9/11 changed a lot of things and I don’t think much was for the better. It is one thing to defeat an armed force on a battlefield but “terrorists” are not sitting over the next ridge. The United States had an opportunity to learn some lessons from a very horrific attack. They could have concluded that the can’t just go in to any country they wish, even with the consent of that nation’s government, and not expect some people to be upset with that. Bill Maher lost his TV show by pointing out, and I agree with him, that Americans were used to bombing people all over the globe expecting that they could never be hit, and now then were hit themselves – and right in downtown USA.
Did Bush conclude that American foreign policy needed to take a step back? No, he concluded it needed to get even heavier. Did he conclude that the obnoxious flag waving and self-love that no other nation really does needed to be toned down? No, he concluded that it needed to get worse. Did he conclude that it was OK for some people to have values other than the ones Americans have? No, he concluded that everyone needed to have American values shoved right down their throat.
The decision to invade Afghanistan was a weak one and invading Iraq as it was a “threat” to the US was simply a lie. I do admit I too thought there would be some weapons of mass destruction as Sadam bragged about them so I don’t see the venture as a failure because they were not there.
Was Iraq full of terrorists before 2003? Nope. But it is now. In fact Osama bin Laden released a tape just before the 2004 US election. Why? Because Bush is good for business, that’s why!
War and rhetoric are old companions, back to at least antiquity. But the American media started to brand people as cowards and traitors if they dared to speak out against the Iraq war before it began and during its first few months.
Stephen Colbert put it the best in regard to how “detainees” have been handled “If you love freedom….set it free”.
Bush and his cronies are always telling us that the terrorists “hate freedom” – ignoring for a moment that that makes no sense at all, Bush has done a pretty good job of pissing on freedom himself.
Saturday, September 09, 2006
Saturday, September 02, 2006
CSI
I had been told by CSI fans that I would like it so I took the plunge and have watched the first 4 seasons. Yes, I do like it - it helps having the most beautiful woman on television in the cast, and she is even over 40 - purty rare for a US network these days !! They put in some gruesome (as opposed to "Grissom") stuff like skin peeled back to reveal a brain, but they get the mix right and it is not simply gore for gore's sake. The case-solving methods remind me of classic "whodunits" like Sherlock Holmes.
Yes, it is not a realistic portrayl of a CSI crew as they shoot people, arrest them and interrogate them. Remember McMillan the Chief of Police who solved every crime as did Quincy, the Medical Examiner. If I want "realism" I will sit on front lawn and take notes.
Grissom is just a wonderful character and a good leader, in the Picard mode, who can admit he's made a mistake, and preaches to his charges never to get emotionally attached to people on a case, which he of course does all the time!! Dawg dishes up The Bard, and in places where it applies which is cool with me.
The editing and music are awesome - smooth presentation!
TWF
Yes, it is not a realistic portrayl of a CSI crew as they shoot people, arrest them and interrogate them. Remember McMillan the Chief of Police who solved every crime as did Quincy, the Medical Examiner. If I want "realism" I will sit on front lawn and take notes.
Grissom is just a wonderful character and a good leader, in the Picard mode, who can admit he's made a mistake, and preaches to his charges never to get emotionally attached to people on a case, which he of course does all the time!! Dawg dishes up The Bard, and in places where it applies which is cool with me.
The editing and music are awesome - smooth presentation!
TWF
Friday, September 01, 2006
It's all about corn!
Starting sometime between WWII and the early 1970s, in North America (the best America of all), corn started to seep its way further and further into our diet, First, it became cheaper to feed animals corn than grain. Then, corn syrup found it's way into more and more items such as breads and pops. Your happy meal - fries, burger and pop? corn + corn + corn. The fries are deep fried in corn oil, the burger bread has corn in it, the cow for the meat was fed corn and the pop has corn syrup.
Our Irish heritage has taught us the danger of relying on one product - in the 1840s in Ireland, the potato famine killed a million people and 5 million more moved away to avoid starvation when the whole potato crop failed.
Also, good idea for terrorists? Small doses of posion in corn fields and watch it concentrate its way into our diet (the DDT way).
Oh yeah and all that corn stuff is making us heavier and less healthy.
TF
Our Irish heritage has taught us the danger of relying on one product - in the 1840s in Ireland, the potato famine killed a million people and 5 million more moved away to avoid starvation when the whole potato crop failed.
Also, good idea for terrorists? Small doses of posion in corn fields and watch it concentrate its way into our diet (the DDT way).
Oh yeah and all that corn stuff is making us heavier and less healthy.
TF
"In Season"
It's a Barnum and Bailey world
Just as phony as it can be
- E.Y. Harburg, lyricist for
Harold Arlen
When was the last time you heard that phrase to describe, not fish or game, but regular food? Today if you want a food item, and I mean nothing special like the rarest caviar, but say tomatoes or blueberries, and you live in an urban enough environment, you can get it. That is because we no longer, on the whole, eat the plants and animals that are raised near us. Instead there is a huge global distribution system where most food now gets to market via truck, rail or even air and travels hundreds or thousands of KM to get to our tables.
This means yet another factor is adding to global warning - fossil fuels used to transport food to markets all over the place.
We don't say, as our grandmothers did, that blueberries are "in season", we say "put blueberries on the shopping list" and then we go get them.
Yes, you can investigate options for free range chickens and organic plumbs, but be prepared to quadruple your grocery budget if you do that for all of your food.
Many foods are shipped pre-ripe and actually ripen during shipping, or are "ripened" with a chemical agent nearer the end market. Compare the taste of a tomatoe grown in your own garden with one that came from 2,000 KM away!
Maybe we should explore "in season" again, but of course we can still import the odd treat here and there - they don't make Brie in Ontario like they do in France .
My source for this and for the corn article: Several science radio podcasts. Maybe in the old days if you wanted to know about food you would ask your grandmother (in my case my grandfather was a chef, and no NOT the French one).
TF
Just as phony as it can be
- E.Y. Harburg, lyricist for
Harold Arlen
When was the last time you heard that phrase to describe, not fish or game, but regular food? Today if you want a food item, and I mean nothing special like the rarest caviar, but say tomatoes or blueberries, and you live in an urban enough environment, you can get it. That is because we no longer, on the whole, eat the plants and animals that are raised near us. Instead there is a huge global distribution system where most food now gets to market via truck, rail or even air and travels hundreds or thousands of KM to get to our tables.
This means yet another factor is adding to global warning - fossil fuels used to transport food to markets all over the place.
We don't say, as our grandmothers did, that blueberries are "in season", we say "put blueberries on the shopping list" and then we go get them.
Yes, you can investigate options for free range chickens and organic plumbs, but be prepared to quadruple your grocery budget if you do that for all of your food.
Many foods are shipped pre-ripe and actually ripen during shipping, or are "ripened" with a chemical agent nearer the end market. Compare the taste of a tomatoe grown in your own garden with one that came from 2,000 KM away!
Maybe we should explore "in season" again, but of course we can still import the odd treat here and there - they don't make Brie in Ontario like they do in France .
My source for this and for the corn article: Several science radio podcasts. Maybe in the old days if you wanted to know about food you would ask your grandmother (in my case my grandfather was a chef, and no NOT the French one).
TF
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
