a new beginning

im bringing this blog back to its roots and talking strictly politics and literature and history and all of that jazz. there is no point in boring people with little status updates every six months. if im going to keep this blog, im going to use it more consistently and for its original purpose.

you may have noticed a few renovations. there are more to come :)

heres what im trying to accomplish:
-at least 3 substantive posts a week
-no more pointless blogs about how im not blogging
-a few more viewers?
-actually tag my blogs

bill richardson is a bitch (and israel palestine explained)

bill richardson withdrew himself from consideration for secretary of commerce. as you see below, im not too thrilled with him in the first place or rather what he was billed as. if youd like to know the why, its because hes under investigation and he thought it was just about over. turns out it was just getting started. and the obama folks kind of nudged him out. works for me. but i do hope everything goes alright for him. hes one of the better governors out there.

i havent really been specifically asked to post a blog on the issue, but i think the recent bombing in the gaza strip may merit a little explanation. heres the set up in the israel.

a couple of years after world war ii, it was proposed, or demanded rather, that the territory that is now israel be settled so there would not be dispute over the shit. proposition 1: divide the land into autonomous israel and palestine. run jeruselum through the governing un body. why it failed: because some people (looks at lady liberty) are way too eager to not see palestine be independent. and those some people had veto power.

so the result was an independent israel and an unofficially recognized palestine with israel in charge of jeruselum and lots of pissy people.

here recently (im skipping over lots of conflict) the palestinians elected hamas, a known terrorist organization, to head their government. hamas are evil in that they want to wipe lots of people off the face of the earth. and good in that they are well managed and have made palestine a livable place unlike the fata which was thoroughly corrupt and thrown out like republican senators in 2008. hamas bombs israel.

israel responds by declaring all out war on palestine, specifically the gaza strip, a little area of land completely distinct from the rest of palestine in that it doesnt really share close borders. yeah. the lines are fucked. i guess gerrymandering is allowed. hahaha. state politics joke no one thought was funny.

so step back and heres what we have:
-a people in palestine who are looking out for their best interest and in so doing appointed thugs to the head of government because the former ruling party thought they were invincible
-jackasses in israel still unwilling to compromise and presently unable because of the point before
-a paralyzed un
-innocent people dying

theres not really a solution either. unless the leadership of palestine decides to make huge concessions after an election down the road or israel decides to sacrifice its security or america decides to step up to the plate and stop blocking anything dealing with israel from the un floor and force some shit to get done by their bitches at the un.

oh wait. that last thing can be done. fuck off israel. fuck off palestine. nut up america. end.

the long awaited cabinet review

ok... i dont think any of you were actually waiting, but ive certainly wanted to get this done for the longest time. im not sure how im going to grade, just kind of going with the gut. i dont have any scoring system in mind.

economics:

treasury of secretary: timothy geithner
admittedly, i didnt know too much about this guy before the announcement was made, but after a little research i came to find the pick incredibly thoughtful and stunningly appropriate. the guy is a prodigy, the young former head of the new york federal reserve bank. hes very much aware of the global impact of the current crisis and has relatively extensive experience grappling with international negotiations from his time in the nineties. i think he has his finger on the pulse of this problem, the paralysis in medium sized loans and the decreased interest in encouraging private investment in crumbling (but necessary) markets. i hope something innovative comes from this guy. i think he may have the chops.

also present at the announcement of timothy geithner were

economic advisers: larry summers and paul volcher
summers worries me a bit. i think hes more focused on remedying the symptoms, trying to stop the hemorrhaging in the housing market, rushing to the aide of manufacturers. i dont much care for him. but paul volcher is a seasoned pro. the only fed chair, ive really had any respect for. he didnt just inject money he had created out of nothing into the system. he adjusted rates and kept in close contact with the private sector. i secretly think he was in the federal reserve to try to limit its sway. and that thrills me to no end for those of you who have heard me rant on economics before.


foreign affairs:

secretary of state: hilary clinton
i dont hate this choice. it was a little too political and there were a fuck of a lot more folks that i wouldve put ahead of her, but she does bring a certain level of credibility. i think she will be dynamic, and i think that she pairs well with the secretary of defense. but with such crises as what we are seeing in the former soviet union, south asia, the gaza strip, and central/eastern africa, there is no way the secretary of state really gets too much power. there needs to be a solid team around her. and i think hilary will be able to assemble such a team. so ill give her a very cautious approval. i want to start seeing this team assembled quickly.

secretary of defense: robert gates
an excellent choice. i wanted hagel, but gates has an advantage in that he doesnt strike me as a back talker. hagels too mouthy. and i think gates not only has a certain authority over his field, but also a humility in his job. with so many big heads around washington, i think that gates' biggest positive is that he may not make a splash.

national security adviser: jim jones
a conventional pick, not a bad one. i worry that he may be a little hot-headed. that he may bring too much credibility with allies and too little with others.hes phyisically imposing in stark contrast to a young waffy obama. i dont know how those styles are going to mesh. i think obama tried a little too hard to just bring in a bunch of people who hate the war in iraq more than he does without giving enough thought to how people will mesh.

commerce secretary: bill richardson
give me a break? thats all i could think to say for a second there. i dont buy for a second that richardson will have any authority, even over latin american relations and finding markets for US goods. it remains to be seen. i hope im wrong, because the little speech sounded impressive. i just dont see interstate commerce as something that will be relegated to an energy sec/ small state gov.

homeland security: janet napolitano
fuck this pick. youre going to give this job to the fuckign governor of arizona. really? because of their outstanding record on the issue. the governor has shown a complete incompetence in the field, was bound to not get elected because of the border security issue. take it back obama. take it back

health and human services: tom daschle
for some reason we're on a "czar" kick in america. we want magnanimous people to jsut run the show in certain fields. i thought this pick was moderate at best. let it be known right now, health care is not going to be improved in the next four years. we will be lucky if it is in ten years.


that should cover the big ones. ill be back with others if i get bored again.

Tagore

THE BEGINNING

"WHERE have I come from, where did you pick me up?" the baby asked its mother.

She answered half crying, half laughing, and clasping the baby to her breast,-- "You were hidden in my heart as its desire, my darling.

You were in the dolls of my childhood's games; and when with clay I made the image of my god every morning, I made and unmade you then.

You were enshrined with our household deity, in his worship I worshipped you.

In all my hopes and my loves, in my life, in the life of my mother you have lived.

In the lap of the deathless Spirit who rules our home you have been nursed for ages.

When in girlhood my heart was opening its petals, you hovered as a fragrance about it.

Your tender softness bloomed in my youthful limbs, like a glow in the sky before the sunrise.

Heaven's first darling, twin-born with the morning light, you have floated down the stream of the world's life, and at last you have stranded on my heart.

As I gaze on your face, mystery overwhelms me; you who belong to all have become mine.

For fear of losing you I hold you tight to my breast. What magic has snared the world's treasure in these slender arms of mine?"

http://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/rt/cmoon.htm

76th post (a tribute to america)

ok. its white house week on cspan which makes me more happy than any of you can even begin to imagine., so this blog is all about these united states and the politicians i love. im going to continue the letter writing thing from earlier.




dear george washington,

you are a badass among badasses, the president who set the precedent. did you ever have any doubt? youre always portrayed so confidently, the model statesman of the world.



dear john jay,

guess what. no slaves. anywhere. fucking awesome, right? im not sure you know how much i want to be you- unsung, well-travelled, brilliant.



dear thomas jefferson,

im just going to listen to your actions, not your words. well some of your words. dude, you know i love polymaths, but did you have to be so opposed to a federal supremacy?



dear alexander hamilton,

i swear, i will hunt down all of the descendents of aaron burr and make their lives miserable. you shouldve been president.



dear andrew jackson,

do you still have the bullet? do you just sit around and gloat? you are a fucking demigod.



dear james k polk,

i dont deserve to speak to you.



dear henry clay and john c calhoun and daniel webster,

rock on. you made congress cool. hasnt happened since. wont happen again.



dear lincoln,

aderol? i can get you some.



dear teddy,

thank you for smashing the atrium. fuck buchanan



dear taft,

you are proof that work history is directly proportional to weight in american politics. what didnt you do?



dear adlai stevenson,

kennedys a dick. i got your back.



dear barry goldwater,

you rawk. and im tired of these little letters.

a series of open letters

dear congress or the executive branch (since you have more power than constitutionally allowed),

guess what. bailouts dont work. they never have. give ford the bridge loan on condition of the other twos collapse. thats it. stop wasting our money. stop. stop. stop.

i know youre just going to say that filing for bankruptcy is harder now because of the scarcity, that america will lose nearly a million jobs. bullshit. we will just lose a million jobs owned by american companies. we need to get used to the fact that there is a world economy, it is all globalized. i really dont think factory workers care whether their ceos are japanese or from the us. i think they just want their jobs and a little assurance that theyll be able to keep them through retirement.



dear worshippers of obama (especially those on msnbc),

he is not a god. please dont set him up to disappoint us all.



dear conspiracy theorists,

obama is not the antichrist. hes just a half black kid with some ideas a lot of americans like the sound of.



dear gm,

in reference to that first letter, we all hate you more than we hate congress. fuck you. buy chrystler and give it a go or sell yourself for a loss. you brought this shit on yourself, and if i see you back in congress in april begging for money, i will personally see to it that you are all forced into poverty. take some fucking responsibility for yourselves.



dear citizens of zimbabwe,

im shouting as loud as i motherfucking can for you. no one else wanted to join until recently. i cant promise that help is on the way, but i can promise that i will do my best to never lose my voice. and i can promise i will not stop shouting until you can cast a vote . i will not stop shouting until you get proper medical attention. i will not stop shouting until you have a responsible government with your best interests at heart.



dear citizens of southern sudan,

no one learned from darfur. im not even sure you know the crisis that is about to befall you. i shout for you too.



dear government of the peoples republic of china,

please do not neglect basic safety in your rush to become a megapower. please do not assume you have carte blanc. america wont do shit, but your own people will. beware of public opinion. also, i seriously love you guys. want to go out for dinner sometime?



dear countries of colombia, venezuela, nicaragua, and mexico,

im not stupid. bushs administration may be incompetent in relations in the americas, but i have a sneaking suspicion that bill richardson may be able to get a few things changed. so watch the fuck out, because i send articulate letters to politicians, and politicians enforce sanctions on countries that dont crack down on the thugs selling drugs from your country.



dear incoming obama administration,

do not neglect the issue i addressed above. you know its as big a security issue as 'terrorism.'



dear elizabeth,

i hope youre not waiting for some twist of fate to bring us together again. i stopped last week.

yup

pakistan was bombed yesterday. never heard a word about it. fuck media.