Tannishblog

So, where was I over the past weekend? Slumming.

The wife was accompanying our daughter in a road trip to Madison, WI, wherein, at the University the annual conference by the Richard Davis Foundation for Young Bassists. So here I was, a middling middle-aged batchelor for the weekend. Combine this with Passover which, in our house means they eat kosher, and I eat out a lot.

So off they went in the neighbor’s borrowed minivan, two jewish ladies, a double bass, and lots of kosher noshes to keep them satiated for the duration. And here I was with the two cats and a bit of laundry to do. So much for the batchelor fantasy…

I’m still hooked on Conquer Online. I find a (relatively) unpopulated server and start a new character and work it through the ranks until too many people join the server and bog it down. I’m such a big kid in some ways. Also I finally got Civilization IV a few weeks ago, the latest in my favorite computer game franchise, and with it I take care of my latent world-building-jones for a while. I’m a recovering Dungeons & Dragons geek, still.

All in all, Monday comes on too quickly, and the workaday slush is a bit irritating in contrast to a quiet weekend killing monsters and dominating planets. Life in meatspace is so mundane!

Keep an eye on Nepal. A real, honest-to-goodness Democratic uprising is occurring there. Our dyslexic leader should watch, too – he might learn how a people who truly want a Democratic government act like. Much like our president, King Gyanedra is loosing his grip on his nation. For the past few months, curfews have been established, and an abolishment of their parliament, in place since the last pro-democratic uprising in 1990, occurred in February. The world’s only Hindu monarchy rose to power amidst nefarious circumstances, and Gyanedra’s subsequent power grabs have been none-too-subtle. Now, instead of the usual suspects of politically active fringe groups acting up, the whole country is engaging in their version of a solidarity movement.

It’s not a pretty sight, but wresting control from an entrenched government rarely is. While the Maoist factions in the Himalayas act as catalyst for change – indeed, they endorse a change in government, the people rallying aren’t Maoists.

I pray our leader, and the people who wind him up, would watch this. They might learn how Democracy comes from the people, and not from other governments or from a military surrogate. Just as Poland shook off the shackles of Soviet influence, so too is Nepal shaking off an anachronistic form of governance, one that has less influence over the young population. People – honest working stiffs – form democracies. That is the only way it happens. Any other method is doomed to failure.

As we look around the globe, few nations are rising up for self-representation. Clearly, the Muslim states don’t want Western political thought to invade their culture. If they did, more would take to the streets in a concerted effort to oust their leaders. Iraq, as backward as it looked to America, was more or less content with tier lot. Life is less valuable to medieval societal structures like those still existing in the Middle East. I’m no expert, as you might guess, but it seems clear that those who would die for any cause, as the Muslim factions within destabilized Iraq are surely doing; and if democracy was on their agenda, they would unite within their borders instead of tearing their faltering nation to shreds.

In short, they would act more like the Nepalese. So don’t believe what you hear on the news. What our leaders would like us to believe is yet another lie. This, folks, is Democracy in Action.

Today, the NY Times runs a piece about Iran’s posturing in it’s pursuit of enriched uranium. According to the article, an inspector of the Atomic Energy Agency visited Tehran and concluded that Iran’s progress is slow, and that the nation’s rhetoric far outstrips its nuclear capabilities.

No doubt in my mind that our administration will attempt to debunk this story.

On the same front, Gretchen Clearwater, Democratic hopeful for Indiana’s ninth district, has a petition on her website for all who oppose our nation’s current pre-war preparations and media blitz against Iran. Get you name out there! I especially urge all parents of high-schoolers to vociferously protest any new wars. A new war will exacerbate the current drain on military recruitment, likely forcing our compassionless leaders to bring back the draft, and our kids high school kids will be coming of age at the same time.

Sign it. Share it. Save lives.

Meanwhile, at the Washington Post, an article runs about the current crop of military retirees speaking up against Donald Rumsfeld’s management style. As he cannot be impeached (aw, shucks), they implore him to resign. Some use stringer language than that. It’s clear that old Rummy is as bitter a pill as he looks to be.

Not that there’s any hope that anyone in the upper reaches of the government will just quit because knowledgeable people call Mr. Rumsfeld “incompetent strategically, operationally and tactically.” As we learned through FEMA, political capitol is not gained by being competent. And as Tom DeLay has taught us, one can’t win by adhering to the laws.

While the government pursues new legislation making it illegal for dark-skinned people to come to America to seek their fortunes, as the forefathers of all of our political elite have already done, we can watch while the power mongers play war games wherever they choose.

It’s all about oil, anyway.

Remember: the end justifies the means; when your children can still drive Hummers while Europe and Asia rely on Mopeds while buying all their oil from us, they will thank us.

Why is American media prepping the nation on the idea for another “regime change,” this time in Iran? Is the Bush administration going to start the apocalypse single-handedly? Call it that, or call it World War 3, what’s the difference?

CNN Reports, the strongest words yet on the New American Century’s next bloody disaster: Iran. To wit:

President George W. Bush views Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as a “potential Adolf Hitler,” and sees “regime change” in Tehran as the ultimate goal.
“This White House believes that the only way to solve the problem is to change the power structure in Iran, and that means war,”
[…]

The White House, without denying the report, reiterated that it was pursuing a diplomatic solution.
“We are not going to discuss military planning,” said spokesman Blair Jones.

Let’s take this morsel one tidbit at a time. For our warmonger president to call anyone a “potential Adolph Hitler” is the proverbial pot and kettle. I’m no history expert, but Mr. Hitler wanted – among other things – to unite Europe under his banner. Similarly, Mr. Warmonger wants to unite the globe under the banner of “Democracy.”

Regime change is a euphemism for preemptive warfare. Haven’t we learned anything, yet? Over two thousand young Americans slaughtered for – what?!? We’re pulling out - when?!?

As far as Mr. Jones’ response, haven’t we all heard that tune before? He’s just saying what he has to - to keep his job. “Spokesman,” when combined with our current liar-in-chief, is a euphemism for liar. Remember: at one point in 2003, we were “pursuing diplomatic options” as well. How well did that turn out? Diplomacy as characterized by this administration, is personified by John Bolton, whose cowboy attitude is meant to shake up the United Nations (that’s the plan at any rate). Diplomacy to our worst-ever-president is synonymous with warfare; they’re interchangeable, with the latter method being preferred as a bolster to economic growth.

I think back on the days of the Ayatollah Khomeini, who often shook his rhetorical fists at America and called us “the Seat of Satan;” nicely alliterative, that - catchy. Today,as I watch helpless while our current geopolitical atrocities unfold, I begin to wonder if he was not correct in a more figurative connotation. My personal religious convictions notwithstanding, perhaps a Satan-like force is controlling the world’s only superpower. How else can one explain our Hell-bent drive for world domination? What other explanation is there for our transparent, devil-may-care power grab on the world’s largest oil fields in the context of peak oil and unchecked consumption?

Two wars and counting: who would do such a thing? As I said before, we’re on the right track for the End of Times, to those who believe such a thing. Too bad our Christian leadership is bringing it upon itself as a self-fulfilling prophecy: Ironic, that.

Sometimes I just have to ignore the news. Three days of emails from CNN, NY Times, and Washington Post accumulate in today’s inbox, and as I clear out the clutter, scanning the headlines, some stories catch in my brain. It’s all a jumble, really, and below I try to express how it feels being over-informed and under-informed at the same time. Is say this because, as we all know, the news is hand picked for salability and minimal political upheaval; thus, we are under-informed. At the same time, we find ourselves inundated with facts and other people’s opinions, creating a mental background noise not unlike the whine of an airliner turbine; thus, we are over-informed. This noise makes it hard to think - therefore we are more malleable. The utter inanity of the overall impression serves to foment despair and we throw up our proverbial hands at the wicked world, therefore making us more malleable. It’s a neat trick. One would think of the Illuminati or something, but probably this accumulated affect is incidental…

What follows is a surrealistic impression of this weekend’s news stories:

Hot Stock Markets. Rubber bullets in Nepal. A missing murder victim and a leaking Bush; Tornados kill in Tennessee, wildfire in Texas. Mosques meet exploding people and hamstrung Hamas. Immigration battles. How Bill Gates works. The next wave of recruits. Hugh Heffner’s turning 80! Mom cuts off baby’s arms; deemed insane. Going nowhere at Ground Zero; going too far in West Virginia. Enron trial ad nauseum. Google marries Earthlink. Death by volcano. Women beating on men. Planning the next war. More Baghdad bombings.

It does make one want to play ostrich, doesn’t it?

According to a Washington Post article, certain scientist as NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are experiencing attempts at censoring their findings about climate change and its full affects. Typical to the regressionist mindset of our current out-of-touch non-leaders, officials in Washington are trying to use soviet-era tactics of stifling certain scientists from disclosing what US taxpayer dollars are spent to discover.

Lip service during State of the Union Addresses leads the gullible public to believe that our President cares about humanity’s impact on the planet. Intimidation tactics in the halls of science speaks volumes about how he doesn’t give a damn. Here’s the excuse

Administration officials said they are following long-standing policies that were not enforced in the past. Kent Laborde, a NOAA public affairs officer who flew to Boulder last month to monitor an interview Tans did with a film crew from the BBC, said he was helping facilitate meetings between scientists and journalists.

“We’ve always had the policy, it just hasn’t been enforced,” Laborde said. “It’s important that the leadership knows something is coming out in the media, because it has a huge impact. The leadership needs to know the tenor or the tone of what we expect to be printed or broadcast.”

Here is the reality:

NOAA scientists, however, cite repeated instances in which the administration played down the threat of climate change in their documents and news releases. Although Bush and his top advisers have said that Earth is warming and human activity has contributed to this, they have questioned some predictions and caution that mandatory limits on carbon dioxide could damage the nation’s economy.

The American Economy is today’s Holy Grail. Everything that Washington does that does not involve the threat of terrorism is linked to the nebulous construct of the US economy. We are selling the planet and the air and water our children’s children will need to bolster the economic growth of the world’s richest nation. Sell tomorrow for today’s profit. Censor the doomsayers of science, for the economic foundation that our nation stands upon is a weak, crumbling structure supported by polutocratic policies and erosion of oil assets. Peak oil is past us now. We need something better, but our policy-makers cringe at taking the necessary steps because it might damage an economy destined to crash unless its dependence on oil for energy is replaces.

Will such changes cause economic upheaval? Yes. It is inevitable that such widespread changes will hurt our society in the short term, but to ignore the obvious truth of our need to restructure our economic infrastructure is to guarantee devastation in the long term. If we try, we might fail, but if we don’t try we sill surely fail. Yet not trying to revamp our industrial processes is exactly what our government is doing.

We are destined to fall due to shortsighted, fearful mismanagement as exemplified by our administration’s paltry attempts at muzzling insurmountable scientific evidence. To be a global leader again, the United States should pick up the mantle of renewable resources and alternate energy, despite the difficulties, and show the world our latent can-do abilities. We used to know how to get things done. Perhaps we can yet find a way.

Some days are not newsworthy. At such times, the MSM recycles whatever sold yesterday’s papers, hoping someone has just emerged from cryogenic freeze and needs to catch up.

Today, however, many things have emerged: dog decapitations in Michigan; A British spy being tortured and murdered; a celebrity’s ex-wife being kidnapped; a teacher arrested for repeated raping of a minor. These are indications of a pandemic of sorts, having to do with a lack of morals, an emptiness of values. People are getting sicker in their minds these days. All this and I’m not through with the CNN report yet!

But the best story of the day is the Department of Homeboy Scrutiny official who gets caught by a dupe as he tries to initiate inappropriate liaisons with a “14-year-old” through the internet. Not only is this quinquagenarian socially sick, he’s terminally stupid. Doesn’t he know the adage: “On the Internet, no one knows you’re a dog?” Perhaps he just got his new computer last Christmas, and is just discovering the liberty of being online. Now, everyone knows he’s a dog.

This is another inverse highlight of Republican leadership, as DHS is our administration’s attempt at the conservative mainstay of smaller government. I would bet that any senior officials of said agency were on the list of the RNC and/or a Bush Pioneer, et al. When is America going to say “enough is enough?” I’ve surely had my fill long ago.

But stupidity, immorality, and mental depredations abound in our society. There are no check-and-balances for behavior anymore. The power of Clergy is faded, what with the Catholic Church and its own pedophile problems, who would listen? People cannot seem to police themselves, and role models are hard to find: Mike Tyson, anyone? Kobe Bryant? I’ve never understood how people can attempt such things and hope to get away with them. We all have a voice within us telling us an act is wrong, and too many learn to ignore it.

As for the rest of humanity, we feast upon the moral famine around us. That is what sells “News.” But to begin to believe such behavior is okay is folly. Pity the fools…

I’ve always fancied myself as a writer. Considering my history as a victim of Chicago Public Schools, some might think that above my station. Perhaps it is. But I wouldn’t be doing this gig if I didn’t like to put words together. Lord knows it not for the money…

Back in high school – yes, I can remember that far back, sort of – I began by rhyming and writing songs to teach myself guitar. I couldn’t afford lessons or a fancy electric set-up, so I took to the less expensive singer-songwriter method, made popular in the late sixties and early seventies. There as a small hitch to my advancement: I couldn’t sing. After my voice found its adult timbre, I ended up as a baritone – not conducive to singing Beatles, Dylan, Paul Simon, et al. So the poetry and songwriting faded, and my musical influence steered toward instrumental experiments.

As for the written word, I tried several times to start short fiction, giving up often. Much later, as my wife was pregnant, and I was in the throes of pre-fatherhood jitters. I managed to channel that nervousness into typing out a novel length story. As it was conceived in situ as I sat at the Royal typewriter (I couldn’t yet afford a computer), it ended up lacking in mechanics and structure. But it did have a beginning, middle and end, which was more than I had managed before.

Shortly thereafter, I bought my first computer, part as a reward for actually finishing my first novel, such as it was, and partly to reward me for actually helping to produce a healthy child. Now that my wife had her baby, I could get mine… Ostensibly, this new machine was to aid in the writing process, but all too soon I discovered computer gaming, and I wasn’t the same ever after.

Now, though, I look toward constructing sentences again. Writing, I’ve always told myself, is an old man’s sport. One must have a certain experience of living to imbue a character with life. I’m getting old, these days, and I find myself running out of excuses. Thankfully, weblogs are here, and I practice as I can on mine. If some hapless soul wanders upon my corner of the cybershpere, I both thank and console you: thank you for reading; apologies for using you as a guinea pig. So as I practice, I must also study the works of others, bloggers, novelists, poets; whatever I can sink my mind into. Also, I will work on my novel concepts that have been gestating for many years. This may cause a sporadic ripple on this blog, as I juggle my ambitions with my work-a-day reality (yuck!), but that frees any readership to only return occasionally. That’s my gift to you, as I squeeze my dreams from the turnip of reality… or something…

Some days writing on politics is boring. Even I can tire of Bush-bashing sometimes. However dismal the geopolitical horizon seems, there is more to life. It follows that there should be more to this blog as well.

Since December, when I took a hiatus from blogging, my readership – such as it is – has suffered. Before that break, I was averaging over 70 hits a week, the occasional comment sprinkled in. Since the first of the year, I’ve only averaged 35 hits a week, with barely any feedback. I read lately that blog readership in general is tapering off as the medium eventuates toward the mainstream, and perhaps this plays into the equation. In my meager case, I feel streamlining the content on tannishblog has hurt its appeal. As I’m discovering, being out there on the left fringe and blogging about it starts to get repetitive.

In light of these thoughts, I’ll try to gently nudge this blog into a few more of my interests. After all, it’s the human factor that makes reading these so interesting. You might begin to see posts on computer topics, Buddhism in America, books, some writings I might find time to invent, or posts on being a musician or on parenting and teenager (!). Who knows?

So – to the few friends and family members who check in periodically: thank you. To the random blog readers and to the as yet unmet friends, thank you as well. Although blogging is largely narcissistic in nature, without a readership, however humble, it is rather meaningless. Let’s cut a deal: I’ll pretend to be an interesting person if you pretend to be interested. Together, maybe we can breathe some life into this thing…

Okay?