Category Archives: current events

Remind me why Obama got the anti-war vote?

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Is it any surprise that people have to say things like this to Obama?

With all due respect Mr. President, we were hoping your administration would not carry on the war mongering policies of your predecessor. Instead we see amazingly that you Seek $75.5 Billion More for Wars in 2009. Mr. President, do we really need another $75 billion for wars? Was there nothing in the military budget that could be cut?

With all due respect Mr. President, The United States spends more on its military budget than the next 45 highest spending countries in the world combined; The United States accounts for 48 percent of the world’s total military spending; The United States spends on its military 5.8 times more than China, 10.2 times more than Russia, and 98.6 times more than Iran. Isn’t that enough Mr. President?

With all due respect Mr. President, the downfall of every great nation in history has been unsustainable military expansion. Mr. President, the US can no longer afford to be the world’s policeman. You act as if we can. Mr. President, can you please tell us how we can afford this spending?

The writer makes some great domestic economic points as well, but I’m blogging about hypocritical lying.  Obama is not about to give up on America’s new policy (i.e. originating with W’s total capitulation to neo-con utopianism).  He likes it and will exand on it.  It will tie in with his domestic ambitions since the regimentation of war has always encourage socialism at home.  But, again, I’m falling into mission drift on the point of this blog.

I’m not going to bother with the links, but it was quite plain in the race for the presidency that Obama set a timetable for removing troops from Iraq and McCain insisted that he couldn’t give a time table due to shifting realities.  Well, Obama has now announced a time table and, lo and behold, it is longer than the one he campaigned on.  He too knew that he had to pay attention to facts.  He just also knew he would be more likely to win if he lied about it.

So of two scary war mongers voters decided they wanted the one with less integrity.

It was incredible to hear President Obama’s speech on the radio.  If I hadn’t known better I would have thought he was broadcasting from an aircraft carrier.  The date will shift again and the number of uniformed troops that we are oxymoronically leaving in Iraq after our withdrawal will be greater than the fifty thousand he claims.

Electric Eye in the Sky (that doesn’t have reliable aim)

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Eight people died when missiles hit a compound near Mir Ali, an al-Qaeda hub in Pakistan’s North Waziristan region. Seven more died when hours later two missiles hit a house in Wana, in South Waziristan. Local officials said the target in Wana was a guest house owned by a pro-Taleban tribesman. One said that as well as three children, the tribesman’s relatives were killed in the blast.

via President Obama ‘orders Pakistan drone attacks’ – Times Online.

COMMENT: This same crime would have been committed by the person I voted for–which is why I felt so bloody guilty voting for McCain.  But McCain would have not started funding abortions overseas.  So the bottom line was that I thought McCain would be less of a monster than Obama.  So far it looks like my guess was accurate.

That being said, I have to admit, even though I tried to prevent it, I find this situation more personally endurable.  At least now the guy ordering murder by robot isn’t the same one claiming to care about “pro-life” issues.  No, Obama is honest that it is all above his paygrade, whether newborns or Pakistani post-borns have a right to not be killed.

Deaths caused by hospital mistakes ‘up 60 per cent in two years’ – Telegraph

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I love the last line:

Roger Goss, from the pressure group Patient Concern, told the newspaper: “Patients are already extremely nervous when they have to go to hospital, so they need this news like a hole in the head.”

via Deaths caused by hospital mistakes ‘up 60 per cent in two years’ – Telegraph.

Everything immitates the economy where, instead of being broke and overleveraged, we are supposedly lacking in confidence.  No, it is not the “news” that the patients don’t need; they don’t need deficient and deadly hospital care.

Because he doesn’t need to be a candidate to be worth watching and hearing

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[kml_flashembed movie=”http://www.youtube.com/v/7354M1QmGYQ” width=”425″ height=”350″ wmode=”transparent” /]

Link for those who can’t see the video

My personal hope is that Bush is letting the Iran stuff drag on just as a favor to the oil industry to make sure they have a place for him when he leaves office.  He can’t possibly want to an another undeclared war, can he?

This isn’t a mobile phone blog, but…

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Obviously, I’m obsessing over this post about Motorola (see my Tumblr rss feed in the side bar as well as the previous post). But while the letter is prophetic, I have to comment on this:

In order to turn the handset division around, you need to bring in another Frost; someone worldly and dynamic who is more interested in Motorola’s success than their own corporate career. You need to task the company’s designers with the same mantra that created the RAZR — make me a phone that looks, feels, and works like a symbol of wealth and privilege. Recognize the superiority of American software, and bring back those jobs so irresponsibly outsourced to China and Russia.

Yeah, I’m OK with nice design but the idea of millions of American consumers running up their credit cards to have a symbol of wealth and privilege seems less than glorious. But the fact is that Nokia is now the world’s leader (or was at the end of last year; I haven’t been keeping up and these things seem to turn around on a dime) in handsets by a large margine in good measure because they sell cheap handsets to emerging markets around the world. So this isn’t the only path to growth.

Also, how often can this be repeated? People who thought their RAZR was hot and now think it is old are probably going to realize that they had over-valued it in the first place.  So part of the allure is probably not repeatable.

The quick obligatory recession post

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I found enough coins to treat myself to some coffee across the intersection at Panera Bread Company.  When I reached the counter I saw a nice sign standing there with the Panera Bread company logo, colors, and 2008 copyright notice.  I tried to take a picture, but my phone’s camera isn’t good and I don’t know how to get the pictures to my computer anyway.  It basically said that they wanted to serve quality food at reasonable prices but that they wouldn’t buy inferior ingredients in order to keep prices down.   As a result, prices will be rising.  The price of wheat, the sign said, has increased 100% in the last few months (six, I think, but I’m not remembering clearly).

I tried to find some discussion of the sign in the blogosphere or on the company website, but no such luck.  However I did find a couple of stories that were related:

Not sure what to say about this.  Recently, I’ve found myself unable to buy a whole tank of gas.   It is not because I don’t have the money in my account (for now at least).  It is simply because some psychological point has been reaced and I just can’t stand to fill up the tank.

This might not do anything except force me to stop for gas more often.  But I suspect it will also make me think twice about unnecessary driving.

The Dems want to continue the Iraq war but pretend that they are different than the Republicans

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And the anti-war groups, being leftist first, and anti-war second, are going to give them cover.

I’m not commenting on the ethics of the war here. I’m just stating the obvious. The Dems can still continue and expand our interventions without those “agreements” that Bush wants to make with the Iraqis. So the difference may well be meaningless. But this allows the Democratic candidate to continue self-righteous posturing over against the Republicans.

Sheriff: SWAT Team Necessary Because Man Is a “Self-Proclaimed Constitutionalist”

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From the Reason blog.

My political take-away: more evidence of the country in the handbasket going you know where.

My personal take-away: be really nice and compliant to officials unless you want to be terrorized at gun point.  The “triumph” of getting away with rudeness is just not worth the risk.  Face it: we’re slaves.  So be a smart slave.

hat tip