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Nailing It and The Turkey Trot

GekkoBlue Nails It.

Over on the GekkoBlue blog you can see the finest graphic of the year. An early Christmas Present, perhaps. Wishful thinking. The kind of thing that would put me back among those who believe in God, religion, and all that sort of stuff. GekkoBlue grabbed it from the ever-entertaining FARK site. Scroll down about an inch on this link and see the original.

Or take the direct route: just check this out from Gekko Blue!!!

Tom Friedman Nails It.

In his Op-Ed piece that ran on Thanksgiving Day, NY Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman nails it, head on. Using the fictional projection of a ìLetter from Saddam to Bush,î Friedman explains how Bush has alienated the Arab world, strengthened the resolve of many against the United States, and the members of the Coalition Forces. It also notes how the seeming removal of Saddam has done nothing except to create a newer and stronger, more multi-national PanóArab enemy.

Dubyaís Big Turkey Trot Moment

In yet another display of form over substance, 600 US soldiers in Viet Nam, oops, I mean Iraq, had their Thanksgiving meal delayed for a few hours so Dubya could create photo and video op. What a crock of shit.

And were these 600 soldiers serving under a commander schooled in the Arsenio Hall audience method of showing delight? What were all those ìwoof woofî or ìwhoo whooî calls when Dubya showed up from behind the curtain? Would they have been equally excited to see Magic Johnson, or maybe Lil Kim? Who let the dogs out?

Can you imagine the thoughts running through some Iraqi Baathist loyalist's head, watching an assembly of American troops barking like dogs when The President comes out from behind the curtain, looking like Monte Hall just gave them the keys to whatever was behind the drapery?

Was this a morale booster? Maybe it made their moment. Maybe not.

Did Dubya explain to the troops about the death-a-day (or more) peril in which he has put these innocent men? Did he explain to them that they represent that which the Muslim world feels morally obligated to wage Jihad against? Did he explain how while they put their lives on the line, earning only Armed Forces pay scale income, that Dick Cheney and company will be reaping tremendous financial benefits for years to come?

Did he shore up their resolve by telling them that the US wonít back down against thugs and assassinsÖ when in fact it is a highly organized and well run guerilla operation which targets and achieves military objectives on a daily basis in its stated objective of weakening and battling the US and Coalition Forces opposition and occupiers of their country?

Did he explain that the soldiers should feel all wonderful about their job there and his putting them there while the UN and most other countries all opposed the so-called ìpre-emptive action?î Did he tell them where the Weapons of Mass Destruction were hidden? Did he explain how Saddam Hussein appears to be orchestrating a continued fight against the US & Coalition Forces, despite Dubya explaining how Saddamís regime is history and that the US is foisting democracy upon this Theocratic nation, whether the people of Iraq want it or not?

Maybe it gave Dubya some neato TV exposure over the holiday period, when News Departments at the press and electronic media tend to be running pretty quietly. But did it make the war effort any better? Did it bring about support or quell the attacks on those cheering soldiers?

The answer is no. The visit was of no consequence or improvement upon the situation.

Bush got some TV time, and he even got to wear a jacket that said ARMY on it. Just like a few months back when he wore the fighter pilot outfit. He seems to love to play the role.

Of course, back when he was supposed to be serving his country as a member of the armed forces, he managed to avoid the role altogether.

But now, play-acting warrior while acting in an imperialist manner and endangering the lives of soldiers in order to further what appear to be the goals of a man sure he is right and therefore willing to tell the rest of the world to fuck off (and making sure there is major financial benefit in it for his cronies), he must feel so much better.

Gee, just like James Bond, Dubya pulled off a secret mission. Too bad it wasnít a peace mission. But, of course, what gain would there be for Dubya in that?




Dave Winer Nails It, too!

Late Monday update: Reading Scripting News today one can see that Dave Winer has two good political items in a row. One is about the GOP and their big party boat for their National convention. The attitude, as I see it, is clear: they are the party of those with cash to throw around. Dave points out that dead soldiers (from war activity in Iraq, et al) won't be able to enjoy any boat rides.

Then Dave nails it yet again! The next item in Scripting News asks a question that has been conspicuously absent from most print and electronic journalism: is it a merely a conicidence that Dubya chose to make his surprise Photo Op in Baghdad a mere day or two before Hillary Clinton was to arrive there? Some of the wind certainly went out of Hillary's sails, as well as those of her colleague, Senator Jack Reed of Rhode Island. Sentators Clinton and Reed were on a fact-finding tour.

Hillary, all over the Monday morning shows (she seemed to be absent from the Sunday programs, unless I missed her), spoke of the problems in Afghanistan, the buildup of terrorist sympathizers along the Pakistani border, and the difficult road ahead. She was very careful, extremely circumspect in her words when asked about Dubya. She applauded his trip to see the troops, saying this is what Presidents do in times of war. Hillary kept her cool and was quite impressive. Who woulda thunk that Hillary would be such a centrist and so, er, politic in her choice of words?

A question one might pose to Dave is this: how come the picture he chose to use of Hillary in Scripting News is one in which she looks more like Gary Busey playing McCauley Culkin? Or would that be McCauley Culkin playing the younger Mickey Rourke? Or David Spade, with Anorexia and too much to drink? Or some punk from CBGB's playing Hillary after a very, very bad day?!

December 1st is World AIDS Day. This is a health crisis of significant proportion. Quite easy for some of us to completely lose sight of it, as for so many of us it is not even a concept we might have to deal with. Or so we hope.

Back when I was in my teens and 20's, before I was married or in monagamous relationships, it was the wild wonderful and carefree days of what was then called "The Sexual Revolution." Not a bad time to be coming into one's own (bad pun not intended!).

That was then and this is now.

In my wild and carfefree days, a condom was a form of Birth Control. There was less awareness and concern about disease. But there was major consideration given to the issue of contraception. The old adage, "no glove, no love" was good for a chuckle. Not such a chuckling issue nowadays.

Back when the AIDS Crisis was in its early days Eddie Murphy had a comedy routine (an homage of sorts to Richard Pryor, who'd actually originated the piece in a slightly different form) in which he talked about the old days: one might get Herpes from a partner. That was bad, it never went away. You could still do it, but you were sort of sexually handicapped. Or, worse, you could contract Syphilis or Gonorrhea. Those could blind you, drive you crazy, all sorts of bad side effects. But a little Penicillin in the nick of time, and those could be cured. Then came AIDS - that'll become an infection and then a sickness that'll eventually kill you. What's next, he asks in the routine, you stick in in and BOOM!, you get blown to bits right away?

The routine would be funny (at least, perhaps, in retrospect) if AIDS had passed as a major threat, or if it was at least held under some sort of control. But this is not the case.

AIDS has not really touched me or my life in any way. This is something to be thankful for, in these times and at this time of year.

Many others, though, in different communities and in different geographic climes, face this as a crisis of monstrous proportion on a daily basis.

Today being World AIDS Day, the best place to go to read about it and find some links and pointers is over at Natalie Davis' blog. Check out what Natalie posted, and give some thought to this gobal crisis and how it is dealt with here and in other places on the globe.

Good job by Natalie, posting on World AIDS Day on her All Facts And Opinion blog.