All the perplexities, confusion and distress in America...

All the perplexities, confusion and distress in America arise, not from defects in the Constitution or Confederation, not from want of honor or virtue, so much as from the downright ignorance of the nature of coin, credit and circulation. - John Adams

It's a shame Adams hasn't been around recently.

John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American politician and the second President of the United States (1797–1801), after being the first Vice President (1789–1797) for two terms. He is regarded as one of the most influential Founding Fathers of the United States.
John Adams - Wikipedia

The assault on Gaza to this point

The assault on Gaza to this point:

• A conveniently timed start - before the Israeli elections and before Bush left office.
• The death of thirteen hundred - a current estimate.
• The injury of thousands.
• War crimes? The attacks on UN buildings. The use of white phosphorous and dime weaponry?
• The support of the Israeli public.
• The conveniently timed unilateral cease-fire.
• The avoidance of bombing and fighting during the Obama inauguration.
• A military proud of itself.
• More fighting to come within the next few weeks?

I can't believe that Israeli Jews seem to be united in support of their government on the assault on Gaza. In my eyes Israel has decided to mimic the foolish, simple-minded and war-like worldview of George Bush.

I'm Jewish and I could never condone any group that commits acts of terror against Israel. However, I certainly cannot condone Israeli acts of terror either. I am unwilling to accept that deaths caused by Israel military might are all Hamas's fault. And there is no excuse - none whatsoever - if Israel used white phosphorus or dime weaponry on civilians.

A unilateral cease-fire is one thing, but a unilateral foreign policy is another. Israel can proudly pretend that copying US foreign policy bullying tactics is workable, but Israel is a tiny country and it can't pretend to be the mighty US that pushes other countries around at will.

The US can and does act unilaterally. I think that Bush's defintion of diplomacy was "I want to do this. And I am." Israel certainly cannot follow such a course. Israel needs to cultivate goodwill. I'm not be ironic or silly. I mean it. And it needs to do so as soon as possible.

Once a real cease-fire is signed nobody knows when Hamas will shot rockets at Israel again. And I think it's "when" and not "if". Who knows - Hamas might not shoot rockets for years.

I think the question is - how high a price is Hamas willing to accept for revenge?

I imagine that during the rebuilding and the huge amount of border activity in Gaza Hamas will manage to get its hands on more advanced missile technology and it will have missiles that are capable or nearly capable of hitting Tel Aviv.

Launching such projectiles could result in a massive Israeli retaliation. Despite that I worry that the Hamas leadership will do it anyway. If these events come to pass - 10,000s of people could die in Gaza.

I'll paraphrase an allegory. Israel and Palestine are two people stuck in a room. They are standing in a pool of gasoline that goes up to their knees. Israel is holding Palestine's neck in one hand - and book of matches in the other. And I haven't even mentioned Iran in this post.

Madoff vs. The Twilight Zone

The episode ends:

There goes Mernard Badoff. He's a successful Wall Street type who reminded his investors and all involved of an important lesson. The "reality" of something may be nothing more than trust between people. With his lies and deceit - he created a multi-million dollar castle in the air that exists only... in The Twilight Zone.

Okay, there is no episode with that ending dialog. And a character named "Mernard Badoff" never appears in the series. I admit it - I made it all up. So let's turn to reality and Bernard Madoff. I would argue that he is a character far weirder than any in the series.

As so often happens, reality trumps fiction. Madoff created a fantastic castle in the air bigger and grander than any Manhattan skyscraper. And it had a pretend value of $50 billion dollars.

And it appears that he wanted his Ponzi scheme entirely untethered to reality. If current speculation is accurate - this saga has approached the unreal. He never made any trades. No trades at all. Not a single one.

intitle:madoff a-single-trade | no-trades - Google News

Bush's goodbye: freedom blah blah blah...

Soon to be ex-President Bush at his final press conference:

...freedom blah blah blah freedom blah blah blah freedom blah blah blah freedom blah blah blah freedom blah blah blah freedom blah blah blah freedom blah blah blah freedom blah blah blah freedom blah blah blah freedom blah blah blah freedom blah blah blah freedom blah blah blah freedom blah blah blah freedom blah blah blah freedom blah blah blah freedom blah blah blah freedom blah blah blah freedom blah blah blah freedom blah blah blah freedom blah blah blah freedom blah blah blah freedom blah blah blah freedom blah blah blah freedom blah blah blah freedom blah blah blah freedom blah blah blah freedom...

He mentioned freedom 27 times in about 15 minutes.

"Freedom" can be described as "the ability or power to do what you want". The Bush administration certainly followed such a credo:

They pissed all over the constitution - they made a joke of civil liberties and spied on Americans, they used Guantanamo Bay to avoid the Geneva conventions, they explicitly had people tortured and - shall we say - "encouraged" the wide use of torture, they corrupted the Justice department, they turned Katrina into a national disgrace, they damaged America's global image, they helped wreck the economy to the point that trying to fix it will cost trillions, they forgot all about good and intelligent governance - the (non-)regulation of Wall Street being an example of epic proportions, they ignored a fundamental component of American democracy: accountability, they did nothing about the health care mess, they started the Iraq war on a foundation of lies and dishonesty and continued the war with an incompetence that will cost yet more trillions.

And Bush - a man who uses "freedom" like mantra - allowed Israel to attack Gaza during the final moments of his watch. Before, during and after his press conference - how much freedom have Gazans had?

When considering Bush - "freedom" becomes ironic to a surreal level.

1 in 7 Americans read at a 5th grade level

I watched a news report yesterday that said 1 in 7 Americans read at a 5th grade level, who knew that some them are working at CNN.

It seems that not only is google underutilized at CNN, spell-check is to (sic).

In fact, I wonder how many people involved in the news at CNN and elsewhere can accurately explain the meaning of such words as "sic", "i.e.", "e.g.", "et. al.".

An aside - just as I am posting this CNN has a segment they call "Bedroom Tech". It's about hi-tech gadgets for the bedroom. It seems to me that such topics should be covered in one of CNN's many trivial or soft news programs. I thought there was real "news" to cover. I mean, just to mention one example, there has to be - as I am posting this - a story or two relating directly or indirectly Gaza. Right?

Maybe the word "news" is itself not understood.

Blagojevich as Ulysses?

Blagojevich thinks of himself as a modern day Ulysses? In his most recent press conference quoted the last few lines of Tennyson's Ulysses:

One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

Nobody at CNN was able to name the title of the poem. Nobody at CNN googles? It only took me a second seconds to google it:

"One equal temper" tennyson

And a few more seconds after that to get to a copy. The past few weeks I've been watching CNN online - mostly to follow the Blagojevich follies and the situation in Gaza. I don't own a tv since if I had it - I'd watch it. And what would be the point of that?

I forgot how ill broadcast news can make me feel. Right now CNN has a story you could describe as "Did a UFO break the blade of a Wind Turbine In England?" on heavy rotation. And - of course - the talking heads are jokey as they talk about it. Do they get instructions to be jokey on certain stories? Or is instruction unnecessary?

Hey, CNN, maybe a dragon flew by and broke the blade. I mean, Harry Potter, England - right? So much for using logic, science and reason to explain an event. Ah, I know, logic, science and reason don't get the viewers.

Well, back to Mr. Helmet Hair - Poor Blagojevich - a corrupt politician is not going to gain no support by quoting poetry. And British poetry at that. I don't know - maybe it works elsewhere - but not here. If you're going to quote something it had better not have meter and ideally be a sports reference.

Obama likes poetry - is there some connection? Hmm... who knows what's happening in Blagojevich's brain. He is so vain, arrogant and delusional I'm sure would only find true happiness as a dictator. That way he could put his image or name on tv, on radio, on murals, as statues, on buildings, everywhere. He could punish anyone who didn't believe in his greatness. He could try to make his delusion real.

Blagojevich's image, name and likeness will appear all over the place - but not in any way that he would want. A dictator can become stinking rich but I bet Blagojevich won't do that badly. I bet he'll be able to grab a book deal and maybe it will be as high as six figures. He can spend his time in jail (which will probably be in a country club prison) writing and reading poetry.

I wish Blagojevich would get about a decade of jail time in a federal penitentiary. Ulysses indeed.