ecuador, after the South American country seized the assets of a US oil company. ~ BBC, May 17, 2006

The companies squealed like stuck pigs (an apt metaphor). The British government led an economic boycott against Mexico. The country lacked key technical knowledge. Cárdenas organized Mexico's top scientists to discover the necessary chemical to convert their oil to gasoline. The thirty scientists mysteriously died (were murdered) before finishing their task. A second group of scientists succeeded. The boycott ended with the start of World War II. Mexico paid compensation for the seized assets. According to how I first heard the story, they used the low-ball figures the oil companies had given to the government to calculate the compensation.

My thanks to Hecate for stimulating my memory of this story. There is a movement in South America to take back their national resources from the foreign firms that have been exploiting them. It is not a fad but an opportunity to take back what is theirs. It is good to remember that Lázaro Cárdenas is still revered in Mexico.

The photo is of the Tijuana border crossing in 1938.
Additional sources: Deirdre Griswold, Wikipedia, Carlos - my friend from 20 years ago who first told me this story
tag: oil, mexico