Obi-Wan, You Trained Them Too Well

I blame a lot of John Kerry's defeat in 2004 on his attempt to explain things to death. The GOP election machine railroaded him with dogged tabloid politics. Any attempt by Kerry to qualify his positions or validate his actions was torpedoed by GOP media as signs of weakness and countered with slogans of "moral values" and "threats to the American family" and "time of war".
But now, years of dumbed-down politics are starting to exact their toll, and the payback is a bitch. President Bush got a taste of it with the public reaction to his Hurricane Katrina speech; the rambling litany of numbers and statistics was perceived as wishy-washy and heartless.
In the past few days, the Republican apparatus has been hammered with headlines that say "Frist's stock sale places him under ethical cloud", "Ethics questions confront Delay" and "Ethics cloud hangs over new House GOP leader ", not to mention "Ex-Ed Secretary: Abort Black Babies, Crime Would Plummet". Republicans could well find out that any attempt to explain the antics of their leaders to their conservative constituent base will be construed as "wavering" and "flip-flopping" and "Washington politics". The average Bushite filling up with $3.50/gallon gas doesn't want to hear about refinery problems or energy conservation, they want their unerring and all-powerful leaders to do something about it.
Methinks GOP needs a couple of more Jimmy Duncans come 2006 elections.

Guided Tour

I had family members from Finland come over for a visit this week. They were impressed by the kindness and hospitality of the people in the South, which was totally contrary to their European media-promoted image of arrogant and callous Americans. East Tennessee is a treasure trove of attractions, too. Around Knoxville, there are the Museum of Appalchia, the Big South Fork Scenic Railway and the American Museum of Science and Energy. All this even before heading out to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg! My cousin being a train enthusiast, we also drove to Chattanooga and visited the Tennessee valley Railroad Museum and Chattanooga Choo-Choo. My folks left with a special place in their heart for Rocky Top.

Intelligent Design

In other news, the Hogwarts School District has released the following statement:

The Pennsylvania Academic Standards require students to learn about Einstein's theory of physics and eventually to take a standardized test of which physics is a part.

Because Einstein’s theory is a theory, it continues to be tested as new evidence is discovered. The theory is not a fact. Gaps in the theory exist for which there is no evidence. A theory is defined as a well-tested explanation that unifies a broad range of observations.

Magick is an explanation of the physics that differs from Einstein’s view. The reference book, “Magick In Theory and Practice,” is available for students who might be interested in gaining an understanding of what magick actually involves.

With respect to any theory, students are encouraged to keep an open mind. The school leaves the discussion of the physics of the universe to individual students and their families. As a standards-driven district, class instruction focuses upon preparing students to achieve proficiency on standards-based assessments.

Blinded By 9/11

There is no Plan B: Our government has no policy how to prevent or deal with infrastructure damage caused by natural disasters like hurricanes Katrina and Rita, such as mass destruction of oil refineries. The sole focus of critical infrastructure protection under the Bush administation is the threat of terrorism. In the series of documents titled National Strategy for the Physical Protection of Critical Infrastructures and Key Assets, there is not a single mention of natural disasters. Zero, zilch, nada. Instead, there's lavish rhetoric about "formidable enemy-focused, mass destruction terrorism" and "physical attacks". The only threat to critical infrastructure perceived by the White House is deliberate action of individuals or organizations. Now that Katrina and Rita are about to wipe out quarter or more of our fuel production capability, we'll be paying the price for our government's short-sightedness. And this time, even the stock market is taking notice.

Of Children And Canines

There's a scary mismatch in the state foster care system: Many (but not all) kids that end up in the system are pretty broken, and many (but not all) foster parents do not have kids of their own. Hence, there is a situation of a child with severe emotional needs being parented by folks with no prior child-rearing experience. Talk about a crash course in child psychology.
My wife and I don't have biological children, and although she used to work in a kindergarten, my parental qualifications were limited to training dogs. Surprisingly enough, it turned out, at least from my perspective, that rearing a broken child is not that different from rearing a dog. Most emotionally damaged kids who have been taken into custody because of neglect have lived in a chaotic or deprived environment, where life seldom makes sense. For these children, stability and predictability is the best healer. To that effect, these are the guidelines I've set to myself:

• Wife and I are the bosses who make the decisions, and our decisions are not up for debate.
• A child often doesn't hear or understand my words, but he/she always picks up on my body language or tone of voice.
• I never make an idle threat. If I warn there's going be a consequence, there is going to be a consequence.
• I must lead by example. If I'm not teaching the correct behavior, then I'm teaching the wrong behavior, because I'm always teaching the kid something.
• Consistency, consistency, consistency. Never once break a rule, always apply the consequence. "Just this once" does not exist. Give them and inch and they'll take a mile.
• I must reinforce good behavior, and praise the kid single every time for making good choices, no matter how trivial.
• These kids want desperately to belong. While they're staying with us, they're family.
• I must love indiscriminately, but not expect to be loved in return. This job pays in karma, not in hugs and kisses.

And most importantly:

• Being a foster parent is a job, but I'm not a professional. If I'm in it above my head, I'll seek professional help.

Of course, I'm not saying we are treating kids like dogs, just that the core behavior modifying techniques that work are the same. Whether it has anything to do with parenting is another matter entirely.

Postage Due

Dear Daddy,

How are you? I'm doing fine. I'm in foster home now. They are nice and they're house is very nice. I have my own room here. Mommy went to live with Dwayne so I ran away. Mommy said you are a criple and you arn't coming back home so she needed a man in her life. I hate her. and Dwayne he beats mom. So she said Dwayne says I can't live there no more. They put me in foster home. I hate it here. I miss you daddy. Mema says you are in Germeny but they might move you to here soon. I want to come see you I dont care if your in wheelchare. I hope they not sending you back to Iraq again. so I can come live with you when you get better. Love ya bunches,

Morgan

It's Not Like They'll Complain

There was a report on NPR this morning describing how the Coast Guard retrieves hurricane victim corpses. According to the report, once a deceased is found, an "ecumenic prayer" is said for the victim, then the corpse is moved to a morgue, where it's administered a washing rite per Christian, Jewish and Muslim traditions. All this is done before the victim is identified, and thus with no knowledge whether the deceased was adherent of any Judaic religion. Damn it, I'll have to tattoo disposal instructions to my chest: "Contents Non-Judaic: Burn, Do Not Bury".

Mother Of All October Suprises

Following the 9/11, the Bush administration outlined in 2002 a new, aggressive policy favoring pre-emptive action against terrorist groups and hostile states. This so called "first strike doctrine" was just updated to include the option to use nuclear weapons against terrorists or hostile countries with weapons of mass destruction.
In 2003 prior to the invasion, the Pentagon prepared to launch a tactical nuclear strike against Iraq to eliminate "weapons of mass destruction", so we know this option is not merely hypothetical. I'm also convinced that this update to Pentagon policy is not coincidental.
Let's put the tinfoil hat on for a moment and connect the dots: We have a struggling head of state, who gained his reputation as the "war president". We have a prolonged military operation in Iraq that is stretching our resources thin and is losing popularity even among its supporters. We have a Middle-Eastern country allegedly preparing to manufacture weapons of mass destruction. Would it be surprise if GWB wanted to exit stage with a bang rather than a whimper?

Insurgency

Sighted today on the way to work: A "Don't Blame Me, I voted For Kerry" bumpersticker. Might be that someone's political capital check just bounced.

Buck Barbeque Begins

The cost for recovery from Hurricane Katrina is now expected to top $200 billion, and some members of Congress are starting to have jitters about wanton spending. Senate Budget Committee chairman Judd Gregg, Republican of New Hampshire, requested a special oversight commission to monitor spending on Katrina relief. Gregg's warning bells went off when he heard about federal officials requisitioning Winnebagos in New Hampshire to be used as temporary housing. Meanwhile, Vice President Cheney assured the Congress that no special monitoring commission is required, and Senator John Kerry couldn't wait to start dishing out federal subsidies to small businesses across the country, not unlike the STAR funding I mentioned in my previous post.
The tempation to sneak in pork-barrel projects into Katrina relief appropriation bills may prove to be too tempting to many lawmakers. Yesterday, the Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) unveiled a “Hurricane Katrina No Pork Pledge” alongside 13 members of Congress. By signing the pledge, members of Congress vow to oppose any project or provision that is not directly related to the impact of Hurricane Katrina in any supplemental appropriations bill that provides funds for hurricane relief. None of Tennessee congressional representatives have signed the pledge yet, but I've sent a missive to Hon. Jimmy Duncan pertaining the matter. We shall see.

Small Bidness Abuse

Unbeknownst to the general public, the federal Small Business Administration (SBA) has been doling out cash willy-nilly from a $5 billion slush fund, resulting in taxpayers having to cover about 600 defaulted loans — some approaching $1 million each — from companies that went bankrupt or closed.
This so called Supplementary Terrorism Activity Relief (STAR) fund was set up to provide relief to small businesses affected by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. However, SBA encouraged small businesses in all parts of the country to invent a reason to be qualified for a STAR loan. As a result 19,000 applications were accepted, including 55 Dunkin' Donuts shops across the country, 14 Quiznos sandwich shops and 52 Subway sandwich shops. Fourteen Dairy Queens — part of the ice cream franchise partly owned by Wall Street billionaire Warren Buffett — won more than $5 million in loans. Other loans included liquor store and a nail salon in Colorado, daycare center and a vet clinic in Georgia, a jewelry store and an aerial crop sprayer in Montana, a spa in Ohio and chiropractors and bowling alleys in Michigan. Most often loan applicants never knew their loans were supported by the STAR fund. One may surmise that Hurricane Katrina will yield another avalance of Federal green for grabs. Time to quit your day job and board the gravy train!

Revenge Of The Pork

It's not how much money you have, it's how you spend it. Instapundit quotes a Washington Post article according to which New Orleans had been allocated plenty of Federal money for water projects. The Senate's latest budget bill for the Army Corps of Engineers included 107 Louisiana projects worth $596 million, and in fact, Louisiana leads the nation in overall Corps funding. But instead of reinforcing and fixing levees, the funds were directed to "wasteful pork-barrel spending". Former Louisiana senator John Breaux admits as much, saying ""We thought all the projects were important -- not just levees. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but navigation projects were critical to our economic survival.". Let the blame games commence!

No Evacuees For You

Evacuations of Hurricane Katrina victims in Texas have been put on hold indefinetely after many evacuees balked against being transported to other parts of the country. Knoxville was expecting four planeloads of evacuees to arrive today, but none showed up.
Clusterfuck handling of the hurricane aftermath shows no signs of abating. On Sunday, Governor Rick Perry of Texas initiated a plan to airlift evacuees from overburdened Texas to other states, but was promptly bitch-slapped by the White House, and told to hand over the operation to FEMA. Since, then FEMA has sat on their thumbs in the middle of miscommunication. For example, dozens of medical professional scrambled twice Tuesday in Charleston, S.C. waiting for evacuees. But it turns out the planes were headed to Charleston, West Virginia, instead.
Someone may want to call Knoxville, Indiana, and tell them to prepare for load of evacuees dropping down from the sky tonight. At least the investigation into this circus is in good hands.

Nobody Expects The Bush Inquisition

Four good reasons why Bush will nominate John Ashcroft to the Supreme Court:

1. Bush likes to reward loyal lapdogs.
   
2. Ashcroft is the Arch Wingnut guaranteed to please the Religious Right.
   
3. Ashcroft has the dirt on Bush, and his SCOTUS nomination will guarantee he will never pull a Trent Lott on his master.
   
4. Ashcroft's nomination will drive Democrats apeshit and detract from criticism over Katrina.
   

Foster Families Needed

Knox County DCS has sent out a plea to get foster families for children who have lost their parents in Hurricane Katrina or are in need of temporary placement while their parents try to get their lives back together. If you are willing to become a foster parent, call DCS at (865) 594-7101 (Knox County) or (865) 425-4400 (the rest of East TN).

Comfortably Numb

I guess dead black people floating in sewage doesn't have quite the same psychological effect as Wall Street bankers running from collapsing skyscrapers. After 9/11, stock markets practically crashed, Dow-Jones went down almost 15% in a week. There were massive layoffs in almost all industries. The cost of recovery from Hurricane Katrina is estimated to be even larger than from 9/11, yet five days after the storm, stock markets are up for the week. We have demonstrated to the whole world how weak our leadership is, we've revealed how vulnerable to terrorist acts we are in our own country, the peak hurricane season is still ahead, half a million jobs are in immediate jeopardy, airlines are about to be grounded for good and with increasing fuel shortages malls are becoming empty of shoppers. Yet the White House, with support of "economic analysts", distances itself from the reality insisting that the effect of Katrina will be "modest". Then again, this is the administration that a couple of months ago was fighting nail and tooth to keep a single brain-dead woman alive.

Emperor's New Clothes

It's plain to see that the emperor stands stark naked, but can the masses pull their head out of their asses long enough to notice?

Life As Seen From Air Force One

Here's a quote from CNN that tells us how far detached from reality our Compassionate Conservative president is:

The president spent 35 minutes looking out the window as the aircraft passed over Louisiana and Mississippi and saw the damaged roof of the New Orleans Superdome and the city's flooded neighborhoods.
The president's plane flew about 2,500 feet over New Orleans and about 1,700 feet over Mississippi.
"It's devastating. It's got to be doubly devastating on the ground," Bush said.

You don't say? It may happen that G.W. Bush's self-promoted image as the all-powerful savior of the nation after 9/11 will come to bite him in the ass as the situation in the South worsens and gas pumps dry out.

"I'd Rather Be In Iraq"

"This is mass chaos. To tell you the truth, I'd rather be in Iraq. You got your constant danger, but I had something to protect myself. [And] three meals a day. Communications. A plan. Here, they had no plan."
Quote by Sgt. Jason Defess, 27, a National Guard military policeman who had been stationed on a ramp outside the New Orleans Superdome since Monday. He was deployed in Iraq for 14 months, until January.
Four years after 9/11, and billions of dollars spent on "Homeland Security", do you feel America is prepared to deal with the aftermath of another terrorist strike?