June 26, 2008
Sunsets in Early Summer / Play List
Hyperlink to playlist
Music & Visual Arts have always been a part of my spiritual journey; in many ways a secret part. As a young man growing, up when and where I did, I always wanted to keep up a fairly macho image. There is more to it than that, my illness gave me a less than smooth voice, clumsy fingers, an awkward gait, poor balance, and horrific stage fright. To compound matters, I was told that, as a Libran man, balance was important. Toss in a moody cancer moon, and a fickle Gemini Ascendant. Back on the train of thought, I never could sing, draw, or dance; and, as a youth, pretended to be happy with that -- quite a bit of sour grapes were involved there. A kind of curious thing, before a serious health event in 2003, I teated highly in reading comprehension and analytical skills. Aptitude / IQ tests showed the same thing. After the near death event, a subsequent test showed more of an artistic aptitude; with a string sense of harmony, balances, tone, color, and so on. It was like there was a shift from being a logical left brain person to more of an intuitive right brain dude. The songs I choose on these you-tube play lists mean or meant something to me; not necessarily the literal meaning of the song, or even what the author / composer intended. Just as an example, White Rabbit is obviously about something. But the Gohonzon is also a looking glass, a mirror, or even a window pane that enables to see things that might otherwise escape our attention. On another note, or chord, or cord, Caribbean Queen was the first dance song I liked {I hated disco until it was fairly out of style} and the first one I successfully danced to in public, while sober enough to remember the next day. Well, sort of danced. It was a Haller Haller moment pour moi [that is french lingo]. I wonder if Goethe would approve? As an aside, 1974 was a great year for R&B dance tunes. Another thing related to the theme, was that I became seriously ill when I was 38. I guess that is more like a midsummer sunset? The last decade of the 20th Century were lost years for me. "Every now and then I get a little bit nervous that the best of all the years have gone by ... Every now and then I fall apart ..." Every now and then, a creepy, sort of deja vu, gloom overtakes me. I have learned to be patient with that and let it pass. On the other side, bliss awaits. It is a wonderful world. However, we figuratively pave over paradise. We often live our lives as though we will always be here, when really, in the sense of conventional truth, we are just parked and the meter is running. We also calculate, compute, measure and count, when maybe, every now and then, we ought to just observe sans judgement [more french lingo]. One thing, the songs are just stuff people uploaded, and often vanish like dew drops in due time. The photos are mine, and non-commercial use is fine avec moi. One other thing; I'll be editing and re-dating these photo / music posts, so the direct link should work but might take you to new content and a different time. 
June 25, 2008
For Reverend Greg; October 31, 1959 - June 10 2008
This is not say he was not a thinker as well. It took a while for me to get his humor, the depth of his nuanced sense of irony -- should I say sarcasm? He gave me some grief a couple times, and I was not sure how to take it. So I asked, and he told me. There may have been a time or two when I am rubbed him the wrong way, or he wondered what I meant by something. He would ask me about it, and accept my answer. He was not one of those who would try to tell me what I was really thinking. He might have disagreed with me, and e-said so, but did not try to put words in my mouth. He also seemed to accept disagreement without being excessively disagreeable.
One thing I began to notice about Greg was that it was not all about him. He was apparently genuinely interested in others, what they thought; what pushed their buttons; what made them tick. With some of the personalities one encounters on line, or in real time, they seem to feign interest in others; when it is really about them. Greg was definitely not like that. There was a time, in a study groups, when someone took something I wrote the wrong way, and a tiff started. So, in jumps Greg, explaining exactly what I had intended. Then the person who had given me as hard time slithered away and hid under a lotus pad. Meanwhile, I was not even aware Reverend Greg had been following the discussion. I thought that was impressive. He seemed to keep track of a lot of things going on in the cyber groups, he had the pulse. I suspect he had a very busy, rather adventurous 'real' life as well. The ability to keep track of so many things, that well; that accurately, can only come from genuinely caring.
I guess that; a combination of caring, boldness, and a do it now enthusiasm, is what enabled Greg to bring all of us, those who blog here, together, under one accurately named heading. It was truly a feat that was fraught with peril. He seemed to live Daisaku Ikeda's advice to be bold and courageous; even if doing so was not always welcome within SGI. If Greg had any agenda, other than getting people, those with diverse views, talking with one another, I never had a clue what it was. I do not even know his political views were, what kind of music he listened to, his favorite movies, and so on. I knew he liked martial arts -- duh!?! I was not even aware he was a scuba diver. I now know, from an obituary:
Greg was the vice president of Andrews 
Blueprint. He was head instructor of
Bujinkan Wako Dojo, an EMT, former
member of the Santa Clara Vanguard
Drum and Bugle Corp, member of the
Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai
International (SGI-USA) and for 22 years,
ordained minister in the Universal Life Church.
June 24, 2008
June 22, 2008
OT: Saddam offered to step down? / a Myth of the "Green Left"
I am going to write about Buddhism again soon. Oddly, hit counts are up here lately. {I keep my own count}. It must be the play lists or my amateur photos and videos. Or maybe it is 'bots? It can not be my lame, half interested political commentary.
One thing, believe nothing just because I post it here. Discerning the truth amongst the agenda driven media is like searching for a raisin in a pile of manure. Or as one of my cousin's 'used to' say, 'pickin' fly specks outta pepper.' {is it 'used to,' or 'use to'? Yoostah?}. Anyhoo, it ain't all that easy. If readers have time, I suggest checking for oneself, and be very skeptical of those who appear to think they know; those who print half baked rumor as if it were proven fact. The thing is, in my experience, the more certain they sound, the more likely really do not know.
At any rate, I have been looking at some of the myths spread by the green left Bush Haters. One of these is that Saddam Hussein offered to step down and go into exile; but Bush was determined to invade and rejected the deal. The silliest one had Saddam offering W & Dick 1 billion dollars each of they accepted the deal.
The truth appears to be that the UAE tried to broker a deal However, it seems Hussein insisted that the entire Arab League sign off with some guaranties of protection. It turns out that the Arab League apparently never even considered the proposal. Also, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak inferred it was doubtful that Saddam would have gone through with the plan. Moreover, it appears that the US State did hear about it, but was never approached for serious discussion.
From what I can gather, it appears that some green left web sites hate Bush so much, that are willing to twist the truth to do harm to the Administration. On the other hand, they are furious with the Administration for allegedly doing the same thing to sell the invasion of Iraq. Some of the accusations are so off the wall, I am embarrassed to mention them; they read like Onion pieces.
At any rate, if this were Snopes; then I would say this offer by Saddam to step down is basically an Urban Myth / Legend.
My source is CNN; which I consider slanted a tad to the left; but they are generally fairly credible, and not given to flights of bizarre fantasy.
June 20, 2008
Good News on Terror?
For years, opponents of the "War on Terror" and "Invasion of Iraq" have argued that these moves backfired by causing an increase in terrorism. I always suspected that this was skewed, by counting the resistance activity in Iraq, insurgents and militants, as terrorist acts. I asked a number of people if this were the case, but never got a straight answer. If so, that would be like saying incidents of illegal drug use increased in areas that hosted a Grateful Dead Concert. That might be true, but it would not be part of a trend. It now appears my suspicions were correct.
A recent study has challenged the prevailing view that Global Terrorism is on the increase. Researchers with Human Security Report Project (HSRP) reviewed data from three USA based sources -- the National Counter Terrorism Center, the Memorial Institute for the Prevention of Terrorism, and the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism. All of those studies showed an upward trend in terrorism.
However, HSRP Director Andrew Mack maintains that these results are skewed by counting civilian casualties in the Iraq War as incidents of terrorism. Mack noted that civilian deaths in similar civil wars, those in Africa, were not considered terrorism. James Ellis, research and program director at MIPT, admitted to Reuters. "It [Iraq] has had a distortion effect."
Normally speaking when we talk about civilians being killed
in civil wars we use the terms war crimes or crimes against humanity
or even genocide. We don't normally call them terrorism. However,
if you want to you can, but if you are going to do that
then you have to do it consistently."
"And the problem with two of the data sets that go back to
1998 is that they don't do this consistently. They're counting
very large numbers of civilians killed in Iraq terrorism, but
when we look at sub-Sahara Africa's many civil wars, which
kill lots and lots of civilians, they're counting very, very few
of these. And the consequence is that you have a distorted data."
-- Andrew Mack
The HSRP reports indicates that even if questionable Iraq data is included, "there has still been a substantial decline in the global terrorism toll ... global terrorism fatalities declined by 40 percent between July and September 2007, driven by a 55 percent decline in the "terrorism" death toll in Iraq after the so-called surge of new U.S. troops and a cease-fire by the Shi'ite militant Mehdi Army"
Key points of the report:
- Fatalities from terrorism have declined,
- There has been a dramatic decline in support for al-Qaeda throughout the Muslim world.
- There has been an "extraordinary, but largely unnoticed, positive change" in sub-Saharan Africa -- the number of conflicts fell by more than half between 1999 and 2006 -- casualties there declined by 98 per cent.
- A reduction in armed conflicts and combat deaths, noted in an earlier study, also continues.
I was curious as to any reasons why AQ's popularity is declining, I managed to pick up a few bits and pieces:
- A rejection of AQ's "gratuitous and indiscriminate violence against their co-religionists."
- A rejection among Muslims of ' "indiscriminate violence, extremist ideology and harshly repressive policies."
- Widespread and better coordinated counter terrorism efforts.
"By deeply alienating the very publics whose support is critical to their cause, the Islamists have become their own worst enemies and created conditions that will likely bring about their eventual demise," said Mack. [The] strategic implications are critically important, because historical evidence suggests that terrorist campaigns that lose public support will sooner or later be abandoned or defeated."
After reading up on this study, I began to worry about Mr. Mack's reputation. I mentioned to my wife that I hope he is a saint, because I suspect he was about to be viscously smeared by our friends in the left - green web movement. I mean, is Mack accepting funding from US Defense Contractors, "Big Oil," or, even worse, "Big Tobacco?" Just what is this "Human Security Report Project (HSRP)" Are they some sort of wing nut foundation, or perhaps a CFR front?
It turns out that HSRP is part of the School for International Studies at Simon Fraser University [sfu] at Vancouver BC. Andrew Mack has an impressive resume. He was once head of the The Peace Research Center at the Australian National University. I came across this little snippet:
"Even before its birth, the proposed centre was the target of attacks from right-wing opponents. These attacks escalated in intensity and viciousness after the appointment of Andrew Mack as the head of the Centre. The critics claimed that peace research was vacuous academically, that Mack was an apologist for communist militarism, and generally that peace research was a dangerous and subversive activity, constituting little more than peace movement ideology in academic guise."
So, before attempting to slime this guy as some kind of puppet of the right fascist big oil defense contractor oligopoly, folks should stfu and do some fact checking.
- Directed the Human Security Centre at the University of British Columbia where the Project was located until its move to Simon Fraser University in May 2007.
- Visiting professor at the Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research at Harvard University (2001)
- Director of the Strategic Planning Unit in the Executive Office of Secretary General Kofi Annan at the United Nations (1998–2001).
- Chair in International Relations at the Institute of Advanced Study at the Australian National University (ANU) (1991 - 1998),
- Director of the ANU's Peace Research Centre (1985 - 1991)
- Senior Research Fellow at ANU's Strategic and Defence Studies Centre (1984/85).
More om his resume: Link
Sources:
Report Challenges Orthodoxy on Global Terror
Global Terrorism in Sharp Decline
Is global terror threat falling?
Study finds global terrorism on the decline
Iraq figures distort terrorism statistics: study
June 17, 2008
June 14, 2008
Culture & Politics
Here are a few, by no means all, of the goals I support:
- Reintroduction of Industrial Hemp.
- Equal Rights for GLBT individuals.
- Racial equality.
- Reasonable protection of Children's Rights provided the traditional rights of parents are not lost in the shuffle.
- Women's Rights in regards to sexual harassment and domestic violence.
Just a bit on Dick Chemey before I go take a shower. His severance pay and stock options were set up before he left Halliburton. His pay is third party insured, so he gets the same amount regardless of how Haliburton does. They could go under, he gets the same amount. His stock options are in an irrevocable blind trust. Yes, he reported a profit from their sale on his taxes. That is how it is set up. The assets are sold at predetermined times, and donated after tax to specified educational & medical charities. That is why he paid taxes on the gains, He could have set it up pre-tax, and got smeared for that instead. Yes, Dick was not technically accurate when he said he had no financial interest at all in Haliburton. The point is, he has not and could not have personally gained from the KRB defense contracts. He had and has no personal financial interests at stake. The green - left and the hypocrites in the Democrat Party can spin it all day; facts are still facts.
June 08, 2008
June 02, 2008
Bo Diddley: December 30, 1928 - June 2 2008
28 songs -- Bo Diddley and other artists who did covers or songs based on the Bo Diddley sound. Bo Diddley was one of the first level masters of rock.n;roll. Pop songs based on the Bo Diddley beat, the hambone sound rooted in West African music: Not Fade Away, Hand Jive, hey Little Girl, I Want Candy, The Game of Love, Magic Bus ...
June 01, 2008
On Political Silliness
I generally do not waste time on the various arguments going between the right wing nus and left moon bats. I consider sources like alternet, the Huffington Post, Dick Morris, and Newsmax to be pretty much gossip fests. I have been a Republican with libertarian-conservative views since I was a kid. I did vote for George McGovern in 1972. In 2008, I would prefer Ron Paul, but might even vote for Obama.
I am not real thrilled with Bush & Cheney, but I am even less thrilled with the tactics of their enemies, The nonsense about Haliburton and Cheney is particularly off putting. I wasted a weekend looking for a scrap of evidence to supoort the hysterical conspiracy theories. There is nothing there.
1. Dick Cheney's severance pay / deferred compensation from Haliburton is insured; he gets the same amount no matter what happens. His stock options are in an irrevocable blind trust, with any gains going to Medical & Educational charities. He is no position to prosper or benefit in any way from no bid contracts to present or former Haliburton subsidiaries. He was also in no position to grant or oversee any of those contracts.
We can parse his statements that he has no financial interest at stake. Even Lautenberg admits that all the capital gains have gone to charities; after tax, as stipulated. That he paid the taxes tells us nothing, except that he did not want to be accused of doing to avoid taxes. He certainly did not personally profit. Whether receiving a fixed, insured amount of deferred compensation meets House & Senate ethics requirements is moot. The CRS has no authority here, is hardly unbiaed, and was wasting OUR money on yet another political witch hunt.
2. The Clinton Administration awarded no-bid contracts in Serbia to ... gasp ... Haliburton.
3. Cheney has no connection I can find with the former Haliburton affiliate called KBR, Inc.
4. KBR, Inc. had an apparent water treatment issue at a base in Iraq. There 'were numerous instances of diarrhea and stomach cramps.' This led to bizarre stories about "Poison Water."
5. Am employee of KBR, named Jones, has accused fellow employees of gang rape and assorted other charges. There are allegations that KBR tried to cover it up. The story of the victim has evidently changed over time. I guess it is now in civil court. I heard there was a second victim. I wonder if her name is Broaddrick?
If the US Military and contractors are covering up rapes, it should be investigated, not used as a political issue. After the way Democrats smeared Paula Corbin Jones, and Juamita Broaddrick, they have no cred on this. Think! Why are incidents involving KBR getting headlines; while identical incidents are either ignored or lumped in with no details?
Rape is a huge problem in the United States, not just in the Military or KBR. Look this: Sexual Assault Statistics . Here are a few: Women are 10 times more likely than men to be victims of sexual assault (National Crime Victimization Survey, 1997). A study among college women has shown that 1 out of every 5 college age women report being forced to have sexual intercourse. (1995 National College Health Risk Behavior Survey) 22% of all women say that they have been forced to do sexual things against their will, where only 3% of men admit to ever forcing themselves on a woman. (Laumann, 1994)
Only 16% of rapes and sexual assaults are reported to the police (Rape in America: A Report to the Nation. 1992). In 1995 there were 97,460 rapes reported to law enforcement officials. At a 16% reporting rate, this means that there were actually closer to 649,733 rapes in the United States. Along the same lines, the number of rapes reported in New York state in 1996 was 20,911. At a 16% reporting rate, this means the actual number of rapes was closer to 139,406. (Computerized Criminal History, Feb. 1998).
The rate of false reports of rape is approximately 2 - 3% which is no different than that for other crimes. This is different than the 8% of reports which are unfounded. This means that in 8% of the rape cases reported the investigators or prosecutors deemed that the case was not prosecutable for any number of reasons. Only 2 - 3% of the reports however were fabricated stories.
There were almost 140,000 rapes in New York alone, in 1996! That is mearly 400 a day? In one State? Here is more: Link In 2006, there were 272,350 victims of sexual assault. (These figures do not include victims 12 years old or younger.) 1 in 6 women and 1 in 33 men will be a victim of sexual assault in their lifetime.
6. A 2004 investigation discovered that KBR had charged more than the going rate for oil deliveries in the green zone. Two other companies, Fluor and Dyncorp did the same. The companies had a case for charging premium prices; but settled, rather than fight a losing and costly battle. The snafu stemmed from a report by a whistle blower named Greenhouse.
7. There is a lot of ominous talk about "off-shore" tax havens and foreign subsidiaries, "In February 2004, the ... GAO released a report on government contractors that use offshore tax havens. It ranks the contractors in terms of the size of the contractors and provides information about how many subsidiaries the companies have offshore. Using data of the end of 2001, Halliburton was ranked 30th,; it had 17 offshore companies in tax havens, and 131 foreign subsidiaries."
8. There are some fairly legitimate stories about oil companies having dealings with shady figures who are influential in some oil producing nations. It is sad reality, for a nation that is so dependent on petroleum, that we have deal with fairly shady people, This is all the more reason to push ahead on ethanol and methanol.
There you have it, folks. It turns out some people who worked for KBR in Iraq got the runs because of a water treatment issue. Also, one, possibly two, KBR employees claimed other employees raped her / them, and KBR covered it up -- allegedly. From this, the noon bats have Cheney conspiring with his former employer to have KBR employess poisoned & raped? This was done so Cheney can make profits from stock options? Even though public legal documents prove that he can neither gain nor lose money on Haliburton, no matter what Halilburton does? Somehow, I do not follow this line of reasoning.
To be fair, I can find similar nonsense about Clinton at fringe wing nut web sites. The difference is that people who I like, and who are sane on other issues, seem to buy into the moon bat gibberish. Maybe following this foolishness is addictive? Personally, I either get a head ache, or fall asleep, trying to wade through it. By the way, Osama bin Laden also believes that the Iraq War was launched to benefit Haliburton.
Saddam Hussein's Defiance of United Nations Resolutions
What Happened to Jamie Leigh Jones in Baghdad?
"There are 59 water production (treatment) sites in Iraq; 37 are operated by contractors and 22 are operated by the US military. The report detailing problems with water monitoring and treatment identified three contractor operated facilities and two military-operated facilities that did not meet standards."
link
"Cheney retired from the company during the 2000 U.S. presidential election campaign with a severance package worth $34 million.[26] As of 2004, he had received $398,548 in deferred compensation from Halliburton while Vice President.[27] Concerns have been raised regarding the possible conflict of interest resulting from Cheney's deferred compensation and stock options from Halliburton. However, before entering office in 2001, Cheney bought an insurance policy that guaranteed a fixed amount of deferred payments from Halliburton each year for five years so that the payments would not depend on the company's fortunes."
"He is legally bound by an agreement he signed which turns over power of attorney to a trust administrator to sell the options at some future time and to give the after-tax profits to three charities. The agreement specifies that 40% will go to the University of Wyoming (in Cheney's home state), 40% will go to George Washington University's medical faculty to be used for tax-exempt charitable purposes, and 20% will go to Capital Partners for Education. The agreement states that it is "irrevocable and may not be terminated, waived or amended," preventing Cheney from taking back the options at a later date."
link
NO CUT & PASTE COMMENTS PLEASE. We can spend day and night reading gossip.