It's amazing how many people from the United States and Europe --vacationing at resorts in the area-- have been killed.
The idot son of George Bush should name a new Homeland Natural Disaster agency head, and wage war on mother nature for this shit. By god, he'll teach Gaia a lesson! Mumble profanities at the pictures while you roam the hallways of the White House, Georgie. Mumble profanities.
Posted by phidipides at December 26, 2004 08:51 AMAs an Engineer I was well educated in "engineering stuff" but at 58 knew virtually nothing about American History. In an effort to correct that I just finished A Leap in the Dark by John Ferling. It covers the period from 1750 to 1800 and I highly recomend it. As a follow up I am reading The Adamses, 1735-1918, America's First Dynasty by Richard Brookhiser. The comparisons between the Adams family and the Bush family are unfair to the Adamses.
Posted by Ron In Portland at December 26, 2004 10:21 AMsh 24
[Editor: ignore=off]Bendito you pharisee try Matthew 7:1.
Posted by rlprather at December 26, 2004 12:09 PMor, heaven forfend, matthew 5:39.
Posted by benjoya at December 26, 2004 12:34 PMThe Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli and What's the matter with Kansas by Thomas Frank.
Both are good, but the prince can sometimes be hard to follow considering I don't know that much about 15th and 16th century Italy.
Posted by chris65203 at December 26, 2004 03:02 PMWhat is the matter, slow news day? Is everyone having trouble finding a way to blame the Bush Administration for the earthquake in Asia? Maybe it has something to with global warming or excesive use of SUVs?
Posted by Skeptic at December 26, 2004 03:42 PMskeptic,
it's the day after Christmas. Unlike some nutty republicans, our lives are singularly focused on taking down the oposition party.
The Folly of Empire--John B. Judis. Judis starts with, well really, John Winthrop and that damn city on the hill thingy. But mostly he starts in 1898 with the Spanish American War and the US's adventure into empire. The lessons learned from it--such as you can't give self-government to people by force; invasion awakens nationalism in people and makes you into the villain; that easy victories have a way of being overly interpreted by Americans as signs of US omnipotence. And the development of 20th century foreign policy as we learned. It takes it up to Bush and shows what an ignorant and delusional shift his policies have been.
Easy to read, solid understanding of history behind his analysis, and the conclusion--well, we already know that--Chimpy is ignorant, willfully deluded, a megalomaniac who can most easily find goodness and virtue in humanity when he's thinking about himself.
Posted by Raenelle at December 26, 2004 04:52 PMchris65203
If you've not done so, you might read Diplomacy by Kissinger. One of his more accessible books (man, can he be a bear to read in some of his others). In it he does a superior job of examining the historical underpinnings of diplomacy, and as I remember, the little city states that made up Italy at the time. I always get a kick out of Machiavelli's greetings and solicitations to the prince.
Skeptic,
Here you go: More people died in Iraq today. It's all the fault of the idiot son of George Bush..and the moron's supporters. Good job at supporting troop deaths, Skeptic. I bet your moms proud, although she was probably cold and distant to you as a child. How else would you not develop a conscience?
Posted by phidipides at December 26, 2004 05:15 PMby the way that should be aren't, don't I sound like an idiot.
Posted by chris65203 at December 26, 2004 05:21 PMFor Christmas, I got America (The Book). I honestly enjoyed it. Nekked justices gave me such a chuckle. It should become a part of ALL high school American history classes. I know, I know the use of the f-word and such is sprinkled throughout, but high schoolers use those words more than the rest of us. IMHO they would learn more from this book than they learn from some book chosen by a bunch of fundies in Texas.
Posted by Babba at December 26, 2004 05:39 PM'Benjamin Franklin, An American Life' by Walter Issacson - a renaissance man for the ages - at a time when we can use some inspiration.
Skeptic - Is everyone having trouble finding a way to blame the Bush Administration for the earthquake in Asia?
No more trouble than wingers such as yourself find a way to blame Clinton.
Posted by Jim Faith at December 26, 2004 07:20 PMBTW Mary,
If you really liked 1984 you should read The Trial by Kafka, that is if you haven't read it yet. I find it even more amazing.
Posted by chris65203 at December 26, 2004 08:26 PMJust received a copy of "confessions of an Economic Hit Man". Plan on starting it tomorrow. I did read something interesting which I am posting below. The Al-Jazeera News isn't buying the elections in Iraq next month. Evidently, the Iraqis are a lot smarter than some people in the red states. At least they know the "fix" is in. I guess stealing elections has become a way of life for this Administration.
Forty-seven Iraqi political parties met on 17 November and made the decision to boycott the coming Iraq election. The People's Struggle Movement (Al-Kifah al-Shabi), which I represent, was one of those groups.
After carefully studying Iraq's situation, considering the military occupation as well as economic and national interests, we felt there were enough reasons for any patriotic Iraqi to boycott the proposed January election.
It is a violation of all international laws. International charters that regulate the relationship between occupier and occupied do not give occupying authorities the mandate to instigate a change in the country's social, economic and political structure.
The planned election will change the political composition of Iraq to suit the interests of the occupation authorities. The change will also lead to ethnic, sectarian and religious divisions that the Iraqi state and people had succeeded to avoid.
Historically, Iraqis have been able to coexist and the spectre of civil war did not loom until the country was stricken by the US-led occupation.
Many Iraqi political activists believe the coming election results have been decided already. They also believe the electoral process will not be free and democratic but will be exclusively for those who maintain strong ties with the US occupation authorities. We feel that all steps have been taken to secure full US domination of decision-makers in Iraq.
"If Iraqis cooperate with the US in the coming elections, then they will get just what Afghanistan has got - a puppet"
A look at the electoral process and the composition of the current national council reveals that the election's main mission will be to install some of the country's most notorious politicians who have constantly spoken proudly of their links to international intelligence agencies.
The coming election will give power to every politician who has assisted the invaders and collaborated with them to consolidate the occupation. Therefore, we believe that even after the election, the decision-making process will be taken in the US embassy in Baghdad and the elected government will be no more than a vehicle to carry out Washington's decisions.
"The US administration works hard to portray the Iraq election as a political achievement to cover over the scar that the war has left on its credibility"
It is very difficult for any sensible person to believe that the US would give up its domination of Iraq after spending billions of dollars and sacrificing the lives of hundreds of its soldiers.
We cannot believe that after all this the US will simply allow free and democratic elections to take place in Iraq that could install a government which could make it its first priority to tell foreign troops to get out.
We strongly believe that the main purpose of the election process is to secure a government that will facilitate long-lasting agreements with the US to keep its forces on Iraqi soil and transform the country into an American colony.
The US administration works hard to portray the Iraq election as a political achievement to cover over the scar that the war has left on its credibility.
Washington will use the election card to pull the wool over the eyes of the international community to prevent it from seeing the tragic consequences that the war has left on the Iraqi people.
For all these reasons, many Iraqi political activists feel it is their national duty to boycott the 30 January election.
Professor Mohammed al-Obaidi is the spokesman for the People's Struggle Movement (Al-Kifah al-Shabi) in Iraq, and works as a University Professor in the UK. He was born and educated in al-Adhamiyah district in Baghdad. This article, was written exclusively for Aljazeera.net, and was translated from Arabic.
Posted by Judith at December 26, 2004 10:57 PMAnyone interested in helping out with relief can check these links out.
Red Cross
http://www.ifrc.org/docs/news/pr04/8804.asp
Oxfam
http://www.oxfam.org.uk/press/releases/asiaquake1_1204.htm
It is very difficult for any sensible person to believe that the US would give up its domination of Iraq after spending billions of dollars and sacrificing the lives of hundreds of its soldiers.
Well, the one true hallmark of the idiot son of Gearge Bush and his supporters is a lack of sensibility. Wow, is there ever a lack of sensibility.
$400 billion in interest on the $7.2 trillion debt, more than the military budget, because deficits don't really matter.
Dumping sewage in rivers because water does not matter.
Ending pentagon environmental restrictions because the environment does not matter.
Torture in prisons because common humanity does not matter.
Ending the 4th Ammendment because the Constitution does not matter.
Failing to support the troops because they don't matter.
Tax breaks for the wealthiest and pillaging for corporations, because they matter.
Nice record, mono-syllabic monkey boy.
Posted by phidipides at December 27, 2004 07:56 AMInterestingly enough (I know - day late, dollar short, all that), for kicks I reread Heinlein's Friday yesterday. Things keep going the way they are going we will have to start calling him a prophet.
Posted by Thomas Ware at December 27, 2004 10:48 AMI'm surprised someone on here hasn't blamed this tsunami/earthquake disaster on Bush or "right wing evangelists".
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