Those Who fail to Learn from the Past Are Doomed to Repeat It...

From Bush's November 30, 2005 speech at the US Naval Academy and Nixon's "Silent Majority" speech from November 3, 1969.

BUSH: "We will increasingly move out of Iraqi cities, reduce the number of bases from which we operate and conduct fewer patrols and convoys.

NIXON: "As South Vietnamese forces become stronger, the rate of American withdrawal can become greater."

BUSH: "As the Iraqi forces gain experience and the political progress advances, we will be able to decrease our troop levels in Iraq without losing our capability to defeat the terrorists."

NIXON: "We have adopted a plan which we have worked out in cooperation with the South Vietnamese for the complete withdrawal of all U.S. combat ground forces, and their replacement by South Vietnamese forces on an orderly scheduled timetable. This withdrawal will be made from strength and not from weakness."

BUSH: "These decisions about troop levels will be driven by the conditions on the ground in Iraq and the good judgment of our commanders, not by artificial timetables set by politicians in Washington. Some are calling for a deadline for withdrawal. Many advocating an artificial timetable for withdrawing our troops are sincere, but I believe they're sincerely wrong."

NIXON: "I have not and do not intend to announce the timetable for our program. And there are obvious reasons for this decision which I am sure you will understand. As I have indicated on several occasions, the rate of withdrawal will depend on developments on three fronts."

BUSH: "Pulling our troops out before they've achieved their purpose is not a plan for victory. As Democratic Senator Joe Lieberman said recently, "Setting an artificial timetable would discourage our troops because it seems to be heading for the door. It will encourage the terrorists. It will confuse the Iraqi people. Senator Lieberman is right: Setting an artificial deadline to withdraw would send a message across the world that America is weak and an unreliable ally."

NIXON: "An announcement of a fixed timetable for our withdrawal would completely remove any incentive for the enemy to negotiate an agreement. They would simply wait until our forces had withdrawn and then move in."

Though both Bush and Nixon reject setting a timetable for withdrawal, one group does want one set in stone: The Democratically Elected Iraqi Government.

...On November 22, 2005, the democratically-elected leaders and ruling body of the Iraqi people agreed on "calling for the withdrawal of foreign troops according to a timetable, through putting in place an immediate national program to rebuild the armed forces ... control the borders and the security situation"

Furthermore, they added that "insurgents should not be labeled as terrorists if their operations do not target innocent civilians or institutions designed to provide for the welfare of Iraqi citizens."

Did you get that? These Iraqis, in an expression of their liberty, freedom, and democracy, just legalized insurgent attacks on US troops.

Talk about not being wanted.

At this point, it's time to pack up, say "we did it - they have a democratic government", and go home. Iraq's future will be decided by their own self-determination, not by the spending of our tax dollars.

Why stay when you're not welcome?

Worst President Ever!

Leave it to PollKatz to give a good comparison.



(click to enlarge...)
Blue is Clinton, Yellow is Nixon, Red is Bush Jr.

Right now Bush's disapproval rating is the worst faced by any president except Nixon

World View Quiz

...and 0% in the dreaded 'Fundamentalist' category.... booya!

You scored as Cultural Creative. Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational. Cultural Creative 75% Postmodernist 63% Existentialist 56% Romanticist 38% Materialist 31% Idealist 31% Modernist 25% Fundamentalist 0% What is Your World View? (updated) created with QuizFarm.com

Ditzy Cam Returns

ditzy_oct 006
Originally uploaded by AultTimIT.

C'mon Ditzy... in or out!

Okay.... whatever.

IRS uses double standards.

From CNN...
Anti-war sermon imperils tax status

The Internal Revenue Service has warned a prominent liberal church it could lose its tax-exempt status because of an anti-war sermon a guest preacher gave on the eve of the 2004 presidential election, church officials say.

The Rev. George F. Regas did not urge parishioners at All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena to support either President Bush or John Kerry, but he was critical of the Iraq war and Bush's tax cuts.

The IRS warned the church in June that its tax-exempt status was in jeopardy because such organizations are prohibited from intervening in political campaigns and elections.

...so what the hell did the IRS consider 'Just Us' Sunday, 'Just US Sunday II', and 'Porn Sunday'? I mean, they even had congressmen, right-wing nutcase congressmen, as their guest speakers, whining and moaning about... politics!

Does the IRS revoke or threaten to revoke the tax exempt status of those churches? Nooooo....

But a liberal one? Can't have that. Apparently the Iraq War and Tax Cuts for the rich are political topics. Senatorial proceedings aren't.

Seriously, how many of you think this isn't politically motivated, and the IRS is acting as a non-partisan group, and is not acting on a politcally motivated agenda?

Just one more sign that the conservative have changed the tone in Washington... for the worse.

What did I just say?!?!

Oooh! Look mommy! A bicyclist!

From the ToledoBlade (our rather crappy Foundry Newspaper) (bold is MY emphasis.)

Nov. 6, 2005

Bikes on the sidewalks

Instead of ignoring a proposal to let adults ride bicycles on sidewalks on busier streets, perhaps a Toledo City Council committee could consider how to make it incumbent upon bicyclists to watch out for motor vehicles if they use sidewalks and penalize them for riding without due regard for safety.

A recent debate on the subject before council's law and criminal justice committee seemed to disregard why bicyclists prefer sidewalks on streets where the speed limit is above 35 mph.

Some adult bicyclists understandably feel their safety is jeopardized on streets that carry a lot of vehicular traffic. But city law only allows cyclists 14 and under to use sidewalks.

Councilman Ellen Grachek has proposed amending the law to permit older cyclists to also use sidewalks on such busy thoroughfares.

The idea springs from an adult cyclist's experience in July on Alexis Road. After the bike rider collided with a vehicle coming out of a driveway, he was slapped with a ticket and conviction, though he received no penalty.

He correctly notes that motorists today are more distracted, especially by cell phones. Motorists on the phone don't pay close attention to traffic in general, so they may not see bicyclists on busy streets.

At the same time, there are legitimate concerns about cyclists on sidewalks. Foremost among them: the worry that bicyclists could pose the same threat to pedestrians on sidewalks that cars and trucks represent to bikes on busy streets.

But there are ways to allow bikes on sidewalks and penalize careless operation. Bicyclists on sidewalks could be required to travel in the same direction as traffic, and motorists, not bicyclists, could have the right of way at intersections and driveways.

If youngsters are allowed to ride their bicycles on sidewalks, adults willing to do so responsibly should have the same right. Bikes don't belong on busy thoroughfares.

...this is the standard Foundry mentality I was just mentioning. Bicyclists risk getting hurt by careless drivers if they ride in the street like they're supposed to do. Someone says, "let them ride on the sidewalks," but give the automobile right-of-way in all cases. On top of that, if the road is too busy, bicycles should be banned from it.

In other words: "Everyone here uses cars, trucks, ans SUVs to go places. If you wanna be different and ride your little bicycle, find another route and get outta my way. You don't belong here."

It's no wonder bicyclists are looked upon here as oddities, like shriners in their little cars on parade. Everytime we venture out on the streets we run the mortal risk of getting plowed down by a driver too busy chatting on their cell phone and lighting their stogie.

And, according to The Blade, it's not the driver's fault.

Also, notice, not once, NOT ONCE, does this crappy newspaper editorial mention the idea of adding a bike lane to some streets. I guess the paint would cost too much (the lanes are wide enough already that no blacktop would be needed.)

So much for those people who value their physical fitness enough to get to work under their own power, or who are environmentally conscious enough to not waste gas on their daily commute. These people here in The Foundry are joined at the ass to their machines, gasoline addicts in an automobile-centered culture. And anyone who doesn't like it and wants to live differently can go somewhere else.

...and they wonder why people are leaving this region in droves...

Back to the Foundry

(from Wikipedia)
Foundry: according to Joel Garreau, is a coherent nation made up of the eastern seaboard of the United States except New England, along with the Great Lakes region (including those parts of the Canadian province of Ontario which border the lakes) except for the Lake Superior shoreline, plus the Washington D.C. suburbs of Virginia and roughly the northern half of West Virginia, including both of the state's panhandles. Traditionally, this corresponds to the industrial core of North America. It is one of the Nine Nations of North America Garreau identified in his book of that title, published in 1981.

...Another term used to describe this region is The Rust Belt. And for a good reason.

Not only do things rust in the rust belt unlike in other areas of the country such as the south or west, but this region is falling into decline. This area was the manufacturing center of the United States. If you bought a manufactured good, odds are it came from the Foundry. Cars from Detroit. Tires from Akron. Cameras from Rochester. Glass from Toledo. Steel from Pittsburgh. each city in the Foundry was known for the product it produced. The Labor Movement started in the Foundry to oppose the brutal working conditions in the factory. Thanks to them we have the 8 hour workday and a thing called the weekend. Anglos, then Germans (Pennsylvania Dutch if you like), Irish, Poles, Italians, and Slavs migrated to this region. They were seeking a better life. A job at the factory ensured them status as middle class. But by 1981, this way of life ended. The Sun Belt, Globalization, and a new economy had emerged. And the Foundry started to decline. Factories closed, moved to the south, or relocated overseas. Today the Foundry's few remaining factories are but a spectre of their once great status. No more can you finish high school and get a good job at the factory. That way of life has ended.

...just don't tell anyone here in the Foundry. They haven't got the memo yet.

We are still a culture that looks to the big corporations to somehow 'save' us. Politicians still clamor about what their city or area can do to 'attract business', tripping over each other to lure a big business headquarters their way. The issues and agenda of the local governments are ran by a political machine of manufacturers, manufacturig Union members who still occupy the few and ever-dwindling factory jobs left in town. Much ado is made about keeping the few industries from moving away, throwing tax breaks and corporate welfare their way. Meanwhile, the new, growing sectors of the economy, service and high-tech, are suffering from neglect. Service sector jobs at a big box retailer pay a substandard wage, usually don't include health care, and are filled by people who can only dream of being middle class. Yet the manufacturing unions that control local politics don't dare take them on. They have the coveted factory jobs and control of the government. Empowering or organizing those in the service sectors would be costly and would erode their political base. And the young professionals who have the skills to work (and start their own) high-tech business find the atmosphere here toxic. They have no friendly ear in the politics ran by manufacturing labor tradesmen. The area is extremely social conservative. Like the factory mentality, the quantity of a good is much more important than its quality. More is better. A gallon of olive oil for a doallr at WalMart is better than a quart of Organic Portuguese Olive Oil - that's a no-brainer! People who are different in their looks, how they dress, what they do in the bedroom, etc. are oddities. Gays are denied civil rights. Immigrants are ridiculed about their 'strange' customs. Cyclists are gawked at like they are shriners in little cars but without a parade. They see an area with few options for people of their age (late 20s- early 40s) who are single or married without children. Truth is they have all moved away. This area holds little appeal for them, nor the incliniation to provide anything of interest. Just consider what the Foundry offers for leisure time. Leisure in the Foundry is geared toward family activities, things for the mom dad, and children. Science centers, zoos, ballparks, and fairs. Try finding a vodka bar in a mid-sized midwestern town. Ask a local about one and expect them to say "A vodka what?"

I have just spent 2 weeks in the San Francisco Area, labeled as Ecotopia in honor of the Callenbach book of the same name.

(once again, from Wikipedia)
In his 1981 book Nine Nations of North America, author Joel Garreau named one of his nations Ecotopia after Callenbach's book. Garreau's Ecotopia consists of Northern California, Western Oregon, Western Washington, coastal British Columbia, and southeastern Alaska and is one of the nine economic-cultural nations into which Garreau believed North America should be divided to correctly understand the true regional dynamics of the continent. This Ecotopia, like Callenbach's, is characterized culturally by its environmental sensibilities and focus on 'quality of life', and economically by its focus on renewable resources such as hydropower and forestry.

...here is a place that 'gets it'. Gone is the whole Foundry mentality. That of the factory, the job, the trade as being the identifing factor of oneself. Here people aren't expected to conform. Ties are rare accessories in Ecotopia, usually only worn by detectives. They are just that casual. Where those in the Foundry look for specialists in each field, Ecotopia looks for generalists who can be trained to do several unrelated tasks in their workday. Jobs here are booming. The manufacturing unions do not call the shots, and the political institution is not a 'good ol' boy' network. Big box retailers are not as prevalent. People are not interested in getting a 99 cent bottle of Olive Oil in Ecotopia; they want an $11 bottle of Organic Portuguese Olive Oil. Quality of life is more important than quantity. To them, that's a no-brainer! Sure, housing is out of control high, but when there is such a high demand for anything and a limited supply, what happens to the price? Just look at your gas bill.

I have to admit, I feel more more at home in Ecotopia than I do here in the Foundry, the place I was born and raised. My options in the Foundry are too limited. In my heart, Ecotopia is my new home.

With that, here is a view of the last sunset I saw in San Francisco. Hopefully I will see many more of them...