EDITORIAL: Searching for Meaning....

I am almost afraid to say this so I am only going to whisper it in case our prospects change. But between you and me, it seems for once that "Things are going our way..."
I know it's taken us five years to be able to say that but listening to the polls the other night, I couldn't help but let a smile creep across my face. Now, you have to understand that's after five years of taking antacids...So, we still have a long way to go.
Here's why I can say what I did. It is predicated on the presumption that if things are going badly for the other guys, there's a very good chance that that means they are improving for us... But, like I say, that's only presumption.

I mean it seems like almost every day this government is showing bad judgment on top of poor performance on virtually everything they touch. On top of that, there seems to be one scandal after another.

It's almost too good a climate to hope for. I don't mean to take pleasure in some of the bad things that have happened to our troops or the poor folks who are being screwed by Medicare or the others who've lost their jobs or even lost their lives in a war that makes no sense...and only now that seems to be filtering down to the public at large.

The fact remains that the American people place great faith in their leaders at time of a national emergency. And there is no greater truth that at the time of 9/11, Americans were worried and concerned that the little wall we had built up around our country was fracturing and that all of a sudden, we were being thrust into the middle of a firestorm.

And when you're thrust into a firestorm, you tend to support your president no matter what. However, president Bush has been trading on that supply of good will long after it evanesced.
Clearly, if you look at the polls with more than fifty percent showing disatisfaction with the leadership of this country and decisions being made, it is a perfect climate for change.

What's particularly interesting is the fact that on most issues polled, Republicans are backing away from the support of this presidency's primary issues.

However, and here is the big problem as I see it. Despite all of this president's current "negatives"...the democrats have failed to turn them into their own positives. At present, the democrats still seem disorganized, at odds with each other and lacking a coherent program.

Where will it go from here?

I still cannot help but feel that the democrats will find a white shining knight that may not be apparent to us now! If that's the case, hopefully the platform will congeal and will start to see a democratic party that is holding together. It's not that we don't have the talent, it's just that increasingly it seems that the democrats do not have the will...

If they find their will, they could benefit big-time from the chaos that seems to have descended on the Republicans like a blanket.

In the meantime, our liberals and progressives may be the ones doing the heavy lifting...


Check us out!

Come for the cartoons; stay for the content
www.lesaaron.blogspot.com
Les Aaron
THE COMMITTEE FOR POSITIVE CHANGE (CPC)

Editorial: Response to Mr. Brady

Mr. Brady, think this is crazy? You ain't seen nothing yet! Don't be surprised if the Chinese start outsourcing jobs here when we investigate the fact that the quoted jobless rate is so out of line with reality, that it would be embarrassing if it weren't so God awful!
The fact of the matter is if you lost your job in the past five years, you are either working for Wal-Marts or taking fries orders at MickyD's....If we keep going the way we're going, we'll be a charity case for the rest of the world. This war, as awful as it is, is helping to keep our minds off the real truth: ie. that we've shipped so many jobs off shore that there's virtually nothing left. Even the good job of watching the ports is going to go overseas; not to Britain, but to an Arab. And remember what mother said about Arabs: You can trust them as far as you can toss their camels. The truth is that Bush and family are in reality closet Arabs. They're not happy unless they're stealing the rest of us blind. And look at Jeb making believe he never heard of global warming while serving as the governor of a state that's will be totally under water in fifty years if the tides rise as expected! What's he going to do then? Start toll bridges for the state? My God, I wouldn't have these guys walk my dog, I have such little faith in them. Nor can they even keep a secret. Not a good quality when they're eavesdropping on you with nobody being the wiser. Imagine? These folks are sworn to uphold the law and first chance they get they're slipping Valerie's name on every bathroom in DC. And if that wasn't enough, who do they beat up on? These great patriots!...You got it. The mother of a GI killed in Iraq who only wanted to meet with the president. If these guys don't want to make you puke, to my mind, there's got to be something wrong with you.
What's left, the guys who never served, cut back on the benefits of those who did and then claim that they are the patriots. Should we laugh or cry in a world that even Alice couldn't understand. I'd better stop now before they come out of their holes and arrest me for being one of those liberal types, the cause of all things bad. But I may be a liberal, but I damned well didn't put this nation into hock and ruin with policy after policy that makes no sense except for his pocket-stuffing friends! God Save America! Sometimes, I wish we'd we'd stayed with Britain after seeing these clowns. At least over there, if you come up against numbskulls like these who only lost one city so far to stupidity, selfishness and greed, you can vote the buggers out! And that's how it should be...although I'd prefer drawn and quartered.

Les Aaron



In a message dated 2/27/2006 1:37:23 PM Eastern Standard Time, APE131313@aol.com writes:
And our most-emailed story:WHO'S COUNTING BUSH'S MISTAKES?Stephen Pizzo, News for RealGiven how ambitious and wide-ranging the incompetence ofthis administration has been, it's high time we startedkeeping track of its many failures.http://www.alternet.org/story/32382/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dubious Dubai deal
FLORIDA TODAY Readers


Deal with Arabs would put our nation at risk
The people in this country need to do something and need to do it now.
Look at all the crooked politicians, including our president, who is giving the country away to the Arabs by putting them in security positions in places that would cripple this country altogether.
Look at Iraq, Afganistan, and the developing problems in Iran. He doesn't have enough to worry about?
Now the ports of this country are at risk with this fool in office. It is time for the people to step up and take control before he puts the country in any more danger.
I am 62, and this is the craziest thing I ever heard of, bar none.
Thomas BriodyMelbourne

Where in the World is bin Laden?...

"I'm willing to bet
That before he takes over
He will be signed by the Networks
For a series on
Great Cave Make-Overs!..." 

DOPE ON A ROPE!

BIN lADEN, BIN lADEN
WHEREVER YOU BE
IS A COMPLETE MYSTERY
TO PEOPLE LIKE ME

THEY SAY YOU ARE
IN MOUNTAINS AFAR
WHILE WE SEARCH HIGH AND LOW
IN BAGHAD AND DARFUR

IT IS AMAZING
TO A LAYMAN LIKE ME
WITH ALL OUR TECHNOLOGY
THAT WE CAN'T NAIL A
TYRANT WITH
A BARBARIC PHILOSOPHY...

...A TYRANT WHOSE PUT
OUR BEST EFFORTS INTO PARALYSIS
WHILE HE GOES ABOUT
GETTING DIALYSIS
WHILE WE CHASE OUR TAIL
IN EFFORTS THAT FAIL


NOW, I DON'T MEAN TO RAVE
BUT IT'S RATHER EMBARRASSING
HOW A SIX FOOT FOUR ARAB
CAN MOVE SO EASILY
FROM CAVE TO CAVE

SO WE RESPECT YOU AS AN ENEMY
WHO PLAYS WELL ON TV
WHO PERHAPS SEES HIS FUTURE
AS AN ANCHOR FOR BBC

BUT BEFORE YOU UPDATE
YOUR RESUME
REMEMBER! YOU CAN
ALWAYS SAVE US THE TROUBLE
WITH AN AUTO DE FE...

AND WHILE WE’VE FAILED TO
CATCH YOU IN THE HOME OF THE PASHTOON
KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR US
SOME FINE AFTERNOON…

FOR ALL THE PRAYERS AND FATWAS WON’T HELP
IF YOU’RE SIX FATHOMS DOWN
UNDER THE KELP…

FOR SURELY WE’VE HARDLY FORGOTTEN
WHAT 9/11 CONNOTES
THAT OUR ENEMIES WILL FIND JUSTICE
AT THE END OF A ROPE…


GOOD BYE, BIN LADEN &
ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS
YOU'RE GUILTY AS SIN
AND IT'S LONG PAST AMENDS...

Les Aaron

ARABS ARE OUR FRIENDS; ARABS ARE OUT TO KILL US! TAKE YOUR CHOICE...

A DUBAI STATE OF MIND...

WHAT'S WRONG WITH OUR GOVERNMENT IS BEST EXEMPLIFIED BY THE ASSIGNMENT OF OUR PORT MANAGEMENT TO NOT ONLY A FOREIGN COMPANY BUT AN ARAB ONE. AND BUSH SEES NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT DECISION. OF COURSE, HE SAW NOTHING WRONG IN THE FACT THAT WE HAVE NO PROTECTION FOR OUR BORDERS EITHER...OR THESE OTHER FACTS:

ARAB MONEY USED FOR 911 FLOWED THROUGH DUBAI.

DUBAIN WAS THE HOME OF TWO OF THE HI-JACKERS.

MONEY FOR TERRORIST CAUSES COMES FROM DUBAI.

DUBAI IS EASY TO GET INTO AND OUT OF...A PERFECT STAGING AREA FOR ARABS INTERESTED IN CAUSING TROUBLE IN THE US; YET OUR PRESIDENT, WHO HAS MADE ALL KINDS OF PROMISES THAT HE IS GOING TO PROVIDE UNRIVALED SECURITY FOR AMERICANS GOES TO THE OPPOSITE POLE WHEN SELF-INTEREST IS INVOLVED.

THE END RESULT: AFTER HEARING SECURITY, SECURITY, SECURITY, WE FIND THAT OUR OWN PRESIDENT IS IN LEAGUE WITH THE DEVIL WHEN IT COMES TO HELPING OUT HIS FRIENDS AND FAMILY WITH ARAB INTERESTS.

WE DON'T HAVE TO GO ANY FURTHER THAN THIS...
THE STORY IS THAT THE PRESIDENT SPEAKS OUT OF BOTH SIDES OF HIS MOUTH CHANGING STORIES AS NECESSARY TO SUIT HIS OWN ENDS.

AND IT IS HARD TO IMAGINE THAT ANYONE WOULD THINK OTHERWISE IN VIEW OF THE BIG FUROR BUSH MADE ABOUT KEEPING US SAFE.

THE OTHER DAY,. A COMMENTATOR FURTHER POINTED OUT THAT THE DUBAI GROUP WOULD ALSO MANAGE OUR TOP MILITARY PORT WHICH WOULD MEAN NOT ONLY WOULD THEY KNOW ABOUT OUR TOP MILITARY EQUIPMENT, THEY WOULD KNOW WHAT UNITS WERE BEING SENT WHERE AND WHEN. THIS IS NOT THE KIND OF INFORMATION YOU WANT BANDIED ABOUT.

ODDLY ENOUGH, WHILE OUR COUNTRY IS RECLASSIFYING DOCUMENTS AS SECRET, WE ARE GOING TO LET THE ARABS, FROM WHOSE RANKS THE TERRORISTS CAME, KNOW OUR BIGGEST SECRETS.

ISN'T THIS KIND OF PARADOXICAL AND INCONSISTENT...

NO WONDER AMERICAN CITIZENS HAVE TROUBLE KNOWING WHERE THIS GOVERNMENT IS COMING FROM...

WE HAVE ARAB TERRORISTS SO WE SEARCH IRISH NUNS BECAUSE TO DO OTHERWISE WOULD BE PROFILING...

WE HAVE POROUS BORDERS SO THAT THE ENEMY CAN SLIP OVER WITH NO TROUBLE WHATSOVER YET THE PRESIDENT DUCKS ANY ATTEMPTS TO POLICE BORDERS...

THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY THAT BOMBS CAN BE SLIPPED INTO THE COUNTRY IN THE FORM OF CONTAINERS THAT WOULD RENDER THE PORTS UNUSABLE FOR YEARS, YET THERE IS NO ATTEMPT TO POLICE THE EFFORT.

THE PRESIDENT SAYS THAT THE COAST GUARD IS IN CHARGE; THE COAST GUARD SAYS THAT IT IS UNDER-BUDGETED AND UNDERSTAFFED FOR THESE NEW RESPONSIBILITIES.

IT LOOKS LIKE WE ARE GETTING READY TO PROVIDE TO THE CITIZENS OF THE COUNTRY THE SAME KIND OF PROTECTION WE RENDERED NEW ORLEANS IN THE WAKE OF KATRINA....

WE'RE ON OUR OWN, FOLKS!

I WOULDN'T BE ON THEIR CASE AS MUCH IF THEY WERE JUST CRAZY,BUT THIS GOVERNMENT IS NOT CRAZY, IT IS MOTIVATED AND IT IS MOTIVATED BY ONLY ONE THING: GREED.

LES AARON

"Nothing Will Change..."

"Welcome to America..." 

Quail Shock and Awe

"No, it's just the Cheney's going on a little
quail hunt." 

"IRAQ FINI"

The Implications of the incident at the Golden Mosque…

We have reached the tipping point it seems and nothing we are going to say or do at this point is going to change the forces set in motion. All the president can do at this point is show how removed he and his staff are from the real world by pursuing opportunities that are past and gone.

A study of the Middle East since our deluded Crusade to bring Christianity to the masses, as part of a misplaced Messianic vision, indicates that the opportunity to make a real difference came and went when we failed at the very beginning to keep chaos from erupting in the days immediately after "Shock and Awe."

Not unlike our sense of timing after Katrina or 9/11 or our failure to respond to the Cole incident or the bombing of the two embassies, we further demonstrated that we have no business allowing the mentally deranged to decide our foreign policy…

When the banks were looted and the museums robbed, it was a sign that chaos was endemic and we failed to respond to it. The very fact that we could not restore vital services in a reasonable period of time showed the Iraqis that we were incapable of bringing order to their shattered country. And with every passing day we confirmed that we could nothing that would restore their confidence in our ability to make their lives right again. In time, this perception only got worse fueling the idea that America talked a better game than it delivered. At the same time, the insurrection gained confidence and those behind the guerilla actions saw that they could use this experience as a laboratory to put to the test their training against the infidel.

This entire situation was exacerbated by the appointment of Paul Bremer who in the opinion of many, including the respected Middle East editor for Time Magazine, was the essential fuse that lit up the insurrection. By tossing out the entire Sunni infrastructure because of their connection with the Saddam regime, we laid the groundwork for the insurgent movement. According to informed sources, the insurgency in the early days was fueled by ex-military officers with no income and nothing to do…

…If Paul Bremer had tried to be inclusive by salvaging some of the Sunni infrastructure we might not have descended over time into the situation that exists today where Sunni is pitted against Shiite in what is truly a Civil War.

Ironically, it is rumored that this war per se was set into motion by Al Qaeda and who saw that there was a benefit from chaos in achieving their objective of driving us out of the Middle East. Almost overnight, with the attack on the holiest shrine of the Shiites, it has become an exploding tinder box with no near time resolution possible. Iran’s prime minister had added fuel to the flames by blaming the US and heating up the rhetoric.

For all intents and purposes, the attack on this Shiite Holy Place marks the beginning of the end. From here on out all bets are off.

The conclusion: We have blown it; and there is nothing for us to do at this point but pack our bags and beat a hasty retreat!

Nevertheless, this unnecessary War should never be put to sleep. It should serve as a constant reminder to us that we are responsible for what we do and if we take on such a venture, there better be a damn good reason for our actions. Thousands of our best and brightest were unnecessary sacrifices to a War that didn't have to be. And for that, the guilty have still not paid the price; so that we cannot put this behind us until there is resolution. And that means a thorough investigation at every level. And no more smoke screens!

We couldn't do less for our fallen comrades.

Les Aaron
Come for the cartoons; stay for the content www.lesaaron.blogspot.com

What Does It Take?

"And while liberals would have you believe
in Global Warming, I know that
you, patriots will not be taken in...." 

Protecting The Ports May One Job Too Many For Overtaxed Coast Guard

Over and over again, the justification being given by our government for using an Arab based port management organization, rests on one fact; that is that we do not have to worry because the Coast Guard is on the job of watching our ports. In effect, under the prevailing argument, the Coast Guard will bear most of the responsibility for security at all of the ports. . But in the recent work-ups by Homeland Security, it was discovered that the Coast Guard was not up to the task; not because it didn't have the will but because it was currently overloaded with its regular assignments and seriously underfunded for the investment in time and effort involved in patrolling and inspecting ports. Moreover, the Coast Guard has no technological ability that would facilitate the inspection of containers which seem to pose one of the major venues for introducing explosives to US Ports.

Therefore, before giving the green light to such a venture that has such tenuous support from an overworked, underfunded Coast Guard, may I suggest that each seriously concerned person read Stephen Flynn's book, "Rogue Wave."

Stephen Flynn, a retired Coast Guard officer tells in his book "Rogue Wave" tells about how the government has failed in its commitment to the Coast Guard and on the watch of Bush, it is underfunded and under staffed to do the tasks assigned to it. Here's one review from Amazon:
Over and over again, the justification being given by our government for using an Arab based port management organization, rests on one fact; that is that we do not have to worry because the Coast Guard is on the job of watching our ports. In effect, under the prevailing argument, the Coast Guard will bear most of the responsibility for security at all of the ports. . But in the recent work-ups by Homeland Security, it was discovered that the Coast Guard was not up to the task; not because it didn't have the will but because it was currently overloaded with its regular assignments and seriously underfunded for the investment in time and effort involved in patrolling and inspecting ports. Moreover, the Coast Guard has no technological ability that would facilitate the inspection of containers which seem to pose one of the major venues for introducing explosives to US Ports.

Therefore, before giving the green light to such a venture that has such tenuous support from an overworked, underfunded Coast Guard, may I suggest that each seriously concerned person read Stephen Flynn's book, "Rogue Wave."

Stephen Flynn, a retired Coast Guard officer in his book "Rogue Wave" tells about how the government has failed in its commitment to the Coast Guard and Bush's watch; it describes how the US Coast Guard is underfunded and understaffed to do the tasks assigned to it. See Amazon for several reviews of the book.

Les Aaron
The Armchair Curmudgeon

THE HUNTER

"Not whale, Dick....quail. We're going after quail!" 

Georgie Dubya...from Father Goose

Georgie Dubya, Pudd'n head liar

Flouts the law and taps every wire

Sells our ports to an Arab state

And fans the flames of bigotry and hate

He kills our youth and Iraqi's too

And leaves posterity without a sou

God, he says, directs his acts

And gives him leave to distort the facts

But Georgie Dubya, Pudd'n head liar

I'm sure you'll burn in Hell's hot fire.

Dopier Myopia

There’s nothing dopier
Than excessive Myopia…

What a botch of it
We made…
In less than
one million years
We’ve turned our habitat
into tears

I can even see
doing one’s thesis
On our abuse of species…
We shoot them here,
We slay them there
And we seem to do so
With such little care

Abusive as we are
We hasten earth’s demise
With toxic fumes
From our car

The oceans growing warmer
Much unlike the former
Now, it seems
we’re all remiss
For eliminating
all the fish!

But do we give a damn
If our tuna’s
replaced by ham?
And our salmon
Tastes like Spam?…

If Global Warming Strikes
Does it get any better
If we don’t own a sweater?…

How little concern we show
For everything that we grow…
With nameless poisons
And TNT
We carve out
Our destiny…

In our craven yearning
It’s the stocks
that must be earning,
If crassness is the measure
Why not accumulate treasure?
And if wealth is all that counts
It’s reasonable to swell
The size of our accounts…


We can’t seem to really see
Beyond tomorrow
And our fixation on narrow ends
Portends of future
harrowing trends…

We’re selfish, too, and so you know
And we care less for your body
Than our own little toe…
And so it goes, ,my friend,
That we can look forward to
A rather chilly end,

Smug and arrogant by turns
We’ll probably turn out
Good for worms,
But no need for hysteria
It will be better you can be sure
If we’re all replaced
By a more socially responsible bacteria!...

Les Aaron

The Mission

Apathy Uber Alles...

I think the computer is great but it can reach a point of diminishing returns. When we start using the computer to talk to each other more than we use it as a tool for changing the status quo, we are not fully living up to the computer's full potential. Many of us tend to engage in preaching to the choir when it's those other guys whose minds we have to change.

More than ever, it seems that the path to enlightment means getting down and dirty and getting out there and talking it up among the people--all of those folks who depend on FOX and CNBC for all of the information that filters through their lives.

We must get them to awake to the common reality: If this cabal keeps it up, we may find ourselves at the tipping point unable to swing back. This is my worry. Fortunately, for the state of health of most Americans, they don't seem so concerned about these things. But that could be a two edged sword: It could be that they have so many other problems to work out that politics is remote to them; or it could be that they are zoned out of the political world by choice.

Either way, we have to get them to understand that if they don't take an interest in what is going on, the dregs of the barrel will continue to float to the top--we will still be led by people's whose interests do not extend beyond their own condition! This is the danger. And this should be the mission we devote ourselves to: Changing perceptions prior to the upcoming election! Can we do it? Ask yourself. it's the biggest question we face.

Les Aaron
the Armchair Curmudgeon

Port-A-bilities...

les aaron

"So this new Arab manager says, 'don't worry!
Nothing's going to change in South Brooklyn ports'"! 

PORT DECISION STIRS POT!

The Port Takeover
Becomes Even More Cynical

Are we any safer now?

John Snow, the Secretary of the Treasurer, who claims he had no knowledge of the takeover of the six ports by the Dubai Group, it turns out was an ex-employee of DSX, another company in port management that was taken over by the Dubai management group.

As it turns out, the Secretary stands to earn about $25 million or so in deferred earnings from the Port takeover. In view of this information leaking out, is it likely that the Secretary was true to his claim that he knew nothing about the Dubai group’s takeover of six of the country’s most important ports?

I’ll leave that for you to decide…

Les Aaron
The Armchair Curmudgeon

NOT ALL ARABS WANT US DEAD!

OPINION:

What’s it all about?

One day the Arabs are the bad guys; the next day, they are the good guys!
Figure that out.
I am still confused about all the stuff that went on before and immediately after 9/11.

If all of the Arabs piloted the planes, why the day after the incident we let all the Arabs fly out and grounded Americans? I couldn’t quite figure that one out.
I do know that that order came from the top. So, while the president was declaring war on Arabs whom he referred to as ‘terrorists,’ other Arabs were good guys—at least as far as they were concerned.

So, what do you do next?

I listened to the Transportation Secretary who said that we don’t “profile.” Profiling is prejudicial! Despite everything, the eighty year old nun is just as potentially as the swarthy guy with the headpiece and the sneakers that sport a fuse.

My argument was that 19 out of 19 terrorists were Arabs from Arab lands who were committed to killing the infidel. Wouldn’t it then make sense to check Arabs first? Instead of 80 year old nuns?

He said that isn’t the way it’s done. I replied, “well, isn’t it reverse discrimination to profile Arabs in order to remove them from this country for their own health?”

No answer from Mr. Minetta.

Well, I figured someone had to know the answers to these tough questions. Maybe I should check out what was going on down in Bora Bora where we were right on the tail of bin Laden. As you know, we had him surrounded in the high mountainous region. So what did we do? We turn over the finishing of the job to the tough Pashtoons in the southern part of the region, bin Laden’s best friends in the region.. What happened?

Well, you don’t have to be a brain surgeon to figure it out.

Bin Laden got away. Do you think it was a mistake entrusting the search for bin Laden to Arab sympathizers. Well, our astute government acted very surprised with the results and shifted the blame away from those who had befriended the Arabs. It could have happened to anyone they suggested..

Okay, let’s let it go. I mean we can’t seem to find a six foot four Arab wandering around in the middle of nowhere with a kidney dialysis machine so why should we believe that we would even know the difference between a Pashtoon and an Arab.
That reminds me after the original attack on the WTC, the FBI caught four men, and let two go who were later involved in the hijacking. The FBI also, it turned out, had seized the terrorists blue prints of the WTC; only they didn’t have anyone who could translate them.
Now, to me that makes lot’s of sense. We are instructed to initiate a program to keep our guard up in the presence of potential terrorists so our brilliant planners don’t bother to hire anyone who understands the appropriate dialects!…

Let’s turn to our ally Pakistan. It turns out that Pakistan’s nuclear energy expert, an Arab sympathizer, sold the technology to make nuclear weapons to our enemies.

What did we do about it?

We sold them our most advanced jets to piss off India, a pro Western style Democracy!

Okay, so this is pretty tricky territory. Not all Arabs are the same we’ve learned and that not every one, according to our government wants to see us dead, so that’s why it makes good sense to turn over the protection of our key ports to Arabs.

And the president tells us that it is just posh that we are worried that 2 of the 19 hijackers were from the Emirates or that the terrorists funneled cash through the Emirates; in the end, they are good businessmen that we can trust and we should take that on the word of a committee I’ve never heard about before.

Nor does it matter that James Baker is involved through dad’s connections with Carlyle Group that benefits from insider trading and Arab capital that comes from the high prices charged to Americans for the cost of oil which flows back through Arabs to less than legitimate causes that support terrorism.

No, none of that counts!.

All that really matters is the word of this apparently sacrosanct committee that made its decision behind closed doors and that we should accept without question that they have already considered all of our questions. That should be good enough for even the worst Doubting Thomas.

In the meantime, most of us need head and neck therapy since we’ve been shaking our heads so much in the last year that it is quite surprising that the highways aren’t full of lots of them bouncing around….

Meanwhile the Coast Guard which seems to bear the weight of protection against incoming bombs complains bitterly about not having the staffing or the budget to do the job. But why should we worry? Our government is too busy for this stuff trying to tell the American people that despite the fact that Sunnis and Shiites have taken the extraordinary step of blowing up each other’s sacred places, democracy is looking good for the Middle East.
Who are the good guys now?

Les Aaron

It's Time for a Change...

When it comes to a new president,
there are usually a variety of stages that the voting public goes through.
In the beginning, like a honeymoon, there is all love and compassion; by the end of year three, there getting ready to call out the riot police.

Here's a quick wrap up of the usual stages: .

Unrealistic acceptance: This is the time a president can do almost anything. Everyone loves him. He can walk on water; claim that he is a god; even produce miracles if the occasion arises.

Support: After eight months to a year, the flaws and cracks begin to show. Maybe he's not so good looking; maybe he really is inarticulate. But he is still your president and worthy of your support!


Disillusionment: Your president does something so stupid or so wrong, or, alternatively the truth comes out. Whatever the reason, you start asking yourself the question how you could have voted for such a dolt in the first place.

Sucking It In: Okay, he's not the best president, but he's the only president you have; therefore, if we have to go to the wall, I'd rather have him than that other untested joker!
This is the time that Americans have to stand tall. We have to what's necessary to keep our democracy together even if it means giving our hard earned tax dollars to foreign countries and the very rich--so that they will know that we support them--even if we don't agree with what they do...


Rejection: This stage is usually reached when you realize that that thing he did wrong or did stupidly, he is doing more and more routinely and you can't stand it anymore. This guy is not only dumb, he works at it. There is no longer any possibility of you supporting this guy and being able to look at yourself in the mirror any more at the same time. You are between a rock and a hard place and you've been considering therapy.


Time for a Change: This is when it gets so bad, that you are taking meds to eliminate the pain. Your family is telling you more and more that you are mumbling to yourself in ancient languages and foam is appearing on your lips. It is time when TV's are expendable and get kicked in regularly and the dog spends more time in hiding. It is a time when you are telling all of your friends who will still listen to you that this guy has to go. People have stopped "coming by" to chat. You get the odd notion that people are avoiding you. Moreover, this is the time that your patriotism is starting to kick in, you reread the Constitution and you start getting paranoid when dark cars slip up next to you with their darkened windows rolled up. This is the time you start showing that you really care who inhabits the top job in the land. At about the same time, you discover that that other guy you thought was a joker is looking a lot better now!....

Most of everyone I know who qualify as having half a brain are now at between "Rejection" and
"Time for a Change..." Inasmuch as we know that, how come the rest of us are still sitting idly by twiddling their thumbs. Can anyone answer me that?.

My only explanation: The sick guys are on the outside but in a cost saving Republican move several years ago, the government let the criminal types out of confinement and the sicko's out so that they could become good Republican voters. That's the only thing that makes sense!

What do they know anyway?

les aaron

"The Enforcer..."

"Okay, Mr. Gameskeeper,
if you don't want to talk to me
about quail, perhaps you'll talk
to my number two..." 

A Super-Power Health Audit!

Reading Between the Lines…

Of course, our leaders will have you believe that America is the land of opportunity; that our schools are the best; that we lead in the world in everything; that we are the smartest; that we are the mightiest Superpower that ever was…

However, inasmuch as we are Internet people, people who don’t automatically accept the government’s penchant for putting a nice spin on things, we decided to do our own checking.

To get an overview of this nation’s health, it helps to google around some of the statistics on health, the economy, education, drug and alcohol addiction and some of the other specifics that help shape our understanding of what the reality is.

Are we really a healthy country that is at the cutting-edge? Is home life in America something that sets a sterling example? Have we really advanced to a level where people understand each other? Are we prepared for the future? Are we getting the education that we need? Are our health needs being addressed? Will there be economic opportunities waiting for each graduate? Will we be able to look forward with optimism to a comfortable future?
.
These questions cause us to look diligently at the findings in order to draw our own conclusions.
They are the result of viewing a number of stats gathered across the board from a variety of sources.

Here are a few of the statistics played back to you on some of the areas that define a culture’s progress:

8.2%of the population over 12 years of age used drugs over the last month; that’s approximately 24 million people…

Another 15 million people are alcoholics; 500,000 of those are between the ages of 9 and 12…

40 million are functional illiterates; and another 20 million cannot balance their check books, or fill out a job application…

Between 35 and 40 million people in the US live below the poverty line!

The top 2% of the population owns more than 60% of the country’s wealth!

The top 1 ½ % of wage earners have more after taxes than the bottom 40% of wage earners…

More than 30 million people do not have a health care program!

While the unemployment rate has remained relatively steady between 5 and 6% it does not reflect those who have given up looking for jobs or fallen between the cracks…

6.6% of employees in full time jobs report heavy drinking, defined as drinking five or more drinks per occasion on five or more days in the past 30 days.

The highest percentage of heavy drinkers (12.2%) is found among unemployed adults between the age of 26 to 34

Up to 40% of all industrial fatalities and 47% of industrial injuries can be linked to alcohol consumption and alcoholism.

In 2000, almost 7 million persons age 12 to 20 was a binge drinker; that is about one in five persons under the legal drinking age was a binge drinker.

In 1996, local law enforcement agencies made an estimated 1,467,300 arrests nationwide for driving under the influence of alcohol.

Approximately one percent of adults (two million individuals), however, meet the criteria of a pathological gambler. Another 2 to 3 percent have less significant, yet serious, problems with their gambling.

6.5% of black students --7.8% of Hispanic students and 5% of white students do not finish high school!

Les Aaron
www.lesaaron.blogspot.com

If the Truth Should Leak Out...

"So what do all these people in
the Office of Reclassification
do?"

Well, before Bush, we declassified documents;
now, we take those documents we've declassified
and we reclassify them as secret."

"That must keep you busy."

"It's a full time job." 

"Stop the 2000 Vote" James Baker Said To Be Behind Arab Port Management Scheme

PROTECTION PLAYS SECOND FIDDLE TO PROFITS!...

A Lesson On Priorities From Your Commander In Chief:

FYI - James Baker from the former Nixon & Bush Sr. Administration, head of The Carlyle Group is the "silent partner" of the Rove / Rumsfeld / Wolfowitz / Pearle / Cheney / Bush Sr. & their front man puppet Bush Jr. Neocon One World Order Economical World Supremacy Agenda! The civilian link on all their schemes!

In a message dated 2/21/2006 4:44:55 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, downtobusinessandy@yahoo.com writes:
Dubai company set to run U.S. ports has ties to administrationBy Michael McauliffNew York Daily News

The Dubai firm that won Bush administration backing to run six U.S. ports has at least two ties to the White House.

One is Treasury Secretary John Snow, whose department heads the federal panel that signed off on the $6.8 billion sale of an English company to government-owned Dubai Ports World - giving it control of Manhattan's cruise ship terminal and Newark's container port. Snow was chairman of the CSX rail firm that sold its own international port operations to DP World for $1.15 billion in 2004, the year after Snow left for President Bush's cabinet.

The other connection is David Sanborn, who runs DP World's European and Latin American operations and who was tapped by Bush last month to head the U.S. Maritime Administration.
The ties raised more concerns about the decision to give port control to a company owned by a nation linked to the Sept. 11 hijackers.
To read this entire article, please go to:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2471320

Dubai Set To Manage Six of Our Most Important Ports

A Recommendation for Homeland Security:

It looks like Dubai will be managing six of our most important ports.
Why?
Homeland Security sees nothing wrong with it!
President Bush and his cadre see nothing wrong with it.
Knowing how concerned they are for the safety and protection
of the United States, I could not imagine that they would have anything
but our best interests in mind in approving the agreement.
Naturally, if anything happened, they could always bring up
that old argument: Well, it could have happened to anyone.
And why get petty considering all of the money that we can
earn as a result of such a great deal!
It seems almost as good as selling Rockefeller Center to the
Japanese who couldn't even pronounce it. But of course, that
was before the Middle East had access to enriched nuclear materials
and enough Russian Scientists combined with Saudi money
could be found to make suitcase sized "dirty bombs" a reality.

So no discussion; no debate; it will just go forward.
But I would like to add a qualifier.
I would consider voting for the bill if the government would just
satisfy me on one point: They we arrange as one of the conditions for the deal that the United States, in turn, manage the ports of Iraq, Iran and Pakistan.
That should provide a little balance and discourage any funny
goings on!...
We could also issue a littlle veiled warning that if they screw around with
our assets, we will not bother with those little suitcase sized bombs
but literally dump on them our complete nuclear reserve which would
free us up from continuing to provide maintenance for them for the next
twenty years!--sort of like killing two birds with one stone!

What do you think?

Answers folks!....and all of you little lilly livered panzies who are offended
by this idea, you can squealch it!...and keep your opinions to yourself.
We're simply not interested!

Les Aaron
The Curmudgeon de jour
Blog: www.lesaaron.blogspot.com

Government's penchant for Secrecy Turns Obsessive...

Public Documents Now Private...


Talk about being obsessed by secrecy!

It seems that there's never enough secrecy for the Bush folks.

Now, they're taking documents that were public and making them private.


We all know how this government works!

We've learned painfully about government snooping. We've discovered that prisoners are being tortured in foreign countries. And we know that things are not always the way the government would like to believe they are. Witness the Clean Air program that puts OSHA on hold for ten years. Or the Clean Water Act that doesn't mandate the cleaning up of rivers or streams. Or the economic stimulus program that consists of giving tax breaks to millionaires, money that never trickles back to the economy. And we know if you violate their modus operandi, secrecy can be inverted to make public items that are secret as in, for example, the leaking of the name of a CIA station chief because her husband didn't play ball.

But this seems to be going just a little too far!...

As a result of a secret program instituted by the National Archives, intelligence agencies have been removing from the public record historic documents that had been in the public domain.

The restoration of classified status to documents previously made public may apply to as many as 55,000 documents that had been previously photocopied or otherwise used by historians, writers and others...

This ongoing effort actually accelerated after Bush took office and the events of 9/11.

This program was discovered by Matthew Aid, an intelligence historian who discovered that documents he had referred to before or photocopied were no longer available. Many of these dated back to the Korean war or even before to embrace the Cold War.

After receiving complaints from Aid and others concerned about having access to such records, the Information Security Oversight Office of the National Archives J. William Leonard authorized an audit of the missing records. According to Mr. Leonard, "if those sample records were removed because somebody thought they were classified, I'm shocked and disappointed."
He went on to add, "It just boggles the mind."

Mr. Leonard does not have the authority to reclassify records classified now as secret but as the Chief Adviser to the White House on Classification, he could urge the White House to reclassify them....

To this writer it seems that would be akin to someone suffering from black lung asking the White House to reverse the burning of coal...

Les Aaron

PLAN: Adapting Conservative Tactics for Progressive Ends!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE -
2/21/06CONTACT: Matt Singer, 406-544-0211www.progressivestates.org {http://www.progressivestates.org} NEWREPORT: The Battle For America's StatesStudy details how conservatives are using state policy to wage a war;Organization's website shows how progressives can fight back

Helena, MT – The Progressive Legislative Action Network (PLAN) todayissued a report that exposes many of the conservative movement'smethods of operation in state government and how progressives candeliver results.

The report is also in an article entitled "ForgetD.C. - The Battle Is In the States" that appears on the cover of thenew In These Times magazine, released today.

PLAN also formallyrolled out its new website at www.progressivestates.org{http://www.progressivestates.org} and blog atwww.progressivestates.org/blog{http://www.progressivestates.org/blog} - both of which will serve as the "virtual" war room in the fight for the states.

"For the past thirty years, conservatives of different stripes have had their efforts clearly coordinated with a long-term strategy inmind," says Nathan Newman, PLAN's Policy Director and Author of theReport. "The resulting policies in the states -- whether handouts tocorporations, wedge issues to pit progressives against each other, orstructural plans to weaken progressive institutions -- are not an accident, but the result of years of engineering by powerfulinterests."

The report's findings, featured in a cover story in the current issueof In These Times, outlines the fundamental importance of state policy and the many ways that conservative organizations have succeeded in advancing their policy goals at the state level, such as aiding Exxon in fighting global warming legislation and working for pharmaceuticalcompanies to block the reimportation of cheaper drugs from Canada.

The report also offers a set of policy solutions that progressives can advance to help America's families and to help stop the corporate conservative movement in its tracks. Among the solutions are minimum wage increases, paid family leave and clean energy policies that fight global warming while creating jobs in America.

"This report is a diagnosis of what is ailing state politics inAmerica. But it doesn't stop at concluding what is wrong. This report also offers PLAN's prescription for change in the states. It's our blueprint for how to fight and win for everyday America's interests,"explains Joel Barkin, Executive Director of PLAN.

The release of the report coincides with the rolling out of PLAN's new website, which serves as a centralized resource for informationon legislation, state policy news, and rising stars in thelegislative ranks. The site includes comprehensive policy sections with content being loaded regularly, a blog and newsfeed to find out the latest news from the states, a section featuring interviews withexperienced and successful legislators, and access to special resources for journalists and bloggers.

PLAN was established in 2005 to help coordinate and advance theprogressive agenda at the state level. It has gained the support andbacking of the AFL-CIO; Service Employees International Union (SEIU);American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees(AFSCME); United Steelworkers; MoveOn; and the Open SocietyInstitute, as well as legislators across the country.

PLAN on the Web: http://www.progressivestates.org/{http://www.progressivestates.org/} The Report:http://www.progressivestates.org/report{http://www.progressivestates.org/report} The In These Times story isattached, and at http://www.progressivestates.org/itt{http://www.progressivestates.org/itt} To schedule an interview withJoel Barkin or Nathan Newman concerning the report, the website, orthe organization and its strategy, contact Matt Singer atmsinger@progressivestates.org or 406-544-0211. *****************************http://www.progressivestates.org/itt{

Clinton: The FBI's Favorite Distraction?

There is much that the average person does not understand about 9/11—no, I am not referring to conspiracy theories, per se, but an understanding of the kind of thinking that actually permeated some of our institutions charged with the protection of the country and its citizenry. One case in point pertains to the FBI under the direction of Louis Freeh.

In 1960, an activist out of New York and living in West Palm Beach and I got together via the Internet and carried forward an idea of creating a newspaper/online presence that would probe all aspects of governance and legislation affecting the common good of the people.

Up til that time, no one else had gone from an Internet presence to a political journal; no one else had taken it upon themselves to create a news vehicle that had as its focus a government that was intent upon dismantling itself through essentially programs and legislation that were bad for the American people and destructive of the democratic concept.

When the venture started, I agreed to handle marketing and do some editorial work. We were beginning to get off the ground, when 911 hit and we discovered that no red-blooded American would criticize their government when facing off against some terrorist plot. We lost our funding and our mandate. The point of all of this, however, is that in our last issue we were going to print an interview with a fairly high level CIA contact who had opened some avenues for exploration for us.

One of the avenues had to do with Louis Freeh and relations between the CIA and the FBI.
As you may or may not know, Louis Freeh hated Bill Clinton with a passion and he would have done anything in his power to eliminate him. They were people of very different cultures. Louis Freeh was a member of Opus Dei; he was religious to the point that it was said that he would feel comfortable wearing a hair-shirt or practicing self-flagellation.. Clinton was a liberal, a progressive—the antithesis of what Louis Freeh stood for and Monica Lewinsky was the last straw as far as he was concerned.

Towards the end of Clinton’s administration, Clinton issued a warning that bin Laden and al Qaeda posed a serious threat to this country. Therefore, it became very curious that the FBI seemed to make such a tenuous effort to zero in on the challenges that were emerging here at home--especially in light of the first attempt on the WTC and, later, the incident with the Cole and the attacks on the embassies in Africa. It was later learned that those who had originally attacked the WTC had detailed plans in their possession of the building that were seized at the time of the raid; only nobody bother to check the files. However, at the time, we had virtually nobody with the appropriate language skills who could read through and translate the many dozens of records obtained through the raid.

Why were we so poorly prepared even though threats were issued to the US and that there had been attempts and warnings about the potential for terrorist hi-jackings?

One of the answers given to us that enabled the terrorists to fulfill their threat, was that instead of concentrating their efforts on bin Laden and al Qaeda, Louis Freeh had mobilized his ‘troops’ to focus full time on gaining additional evidence against Bill Clinton. We had been told that more than two hundred of the FBI’s best agents had been focused on Bill Clinton and not the enemy.

I later learned that our informant also explained the problem the CIA had in working with the FBI. The FBI, through its culture or arrogance or both would not accept any information gleaned from CIA sources. Their explanation: It would not be admissible in a court of law. That was at least partially true as a result of a law passed during the Carter years; however, the FBI’s tendency to block out the CIA seemed to evolve more from culture than anything else and proved detrimental in a deadly way to any progress on terrorism. .

John O’Neill, the only agent in the FBI it seemed who was fully cognizant of the challenges posed by terrorist organizations, was defeated at every turn when he attempted to ratchet up the FBI’s anti-terrorist activities post the original attack on the WTC. He felt the frustration keenly and was eventually forced to resign and, ironically, became Director of Security for the WTC where he lost his life at the time of the attacks..

Later on, after the terrorist attacks on the WTC, Louis Freeh simply walked away from his job returning only to give testimony about his view of the world and then disappearing once again into the background. Unfortunately, many of the questions surrounding the FBI's failures have not been adequately answered or explained to the public's satisfaction. In the end, for America to become whole again, the people must feel confident in the work their government is doing to protect the American way of life. To date, this has not happened and too many are cynical about how we've been manipulated and our questions and inquiries shunted aside. Clearly, this entire subject needs to be revisited with fresh eyes and perhaps greater objectivity that is less prone to political advantage.

The Power of MIND

To those who signed up to join MINDthinktankers@yahoogroups.com:

M.I.N.D

In case any of you may be curious as to our name, let me at least clear up half of your questions.
When I first started thinking about it, I wanted to start a group that could morph at any time into a Progressive Think Tank. I wanted to begin with discussion groups and as an information resource after we’ve identified people that we would like to bring into the inner circle, who could become a part of a more activist America. These are ambitious notions, I recognize, but from my own experience, it isn’t brain surgery and we are all capable of making a difference if we seize the opportunity…
M.I.N.D. stands for
Media—any information pertaining to the news
I—Information—that describes anything new that would be germane to helping to understand our country’s present crisis to specific information on all events, facts, activities, legislation that is we need to know about in order to promote positive change
N—News—Stands for new developments that impact our goals, ideas or our foundations as a Democratic Country…
D—Stands for two things: Democracy and what it takes to preserve it and Dialogue which is essential if we are going to set our standards high and work to elevate the debate about achieving a better, more equal and fair-minded America!!!

Thanks for joining up. If you know any others who might be able and willing to contribute to this effort, we would welcome your asking them to contact me so that we can add them to our mailing list.

Remember great things were always done by small groups made up of people who were dissatisfied with the status-quo!

Already, MIND has led to the formation of the Ad Hoc Committee for Positive Change which has made headway in trying to make the American public aware of their role in helping the Democratic Party find its center. Under MIND, we are in the process of publishing our first book, An End to America's First Monarchy and Restoring the Democratic Process. It has led to releases sent around the country and, hopefully, will become the basis for continuing debate on where we are headed as a country!

Recently, we asked members of various lists to submit their ideas as to platform issues that the Democratic Party should become concerned with. This is ongoing. We also conducted a poll and a petition to have Al Gore consider becoming a contender once again for the top job in the Democratic Party...

For information, contact us at owlgrabber1@yahoo.com


Les Aaron

Human Activity Responsible for Arctic Melting...

Global Warming: Arctic Climate Impact Assessment Sees Man's Fingerprints
All Over Arctic Melting...

In prior research I had undertaken for an environmental novel I was working on, I came across a report that had been issued by a top secret department connected to the presidency that advised the Executive that there was a very high probability that Europe would be destroyed in the build-up to the next Ice Age which might begin its ravages in as little as six months or in as long as twenty years; nevertheless, there was no doubt that it was coming!

The catastrophe would begin with flooding and climate changes which would lead to massive destruction and eventually conflict with everyone scrapping to survive in the lead up to veritable chaos. The probabilities, according to this report, were very high.

The report was given to the president with the suggestion that we inform England so that it might prepare to protect itself and its interests in Europe.
However, it is not clear that the government has done anything to mitigate that threat. Right now, there is no talk of it that has leaked outside and everyone seems to be ignoring the inevitable. Sound familiar?

But the reason I bring it up is because there has been a recent report by the Arctic Climate Impact Assessment, a study being published Tuesday at the International Scientific Symposium on Climate Change in Reykjavik, Iceland.

The study, the work of some 300 scientists from 15 countries, suggest that the Arctic is warming up at twice the global average rate and that at the turn of the century, there may be no Arctic ice remaining. .

According to Robert Correll, the American chair of the International Arctic Science Committee, there is no longer any question that Global warming is the result of human intervention involving the build-up of green house gases. .

Another project conducted under the auspices of NIS involves analyzing ice cores that have been carbon dated for many thousands of years. In the recent ice cores, the scientists since the hand of man all over them. Scientists claim that they have not seen CO2 levels approaching what we see today over literally hundreds of thousands of years—maybe even millions of years. (It has been theorized that CO2 levels were the reason for the extinctions that wiped out 90 plus percent of all species during the Permian Age.)

And because the government has raised doubts about the validity of the findings, scientists have focused on being very attentive to detail to avoid discrepancies and to avoid errors creeping in; nonetheless, the greater care in handling the results has confirmed that the scientists concerns have been borne out…

What this augers is not necessarily more frequent storms and effects but weather patterns of a more severe nature.

What science projects due to the Greenland melting going on now will result in a rise in water levels of three feet over the next 100 years. To put this into perspective, over the last fifteen years, we have seen the equivalent of 105 million acres of Arctic ice that has melted. That is the equivalent of the melting of 98% of all of the ice in the Alps according to the estimates of Robert Correll..

Further, the scientists point out that even if we stopped adding to the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, there is already enough in the atmosphere to raise the temperature another degree and that would be disastrous when to the already rising temperatures in the region.

What is the longer term impact of such melting?…

What is not speculative is Global Warming’s affect on the natural patterns for wildlife. Already, we have seen the results as it affects the polar bear population.

More speculative, perhaps, is the notion advanced by James Burke in earlier studies, and in his famous TV lecture, “Heat” in which it was suggested that increasing Arctic melt may change the density of the North Atlantic, affecting the operation of the “conveyor belt” that maintains the Gulf Stream, the underground river that maintains moderate temperatures world-wide.

If the conveyor belt were to be impacted, the probabilities are great that we will see another Ice Age…

Les Aaron.

US Lags In Vaccine Production

Too Little, Too Late?

According to informed sources, the US has a couple of million doses of a vaccine to mitigate the overall effects of the flu should a pandemic hit us within the next year or so. It will take until the end of the decade in order to stockpile something like 10 million doses.
Accordingly, that means at max, we'll be able to protect between 3 and 4% of the population compared to many western countries that are looking forward to protection between one third and one half or better of their populations....

Why the discrepancy? They got an earlier start and made protection a priority.

The Jury rests...

See the article below:
Source: American Society for Microbiology
Posted: February 18, 2006
New Influenza Vaccine Takes Weeks To Mass Produce
Using cell-based methods researchers have developed a commercially viable method for mass producing effective vaccines against potential pandemic influenza strains in weeks instead of the months required for traditional egg-based vaccines. They report their results today at the 2006 ASM Biodefense Research
The next flu pandemic could happen any time," says Keyang Wang, a scientist at Protein Sciences Corporation (PSC) and a researcher on the study. "The most effective method to control such an outbreak is the widespread use of a vaccine, preferably in a pro-active manner, so that the immune system is primed prior to actual virus exposure. The traditional egg-based method requires 3 to 6 months to develop the vaccine. With our cell-based method, as soon as the pandemic strain is identified, a matched vaccine can be massively produced within 4 weeks."
The vaccine strategy pursued by Protein Sciences, known commercially as FluBlok, uses a purified protein from the surface of the virus called hemagglutinin (the H part of a virus' designation, like H5N1 for the current avian influenza) to elicit an immune response to a specific strain of influenza. The protein is produced by first extracting the genes responsible for the production of hemagglutinin from the influenza virus and inserting them into a baculovirus. Specific host cells are then infected with the baculovirus and produce recombinant hemagglutinin (rHA). Phase II clinical trials show that rHA-based vaccines produced using this system are safe, elicit immunity equal to or greater than egg-based vaccines, and are 100% effective in the prevention of cell culture confirmed influenza.
Wang and his colleagues report the successful production of rHA from 4 strains of influenza that scientists believe to be likely the cause of the next pandemic (H5, H7, H9, and H2) at a level where manufacturing costs are expected to be equal to or less than that of traditional egg-based vaccines.
"It has been suggested that the next pandemic strain may be derived from H5, H7, H9 or H2 influenza viruses. The preparation of the recombinant baculoviruses for the production of these antigens and the successful purifications gives us a great advantage in fighting against a potential influenza pandemic, if it derived from any of these strains," says Wang. "Starting from a stocked recombinant baculovirus bank, a closely matched vaccine can be massively produced within 2 weeks."
PSC has recently signed a Letter of Intent which will support commercial scale manufacturing with the capacity to produce 6 Million doses of monovalent pandemic vaccine per week.
###
The American Society for Microbiology (ASM) is the largest single life science society, composed of over 42,000 scientists, teachers, physicians, and health professionals. Its mission is to promote research and training in the microbiological sciences and to assist communication between scientists, policymakers, and the public to improve health, economic well-being, and the environment.
Further information on the ASM Biodefense Research Meeting can be found online at www.asmbiodefense.org.

First words:

Who was the idiot who
approved that quail hunt? 

Deserving of Our Attention: Ogle 2005

What can we learn from OGLE 2005 BLG 39lb ?

As a result of a ceaseless shift in the Milky Way and some Einsteinian physics, astronomers have had a glimpse of a planet that we had not seen before…

In many ways, it is the most like ours, an ice-rock planet unlike the gaseous giants that seem to dominate our own universe. This planet is only about five times as dense as our own and circles its own dim reddish star about 234 million miles away.

We may have much to learn from OGLE 2005 BLG 39lb. However, before you sign on for the voyage of discovery, you should be aware that this planet is 21,000 light years from earth—meaning that if we were to travel at the speed of light, 186,000 miles per second, it would still us 42,000 years to complete the journey! Not exactly small potatoes if
you only get a two week vacation…

What this discovery tells us is that in the universe, a good argument can be made that ice rock planets resembling Earth may be more common than gas giants, an encouraging milestone on our continuing search for life…

The discovery team was headed up by Jean-Philippe Becaulier of the Institut’ d’ Astrophysique de Paris. Report by: Les Aaron

ARE WE ANY SAFER TODAY?

The Illusion of Safety…


George Bush has run the past three years on the mantra of keeping us safer.
Has he lived up to the reputation he is trying to build for himself?

Not if you look objectively at what happened immediately after he was elected.
At that time, ex-president Clinton and his staff advised the incoming president and top advisers that bin Laden and Al Qaeda represented serious threats to this country.

But, perhaps more importantly, the Bush crew were advised that the single biggest challenge we faced was the more than six hundred metric tons of enriched material that was still on the market and would be available to terrorists.

Why was this fact important?

Because the terrorists could buy the scientific talent it needed and was able to put together the money and technology to conceivably construct suitcase sized bombs out of the enriched material that if exploded, could render a site uninhabitable for perhaps dozens of years or more.

The Bush administration chose to do nothing!

It was only after the 9/11 terrorist event that the Bush administration started to take seriously the warnings of the Clinton advisers.

However, today, more than three hundred of those metric tons of enriched materials have disappeared. And we might question into whose hands did these enriched materials go?

The dangers posed by these enriched materials are incalculable.

And we do know that for the first time, there is a convergence of people trained in the science of nuclear technology, the technology itself and the money required to fund the development of suit-cased sized bombs that are easy to transport and could raise havoc in our country and its leading cities.

Add to this the fact, that the Bushes have failed to move on the measures needed to protect our ports—even though the estimated costs would be less than 1% of our present spending on
Afghanistan and Iraq.

Has this president made us any safer now?

The answer is self-evident; On almost every measure of what constitutes safety—from protection of the borders to protection for our ports—the answer is unequivocally “no!”

"Body Old; Brain Hardly Used..."

Mental Neglect

I have checked with
Friends and family
And here’s what I find…
That the organ most in need
Of change is always in a bind

The arms grow weak,
The shoulders ache,
Walking shouldn’t be this hard
For Heaven’s sake!

We bitch, we moan
Our expletives deleted!
But all things considered
Why are our efforts
So constantly defeated…

Nevertheless, while our hair
Grows gray and long
We have difficulty changing
Our perennial song…

If we were born with
Our prejudices intact
And our hatreds full blown
Will they change in time?
Will we willingly change our tone?

Chances are what we learned
Despite all we’ve discerned
Will not evolve
Nor will we resolve…

…Our predisposition towards
The “status quo”…
I may not know much
But that much I know

Wisdom distilled from
Relationships long
Over many years
Suggest that our bodies might change
But not our fears!

That people who hated then
Will hate again!...
Too bad for civilization
One might confide
Or maybe not so bad…
If you can find
a good place to hide!...

Les Aaron

Arabs to Manage US Ports! What Next?

One for the record books:

U.S. Port Management
to be Ceded to Arab Company

America left in the dark again!...

…Mr. Chertoff, the director of Homeland Security assures us that if FEMA were kept
under the umbrella of Homeland Security its operation could be improved. Well, that’s
comforting considering that four years have transpired since 9/11 and it’s hard to see
what all those billions that flowed into Homeland Security have accomplished. And whether we are any better prepared to face the vagaries of the future with Mr. Chertoff and his coterie of incompetents at the helm…

Consider just one area, the Ports of America, that according to ex-president Clinton pose one of the biggest challenges to this country’s security. Currently, the fact remains that despite all of the money that has flowed into Homeland Security, we still do not have in place a means for protecting our ports. However, as ex-president Clinton had pointed out, if we had eliminated the tax break, we could have developed and installed technology that would have made it virtually impossible for terrorists to ship a bomb via a container into one of our vulnerable ports.

Right now, this possibility still exists even the projected costs are something like 3 billion dollars; just a drop in the bucket compared to the tax break, which as Clinton said, “none of the recipients needed…” . To think that we would have rejected the idea outright for an investment that represents less than 1% of what we have already committed for the conduct of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq boggles the mind…

…Now, to make things worse, it turns out the operation of the port will be ceded to a company owned by the Arab Emirates. To appreciate the irony of this, keep in mind that much of the money used by the hijackers of 9/11 moved through the banks of the Arab Emirates; secondly, it has been suspected that the Arab Emirates has supported terrorism.

Who made this God-awful decision? How does turning operation of six ports in the US including Baltimore, New York and Newark improve security for the United States? And who by the way is the organization charged with appointing them to that critical assignment? Virtually nothing is known about the composition of the Board that passed judgment on the new ownership. And one might legitimately question who gave them the right to make decisions for the American people that might not only prove flawed but potentially fatal. . If this the iteration of Globalism, it is clear that it is an exercise of power that takes the citizen out of the process and allows the president and his staff to decide policy unilaterally without debate or discussion.

Regrettably, Director of Homeland Security, Chertoff, has shown his true colors. He has failed to speak up or to allow public scrutiny of what such a take-over of our ports by a foreign organization. He has even failed to point out its potential failings! This would seem to confirm the suspicion that Chertoff is hardly more than a rubber stamp for self-serving administration policies which immediately negates his value as an objective party whose principal concern is the safety and protection of the citizenry of this country.

Les Aaron
Armchair Curmudgeon

"Laws just or unjust may govern men's actions. Tyrannies may restrain or regulate their words. The machinery of propaganda may pack their minds with falsehood and deny them truth for many generations of time. But the soul of man thus held in trance or frozen in a long night can be awakened by a spark coming from God knows where and in a moment the whole structure of lies and oppression is on trial for its life."

Sir Winston Churchill

When I took off the mountain was over to the left.
It took forever it seemed to rise above it.
Whipped out the digital and took this quick snap. 

New Consigliere Appointed to the Bush Family...

"So, I hear through the grape-vine
that you're a pretty bad guy with the
...what was it, Johnson family?"

"No, after that...long after that!
Did you ever hear of the Busheo family?"

"What Bugs Me..."

You know what really bothers me?

It’s not the global warming; it’s not the “off-shoring” of jobs; it’s not the attempts to privatize Social Security; it’s not the deals that have been worked out to screw those of us who are dependent on medicines. No; it’s none of those things…

What really ticks me off is the fact that these lead-footed perpetrators of Evil deeds, are trying to put one over on me. What gets me is how insulting to my intelligence they can be. How they think that they are getting away it and that we, the innocent dupes, are being taken in by their selfish and mean-spirited destruction of government and government programs and everything else that was designed over two hundred years ago to provide for the people of this country? How can they think that?....

That is what ticks me off!

It ticks me off that they think that they can get away with this kind of malevolence with impunity; that the American people will never wake up from their slumber and their mistaken belief that all presidents and their staffs have the good of the American people in mind; that they slavishly respect the Constitution and the laws of this land.

We know what this government really stands for; and it is a mockery and an insult to those who came before...

I can only imagine how many times they sat down and toasted the stupidity of the American people that has allowed them to get away with literally murder.

I had originally not thought of Bush Sr. being quite so perverse; but he has shown that when it comes to the public good, all he cares about is fattening his accounts. He’s no better than the rest of them! And when I say the rest of them, I don’t want anyone to think that I am omitting Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rove and all of their henchmen and women who clearly have no souls and no sense of right or wrong! Nor have we forgotten how the Carlyle Group with leading Arab potentates has bought up American corporations through its insiders including Bush Sr. and Baker, the former Chief of Staff; and how some of that money finds its way back into terrorist hands...

Perhaps, it is me who is the fool. I served my country over four years! And I believe in the Constitution and what it stands for. And I believe that it is in the best interests of the American people to have three branches of government that are not in bed with each other or dominated by one single branch. Nor do I believe that our founding fathers intended for one the Executive to seize all of government’s power to dole out as it sees fit. Nor do I believe that it is in the best interests of the people to be dependent on private money to get reelected!...

From all of the above, it is without doubt time that the American people got on their hands and knees and cleaned out all of the evil, selfish, self-interested appointees and elected officials who think that government exists only to fill their coffers! or as a haven for their ineptitude.

It is time that the American people rose up and drove the baggage off! Or stretched their necks on the tallest trees. I would donate generously to that cause!

Les Aaron

THE VICE PRESIDENT STRIKES AGAIN...

THE RUMOR MILL
Earlier, I had attributed what had happened at the Armstrong ranch as the subject of a trashy novel. Now, the plot seems to be getting even more convoluted, ever more bizarre.

It turns out that Cheney was at the ranch but not without female company, so the rumor goes, and that he had claimed to have one drink before going out on the hunt.

Whether that’s an understatement or not is unclear but what is clear is that the Vice President, the second most important person in this country, chose to put off announcing the accident for nearly twenty four hours.

An intelligent man, wouldn’t he have realized that by so doing, he was giving rise to more questions than he was answering? Wouldn’t such behavior seem very suspicious in the light of what could be lost as compared to what could be gained by going public immediately?

Why put off calling the media immediately?

That’s the big question, unless, of course, the Vice President had something to hide? And, of course, we all know, that getting a 24 hr. reprieve allows anyone who was drinking to reduce blood alcohol levels significantly.

This also raises other questions: Cheney has never been one to seek media coverage or the spotlight. Yet, he is probably the most influential vice president, ever, a vice president who we the people know virtually nothing about.

He is also the close friend of Donald Rumsfeld, who had brought him into government during the Ford Administration.

What we do know is that Cheney has spent much of his career as the chief executive of one of the biggest beneficiaries of the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and a leading player in rebuilding the Middle East after the destruction of oil wells and pumping capacity in the Middle East.
Clearly, Cheney is a man of unlimited ambition--a man who has virtually traded his soul to the Devil for the sake of personal greed and ambition against anyone who might stand in his way.... Moreover, he is the kind of protagonist who much prefers doing whatever it is he does in the shadows where his actions can go unobserved. That much is evident. Let's look at the facts of this bizarre hunting accident:

Cheney and the man who was the target of this unusual accident should have known better. They were professional hunters. They were surrounded by Secret Service agents. They knew how to hunt quail. Yet, the professional hunter walked out of the sun and in the direction of the shooters. The shooter, the Vice President, an experienced hunter however didn't exercise the necessary caution and instead shot his "buddy." Remember, the Vice President has been under increasing pressure in recent months; and he sees the possibility of power slipping through his hands.

Remember, too, we know very little about Cheney except that he is usually successful in getting his way.

Did Harry Whittington, an established and respected senior lawyer in the corridors of power know something he shouldn't have? Was he a potential thorn in his side?
Or was this something other than an accident—a means of showing others what could happen if they crossed the Vice President?

Ask yourself what are the odds of such an accident occurring--especially when surrounded by the best and most professional protective agency on earth. Add to those legitimate questions the reason why the ranch's owner, Armstrong, didn't report the accident until nearly twenty fours later and not through the conventional channels but through a friend at a local Texas newspaper. As of now, we simply don't know where the truth lies. On the other hand, it could have simply been an accident as alleged; yet, if that were the case, why the delay in reporting the incident? Would it have shown Cheney drunk? Would it have shown Cheney with another woman, other than his wife.

Here’s what we do know: Cheney is a man of mystery and that he is linked with the kind of people who take power in their own hands. He was associated with Bush Sr., the former head of the CIA, an organization with the ability to make people disappear for a variety of real and imagined reasons.And if that weren't enough, Cheney was the room-mate of Donald Rumsfeld who brought him into government during the Ford Administration and of whom it has been said that he is a nutty as a fruitcake. Just ask Henry Kissinger, no stranger to arcane and secretive politics himself.Today, Rumsfeld is the key man at the Pentagon; he has the power to make or break lives....and he is rumored to be hand and glove with those dark forces of the business industrial complex that are said to operate behind the scenes in the setting of policy.
With these kinds of friends, one might suspect that there is more to what the White House is trying to portray as a simple accident than meets the eye.
In any event, what went on at the Armstrong farm is just another straw being added to the camel’s back.

If nothing else, It reinforces the idea that Cheney is a loose cannon, that as the second most important man in America, he still operates in the dark; that nobody knows what he does or the power that he exercises at the highest level; that he commands control over billions and billions of dollars of contracts with no bid suppliers with whom he has been affiliated; that he has friends in high places who think the way he does; that he is an architect of much of the Bush policy and was influential in the program of preemption which gives this country the ability to make war first without notice; and that he is the person who orchestrated in complete secrecy energy policy with some of the biggest manufacturers and producers in the country that would determine America’s energy policy for years to come…

In the light of all of his nefarious deeds that have been ruled privileged, the Vice President continues to conduct his affairs in secrecy and privacy—even though his judgments can affect the welfare of every citizen in this country.

It is remarkable that such a powerful man has managed to avoid the spotlight for so long while leaving the American public so badly informed about who he really is and what he stands for…
This, by itself, not only says more about how government is conducted in the age of Bush, it speaks chapter and verse about the American people.Les Aaron

The Cartoon Debate

Moslems when they debate
Tend to show a lot of hate
They are right
And you are wrong!
And they will prove it
For a Song…

They berate our views
And denigrate our news
They consider our ways corrosive
While they’d prefer
To play with explosives!

Nontheless, who can equivocate
When their objective is to decimate
Those who don’t agree
With their view of history…

Admittedly, it’s a hard call
To acknowledge it all…
To accept their perspective
May be somewhat defective

For a religion cannot last
If its participants are central to the blast!
For these and other reasons,
It may not be the best of seasons
To take issue with illustrations
That hamper their relations!

Perhaps, it would be more
Encouraging still…
If progressive leadership
Showed a modicum of will

And instead of exacerbating
The current condition
The exercise of good sense
Formed the basis
Of their petition!

"Big Brother"

Big Brother, the Poem


They tell us that big
Brother watches what we see and do…
But I suspect that’s nothing new!

It’s I guess his obligation
For us to become his preoccupation

Are we “the patriots” or
The “bad guys?”
Is not always easy to analyze
Especially when there are
Plots to devise…

Or, are we simply something other
Like a dead soldier’s mother,
Whose unanswered plea
Is cited as conspiracy…

How do you label a mother’s lament?
Without accusations of intent?
Who really knows what it’s all about
Except those “lefties” gaining clout…

But to what we know
Here’s the gist,
If it doesn’t agree with approved rhetoric,
It’s sure to be terrorist!

So don’t listen and don’t agree
Or else you’ll become part
Of the cacophony…
Words that sound so awfully smart
Can sometimes be used to tear us apart.

It’s really quite unimaginable
To see what they can devise,
When it’s to their advantage
To polarize!

Les Aaron

The Price of Access

" Daddy's running, dear, because the White
House called to see if daddy could go quail
hunting with the Vice President..."