What's Next?

I started listening to different music today. Well, its not altogether different. I've heard it all my life. And to say I'm listening to different music is really an understatement. I listen to anything. But I was listening to the music of my parents. The reason is complex.

Unlike most of my peers, I grew up with heavy doses of Simon and Garfunkel, the Beatles, Johnny Rivers, the Delfonics, the Beach Boys, the Four Tops and Frank Sinatra. I listened to everything from Doris Day and Bing Crosby, to the early days of Rock like Bill Haley and Buddy Holly to the Everly Brothers and Chuck Berry and beyond to CCR, Hendrix, the Mamas and the Papas and Jefferson Airplane.

My parents songs were the soundtrack of my life before I became more passionate about my own generation's music, namely alternative like Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, Nirvana, Alice in Chains and Soundgarden, just to name a few that were played on REV 105. Funny, when everyone started getting into the Doors at my school (usually the same kids who dug Charles Manson), I really wasn't that impressed. I'd been hearing the Doors for a long time. Still, to this day, I can watch one of those stupid informercials for gazillion cds and I know EVERY song like I lived in the era myself. I hadn't listened to them lately. The oldies station around here started playing more 80's stuff which frankly, I'm kind of sick of. They only have like 200 80's songs and I could sing all of them perfectly while being hung upside down with the mzzle of a gun in my mouth. And I might even prefer that than listening to Come on Eileen!!!! Lately, I've actually been into big band and World War II music.

I said the reason was more complex and it is. I go through genres of music in cycles of obsession. This means I obsess about one style or era of music until I can pee it. Then I move on. But its abrupt. First, I begin to listen to old staples. I keep staples lists on my mp3 player for such occasions. Then I might think of something while listening to a staple or something enters my head randomly. Some thing like that happened but again, its more complex. I'll tell ya the song later.

First, I have to admit, I'm gratified by the increase in political participation this election. It's about time. And I have to admit, if they wasn't a distasteful war, then we wouldn't be so fired up. But I sometimes wonder what direction are we headed? It seems that we are getting more divided as things progress. The last time this many people were fired about politics, politicians died.

So, this brings me to the fear that even with all our hope for change and so much involvement, I just can't think that the upheaval in this country will end. In fact, I believe that we are on the precipice of the worst of it all. Yeah, I'm telling you getting George W. Bush out of the White House is only the start. There are more problems in this country. The uninsured, illegal immigration, corporatism.... the inequities our forbears have given us is now inadequate. The world they built for us is now outdated.

I'm not saying there's going to be a civil war. There may be fighting in the streets. If there are any National Guardsmen to call up, they'll be brought in to restore order. Bottom line: Things are gonna get worse before they get better. And its kind of predictable. Generations are cyclical. Some would consider me a Generation X. If that is so, it may explain why I, until a year ago, was incensed by the reluctance of kids to get involved in the political struggle. It seemed so many were unwilling to turn of the iPods and interact with other people. And those that were active were so intolerant of other points of view that they irrelevant.

I found a website that explains a bit about the cycles of generations. In a way, everything really does keep turning. There are 4 type of generations: Prophets, Nomads, Heroes and Artists. It should come as no surprise that the Generation that fought the Nazis was Heroes. The following generation after was the Silent Generation. It explains that there are two major events during these cycles: a spiritual one and a secular one. After the secular one (WWII) there is an euphoria. After this euphoria there is a Spiritual event. The generation of my parents was the Baby Boomer. The spiritual event they went through was the 60's. I come close to falling into the succeeding generation: Generation X. I find myself falling more increasingly into the Heroic cycle that my younger brother is in. This may be that I emotionally matured slower than my peers.

Supposedly, there is a large secular event that should arrive somewhere between 2010 and 2020. With this thought in mind, I assert that things will get worse before they get better. My nephews will likely be a part of the next Artistic generation which will likely be silent. My niece is almost through high school which places her firmly in the Heroic cycle. I guess this idea of generational cycles really places us as actors within eras with little control of how we act or think. But I think it is less exacting.

The reason I'm bringing all this up is because we repeat history but are we even sure what history we are repeating? We are headed toward a cycle not unlike that facing the GIs who fought World War II. They endured an economic depression and then pulled themselves together to fight a terrible and destructive war. We are facing similar dilemmas. Is World War III soon?

So we are headed toward something terrible but have no control over it. Hopefully we will be able to confront it. The song I was listening to that got me thinking about this was "What a Wonderful World" which always conjures up images of Vietnam...sans psychedelia. It doesn't hurt that I'm listening the The Who's "Won't get fooled again", all 8 minutes and 30 glorious seconds of it!!!!

Anyways, if any of that made sense they yay!! But I think I rambled a fair bit.

This is the site that outlines the generational cycles were are unwitting participants in.

This site is for an online radio station called Radio Vietnam which plays songs from the Vietnam Era.

The Next Contestant...

See that guy? That is New Mexico's very own Bill Richardson. He was born in Pasadena, California to a half Hispanic father and a Mexican mother. This, of course, leads many to believe that the Hispanic governor is pro-illegal immigrant. We'll eveluate that later.

But first, I want to discuss a particular moment in time. Some time ago, some classified data pertaining to nuclear energy went missing in the form of hard drives. At the time, Bill Richardson was the Secretary of Energy under 2nd term Bill Clinton. You can imagine how things were going for that man... Due to wrangling involved, during the senate investigation into espionage and what have you, (it really is too complicated to get into. I remember some of this from when it went on. But really, this government investigations are really good at 1. Destroying whole swaths of forestland due to the tonnes of paper needed for everything; 2. Digging up everything on a person like when they got a haircut, walked the dog, sold secrets to China... you know, little things; 3. Digging up actual people: Alive and Dead; 4. Taking an infentesimal time to accomplish ABSOLUTELY NOTHING; 5. But look good in the process, prove to those slack-jawed wankers at home that you indeed "work" and therefore, will get re-elected.) Richardson came to the senate to yabber about his non-responsibilty to the Senators old and dying (Strom was there). Richardson shrugged off a Senate appearance before finally coming in to testify. His reasoning was that he wanted all the facts in hand before coming before them. True, that might be good. But thats if you believe this is really going to accomplish something (see above). Senator Byrd (another old dude) said to him "You had a bright and brilliant career, but you will never again receive the support of the U.S. Senate for any office you seek. You have squandered your treasure." The Coda: Richardson won New Mexico's gubernatorial election in 2002.

How does this bode for the highest office in the land? Richardson has in fact announced that he has put together an exploratory committee for a possible bid for the White House in 2008. If he wins, he'd be the first Hispanic President. That would be cool but I know what some detractors are saying. That is why I included the fairly innocuous but relatively important biographical information. One might assume from this pedigree that Richardson would be for the illegal immigrants swarming over the borders. But the man declared a state of emergency in November of last year as he felt the problem had reached an intolerable threshold. Illegal Immigration, though a burden for the country as a whole, is a particularly acute pain for border states such as Texas, Arizona, California and New Mexico. In fact, this is how Richardson feels on the illegal... thing:

* Declared state of emergency on Mexican border. (Nov 2006)
* Path to legalization if illegals pay taxes & learn English. (Nov 2006)
* Reduce immigration; no automatic citizenship for kids. (Nov 1996)
* Guarantee human services to illegal immigrants. (Nov 1996)

(Go to the site On the Issues for anyone for that matter. Great site!!!) In the end, Richardson is a candidate who can be bipartisan rather partisan and unilateral. Hell, I live with republicans and they'd vote for him. And that is saying something about my Dad.

If you'd like to see other candidates or "explorers", go to this site. Its a wikipedia which means it updated fairly quickly whne news breaks which should start picking up. I'll keep covering and do some more tidbts on probable, possible and confirmed candidates and those who help them on the campaigns. Elections are exciting and halfway point in a presidential term is when things start solidifying. People start raising funds like mad and drawing lines. Good Times!!!

(Speaking of funds, its likely candidates will need to raise $100M by the end of this year alone to run a strong campaign. The combined funds of cadidates may break $1B...)

On this day in 1525, the Anabaptists re-baptised each other in Swizterland. O....K.

In 1793, Louis XVI gets guillotined.

On this auspicious day, the new USSR lost Lenin and gained the egotistical madman known as Stalin, His real name was Joseph Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili; a Georgian name. In Georgian it looks like this: იოსებ ბესარიონის ძე ჯუღაშვილი. And in Cyrillic: Ио́сиф Виссарио́нович Джугашвили. Yeah...

And in 1977, President Jimmy Carter pardons most (most) Vietnam war draft dodgers.

नमस्ते

"What we've got here is failure to communicate"

Could it really be possible? Is Iraq in a civil war? Or are they just playing? When is this administration going to wake up and smell the shit they've been shovelling? Don't answer that...

Colin Powell, former Secretary of State, and before that, Chairman of the Joint Cheifs of Staff (shouldn't that be cheives?) and he was also National Security Advisor to Reagan. Anyways, he has kind of been the voice of reason in the Republican Party. But that should not surprise anyone. He's the most moderate man in public service aside from John McCain, though McCain is starting to look a little too red. Regardless, he's one of those rare men: he can see both sides of the issue and look at things objectively. Now, if only we could get more journalists like him. He opposed going into Iraq as we did and has even been known to call Neoconservatives "fucking crazies" (I have a source). He's pro-choice and for affirmitive Action. When he resigned from his jpb as Secretary of State, one cannot help but wonder (at least, I can't) that it had something to do with his 1) dragging his heels on Iraq, 2)stating that we needed UN backing before going into Iraq not to mention the nation's support and 3) calling neocons "crazies" even if they are. They're crazy! What do you think they will do to you?

Yeah. That Guy. By the way, check out that cheesy grin. Sort of scary that a retired General can smile like that. (Note: Do not get the high resolution picture on Wikipedia. There is no reason to see anyone at a resolution of 2400x3000. NO ONE!)

Colin Powell has come out and said Iraq'a in a civil war. Just admit and move on. Current NSA dude Stephen Hadley said "We're clearly in a new phase characterized by an increase in sectarian violence that requires us to adapt to that new phase". Well, I'm glad that cleared up. Since no one in the White House will say it. It might look bad. But even Iraq's government is shirking this detail. Hadley also said "The Iraqis don't talk of it as a civil war. The unity government doesn't talk of it as a civil war". Because there is no clear grab for power or territory, its not a civil war. What the hell was the British Civil War? They fought for power thereby control of the country, i.e. territory. Ugh...

Moving on because stupidity is depressing. Fiji might have another coup. Sweet! Lets have some action! Apparently, the Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase wanted to offer leaders of the 2000 coup some amnesty. He had two bills presented to the parliament proposing that. Commodore Frank Bainimarama, leader of the Fijian military forces, was a little ticked. He asked for the MP to resign in mid October. In return, Qarase tried to sack him. It didn't work. Now, New Zealand and Australia, both a bit concerned over possible instability in the region, have arranged talks, but negotiations have been unsuccessful.

The military began "practicing" in case of international intervention. But it looks more like preparation for overthrow. And the residents know it. They are stokpiling goods and cash. Even if there isn't a coup, they may destroy their small country's banking system. Australia, New Zealand and Great Britain have expressed concern about travelling there and Australia is pulling workers out of its embassy there. Wait and see!

The case of Alexander Litvinenko (the pictures at right are him: Before and After his poisoning) gets even bigger. Let me give a brief rundown on this man. Alexander Litvinenko was once a KGB (КГБ (Committee for State Security)) agent (as was Vladimir Putin). Later, he worked for the FSB (ФСБ (Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation)). In 1998, he began making accusations of killings, extortions and so forth. Eventually he'd spend some time in prison. While awaiting trial in 2000, he fled to Turkey and rejoined his wife, Marina, and son, Anatoly. He had no passport but he managed to make it into the United Kingdom on Political Asylum. He wrote a couple of books detailing how the FSB blew up apartments to further give rise to oppositition of the Chechen rebels and help Putin win election. He became a citizen if the UK in October of this year.

He had received papers from Mario Scaramella concerning the killing of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya. She was shot in the elevator of her apartment building on October 7th. On November 1st, the day he acquired the documents, he also met with two former KGB officers. But Oleg Gordievsky, a long time friend of Litvinenko's, believed the poisoning happened at the flat of a Russian friend. He had tea there before meeting Scaramella (who has since gone into hiding) at Itsu, a sushi restaurant, in Piccadilly.

He is believed now to have been poisoned with Pulonium 210. This is a highly rare substance that an only be made in a nuclear reactor. And the half life on it assures that it was not stolen from stores that the USSR had and were easily taken after the collapse. Yegor Gaidar, a former acting Primie Minsiter under Boris Yeltsin, was found unconscious in Ireland on Novemeber 28. His health is not good and raises even more suspicions after Litvinenko's November 23rd death. A Post Mortem examination is scheduled for today and there has evidnce of radiation has been found on two British Airlines planes.

Well, I need to do some back on this day stuff. There were a lot of important things that happened through out history on this date. For example, The November Uprising of the poles against the Russian happened November 29, 1830. In 1890, the Meiji Constitution took affect in Japan. Yugoslavia became the Federal people's Republic of Yougoslavia in 1945 (aka they became Commies).

In 1967, Robert S. MacNamara resigned as Secretary of Defence amidst bungling of that era's quagmire, Vietnam.

And finally....You see that map at the top? that is the United Nations Partition as devised in 1947 for Palestine. Today, in 1947, the UN voted to go forward with partition. A month later, the Arab League met in Cairo to devise their own military solution to partition. We now have Eretz Israel (ארץ ישראל) and Palestine (فلسطين‎ ). Someone actually asked me where the name Palestine came from. Its from the Phillistines. They have long since been gone but their name still continues.

✡

"You with the wells... GET OUT!"

Chad (تشاد) has taken the step to order oil firms out of it territory. Chevron Texaco and Petronas (from Malaysia... those wonderfaul towers belong to them) have been given their marching orders because they failed to pay taxes. Exxon Mobil is the only remaining oil company and the rest of the will be controlled by the state. I thought President Idriss Deby had taken a page from the book of Bolivia's President Evo Morales. If so, good on him.

Iran (جمهوری اسلامی ايرا) still claims their nuclear facilities are for peaceful energy only resources. One cannot help but distrust the oligarchic theocracy. They do not have a great record and their President challenges the existence of the Holocaust. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (محمود احمدی نژاد) continues to say nuclear weapons are not on the table while touring a Heavy Water plant in Arak (اراک). The BBC quotes him as saying "There is no discussion of nuclear weapons. We are not a threat to anybody, even the Zionist regime which is a definite enemy of the people of the region." Supposedly this plant will also be beneficial to health institutions as well.

In Gaza (again) Israel (מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל )made some interesting airstrikes. They dropped some ordinance on a Reuters van. Two journalists were injured. The IDF claims they were driving suspicious and in a combat zone. They also claim it was not clearly marked but "the armored car was clearly labeled as a media vehicle, with signs on all sides, including the roof". Good job boys!

Up North in Canada, the leader of that country's Green Party is calling for a renogotiation of NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). Elizabeth May, elected at a convention on saturday, compared the free trade deal to cancer by saying "unlimited economic growth is the ideology of the cancer cell". In other words, economic growth should be checked rather than be free wheeling. Gotcha.

Remember a few days ago when Pluto was still a planet? Not anymore! Now, just like Plan B, there are opponents to this unthinkable decision. Some scientists find it embarrassing. There are of course those who believe its the right way to go. Because of new technologies there are other distant objects that rival Pluto's size, new definitions must be written and agreed upon. Though this makes sense, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) waited until the end of the convention in Prague to vote on the resolution. Most of the delegates weren't there had left. Of the 2,700 attending, only 424 voted. That's roughly 15.7%. Hardley a majority. We'll see what happens to poor Pluto. I still think we've pissed off the Plutonians who will one day strike back with their death ray.

Last but not least, I want to chime in on George Will's declaration that Article 9 of Japan's constitution be reconsidered. For those that do not know, General MacArthur wrote the Japanese constitution back in those dark occupation years and in it was a stipulation that Japan (日本国)could not have military forces. It could retain some for self-defence (自衛隊) mind you and it needed it considering China (中國) and later Korea (조선) and Viet Nam. However, the events in the past decade or two have raised the amount of self-defence Japan must do. Its budget for said self-defence is "$45B". That's enormous. We, the United States, are supposed to provide the bulk of defence but with two wars and various conflicts and operations, that is untenable. Will, writing for the Washington Post, asserts quite correctly that the time has come to change things. With increased tension in East Asia and the long ongoing dispute over Taiwan (中華民國), there is a need for Japan to be a true military power again. Its dubious they'd go a mad rampage of the Pacifc since they are predominantly pacifist. They beat us economically anyway. Will also keenly points out that we need a pro-American ally. Japan is that ally. Just adding my two cents.

On this day back in 55 BCE, Julius Caesar landed in Britain. It would never be the same.

On this day 15 years ago, Moldova declared itself free of the USSR.

Plan B: OTC

So, the FDA has finally decided to make Plan B an over the counter medication. There's a catch. There's always a catch! You must be at least 18 and prove it. Well, thats not really surprising. No one should be self medicating under the age of 18.

On to more pressing matters. Lt. General Dan Halutz (דן חלוץ), the Chief of Staff for the IDF, admitted in a letter to his troops that he failed and "exposed shortcomings in the military's logistics, operations and command." I respect the man for making an apology to the IDF for the apparent loss in the recent conflict but it was like Vietnam. You could drop lots bombs, send mortars, missles and grenades over but Hezbollah ()حزب الله), just as the Viet Cong did. They fought using Guerrilla tactics. Evidently even Mossad(המוס למודיעין ולתפקידים מיוחדים) doesn't use those anymore. What happened to the days of yore when the IDF could lay waste to its enemies? What happened to the days when Israel could outsmart anyone? The possibilty exists that I srael may have gotten cocksure. The United States sure did. When we strut around and act like just because we liberated France from the Nazis, along with the British and Canadians, we deserve the world's thanks forever, we doom ourselves to being toppled; to being defeated. So heed this warning Israel: get your underdog stripes back. They serve you well. Swelled heads and a swagger do not. That may be the real cause behind a failure to "defang" Hezbollah, not a stock-selling leader.

Not to get on Israel's case, which apparently I am, but now it appears Israel has been accused of war crimes. Amnesty International has recently accused Israel of deliberately targetting civilian populations in its crusade to root out Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Honestly, they can't go after the other combatant in this melee so Israel will likely take the brunt of the aftermath in the arena of public opinion. There may be other more serious consquences. In Israel's defence, there is little they could do not to target civilian areas. Hezbollah was firing their Katusha rockets from neighborhoods in Lebanon.

Now moving on to Israel's other conflict. "What other conflict?" you ask. Seriously, there is another one in Gaza(قطاع غزة). Gilad Shalit is still sitting in Gaza, still alive, God willing, and waiting to be rescued. Israel made an incursion in to Gaza again today. No one was killed.

Moving on to other fare, a headline at the BBC sparked my interest: "Communists join Wal-Mart's ranks". Wal-Mart, the nassive discount chain started by the late Sam Walton, is now in China with unions. Wal-Mart has never been overly keen on unions and China likes to have party-contolled ones. So what's the point of having them anyways if neither wants them and they will be useless? Note: It took 11 days for this to make it to the BBC.

One politically juicy bit. Republican Sentor and candidate George Allen of Virginia made a comment to DemocraticIndian-American volunteer S.R. Sidarth. Sidarth was videotaping the senator at a rally when the senator called him Macaca. in fact, here's some quotes:"This fellow over here with the yellow shirt -- Macaca or whatever his name is -- he's with my opponent," and "Let's give a welcome to Macaca here. Welcome to America and the real world of Virginia." He later tracked him down (through Google) at the University of Virginia where he is an engineering student and called to apologize. No word from Sidarth on how he took it. Apparently, he did ask for it and you get what you ask for...

News Flash! Pluto is demoted: Only 8 planets in our Solar System! Students, teachers, and Encyclopedia Writers everywhere tremble...

On this day back in 79 CE, Pompeii and Herculaneum were smothered and buried in volcanic ash from Mount Vesuvius. So if you think you're having a bad day...

The World is (not?) coming to an End!

The Hole at the Top (or Bottom)
This will be a quick post since I must leave the house shortly. The BBC is reporting that the Ozone layer, you know, the thin layer of atmosphere that keeps most of us from frying, or, at the very least, dying of cancer, is stable. It is not depleting further. They actually submit that the ozone layer is starting to improve. Now don't throw away the SPF 1000 yet but it does help boost a minute amount of optimism that we are not all going to die in a horrible apocalypse.

Along the political and somewhat useless news, Gerald Ford got a pacemaker. The Nebraskan former President went into hospital last week for a series of tests. The hospital in question is the Mayo Clinic. The President himself is 93, the oldest living president. He has been hospitalized four times in the last year or so and actually suffered a mild stroke at the Republican National Convention in 2000. Another interesting fact about Ford is that he is the only President who was elected to neither the Presidential Office nor the Vice Presidential one. He became VP when Agnew resigned and Nixon asked him. Then he took over the oval Office when Nixon himself resigned. Regardless of how you feel about political parties, the White House or Nixon (who himself has passed away), it must be noted that Ford is a President who saw extraordinary events like Watergate and Nixon's resignation but also the pullout of Vietnam. So, lets all hope for better days for the 38th President.