Mornin all...

I'm chiming in on GW's science policies, or significant lack thereof...

I don't really know how Laura can tout stem cell research as "ridiculous," when the possibilities are endless. It seems to me she is just echoing her husband's naivete when it comes to confirmable facts... This administration, when science does not agree with their plan, simply erases the facts. Here are some of the more blatant examples... The EPA's statement that the air quality of ground zero was good despite the respiratory ailments of many folks working in that area. The suppression of a report from the Dept. of Agriculture discussing a link between airborne bacteria and animal waste at large farms. Editing a warning about global warming from an EPA report. The re-writing of a Health Department study documenting racial bias among healt-care providers. Or, axing a CDC and Prevention web page stating education about condom use does not lead to increased sexual activity. this info from my local paper

This same administration caused several Nobel Laureates to denounce it's scientific policies The same administration whose economic policies starve state budgets causing them to cut funding in Head Start and other education programs.

Dumbing down America seems to be part and parcel of this administration. A dumb uneducated America blindly follows, the ultimate goal of the Repub Cabal...

anthony may have a point on that - the desire to lower the intelligence quotient of Americans to where they so lack the understanding and knowledge that they must blindly follow those who say they know how this or that works. Scary.

But on another note, it looks like Bush is appointing Fl. Rep. Porter Goss as his choice for CIA Chief, someone I remember was not very well received on a variety of blogs. What say you all on that?

China, India and the Southeast Asian crescent of Malaysia & Indonesia will eventually render the United States a second tier country economically. We'll continue to sacrifice domestic needs to finance the DOD, bankrupting our treasury when combined with the federal deficit. However, having this military at our disposal will spell death for thousands yearly, as we lash out at the world for our increasingly painful downward spiral. The "have/have not" economic model, along with the devolution of the middle class into the lower class or the poor will heighten domestic tensions to the point of nearly open, yet manageble, low level civil war betweeen the classes. I say manageble because the domestic Secret Police will routinely crush those rebelling against the state. The Patriot Act, along with future legislation spurred by further terrorism, will allow the government to increasingly monitor your every waking minute. As natural resources become scarcer, chiefly those supporting energy needs, enviromental laws will largely be ignored or repealed. Those gray, grimy, smoky, polluted landscapes you see in futuristic cinema dramas telling of a 21st century descent into hell will become commonplace. Strap in folks, and if you survive the trip in your lifetime, be assured your children are in for a collision you just barely avoid.

If I'm not mistaken, Goss was the man in F-9/11 who said he stood by the Patriot Act, and said he had a 1-800 # where you could call him to discuss. That was a lie, so Moore posted the # to his office in FLA.

Steve is the real pessimist on this site and sometimes I think he could use some good medication (choose your poison Steve). So much depression can't be good for the soul. However, his vision is right on the money and defintately possible. In fact this is the Republican vision if they had half the brains to see it.

Will it happen? Not if we fight tooth and nail to stop these evil, stupid, short-sighted fuckers who are running the show right now. This world that Steve so clearly describes is not inevitable.

There are things that we as citizens can do. Individually we don't have much pull, but as a group, we can shift the political landscape in the US. The fundies and other wrong-wingers have done it. So can we.

Go to MoveOn.org and check out the ads. They really are great. Show your appreciation by giving them a little love. Be a poll watcher in November. Argue with Righties in the bars and at work. Don't let them spout off the latest hard-right talking points unopposed. There is probably an undecided voter within earshot.

Register voters, drive them to the polls. If over-fed Republican thugs in dress-shirts and ties try to intimidate vote counters this election (didn't they look rediculous in 2000), let's be there to shout them down. I know a lot of big, tough lefties who are spoiling for a fight. If we all get off of our asses, we can be the unstopable force instead of watching these tyrants push us around over and over again.

This ain't over yet!

I'm a pessimist? Hmmmmm......I prefer to think of myself as a realist. Now, if my tale were improbable or unlikely to unfold I'd seek an attitude adjustment. However, I don't think I'm off the mark, so I'll stake out realism as my operating philosophy. Each and every bad road I allege we'll travel in the future is actually a route we're traveling as we speak. Mussolini was at least honest about his fascist intentions. Bush just smiles and lies about his.

Bush has as much interest in science as he does the average American - zero. He deliberately gave NASA an impossible charter (complete space station, new launch vehicle, moon base alpha, mars) and no new funds. Any idiot knows this will through NASA into confusion, dissarray and failure.

I'm not a fan of NASA spending, but at least don't just waste it. Bush just gutted NASA without a whimper.

Faisal Hoque

Porter Goss is the topic dujour this morning, particularly as the live announcement from the White House was carried by all three broadcast networks on their morning programs. The White House is setting their appointee up with a maximum amount of exposure and publicity in antipation of some high drama when the Senate goes back into session and begins an accelerated confirmation.

Goss's appointment is apparently doing what its supposed to - making the President look strong on national security while giving the story legs to keep the President looking good. The legs are the Democrats dividing over wether to fight an obviously partisan neocon appointee or roll over in hopes of avoiding the controversy then handing Goss his walking papers on Jan 20th if Kerry wins the election.

The current news roundup on NPR does mention John Warner attempting to talk the Democrats way out of the Catch22 by stating that the appointment shouldn't have gone to a politican beholden to either party. IMO, the sentiment is a good idea, but a bad tactic.

The economic warnings from Steve are realistic. That is why I am short the Stock Market, and money ahead to date. You can short the Market using the following Pro-fund mutual fund symbols, USPIX, UCPIX, URPIX, UWPIX. Do your own due diligence, and remember, you are responsible for your decisions and finances. However, if you believe we will become a second tier nation, you can short the market, and survive the downturn. As to Steves other warnings, I do not know, but do not doubt the possibility.

After some brief press activity the Portland Oregonian Story of how Oregon National Guard members were told to walk away from an Iraqi prisoner abuse incident is being ignored once again. The Oregonian is trying to keep it alive. In an excellent editorial today,Iraq incident requires answers they ask some good questions. I'm not going to duplicate it all here but the last to paragraphs say it all:

As the justifications for going to war in Iraq have been crumbling under scrutiny in recent months, the one that has held up the best was that the Iraqi people would be freed from Saddam Hussein's oppression.

It's not at all clear that Americans would have supported the war if they knew in 2003 what they know now. But it's absolutely clear that the Americans who have died in Iraq so far did not die because they wanted a new regime of oppressors to take up where the old one left off.

As far as the idiot son of George Bush, his science policy is a direct reflection of the "if it's not of the bible, it's not of god" thinking so popular with fundamentalist douche bags these days. I've wondered why any person would allow the Hubble to die, how you can claim a stem cell is human life, or how a person can deny drilling in ANWRs kooky. It's as close-minded as those chanting "Pie Iesu Domine. Dona Eis Requiem," and whacking themselves on the head with boards. This would not be as terrifying if these whack-jobs were only concerned with their own souls. Instead, they’ll not be satisfied until everyone exhibits behavior that conforms to some observable standard that satisfies their fundamentalist ideals, regardless of the beliefs of that person.

render the United States a second tier country economically I disagree that we are sacrificing domestic needs to finance DOD. We have sacrificed domestic needs to support the interests of business. I’ll direct your attention to the Reagan years when business taxes were manipulated to stop taxes on offshore incorporations, etc. More and more the tax burden has been shifted to individuals, with businesses often paying nothing on their profits. The new phenomenon is that the well-to-do are receiving huge tax cuts, leaving the burden to the middle class. We exist to support business interests through the military-industrial complex. I don’t believe we’ll be second tier, in as much as we’ll economically resemble these low wage PacRim countries. Except we won’t have benies.

will heighten domestic tensions to the point of nearly open, yet manageable, low level civil war between the classes. The increasing number of incarcerated shows that ‘society’ has found a way to manage much of the social unrest. We rarely see cities burn, as we did in the 60’s, because we have radicalized the incarceration of the disaffecteds who might foment social change at a later point in their lives. I think we’ll have larger and larger private prisons, which, after all, are the only growth industry in some areas of the country. Match that up with Patriot I,II,III ad infinitum, and it’s a recipe for social change that would make even Orwell cringe.

Those gray, grimy, smoky, polluted landscapes you see in futuristic cinema I live in the country. 60 miles away is the great grey sky of the major metro closest to me. There is a putrid black veil over the city every day, and each year it gets closer and closer. This is not a forecast. It is here.

Strap in folks, and if you survive the trip in your lifetime, Naw, the population of Europe is in decline (You know, that stuff that happens to the population when you’re the best educated group on the planet, with health care, and satisfied lives). They need workers…at a living wage…with health care…

Good post by Bob Harris at Tom Tomorrow's blog

Essentially, Sept 9th, HHS Ridge will announce that September is "National Preparedness Month", which will serve as 2 week rejoinder following the NYC GOP convention that America is safer against terrorism with Republicans in charge.

phidipides, maybe Europe will become a haven for Americans seeking work and refuge from the coming oppression and disruptions here. However, many or most of the problems I see coming here will be just as vexing there. Their enviromental policies are no better or worse. Their energy dependence is more precarious than ours. Terrorism and internal strife will result in ever expanding laws limiting personal liberties. The middle class is no safer from economic disintegration. Much of what they produce can be made cheaper by Asian labor, mirroring our problems on that issue. I don't see emigrating to Spain or Italy or Ireland constituting much of a lifestyle improvement 20-50 years from now.

Steve,

When the EU shakes out it's growing pains, they'll make what Asia did in the 80's look like child's play. Look at the pressure Boeing is getting; Daimler/Chrysler; pharmaceuticals; etc. 100%, it’s our tax policy turning around and biting us in the ass.

If not Europe, then some sleepy South American country I can make my own. Maybe China? Leading civilization for 5000 years before the faltering of the last 200 or so. Not nearly so much religious baggage as we have, either.