"Come Hell or High Water"--A Friend Writes Re: Hurricane

I can't sleep. If it wasn't cloudy, the sun would be coming up soon. The first humidity drenched tendrils of Hurricane Katrina are just reaching Newark NJ and I breathe the heavy, death-soaked droplets and they make me very wary. The other day I watched the hurricane on TV, and New Orleans continues to be deluged by broken levees, even as I write.

Doesn't that sound bizarre? That I "watched the hurricane on TV"? Imagine that, that you can witness such an event "live". And the feeling I had was not unlike the feeling I had while I watched the WTC explode on 9-11 - it was the unmistakable feeling of dread, devastation, and inevitability.

What's the difference in these situations? Well, not much, according to FEMA. Here's a quote from
http://www.americanprogressaction.org:

In 2001, the Federal Emergency Management Agency ranked a major hurricane strike on New Orleans as
"among the three likeliest, most catastrophic disasters facing this country," directly behind a terrorist strike on New York City.

Imagine that! And to continue the idiocy:

Two months ago, President Bush took an ax to budget funds that would have helped New Orleans prepare
for such a disaster. The New Orleans branch of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers suffered a "record $71.2 million"
eduction in federal funding, a 44.2 percent reduction from its 2001 levels. Reports at the time said that thanks
to the cuts, "major hurricane and flood protection projects will not be awarded to local engineering firms. ...
Also, a study to determine ways to protect the region from a Category 5 hurricane has been shelved for now."

As I watched the hurricane, on TV, from my cozy air-conditioned bedroom on a sunny morning, one thought kept running through my head: "What's to say that New York City is immune from this kind of disaster?" But the consequences of that scenario were just too too unimaginable for my brain to comprehend. I could not create a reaction scenario for my hypothetical action scenario, as the creators of the movie, "The Day After" were able to do. I hope their scenario was way, way, way over the top!

The fact that the Bush Administration refuses to acknowledge Global Warming as a problem is .... what - Wrong? Well, yes, to me it is. But that's because I value life, I value the world we live in, I value my child's future. But his (their) agenda is different from mine, and to him/them it is NOT wrong. It's not "wrong" to kill hundreds of thousands and maim millions of people via the cloak of "collateral damage", create untold chaos and abject poverty around the world, and wreck the fragile infrastructure of our earth so that a welcome mat is put out for natural disasters that could be avoided with a little prudence.
[To see the whole letter please click on the title of this post.]

Roberta Piket's jazz blog hits politics sometimes

A jazz pianist we know has some great blog entries recently. Please click on the title of this blog to see.

Re: None Dare Call it Stolen

A retired journalist writes:

"I did see this article and read it in some detail -- pretty shocking detail of skull duggery in Ohio voting. Plenty of evidence of vote blocking and machine manipulation. It should still be investigated bya proper inquiry, even if the electoral college vote is over and done."

I finally read the article today, Saturday the 13th of August. It's a very good, damning round-up of tons of evidence of illegal
election procedures in OH. Did anyone ever think to themselves, "I wonder if Jimmy Carter could monitor Florida this year?"
Well, the State Department DID invite foreign vote monitors in 2004, some for Ohio, but those monitors were not allowed to watch any closer than 100 feet.

Not good news, but it's nice to see this finally coming out in a mainstream article.

Summary of Article in August Harper's which puts 2004 Ohio Vote Fraud reports into the Mainstream

I've bought the magazine, and not yet read the whole article, but check it out!
Click on the title of this post.
Harper's magazine website is:

http://www.harpers.org

We think that 2000 was stolen, but Gore made a bad legal decision not to ask for a recount of all of Florida.
Of course, that would have been even less likely to have been allowed. But here....

First Letter to the Blog re: Gore's "Current" channel

Jim Heffler writes:

"Podcasts??? Can you download the audio?

What would you expect from the Wall Street Journal reviewing Al Gore?
Have you watched the WSJ panel on Ch 13 right after "Now" on Friday
nights? I can't watch it. The bias comes right through."

No, these podcasts have been uploded to the station. You can just watch them.

I can see the logic in letting the WSJ have an editorial show on 13, because you'd think it would stop them from revoking PBS funds since they're getting an equal voice, and they do present it as editorial; but I happen to think that it's Tucker Carlson who's so under-prepared and unqualified. That's the one that steams me. Plus, Congress was still trying to revoke PBS funds despite their WSJ show after "NOW".

The latest thing, correct me if I'm wrong, is that they have a neo-con named Tomlinson in charge of Public Broadcasting, and progressive groups are worried that there will now be too much bias to the right. Until now the conservatives always complained it was too liberal. I'd have to defer to Sven on the current state of things (13), but he still seems to appreciate "The Jim Lehrer News Hour" and "NOW" is still great. I do see that, too. Keep me posted.

About "What do you expect?" from the WSJ on Gore's new station: Well, I know. But lots of people read the WSJ and even though we all know it's conservative, I want to be vigilant that they don't let down their guard just because it's "only the Arts and Leisure page" or the Taste page. Their entertainment pages are as conservative as their editorial postitions.

Jim replies:

What perhaps bothers me more than the right wing shows that have been
forced on PBS is the notion that they are showing more and more
entertainment and less and less political or social commentary.

"Antiques Road Show" every night, 60's rock and folk stars, the "Celtic
Woman" show last night. I suppose you can argue these shows bring in
viewers (and I'm not knocking the quality of the shows. I watch them
too.) But I can't help thinking that they're on because they're safer
than political/social stuff. Part of the "duck and cover" that Public
Radio and Television have been practising for some time now.

Al Gore's new channel for 18-34 y.o.'s, CURRENT

We like this new channel, which for us is 103. It has many youthful people doing the audio-video podcasts
which are supposed to help keep everyone in touch with each other. It is not exactly news. It is more
human interest. You can read today's WSJ review on the Taste Page in the Weekend Journal section, but I wouldn't
put a lot of stock in it unless you are about a bizillion years old.

"How many years old?", asks Sven.

A bizillion.

Well, I don't suppose it's the editor's job description to laud Al Gore's latest venture, but sheesh!
We were watching the same channel Eichman was yesterday, but he was so far from getting it.
No, you don't watch it all day, because it apparently does repeat.

Another Democracy for America Leader

Heather Woodfield manages the website of Democracy for NYC and runs a lot of Meetups. Like Tracey she is interested in a wide range of issues. To see a picture of her with Dean, you can click on the title of this post, which is a permanent link.

NY Buddhist Churchand Riverside Church remember 60th Anniversary of Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Friday at 6:30

6:30 PM on Friday. a ceremony will begin at the New York Buddhist Church at 105th st. and Riverside. A big bell
which survived the devastation at the center of the blast will be rung. They will walk meditatively up to Riverside
Church for more ceremonies.

I haven't read the PDF but it should have all the details.

LINK

Tracey Denton, Local Leader, with Howard Dean

This is Tracey Denton, a New York lawyer who went to work for the Dean candidacy in her spare time, founding
dean4nyc.org, which became what is now dfnyc.org, when Dean dropped out of the race after the Iowa caucuses, the night of which I addressed in a recent post(Dean Reconsiderd). Since the current aim of local Dean groups is to get all kinds of progressive candidates elected, Tracey recently helped hold a party for Norman Siegel, who is running for NYC Public Advocate. Along with Heather Woodfield, Ms. Denton runs the Democracy for New York City Meetups, the newsletter and the website:

http://www.dfnyc.org

Speaking of Norman Siegel, Sven and I were sitting in a dark corner at this party, mostly alone, when Norman came up to us
and asked us what we did. I was wondering if this was one of those guys who introduces himself to everyone at parties... but
suddenly it dawned on me that this was the candidate. We both like his record very much. [I don't know the man on the left.]

Tales of Two-Year-Olds

This morning we were rehearsing a Debussy trio for piano, violin and cello.
The violinist was unhappy with a few of his pitches in one passage and he
quietly said "shit", after each offending note. Our coach, a new music pianist, then reminisced about his 26 y.o. daughter's first forays into the piano. She would bang on the instrument and say, "Shit!" intermittently. "That's how she thought you played the piano".

This in turn reminded the violinist of his 2 y.o. grandson picking up his son's
cellphone and excitedly shouting, "Jim! Jim! Can you hear me?"

Correction: Challenge to the Certification of Ohio in 2004

I can't find which post this was, but Stephanie Tubbs-Jones of Ohio challenged the certification of Ohio first, I believe, before Barbara Boxer. Where is my memory?

Travel to Wellesley

This campus is the perfect idyll. I wish I had thought of going to college here, the way Hillary did. This is where my grandmother would have liked me to have gone.

First of all, the birding in St. John was excellent. We saw a family of finches and a blue-green hummingbird no further than our front porch. A nest hung down right between the two french doors, perfectly placed so we wouldn't bump it openign and shutting them. We had 24x binoculars, highly recommended.

I haven't been an active listener to music in the last several years, but but Sven bought me a miniPod with a sound dock to provide it speakers. When I need to rest, the music relaxes me. It was handy on the train too(with earphones).

Some songs I know so well that I just hear a few bars and go on. Others that I think bear listening:

"Carry Me" by CSNY, "Beware of Darkness" George Harrison, "Amazing" Aerosmith,
"My Country 'Tis of Thee" CSNY(hard to find, and "Get Down Tonight" by KC and the
Sunshine Band. And of course Bach will put you in a spiritual mind.

Wish me luck in my first rehearsal today, and remembering who I am!

Why They Hate Us, again

Yesterday's(Friday--7/22/07) New York Times had a good Op-Ed, "Why They Hate Us...",
exploring the roots of terrorism and whether it really is all about Israel originally or are
there a lot of other factors in the mix. Not sure I agree totally, but it's definitely food
for thought.

Dean Reconsidered

For history buffs, here's some proof that ABC "got" the Dean scream:

LINK

Couldn't resist!

LINK

We'll be away Monday through Friday!

This is a view from the Intercontinental on Tahiti. I found this pic on the web but we'll be somewhere different.
Everybody have a nice week!

Letter to Henninger@wsj.com("Our Politics Fiddles")Let's Not Say All or Nothing

I agree that it would have been wrong directly after 9-11 to have said
that we could no longer be involved with Israel and Palestine. It's an
unfortunate, historic situation we have a direct role in and we rightly
can't get out of it. But because that much is true, we should never-the-
less not get overtaken with the myopic view that every U.S. anti-terrorist
policy is overwhelmingly correct and should only be slugged at harder.

Dean on Hard Ball, June 30th--still rings true today

We have some defense issues in that part of the world. They are Iran. They were Afghanistan and still are. And they're in North Korea. The president has left the two most serious problems, after Afghanistan, for either his successor or who knows what? And the spectacle of a president who says he's tough on defense letting Iran and North Korea become nuclear powers on his watch is just unbelievable.

The idea that Republicans are going to defend the country and Democrats won't is exactly the wrong idea. This president has really not done a terribly good job defending America, with the exception of the war in Afghanistan, which I think we all supported. He squandered our military strength, put it in the wrong place and is allowing enemies of the United States to become nuclear powers. That is not a prescription for a strong defense of America.

...

The other people that are creating the mayhem in the streets of Baghdad are people who are fighting for their country. They are local people who disagree with the occupation.

Look, I make no excuse for terrorism. People who blow up women and children ought to have the full wrath of the United States down upon them. What I have a problem with is the bad judgment of this president and his administration in deciding how you can best fight terrorism.

You send troops over there. They don't have adequate body armor. They're still taking up collections to make sure they do have body armor. When the secretary of defense goes over there, he gets his Humvee flown in, and the guys over there don't have adequate protection on the bottom of their Humvees.

This is not the way to run a war, and it's not the way to treat our soldiers.

...

I think the president made a terrible, terrible mistake in getting us into Iraq. And now we really have a big problem on our hands. We have a security problem that we didn't have before.

Now the president's trying to make this into a war on terrorism. It is a war on terrorism in the sense that there's certainly international terrorists in Iraq. The point is, there weren't any to speak of before we got there. The president made a big error in judgment, and he's now trying to combine what's going on in Iraq with the war on terrorism.

There's a war on terrorism going on in this world, and we are a part of it, and I agree that we need to fight them over there before they get here. The problem is, the place that we need to fight those people are in Afghanistan, hiding over the border in Pakistan. The Iranians, who sponsor state terrorism, these are our enemies. And these are folks that are not being paid the kind of attention to that need to be paid attention to while 138,000 brave American men and women are pinned down in Iraq because of a gross error in judgment by this administration.

A Terrible, Sad Day-- Dean's statement

Gov. Dean issued the following statement on the bombings today in London.

"I join all Americans today in offering my condolences to the victims of today's vicious terrorist attacks in London. Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims, their friends and their families. We remain steadfast in our commitment to defeating those who threaten our freedom and values. At a time when world leaders were working together to help make our world a better place, these terrorists were plotting to disrupt that effort by killing and injuring innocent people. We will continue to stand with our allies around the world to defeat terrorism and protect our liberty and freedom."

Getting Out

Moveon.Org would like the administration to become more accountable, and set up a time-line for withdrawing U.S. troops.
These days it is hard for us to distinguish between really being stuck in Iraq, and being TOLD our presence there is unavoidable.

Moveon worries about US bases becoming permanent in Iraq, and so do I. They would like to turn the training of the Iraqis and general rebuilding of Iraq to the international community.

France, Egypt and a few other places have offered to board and train Iraqis in their own countries. But Bush refused.
His argument against that was, " It wouldn't turn the tide of the war." But that's not the point.

We need to leave Iraq as quickly as is humanely possible, and help from other countries would help quicken the pace a lot.
It makes you wonder if Bush and his people are bent on staying past the time that the Iraqi police are ready.
What happened to, "If you're not with us you're against us?"(the single quote by Jesus in the Bible that I can't quite
support and Bush decideds to choose THAT one for his foreign policy).

I understand Bush might not want to turn the US mission in Iraq over to the UN, paranoid as this particular administration is of the UN having any possible say over something our soldiers are involved in; but refusing all offers of help makes it look like we're not serious.

Accountability, a time-line, and definitely the Resolution to Withdraw U.S. Troops(HJ Res. 55) would be
helpful and not overtly radical statements of intent to get out. Some on the left might even find these
proposed measures not to be strong enough. They would still leave wiggle room for the Army.