tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-57921332012-01-30T23:52:10.593-05:00<b>Tilting the world a little more to the left.</b>Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.comBlogger13101100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-42419861779952500722012-01-27T13:27:00.001-05:002012-01-27T13:27:43.715-05:00

Conservatives are upset at the number of references to "fair" in the SOTU speech. "Life's not fair!" they claim. On that very narrow point, I agree with them. But here's where their argument falls apart. Life is not fair. In a strictly Darwinian sense, life in the jungle, life in the caves, life on the African savannah was not fair. But one of the reasons that we are all here, able to have this

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-44541811016296702962012-01-27T09:07:00.000-05:002012-01-27T09:07:13.744-05:00

News of my demise is greatly exaggerated. The last time I wrote an "I'm back!" post, I really thought I'd be able to keep up with The Fulcrum again. The job I found, and worked at for nearly a year and a half, wound up taking almost literally all of my time. Working 10 hour days was common; weekends too. Even holidays were not safe from it's reach. Now I'm back on the job-hunt. And there's

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-3327231128841983682010-08-17T07:32:00.000-04:002010-08-17T07:32:02.074-04:00

A community center is not a mosque. Yet liberals have allowed the Tea Baggers and the rest of the xenophobes on the right to frame the discussion around a "mosque at Ground Zero." As Keith Olbermann stated, it's not a mosque and it's not at Ground Zero. But Keith is the only person of note saying so. If the (absolute) least common denominator gets to set the frame how is it possible to have an

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-74054801065263397132010-08-04T08:41:00.001-04:002010-08-04T09:10:18.549-04:00

This post on Tom Dispatch by Bill McKibben is worth the read. Why aren't more people enraged by the lack of progress on Global Warming? McKibben lays out 3 things that need to be done to move forward in a meaningful way on what is literally a life and death issue. One of those things is that we're going to have to get loud; we may have to get arrested. His last paragraph: Mostly, we need to

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-17314183481241137102010-08-03T10:57:00.000-04:002010-08-03T10:57:27.127-04:00

I recently attended a briefing about a company here in the Rochester area that I'd like to work for. They are a relatively new company with a great product. I've read recently that the economy is - slowly - turning around, but I've also heard that so far this is a "jobless recovery." There's a phrase that belongs in the Oxymoron Dictionary. In any case, the HR director for this company stated

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-25901814257612865602010-08-02T15:08:00.001-04:002010-08-02T15:10:06.818-04:00

On January 24th of 2009, I almost died. A patch of black ice in the middle of the road ended an otherwise ordinary winter weekend in upstate New York. My Honda CR-V crossed the center line and hit, head-on, a logging truck. I don't remember anything until about two days later. I spent two weeks recovering in the hospital, spent a month in a wheel chair and then another month on crutches. There

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-3114971682756612912010-07-31T21:53:00.002-04:002010-07-31T21:55:11.379-04:00

It's been over a year and a half since I last posted to this blog.I was curious to see that there are still an average of 19 visits per day here. So... who's out there still stopping by? Leave a comment and let me know. Maybe it's time to resurrect The Fulcrum!

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-75371192427773846882008-12-15T10:32:00.003-05:002008-12-15T10:46:59.095-05:00

The holidays are stressful enough, even in the best economic times. This year, with the economy tanking in the third and fourth quarters, pink slips are just as likely to show up in your company distribution as a holiday card. With the down turn being so horrible in so many industries, we can probably be expecting to see a lot more stories like this:A man has been charged with first-degree murder

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-25639890970631730112008-12-09T12:42:00.003-05:002008-12-09T12:59:02.736-05:00

The actual term is archaic; it first described those front line soldiers, in the time of linear warfare, who marched straight into cannon fire during an attack. Unfortunately the phrase has never been given the time to truly fall into disuse. And BushCo. have done their best to make sure it didn't go out of style in their time.That most dangerous and feared weapon of the insurgents in Iraq and

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-7065650368102312312008-12-02T11:04:00.003-05:002008-12-02T11:18:14.151-05:00

The U.S., once again, thumbs its nose at the international community (along with, surprise, Russia) by refusing to ratify or even attend talks on a treaty to prohibit the use of cluster bombs. To quote perhaps the most germaine line in the article:But that kind of warfare has become obsolete, he (Ollie Pile, an operations manager with de-mining charity The Halo Trust) said, and cluster munitions

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-44883313098124189242008-12-01T09:52:00.003-05:002008-12-01T10:02:13.348-05:00

How many times did we hear that from BushCo. over the past eight years? Too many to count about too many things. Here's another one to add to the list; seems that they were warned about the mortgage crisis and financial meltdown:"Expect fallout, expect foreclosures, expect horror stories," California mortgage lender Paris Welch wrote to U.S. regulators in January 2006, about one year before the

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-56394850814522149992008-11-25T11:55:00.002-05:002008-11-25T13:51:23.629-05:00

Ann Coulter's mouth wired shut.I kid you not.There is a Santa Claus.

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-41719117781028569222008-11-13T12:11:00.002-05:002008-11-13T12:25:50.520-05:00

Deregulation. Self-regulation. Cost-benefit analysis. Free market solutions. De-funding regulatory agencies. Non-enforcement of regulations.This is what the GOP has pushed on the American people and BushCo., not content with the damage already done, is actively pushing this same agenda on the rest of the world. Fortunately he doesn't have much time left to wreak more havoc on the world.But can

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-4074767000270078242008-11-11T08:17:00.003-05:002008-11-11T08:26:37.695-05:00

It's where lots of pundits are saying the GOP will spend the next several years. And it wouldn't be a bad thing if that stretched into decades. But to me it's where I wish the media would leave Sarah Palin.Please.She cost McCain - if not the election - at least a lot of votes. She cost the GOP what little credibility they had left. And most of all - she's an idiot.On Hardball last night, Chris

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-29311447139682925792008-11-10T12:43:00.002-05:002008-11-10T12:56:04.205-05:00

We've won.It feels great to say that! And it's wonderful thinking about the Obamas in the White House; the return of adults to government. But as tough as the last eight years of BushCo. have been, as rough as the campaigns were, the really hard work remains before us. Being invlolved really made me feel empowered, like I have a stake in what's going to happen. But I know that can fade as the

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-72107043745547991522008-11-05T09:24:00.002-05:002008-11-05T09:37:32.847-05:00

History.It was worth waiting for!Now the question that only the future can tell: What kind of change have we wrought?Will this be incremental change; bending the arc of history ever so slightly in our continuing attempts to create a more perfect union? Or has this election been a true breach, a discontinuity, in the path our country will take into the future?BushCo. and all of its hangers-on have

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-71053600428606459772008-11-04T07:58:00.002-05:002008-11-04T08:05:44.705-05:00

"No nine hour wait to vote here, dear."That's how I was greeted this morning at my polling place. And while there were certainly more cars and people at the fire department in my little town than I ever remember seeing, there was no line to "pull the lever." So I walked right over to the machine - the old-fashioned, curtained, mechanical lever machine - closed the curtain, flicked the appropriate

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1662981045533059422008-11-03T10:24:00.003-05:002008-11-03T10:34:52.996-05:00

There are hopeful signs everywhere that things are about to change. Obama remains ahead by way more than the margin of error nationally. Pundits and poll watchers are already saying the "L" word.But the past two Presidential Elections have proved nothing if not that the Republican machine - levers firmly in the grasp of the likes of Cheney, Rove and their PNAC friends - will do anything to

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-438581748504552172008-10-31T12:45:00.003-04:002008-10-31T12:51:25.236-04:00

Who, in this age of instant and pervasive information, could really - honestly - be undecided about who to vote for this year?Even Osama bin Laden knows enough about the candidates to have decided he likes the prospects of fighting us into bankruptcy better if McCain's in office. From his famous (apocryphal) cave in Pakistan he's been able to garner enough data to make a decision. So how is it

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-71817248192992367632008-10-23T11:01:00.002-04:002008-10-23T11:19:22.211-04:00

Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann have gotten lots of mileage out of the fact that neither Sarah Palin nor McCain spokeswoman Nancy Pfotenhauer could state the Constitutional role of the Vice President. While this in itself is disturbing - if for no other reason than it's reasonable to expect an applicant for a job to at least know what that job entails.But, really, we shouldn't be

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-4189398171854464892008-10-21T09:35:00.004-04:002008-10-21T10:12:26.693-04:00

I have to admit that growing up my family was pretty racist - in that casual, always been like that way - and in many respects are still that way today. Perhaps not as baldly as I remember growing up, but it's still not unusual for my parents to use the "N-word." Having grown up in Florida during the 60's and 70's - I was born in 1961 - I picked up a fair bit of that mindset. There were racial

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-60391604465026132802008-10-20T06:46:00.002-04:002008-10-20T06:49:29.242-04:00

I haven't bitten my nails since I was in grade school - but every debate, every new endorsement, every new pronouncement or new attack ad has me chewing my fingernails. Sure, we're ahead - but we thought Kerry had a lock on it in 2004.Whatever McCain and the rest of the RNC has in store over the next couple of weeks I wish they'd just get it over with.Anybody else feeling this way?

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-52370454842981063392008-10-17T19:42:00.003-04:002008-10-17T19:57:53.584-04:00

If you watched Hardball tonight, perhaps you saw the segment with Katrina Vanden Heuvel, editor of The Nation and Republican Michele Bachmann of Minnesota. If you did and you're not as angry as I am, then you weren't paying attention.Bachmann said that the press should "investigate" all the Democrats in Congress for being - and I shit you not - Anti-American. This was after a discussion of the

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-90167679666090030582008-10-17T08:52:00.002-04:002008-10-17T09:00:14.220-04:00

When I signed in to Blogger this morning, I noted that my last post was almost exactly five months ago. What an incredible difference that relatively small amount of time can make."Way back then," the primaries hadn't completed, the current two candidates were still to be selected, the mix of hope, excitement and dread were nowhere to be seen.I don't know where I will take this Blog going forward

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-37082840370606076592008-05-16T09:54:00.002-04:002008-05-16T10:11:59.541-04:00

I've found that if I assume people are stupid - and then wait for them to prove me wrong in their particular case - I seldom have to be disappointed. When it comes to the environment, I'm almost never disappointed believing that people will do exactly the wrong thing.It's so much more comfortable being lulled into somnolence by the mega-corporations who are blind to anything beyond the next

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-61539015247919834292008-05-14T07:22:00.002-04:002008-05-14T07:30:20.448-04:00

For all our ultra-patriotic chest thumping, America has become the home of the afraid....the United States has injected hundreds of foreigners without their consent with dangerous mind-altering drugs for trips returning them to their home countries, according to government documents, medical records, and interviews with some of the actual people who were drugged.These are not terrorists, and this

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-91120162535282773502008-05-13T09:08:00.002-04:002008-05-13T09:36:26.118-04:00

Coincidence is a strange thing. Yesterday I read about 350.org - the website of well-known environmentalist Bill McKibben, who has said that 350ppm is the magic number of CO2 in the atmosphere; the tipping point of Global Warming. If you're in the know, you'll also realize that we are past that number.Then today there's this story about the record number of tornadoes in the Mid-West so far this

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-32530829600791733112008-05-05T10:45:00.003-04:002008-05-05T10:51:19.839-04:00

This puts Circuit City in the same league as Wal-Mart:Circuit City Stores' (CC) decision to lay off 3,400 employees in order to hire lower-paid replacements is raising questions about the impact of severe cost-cutting on employee morale.Not to mention local economies all around the nation.I've sent them an e-mail letting them know that I will no longer give them any of my business and will try to

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-75379431250322007442008-01-23T08:59:00.000-05:002008-01-23T09:07:55.142-05:00

How long have we in the blogosphere been saying all of these things? We made all the connections, we checked all the facts against previous statements and came to the same conclusions.Years ago.And who listened?We were preaching to the choir. The MSM - for the most part - continued to parrot BushCo. or to ignore the story completely. Giving us, instead, non-stop Britney and American Idol. Or Dr.

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-19583733879200751862007-09-24T08:47:00.000-04:002007-09-24T09:16:07.745-04:00

In iMovie, the video authoring program on my iMac, you can apply a zoom and pan effect to still photographs inserted into a movie. It is, appropriately, named the "Ken Burns effect" for the director who used such effects to bring old photos to life in his movies. Last night's airing of the first installment of his "The War" about the effects of World War II on four small American towns and the

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-87072480433442782502007-09-14T08:08:00.000-04:002007-09-14T08:22:13.523-04:00

"...and every day life is returning."There can't be any other explanation for it; Bush is delusional. Whether the effects of too much alcohol or too many drugs or too much religion, he's totally lost the ability to perceive reality.What world is he living in?Although I suppose the real question is- to be answered fully over the next few weeks - what world is Congress living in? Bush's fantasy

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-67772880363687569062007-09-11T10:49:00.000-04:002007-09-11T11:01:35.483-04:00

Another year gone by; now six years since we were attacked.Still Osama bin Laden is a free man. In fact, BushCo. is just not that interested in searching for him. Not now that he's officially "impotent."Our country has lost nearly 3,500 soldiers with ten times that many wounded. We are billions of dollars poorer. Our military is at the breaking point. The economy is on the verge of a melt-down.

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-42924844202019220312007-08-22T08:09:00.000-04:002007-08-22T08:28:15.370-04:00

Although this article was written from the point of view that this should make Israel worry - and that's true enough - my first thought was of BushCo.'s continued sabre-rattling aimed at Iran.Russia’s arms export agency Rosoboronoexport disclosed recently that it plans to sell Iran up to 250 advanced Su-30 fighter bombers, dramatically increasing the power projection capability of Iran and

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-52790495223735546162007-08-20T09:57:00.000-04:002007-08-20T10:19:47.196-04:00

The dichotomy of world-views between those who stay truly informed and those who remain stubbornly un-informed via FOX News or Rush Limbaugh is sometimes easy to overlook. I read widely for news and information as do most of the people whose blogs I read and most of those who comment here. But a recent couple of posts over at Talking Points Memo highlighted that dichotomy in a way that literally

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-3081480367556710042007-08-16T09:18:00.000-04:002007-08-16T09:33:23.228-04:00

The right to peaceably assemble - Constitutionally guaranteed - can be denied in so many ways; overt or covert. But the latest attempt by BushCo. is laughably transparent. And should you have any thoughts that this might just be the Washington D.C. city government enforcing their rules, well you just haven't been paying attention.What are we to make of the fact that the city of D.C. has ordered

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-81331981952431844882007-08-15T10:15:00.000-04:002007-08-15T10:32:05.438-04:00

It was just last Thursday that we learned that because of the now numerous "previously unseen provisions of the Patriot Act" the government would now be using U2 spyplanes on you and me. Some said that this was an aging platform and couldn't fly all that much and really where was the harm. I said this:And the Democratically controlled Congress just handed BushCo. even more authority to use the

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-87801872862094025072007-08-15T08:51:00.000-04:002007-08-15T09:04:38.888-04:00

The drumbeat to war with Iran continues; perhaps not as loudly or as incessantly as it did for Iraq, but with many of the same players. The latest bit of Kabuki theater - coordinated, no doubt, by the chief drummer, Dick Cheney - is this:The United States has decided to designate Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps, the country's 125,000-strong elite military branch, as a "specially designated

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-65837994353304715952007-08-13T08:31:00.000-04:002007-08-13T08:38:44.553-04:00

Now that Bush's Brain has abandoned the ship of state where does that leave the Bush of very little brain?Does this mean that Uncle Karl avoids Congressional subpoenas? Does this mean that he's no longer protected by the ever-expanding sphere of Executive Priviledge?Will this leave Bush literally running around like a chicken with its head cut off? Although, really, how would we know the

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-76254111740992042422007-08-09T10:04:00.000-04:002007-08-09T10:11:44.873-04:00

"Any society that would give up a little liberty to gain a little security will deserve neither and lose both." Ben FranklinCan you imagine what old Ben would have thought about this?In a striking but unnoticed extension of domestic surveillance, the little-known National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency deployed a U-2 spy plane on the region affected by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to track hazards

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-41746346300183371702007-08-07T08:02:00.000-04:002007-08-07T08:15:58.284-04:00

The slow-motion devolution of Iraq has sped up to full-speed disintegration in Basra:As British forces pull back from Basra in southern Iraq, Shiite militias there have escalated a violent battle against each other for political supremacy and control over oil resources, deepening concerns among some U.S. officials in Baghdad that elements of Iraq's Shiite-dominated national government will turn

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-27205745330101252142007-08-06T15:22:00.000-04:002007-08-06T16:21:44.077-04:00

If there's one thing that the Army knows how to do really well it's keeping track of its various weapons. When I was in the Army and we did any kind of training I had to go the "Arms Room" (a huge, vault-like room with racks of weapons right out of the Matrix) and sign out a weapon that had been assigned to me upon arrival in the unit. Every time I signed it out or in the Arms Clerk matched the

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-14228820245300828412007-07-25T07:58:00.000-04:002007-07-25T08:12:20.139-04:00

If this administration were a dog it would be dead from whatever the animal version of shaken-baby syndrome is. At every turn Bush, Cheney and their coterie of Dementors has wagged the hell out of the dog with upgraded terror color alerts and bogus warnings. Perhaps it was news that Bush is now less popular than the Head Death Eater Cheney, but suddenly - from out of nowhere - terrorists are

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-10825451822272775082007-07-23T09:02:00.000-04:002007-07-23T09:23:29.260-04:00

Of course it's a poorly kept secret and anyone really paying attention already knows it, but I'm not sure any Republican has so baldly stated the case before.If you've ever wondered why BushCo. has repeatedly assigned unexperienced political hacks to head important government agencies or continually interfered in the operation of formerly effective offices, wonder no more. In disparaging

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-54143522704887007692007-07-20T14:37:00.000-04:002007-07-20T14:40:20.908-04:00

Finally, somebody's going to look for his head!Bush to have colonoscopy

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-7250939667655176612007-07-02T14:31:00.000-04:002007-07-02T14:39:53.644-04:00

How else to explain the lack of outrage - or at least condescending laughter - over Michael Chertoff's latest statement? Remember, this is the same guy who oversaw the response to Hurricane Katrina:The United States remains safe after the attack at a Scottish airport and two foiled car bombs in London, and no raising of the terror alert status is planned, Homeland Security Secretary Michael

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-18617262509944689362007-06-11T11:32:00.000-04:002007-06-11T11:35:38.367-04:00

I'd like to meet the genius who thought this would be a good idea. I want to shake his hand. Then I'd pull his arm off and beat him to death with his own arm.American officers acknowledge that it is arming some groups that are suspected to have been involved in American attacks as well as link to Al Qaeda.Absolutely, f***ing brilliant.

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-71148880521259816852007-05-31T08:25:00.000-04:002007-05-31T08:36:08.639-04:00

Not content merely to repeat the mistakes of the history it never learned, BushCo. now sinks to new lows of learning lessons from the wrong history.The half-century US military presence in South Korea may be a model for a future in which US forces play a support role in Iraq rather than a frontline combat role, the White House said Wednesday.No matter how long our military is in Iraq (or

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-3241456669942436092007-05-23T09:06:00.000-04:002007-05-23T09:43:35.096-04:00

A couple of weeks ago my wife and I went to visit my Alma Mater, West Point. She had never been and was excited to take in all the history and to learn a little bit more about such a formative place in my life. As always, going back there brought out mixed feelings in me; I still have dreams about not being prepared for something or another there. The feelings are a mixture of pride and

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1176769662918106552007-04-16T20:23:00.000-04:002007-04-16T20:27:42.943-04:00

It's been much too long since I last posted anything. It's not that I'm not paying attention and it's not that there's nothing going on to blog about.I'm just watching events. Waiting for the inspiration to strike again. It certainly doesn't help that I've been so busy lately...I'll be back. Soon.

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1174417142501533172007-03-20T15:48:00.000-04:002007-03-20T15:59:02.526-04:00

Over the past 6 years Republican lawmakers have acted and legislated as though they see the First Amendment as something with which to wipe their asses, but this is beyond outrageous:Rep. Chris Cannon (R-UT) issued a startling rebuke to the NASA official [during hearings on how BushCo. appointees have censored scientific papers on Global Warming], disputing his assertion that taxpayer-funded

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1174402523195382872007-03-20T11:42:00.000-04:002007-03-20T11:55:23.220-04:00

When I was a Cavalry Troop commander, if I had to report that 80% of my aircraft were unready for deployment and combat, I would have been relieved of duty. The same would have been true of any commander up the chain of command. Had any unit been not ready to deploy while a part of the "Ready Brigade Task Force" - a combined-arms unit on rotational stand-by able to be "wheels up" on an Air Force

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1174308232427051612007-03-19T09:20:00.000-04:002007-03-19T09:43:53.703-04:00

How can four years seem so long?Unless I really stop and count the years, it seems that we've always been in Iraq. In the darkest moments, looking forward, it seems that we will always be in Iraq.What have we gotten for those four years? Three thousand plus dead American soldiers. Ten times that many - or more - injured. Fifty times that many - or more - Iraqis dead. Uncounted more injured. As if

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1173962430181592822007-03-15T09:28:00.000-04:002007-03-15T09:40:30.206-04:00

Besides the timing, something else strikes me as odd about the announcement of Khalid Sheik Mohammed's confessions. Yes, it was perfectly timed to take the heat off of Alberto Gonzales - although it hasn't seemed to work as well as BushCo. would have hoped. But no, there's something else about it.It seems that "KSM" has confessed to planning or being involved in every known terrorist attack or

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1173876128718220452007-03-14T09:25:00.000-04:002007-03-14T09:42:08.743-04:00

How sad that a story like this is not only not surprising but that it fits right in with everything else this administration has done. The Army Corps of Engineers, rushing to meet President Bush’s promise to protect New Orleans by the start of the 2006 hurricane season, installed defective flood-control pumps last year despite warnings from its own expert that the equipment would fail during a

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1173791966397761962007-03-13T09:57:00.000-04:002007-03-13T10:19:26.420-04:00

When I commanded soldiers and pilots in the Army I was taught that "the commander sets the tone" for the unit. In other words, by my actions, work ethic, the things I said I set an example for my men (they were all men at the time) and determined how the unit would function. Many years of experience taught me that there was a very large kernel of truth to that old military trope. It's also why I

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1173704001478980432007-03-12T09:29:00.000-04:002007-03-12T09:53:21.503-04:00

There are certain songs that never fail to take me back to my highschool days. From 28 years down the road, those were truly golden days; filled with friends and football, baseball and beach trips. Boston's eponymous first album is probably the best at taking me back. When I listen to it, from the first, quiet strains of "More Than a Feeling" to the last beat of "Let Me Take You Home Tonight,"

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1172869002346453532007-03-02T15:51:00.000-05:002007-03-02T15:56:42.370-05:00

When I saw this headline on Raw Story, I thought that maybe our Secretary of State was going to be turned into a real human being. Then I found out that the article was about rice, the little white grains, no capital 'R', no tendency to lie. Except on a plate.Talk about disappointed.

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1172622072378159662007-02-27T19:13:00.000-05:002007-02-27T19:21:12.400-05:00

Let me preface this post by saying if you haven't seen "An Inconvenient Truth" yet, you need to. Now.It was wonderful seeing Al Gore at the Oscars on Sunday night. He was witty, warm and personable. The kind of candidate who could have won... Most importantly, he showed that he really has become the preeminent voice for the need to do something - and soon - about global warming.In that vein, I'd

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1172086122926855592007-02-21T14:04:00.000-05:002007-02-21T14:28:43.096-05:00

Here's the thing about insurgencies; the insurgents want to avoid, at all costs, meeting the occupiers on the field of battle. The term "asymmetric warfare" was created for just the kind of tactics our military is facing in Iraq. The insurgents cannot defeat us head-to-head and much like Vietnam it really doesn't matter. They don't need to.So what do recent events in Iraq tell us about the

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1171588801891943732007-02-15T20:10:00.000-05:002007-02-15T20:20:01.916-05:00

Totally exaggerated, I assure you!I'm over the wicked head cold I was suffering under in my last post. It's just that as seems to be the case in my life lately, events have piled up to the point where I have found my self totally overwhelmed and with no time left for pleasantries like blogging. For sure I'm trying to keep up with the news and the goings on at some of my favorite blogs, but every

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1170690500569783052007-02-05T10:43:00.000-05:002007-02-05T10:48:20.593-05:00

I stayed home from work today - an extremely rare sick day for me - since I could not breathe or see. Whatever I've got, some sort of upper respiratory virus, has stuffed me up and crusted over my eyes. Nice.So I finally make my way to my computer and tried to read some news when I saw the size of the budget that Bush has submitted to Congress. Then I really felt ill.More on all this when I'm

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1170259736834817692007-01-31T11:00:00.000-05:002007-01-31T11:08:56.860-05:00

Showing what real policing can do to thwart terrorism before it happens.Meanwhile...BushCo. still can't figure out how to run the Never-ending War on Terror.Or maybe they have it figured out; they seem to be lining the pockets of their friends and contributors without any oversight. And the missing weapons make sure that the "terrorists" have all they need to keep it Never-ending.Fuck

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1169859891217192472007-01-26T19:51:00.000-05:002007-01-26T20:04:51.240-05:00

It's a basic consideration in any investment, yet this is not just any "basic investment."Tonight Diane Sawyer will do a piece on 20/20 about how you only have to go as far as Camden, NJ to find children living in horrible conditions - like those you'd find in third-world nations. I heard a promo spot about this show just after listening to Charlie Gibson talk about the continuing adventures of

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1169651471151989272007-01-24T08:37:00.000-05:002007-01-24T10:11:11.250-05:00

It's just about the only thing Bush didn't do last night to take attention away from the debacle in Iraq.What a wonderfully ironic picture it was; Bush on the dais looking mildly dazed, Darth Cheney over his right shoulder scowling like mad and trying to keep his mind-meld with his putative boss, and over Bush's left shoulder - "Madame Speaker" - Nancy Pelosi, looking dignified and clearly

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1169571455662063482007-01-23T11:44:00.000-05:002007-01-23T11:57:35.696-05:00

A new, more powerful UN report on climate change is to be released starting next week. Nay-sayers, all of them with a financial interest in the supposed "controversy", will receive another forceful blow to the head with this report.Smoking gun? Nope, but there is this:Andrew Weaver, a Canadian climate scientist and chapter co-author, went even further: “This isn’t a smoking gun; climate is a

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1169215921740802262007-01-19T08:47:00.000-05:002007-01-19T09:12:01.763-05:00

With apologies to Jonathan Swift.What if it were possible to prevent adults from imposing any religion on children? Once reaching adulthood, they could - if they desired - declare themselves a member of the superstition of their parents or any other.Or none at all.Imagine if the followers of Fred Phelps were unable to expose their children to their religiously inspired hate?Imagine if imams were

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1169041760670789592007-01-17T08:44:00.000-05:002007-01-17T08:49:20.706-05:00

Another newly discovered way that the Patriot Act - never completely read by anyone who voted for it - has brought us that much closer to the "Imperial Presidency."A little-known, year-old amendment to the USA Patriot Act is allowing the Bush Administration to replace outgoing U.S. Attorneys with controversial appointments in a process that circumvents the usual approval process in the Senate,

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1168883666075123662007-01-15T12:46:00.000-05:002007-01-15T12:54:26.100-05:00

Spending Our Future:The head of the GAO [David M. Walker] also warned that if no action is taken now to control government spending, severe tax hikes could be necessary. He stated that, "balancing the budget in 2040 could require actions as large as cutting total federal spending by 60 percent or raising federal taxes to 2 times today’s level."Only Reuters covered this committee meeting and it's

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1168828740363539722007-01-14T21:29:00.000-05:002007-01-14T21:39:00.386-05:00

The story is here, but really the picture says it all.The only thing missing is his middle finger.Iraq is to continue basically forever. Afghanistan is forgotten. Iran and Syria are next. With each signing statement he might as well be pissing on the Constitution. And Bush could care less that the country has decided he and his gang of thieves don't know what the hell they are doing. What remains

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1168525857106440952007-01-11T09:24:00.000-05:002007-01-11T09:30:57.130-05:00

I couldn't watch "the speech" last night. The advance copies told me all I needed to know; the New Way Forward sounds just like Stay the Course. Today's news stories confirms those thoughts.But here's what caught my eye:At a briefing to add details about President Bush's new Iraq strategy, Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday said he would recommend increasing the Army and Marine Corps by

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1168306595557715782007-01-08T20:31:00.000-05:002007-01-08T20:37:03.273-05:00

And so is anyone who believes anything he says after this:“In all honesty, we are not winning,” Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said Sunday on “Meet the Press.” “And if you’re not winning, you’re losing. And now’s the time to come up with a strategy to win.”No, you blithering idiot. Now is NOT the time to come up with a winning strategy. If we just absolutely had to be in this never-ending war, the

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1168031892529095302007-01-05T16:12:00.000-05:002007-01-05T16:18:12.553-05:00

Because he's toast now:McCain seems to be launching his 2008 campaign by taking the role of foremost advocate of sending significantly more troops for long-term deployment to Iraq.Johnny-boy seems to think that out of all the Democrats elected in November, the only one who counts - when it comes to judging the public's attitude towards the war - is Joe Lieberman (D - In Name Only).There are only

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1167924037228307642007-01-04T10:14:00.000-05:002007-01-04T10:20:37.253-05:00

Democratic control over Congress could not come soon enough. That much is agreed; but every day makes it more imperative that this new Congress exercise vigorous oversight of our imperial President. Take the latest in a long line of incredibly outrageous signing statements:President Bush has quietly claimed sweeping new powers to open Americans' mail without a judge's warrant, the Daily News has

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1167830214471507332007-01-03T07:54:00.000-05:002007-01-03T08:16:54.873-05:00

Something caught my eyes in the night sky last evening. Maybe some people need stories of UFOs in the news to make them look up, but I spend a lot of my time looking at the sky, especially at night. Since I got my first telescope when I was about 12 I've been an enthusiastic observer of the skies.Last night's combination of a crystal clear sky a nearly full moon and very little "city glow" out

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1167685218618227122007-01-01T15:53:00.000-05:002007-01-01T16:00:18.643-05:00

Two years ago we had nearly 200 inches of snow over the season. On New Year's Day there was about a foot of snow on the ground. Last year I never ran my snow blower. December just passed here in Upstate NY saw the least amount of snow in recorded history. The mower deck is still on my lawn tractor. This morning it was 52 degrees.What will this year bring? World faces hottest year ever, as El Niño

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1167667411014394272007-01-01T10:57:00.000-05:002007-01-01T11:03:31.040-05:00

This morning, I woke up relatively early, given the late dinner celebration of New Year's Eve, and took a walk around the yard with our Yellow Lab. To the East the sun was casting low beams beneath scattered clouds. To the West dark clouds obscured the sky with a bit of rain falling among lighter grey clouds scudding along in front of a slight breeze.Suddenly the sun broke completely free of the

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1166796764535119852006-12-22T09:08:00.000-05:002006-12-22T09:12:44.556-05:00

The Selective Service Agency is performing a test on the systems required to operate a draft. But don't worry, "The agency is not gearing up for a draft," says an agency official.Right.And Iraq was linked to 9/11, Iraqis greeted us with flowers and chocolates, Bush will listen to the generals and Compassionate Conservatism is not an oxymoron.

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1166732467527312032006-12-21T15:03:00.000-05:002006-12-21T15:21:07.556-05:00

I woke up a little groggy this morning and as I was walking to the shower trying to avoid walking into walls in the dark, a thought worked its way into my still sleeping brain. This thought had to do with my wonderment and anger at so many people in the US, conservative and liberals alike, who are so willing to "give up a little liberty in exchange for a little security." I agree with Franklin

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1166708849563324622006-12-21T08:41:00.000-05:002006-12-21T08:47:29.586-05:00

Schlussel sure sounds like a German name. Which means somewhere in her background there must be a Nazi or two. The mere fact that she's kept such a Nazi sounding name while living in our great country means that she must have some fondness for her Nazi ancestors. Doesn't that call her loyalties to America into question?The questions are only fair.

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1166534985126682062006-12-19T07:50:00.000-05:002006-12-19T08:29:52.010-05:00

Sam Brownback has identified what he thinks will be the first big wedge issue in the 2008 presidential election. Apparently he thinks that gay marriage will be more important to the Republican base than the Iraq war, the economy or anything else. Given the behavior of the religious reich, he's probably correct. I'm not sure if his latest action is a retreat from that position or not. Certainly

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1166470083516313262006-12-18T14:22:00.000-05:002006-12-18T14:28:03.540-05:00

You can tell a lot about the new Forest Service rules on long-term planning by who supports them:The timber industry supports the new policy. Chris West, the vice president of the American Forest Resource Council, a trade group in 12 Western states, called it overdue.Not that I'm really surprised. Every place where environmental concerns have bumped up against the interests of industry, in fact

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1166449534844268962006-12-18T08:32:00.000-05:002006-12-18T08:45:34.870-05:00

Of the many rotating rationalizations that BushCo. has given for the invasion of Iraq, "fighting them [terrorists, al Qaeda, etc] there so we don't have to fight them here" has been one of the most touted in right-wing circles. And one of the most ridiculous. There were no terrorists in Iraq until after we destroyed Hussein's capability to keep them out and did nothing to replace it.Even so, the

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1166317031298870912006-12-16T19:44:00.000-05:002006-12-21T15:24:28.223-05:00

George W. Bush may not know it - in fact I'm pretty sure he has never read the document - but the oath he took as assumed office is prescribed in Article II, Section I of the U.S. Constitution. Let's have a look at that oath:I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my ability, preserve, protect and defend

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1166103390477071582006-12-14T08:28:00.000-05:002006-12-14T08:36:30.500-05:00

Of course he won't be rushed. None of his kids are dodging bullets in Iraq. Nobody he knows is in danger of losing their arms or legs from IEDs. He has no stake in the war at all other than appeasing his oil company patrons and his friends in the weapons industry.Oh, and his legacy.Bush, prior to telling us that he's going to "stay the course" after all in January, will celebrate the holidays at

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1166017901156277752006-12-13T08:42:00.000-05:002006-12-13T08:51:41.186-05:00

Republicans once again are thumbing their noses at you and me and planting said noses firmly up the asses of large corporations who have filled their campaign coffers in the past and who will hire them when they walk out of the Capitol.The Justice Department placed new restraints on federal prosecutors conducting corporate investigations yesterday, easing tactics adopted in the wake of the Enron

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1166015860443048642006-12-13T08:04:00.000-05:002006-12-13T08:17:41.416-05:00

It's been nearly 14 years since I left the Army but I remember clearly what would happen if a major unit were to have to report as not ready to deploy. Division commanders would be replaced, their careers over. Most likely the Corps commander would be replaced or at least reprimanded, their careers done as well. Reports would be sent up the chain of command to the Joint Chiefs and the

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1165957701591722582006-12-12T16:01:00.000-05:002006-12-12T16:08:21.616-05:00

Please, please, please go read this post by Driftglass.All of us who opposed the Iraq Invasion/War/Occupation/Mission Accomplished are due an apology from the rest of America. I stopped holding my breath a long time ago. But that doesn't negate that we are due.Driftglass puts exactly the right amount of venom in his closing paragraphs:Never forget that while Iraq was going up in flames, while the

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1165947514576549152006-12-12T13:13:00.000-05:002006-12-12T13:18:34.603-05:00

With Republicans, in a last gesture of disdain for their constituents, trying to gut EPA lead regulations it seems only fitting to read this:A report released today by Democratic staffers in Congress found that official Capitol Hill gift shops were selling items containing dangerous levels of lead, according to news stories in Roll Call and The Hill.I wonder how many of these trinkets and gifts

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1165932158469574962006-12-12T08:55:00.000-05:002006-12-12T09:02:38.510-05:00

I imagine this is how the entire Bush administration will take their leave. "Yep, we made the whole world a friggin' mess and now it's all yours. Enjoy!" Then they'll climb back into whatever crypt they were raised from and disappear.According to the Wall Street Journal's "Washington Wire" blog, when Hannity asked if Rumsfeld could suggest any advice to Robert Gates, who will succeed him, he

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1165871118689774442006-12-11T15:58:00.000-05:002006-12-11T16:05:18.713-05:00

The next time you hear a conservative talking about Democrats and all the regulation of industry they have/will impose, don't forget to bring up all the recent outbreaks of E. coli and salmonella in the food chain:Although meat and dairy products are regulated by the Department of Agriculture, the safety of fruits and vegetables is the responsibility of the Food and Drug Administration and the

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1165849378812821202006-12-11T09:52:00.000-05:002006-12-11T10:02:58.836-05:00

In some ways, I want to cut incoming Democrats and those new to their leadership roles a little bit of slack. They have, after all, been systematically locked out of everything over the past six years and more.Unfortunately, the current world situation doesn't allow for any slack.That's why this story should get wide dissemination:In an interview with the editor on national security for

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1165846773630896212006-12-11T09:15:00.000-05:002006-12-11T09:19:33.663-05:00

I only caught a few moments of it this morning so I don't have any good links, but it sounds like a lot of Congress-critters are bad mouthing the President on the morning news shows. I even heard someone use a construction of the old saying about the definition of insanity being doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. They never used the word "insanity," but I knew

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1165585357841031022006-12-08T08:36:00.000-05:002006-12-08T08:42:37.866-05:00

"Not winning," otherwise known as losing, has now become:"...not succeed[ing] as fast as we wanted to succeed.Got that?All the chaos and the all-but-admitted civil war; the continuing death and maiming of our soldiers and Iraqis; the completely compromised Iraqi army and police; the faltering Maliki government. That's not failure! That's slow motion success.The other George would be so proud.

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1165507276248212172006-12-07T09:30:00.000-05:002006-12-07T11:01:16.276-05:00

When I was growing up there was a sci-fi show by Gerry Anderson called "Space 1999." In that show, by the year 1999, there was a well established - and large - scientific outpost on the moon. There were also lots of nice looking young women and very cool spacecraft; so of course I watched it all the time.Now, over 30 years after the last Apollo astronaut walked on the moon, NASA says that we

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1165440996488352302006-12-06T16:27:00.000-05:002006-12-06T16:36:36.510-05:00

Just in case you've lost count or maybe thought that our Republican friends had started truly caring for the troops instead of using them as a bludgeon... This should do away with any of those illusions:Army studies show that at least 20 percent to 25 percent of the soldiers who have served in Iraq display symptoms of serious mental-health problems, including depression, substance abuse and

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1165430213790604512006-12-06T13:33:00.000-05:002006-12-06T13:36:53.816-05:00

I'm fighting off the remains of a very bad cold or sinus infection that really had me down and out on Sunday. And when I woke up Monday, my left eye was swollen and red; that whole side of my face felt puffy and somewhat numb. I feel much better today, but still very tired and wrung out from all the work my body is doing to repel whatever microscopic invaders had wreaked such damage.Maybe it's a

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1165345401645778232006-12-05T13:57:00.000-05:002006-12-05T14:03:21.666-05:00

From Robert Gates' nomination hearing today:“Mr. Gates, do you believe that we are currently winning in Iraq?” Mr. Levin asked.“No, sir,” Mr. Gates replied...Mr. Levin said Mr. Gates’s remarks amounted to a “necessary, refreshing breath of reality.” So will Bush - and, perhaps more importantly, Cheney - breathe the fresh air or will they continue to suffocate in their delusional world where the

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1164982189112045852006-12-01T08:51:00.000-05:002006-12-01T09:09:52.460-05:00

If our government is supposed to be representative of We the People, then I suppose Antonin Scalia represents the worst of our know-nothing conservative culture. During questioning in a case that could be pivotal in forcing the EPA to deal with global warming, Fat Tony had the following exchange:"Respectfully, Your Honor, it is not the stratosphere. It's the troposphere," Milkey said."Troposphere

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1164919750447583272006-11-30T15:38:00.000-05:002006-11-30T15:49:10.470-05:00

Afghanistan; you remember that place, don't you? It's where the 9/11 hijackers trained or received support. It's where al Qaeda - protected by the Taliban - was based, where BushCo. struck out with the support of the world and where they quickly lost interest as they turned to their long-lusted for invasion of Iraq.It's long been on a slide back towards complete Taliban control. That long slide

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5792133.post-1164683309550132272006-11-27T22:04:00.000-05:002006-11-27T22:08:29.586-05:00

Vacation is nearly over. It's been warm and wonderful here in sunny Florida. I've had my share of turkey, I've had a great time with family, but now it's time to head back to the great white North. Back to work. Back to the news - not that there's been all that much happening. Back to blogging!I hope that all of you had a great Thanksgiving.

Charles2http://www.blogger.com/profile/00962971909029829821noreply@blogger.com0