Beautiful tall stands of bamboo grow along the Li River near Guilin, China, and local people craft rafts from the long poles. This man was poling his raft near our riverboat in hopes of selling his wares.
Sunday, December 2, 2007
Photo of the Day - Bamboo Raft on the Li River
Beautiful tall stands of bamboo grow along the Li River near Guilin, China, and local people craft rafts from the long poles. This man was poling his raft near our riverboat in hopes of selling his wares.
The Law of Unintended Consequences
It's an ultimate irony. George W. Bush insists "we" brought freedom to Iraq by deposing Sadam Hussein's government, but have we unleashed and given freedom to a spirit of hate and persecution? Tonight, 60 Minutes showed a report on the persecution and murder of Christians in Iraq. We've seen reports of terrible treatment of women, those women that Bush was so proud of having liberated, who are now worse off than under the dictator Sadam. We have liberated the sectarian violence. If freedom were only the freedom to live a good life and respect one's neighbor, it would be a desirable outcome, but if "freedom" means violence, hatred, death and destruction, anarchy and chaos, what have we wrought?
We keep hearing that the news out of Iraq is "better." Better because there is less killing, not because it has stopped, not because the Iraqi government has risen to the occasion to unify the country, not because the country is pulling together to find a common, peaceful future. Well, it's a start . . . but will it lead anywhere? Anywhere we can be proud of? It looks grim to me.
We keep hearing that the news out of Iraq is "better." Better because there is less killing, not because it has stopped, not because the Iraqi government has risen to the occasion to unify the country, not because the country is pulling together to find a common, peaceful future. Well, it's a start . . . but will it lead anywhere? Anywhere we can be proud of? It looks grim to me.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Photo of the Day - Hong Kong at Night
Hong Kong has changed immensely in the 25 years since I was last there. The number of skyscrapers in such a small space is astounding, just as it is in Shanghai. This photo was taken from the Star Ferry about 10:00 PM.
Disgusted with the lot of them - and us
They talk a good game about working together bipartisan to solve problems. Then they turn right around and call each other names, misstate each other's positions, and stymie any progress. The lot of them. When did it become more important to block the other party than to govern the country? When did it become more important to misrepresent the facts and the opponents than to work on real solutions? When did it become acceptable to spend wildly and act as though taxes to pay for it was irresponsible? Have they all gone completely nuts?
When did causing anarchy in a country, killing its citizens, ruining its infrastructure, and trying to engineer disruptive, fast social and economic changes equate to bringing freedom? Is freedom really, as the song says, "just another word for nothing left to lose"?
Where is a real statesman, stateswoman, who looks at all the immense problems facing our country and the world and is more interested in truth and solutions than playing word games to win?
Where are real voters who care more about truth and issues than reassuring platitudes, more about major issues than symbols, emotional issues, and avoiding paying their fair share? Where are people who realize that American can't and shouldn't rule the world, who respect other countries and cultures, who realize we can't change them to fit our specifications? Where are Christians who even recall the Golden Rule?
Even if a real statesperson ran and won the presidency, the opposition party would see to it that he or she could not govern, could not get a program through Congress. They are more interested in a political football game than in our country. They all talk a good game, sure, love to throw in what they think Americans want and how patriotic they are, but when do they look at the big picture? When do they look at what will WORK?
We love to quote Harry Truman, but what politician today is willing to let the buck stop with him or her? Willing to talk plain truth and tell it like it is?
Where is it written in the Constitution that political parties have this kind of power? Did our founding fathers have any clue that we would have politicians running up unimaginable debt and not be willing to pay for it? Would they be horrified at the attempts to create an imperial presidency and negate the carefully crafted checks and balances? Would they be rightfully frightened at a president that encouraged the formation of private armies, paid more than our military, to avoid keeping the military we need?
And what about the "free press" that is supposed to keep us informed? What passes for "news"? They report on the the political campaign as though it were a football game or a horse race. They focus on who is ahead in the polls, who spends the most money, who has the best television ad, who made a mistake or misspoke, but NOT ON THE ISSUES, not on whether any of them have plans that work, not on their previous records, other than to make passing mention of it here and there. It's like a long beauty contest, reality show, or sports event. Where is the serious reporting?
The so-called debates give us a little bit of a chance to see the candidates in action, but it's really a series of farces. None of them have time to really explain any answer, or to actually DEBATE each other. It's more like a spelling bee. A bunch of would-be presidents standing up there answering shotgun questions with very short time limits on the answers. About all you really find out is how fast they think and how well they can position themselves.
If you really want to know about them, you have to go and dig, spend a lot of time, and hope you aren't getting a bunch of biased "information" put out by someone with an axe to grind.
We've had eight years of bad government. The saying is, we get the government we deserve. Let's hope we don't continue to deserve anything like this!
And, let's hope we quit looking for miracles and voting to avoid paying for what we want . . . or give it up and decide we don't want our government to do it. Until the public uses some sense, we can't expect Washington to do it. They want to get elected, and they will do just about any damn fool thing we want to get what they want. Be careful what you wish for. You might get it.
When did causing anarchy in a country, killing its citizens, ruining its infrastructure, and trying to engineer disruptive, fast social and economic changes equate to bringing freedom? Is freedom really, as the song says, "just another word for nothing left to lose"?
Where is a real statesman, stateswoman, who looks at all the immense problems facing our country and the world and is more interested in truth and solutions than playing word games to win?
Where are real voters who care more about truth and issues than reassuring platitudes, more about major issues than symbols, emotional issues, and avoiding paying their fair share? Where are people who realize that American can't and shouldn't rule the world, who respect other countries and cultures, who realize we can't change them to fit our specifications? Where are Christians who even recall the Golden Rule?
Even if a real statesperson ran and won the presidency, the opposition party would see to it that he or she could not govern, could not get a program through Congress. They are more interested in a political football game than in our country. They all talk a good game, sure, love to throw in what they think Americans want and how patriotic they are, but when do they look at the big picture? When do they look at what will WORK?
We love to quote Harry Truman, but what politician today is willing to let the buck stop with him or her? Willing to talk plain truth and tell it like it is?
Where is it written in the Constitution that political parties have this kind of power? Did our founding fathers have any clue that we would have politicians running up unimaginable debt and not be willing to pay for it? Would they be horrified at the attempts to create an imperial presidency and negate the carefully crafted checks and balances? Would they be rightfully frightened at a president that encouraged the formation of private armies, paid more than our military, to avoid keeping the military we need?
And what about the "free press" that is supposed to keep us informed? What passes for "news"? They report on the the political campaign as though it were a football game or a horse race. They focus on who is ahead in the polls, who spends the most money, who has the best television ad, who made a mistake or misspoke, but NOT ON THE ISSUES, not on whether any of them have plans that work, not on their previous records, other than to make passing mention of it here and there. It's like a long beauty contest, reality show, or sports event. Where is the serious reporting?
The so-called debates give us a little bit of a chance to see the candidates in action, but it's really a series of farces. None of them have time to really explain any answer, or to actually DEBATE each other. It's more like a spelling bee. A bunch of would-be presidents standing up there answering shotgun questions with very short time limits on the answers. About all you really find out is how fast they think and how well they can position themselves.
If you really want to know about them, you have to go and dig, spend a lot of time, and hope you aren't getting a bunch of biased "information" put out by someone with an axe to grind.
We've had eight years of bad government. The saying is, we get the government we deserve. Let's hope we don't continue to deserve anything like this!
And, let's hope we quit looking for miracles and voting to avoid paying for what we want . . . or give it up and decide we don't want our government to do it. Until the public uses some sense, we can't expect Washington to do it. They want to get elected, and they will do just about any damn fool thing we want to get what they want. Be careful what you wish for. You might get it.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Cheney '94: Invading Baghdad Would Create Quagmire C-SPAN
What happened to Cheney's sense of reason after 1994?
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Photo of the Day - Dragon Post on Xian City Wall
Although Xi'an (China) is most famous for the terra cotta warriors, we were impressed with the intact city wall. On the wall are these dragon lantern posts, very stylized and attractive.
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Photo of the Day - Hong Kong Ceiling
This is the beautiful ceiling in one area of the Harbourside shopping center in Hong Kong, an ultramodern enclosed center with high class brand name stores beyond my means and an incredible contrast to the more traditional Hong Kong shops just a couple of blocks away, those much more familiar to me from my visit there 25 years ago.
Space based Solar Power
Think about the possibility of unlimited solar power beamed from space. This idea is not new, but in light of the dwindling oil reserves, Mid East unrest, and increasing world energy demands, an office at the Pentagon and a group of scientists and interested parties including astronaut Buzz Aldrin are advocating the development of this energy source. A press conference at the National Press Club in Washington DC presented the interim report. Accounts of the conference are online, including audio from NPR, and the interim report is also available. If you are interested in this exciting possibility, please see the Sites for Curious Minds section on the right side of this blog, or Google "space based solar power" and Pentagon for more.
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Photo of the Day - Water Buffalo
Along the Li River near Guilin, China, we saw many mother water buffalo with calves.
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