Campanastan

"You Know You're From (Name the Place) If..." -- The Ultimate List

Fahgeddaboutit! I'm giving up. No more posts "You Know You're From Long Island (or New Mexico) If".....I just found the "mother" of these types of lists:

http://www.blogthings.com/wherefrom.html

All you do is click on the place you want to be from and Voila! -- a list of cute or smart-ass sayings appears before your eyes. It's great (wonderful displacement behavior).

But I did find a couple of good "You Know You're From Long Island If" lists:

http://www.strangecosmos.com/content/item/22909.html

http://www.lytehouseent.com/ykyflii.html

This last one has almost 150 and is still growing.

You gotta problem wit dat?

"Do you know why they call it 'PMS'? Because 'Mad Cow Disease' was already taken" -- Anonymous, presumed deceased.

Long Beach: Forget Paris, Britney & Anna and Remember the Iraq War Dead

Long Beach, NY, a city of about 35,000 on a barrier island off the south shore of Long Island, is reminiscent of many Northeastern USA beach towns. During the summer it's a nice place to escape the heat, catch some rays, maybe enjoy some nightlife. The other times of the year the pace slows somewhat, but not too much because Long Beach, in the shadows of New York City, has become a popular NYC bedroom community. 

The red dot marks Long Beach's location.

I used to know the area well. My family once frequented the beaches near Long Beach when I was a child. We usually went to Atlantic Beach, at the western end of the same barrier island. It's probably been 40 years since I have been there.

So what prompts a blog on Long Beach? A story by Peter Applebome in the 27 May 2007 New York Times caught my eye. As Applebome reported, Long Beach City Manager Edwin L. Eaton wrote a seemingly innocuous 16 May 2007 memo that has transformed him into somewhat of an unlikely folk hero.

He wanted to honor America's Iraq War dead, so he ordered that flags at all city buildings would be flown at half-mast indefinitely. 

So what's the big deal? Why folk hero status?

Eaton's memo invoked the personas of Anna Nicole Smith, Britney Spears, and Paris Hilton to make his point about what is important and what is not. He noted the inordinate attention given to these three "pillars of pop culture", while most of us we comfortably neglect the dying of anonymous Americans in Iraq. As he noted while watching TV one night, it's all about Paris' jail term, Britney's shaved head, Anna's child's teething, and oh, by the way, five Americans were killed in Iraq today.

Here is part of Eaton's memo:

"While our society and media outlets appear to be consumed by the activities of the 'glitterati', we tend to forget that each day Americans are anonymously dying in Iraq. I think it only fair that they be remembered and honored. To achieve that end, we hereby direct that American flags throughout the city be flown at half-mast."

Word of Eaton's memo spread, and the same media he criticized soon picked it up. The result: calls, emails, and letters of support from around the country. Some saw an anti-war message, but Eaton says that was not his intent - he just wanted Long Beach to honor the USA's fallen heroes.

Appelbome reported a dilemma precipitated by Eaton's edict: the annual Memorial Day parade ends with the American flag being raised from half-mast after "Taps" is played. Not this year.

But Appelbome cites another, more perplexing dilemma: "So having lowered the flag, when is it raised again?"

That's something we all ponder. But thanks to Edwin L. Eaton, at least some of us won't forget the price that has been paid by many.

"I just want you to know, that, when we talk about war, we're really talking about peace." -- George W. Bush, 18 June 2002.

Darfur: LeBron Fouls Out; Arabs Switch Sides

Two interesting developments in the ongoing horror in Darfur just came to my attention.

Arabs Switch Sides

It turns out that some former Arab militia members are going over to the rebel side, fighting for the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA). The former janjaweed members have become disenchanted with the central government, saying it reneged on promises. And the Popular Forces Army, based in Chad, draws its strength from Arab tribes who oppose the central government and its ruling National Congress Party.

See the complete article in the 22 May 2007 issue of the Christian Science Monitor

www.csmonitor.com/2007/0522/p04s01-woaf.html

LeBron Fouls Out

NBA star LeBron James has been hailed as the second coming of Michael Jordan. He's a phenomenal basketball talent. But in a move reminiscent of Jordan's reluctance to take controversial stands (remember: "Republicans buy sneakers, too."), LeBron has fouled out on the issue of Darfur.

When teammate Ira Newble asked James to sign an open letter to the Chinese government, condemning it for not doing anything to stem the genocide in Darfur, James declined, saying he didn't have enough information. All of his other Cleveland Cavaliers teammates, save for Damon Jones, signed the letter.

Show me the money! Turns out that James has an endorsement deal with a fledgling Chinese shoe and clothing company and a $90M deal with Nike, which has business interests in China.

See Jonathan Zimmerman's Op-Ed piece in the 24 May 2007 Christian Science Monitor

www.csmonitor.com/2007/0524/p09s01-coop.html 

James is on his way to becoming a world figure and is a role model for many young people. His signature on the letter would give it more credibility and send a powerful message about the importance of human rights in an area so ravaged.

Sign the letter, LeBron!

"Sports do not teach character, they reveal it." -- Heywood Hale Broun

You Just Might be a New Mexican If....

I've taken shots at Nevada, and more recently Long Island, NY. It's time now to do the same to New Mexico ("Land of Entrapment"), where I spent almost as much time (17 years) as I did in my home state of New York.

New Mexico is world-renowned for its beauty, but the one thing that resonates with most people is the supposed crash (and recovery and subsequent cover-up by the USA government) of a UFO outside Roswell in July 1947. This was brought home to me a few years ago when I was giving a technical talk on the hydrogeology of the Roswell Artesian Basin at a meeting in Slovenia. A German fellow in the front row squirmed through most of my talk, so I thought he was really going to let me have it when I finished. As soon as I finished and asked, "Are there any questions?", his hand shot into the air. He excitedly blurted out, "Where on your map is the place where the UFO crashed?"

It was the only question anyone asked.

By the way, the site is just northwest of Roswell.

I cannot take credit for the following list (except for a few) - it was published by Bruce Daniels at www.abqjournal.com in February 2006.

You just might be a New Mexican if...

You have license plates on your walls but not on your car.

You believe that a red traffic light is merely a suggestion.

You hated Texans until Californians moved in.

You think six tons of crushed rock is a beautiful front lawn.

Most restaurants you frequent start with "Los", "Las", or "El".

You ran for the state legislature so you can speed legally.

There is a piece of a UFO displayed in your house.

You got your sixth DWI and were elected to the legislature in the same week.

You will run into at least three cousins whenever you shop at Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, or Home Depot.

You know Vegas is a town in northeastern New Mexico.

Tumbleweeds and cacti in your yard are not weeds; they are your lawn.

Your iron your jeans to "dress up".

You know the punch line to at least one Española joke. [Q: Why do birds fly upside down over Española? A: It's not worth crapping on.]

You can actually hear the "Taos hum".

You are still using the paper license tag that came with your car five years ago.

Two of your cousins are in Santa Fe: one in the legislature and one in the state penitentiary.

You have to sign a waiver to buy hot coffee at a drive-up window.

Your other vehicle is also a pick-up truck.

You price-shop for tortillas.

You pass on the right because that's the fast lane.

You know whether you want "red" or "green".

You have been on TV more than three times telling about how your neighbor was shot or how you were abducted by aliens.

You have been told by at least one out-of-state vendor they are going to charge you extra for "international shipping".

You are glad when the pavement ends because the dirt road has fewer potholes.

You can correctly pronounce, but cannot spell, Tesuque, Cerrillos, and Pojoaque.

You see nothing wrong with drive-up window liquor sales.

You flew your Mexican flag at half-mast on the day the legislature banned cockfighting.

                      More to come later!

New Mexico's state motto: "Carpe mañana!"

Iraq's Oil - More Trouble in Mess-O-Potamia?

On 21 May 2007 NPR had an interesting story about Iraq's proposed hydrocarbon law that its parliament is attempting to pass. This has been a contentious issue, for obvious reasons: Iraq has the world's third largest proved reserves of oil and the gooey black stuff currently provides 95% of the government's revenues.

This map is 15 years old, but you can see that the green areas - the oilfields - are concentrated in the north (Kurds) and the southeast (Shia). Each group would really like to keep the Sunnis from the oil revenues. That will happen unless the parliament passes a law that provides for some type of equitable distribution of revenues. The USA is pushing for this type of arrangement.

It seemed that things were heading in the direction of equitable treatment.

But the Kurds, who function as a semi-autonomous group in northern Iraq ("Kurdistan") are now upset because the Sunni and Shia are supporting a law that will allow the central government to control 93% of the oil, while allotting only 7% to the regional authorities. This is unacceptable to the Kurds, who were hoping for a bigger piece of the pie. They're concerned that they will get shut out of much of the oil revenues their lands produce.

Iraq's oil production has dropped to about 2 million barrels per day. Recall that the Bush Administration was claiming at the start of the Iraq war run-up that within 5 years, Iraq would be producing 6 milllion barrels per day. and that Iraq oil revenues would pay for a fair amount of the war. Guess again, guys! Seems that sabotage, lack of skilled workers, and poor maintenance have precluded this.

The following quote is from my wife Mary Frances, who uttered it this morning as we were listening to an NPR interview with a conservative anti-Iraq war professor (but who fought in Vietnam) from Boston University whose soldier son was killed in Iraq this past Mother's Day. It recalls Ronnie Dumsfeld's "wonderful" quote about going to war with the army you have, not the army you want to have.

"You go to war with the country you can find, not the country you can't find." - Mary F. Campana

You Know You're From Long Island If....

Although born in Manhattan...ooops, I mean "the City", I grew up on Long Island. Even though I now live in Oregon, I keep running into people - too many it seems - who grew up on Long Island. I was at a dinner a few months ago and 3 of the 8 adults there were from LI.

Anyway, in the interests of my many LI friends, I thought I would post some of these "You Know You're From Long Island If..." I don't know to whom I should attribute these; my older sister Ellen emailed them to me, and she got them from an old friend, who....well you know the story. 

Map of Long Island (from Wikipedia)

With some exceptions, these things resonate regardless of one's age - I have sent them to people half my age and they say "Uh-huh."

You know you're from Long Island if...

You know someone who went to Chaminade High School.

You know Jones Beach Theater is the best place in the world to see a concert.

You say, "Is it just me, or is every girl from Rockville Centre a bitch?"

Billy Joel said it best: "Either you date a rich girl from the North Shore or a cool girl from the South Shore."

So what's the deal with the Hamptons?

If you're not from Long Island or NYC, you're not really from New York.

You don't go to Manhattan, you go to "the City."

You know the Belt Parkway sucks!

You never, ever, want to "change at Jamaica."

You never realize you have an accent until you leave.

You know where at least one strip club is.

You curse. A lot.

Is Huntington really that cool?

The goddamn geese are everywhere!

If your parents didn't, then your grandparents lived in "the City."

No words end in "er", but "ah".

Your future might involve the state of Florida.

You've tried to find the "Amityville Horror" house.

You're still waiting for a bridge to Connecticut.

You missed the "Drunk Train", the 2:42 AM out of Penn Station, and had the dreaded wait until 5:30 AM.

When you hear Billy Joel's "Scenes From an Italian Restuarant" you try to figure out which places on Long Island he's talking about.

You know the location of Jerry Seinfeld's childhood home in Massapequa.

You know the Long Island Expressway as "the world's longest parking lot."

You know someone who fell asleep on the Long Island Rail Road and wound up in Hicksville, Ronkonkoma, or Babylon.

When you order pizza pie and a soda people know what you're talking about.

You don't find it odd that Brooklyn and Queens, while technically on Long Island, are not "Long Island."

You know exactly where Queens turns into Nassau County simply by intuition.

Your parents took you to Nathan's or Carvel.

You understand all these and send them to your Long Island friends.

                                More will be coming!

The World Bank Wimps Out: a FOG Gets a Pass

Well, the Wolfster is out of a job, but I suspect he's not dumpster-diving for his next meal.

                          Sucking your thumb again, eh, Paul? (Courtesy npr.org)

In a statement seemingly written to honor someone who's retiring after a long, distinguished career, the World Bank's Executive Directors demonstrated what a bunch of spineless wimps they are by allowing FOG (Friend Of George) Paul Wolfowitz to resign while essentially absolving him of any wrongdoing. In fact, they made it sound as though he'd been a pillar of the Bank. Wolfowitz's "resignation" press release, about 2,000 words long, five times that of the Bank's, sounded like one written by someone who had just won the Nobel Prize.

His resignation takes effect on 30 June 2007.

The Executive Board could have voted to fire him, but lacked the gumption to do so. Its resignation statement bore the infamous words "Mistakes were made". Obviously, Alberto Gonzales had something to do with all this.

You can read the press releases and hear the NPR story at:

www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10239438&sc=emaf 

Lost in all this are the effects on Wolfowitz's companion, Shaha Riza. By every account, this very bright woman, a democratic Arab Muslim feminist (four words rarely in such juxtaposition) has gotten a raw deal. She had been at the Bank for eight years before Wolfowitz arrived in June 2005. She feels she has been damaged, and she's right. See

www.usatoday.com/money/world/2007-05-17-wolfowitz-riha_N.htm?POE=click-refer

The above article hints that she's not too happy with Wolfowitz for essentially exiling her to the State Department.

Riza sounds like exactly the kind of person the World Bank needs to keep around. Or maybe the State Department could use her; she'd been dispatched there by Wolfowitz.

A novel idea: President Bush should appoint her as the new World Bank President.

"Society is like a stew. If you don't keep it stirred up you get a lot of scum on top." -- Edward Abbey

Mugabe Gets Another Free Pass

Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe's thuggish president, received another "free pass" from his African peers the other day. Unforunately, it was not a "free pass" to the retirement community for unemployed despots. African leaders nominated Zimbabwe - a country with an annual inflation rate of 2,200%, 80% unemployment, political turmoil, looming famine, a negative annual GDP growth rate, etc. - as chair of the UN Commission for Sustainable Development. This would be worth a good laugh were it not so pathetic.

Essentially, Mugabe's buddies are "sticking it to the West" for its relentless pressure on Mugabe to stop ruining his country and killing his own people. It's Africa saying to the UK, USA, Australia, the EU, the G-8, and others: "Go f**k yourself. You mess with Mugabe, you mess with all of us." It doesn't matter that Mugabe is no longer trying to free his country from white supremacists and the likes of an oppressive Ian Smith - he's simply beating, imprisoning, and killing his political opponents, be they black or white, and enriching his cronies.

Here's what South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki (the guy whose belief that HIV and AIDS were unrelated hampered his country's fight against that disease) said at a recent meeting of the South African Development Community:

"The fight against Zimbabwe is a fight against us all. Today it is Zimbabwe; tomorrow it will be South Africa, it will be Mozambique, it will be Angola, it will be any other African country. And any government that is perceived to be strong and to be resistant to imperialists would be made a target and would be undermined. So let us not allow any point of weakness in the solidarity of SADC because that weakness will also be transferred to the rest of Africa."

You go, Thabo!

See "Why Africa won't rein in Mugabe" in the 16 May 2007 issue of the Christian Science Monitor:

www.csmonitor.com/2007/0516/p01s01-woaf.html?s=u

“The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.” -- W.E.B. DuBois

Happy Birthday! Thoughts on Germany

I happily turned 59 today - or as my late Aunt Angela would have said "My dear, happy birthday - you are now entering your 60th year." She had a real way with words. I should not be too unkind to her, because I get some extra spending money quarterly from her trust, which is nicely managed by Deutsche Bank (who purchased Bankers Trust) to provide as little as possible. But I am not complaining, am I?

My wife Mary Frances returned this morning from a business trip to Israel and Germany. She had been to Israel before, but never to Germany. She, like other Americans I have met, was apprehensive about visiting Germany. I guess they think...well, I'm not sure exactly what they think. I suspect our thoughts all too quickly revert to our image of the Germany we fought in World War II. Or perhaps we imagine a humorless country, where everything is mandated by the government and Deutschland Uber Alles is played 24/7. I told her not to worry, it has some beautiful regions and I enjoy the people. She was pleasantly surprised and had a great time. She said people there were friendly and bore her no ill because of her American citizenship. They were not fond of Bush, but they can separate their feelings about him and the American government from their feelings about individual Americans. That is a nice trait.

I have noticed that trait in my travels as well, especially in Central America. We have not pursued a very good neighbor policy towards our Central American friends. Yet, whatever their feelings are about the USA government, Central Americans have never shown me any ill will because of my American passport. In fact, I would not swap my American passport for any other.

Getting back to Germany - I have a good friend who lives and works in Germany but is a Pole. He is fond of saying that there is a decrease in the Germans' sense of humor as you go from the south towards the Baltic Sea in the north. He's a mathematician/physicist, so he calls it a "humor gradient" - the change (decrease) in humor with distance as you go from south to north. He lives in the Munich area, in Bavaria, so folks there have a very good sense of humor. But go to Berlin and other points north - hey, fageddaboutit! I have not yet tested his hypothesis because most of my travels in Germany have been in the south and west.

Here's to my 60th year!

"So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains, and we never even know we have the key." -- 'Already Gone' by the Eagles

Craig Watkins: Dallas DA Tries to Set Things Right

I first read about Craig Watkins in the 5 March 2007 issue of The Washington Post. He was sworn in as Dallas County (TX) district attorney on 1 January 2007 - the first elected black DA in Texas history. That feat alone would be enough, but Watkins announced that he would allow the Texas affiliate of the Innocence Project (www.innocenceproject.org/) to review hundreds of Dallas County cases dating back to 1970 to decide whether DNA testing should be invoked.

The Innocence Project is a nonprofit legal clinic created in 1992 by attorneys Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld that is best known for using DNA testing to exonerate those wrongfully convicted and imprisoned. The Project has helped free over 200 people who had spent more than 2,500 years in prison for crimes they did not commit.

Texas has had more exonerations - 28 - than any other state. Illinois clocks in with 27, attributed mainly to the interest in these cases generated by a former governor, conservative Republican George Ryan. Ironically, Ryan was later convicted on 18 counts of corruption.

Dallas County has had 13 exonerations in the past 5 years alone. Most of the Dallas County exonerations stem from cases tried in the 1980s under the county's legendary law-and-order DA, Henry Wade.

Watkins' exoneration program was immediately branded "Hug-A-Thug" by his critics. Watkins retorted that he was interested in seeking justice and sending the right people to prison, not just throwing anyone in prison. As he said, "It is not about coddling criminals, it's about being smart."

This strikes me as a remarkable attitude for a DA - let's ensure that dispensing justice is the first order of business, not simply tossing warm bodies in prison.

Watkins noted that his two previous applications for prosecutorial positions in the Dallas County DA's office were rejected. This is the same county that once produced a manual on how to exclude minorities from Texas juries.

Soft on crime? I think not. Hard on injustice is more like it.

"Sacred cows make great hambugers."

This FOG is Still in a Daze

Alberto Gonzales, our inept Attorney General and Friend Of George (FOG), made an appearance before the House Judiciary Committee this week. Last month, before the Senate Judiciary Committee, he set new a new standard for selective amnesia when he couldn't remember or recall answers to 71 questions.

This time, however, things were not quite as bad, primarily because the House Republicans, unlike their Senate counterparts, treated Mr. Gonzales with kid gloves. I have to admit here that I did not listen to his testimony, so I do not have first-hand information.

But he still messed up. He still could not or would not say who put David Iglesias, the fired U.S. Attorney for New Mexico, on the "hit list". I thought Chair John Conyers (D-MI) was going to have a cow. Like Rep. Conyers I find it incredulous that the "top man" does not know how or by whom a man he fired was put on the "hit list".

But Bush is not going to fire Alberto. He's too valuable to him. Not because he is a good AG, but because: 1) he's a good punching bag, and since he's a loyal soldier he'll keep taking a beating for his boss; 2) his presence will help keep the Democrats distracted from the real issue - the pathetic mismanagement of the Iraq war; and 3) Bush does not want to have to nominate an AG because the nomination hearing will be an embarrassment to Bush as the Democrats will use it to unearth all sorts of things in the Department of Justice.

Some Democrats don't want Gonzales to resign because he's now an emasculated AG and will remain a convenient whipping boy. Feeling down today? Hey, let's have a few laughs and drag Alberto up here for some testimony.

And Alberto won't resign because: 1) as stated above, he's a loyal soldier; and 2) his wife won't let him - she can not bear returning to Texas under such humiliating circumstances.

Alberto Gonzales will be sticking around for a while, so get used to it. In a couple of years, Alberto can then obtain a sinecure as Dean of Regent University's law school. That is Pat Robertson's school, and that's about Alberto's speed.

"Mistakes were made." -- Attorney General Alberto Gonzales.

Mickey Mouse, Freedom Fighter....or Terrorist?

Mickey Mouse -- enemy of the Zionists and the imperialist USA, liberator of the Palestinians, guardian of Islam, soldier of Allah. Say what? Where else would this be true but in the Middle East - the place that will soon become the poster child for democracy, all because of our noble efforts in Iraq.

Well, democracy ain't always pretty, nor do the results always bode well for the USA. Remember Hamas, which won parliamentary elections in January 2006 but is consdiered a terrorist organization by the USA? Well, they're now giving Sesame Street and Mister Rogers' Neighborhood a run for their money.

Hamas announced today that it will suspend the weekly TV program Tomorrow's Pioneers featuring a Mickey Mouse look-alike named Farfour and his gal-pal Saraa, who urge kids to fight the Israelis, resist the USA, and spread Islam throughout the world. Not necessarily peacefully, either.

(courtesy WorldNetDaily.com)

Seems that in addition to Farfour and Saraa spouting anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian slogans the show also encouraged children to call in with their own versions of venom, often expressed as poetry or songs. Saraa also tells the children that after death, they will be held accountable by Allah for what they did or didn't do for the Palestinians, or did or didn't do to the Israelis.

The Palestinian Authority's information ministry requested that the program be pulled from Hamas-affiliated Al-Aqsa TV, a satellite TV station. The ministry said that this was a misguided approach to the Palestinian-Israeli struggle. The program is under review. Read more and view the video at:

www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55582

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18580878/from/ET/

In 2002 Hamas started a WWW site urging children to become suicide bombers. Wonderful.

Is this obscene or what?   (courtesy WorldNetDaily.com)

The Disney folks have not yet commented.

"I was not pleased that Hamas has refused to announce its desire to destroy Israel." -- President George W. Bush, 4 May 2006.

"Air Ball" Keeps Trying

George Tenet, still making the rounds promoting his book At the Center of the Storm and trying to win friends and influence people, was on The Daily Show on 8 May 2007. But he was still throwing up bricks.

Host Jon Stewart devoted over half the show to the interview, and started off with something novel: a video pastiche of Tenet's previous talk-show appearances (O'Reilly, Russert, et al.). Very effective. In most of the appearances the host treated Tenet with disdain or disbelief as he peddled his tale. "Air Ball" often appeared to be in a state of extreme discomfort; I almost started feeling sorry for him.

He gave a credible performance on the show, but nothing he said caused me to decide that my new nickname for him should be anything other than "Air Ball". I still would love to know why he kept his mouth shut all those years while that perfidious pair Bush and Cheney led us down the treacherous road into Iraq in pursuit of WMDs, democracy in the Middle East, or whatever the raison du jour is.

He did have a sense of humor. Must be laughing all the way to the bank.

"That makes me cry a lot." -- George Tenet, when told by Jon Stewart that Douglas Feith is upset with him.

"Well, you're a little better looking." -- George Tenet, when asked by Jon Stewart if this is how White House meetings went.

New Mexico: Caring for Its Cocks

So what happens when cocks can no longer perform they way are supposed to?  Do we just toss them aside like used condoms, relegating them to the trash bin after years of faithful service? Do we let them dry up and blow away? Erect a monument to them? Or do we grab hold and respond with a firm but compassionate hand?

Well, if you are New Mexico (aka "Land of Entrapment"; state motto: "Carpe mañana!") State Representative Thomas C. ("Cojones") Taylor, R-Farmington, you introduce a memorial (like a resolution - it does not have the force of law) ensuring that state agencies will care for these now-useless appendages. New Mexico, rise up and be counted!

So what gives? Is this some kind of scheme for New Mexico to become a retirement community for the likes of porn star Ron Jeremy? No, because in this case, "cocks" refer to the fighting birds who are about to be put out to pasture. Yes, New Mexico recently passed a bill outlawing cockfights, much to the annoyance of some of the devotees of the "sport" (probably the same people who engaged in the now-banned "sport" of horse-tripping).

Cockfighting spokesman Dick Cabeza, Grand Petermeister of the Council Of Cockfighting Keepers-Region of the United States (COCKS-R-US) protested this action, saying that "Cockfighting is a noble sport and an integral part of New Mexico's culture." He continued: "We were afraid that things would come to a head in this session, and our fears were realized. It was a bit sticky, touch-and-go for a while, but we thought we had things well in hand. Our lobbyists were creaming them. Then the opposition stiffened. Boy, there were some hard ones on the other side. I went limp when I heard the results of the vote."   

Rep. Taylor's memorial will ensure that these noble creatures will spend the rest of their years in comfort.

Download house_memorial_12.pdf   (This memorial is for real!)

Louisiana is the only remaining state where cockfighting is allowed, but a bill to ban it is pending. Dick Cabeza left for Baton Rouge today. "I won't take this lying down," he said. "Our effort in New Mexico was flaccid, but in Louisiana we will have the best lobbyist money can buy, the infamous Hugh G. Rection. He takes on all comers. We won't get shafted again."

"Every calculation, based on experience elsewhere, fails in New Mexico." -- former New Mexico Territorial Governor Lew Wallace (yeah, the Ben-Hur author), 1878.

[Note: I went to an all-boys Catholic high school - how can you tell? Every once in a while I have a relapse. It'll pass.]

"Slam Dunk": Air Ball or Three-Pointer?

I've been thinking about this post for a week after reading three articles about George "Slam Dunk" Tenet in the 28 April 2007 New York Times, including Maureen Dowd's column, appropriately entitled "More Like An Air Ball". George has been on the news and interview shows since then, plugging his new book At the Center of the Storm. I figured that everyone is tired of ol' "Slam Dunk" by now, as he laments about how he and the CIA have been scapegoated by the Bush Administration (but not by Bush himself, whom he lionizes), especially Dick Cheney.

Tenet acknowledges that he did utter the words "a slam dunk case" but was referring to obtaining information about WMDs in Iraq, not the presence of WMDs. Besides, by that time, plans for war were well underway. These words have been taken out of context and quoted countless times, primarily by Dick Cheney. It is interesting to note that Tenet uses the word "scapegoat"; Gwen Ifill observed on PBS's Washington Week on 4 May 2007, the term "scapegoat" implies "innocence". To his credit, Tenet does admit his and his agency's mistakes. That's probably a first for an ex-Bush administration official (but recall Tenet was appointed by Clinton).

Tenet suspects that the "WMD excuse" to invade Iraq was just that - an excuse. He feels that the real reason was the neocon blather about installing a democracy in Iraq, which would then blossom throughout the Middle East. Along with the Dickster, people like Paul Wolfowitz, Douglas Feith (I love the term "Feith-based analysis", a wonderful double-entendre), and Richard Perle come across poorly (I'm being kind). Tenet recounts Perle saying on 12 September 2001 that "Iraq has to pay a price for what happened yesterday. They bear responsibility." Tenet readily admits that "the intelligence then and now" showed "no evidence of Iraq complicity" in the 9/11 attacks.

He also asserts that there was never a serious debate about the Iraq threat, and the consequences of a prolonged occupation in Iraq. Nor was there a plan for the peace. He claims to have warned L. Paul Bremer about Bremer's misguided attempt to "de-Baathify" the Iraqi army.

Tenet's critics claim "Foul!", stating that he was not privy to all that was happening or that he is employing selective memory.

Tenet's observations beg the obvious question that he has failed to answer adequately: if he knew what a mess things were, why did he wait until now, almost three years after his resignation, to speak up? Did he tell his buddy George Bush what a mess things were while he was CIA Director? Why didn't he "do the right thing" - resign out of principle? Kind of makes you wonder why it just so happens he's waited until the release of his book.

It's apparent to me that George Tenet and Colin Powell were the two members of the Bush Administration who knew the "real story" behind the Iraq War. Neither one had the integrity or guts to stand up to the neocons and Bush and tell the American people the truth. They both checked their principles at the door.

Maureen Dowd's characterization of "Slam Dunk" as the butler from Remains of the Day, scurrying about, playing the President's sycophant, is spot-on.

"Slam Dunk"? I prefer to think of him as "Air Ball".

                              !Feliz Cinco de Mayo!

"You know, one of the hardest parts of  my job is to connect Iraq to the war on terror" -- President George W. Bush, 6 September 2006.

Darfur: An Activist's Guide and More Books

Don Cheadle, who starred as the courageous hotel manager in Hotel Rwanda, and John Prendergast, senior advisor of the International Crisis Group, have collaborated on the book Not on Our Watch: the Mission to End Genocide in Darfur and Beyond (Hyperion). Their book is designed for those who wish to get involved and proffers advice on how to get involved - writing letters, raising funds and awareness, engaging governments, etc.

Cheadle and Prendergast describe their own experiences and those of others, especially the Darfur inhabitants who have lived through the nightmare. One review (Publishers Weekly) mentioned that Cheadle's and Prendergast's personal anecdotes, while entertaining, overshadowed those of the Darfur people.

Other books you might want to read are:

Darfur Diaries, by Jen Marlowe, Aisha Bain, and Paul Shapiro

Darfur: A Short History of a Long War (African Arguments) by Alex de    Waal and Julie Flint

And don't forget to check out the latest Darfur news and activities at:

www.savedarfur.org/

"Those who have not learned the lessons of history are destined to repeat its mistakes." -- George Santayana