Why updates are so few these days

Simply put, my job right now is kicking my ass. The last two weeks especially. But I'm still here.

At the start, over a year ago, I was writing about one or two posts a day, and my readership was climbing. Now I write one about every week or so, and my readership has understandably stagnated.

I'm sorry for that, but what can I do? I don't want to close this blog, but I can't update it every day. I'm also not wild about the idea of guest-bloggers, but I am considering it.

We'll just have to go with weekly updates until further notice.

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Veteran's Day Roundup

One of my favorite WWII photos: a B-24 Liberator bomber over the Pacific

Happy Veteran's Day! Some items you may have missed this past week:

USA: Right in line with my prediction here, some in Obama's new administration already want to put Bush administration officials on trial for torture.


IRAN: A former victim speaks out about sensory deprivation torture technique known as "white torture". We still hear so much about alleged torture under the Bush presidency (like the above). Why do we hear so little about this?


TURKEY: The Duchess of York went undercover with a media crew and exposed shockingly bad conditions at orphanages in Turkey. Turkey's response:

“We object to the undercover methodology of the documentary. We should have been informed about their plans to do a documentary on orphanages. This could have an impact on our image in Europe.”

In other words: "You are making us look bad and could screw up our EU bid; please give us warning so we can clean up an orphanage before putting it on TV"


UK: Bees in the UK are disappearing at probably the most alarming rate in the world. Yes, we would survive without them, but we would enjoy far less variety in foods as well as living in a less colorful world overall.


USA: The Washington Post admits their campaign coverage was biased. Now they tell us. Don't you think they could have said something about this during the election? Related item: one website, eyeonthepost.org, is dedicated to tracking bias at the WaPo, although it focuses mainly on Middle East reporting.


SOMALIA: A 13 year-old rape victim was stoned to death for adultery. I wish all the people who have been screaming about Sarah Palin's belief in creationism would at least spend some time on real problems like this. There are fanatics in the world who hold nobody's life sacred and are willing to sacrifice anyone or anything in the name of their religion.


MEXICO: Mexico just signed an agreement to deport Cuban migrants in their country. Anyone else see any hypocrisy here? Of course, they don't want Cubans taking jobs in the US. Mexico wants to reserve that particular cash cow for itself. See also related story here.


NORTH KOREA: Dictator Kim Jong-Il might be more ill than previously thought; the regime releases photos of him that are obvious fakes. I can do a better job myself (and have).


GREENLAND: In 1968, a US bomber crashed in Greenland with four nuclear bombs. Only three were accounted for. We are just finding this out now. Given the age of the weapon, the remoteness of the area, and the fact that no terrorist organization has it at the moment (or if they do, no one is using it for blackmail), it's probably nothing to worry about. Probably...


USA: One respected physicist chases his dream of time travel. To avoid ridicule, he kept quiet about it until now. Can't say much about this, except it was a childhood dream of mine as well. He should understand though, that even in the very unlikely case that he was successful, what he is actually building is a weapon far more devastating than any nuke in existence.


USA: Obama wants to close Guantanamo and try all detainees in the continental United States. Problem is, what do you do with them after that? After they serve their sentences, they can ask for asylum since it would be "inhumane" to send them back. No other country will want them either. Bottom line: if we do this, we are stuck with them forever.

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The future of political discourse

Some words of wisdom from Victor Davis Hanson:

It seems to me that conservatives have a golden opportunity to offer criticism and advice in a manner that many liberals did not during the last eight years. By that I mean I hope there are no conservative versions of the Nicholson Baker Knopf-published ‘novel’ Checkpoint, the creepy documentary by Gerald Range, the attempt to name a sewer plant after an American President, or the celebrity outbursts that we have witnessed with the tired refrain of Hitler/Nazi Bush—that all have cheapened political discourse. When I hear a partisan insider like Paul Begala urging at the 11th hour that we now rally around lame-duck Bush in his last few days, I detect a sense of apprehension that no Democrats would wish conservatives to treat Obama as they did Bush for eight years.

To this I would add: there should be no conservative "Fahrenheit 9/11" documentaries, no fake-liberal commentators mirroring the Steven Colbert fake-conservative model, no conservative versions of Keith Olberman and his pre-school level "worst person in the world" segments (We already know Ann Coulter is going to have a field day for the next eight years), and no protestors holding signs of Obama depicted with Hitler moustaches and devil's horns.

But that's probably too much to hope for.

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The military reaction

No bloodshed, no violence, no panic.

Every soldier I work with is still plugging away at their job, same as always. But why is that? Hasn't the military been described for the last eight years as "Bush's military"? Hasn't everything small slight they have done personally been blamed on Bush?

I've said over and over again, that the military is far more independent than the conspiracy theorists think. But nobody listened to me.

Everyone talked about it, most joked about it, but that was it. It wasn't such a big deal. It seems most military members seem to support McCain, but not all of them. Mostly, soldiers keep their political opinions to themselves.

But keep in mind what has happened. The election is not significant because we elected a biracial man or a man with the middle name Hussein to the Presidency. It is significant because we just elected a man who, although he is a very charismatic speaker, has the thinnest resume of anyone ever to hold that office. And we elected him over a genuine war-hero with almost 30 years in the Senate. I wish Mr. Obama all the best.

I'm curious, though - with a Democratic president and Congress, who will Germany's Stern blame for it's anti-Americanism? Where will American comedians direct their attacks now? Where will pundits like the Daily Kos and Keith Olberman channel their rage? Toward the US Supreme Court?

A good quote from David's Mediankritik:

For Americans living in or visiting Germany, this may translate into fewer close encounters of the Hate-America kind in certain bars, taxis and social gatherings. The trendy types will have to drop Hate-Bush for some other cause-celeb and pick up a new ultra villain to rail against. This in itself may lead to some angst and uncertainty.

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My Prediction on the US election

No, this isn't my prediction over who will win the election. Rather, what will happen after the election.

First prediction: the election will be heavily contested no matter who wins. I believe it's going to be much closer than the pollsters indicate, and we've already had plenty of charges of voter fraud and vote suppression on both sides. So get ready for quite a few court battles.

Second; this depends on who wins:

1) If Obama wins, but the Democrats only hold a small majority in Congress, or lose their majority altogether, then the country is going to plug along much as it has for the last several years. But we will get Universal healthcare in a rather watered down form, and a modest military drawdown.

2) If Obama wins, and the Democrats grab a wide majority in the House and Senate. Then our country will not only take a radical shift with Universal healthcare and a huge military drawdown, but also we will also be mired down in congressional hearings and investigations over the last eight years, focusing on Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld.

3) If McCain wins, there will be rioting in the streets, widespread accusations of voter fraud, and plenty of violence. Conspiracy theorists will go wild.

I'm calling it like I see it. But I hope I'm wrong on all of these...

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