A Growth Business: Prisons

Imagine what might happen if we had 37 billion dollars to pump into the educational system of America.

Might we consider giving kids with brains an opportunity to get an education whether or not their family's could afford it? Might we consider upgrading the institutions of education? Would we legislate to obtain the best educators money could buy? Would we rewrite the curricula to put the emphasis on science and civics and history instead of general education courses that get you a degree but prepare you for nothing? Would we rebuild infrastructure to rescue our dying educational establishment? Would we toss away the senseless “No Child Left Behind Program” that never worked from day one and replace it with a diversity of programs that teach our children; not subject them to mindless testing ad infinitum. Would we get them the best equipment and technology available? One could only hope so given our government’s penchant for shifting budget dollars out of education and into armaments. .

Impossible to wish for; yet that is the amount of money that represents today's annual investment in the prison system. That’s right, the prison system. It's a 37 billion dollar industry that is branching out and expanding to fill a pressing need for more prisons instead of more rehabilitation. If that sounds like an unintentional mistake, it’s not.

If that 37 billion had been transferred to education for young people who had no opportunity; no one looking out for their welfare, would it have changed things?
Would there be a need to spend 37 billion dollars to incarcerate those who never had a chance; who were prevented from moving on a track that offered positive feedback and kind words of encouragement?.

We shall never know the answer to that question; but it's a good guess that money spent on education would be better spent than on prisons. From what we do know, imprisonment leads to recidivism not the desire to join the mainstream and become a productive citizen….and we should keep that in mind when we design institutions that take away man’s last hopes for dignity and self-esteem.

And although 37 billion dollars sounds like a fortune many times over it pales in comparison to just the money we are spending fighting a losing war on Iraq.

According to those who keep such records, the War has already topped 400 billion dollars and has lasted longer than World War II.

It seems that somewhere along the line, America has taken a detour from its pursuit of honesty, integrity, freedom, peace and prosperity.

Can the good citizens among us bring it back? Ah, that’s the question for a century where increasingly each man has become an island.

Les Aaron
The Armchair Curmudgeon
www.lesaaron.blogspot.com

Science And the Church

It’s really rather frightening to me that in the beginning of a new millennium two thousand years after the birth of Christianity, a time where we are considering probes to the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, fifty percent of our population-- a population that enjoys the benefits of scientific development and snow-balling technology in virtually every sphere of life– is willing to toss away all of our progress and intellectual achievement for what is for some a comfortable, pre-ordained world of mysticism and spirituality.
.
This retreat from a state of mind that embraces scientific inquiry is the contemporary equivalent of what precipated Milton’s authorship of the Aereopagitica, the book burnings that were authorized by a church afraid of free thought. It is more than just a temporary setback; it is a rebuke to our way of life. It is almost as if half of us decided to turn our back on what is known and what is provable for the sake of the unknown and what is unprovable..

Trying to wrap one’s mind around this conundrum provides no easy answers. Is it that we can’t deal with the uncertainties of life? Is reality too complex? Superstition and myth a comfortable haven for those who can’t cope? Or is just that everyone has been reborn and in the process accepted a literal interpretation of the bible that is at odds with reality and the facts?

it is almost as if the mental rigors and the probing into the unknown are almost too discomforting to bear and that mankind needs to reframe the world into a much simpler place where all that is known is known and preordained. It is man’s own ability to control that which he cannot really control. Applying the mind-sets of TV to the great unknown! That would mean projecting our own unknowns and uncertainties into a world that for the unscientific may not only be hard to understand but discomforting as well.

In effect, we are being asked to reject two thousand years of progress for the sake of literal interpretation of the bible that, itself, is the product of man’s decision and made literally hundreds of years after the death of it’s leading protagonist…

It is one thing to believe in spirituality ; it is quite another to reject what we know is true and replace it with a comfortable kind of spirituality that obviates everything that doesn’t agree with what we choose to believe, thereby reaffirming our own sense of “rightness.”.

It becomes a very dangerous faux world that tends to split the adherents apart from those who find arguments against such a view of the world. It is one thing to personally believe in a personal faith; it is quite another to impose that view on the world with all of the collateral consequences such rigid absolutism confers…

For fifty percent of the population to block out what is known and proven is frightening beyond belief because it indicates that superstition supersedes all reason. But that is not all of it: Incredulously, almost fifty percent of the population is ready for the Raptures; ready to see those who don’t believe as they do be destroyed by an emerging Armageddon as the “true believers” rush to Heaven.

In an even more bizarre expression of where such absolute beliefs can lead we need to look further than the newest Christian computer games that demand that people comply with the leader’s spiritual values or be eliminated symbolically, not by stoning but metaphorically by the most advanced weaponry in our arsenal which gives the lie to the notion of Christian charity to one’s fellow man—certainly, not what Jesus would have us subscribe to by any stretch of the imagination. More to the point, would Jesus even recognizes what passes as Christianity as it is viewed by those who believe that all of those who don’t follow their own views will be swallowed up in the abyss. Hardly!

Some might say, hey, this has little to do with what actually happened. It negates what we do know: That the gospels were written by man—actually many men; and even the four original gospels were written decades after the death of Jesus and not even necessarily by Mark, Luke, Matthew or John. . Moreover, the subsequent Gnostic gospels were written hundreds of years subsequent to the death of Jesus by different people and it took the church fathes to decide which of the gospels reflected the church’s view and should be included in the liturgy. So what makes this cast in concrete to be taken literally?


This kind of thinking suggests that science as we once knew it as a font for truth and objectivity has been supplanted and that what was known two thousand years ago still holds true today. As in the Medieval world, if we accept this view, things that don’t comply with this preordained view are rejected. More critically, however, if this view is exported to other areas of decision making it would explain why we entered Iraq as we did accepting what we wanted to believe and rejecting what didn’t fit. This, of course, sets us up for the big fall when it is discovered that metaphysics cannot be used to explain the laws of physics or deny known truths. In an ancillary way, our newly discovered spirituality has taken its toll upon our scientific leadership, leaving our economy vulnerable to a surge in spirituality that seems to ignore the things that made us a leader in the free world and enabled us to impose our will on others.. The fact remains that consequences always have consequences.

If one were to look back for an instructive lesson, we’d need go no further than the ancient Greeks. In their history, you might find the antecedents of what could happen now among the evolution of the Pythagoreans who tossed aside the commitment to scientific inquiry and proof in order to proceed in ways tempered by mysticism and symbolism. In other words, reasoned inquiry that had spearheaded Greek thought and set an example for the world was sacrificed for the sake of the mystical interpretation of numbers and their influence on life. Of course, none of it had any bearing on the real world and within a very short time frame, Greece’s preeminence in things scientific and rational evanesced like a wisp of smoke, leaving Greece a pathetic backwater as opposed to an awakening Rome that believed in War and slavery.. The question de jour is whether we, ourselves, are approaching such a tipping point.

What does the past hold for the future?

It tells us that if we are willing to put aside what we know in terms of scientific inquiry and analysis for the sake of spiritual “truths,” we may find ourselves rushing headlong into an unreasoned abyss.

And whereas this may have been at one time fun to speculate about, the truth remains that if fifty percent of the population wants the schoolbooks rewritten to reflect spirituality over science, it will happen. If fifty percent of our population believes that Noah really had every animal proceed two by two onto his Arc; and that there really was a Garden of Eden with a serpent and the voice of God, there is a good chance that serious scientific inquiry may be sacrificed and that we, too, will lose our forward trajectory which is predicated on science, human inquiry and rationality.

This may be the inherent flaw in democracy where the majority decides the future instead of those qualified in terms of intellect and capacity. If the Evangelical view precludes what we already know and understand through empirical evidence and the spirit of scientific inquiry, we shall see life imitate scripture and even more, scriptural interpretation that even supersedes what is part of the new testament. What is particularly interesting, is that the fundamental view
goes beyond what the bible to suggest with force and a sense of certainty that there will be a great war between the forces of Islam and Christianity where everyone who has not sworn allegiance to the forces of Christianity will be consumed by the fires of Hell!

This view seems to be subtext in the belief system that underlies those who have gone through the process of being “reborn,” and it is frightening to think that at a time where we stand at the cusp of remarkable new knowledge, we are willing to reject all of that for the sake of something of faith that may decide all outcomes for our society and the future of the world.

Les Aaron

What Do We Need An Ozone Layer For?

Very bad news!....The loss of Ozone in Antarctica is profound.
We knew we were losing our protective shield now for some twenty years but we thought we could live with the slow erosion that was taking place.
Well, the bad news is that it is happening faster than we anticipated...and we can't ignore it.

The bottom line is that we can no longer sit on our hands.We have to do something to try to reverse global warming since our officials are too concerned about keeping their jobs to want todo something, it is not in the interests of others to legislate change and for the rest of us, "we don't want to get involved."
But now we are seeing the implications of doing nothing--our world is coming apart and it begins in ways like losing our ozone layer which protects the delicate baolance of our environment. No, Alice, we can't go around ignoring and abusing our environent forever and still have a home!
Do something; make a difference...
Les Aaron
The Armchair Curmudgeon
www.lesaaron.blogspot.com

Where Only Bottom Feeders Survive...

Bottom feeding mudders...

Swim blindly without rudders

Contemplating gains

Whenever it pertains,

They suck up waste

In unqualified haste

And spew out pedestrian litanies

That are in opposition to known verities

Is it any wonder then

That our government doesn't know where or when

it will decide

On questions that divide;

Or that they will resolve

To the problem solve;

Or that their own conceits

Morph into deceits

so commonly acknowledged

by even those not necessarily colleged

That boobs who deceive

Oftentimes lead

Where honest men depart

Rather than say what's in their heart.

Oh, woe is us...

How did we arrive

Where only bottom feeders survive...


les Aaron



__._,_.___

You Can Even Learn From Bad Experiences...

I've learned a lot of things since Bush took office and I guess you can consider that positive.

I used to believe that America was made up of people of courage and that nobody would blink twice before stepping up to the plate to differ with views that did not represent the public good.

Hooey! It's simply not true.

I used to think that most Americans were rational people who used reason, honesty and objectivity to arrive at answers to their questions. I didn't believe that irrational spirituality would take over the lives of 50% of the population.

I used to think that "it couldn't happen here..."

That a fascist type of regime could simply come in and take over and discard the Constitution.

It couldn't happen here or so I thought.

I didn't think that a government would make laws that were not for the public good; that they would deny those inalienable rights to our own citizens like habeas corpus, privacy, etc.


Boy, was I misled.

I used to think Americans for the most part were smart. After all, we had access to the best colleges, the most comprehensive communications network and we were about self-improvement.

I am now convinced that more dummies reside in this country than any other country I've ever visited--and that includes some real backwaters!....

I used to believe that people cared about other people; that most people when they saw a person in need would step in and do what they were morally obligated to do, help.

I don't believe that anymore.

I used to believe that when people didn't agree on something that they could discuss it with good will and honesty and that it was okay to have an honest difference of opinion..

That has proved to be pie-in-the-sky.

Yes, there are still wonderful, glorious people who will go out of their way to help someone in need; there are good people who will stand up and be counted; and there are people who are committed to scientific reason and rationality but they are few and far between.

We are at a very dangerous tipping point: If the conservatives have their way, the textbooks will be rewritten and our children will be fed a menu of superstition and rhetoric. With more than 47 % of the population willing to jetison all we know, all we've learned in 2000 years, it is a pretty scary proposition. And it becomes more scary when you realize that most of this population believe that we are beginning to approach the time of Raptures where all good Christians will be swept up to Heaven--and heaven help the rest!...

I've also learned that if we don't do for ourselves, no one will do for us!

In short, we are each responsible for the world we inhabit; what we do with that knowledge will determine what becomes of our world.

Happy New Year!

Les Aaron

Palestinian and Israeli Show Us the Meaning of Understanding, One Person At A Time....

Quite often, you see a lot of polarized views offered on the Internet. That's why it was so gratifying to listen to a true message of good will, compassion and understanding on this morning's Hallmark Show that involved a dialogue among both Islamists and Israelis who have experienced personal loss and pain. In this one vignette, the Palestinian was describing how much he missed his brother who always looked out for him and then one day was killed in a skirmish with the Israelis; his counterpart was an Israeli mother in her sixties who was originally a peace activist from South Africa who saw hope in what had developed there but recently lost her son, a teacher and philosopher from a Palestinian bullet. This organization that deals in families from both sides who have lost members in the ensuing struggle between both sides has helped to bridge the gap of understanding. After much time together, the Palestinian man has come to the position to thank God for having the Israeli woman to look over him; he feels that his dead brother and his friend's mother are looking over their shoulders and telling him to look out for her. She, too, feels bound by the relationship that has grown in understanding and compassion the more they have come to know each other. both have come to feel responsible for the other. And this is happening through out the organization. The Palestinian said it best. To paraphrase his remarks, " if it is possible for us to come together, it is possible to have peace...." And that is the message for all of us on this meaningful day.

Peaceand Understanding.

It is a good message for these times.

Best wishes,

Les Aaron

Final Warning, An Introduction

Interview for the cover of the new book, Final Warning by the publisher, LAACO, an independent publishing company of Online books and content relevant to world issues…




Interviewer: What compelled you to write Final Warning?

Mr. Aaron: I was a spokesman for business and industry for many years representing the plastics, ingredients, and packaging and pallet wrapping industries.

Gradually, I began to understand what was taking place and saw the violations of environmental law taking place and I vowed that one day I would expose what industry is doing to harm and endanger the lives of our children and what it inveighs for the future.

I have children and grand-children; in all honesty, I could not leave them with a world that I knew was headed in the wrong direction without at least doing what I could to change it…

Inasmuch as I have been a writer for most of my career, I decided to write about it putting what I knew into novel form…


Interviewer: How d you attempt to explain the challenge.

Mr. Aaron: I decided that I would take a number of different threads—develop them as best I could—and then weave them together for a suspenseful climax.

Interviewer: Are these stories based on fact?

I had to make this a fictional narrative but many of the included stories are based on what I know or has already been brought to light in scientific journals and other investigations.

Interviewer: What is your intent in writing thisbook?

Mr. Aaron: To change the status quo which nobody, including this administration, wants to do. And to educate people who may not have an interest in reading the historical texts but can become involved in a narrative story that encapsulates many of the environmental issues facing mankind today.

Interviewer: What is the conflict.

Mr. Aaron: It is man vs. nature and man vs. man.

Interviewer: Could you explain?

Mr. Aaron: In the book, the scientific effort to educate voters is sabotaged every step of the way. The government doesn’t want us to know that coal energy kills 20,000 people a year—and still pumps effluents into the environment even using the latest technology. They don’t want mankind to understand that there are much more efficient alternatives that don’t contribute to global warming and that is where this country should be putting its efforts.

Interviewer: What is the current challenge as you see it?

Mr. Aaron: Keeping our country from slipping beneath the waves. I am not being facetious here; I was just to a meeting in one state given by the Department of Oceanography and I was shown computer projections that show that unless we change what we are doing, which is nothing, our entire state will disappear in the next fifty to one hundred years. If that isn’t a call to action, I don’t know what is.


Interviewer: Are you describing a local challenge to the environment?

Mr. Aaron: No, what we talk about are the road traps set up to defuse the Kyoto Accords so that nobody takes their efforts seriously.

What we are talking about is the resistance faced by global scientists to pursue global warming criteria. In this country, these efforts were ridiculed as being incomplete science; yet, as every day passes, we find more and more proof to vindicate our positions…


Interviewer: How do these environmental factors affect us?

Mr. Aaron: Well, if you’ve paid attention you’ve noticed that we’ve experienced extreme deviations in weather conditions over the past several years ranging from the most intense hurricanes to Tsunamis that have taken hundreds of thousands of lives.

Science now is predisposed to believe that many of these events are interrelated and are casual influenced by other events and conditions.

Interviewer: What are the long term implications?

Mr. Aaron: What we are experiencing now is an increase in air and water temperatures which has caused the melting of the Greenland Cap. Such ice melts would not only raise water levels will not only raise water levels, they are also expected to influence the “conveyor belt” or underseas river that circles the world and operates to keep temperatures moderate.

Should the scientists’ theorizing be correct and the global warming slow down the conveyor belt or stop it altogether, we may experience the other extreme, a mini Ice Age.

Interviewer: Isn’t that a little extreme.

Mr. Aaron: Yes, but it’s happened before—some 10,000 years ago. Should it happen, we would be hard pressed to survive and, likely, mankind would face mass extinctions.

General Keane and rethinking the Iraq quagmire

In a message dated 12/18/2006 11:44:03 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, Hubmaster writes:
We haven't heard much talk about retired Vice Chief of Staff General Jack Keane's proposal for a totally different level of engagement for Iraq and I think it bears some merit.

To attempt to paraphrase what he had said, it involved increasing the level of force protection for one reason: To protect the people of Iraq. According to the general's argument: When the people feel confident, they will work with the military to eliminate both the Shiite and Sunni insurrection.

And that is the point after all.

Why has that not worked before.

Because it's never been tried.

Well, for one, we were too busy putting out fires and our forces were not prepared to commiting to the protection of the people.

We need to be trained to perform that function.

Moreover, under the present scheme, at the end of day, we retire behind the walls of Fortress Baghdad and leave the people to fend for themselves; something they are very aware of.

Instead of retreating behind high walls, this plan involves getting out there and providing the force level of protection needed by the people.

I think this general is talking sense.

We have not provided the people with full electricity, water, or other services; mostly, we have not protected the streets. Why should they trust us or consign their safety and the safety of their children to American troops; it just isn't logical.

Yet, under Brimmer and the rest who couldn't provide the basic services and never entertained the idea of the safety of the people, it is a worthwhile idea that needs to be tried even though it may result in a temporary increase in troops in the Baghdad area...

Meanwhile, when the insurrectionists are out, the GI's are ensconced behind their walled cities and out of contact with the citizenry. In effect, what has happened is that the Sunnis and Shiites have effectively shut out forces so that they are for all intents and purposes unable to render aid or assistance to those being attacked!....

Applying the litmus test of honesty may be a change of pace for this government but Jack Keane's simple words make sense and deserve an appropriate airing. However, coming so late in the game, America may already have tired of a venture that seems so freighted with bad news and little positive feedback.

Les Aaron

Would you like a description of our latest book, "It Ain't Over
Til It's Over..." What Dems Need to Do To Take Back the White House...

for info, contact hubmaster@aol.com

THE COMMITTEE FOR POSITIVE CHANGE
www.lesaaron.blogspot.com

The Dying Woman Syndrome...

Iraq is like that woman condemned to death by Bush who was waiting for a pardon in the final minutes and there was none forthcoming. THis was Bush's sense of justice or humor, you choose the right answer. Will Iraq be spared by Bush's mercy or might he change his mind? And demonstrate a previously lacking sense of compassion or understanding that has been missing up til now..

With Bush, there is never the possibility of saying I was wrong. It is just not part of his vocabulary. He never had to. There was always power and influence he could use to gain the upper hand. He didn't say he was wrong when he learned insider trading from Enron's president in order to save his own holdings in his failing company. There was never an admission of bad judgment in the handling of Katrina.

With Bush, the buck never stops on his desk as it did with his idol, Harry Truman. With Bush, the buck keeps right on passing to the next guy. If belief in one's infallibility were a virtue, Bush would be at the top of the list with Cheney and Rumsfeld vying for second place. But it is not! Infallibility in the age of nuclear weapons and bullying ways is an invitation to dangerous precedents. And we are experiencing the fall-out of our precipitous ways in the twilight of a failed administration that despite what this president would wish for, will inevitably go down as the worst and most destructive of any administration in recorded history.

. As it happens, with Bush, changing one's mind was always seen as a weakness. With Bush, only a wuss changes his mind! And once your mind is made up all of his remaining brain cells are dedicated to maintaining the status quo regardless of new information.
This is what makes the outcome for Iraq so bleak. There is no alternative that could make Bush look better without leaving him at some kind of disadvantage. If we go the way of the commission, dad and Baker look better and he looks like he couldn't come up with a better decision on his own. Would it be better to condemn a dysfunctional country than consider the possibility of change. Of course, it's pro forma for the Bush cabal. Always start off with the conclusions you want and then don't let anything change your mind.
So, in the end, Iraq is the dying woman with no change of parole and Bush's legacy is fire and brimstone and growing enmity among the world's peoples.


les Aaron
The Armchair Curmudgeon

The Committee for Positive Change
www.lesaaron.blogspot.com

Talk about cunning, Delaware holds the edge…

Think about this:

Our State in an effort to generate more revenue is considering subcontracting maintenance and control of its major roads to foreign contractors; never mind that such a decision would send up all kinds of red flags about our State being able to control the growth and maintenance of its infrastructure at a time of continuing population growth..

On the surface, that would seem like a silly thing to do; but wait a minute, assuming that to be the case doesn’t take into considerations other realities.

For example, to meet our growing energy needs, the Governor and the four committees involved are expected to perpetuate the status quo; i.e. that means increasing our dependency on coal despite the fact that coal emissions are toxic, contain base metals such as mercury, that are extremely hazardous to one’s health and affect global warming earning us one of the worst ratings on Sierra Club’s analysis of States heading towards impending disaster. That’s why this decision which at this point seems pretty much a foregone conclusion has been kept quiet with very little debate or editorial coverage.

The cunning comes in when you realize that there are perfectly good alternatives that don’t pollute and don’t contribute to global warming but don’t have all of the clout of the coal lobby. For example, if we were to convert to wind energy, we could meet all of our requirements and have energy left over that we could market to other States; more than that, we could be a bellwether for the country showing them what can be done with a little courage and enterprise.

Only no one is talking alternative energies up!

And this is where the real cunning comes in. While on the one hand we are willing to lease out our roads allowing foreign companies to take charge of them and, obviously, raise the tolls and other costs, we are not going to tell these subcontractors that fifty years from now, the roads that they have paid to maintain, will probably be under water.

Yes, that’s the outlook according to studies conducted within the State by the University of Delaware. They have conducted computer projections that show that between fifty and one hundred years, if nothing is done to address Global Warming, water levels will rise between thirty five inches up to five feet or more putting all of Delaware under water.

Sadly, right now, we have the know how to avoid pumping of more toxic emissions into the atmosphere and the ocean and we have the ability to reverse our patterns of fossil fuel consumption to lessen the impact of Global Warming but it takes will and commitment.

Sadly, they both seem lacking here. Maybe someone should tell the people who are about to lease the roads. Now, before you consider yourself pretty well off, it might be a good idea to take another look at your State’s environmental policy; you may discover that you are not much better off after the government and the State have conspired to drill in pristine areas, cut logging roads in National Parks, license out
slash and burn mining wherever a profit can be realized.

Sad to say it’s Americans selling out Americans all over the place and quite frankly, it reeks!...

Les Aaron
The Committee for Positive Change

You Can't Make A Silk Purse From a Sow's Ear...

Last week, it was the Baker group that took the big hit trying to legislate an impossible outcome. This morning, undeterred by the experience of their peers, another group of august thinkers were wrestling with what is the best solution to the challenges we face in Iraq. What came out of their mental gyrations was that every single one of them misses the point.

The reason: They are starting with the set of circumstances that Rumsfeld orchestrated, a situation that Bush built on which if one thinks about it, are concepts in direct opposition to each other.

Bush says he will not quit until “we win!...” But contradictorily, he is operating on the Rumsfeld theory that less is more—less manpower that is.
It is impossible to reconcile two contradictions in thinking.

Let’s take a step back and look at the background to understand my point.

Rumsfeld knew that he was never going to get the money for both an expanded Army and the new Army he had envisioned which was going to substitute technology for manpower. This was the vision.

And much of the funding was coming out of planned educational budgets.

In the beginning, many of us had thought that Rumsfeld could never make this work and that, in effect, he was being viewed as the sacrificial goat.

But we were wrong and hadn’t counted on Cheney’s behind the scene support for the man who had brought him into government during the Ford Administration.

It was always a choice of this way or that, and technology, of necessity, had to win!
And Rumsfeld had to make it work. That was his mandate. Remember, we were still funding the 264 billion dollar antimissile shield that still doesn’t work…

To put things into perspective, Rumsfeld should have realized that during the Desert Storm, America had positioned more than 500,000 Allied troops for the invasion. And at that time, the population was something like 20% smaller.

Contrast this with the fact that during the second invasion of Iraq we were to make our initial forays into Iraq with fewer than 200,000 troops.

In other words, we were starting at a serious disadvantage in terms of the ratios of occupying forces to native populations. Most military theorists ruled an invasion of a country with a population of over 26 million people with fewer than 200,000 troops as suicide waiting to happen.

The former Army Chief of Staff and then Secretary of State Powell warned against the dangers of not using overwhelming force, his coda for the troops under his command after the experience of Vietnam…. And most of his generals
Would have agreed that he was right.

But Rumsfeld didn’t listen. He was out to prove his point and make brownie points with his “boss,” the president.

Only, nobody had thought out a plan B. What if it didn’t work and what if the Iraqis were not so eager to gravitate to democracy?

Knowing Rumsfeld is to know that he, like Cheney and Bush, are not the kind of Cold Warriors who take criticism of their decisions lightly. And so, with the general staff knowing better and not eager to stand up to a man who is a practitioner of “get even,” they went ahead anyway…

Last night, the former Secretary of State under Clinton said that that decision may turn out to be the worst foreign policy decision of all time. And when Charlie Rose asked her “why?” she explained that is because it could trigger Middle Eastern conflict for many years to come with Sunni Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt positioned against Shiite Iran and Syria with Lebanon and Palestine caught in the middle.

Clearly, no one had thought about future outcomes when they decided to use WMD and other half baked arguments and faulty research as an excuse to march into Iraq.

Ironically, it was Kerry and Gore who wanted to build up the American military from its weakened position after the first Gulf War..

But the question is today, how can the president on the one hand claim that he needs to finish the job and on the other hand fail to provide the resources including both men and equipment necessary to that purpose. That is not only stiff headedness, it is dishonest and wrong!

American negotiators are trying to formulate a solution from those untenable positions and that is why none are forthcoming that satisfy a middling intellect. In the end, the electorate will come to the realization that this was Bush’s and Rumsfeld’s Show and they handled it much like Katrina.

Les Aaron
www.lesaaron.blogspot.com

Don't Step in the Media

You turn on the Media, you get Government-Speak; you switch to the Internet and what do you get: Unproven Hatred and Ignorance.
It’s most discouraging….

But what’s a fella to do?

The fact is that most of us with a modicum of gray matter are getting bored with all of the digested and regurgitated crap fed to us by the Media Gurus who think that if we fall into a certain age category, we don’t think.

. It's like we inhabit two separate planets and the media is an extension of the Oval Office. Take the crapola they’re dishing out today:
Rumsfeld is loved by the Chief of Staff who can't say enough good things about him. So either he's a moron or catch him when he's talking to his friends. They don’t really expect that the general is going to admit being a suck up but hey, when your future’s at stake you have to play the game.

Right?

Some people might argue that. They might really ask what about pride and integrity which don’t seem to count for much these days when measured against a pay check.

there are so many lies and misstatements making the rounds that it actually puts your mind to sleep if you listen to half of this crap. Man of the Year? I suspect it will Bush again. My God, what a surprise considering that Time magazine was started by a guy named Luce who was practically in bed with the president.

Someone a while back actually had the collosal gall to write about part of the problem. It was the fact that good reporters are being shut up by their editors who have to gain permission from the "boss" before going forward on a story that may be deemed editorially unfriendly to the White House.

It's called "Into the Buzz Saw..." and it makes you want to scream to everyone, "I can't take it anymore..."
What would the really good reporters and serious news people think?. I'm not talking about Katie Couric the lightweight whose trying to look like Walter Lippmann. She can't hold a candle to any of the Network's once bright lights. It is clear that these people are news readers..

They haven't gone out there, stood on the battlefield and earned their credentials like Don Rather and Walter Cronkite; nor could they keep up with the great staff of CBS Morning News with Robert Trout, Douglas Edwards, Eric Severeid. That was when the news counted.

Now, it's political and when the White House doesn't like what you say they raise the threat level. That's why Aaron Sorkind quit the West Wing: the Government didn’t like it when Sorkind made the democrats look human and smart.

More and more, the news looks like verbal diarrhea with lots of feel good stuff that has little or no relevancy to the emerging world taking up valuable news time. It's a whole different ball game these days with ten companies including Disney telling us what we should believe. Believe that you were fathered by a duck.

The bottom line: It doesn't go down well!...with me or anyone with half a brain.

Trouble is there’s a lot of unfounded hate and inaccurate garbage on the Internet as well… I could never believe that there could be so much bottled up hatred in the world and the so-called liberals may be the most extreme case of all. Anti this; anti that. You ask why and you get "because..." And if doesn't appear in the online encyclopedia you can forget it.



So it gets back to that old saw: Don’t believe 95% of what you see or hear…

It’s the only way to stay sane in a world that has gone crazy.

Les aaron

www.lesaaron.blogspot.com

THE COMMITTEE FOR POSITIVE CHANGE

Iraq Does Not Penetrate the Bubble of Indifference...

what nobody's been willing to face is that Iraq actually shows the great schism that exists in our country between rich and poor.

Most Americans join the National Guard for one reason: To earn a little money to perhaps get by and earn an education. Therefore, it's about those who don't have the rich daddy who's got a lock on a spot at Princeton or Yale. It's about us, the middle class. The same is true of the reasons anyone of good sense joins the Army. This is despite the fact that the Army has had to lower its standards to fill its quotas.

Iraq shows up in spades what happens when you have a radical redistribution of income. It tells people what they don't want to admit. WARS ARE NOT FAIR....

It shows that many of the GI"s who sign up for this deal are doing so because of sign up bonuses and the chance to get a mostly free education.

For the most part, those who serve are those from the lower rungs of America's economic ladder and nobody is spelling it out that way because, well, it would seem "unAmerican."

The rest of the population of military age has blocked the whole War experience out of their minds if my conversations with college students and others has any bearing. These people isolate themselves from the issues of the day; they don't want to know about alternative fuels; they don't want to know about global warming; they don't want to know about what is really going on in America today,. Not unlike, our estimable leader, they inhabit a bubble that says it's okay to continue your life style and make money hand over fist at the expense of everything elsle. It is selfishness raised to the 26th power!

I've yet to hear anyone bring up the big sacrifice at fancy cocktail parties of the rich and famous. For those in the upper ten percent of the population who own virtually every asset in this country, there is not only a heavy dose of remorse, Iraq simply doesn't occupy their frontal lobes.

If you doubt that just pay attention to the ongoing conversations among the rich and famous.

People still drive gas guzzlers; women still wear fur coats; recycling is sporadic; nobody is volunteering to stick their necks out to change the numbers.

Meanwhile, the poor are doing this nation's heavy lifting and not getting much credit fore it considering the way the government treats their benefits and medical care. And nobody stands behind them.

Some day, moralist that I am, I believe that this country will wake up and have a day of reckoning. We will acknowledge that if we are a nation of "equals" some are a heck more equal than others.

Now, those of us in the Middle Class are just trying to pass by all the windows as they say in Hotel New Hampshire. We are trying to get through the holidays with credit intact and mortgage payments made.

Meanwhile, the young and the capable are doing our nation's dirty work and the rich turn their backs. That's why the Senator from New York urged the draft--the only way to spread the burden to "all of the people..." He also knows were that to happen, the War would be over within weeks!" Guaranteed!...

It's time we faced the truth and stopped kidding ourselves.





Les Aaron
The Committee for Positive Change....

Vet Candidates Deserved Better...

Fifty ran, only four won.



These were the Vets who came back with something to say, something to add to the American dialogue; only they didn’t know much about how politics worked so they struggled on their own, tried to raise money to support their candidacy and did the things they thought made sense.



Only the Democratic Party didn’t support them.



They were told that they had to raise a million to be considered seriously. The head of the DNCC sometimes put in their own person over the Vet instead of helping the Vet gather the support of the voters.



Eric Massa, the head of the Band of Brothers as they called themselves, told it like it was. The only one who came and supported him was the former Senator from Georgia who lost three limbs and had to stand up for himself when he was accused of not being a patriot.



Eric’s problem: He said what he thought. He was refreshing and people who were long term republicans voted for him.



His opponent, on the other hand, got lot’s of backing from his own party and attacked Massa with direct mailers funded by the party that had to cost a half million dollars.



Meanwhile, Massa had no money for postage or mailings—even though he raised 800,000 dollars which was more than he ever earned in the military; still the DNC would not raise a finger to help…



Eric Massa lost the election by about two percent. He was left with two years worth of debt. So did Tammy Duckworth, another wounded Veteran who was not a polished politician either so she spoke from her heart.

And so did the 42 more of the democratic candidates. Oftentimes, the difference between success or failure was less than two percent. But the democratic leadership failed to help the candidates when they needed it most. Failed to provide money; failed to provide support!



They were smart; they were dedicated; and they each wanted America to return to its former glory; it’s a sad story that the party contributed to their defeat despite all the self praise they larded on themselves. That is the true story and the subtext that you will never get from the Democratic Party….and the only ones who lost out were the American people.



God Bless America and let’s not forget our Vets who are finding an increasing number of hospitals closing, their benefits being cut short and some even being sued for staying in Army camps…



We should all remember that you know a people by the way they treat their heros…



Les Aaron



The Armchair Curmudgeon



THE COMMITTEE FOR POSITIVE CHANGE

www.lesaaron.blogspot.com

Contribute to the Clothing Drive for Veterans extended to December 20…

Send donations or clean hats and gloves to



HOV (Help Our Vets!) program

c/o Les Aaron

239 Lakeside Drive

Lewes DE 19958

302 645 7443

The Antiterrorist Card

In a message dated 12/12/2006 7:30:44 PM Eastern Standard Time, Hubmaster writes:
It seems rather odd that our government can mobilize its forces against terrorism, dispense with the Constitution and yet completely do an about face when it seems to suit its purpose...To say that its confusing to go from first one position to the opposite with the blink of an eye and think nothing of it sows confusion among those of us who can't seem to rationalize what's going on as coherent policy.

What we are privy to seems to be government by convenience and that convenience has more to do with bottom line motives than maintaining a universal front against terrorism.

Many of us have noticed this strange pattern of behavior that suggests we pull out all of the plugs to assure that we are safe from terrorists, yet ignores the challenges of our
Borders. It seems the antiterrorist effort is very selective.
We will address them at the airports but ignore them at the train stations doesn't make much sense to me.

It seems to suggest that it is alright to snoop on people without the approval of the Courts, yet it is okay to allow our ports to be operated and maintained by companies with strong connections to the Middle East.
We are advised that our Saudi friends underwrite much of the terrorism that goes on but our president's father and friends sit on a board that buys up American defense contractors.

We talk about unifying all of our protective agencies into one Super Bureaucracy at enormous cost to the taxpayer, yet we seem unable to provide “first responders” with the tools they need to handle the challenges they will face if the terrorists return as they are likely to do.

This seems to me symptomatic of a kind of preparation that is half-baked, half thought out. It is as if we have we have authorized the preparation of the most advanced submarines but equipped them with screen doors.

For example, we have the same percentage of Federal dollars doled out to a small Western State that hosts no national target as New York and Washington, which seem to deserve the lion’s share of any Federal money earmarked for protection of possible target sites. Yet the recipients of Federal money for protection use that money to buy garbage trucks or protective vests for their canines.
Now, we're not against protecting our dogs, it's just that when you talk antiterrorist we should be consistent.
If you think about what we're calling policy it is disturbingly reminiscent of the way we approached the challenges of New Orleans. We seemed to come on strong in one area and completed neglected to consider the accompanying challenge next store. We rebuilt homes almost at whim it seems without a coherent plan or a program. The randomness of our contrived solutions seemed pulled out of a hat rather than being thought about.

Had this been the modus operandi during the Kennedy years, one wonders whether we would have reached the moon in the established time frame.

When it comes to security and protection, this seemingly mind-blowing disregard for logic and coherence is more than just neglect, it seems like a fundamental dereliction of duty. And it is the sort of thing we see all over the place. From the secret no bid contracts with Brown and Root and other Kellogg companies to rebuild a warn torn Iraq to the problems of building a 700 mile fence for a 2,000 mile border.

In short, who or what is watching the store when our president can seem to get his attention off of Iraq? That is what concerned citizens would really like to know.
While we are told that protection of Iraq is important to our own protection so is protection of our borders and our ports. Until these questions are addressed, no one I know is going to sleep soundly at night.

And we face two more years of unanswered questions unless the Democrats take the bull by the horns and start off in January with pervasive hearings and investigations.

Les Aaron

Not Ready for Prime Time...

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Why else would we enjoy a Shakespeare play, the poetry of Keats, the paintings of the great masters? It’s because we all respond to eternal truths. We can still relate to the twists and turns of a plot written five hundred years ago…

So it was with great interest that I watched the introduction of Baker, the friend of one and suspect to the other. Ah, there is more to this than meets the eye, I ruminated. I could see all kinds of motives deliciously interwoven with little hints of drama. Could this rise to the level of a Shakespearean plot with all its twists and turns? I don’t think so because the cast of characters are so pedestrian…never demonstrating a twinge of emotion.

What have we got? We have a natural conflict: father vs. son. Historically, the Elder, we gather, being not much of a father, impelled the son to pursue his own course which didn’t seem to include the wise counsel of his father. It would have been much better if the son killed the father but Bush is no Agamemnon.
In Act II, things get a little more interesting. We see the introduction of Consigliere, Baker, the Deux Ex Machina to resolve the conflict. Baker is no play-mate of junior; and the conflict starts to build. Will Baker please the father and mollify the son? Hardly! .

Conflict resolution without a lot of complications; but, no, there are hints of complications. The father weeps. Why? Ah, this could be something since the father has never shown a scintilla of compassion for anyone. So why would he cry when he didn’t cry for his crewmate who didn’t get to bail out when he did; nor did he cry when he screwed the Kurds. This might be something.
The skeptical mind wonders whether it’s to assuage his own internal guilt and save the lapsing career of the better, brighter son; or is it just to show Junior that he was sorry for never being there for him. Or maybe because its been so long since Betty gave him a little. Still melodrama.

In Act Three, the cheese becomes more binding sayeth the wise man.. The son who now reports to a higher authority, wants his father to know that he will not accept his “charity.” Higher authority reporting is more Greek than Shakespearean and one begins to wonder whether this analogy is more apt considering Junior is big on symbols and icons. Very Pythagorean signifying that the end may be near.. . Does the son know that the father had a mistress? Does the mother feels guilty that he survived and his younger sibling died? Does the son secretly resent the father? Is God part of the conflict between son and father? All questions without answers….Now, it seems that we are midway between the Skye Clan and the Old Testament.

The son insulted by the messenger of his father who verbalizes the son’s mistaken judgment serves an indictment upon the son before posing a possible solution.
The thin skinned son needs to show that he is his own man; that no man can question his capabilities—especially one so important sent to change what he believes is the only solution especially when the son considers that no one was there for him when he was growing up. This sounds positively Macedonian. The son to take over and exceed the father; yes, definitely; but the lack of doubt rules rules out Hamlet.

The father recognizing that his son is isolated from reality tries to nudge him from the bubble of his own making but is indirectly rebuked. (Glass menagerie perhaps?) At the same time, the father understands that this is all happening while the brighter son, perhaps the real tragedy, is closing out his own career without achieving the goals both parents had set for him. (Perhaps a reincarnation of Jimmy Stewart?)… . Did the father resort to the Baker alternative thinking that he might be able to save the career of his other son?

There are all of these little subtexts woven in this blueprint for change that seem to suggest that maybe in the long term, the son will see the light; but if we are honest with ourselves, we know there is little likelihood of that and that the entire world will be dragged into a pact with the Devil. Ah, Devil pacts are always interesting. Seeing the protagonist as the emissary of the he Devil makes us wonder whether this whole piece of business was some kind of Faustian bargain –a chance to show 41 that he could find a few brain cells that were still working. (See Fortunate Son and learn about silver spoon syndromes) or perhaps the Devil, himself, puts a new spin on the play and introduces an unholy alliance between man and man and suggesting that what is really being played out is the ultimate battle between good and Evil.
Here’s the book of John all over again; not the apostle, the other John, the old John who is sent to an island and is full of revenge. On the other hand, someone could make a good case for Mother Nature getting in her last licks with the ultimate Extinction and vindication for GAIA. Nevertheless, one could imagine the wind blowing and the tides at twenty feet. Here’s the final scene with angels rising into Heaven and the right wing singing the Hallelujah chorus as we sit through Armageddon and watch the premiers of North Korea, Iran and Saddam’s ghost plunging into the fires of hell with all left-leaning democrats.
Of course, rationality seems to have no place in the final chapter as we ultimately lose all rationality and decide to head for a good steak and a beer before the end arrives…

If we can transform this soap opera with a little ultimate Evil I’m sure that we could find backers; otherwise, I suspect it would get a bad review. I don’t think
Sumner Redstone would hire the cast for Paramount unless he got to pay the stars out of profits…

Les Aaron
The Armchair Curmudgeon

The Binary Solution: Does It Work?

Iraq. Why an either or decision?



Bush says stay the distance or now, something about going forward which sounds presidential but what does it mean? The Baker Commission talks about building up the Iraqi army as if that’s a new idea…But wait a minute, isn’t that what we’ve tried to do for nearly four years?



In the end, the gurus and prophets of this ‘no win’ game seem stuck in the either/or grove.



If we don’t do it Bush’s way or the Baker way, the sky will fall, Henney Penny. But hasn’t it already fallen metaphorically. I mean why have we so quickly reduced ourselves to the lesser of two unpopular choices? To me, the so-called bi-partisan commission of apologists for junior wanted to get this out of the way without exercising too much thought in order to get back to more important things…. Unless I’m mistaken, which I doubt, nobody on the commission is an expert on the history, culture and tradition of Iraq. So why are we treating them as if they were the Oracle of Delphi… Quite conversely, the solutions produced in book form seem to be the quick American fix from a family seeking a happy ending to the muck and mire that’s been the case there for longer than anyone would care to remember about this Middle Eastern trap..



Perhaps this is an assumption, perhaps not; but either way, it doesn’t look like there was a great deal of gray matter expended on this issue--although intellectual probity seems to be rather rare in this undestinguished White House. . In short, one suspects that the so-called bipartiasan membership was given more or less of a mandate: Help get my son out of this mess!...



Meanwhile, Junior has been running around with that mad look in his eye and a level of intransigence that we have not seen in the presence of new information.



Beyond that, la-la-land seems to prevail.



It occurs to me that the nation that could land a team on the Moon, should be able to do better. Hey there, Washington folks, we do have thinkers and many with specific expertise on Iraq even though they may not be of the Radical Right.. But in this case, the choice was expedient and political and, as such, the solutions offered seem wanting in seriousness and credibility.



In short order, we are likely to limit ourselves to the ideas of either one or the other; this is not to say that we have worked very hard and convincingly to countenance alternatives and submit them to the litmus test of discussion and analysis.



We’ll probably leave that for the succeeding administration.



In the meantime, someone like Henry Kissinger could see a connection with his heavy-handed exegis nearly thirty years ago and for the rest of us, it is Nam revisited.



Les Aaron

The Committee for Positive Change

www.lesaaron.blogspot.com

Watching the Window...

I think the dems have lost track of one thing.
If they don't act quickly and decisively to deal with the plethora of issues that crowd the docket, then we will be viewed by the voters as part of the problem.
I don't think that this message has gotten through yet.

We have two years or less to come off as the party that solves problems not adds to them. Unfortunately, we have been painted into this corner by the Independents, the disgruntled republicans, the Libertarians and all of the other fence stradddlers who expect us to solve the problems that the republicans have had years to engineer.

If we don't make a difference and quickly, we may find that the solid backing for a democratic presidency may have dissolved in front of our eyes...

Right now, McCain's rankings make him the name to beat and he is sounding what on the surface seems very rational arguments. If it comes down to Clinton or Kerry and McCain, the candidate with the least tarnished background will carry the day. And McCain is still the Vet hero to beat!

The Comission and Bush have not supported his position, therefore, he always has the option of claiming that he was right and no one listened to him.

In every respect, he is ready willing and able to don the mantle of a new Republican party that is moderate, sensible and much more attuned to middle-America and the South. Even the Republican's know that their experiment with extremism was doomed!....

Democrats need to move into high gear and don't have too much time to establish their credentials as the alternative party that speaks for the people.

Will that happen?

We hope so but we also hope that Nancy and her team recognize that they walk a very thin line and that one major mistake can cost them dearly and that could translate into a much closer election in 2008 or even a loss!....

It's up to the rest of us to keep them on target.

Write!

Les Aaron

Moving Forward...

The Baker advisory group if nothing else has changed the language. If you haven’t noticed, we have moved from “Stay the course” to the new cliché that everyone seems to be mouthing, …”The way forward” which is the new mantra for the course correction being advised by the government whose meaning is totally elusive and on purpose.

It is in fact, the perfect non-sequiter, use “The way forward..” and it seems perfectly suited to whatever you’re talking about.

That’s really the problem; it's one of those phrases you can simply drop into any sentence without changing its meaning.

The Bush cabal wa very good at euphemisms when it came to snowing the voter but lo and behold, the people have gotten wiser and, today, nobody seems to be falling for the latest euphemism like "downsizing" or "off-shoring..."

Moving forward has become a way to mask the fact that the government increasingly flummoxed by the language and resorting to quick fix words that sound good but signify nothing. Ford used this terminology first before it announced layoffs of 20, 000 employees and a bleak outlook so already the red lights have started going off whenever this phrase is tossed around…

This government has been expert at coining euphemisms but bad at making anything happen of consequence to improve the landscape.

Today, despite the fact that everyone is mouthing “moving forward, “ the public is having none of it and for the most part see through the smoke and mirrors to get at the truth.
Although neither Bush or the Prime Minister have picked up on that fact yet since his speech today re Iraq seemed peppered with that expression that sounds good but means nothing.

But isn't that the way this whole administration is playing out: A big deal for the few and nothing for the rest.

Les Aaron

Framed Again!

This is an email I sent to a dear friend who seems to think that we liberals are responsible for much of the Evil in the world. I love this guy but I cannot allow anyone to cast a shadow over my liberal credentials; I have bled too hard to earn them and I will defend them to my dying breath.

Les Aaron



“A worthy perspective, my friend.

As you know, I consider myself a liberal or a progressive but the unfortunate part is that we have let others define us and by not speaking up, we have become framed, disparaged and misunderstood…

When you talk about liberalism, perhaps you should think first about some of the good things that are associated with liberalism….

Instead of thos pejorative terms used to describe us by the right wing haters, here’s some things that wouldn’t have happened were it not for liberalism…

Instead of being painted with the handles of “do gooders,” “tree huggers,” “pinkos,” “fellow travelers,” think of the GI Bill, cheap mortgages, Silicon Valley, Rural Electrification...

And while we get a bad rap for governance, these facts remain:

THe government grew under Reagan, Bush 1 and Bush II faster than any democratic government in history....concurrenly with vast indebtedness. Remember Clinton. Under him, we had a surplus….

What you may not hear either is that the recession that Bush talked about was actually helped along by his buddies at Enron who conducted highway robbery with energy prices in places like California, the fifth largest economy on earth…


Two, that beginning with Reagan, there was radical redistribution of income. Beginning in the time of Reagan, 60% of the nation's wealth was held by only 5% of the population; today, it is 1 1/2% holds more than sixty percent of the wealth giving the lie to the fact that we are a nation of equals.

Under Reagan, jobs started moving overseas.

Today, 80% of the Unions have disappeared with a growing migrant population most of it illegal.

Our indebtedness has gone into the trillions with most of this country being owned by China.

Today, we are a leading exporter of what? SCRAP believe it or not and agricultural products and leading importer of manufactured goods which qualifies us as a Colony rather than a Super Power.

Today, the Chinese are beating us in the rush to alternatives to energy....whereas only a few years ago they were in the dark ages.

Today, America can only graduate something like 40000 engineers; India graduates 400,000 and only ten percent of their young people go to college.

Today, America has 9 cities over a million people; in the last few decades, China has built 121 cities....

By every measure, American policy both domestic and foreign is a policy that serves a narrow base, is misguided and doomed to failure.

We are going to pay a price for ignoring the environment and allowing Iraq to blind us to what is truly happening in the World.

None of the above can be denied by anyone who can think his or her way out of a paper bag.and, sad to say, aside from the corruption, the money laundering, the building of bridges to nowhere, your friends in government do not even know how to govern.

Republicans of this ilk need to return to the streams and rivers where they were spawned and give democrats an opportunity to eliminate monarchies and return us to a balanced nation of people who respect the public good.

Les

A Plan To Protect the Henhouse Authored by the Nation's Leading Foxes...

Between Iraq and a Hard Place...

What do you think about the great plan to get us out of Iraq.
Is it an upgraded cut and run?
I don't know but it seems rather prosaic and derivative..
Nevertheless, it does do one thing: It rebukes Junior's intransigence and casts him as one who is stuck in low gear with no vision and no ideas..
Maybe that's what dad was crying about the night before at Jeb's good-bye speech; or was it that he was feeling sorry for the bright one who will never get a chance to continue the dynasty of the Bush elites. . One does not know but it was interesting to see Bush 41 caving in front of the audience at this particular time when Jeb's career seemed all but over and George's career sinking faster than a submarine with screen doors.
While none of the members of the committee are any experts or have committed years in studying the problem, the plan does get the US off dead center and puts us into a framework to consider other options. Oddly, it recommends privatizing the country’s oil which is somewhat disingenuous inasmuch as the recommendations chief spokesperson is an oil man and a negotiator and hard-hitting lawyer for oil interests.
What it does do, however, is that it begins the process of getting our boys and girls back.
Of course, it borrowed from here and there. Some of the elements of the plan could have drafted up by Murtha or some of the honest generals who could not honestly serve America’s best interests and Rumsfeld and Bush at the same tim..

Bush, of course, was trying to look statesmanlike realizing that daddy's group may have just saved his butt; despite the fact that Junior who reports to a higher authority was not getting much good advice. With Rummy gone, it should be a whole new ball game and perhaps when this is behind us we can turn to the business of impeachment.
My friend said to me how can I talk impeachment with a democratic congress. I said, "my dear friend, I have no illusions about what this governent has done to ruin my life and my country. I don't have a single ounce of remorse about the idea of impeachment of someone so dangerous who has so jeopardized our nation. Moreover, I don't remember you so upset when Clinton was impeached for a civil matter that had no business being dredged up before the courts..." No response to date. We shall see.

At least, maybe we will have seen the end of The Bush Mafia and the consigliere Baker when all this is done....and it will be good to adieu to a self-imposed monarchy whose leadership consider their views sacrosanct and speak in tongues…
Les Aaron
the Armchair Curmudgeon...

The committee for positive change

www.lesaaron.blogspot.com

What We Can Learn from the Seventh Wealthiest Man in the World....

Interesting fact I learned today.

Who do you think the seventh wealthiest man is and what does he do?

Guess?

Nope. The seventh wealthiest man is Chinese. And how does he make his money?

Selling TVs to the US. Nope!

Selling socks?

Selling video games?

Nope to all!

Here is resident of the most polluted country in the world selling photo cell systems for taking the sun's energy and converting it to electricity.

A couple of years ago, no one thought it was doable.

Now, this man in China is representative of a big push to sell light energy around the world.

Again, China is taking the lead from an America that seems to do nothing to improve our lives or better our futures.

It seems that all we are good for these days is bluster, making everyone angry and screwing up. We have found a way to macrosize New Orleans to get the entire world to hate us.

Meanwhile, the Chinese, a nation that not too many years before was in the dark ages, is beating us at the technology game.

Did you know that today America is the largest exporter of scrap and agricultural products and the leading importer of manufacturing goods.

You know what that makes us?

A banana republic.

And so it goes....

Les Aaron

Help Our Vets! Campaign Kicks Off

Press Release:



Community Affairs:

For Immediate Release





Help Our Vets! Drive Underway:





Lewes, DE; December 5th; Les Aaron, Director of the Committee for Positive Change, is pleased to announce as part of their program to help provide support for Veterans, their first clothing drive. “As John Kerry’s former Veterans Adviser for Southern Delaware and as a Vet myself, I know that I am one of the fortunate ones and that there are many Vets who are needy and don’t even have gloves or a warm head covering for these cold winter evenings. Therefore, we are embarked upon a County-wide program designed to supply every Veteran in Delaware with warm gloves and a hat. The Sussex County drive will ask volunteers to find and donate either new or used gloves that are clean and dry without holes to the program for distribution to Veterans through-out the State before the holidays.



“Those interested in supporting Help Our Vets! Volunteer Glove and Hat Drive should send their donations to L. Friedlieb, 239 Lakeside Drive, Lewes, DE 19958. We are a small organization and cannot pay postage due on shipments; these will be returned to sender. Or make arrangements via email at hubmaster@aol.com. Please identify Help Our Vets in the subject line.



“For those who don’t have new or used gloves in good condition, we shall buy gloves at the lowest possible price. Minimum donation levels are five dollars for a hat or a pair of gloves. Help the Veterans stay warm this Christmas Day and show that they are cared for, please donate to Help Our Vets! Program today.



“All donations should be scheduled to arrive by no later than 20 December for this year’s drive. Donations shall be made to VA hospitals and homes and churches within Sussex County for distribution to Vets, and the poor and needy. Thank you for your kindness and your generosity.”



This program endorsed by the Committee for Positive Change, a local organization committed to community and environmental causes.



239 Lakeside Drive, Lewes, DE 19958.



Les Aaron, Director

Federal Government Lags States In Support of Alternative Energy Sources

The Federal Government should be embarrassed by the progress of individual states, strongly democratic, in areas such as renewable energy sources....

Individual states have led the Federal government in making choices that are in the best interests of the people....something that the Federal government seems either unwilling or unable to comprehend...

The lesson here is clear for many of us....


Last week, I attended a local meeting presented by the local university as to the benefits of wind power. The audience was suitably impressed; then we previewed a new documentary on saving energy called Kilowatt Ours...a message neatly crafted by an average guy with an above average interest in helping America save money. He financed the film out of his own pocket and is looking to bring his message of energy sanity around the country.

He should because it is a lesson instructive for all of us who believe that this country has a future....

Our little group is planning to present the film and the arguments to the State government this coming month about a month before the government will decide how the State will expand its energy capacity. With an expanding population, and strong demands for increased energy, the State needs to explore energy options.

Right now, the coal lobby has the floor. We are promised that the new coal processing technology reduces most irritants and toxic materials. But to me and others, when that ten percent that survives contains mercury and other toxic materials, even ten percent is too much.

Plus, what they don't tell you is that carbon residue in excess of ten percent will be pumped into the waterways contributing to increased acidity of the ocean that is helping to change the ocean and impact the food chain while increasing the percentages of carbon dioxide absorbed by the ocean...

However, wind power is a tremendous alternative that can produce energy cheaply, silently, without impacting air or water.

In fact, because we are a shore line State, we could produce enough energy to fuel most of America's needs with energy left over.

But politicians whose war chests are being filled by the coal lobbies are not particularly interested in doing what is right but satisfying their money sources.

We hope to change this....

But the odds are against us.

The newspapers have not picked up the cause and the media in the state is mostly run by the right wing...

We hope that we can communicate the importance of clean air and water to the people with the time allocated us to the vote.

We have had several politicians who have agreed to meet with us and see the film and then discuss the issue.

We hope that it becomes the beginning of a move to renewable resources....

But that probably won't happen until the people are informed and energized...


What was amazing and the strongest evidence for a needed switch was a projected computer map based on global warming where in twenty years our shoreline was tremendously eroded. A big blow to a resort community.

However, in 100 years, our state no longer exists if nothing else changes and we continue to use fossil fuels at the current rate.

And if that isn't a reason to do something, I don't know what is...


Les Aaron...

__._,_.___