After about seven weeks, I can safely report back to all of you who follow the ravings and rantings that appear here that my decision which was chronicled in the last and possibly most lengthy entry here has been a rousing success so far. The day after my last day at the Alley (which didn't end until about 11:00 in the evening following the second preview of The Scene) I was called to work a Load In at Jones Hall, and work has continued to come my way pretty steadily since then.
As I have had a chance to place my skills on display at various jobs (ExxonMobil Energy Tech conference in the Woodlands, several meetings and events for El Paso energy and the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (a certified sleeper) at the Hilton adjoining the George R Brown Convention Center and a few gigs at the union theaters in the downtown theater district my suspicions about the lack of knowledgeable and competent Sound Engineers freelancing here in town are being confirmed.
The latest gig I had at Jones Hall earlier this week was no more stressful or a hassle than a lot of the rentals that came into the Alley, and I treated it as such. It was for the Bayou City Chorale's performance of their holiday concert. The Chorale consist of a Gay men's chorus of about 80 and a Women's Chorus of 30 or so. As is the case with groups like this, it was not very well organized in terms of the scheduled structure of the rehearsal on Monday evening, but I rolled with what they did and as much as they got done I was able to tech and get a good feel for. What made the day interesting was that although I had worked in the building once before on the Load In and Out the weekend following my last day at the Alley, it had been in the capacity of a Stagehand, so I learned nothing about how the house sound system worked, where equipment was stored, and what the room sounded like. The Houston Symphony was loading out that morning, and when I got there around Noon the Symphony sound guy was still there and he was gracious enough to stick around for a little while and show me the three areas where stuff I might need was kept, how the console at the Mezzanine position patched into the house sound system, and he also helped me set up the console at that position. I'm not sure what would have happened if he hadn't have decided to take pity on me and lend a hand. Once things were pretty much in place and working (that's another thing, pretty much everything I plugged in worked the first time, which was kind of amazing, considering that it was a minor accomplishment when I was at the Alley, and I know that space and the system inside out by heart...) I was able to settle down up at the board, eat some sandwiched I brought (another thing I learned pretty quick--always take food to almost every call unless it's a strike, since you never know what's gonna happen in terms of the feces hitting the air handler as far as the schedule or client's wants/needs/demands go) and get a handle on how the choirs sounded in the room with the system I was working with.
After the show, the director and the guy who was acting as the SM were both happy and vocal in letting me know that, which is the bottom line on a gig like that. The facilities guy who hired me (based on a reference from a designer I worked with at the Alley last season who is based here in Houston--thanks, Garth!) was also happy that the Chorale folks were happy as well as being impressed that I was able to accomplish as much as I did on Monday without having to call him or Garth or either of the other sound people who have worked in that building in the past and essentially told me that he had as much work ing the building for me as I wanted to take, which seems to be the case (the building is owned by the city and is booked as much as possible to maximize revenue) between the Symphony and its many different performance series (Broadway, Pops, and regular season), The Society for the Performing Arts, and the various other organizations like the Chorale who are in there on a semi frequent basis.
This is above and beyond the work I've done for AVW, the Production Services company that provides all the A/V/Lighting services for corporate events at a lot of the hotels and the GRB Convention Center here in town. It's even more simple and much more mind numbing than the events at Jones Hall or the Wortham Center, but the constant state of flux is ever present, usually in a much more intense manner. What's great about working with AVW on the corporate side of things is the fact that I'm there to work in the room either setting up or taking down an event or operating it. If I need anything that wasn't on the original list of gear, if something is busted or if the client suddenly changes their mind about what they want or when they want it I can turn to one of the AVW staff guys and presto! it happens fairly quickly. This aspect of working through the local has been one of the most refreshing ones, the aspect of not being in charge, and being able to simply show up, be told what the project or goal is, accomplishing it, and then going away, never to concern myself with it again. One of the most grueling things about my work at the Alley was that I had gotten to a place where I thought about the job ALL THE TIME. When I was at work, I thought about everything that needed to be done (of course). But then I'd go home, and think about work. I'd go down to Galveston, I'd think about work. I'd go up to Annalee's or Amy's or out to Mike and Julie's and think about the job. I'd get on a plane and fly up to Philly (which is where I am right now--actually coming down into the lovely Tri State Area) and I'd think about the job. I wouldn't give up any of the years I spent at the Alley or any of the things that I learned there, but the last seven weeks have showed me how crazy things had gotten. My body has also been telling me how it feels about not being in a constant state of semi emergency mode--there are spates when I am really tired and it's not following any crazy period of work or anything--it's just my body saying "OK, we're going to rest now". It was especially surreal when mid November came around and I wasn't loading in and then teching Christmas Carol for the first time in twelve years. Refreshing, but surreal.
So, a success so far. Also, a chance to spend more than the requisite three or four days up in Philly for Christmas allowing for a few days to spend with my brother Brian above and beyond the Christmas day spent up at his house with our Mom.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Friday, October 26, 2007
Movin' On...
Well, after a long wait between the notice and the final hours (8 weeks, possibly a new record in the annals of resignation...), here it is in all its glory...
The subject of my last post has become even more poignant in that I'll be gainfully employed at Jones Hall less than 12 hours after my last duty has been discharged here at the Alley (notes session for the second preview of The Scene) loading in the Shaolin Warriors show at 8 AM tomorrow morning.
This is not meant to be an indictment of anyone (past or present) in the Alley Organization. It is merely an explanation (to myself as much as anyone else) of the reasoning behind what is the biggest decision so far of my Adult life. I spent about 16 months actively considering the reasons, pros and cons of making this decision.
Initially, my decision was based on the premise that the next two and a half to three years would be very intense and time consuming ones in terms of the operations of the theater and the production department (especially lighting and sound). It was looking like it would go something like this:
After Carol opens this year, the theater kicks into high gear for about five months, culminating with the second of two musicals (Paris) opening after two and a half weeks of tech and two weeks of previews. Instead of taking a week or two to recuperate, the lighting and sound departments will be called upon to pack up everything that they have in the 615 building not in use in Paris and ship it off to one of three locations:
cold storage with limited or no access for the season produced offsite,
easily accessible storage for instruments/speakers and other miscellaneous equipment,
whatever office space we would be using for the 08-09 season.
This would take a few weeks, followed by another frenzied period of packing up everything that was used in Paris and hauling it off to the appropriate location.
Once all of 615 is cleared out and the building is ready to undergo its magical transformation, the grind of the offsite season will be upon us. I don't care how close the venue is or what type of reduced season we produce, it is still going to be a grueling experience, mainly because it is going to involve producing theater in a completely new and foreign manner. We're pretty spoiled here at the Alley in several ways. The facility is ours, and we can do whatever we want, whenever we want and answer to no one but ourselves. Not so wherever we end up. We are self encapsulated in our little universe on the 600 block of Texas Avenue. Whenever we need something, need to build something, it's right there where we can get at it in 5 minutes or less. At an offsite venue it may take someone five minutes or more to get to their vehicle and get on the road to storage or the shop or wherever they need to go.
In addition to that every member of the shop head staff as well as the production office will also be vetting and checking in on the work occurring back at 615 Texas. Clint and I will spend the most time over there, but Jason and Nancy would probably need to take some time away from the shop to make sure things in their world were going according to plan down there as well.
After a season on the road, the summer would (ideally) be spent by everyone moving everything back into 615, feeling out the new amenities, and figuring out exactly how we're going to initially approach producing theater in a totally new environment. This would be followed by the start of a full slate of high profile titles designed to celebrate the return of the Alley Theater company to it's renovated home. As new discoveries are made and new methods of doing things developed the additional layer of stress will no doubt make what would have been a challenging season in the old facility all the more daunting.
By the following May, several shop heads and staff members could conceivably be coming off 30 months of intense production and work without a significant break. Even if a break or two were secured for everyone, the things that potentially slipped through the cracks during those breaks and having to deal with them when they returned would offset any relief provided by the time off. And all the problems probably won't be discovered and solved by the end of that first season back in 615. I can confidently say that we weren't in a comfortable place in terms of producing in the Neuhaus until after about four seasons, and there are still discoveries that are being made.
I didn't want to pass the "point of no return", as I saw the opening of Carol this season, and get sucked into the maelstrom that would be the next two and a half years of my life essentially devoted in some form or another to the Alley Theatre. And once the renovation got pushed back a year, that maelstrom went from being 2-1/2 years to 3-1/2 years (potentially 4-1/2 with the postponement of all of the previously documented activity), essentially putting me in my early to mid 40's before I could look around and even think about doing something like what I've decided to do now.
Twelve years of regional theater at the Alley, and another four before that of freelancing between Philadelphia and New England have taken a bit of a toll as well. The schedule for me as the head of the sound department essentially was a flexible one that altered between a traditional five day nineish to fiveish week format during the period of time when a show or shows are in performance (after they have opened and are being presented for paying audiences) and a six day a week 14-16 hour day format during the period of time we called tech, but which is also known as production, where we are in the space with the actors and all the technical elements coordinating everything before an audience gets to see it.
This fluctuation made it hard to have any kind of stable consistent life outside the theater unless it was with someone from the theater (and even then it wasn't always guaranteed success, especially if the other person wasn't from the production/performance area), and we all know the saying about mixing personal relationships with the workplace. But it went beyond the ability on my part to maintain a romantic relationship while working in the production department of a major regional theater. There have been countless times over the past nine years since I became the department head where I've heard about something happening that I'd really like to attend but had to say "I'm in tech", or I heard about something that had passed (either in a 'that was really great' vein or a 'where were you?' vein, always having to answer, "I was in tech" with a resigned sigh. I'm kinda over that and want to be able to be a part of my friends' lives on a more consistent basis.
Another large part of this decision has been the direction that the theater has taken in the past few years, mainly artistically but also operationally. The artistic mission statement of the theater outlines commitments to "interpret existing dramatic works boldly and with insight," to "bring forth new writers and plays destined to be the classics of tomorrow", and also to be "the collaborator of choice for artists and arts organizations, learning from these exchanges and exporting our work to the nation and the world." While these are inspiring sounding and commendable aspirations, the Alley is still in Houston, which is far off the beaten path of the 'traditional' theater circuit. We haven't had a corps of resident designers since Greg Boyd took over as Artistic Director nearly 20 years ago, and the lofty goal of expanding the resident acting company to 24 members has proven to be a difficult one at best. Much of this can be attributed to the high and stringent standards and demands of Greg (rarely, if ever, is local acting talent tapped for roles larger than that of the 'spearcarrier' category and the decisions of what shows are slotted where in the season are largely dependent on the availability of well established and acredited designers, most of whom are based out of New York where they do the majority of their work), but making the commitment to base oneself in Southeast Texas has an effect on the type of work and the amount of commitments in the rest of the country that one can reasonably expect to secure in a calendar year.
Part of why the renovation has been put off so many times is that there has never been a physical plan in place that satisfies the needs dictated by this mission statement. The consistent philosophy exhibited by all the versions of the physical renovation of the 615 facility essentially state that the Alley aspires to be a self producing theatre with a resident acting company in a facility that can be utilized as a roadhouse, so as to be able to easily bring productions in from other theaters and to send original productions on to other theaters. Unfortunately, Nina Vance didn't have this in mind back in the late 1960's. This was quite on purpose. She had been producing theater in two locations previous to the 615 Texas building for almost 20 years and liked the kind of theater that was coming out of the restrictive atmosphere the Alley company found itself in from 1947- until 1966, when the 615 building was designed. She even went so far as to specify that the size and configuration of the Neuhaus Arena Theater replicate the Berry Street location, which it pretty much did, the exception being that the Neuhaus (pre 2001 Tropical Storm Allison and the havoc that she wrought) had on additional row of seats. Being that the 615 building is about as far from being a traditional roadhouse as you can possibly get (no fly loft, tension mesh grid, modified thrust stage, unconventional seating configuration in a rapidly widening arc that plays hell with sightlines) it does not lend itself to this model of theater outlined in the mission statement. It also does not lend itself to change very well, mainly due to the fact that the whole thing (with the exception of the roof) is poured concrete. Plan after plan has been proposed, drafted, vetted by the production and artistic staff, redrafted, and then shelved or shitcanned. One of the most frustrating aspects of the current plan and its one year postponement is the fact that the new management team is in the latter stages of learning this painful truth about the building as it exists now, which is, in its most basic form:
However the facility is renovated and/or refit, it will never be the ideal facility for the production model outlined in the mission statement. Nothing short of building a new facility in a second location or razing the current one and starting anew will achieve this goal.
No one likes to think about this option for a variety of reasons, all of them valid:
The building is architecturally unique, and while it is relatively young, historic preservation has caught on here in Houston and the proposed demolition of it would result in community heritage organizations protesting vehemently. This has been a concern even when considering actions such as changing the roof line to accommodate a fly loft as part of a renovation.
The construction of any new facility brings up the ugly possibility of a season or seasons when the theater would not be producing. This has been determined to be unacceptable due to the loss of staff over the period of non production and the loss of patronage and community exposure over the same period of time.
The fundamental identity of the Alley would be inexorably altered by the implementation of a new facility, be it a replacement or a second space.
The addition of another facility for production would alter the nature of the mission statement in that it would call for additional programming to justify its creation and existence. The space at the top of the Prairie parking garage was originally slated to be a third performance space. It was re-conceived as a new home for the administrative offices and shops after it was determined that the programming schedule was not going to be expanded to justify the existence of a third performance space in the foreseeable future.
My interpretation of the Alley's intentions as far as the programming choices are concerned has always been that, while they need to be accessible enough to generate significant revenue, they also are relevant to the current social, political, and cultural climate in the world. As recently as two years ago, this was occurring at the theater, with productions of works such as the World War I era anti war play Jouney's End, and the very poignant Pillowman, which highlights the direction that our society finds itself being nudged more and more every day towards a totalitarian police state. The past few years have seen the theater take steps toward more Vanilla, mass appealing, revenue generating programming when there are daily events in the world that require highlighting due to the fact that everywhere else (mass media, political parties) there seems to be an elaborate shell game being performed to keep the general population's attention off what is really going on and where we are headed as a country, a society, and a race.
I don't know if I'm over theater as a whole, but I like Houston and Texas, I have a lot of friends that I care about here, and the Alley is the only real regional theater that I can do what I do at the Alley in Texas.
I feel that there is more that I can be doing as a member of the Human Race in the face of the decidedly un-human practices being inflicted by a very small percentage of the world population on a much greater percentage for the sake of power and monetary profit, no matter what the cost in human life and the health of the planet's fragile ecosystem in it's current state (which is the only reason that we have been able to survive and evolve into the world presence that we are).
One thing I plan on doing is to start working with the Pacifica Radio station that is here in Houston, KPFT. I've been listening to it for years and am a firm believer in what the station is primarily about in the form of a mission to serve the community. I don't necessarily believe in the messages and causes advanced by all of the programming, but that is patently impossible, and it is also a primary tenet of the Pacifica format as a listener sponsored and programmed non commercial radio station. I have a fairly unique skill set that can provide me with a steady living here in town but should also be useful in helping out at the station. I'm not expecting to be slotted in right away as an engineer on some of the higher profile shows and will do whatever they need, but I imagine that once I get an opportunity to exhibit my proficiency in audio that they'll be plenty for me to do.
The subject of my last post has become even more poignant in that I'll be gainfully employed at Jones Hall less than 12 hours after my last duty has been discharged here at the Alley (notes session for the second preview of The Scene) loading in the Shaolin Warriors show at 8 AM tomorrow morning.
This is not meant to be an indictment of anyone (past or present) in the Alley Organization. It is merely an explanation (to myself as much as anyone else) of the reasoning behind what is the biggest decision so far of my Adult life. I spent about 16 months actively considering the reasons, pros and cons of making this decision.
Initially, my decision was based on the premise that the next two and a half to three years would be very intense and time consuming ones in terms of the operations of the theater and the production department (especially lighting and sound). It was looking like it would go something like this:
After Carol opens this year, the theater kicks into high gear for about five months, culminating with the second of two musicals (Paris) opening after two and a half weeks of tech and two weeks of previews. Instead of taking a week or two to recuperate, the lighting and sound departments will be called upon to pack up everything that they have in the 615 building not in use in Paris and ship it off to one of three locations:
cold storage with limited or no access for the season produced offsite,
easily accessible storage for instruments/speakers and other miscellaneous equipment,
whatever office space we would be using for the 08-09 season.
This would take a few weeks, followed by another frenzied period of packing up everything that was used in Paris and hauling it off to the appropriate location.
Once all of 615 is cleared out and the building is ready to undergo its magical transformation, the grind of the offsite season will be upon us. I don't care how close the venue is or what type of reduced season we produce, it is still going to be a grueling experience, mainly because it is going to involve producing theater in a completely new and foreign manner. We're pretty spoiled here at the Alley in several ways. The facility is ours, and we can do whatever we want, whenever we want and answer to no one but ourselves. Not so wherever we end up. We are self encapsulated in our little universe on the 600 block of Texas Avenue. Whenever we need something, need to build something, it's right there where we can get at it in 5 minutes or less. At an offsite venue it may take someone five minutes or more to get to their vehicle and get on the road to storage or the shop or wherever they need to go.
In addition to that every member of the shop head staff as well as the production office will also be vetting and checking in on the work occurring back at 615 Texas. Clint and I will spend the most time over there, but Jason and Nancy would probably need to take some time away from the shop to make sure things in their world were going according to plan down there as well.
After a season on the road, the summer would (ideally) be spent by everyone moving everything back into 615, feeling out the new amenities, and figuring out exactly how we're going to initially approach producing theater in a totally new environment. This would be followed by the start of a full slate of high profile titles designed to celebrate the return of the Alley Theater company to it's renovated home. As new discoveries are made and new methods of doing things developed the additional layer of stress will no doubt make what would have been a challenging season in the old facility all the more daunting.
By the following May, several shop heads and staff members could conceivably be coming off 30 months of intense production and work without a significant break. Even if a break or two were secured for everyone, the things that potentially slipped through the cracks during those breaks and having to deal with them when they returned would offset any relief provided by the time off. And all the problems probably won't be discovered and solved by the end of that first season back in 615. I can confidently say that we weren't in a comfortable place in terms of producing in the Neuhaus until after about four seasons, and there are still discoveries that are being made.
I didn't want to pass the "point of no return", as I saw the opening of Carol this season, and get sucked into the maelstrom that would be the next two and a half years of my life essentially devoted in some form or another to the Alley Theatre. And once the renovation got pushed back a year, that maelstrom went from being 2-1/2 years to 3-1/2 years (potentially 4-1/2 with the postponement of all of the previously documented activity), essentially putting me in my early to mid 40's before I could look around and even think about doing something like what I've decided to do now.
Twelve years of regional theater at the Alley, and another four before that of freelancing between Philadelphia and New England have taken a bit of a toll as well. The schedule for me as the head of the sound department essentially was a flexible one that altered between a traditional five day nineish to fiveish week format during the period of time when a show or shows are in performance (after they have opened and are being presented for paying audiences) and a six day a week 14-16 hour day format during the period of time we called tech, but which is also known as production, where we are in the space with the actors and all the technical elements coordinating everything before an audience gets to see it.
This fluctuation made it hard to have any kind of stable consistent life outside the theater unless it was with someone from the theater (and even then it wasn't always guaranteed success, especially if the other person wasn't from the production/performance area), and we all know the saying about mixing personal relationships with the workplace. But it went beyond the ability on my part to maintain a romantic relationship while working in the production department of a major regional theater. There have been countless times over the past nine years since I became the department head where I've heard about something happening that I'd really like to attend but had to say "I'm in tech", or I heard about something that had passed (either in a 'that was really great' vein or a 'where were you?' vein, always having to answer, "I was in tech" with a resigned sigh. I'm kinda over that and want to be able to be a part of my friends' lives on a more consistent basis.
Another large part of this decision has been the direction that the theater has taken in the past few years, mainly artistically but also operationally. The artistic mission statement of the theater outlines commitments to "interpret existing dramatic works boldly and with insight," to "bring forth new writers and plays destined to be the classics of tomorrow", and also to be "the collaborator of choice for artists and arts organizations, learning from these exchanges and exporting our work to the nation and the world." While these are inspiring sounding and commendable aspirations, the Alley is still in Houston, which is far off the beaten path of the 'traditional' theater circuit. We haven't had a corps of resident designers since Greg Boyd took over as Artistic Director nearly 20 years ago, and the lofty goal of expanding the resident acting company to 24 members has proven to be a difficult one at best. Much of this can be attributed to the high and stringent standards and demands of Greg (rarely, if ever, is local acting talent tapped for roles larger than that of the 'spearcarrier' category and the decisions of what shows are slotted where in the season are largely dependent on the availability of well established and acredited designers, most of whom are based out of New York where they do the majority of their work), but making the commitment to base oneself in Southeast Texas has an effect on the type of work and the amount of commitments in the rest of the country that one can reasonably expect to secure in a calendar year.
Part of why the renovation has been put off so many times is that there has never been a physical plan in place that satisfies the needs dictated by this mission statement. The consistent philosophy exhibited by all the versions of the physical renovation of the 615 facility essentially state that the Alley aspires to be a self producing theatre with a resident acting company in a facility that can be utilized as a roadhouse, so as to be able to easily bring productions in from other theaters and to send original productions on to other theaters. Unfortunately, Nina Vance didn't have this in mind back in the late 1960's. This was quite on purpose. She had been producing theater in two locations previous to the 615 Texas building for almost 20 years and liked the kind of theater that was coming out of the restrictive atmosphere the Alley company found itself in from 1947- until 1966, when the 615 building was designed. She even went so far as to specify that the size and configuration of the Neuhaus Arena Theater replicate the Berry Street location, which it pretty much did, the exception being that the Neuhaus (pre 2001 Tropical Storm Allison and the havoc that she wrought) had on additional row of seats. Being that the 615 building is about as far from being a traditional roadhouse as you can possibly get (no fly loft, tension mesh grid, modified thrust stage, unconventional seating configuration in a rapidly widening arc that plays hell with sightlines) it does not lend itself to this model of theater outlined in the mission statement. It also does not lend itself to change very well, mainly due to the fact that the whole thing (with the exception of the roof) is poured concrete. Plan after plan has been proposed, drafted, vetted by the production and artistic staff, redrafted, and then shelved or shitcanned. One of the most frustrating aspects of the current plan and its one year postponement is the fact that the new management team is in the latter stages of learning this painful truth about the building as it exists now, which is, in its most basic form:
However the facility is renovated and/or refit, it will never be the ideal facility for the production model outlined in the mission statement. Nothing short of building a new facility in a second location or razing the current one and starting anew will achieve this goal.
No one likes to think about this option for a variety of reasons, all of them valid:
The building is architecturally unique, and while it is relatively young, historic preservation has caught on here in Houston and the proposed demolition of it would result in community heritage organizations protesting vehemently. This has been a concern even when considering actions such as changing the roof line to accommodate a fly loft as part of a renovation.
The construction of any new facility brings up the ugly possibility of a season or seasons when the theater would not be producing. This has been determined to be unacceptable due to the loss of staff over the period of non production and the loss of patronage and community exposure over the same period of time.
The fundamental identity of the Alley would be inexorably altered by the implementation of a new facility, be it a replacement or a second space.
The addition of another facility for production would alter the nature of the mission statement in that it would call for additional programming to justify its creation and existence. The space at the top of the Prairie parking garage was originally slated to be a third performance space. It was re-conceived as a new home for the administrative offices and shops after it was determined that the programming schedule was not going to be expanded to justify the existence of a third performance space in the foreseeable future.
My interpretation of the Alley's intentions as far as the programming choices are concerned has always been that, while they need to be accessible enough to generate significant revenue, they also are relevant to the current social, political, and cultural climate in the world. As recently as two years ago, this was occurring at the theater, with productions of works such as the World War I era anti war play Jouney's End, and the very poignant Pillowman, which highlights the direction that our society finds itself being nudged more and more every day towards a totalitarian police state. The past few years have seen the theater take steps toward more Vanilla, mass appealing, revenue generating programming when there are daily events in the world that require highlighting due to the fact that everywhere else (mass media, political parties) there seems to be an elaborate shell game being performed to keep the general population's attention off what is really going on and where we are headed as a country, a society, and a race.
I don't know if I'm over theater as a whole, but I like Houston and Texas, I have a lot of friends that I care about here, and the Alley is the only real regional theater that I can do what I do at the Alley in Texas.
I feel that there is more that I can be doing as a member of the Human Race in the face of the decidedly un-human practices being inflicted by a very small percentage of the world population on a much greater percentage for the sake of power and monetary profit, no matter what the cost in human life and the health of the planet's fragile ecosystem in it's current state (which is the only reason that we have been able to survive and evolve into the world presence that we are).
One thing I plan on doing is to start working with the Pacifica Radio station that is here in Houston, KPFT. I've been listening to it for years and am a firm believer in what the station is primarily about in the form of a mission to serve the community. I don't necessarily believe in the messages and causes advanced by all of the programming, but that is patently impossible, and it is also a primary tenet of the Pacifica format as a listener sponsored and programmed non commercial radio station. I have a fairly unique skill set that can provide me with a steady living here in town but should also be useful in helping out at the station. I'm not expecting to be slotted in right away as an engineer on some of the higher profile shows and will do whatever they need, but I imagine that once I get an opportunity to exhibit my proficiency in audio that they'll be plenty for me to do.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
In demand...
Evidently this change in work situations is going to work out okay. I'm not even out the door at the Alley and am already being secured for gigs through the IATSE local here in town. The Assistant Business Manager just called me a little while ago with something for me this Friday which, regrettably, I had to turn down since it is my last day at the theater. However, he also told me to block out several days starting next Friday for an event at the hotel over by the convention center. I think I'm all set in terms of all the requisite clothing items and tools for any sort of scenario, but I'm sure that there will be the occasional episodes of 'nope, don't have that, but will be sure to get it for next time' biting me in the ass over the next few weeks.
Very exciting...
Sing it, Huey!
Very exciting...
Sing it, Huey!
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
It's never worked and never will...
The 'Ultimate Horror' of strategic bombing was realized in Spain during the Spanish Civil War and Poland at the outset of World War II. "Strategic" is a term that has never really applied since the unfortunate law of gravity rules above anything else and the bomb will fall where they will.
It's never worked in the manner in which it was designed to (except when it was designed to do what it does naturally--terrorize and decimate the entire population of its target area) ever since, be it in Korea, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Serbia, and countless other places, including the current targets in Iraq and Afghanistan and potential targets in Iran and Pakistan.
Chris Floyd over at Salon:
Monday, the Pentagon acknowledged a long-unspoken truth: that the bombardment of civilian neighborhoods in Iraq is an integral part of the vaunted "counterinsurgency" doctrine of Gen. David Petraeus. The number of airstrikes in the conquered land has risen fivefold since George W. Bush escalated the war in January, as USA Today reports:
"Coalition forces launched 1,140 airstrikes in the first nine months of this year compared with 229 in all of last year, according to military statistics ... In Iraq, the temporary increase of 30,000 U.S. troops ordered by President Bush in January has led to the increase in bombing missions. The U.S. command has moved forces off large bases and into neighborhoods and has launched several large offensives aimed at al-Qaeda ... 'You end up having that many more opportunities for close air support,' said Air Force Brig. Gen. Stephen Mueller, director of the Combined Air Operations Center in Doha, Qatar."
"'This could have been done through the infantry,' said Ibrahim al-Khamas, a Samarra city council member. 'But the American Army prefers the easiest solution, which is the air bombardment ... This airstrike was excessive, as usual, which led to the fall of civilians. People here are now carrying great hatred against the Americans after the raid. This airstrike turned their Eid to grief' ...
It's never worked in the manner in which it was designed to (except when it was designed to do what it does naturally--terrorize and decimate the entire population of its target area) ever since, be it in Korea, Viet Nam, Cambodia, Serbia, and countless other places, including the current targets in Iraq and Afghanistan and potential targets in Iran and Pakistan.
Chris Floyd over at Salon:
Monday, the Pentagon acknowledged a long-unspoken truth: that the bombardment of civilian neighborhoods in Iraq is an integral part of the vaunted "counterinsurgency" doctrine of Gen. David Petraeus. The number of airstrikes in the conquered land has risen fivefold since George W. Bush escalated the war in January, as USA Today reports:
"Coalition forces launched 1,140 airstrikes in the first nine months of this year compared with 229 in all of last year, according to military statistics ... In Iraq, the temporary increase of 30,000 U.S. troops ordered by President Bush in January has led to the increase in bombing missions. The U.S. command has moved forces off large bases and into neighborhoods and has launched several large offensives aimed at al-Qaeda ... 'You end up having that many more opportunities for close air support,' said Air Force Brig. Gen. Stephen Mueller, director of the Combined Air Operations Center in Doha, Qatar."
"'This could have been done through the infantry,' said Ibrahim al-Khamas, a Samarra city council member. 'But the American Army prefers the easiest solution, which is the air bombardment ... This airstrike was excessive, as usual, which led to the fall of civilians. People here are now carrying great hatred against the Americans after the raid. This airstrike turned their Eid to grief' ...
Saturday, October 20, 2007
The New Tin Soldiers
NY Times:
BAGHDAD, Sept. 27 — Participants in a contentious Baghdad security operation this month have told American investigators that during the operation at least one guard continued firing on civilians while colleagues urgently called for a cease-fire. At least one guard apparently also drew a weapon on a fellow guard who did not stop shooting, an American official said.
CBS:
BAGHDAD, Oct. 12, 2007
The first U.S. soldiers to arrive on the scene after Blackwater USA guards shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians at a Baghdad intersection on Sept. 16, found no evidence that the Iraqis fired any weapons at the guards, the Washington Post reported Friday.
A report compiled by the soldiers concluded that there was "no enemy activity involved" and called the incident a "criminal event," the Post reports.
"It appeared to me they were fleeing the scene when they were engaged," said Lt. Col. Mike Tarsa, whose soldiers arrived at the scene 20 to 25 minutes after the shootings ended. "It had every indication of an excessive shooting."
CNN:
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's prime minister wants private military contractor Blackwater out of his country after an Iraqi probe found Blackwater guards randomly shot civilians without provocation in a Baghdad square last month, an aide said Tuesday.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and most Iraqi officials are "completely satisfied" with the findings and are "insisting" that Blackwater leave the country, al-Maliki adviser Sami al-Askari told CNN.
Not withstanding my previous post about this happening when the Chicago Cubs make it to and win the World Series (not happening this year), if and when this happens the primary concerns that every freedom valuing American citizen should keep in mind are a: where are they going to go when they leave (they're going to be coming back here to the States to begin with) and b: what will they be doing there (your guess is as good as mine, but if the indications based on the duties secured by Blackwater in New Orleans after Katrina flushed out the majority of the more disadvantaged portion of the city's population (keeping them out of the public housing units that they still are rightfully entitled to) are anything to go by it can't be anything in the best interests of the average American).
The current administration and the support structure that keeps it in power know that the next election is a potential pivotal event. The results of said election must go in a certain direction in order for the benefactors of the current administration's policies (minimal to nonexistent tax rates for their main source of income, foreign policies that maximize profit for certain industries that they are deeply invested in (military-industrial, fossil fuel development, distribution and sale). In order for this to be achieved, the masses must remain pacified by (relatively) stable economic conditions and a seemingly calm domestic state of affairs, which means minimal public dissent and protest and NO BAD NEWS FROM THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA ABOUT ANYTHING EXCEPT HOW WE ARE IN DANGER FROM THREATS FROM TERRORISTS WHO ARE EVERYWHERE.
Pacifying and marginalizing civil dissent that goes beyond an acceptable level of intensity (read: when it starts to attract the attention of enough people to be a concern to the ruling class) usually falls to a police or military organization. But, if the local and state police are so overworked and underequipped to deal with it then a national force is usually called upon to quell the uprising, unless, the national force normally called upon to do so has already been called upon to fight in an overseas conflict and has been compromised to the point of near decimation. Then what do you do to quell the potentially polarizing protests of the administration and its policies? Why, you contract a private, corporate security force that is not answerable to any laws in the country that they're working in, even if it happens to be the country that they are indigenous to!
Peaceful Protest: What? A group of more than ten people are gathered to protest the administration's foreign policies?
CIVIL UNREST!!!
MUST BE QUELLED!!!
(SHOOT TO KILL!!!)
General Election: What? You've come to vote and you're not going to choose the ruling party on your ballot?
CIVIL UNREST!!!
MUST BE QUELLED!!!
(WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE!!!)
All I can say is that I'm glad I live in Texas, because I think they'll think twice before coming down here and doing any sort of messing with anything or anyone given the fact that everyone down here owns at least one firearm. I'm just as nonviolent as the next person and am in total agreement with Arthur and Chris in their view of physical violence as a non option in that it always sends the wrong message and sets the wrong precident, BUT, it seems to be the only language that these folks understand AND I'm not a big fan of rolling over for the trigger happy muscle of an illegitimate administration of outlaws who have no regard for the inherent rights of human beings, be they citizens of the U. S. or any other country in the world.
Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin'.
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drummin'.
Four dead in Ohio.
Gotta get down to it.
Soldiers are gunning us down.
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her and
Found her dead on the ground?
How can you run when you know?
--Neil Young
BAGHDAD, Sept. 27 — Participants in a contentious Baghdad security operation this month have told American investigators that during the operation at least one guard continued firing on civilians while colleagues urgently called for a cease-fire. At least one guard apparently also drew a weapon on a fellow guard who did not stop shooting, an American official said.
CBS:
BAGHDAD, Oct. 12, 2007
The first U.S. soldiers to arrive on the scene after Blackwater USA guards shot and killed 17 Iraqi civilians at a Baghdad intersection on Sept. 16, found no evidence that the Iraqis fired any weapons at the guards, the Washington Post reported Friday.
A report compiled by the soldiers concluded that there was "no enemy activity involved" and called the incident a "criminal event," the Post reports.
"It appeared to me they were fleeing the scene when they were engaged," said Lt. Col. Mike Tarsa, whose soldiers arrived at the scene 20 to 25 minutes after the shootings ended. "It had every indication of an excessive shooting."
CNN:
BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraq's prime minister wants private military contractor Blackwater out of his country after an Iraqi probe found Blackwater guards randomly shot civilians without provocation in a Baghdad square last month, an aide said Tuesday.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and most Iraqi officials are "completely satisfied" with the findings and are "insisting" that Blackwater leave the country, al-Maliki adviser Sami al-Askari told CNN.
Not withstanding my previous post about this happening when the Chicago Cubs make it to and win the World Series (not happening this year), if and when this happens the primary concerns that every freedom valuing American citizen should keep in mind are a: where are they going to go when they leave (they're going to be coming back here to the States to begin with) and b: what will they be doing there (your guess is as good as mine, but if the indications based on the duties secured by Blackwater in New Orleans after Katrina flushed out the majority of the more disadvantaged portion of the city's population (keeping them out of the public housing units that they still are rightfully entitled to) are anything to go by it can't be anything in the best interests of the average American).
The current administration and the support structure that keeps it in power know that the next election is a potential pivotal event. The results of said election must go in a certain direction in order for the benefactors of the current administration's policies (minimal to nonexistent tax rates for their main source of income, foreign policies that maximize profit for certain industries that they are deeply invested in (military-industrial, fossil fuel development, distribution and sale). In order for this to be achieved, the masses must remain pacified by (relatively) stable economic conditions and a seemingly calm domestic state of affairs, which means minimal public dissent and protest and NO BAD NEWS FROM THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA ABOUT ANYTHING EXCEPT HOW WE ARE IN DANGER FROM THREATS FROM TERRORISTS WHO ARE EVERYWHERE.
Pacifying and marginalizing civil dissent that goes beyond an acceptable level of intensity (read: when it starts to attract the attention of enough people to be a concern to the ruling class) usually falls to a police or military organization. But, if the local and state police are so overworked and underequipped to deal with it then a national force is usually called upon to quell the uprising, unless, the national force normally called upon to do so has already been called upon to fight in an overseas conflict and has been compromised to the point of near decimation. Then what do you do to quell the potentially polarizing protests of the administration and its policies? Why, you contract a private, corporate security force that is not answerable to any laws in the country that they're working in, even if it happens to be the country that they are indigenous to!
Peaceful Protest: What? A group of more than ten people are gathered to protest the administration's foreign policies?
CIVIL UNREST!!!
MUST BE QUELLED!!!
(SHOOT TO KILL!!!)
General Election: What? You've come to vote and you're not going to choose the ruling party on your ballot?
CIVIL UNREST!!!
MUST BE QUELLED!!!
(WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE!!!)
All I can say is that I'm glad I live in Texas, because I think they'll think twice before coming down here and doing any sort of messing with anything or anyone given the fact that everyone down here owns at least one firearm. I'm just as nonviolent as the next person and am in total agreement with Arthur and Chris in their view of physical violence as a non option in that it always sends the wrong message and sets the wrong precident, BUT, it seems to be the only language that these folks understand AND I'm not a big fan of rolling over for the trigger happy muscle of an illegitimate administration of outlaws who have no regard for the inherent rights of human beings, be they citizens of the U. S. or any other country in the world.
Tin soldiers and Nixon's comin'.
We're finally on our own.
This summer I hear the drummin'.
Four dead in Ohio.
Gotta get down to it.
Soldiers are gunning us down.
Should have been done long ago.
What if you knew her and
Found her dead on the ground?
How can you run when you know?
--Neil Young
Friday, October 19, 2007
My Rikki Tikki Tavi Impersonation, or: Staring COBRA Square in the Eye
With my departure from the Alley rapidly approaching, the time has come to begin taking the many steps that cement the reality of it into place more and more with each one. Over the course of this week I've been gradually removing the vestiges and signs of my occupation of the sound office and recording/editing suite through the collection of wall and bulletin board decorations, desk clutter, personal tools and other items. It's getting to the point where the next few things to come down (my license plate collection that has been in residence for almost ten years, a huge Marillion poster) will hammer home the fact that I will be part of the elapsed history of the Alley in a little over seven days.
Another step which I just took was the meeting I just had to secure continued benefits coverage during the period that I will be accruing the necessary amount of contributed funds in the Flex Account administered by the stagehands' union here in Houston to allow me to enroll in the benefits plans that they offer to their members and employees (I guess that's what they call folks that work off the referral list but don't have cards) via COBRA. Always an eye opening experience, finding out exactly how much that stuff costs and how much employers pay out of the monthly premiums. I'm amazed that employers haven't gotten together and stood up to the health care industry about the ridiculousness of the rates that they are charging to essentially shuffle paper and work as hard as they can to deny benefits and coverage.
Somebody somewhere is making a shitload of money, it seems. Enough to bribe and cajole U.S. Congress members to vote against funding a government run independently taxed health care program for children. Enough, even, to kill for, I guess.
Another step which I just took was the meeting I just had to secure continued benefits coverage during the period that I will be accruing the necessary amount of contributed funds in the Flex Account administered by the stagehands' union here in Houston to allow me to enroll in the benefits plans that they offer to their members and employees (I guess that's what they call folks that work off the referral list but don't have cards) via COBRA. Always an eye opening experience, finding out exactly how much that stuff costs and how much employers pay out of the monthly premiums. I'm amazed that employers haven't gotten together and stood up to the health care industry about the ridiculousness of the rates that they are charging to essentially shuffle paper and work as hard as they can to deny benefits and coverage.
Somebody somewhere is making a shitload of money, it seems. Enough to bribe and cajole U.S. Congress members to vote against funding a government run independently taxed health care program for children. Enough, even, to kill for, I guess.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
We'll see how long this lasts...
Inspired by a one time mentor from my first few years at The Alley Theatre, Joe Pino, I've started an online comic with Strip Generator, a clever template for such endeavors.
We'll see how clever I can really be and how well I keep it updated.
We'll see how clever I can really be and how well I keep it updated.
Friday, October 5, 2007
This may actually happen...
If the Chicago Cubs win the World Series:
Guardian UK:
BAGHDAD (AP) - The official Iraqi investigation into last month's Blackwater shooting has been submitted to the government and recommends the security guards face trial in Iraqi courts, and that the company pay compensation to the victims, an Iraqi government minister told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The minister said the report was issued under the signatures of al-Obeidi, Maj. Gen. Tariq al-Baldawi, the deputy minister of national security; and Maj. Gen. Hussein Ali Kamal, the deputy interior minister for intelligence and security affairs.
These are officials of the Iraqi government that the U.S. forces purportedly invaded the country and deposed Saddam Hussein to allow to come to power and govern Iraq as a sovereign nation. They are now exercising their right as an elected government in the investigation of the killing of a number of their citizens by agents of a foreign occupying power.
The cabinet minister said the report determined that 13 Iraqi civilians - not 11 as originally reported - were killed when Blackwater USA guards sprayed western Baghdad's Nisoor Square with gunfire Sept. 16.
GO-OOOOOO CUBBIES!!!!!
Guardian UK:
BAGHDAD (AP) - The official Iraqi investigation into last month's Blackwater shooting has been submitted to the government and recommends the security guards face trial in Iraqi courts, and that the company pay compensation to the victims, an Iraqi government minister told The Associated Press on Thursday.
The minister said the report was issued under the signatures of al-Obeidi, Maj. Gen. Tariq al-Baldawi, the deputy minister of national security; and Maj. Gen. Hussein Ali Kamal, the deputy interior minister for intelligence and security affairs.
These are officials of the Iraqi government that the U.S. forces purportedly invaded the country and deposed Saddam Hussein to allow to come to power and govern Iraq as a sovereign nation. They are now exercising their right as an elected government in the investigation of the killing of a number of their citizens by agents of a foreign occupying power.
The cabinet minister said the report determined that 13 Iraqi civilians - not 11 as originally reported - were killed when Blackwater USA guards sprayed western Baghdad's Nisoor Square with gunfire Sept. 16.
GO-OOOOOO CUBBIES!!!!!
The Power of One
Minneapolis, 2007:
1st Lt. Jon Anderson said he never expected to come home to this: A government refusing to pay education benefits he says he should have earned under the GI bill.
"It's pretty much a slap in the face," Anderson said. "I think it was a scheme to save money, personally. I think it was a leadership failure by the senior Washington leadership... once again failing the soldiers."
Anderson's orders, and the orders of 1,161 other Minnesota guard members, were written for 729 days.
Had they been written for 730 days, just one day more, the soldiers would receive those benefits to pay for school.
"Which would be allowing the soldiers an extra $500 to $800 a month," Anderson said.
That money would help him pay for his master's degree in public administration. It would help Anderson's fellow platoon leader, John Hobot, pay for a degree in law enforcement.
Chicago, 1919:
Eddie Cicotte: You said if I won 30 games this year there'd be a $10,000 bonus.
Charles Comiskey: So?
Cicotte: I think you owe it to me.
Comiskey: Harry, how many games did Mr. Cicotte win for us this year?
Harry: 29, sir.
Cicotte: You had [Sox manager] Kid [Gleason] bench me for two whole weeks in August. I missed five starts.
Comiskey: We had to rest your arm for the [World] Series.
Cicotte: I would have won at least two of those games -- and you knew that.
Comiskey: I have to keep the best interests of the club in mind, Eddie.
Cicotte: I think you owe me that bonus.
Comiskey: 29 is not 30, Eddie. You will get only the money you deserve. (Pause) Anything else?
Cicotte: No, Mr. Comiskey. That's it.
-Eight Men Out, 1988
1st Lt. Jon Anderson said he never expected to come home to this: A government refusing to pay education benefits he says he should have earned under the GI bill.
"It's pretty much a slap in the face," Anderson said. "I think it was a scheme to save money, personally. I think it was a leadership failure by the senior Washington leadership... once again failing the soldiers."
Anderson's orders, and the orders of 1,161 other Minnesota guard members, were written for 729 days.
Had they been written for 730 days, just one day more, the soldiers would receive those benefits to pay for school.
"Which would be allowing the soldiers an extra $500 to $800 a month," Anderson said.
That money would help him pay for his master's degree in public administration. It would help Anderson's fellow platoon leader, John Hobot, pay for a degree in law enforcement.
Chicago, 1919:
Eddie Cicotte: You said if I won 30 games this year there'd be a $10,000 bonus.
Charles Comiskey: So?
Cicotte: I think you owe it to me.
Comiskey: Harry, how many games did Mr. Cicotte win for us this year?
Harry: 29, sir.
Cicotte: You had [Sox manager] Kid [Gleason] bench me for two whole weeks in August. I missed five starts.
Comiskey: We had to rest your arm for the [World] Series.
Cicotte: I would have won at least two of those games -- and you knew that.
Comiskey: I have to keep the best interests of the club in mind, Eddie.
Cicotte: I think you owe me that bonus.
Comiskey: 29 is not 30, Eddie. You will get only the money you deserve. (Pause) Anything else?
Cicotte: No, Mr. Comiskey. That's it.
-Eight Men Out, 1988
Monday, October 1, 2007
It doesn't matter how you sell it...
It's still preemptive war on a sovereign nation, and it's just as illegal as the one we started in Iraq four and a half years ago...
Sy Hersh:
In a series of public statements in recent months, President Bush and members of his Administration have redefined the war in Iraq, to an increasing degree, as a strategic battle between the United States and Iran.
This summer, the White House, pushed by the office of Vice-President Dick Cheney, requested that the Joint Chiefs of Staff redraw long-standing plans for a possible attack on Iran, according to former officials and government consultants. The focus of the plans had been a broad bombing attack, with targets including Iran’s known and suspected nuclear facilities and other military and infrastructure sites. Now the emphasis is on “surgical” strikes on Revolutionary Guard Corps facilities in Tehran and elsewhere, which, the Administration claims, have been the source of attacks on Americans in Iraq. What had been presented primarily as a counter-proliferation mission has been reconceived as counterterrorism.
And it will still yield nothing but more misery for millions in the region as well as inflaming an already volatile situation and risking the spread of it across seas and oceans:
A senior European diplomat, who works closely with American intelligence, told me that there is evidence that Iran has been making extensive preparation for an American bombing attack. “We know that the Iranians are strengthening their air-defense capabilities,” he said, “and we believe they will react asymmetrically—hitting targets in Europe and in Latin America.”
All of this is not based on hard intelligence, but, like the hollow bellowings of 2002 about WMDs in Iraq and the empty trumpeting about an Iranian Nuclear weapons program in the past few years (in the face of the results of repeated arduous IAEA inspections pointing to exactly the opposite conclusion), the illusion of intelligence, broadcast with such volume and in such panic stricken tones to the general populace (by willing allies in the media and the administration) that the average citizen who is accustomed to being spoon fed anything and everything that they conceivably would need to think about or pretend to have thought about and developed an opinion on until the masses are squarely behind action. Never mind what the action is, or who the action is focussed on, or what the secondary and long term results of the action may be, action must be taken immediately.
Scott Ritter:
65% of the American public aren’t antiwar. They’re just anti-losing. You see, if we were winning the war in Iraq, they’d all be for it. If we had brought democracy, they’d be cheering the President. It wouldn’t matter that we violated international law. It wouldn’t even matter that we lied about weapons of mass destruction. We’d be winning. God bless America. Ain’t we good? USA, USA! But we’re losing, so they’re against Iraq.
But what happens when you get your butt kicked in one game? You’re looking for the next game, where you can win. And right now, we’re looking for Iran for a victory.
This is exactly the wrong path for us to even contemplate going down, and the scary thing is that we've already started down it:
Ritter again, in conversation with Amy Goodman:
Look, we’re already overflying Iran with unmanned aerial vehicles, pilotless drones. On the ground, the CIA is recruiting Mojahedin-e-Khalq, recruiting Kurds, recruiting Azeris, who are operating inside Iran on behalf of the United States of America. And there is reason to believe that we’ve actually put uniformed members of the United States Armed Forces and American citizens operating as CIA paramilitaries inside Iranian territory to gather intelligence.
Now, when you violate the borders and the airspace of a sovereign nation with paramilitary and military forces, that’s an act of war. That’s an act of war. So, when Americans say, “Ah, there’s not going to be a war in Iran,” there's already a war in Iran. We’re at war with Iran. We’re just not in the declared conventional stage of the war.
If the U.S. goes into Iran in an obvious and invasive manner any shred of political, and moral capital that may exist for it with the rest of the world will disappear like a snowball melting on a hot stove.
The best way for us to protect our troops is to bring them home and end our criminal occupation of a land that was a sovereign nation until we invaded it and destroyed any semblance of government and civil institution in the name of regime change and imperialism, not by illegally invading another nation on the potentially most convincing and polarizing pretext of the week.
Sy Hersh:
In a series of public statements in recent months, President Bush and members of his Administration have redefined the war in Iraq, to an increasing degree, as a strategic battle between the United States and Iran.
This summer, the White House, pushed by the office of Vice-President Dick Cheney, requested that the Joint Chiefs of Staff redraw long-standing plans for a possible attack on Iran, according to former officials and government consultants. The focus of the plans had been a broad bombing attack, with targets including Iran’s known and suspected nuclear facilities and other military and infrastructure sites. Now the emphasis is on “surgical” strikes on Revolutionary Guard Corps facilities in Tehran and elsewhere, which, the Administration claims, have been the source of attacks on Americans in Iraq. What had been presented primarily as a counter-proliferation mission has been reconceived as counterterrorism.
And it will still yield nothing but more misery for millions in the region as well as inflaming an already volatile situation and risking the spread of it across seas and oceans:
A senior European diplomat, who works closely with American intelligence, told me that there is evidence that Iran has been making extensive preparation for an American bombing attack. “We know that the Iranians are strengthening their air-defense capabilities,” he said, “and we believe they will react asymmetrically—hitting targets in Europe and in Latin America.”
All of this is not based on hard intelligence, but, like the hollow bellowings of 2002 about WMDs in Iraq and the empty trumpeting about an Iranian Nuclear weapons program in the past few years (in the face of the results of repeated arduous IAEA inspections pointing to exactly the opposite conclusion), the illusion of intelligence, broadcast with such volume and in such panic stricken tones to the general populace (by willing allies in the media and the administration) that the average citizen who is accustomed to being spoon fed anything and everything that they conceivably would need to think about or pretend to have thought about and developed an opinion on until the masses are squarely behind action. Never mind what the action is, or who the action is focussed on, or what the secondary and long term results of the action may be, action must be taken immediately.
Scott Ritter:
65% of the American public aren’t antiwar. They’re just anti-losing. You see, if we were winning the war in Iraq, they’d all be for it. If we had brought democracy, they’d be cheering the President. It wouldn’t matter that we violated international law. It wouldn’t even matter that we lied about weapons of mass destruction. We’d be winning. God bless America. Ain’t we good? USA, USA! But we’re losing, so they’re against Iraq.
But what happens when you get your butt kicked in one game? You’re looking for the next game, where you can win. And right now, we’re looking for Iran for a victory.
This is exactly the wrong path for us to even contemplate going down, and the scary thing is that we've already started down it:
Ritter again, in conversation with Amy Goodman:
Look, we’re already overflying Iran with unmanned aerial vehicles, pilotless drones. On the ground, the CIA is recruiting Mojahedin-e-Khalq, recruiting Kurds, recruiting Azeris, who are operating inside Iran on behalf of the United States of America. And there is reason to believe that we’ve actually put uniformed members of the United States Armed Forces and American citizens operating as CIA paramilitaries inside Iranian territory to gather intelligence.
Now, when you violate the borders and the airspace of a sovereign nation with paramilitary and military forces, that’s an act of war. That’s an act of war. So, when Americans say, “Ah, there’s not going to be a war in Iran,” there's already a war in Iran. We’re at war with Iran. We’re just not in the declared conventional stage of the war.
If the U.S. goes into Iran in an obvious and invasive manner any shred of political, and moral capital that may exist for it with the rest of the world will disappear like a snowball melting on a hot stove.
The best way for us to protect our troops is to bring them home and end our criminal occupation of a land that was a sovereign nation until we invaded it and destroyed any semblance of government and civil institution in the name of regime change and imperialism, not by illegally invading another nation on the potentially most convincing and polarizing pretext of the week.
Friday, September 21, 2007
Same As It Ever Was...
UPDATE BELOW 21 SEP 07 13:46 CST
Ah, David Byrne, you have never spoken truer words...
September 17th, 2007:
BAGHDAD - The Iraqi government announced Monday it was ordering Blackwater USA, the security firm that protects U.S. diplomats, to leave the country after what it said was the fatal shooting of eight Iraqi civilians following a car bomb attack against a State Department convoy.
The order by the Interior Ministry, if carried out, would deal a severe blow to U.S. government operations in Iraq by stripping diplomats, engineers, reconstruction officials and others of their security protection.
The presence of so many visible, aggressive Western security contractors has angered many Iraqis, who consider them a mercenary force that runs roughshod over people in their own country.
Larry Johnson:
First problem. Blackwater does not have a license to operate in Iraq and does not need one. They have a U.S. State Department contract through Diplomatic Security. Instead of using Diplomatic Security officers or hiring new Security officers or relying on U.S. military personnel, the Bush Administration has contracted with firms like Blackwater, Triple Canopy, and others for people capable of conducting personnel security details. State Department is not about to curtail the contract with Blackwater, who is tightly wired into Washington. Plus, State Department simply does not have the bodies available to carry out the security mission.
Second problem. The Iraqi government has zero power to enforce a decision to oust a firm like Blackwater. For starters, Blackwater has a bigger air force and more armored vehicles then the Iraqi Army and police put together. As Spencer Ackerman reported, Blackwater’s little bird helicopter (an aircraft normally used by U.S. special operations forces) that was firing mini guns at Iraqi targets on the ground this past weekend.
I can only imagine how Americans would react if there were Russian, Chinese, Mexican, or French security firms running around the United States and getting into firefights in tough neighborhoods, such as South Central Los Angeles. We would just shrug our shoulders and say nothing. Right?
Yeah, that’s what I thought. This incident will enrage Iraqis and their subsequent realization that they are impotent to do anything about it will do little to support the fantasy that the surge is working. There are some Iraqis who genuinely want to run their own country. But we are not about to give them the keys to the car. Blackwater is staying.
Jeremy Scahill on CNN:
SCAHILL: Well, the in fact of the matter is the Bush administration failed to build the coalition of willing nations to occupy Iraq. And so, instead, the administration has built a coalition of billing corporations.
SCAHILL: Right now in Iraq, the private personnel on the U.S. government payroll outnumber official U.S. troops. There are 180,000 so-called private contractors operating alongside of 165,000, 170,000 U.S. troops. So really now the U.S. military is the junior partner in this coalition. The mercenary component of the private sector involvement has been totally unaccountable. They operate with impunity. They kill Iraqi civilians and no charges are ever brought against them, in Iraqi law, U.S. law, military law.
HOLMES: If you’re critical of what companies like companies like Blackwater are doing and how they are behaving, what’s the alternative?
SCAHILL: I think the United States needs to withdraw from Iraq. And I believe the U.S. government needs to pay reparations to the Iraqi people. We hear all of this talk of militias and sectarian violence. What about the militias that the U.S. has deployed in Iraq that are running around the country unaccountable? No, I believe — and I’ve spent a lot of time in Iraq — I believe the United States needs to withdraw and pay reparations to the Iraqi people. The arrogance of the West, toward Iraq is incredible. This is a civilization that’s been around for thousands and thousands of years. We think that we’re going to somehow bring the solution to Iraq? No, these are people that can very much dictate their own destiny and they should be allowed to do so, and mercenaries need to get out of Iraq immediately.
Democracy Now!, September 21, 2007:
In Iraq, the private security firm Blackwater USA is reportedly back on the streets of Baghdad despite an announced ban on its activities. The Iraqi government said it had revoked Blackwater’s license this week after its guards killed up to twenty-eight Iraqis in an unprovoked mass shooting. But a Pentagon spokesperson said today Blackwater is guarding diplomatic convoys following talks with the Iraqi government.
UPDATE:
NYT:
BAGHDAD, Sept. 20 — Iraq’s Ministry of Interior has concluded that employees of a private American security firm fired an unprovoked barrage in the shooting last Sunday in which at least eight Iraqis were killed and is proposing a radical reshaping of the way American diplomats and contractors here are protected.
In the first comprehensive account of the day’s events, the ministry said that security guards for Blackwater USA, a company that guards all senior American diplomats here, fired on Iraqis in their cars in midday traffic.
The account says that as soon as the guards took positions in four locations in the square, they began shooting south, killing a driver who had failed to heed a traffic policeman’s call to stop.
“The Blackwater company is considered 100 percent guilty through this investigation,” the report concludes.
Ah, David Byrne, you have never spoken truer words...
September 17th, 2007:
BAGHDAD - The Iraqi government announced Monday it was ordering Blackwater USA, the security firm that protects U.S. diplomats, to leave the country after what it said was the fatal shooting of eight Iraqi civilians following a car bomb attack against a State Department convoy.
The order by the Interior Ministry, if carried out, would deal a severe blow to U.S. government operations in Iraq by stripping diplomats, engineers, reconstruction officials and others of their security protection.
The presence of so many visible, aggressive Western security contractors has angered many Iraqis, who consider them a mercenary force that runs roughshod over people in their own country.
Larry Johnson:
First problem. Blackwater does not have a license to operate in Iraq and does not need one. They have a U.S. State Department contract through Diplomatic Security. Instead of using Diplomatic Security officers or hiring new Security officers or relying on U.S. military personnel, the Bush Administration has contracted with firms like Blackwater, Triple Canopy, and others for people capable of conducting personnel security details. State Department is not about to curtail the contract with Blackwater, who is tightly wired into Washington. Plus, State Department simply does not have the bodies available to carry out the security mission.
Second problem. The Iraqi government has zero power to enforce a decision to oust a firm like Blackwater. For starters, Blackwater has a bigger air force and more armored vehicles then the Iraqi Army and police put together. As Spencer Ackerman reported, Blackwater’s little bird helicopter (an aircraft normally used by U.S. special operations forces) that was firing mini guns at Iraqi targets on the ground this past weekend.
I can only imagine how Americans would react if there were Russian, Chinese, Mexican, or French security firms running around the United States and getting into firefights in tough neighborhoods, such as South Central Los Angeles. We would just shrug our shoulders and say nothing. Right?
Yeah, that’s what I thought. This incident will enrage Iraqis and their subsequent realization that they are impotent to do anything about it will do little to support the fantasy that the surge is working. There are some Iraqis who genuinely want to run their own country. But we are not about to give them the keys to the car. Blackwater is staying.
Jeremy Scahill on CNN:
SCAHILL: Well, the in fact of the matter is the Bush administration failed to build the coalition of willing nations to occupy Iraq. And so, instead, the administration has built a coalition of billing corporations.
SCAHILL: Right now in Iraq, the private personnel on the U.S. government payroll outnumber official U.S. troops. There are 180,000 so-called private contractors operating alongside of 165,000, 170,000 U.S. troops. So really now the U.S. military is the junior partner in this coalition. The mercenary component of the private sector involvement has been totally unaccountable. They operate with impunity. They kill Iraqi civilians and no charges are ever brought against them, in Iraqi law, U.S. law, military law.
HOLMES: If you’re critical of what companies like companies like Blackwater are doing and how they are behaving, what’s the alternative?
SCAHILL: I think the United States needs to withdraw from Iraq. And I believe the U.S. government needs to pay reparations to the Iraqi people. We hear all of this talk of militias and sectarian violence. What about the militias that the U.S. has deployed in Iraq that are running around the country unaccountable? No, I believe — and I’ve spent a lot of time in Iraq — I believe the United States needs to withdraw and pay reparations to the Iraqi people. The arrogance of the West, toward Iraq is incredible. This is a civilization that’s been around for thousands and thousands of years. We think that we’re going to somehow bring the solution to Iraq? No, these are people that can very much dictate their own destiny and they should be allowed to do so, and mercenaries need to get out of Iraq immediately.
Democracy Now!, September 21, 2007:
In Iraq, the private security firm Blackwater USA is reportedly back on the streets of Baghdad despite an announced ban on its activities. The Iraqi government said it had revoked Blackwater’s license this week after its guards killed up to twenty-eight Iraqis in an unprovoked mass shooting. But a Pentagon spokesperson said today Blackwater is guarding diplomatic convoys following talks with the Iraqi government.
UPDATE:
NYT:
BAGHDAD, Sept. 20 — Iraq’s Ministry of Interior has concluded that employees of a private American security firm fired an unprovoked barrage in the shooting last Sunday in which at least eight Iraqis were killed and is proposing a radical reshaping of the way American diplomats and contractors here are protected.
In the first comprehensive account of the day’s events, the ministry said that security guards for Blackwater USA, a company that guards all senior American diplomats here, fired on Iraqis in their cars in midday traffic.
The account says that as soon as the guards took positions in four locations in the square, they began shooting south, killing a driver who had failed to heed a traffic policeman’s call to stop.
“The Blackwater company is considered 100 percent guilty through this investigation,” the report concludes.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
More Changes
Glenda has decided to mothball The Tude. I understand her reasons, but am still saddened by the short life that it lived. It was a good idea, and I enjoyed and am proud of the pieces I wrote for it.
On other fronts, the Zero Day is fast approaching when I will bid the Alley farewell and begin the next chapter of my life here in Houston--at least for the foreseeable future. You never know where or when things are going to take you. An exhaustive post about the process of coming to the decision and some of the reasons as well as what I'm looking toward doing next is in the works and will be forthcoming in mid October.
Meanwhile, I'm beat. I mowed and edged the lawn this morning (something I enjoy doing) and then went over to a friend's house to finish some electrical wiring I was doing for them in their garage, and then went to kickball practice after that. The theater has a team that I just started playing for, and the championship tournament starts on Monday. The team hasn't won a game all season, and the prospects of winning the first round game are low (it's against one of the best teams in the league), but it's fun and that's pretty much all that counts. The gist of all this is that I'm going to turn off the college football game that's on (Boston College mauling Georgia Tech--sorry, not Earth shattering to me...) and hit the old hay so that I have plenty of energy for viewing the football that counts tomorrow.
On other fronts, the Zero Day is fast approaching when I will bid the Alley farewell and begin the next chapter of my life here in Houston--at least for the foreseeable future. You never know where or when things are going to take you. An exhaustive post about the process of coming to the decision and some of the reasons as well as what I'm looking toward doing next is in the works and will be forthcoming in mid October.
Meanwhile, I'm beat. I mowed and edged the lawn this morning (something I enjoy doing) and then went over to a friend's house to finish some electrical wiring I was doing for them in their garage, and then went to kickball practice after that. The theater has a team that I just started playing for, and the championship tournament starts on Monday. The team hasn't won a game all season, and the prospects of winning the first round game are low (it's against one of the best teams in the league), but it's fun and that's pretty much all that counts. The gist of all this is that I'm going to turn off the college football game that's on (Boston College mauling Georgia Tech--sorry, not Earth shattering to me...) and hit the old hay so that I have plenty of energy for viewing the football that counts tomorrow.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Understanding (or trying to)
NOTE: UPDATE BELOW
Raw Story:
Some critics have accused Republican leaders of orchestrating a witch-hunt against Craig, forcing him out in the knowledge that Idaho's Republican governor can fill his Senate seat temporarily with another party member.
Another Republican, David Vitter, has apologized after his name was found in the phone book of a Washington escort service run by the "DC Madam." But the Louisiana senator has not come under nearly as much pressure to resign.
Louisiana has a Democratic governor, and Vitter's departure would strengthen the Democrats' razor-thin Senate majority over the Republicans of 51-49.
Gillespie denied charges of double-standards levied against the Republicans over their handling of Craig, an ardent opponent of gay marriage and an outspoken critic of sexual improprieties by other politicians.
"The fact is that Senator Craig pled guilty to a crime and, therefore, was convicted of a crime," he said.
"Senator Vitter has not been charged with a crime or let alone convicted of one. So there's a pretty big distinction here."
Also being left conspicuously alone in his circumstance is Ted Stevens. Stevens is in pretty serious trouble over the contractors whom he engaged to do work on his Alaska home:
The project, which more than doubled the size of the dwelling, was overseen by Veco CEO Bill Allen, who two months ago pleaded guilty to bribing state lawmakers and agreed to cooperate with authorities.
Stevens's seat would also not be a shoo in to be held by the GOP if he were forced to step down, but that seems to me to be too convenient an explanation. Call me cynical (because I am), but Vitter's and Stevens's infractions are right in line with time old traditions in politics from further back than when the Republican party was the Republican party: Whoring with FEMALES and dealing with crooked businessmen to save some money. Not quite the same as being caught in a sting (whether it was entrapment or a larger part of a 'witch hunt' is up for debate) soliciting a Male on Male sexual encounter in a public place, given the mindset of the average Republican constituent and the general message that has been espoused by the Party concerning Gay rights and "Family Values', per se.
Speaking this evening on The Monitor, Pokie interviewed author and Gay historian John D’Emilio about the past week that Craig has had, arguably one of the roughest weeks in history for any U. S. politician in any circumstance. Not only was he completely abandoned and thrown to the wolves by his own party, but the GLB community was deafeningly silent.
It got me to thinking about a post I wrote for the 'Tude earlier this week on this subject. As a straight male I don't know how qualified I am to be writing in depth analysis (if this can be qualified as such) on the subject, but I do know that I have a greater than average amount of professional and social contact with gays and lesbians (working in the entertainment business and having and above average number of friends who are or were in the process of figuring out that they are gay in high school and my Unitarian Church youth group) and therefore am more aware of issues that directly impact the community. I opened the comments section of the post up with a question about why it's so hard for one to accept one's sexual orientation and move on from there.
An innocent enough query, but one that is likely to get me pretty severely dressed down (pun intended?) for my ignorance and nerve at asking such a question when I have absolutely no frame of reference.
In order to frame the environment that Craig grew up in, E'Milio spoke of the Idaho witch hunt perpetrated against homosexual men in the 1950's when Craig was a young man. Police in Boise, not a large city to begin with, rounded up 1000 men and questioned them about places they frequented and people they associated with. Men left Idaho, some committed suicide. D'Emilio grew up in New York at the same time, and spoke of it as one of the "Gay Capitals' , but reiterated that even there there was nowhere for him to go and be with people like him. Idaho must have been a thousand times worse.
Craig has been taken to task for scolding Bill Clinton for his conduct during his Presidency, as have hundreds of other politicians, Republican and Democrat. In addition to riding on the coattails of public outrage over the episode (artificially manufactured by the media to a large extent) it seems to me that much of this condemnation came out of the fact that it happened WHERE it happened in contrast to the nature of the event. The fact that Clinton initially lied to the his family, the public and Congress about it didn't help matters much either. But if he had had his encounters with La Monica elsewhere, the prospect of their degree of sensationalism and even newsworthiness probably would have been greatly diminished. Any improper behavior that takes place in the Oval Office seems to take on an additional allure and weight. The Republicans would have jumped just as eagerly and viciously if he had been caught taking a bribe, or anything else, IF IT HAPPENED IN THE OVAL OFFICE. For Craig, the condemnation and the nature of it ("He's a nasty, naughty boy") were specifically designed to fall in line lockstep with the Party dogma concerning infidelity and impropriety. Based on the fact that he probably started denying his own sexual identity at such a young age in Idaho probably made denials and "hypocritical" declarations very easy for him.
D'Emilio also pointed out that to people my age and younger, the contrast between the treatment that Gay issues and Gay rights get today is vastly different than twenty or thirty years ago, when he and Craig were just coming into their own agewise, although their sexual identity and orientation were apparent to them years before that. Even twenty five years ago, when Craig was embroiled in a page scandal not unlike the one that brought Mark Foley down last Fall, he had to vehemently deny not only the accusations of the scandal but any hint of a notion that he may have any homosexual inclinations. This was 1982, when AIDS was still just a whisper behind closed doors (not even referred to as AIDS, but as "The Gay Cancer").
De'Emilio was by no means condoning Craig's behavior but rather, making an attempt to shine some light on the terrifying and crushing isolation that this man, like many others like him, has had to endure on a daily basis just to function in the world on a quasi-normal basis. Even as a respected (until now) elected official, loved husband and family man, he was faced with this loneliness that had no outlet for relief (in the form of the fellowship of others like him) because he could reveal it to no one. Certainly a degree of the severity of his circumstances were a result of his own life choices which necessitated various modes and methods of deception and misinformation about who he is as a person, but that couldn't diminish the reality of the isolation.
I recently viewed two films that I had been meaning to see ever since they came out but didn't catch in the theater (not exactly a result of slackerdom: my work necessitates me sitting in a dark room and watching a story unfold in front of me on a stage (usually repeatedly), so I am seldom inclined to pay 8 or 10 dollars to sit in a dark room and watch a story unfold in front of me on a screen) But I digress. The two films in question were A History of Violence and the new Casino Royale. Both good films in their own right, and both concerned in large part with major characters willfully living lives full of contradictions and inaccuracies. Why? There had to be more to it than escape from a past as a mob hit man which almost certainly would have ended in violent death or the maintenance of cover as a 00 agent in Her Majesty's Secret Service, and so must there have had to have been a reason for Larry Craig to live his elaborate life of lies which only now has come crashing down around him. Acceptance in a world that he thought would eliminate his desires? A need to be as close to those that he most admired? This is the aspect of this issue that I'm least familiar with and am most shaky putting forth theories on, so I'll leave it there.
I like women, I'm not insecure about how much of a man I am (because I don't feel the need to project my masculinity on anyone who comes within five feet of me), and I am pretty comfortable with who I am as a Human Being. These three things seem to be hotbed issues that many men feel they have to prove over and over again in today's society, and if they aren't proven daily, then your status as a man is questioned, and therefore your worth as a Human Being is questioned. I'm sure that working in the Arts for as long as I have has colored my views about how easy it is to fit in and be accepted by professional peers, but I certainly don't regret it. If anything, it has given me that chance to be a more well rounded individual since it has exposed me to a variety of personalities. It certainly has gone a long way to giving me the outlook that motivated me to think about what D'Emilio said (and to listen to the show that he was on and the station that it was on, come to think of it) and to spend the time I have to write this post. It's taken me longer than any other post I've written (I usually have an idea and slam some stuff out and publish within a few hours--I'm sure it shows sometimes), but with this one I had to put stuff down and walk away several times. Hopefully it will rub of on future posts and they will benefit from it by being a little more polished, but, who knows? I may go back to the old slam 'em out mode tomorrow.
Larry Craig may have become a politician for the wrong reasons and lived the majority of his life as a huge falsehood. He may still be trying to pitifully maintain the illusion of that falsehood with the help of a few friends and his family, but he is still a human being who has been abandoned by most people he thought he could count on. He has entered a new chapter of the story that is his Hellish life of denial and shame. Deserved or not, I kinda feel sorry for him.
UPDATE 5 Sept 07 09:30:
Many of you are probably wondering what I was smoking when I posted this in light of these recent developments. But it just reinforces my point about the pitiful nature of Craig and the long stretch of meaningless existence he sees his remaining life as being if he is indeed forced to leave the Senate. And it would appear that he (along with one other spineless self annointed fixture in the Capitol) is the only one who thinks he can make a serious attempt to do this...
Raw Story:
Some critics have accused Republican leaders of orchestrating a witch-hunt against Craig, forcing him out in the knowledge that Idaho's Republican governor can fill his Senate seat temporarily with another party member.
Another Republican, David Vitter, has apologized after his name was found in the phone book of a Washington escort service run by the "DC Madam." But the Louisiana senator has not come under nearly as much pressure to resign.
Louisiana has a Democratic governor, and Vitter's departure would strengthen the Democrats' razor-thin Senate majority over the Republicans of 51-49.
Gillespie denied charges of double-standards levied against the Republicans over their handling of Craig, an ardent opponent of gay marriage and an outspoken critic of sexual improprieties by other politicians.
"The fact is that Senator Craig pled guilty to a crime and, therefore, was convicted of a crime," he said.
"Senator Vitter has not been charged with a crime or let alone convicted of one. So there's a pretty big distinction here."
Also being left conspicuously alone in his circumstance is Ted Stevens. Stevens is in pretty serious trouble over the contractors whom he engaged to do work on his Alaska home:
The project, which more than doubled the size of the dwelling, was overseen by Veco CEO Bill Allen, who two months ago pleaded guilty to bribing state lawmakers and agreed to cooperate with authorities.
Stevens's seat would also not be a shoo in to be held by the GOP if he were forced to step down, but that seems to me to be too convenient an explanation. Call me cynical (because I am), but Vitter's and Stevens's infractions are right in line with time old traditions in politics from further back than when the Republican party was the Republican party: Whoring with FEMALES and dealing with crooked businessmen to save some money. Not quite the same as being caught in a sting (whether it was entrapment or a larger part of a 'witch hunt' is up for debate) soliciting a Male on Male sexual encounter in a public place, given the mindset of the average Republican constituent and the general message that has been espoused by the Party concerning Gay rights and "Family Values', per se.
Speaking this evening on The Monitor, Pokie interviewed author and Gay historian John D’Emilio about the past week that Craig has had, arguably one of the roughest weeks in history for any U. S. politician in any circumstance. Not only was he completely abandoned and thrown to the wolves by his own party, but the GLB community was deafeningly silent.
It got me to thinking about a post I wrote for the 'Tude earlier this week on this subject. As a straight male I don't know how qualified I am to be writing in depth analysis (if this can be qualified as such) on the subject, but I do know that I have a greater than average amount of professional and social contact with gays and lesbians (working in the entertainment business and having and above average number of friends who are or were in the process of figuring out that they are gay in high school and my Unitarian Church youth group) and therefore am more aware of issues that directly impact the community. I opened the comments section of the post up with a question about why it's so hard for one to accept one's sexual orientation and move on from there.
An innocent enough query, but one that is likely to get me pretty severely dressed down (pun intended?) for my ignorance and nerve at asking such a question when I have absolutely no frame of reference.
In order to frame the environment that Craig grew up in, E'Milio spoke of the Idaho witch hunt perpetrated against homosexual men in the 1950's when Craig was a young man. Police in Boise, not a large city to begin with, rounded up 1000 men and questioned them about places they frequented and people they associated with. Men left Idaho, some committed suicide. D'Emilio grew up in New York at the same time, and spoke of it as one of the "Gay Capitals' , but reiterated that even there there was nowhere for him to go and be with people like him. Idaho must have been a thousand times worse.
Craig has been taken to task for scolding Bill Clinton for his conduct during his Presidency, as have hundreds of other politicians, Republican and Democrat. In addition to riding on the coattails of public outrage over the episode (artificially manufactured by the media to a large extent) it seems to me that much of this condemnation came out of the fact that it happened WHERE it happened in contrast to the nature of the event. The fact that Clinton initially lied to the his family, the public and Congress about it didn't help matters much either. But if he had had his encounters with La Monica elsewhere, the prospect of their degree of sensationalism and even newsworthiness probably would have been greatly diminished. Any improper behavior that takes place in the Oval Office seems to take on an additional allure and weight. The Republicans would have jumped just as eagerly and viciously if he had been caught taking a bribe, or anything else, IF IT HAPPENED IN THE OVAL OFFICE. For Craig, the condemnation and the nature of it ("He's a nasty, naughty boy") were specifically designed to fall in line lockstep with the Party dogma concerning infidelity and impropriety. Based on the fact that he probably started denying his own sexual identity at such a young age in Idaho probably made denials and "hypocritical" declarations very easy for him.
D'Emilio also pointed out that to people my age and younger, the contrast between the treatment that Gay issues and Gay rights get today is vastly different than twenty or thirty years ago, when he and Craig were just coming into their own agewise, although their sexual identity and orientation were apparent to them years before that. Even twenty five years ago, when Craig was embroiled in a page scandal not unlike the one that brought Mark Foley down last Fall, he had to vehemently deny not only the accusations of the scandal but any hint of a notion that he may have any homosexual inclinations. This was 1982, when AIDS was still just a whisper behind closed doors (not even referred to as AIDS, but as "The Gay Cancer").
De'Emilio was by no means condoning Craig's behavior but rather, making an attempt to shine some light on the terrifying and crushing isolation that this man, like many others like him, has had to endure on a daily basis just to function in the world on a quasi-normal basis. Even as a respected (until now) elected official, loved husband and family man, he was faced with this loneliness that had no outlet for relief (in the form of the fellowship of others like him) because he could reveal it to no one. Certainly a degree of the severity of his circumstances were a result of his own life choices which necessitated various modes and methods of deception and misinformation about who he is as a person, but that couldn't diminish the reality of the isolation.
I recently viewed two films that I had been meaning to see ever since they came out but didn't catch in the theater (not exactly a result of slackerdom: my work necessitates me sitting in a dark room and watching a story unfold in front of me on a stage (usually repeatedly), so I am seldom inclined to pay 8 or 10 dollars to sit in a dark room and watch a story unfold in front of me on a screen) But I digress. The two films in question were A History of Violence and the new Casino Royale. Both good films in their own right, and both concerned in large part with major characters willfully living lives full of contradictions and inaccuracies. Why? There had to be more to it than escape from a past as a mob hit man which almost certainly would have ended in violent death or the maintenance of cover as a 00 agent in Her Majesty's Secret Service, and so must there have had to have been a reason for Larry Craig to live his elaborate life of lies which only now has come crashing down around him. Acceptance in a world that he thought would eliminate his desires? A need to be as close to those that he most admired? This is the aspect of this issue that I'm least familiar with and am most shaky putting forth theories on, so I'll leave it there.
I like women, I'm not insecure about how much of a man I am (because I don't feel the need to project my masculinity on anyone who comes within five feet of me), and I am pretty comfortable with who I am as a Human Being. These three things seem to be hotbed issues that many men feel they have to prove over and over again in today's society, and if they aren't proven daily, then your status as a man is questioned, and therefore your worth as a Human Being is questioned. I'm sure that working in the Arts for as long as I have has colored my views about how easy it is to fit in and be accepted by professional peers, but I certainly don't regret it. If anything, it has given me that chance to be a more well rounded individual since it has exposed me to a variety of personalities. It certainly has gone a long way to giving me the outlook that motivated me to think about what D'Emilio said (and to listen to the show that he was on and the station that it was on, come to think of it) and to spend the time I have to write this post. It's taken me longer than any other post I've written (I usually have an idea and slam some stuff out and publish within a few hours--I'm sure it shows sometimes), but with this one I had to put stuff down and walk away several times. Hopefully it will rub of on future posts and they will benefit from it by being a little more polished, but, who knows? I may go back to the old slam 'em out mode tomorrow.
Larry Craig may have become a politician for the wrong reasons and lived the majority of his life as a huge falsehood. He may still be trying to pitifully maintain the illusion of that falsehood with the help of a few friends and his family, but he is still a human being who has been abandoned by most people he thought he could count on. He has entered a new chapter of the story that is his Hellish life of denial and shame. Deserved or not, I kinda feel sorry for him.
UPDATE 5 Sept 07 09:30:
Many of you are probably wondering what I was smoking when I posted this in light of these recent developments. But it just reinforces my point about the pitiful nature of Craig and the long stretch of meaningless existence he sees his remaining life as being if he is indeed forced to leave the Senate. And it would appear that he (along with one other spineless self annointed fixture in the Capitol) is the only one who thinks he can make a serious attempt to do this...
Saturday, September 1, 2007
Unjustifiable Means
I just posted a rather long tude over at the 'Tude dealing with the latest technological innovations that the FBI has implemented in their wiretapping program.
We're getting ready to open John Patrick Shanley's Doubt at The Alley. Without giving too much away, it details the struggles of a Nun at a Catholic school to remove a perceived (by her) threat to the students by whatever means necessary. At the very end of the play she makes a terrifying declaration while attempting to justify her actions to her protege, a younger and much less life experienced Nun:
"In the pursuit of wrongdoing, one steps away from God."
Much of what has been going on in the past six years in the pursuit of wrongdoing and terrorism on the part of our government has been done while "stepping away from the Law, Justice, and Human Decency."
We must never forget that no matter what the deed being responded to and how dire the threat, the ends never justify the means. Acting otherwise only leads to reducing oneself to the same level as the wrongdoer, or worse, even lower.
We're getting ready to open John Patrick Shanley's Doubt at The Alley. Without giving too much away, it details the struggles of a Nun at a Catholic school to remove a perceived (by her) threat to the students by whatever means necessary. At the very end of the play she makes a terrifying declaration while attempting to justify her actions to her protege, a younger and much less life experienced Nun:
"In the pursuit of wrongdoing, one steps away from God."
Much of what has been going on in the past six years in the pursuit of wrongdoing and terrorism on the part of our government has been done while "stepping away from the Law, Justice, and Human Decency."
We must never forget that no matter what the deed being responded to and how dire the threat, the ends never justify the means. Acting otherwise only leads to reducing oneself to the same level as the wrongdoer, or worse, even lower.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Fault Lines
I've been posting daily over at the 'Tude, but the treatment I wanted to give this isn't really in line with what Hill and the gang are going for over there. So, for your consumption:
The Danziger Bridge Killings: How New Orleans Police Gunned Down Civilians Fleeing the Flood
Democracy Now!:
On the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we take a look back the Danziger Bridge killings. Seven police officers been indicted for opening fire on two African American families on the Danziger Bridge days after the storm, killing two people and wounding four others. At the time, the official story was that they gunned down snipers. Now the question is why they shot at two families fleeing the flood.
Last December, seven police officers were indicted for killing two people walking across the bridge. They were from two families, the Bartholomews and the Madisons. James Brisette, a young man who was a friend of the Bartholomews, was killed by seven bullets in his back and legs. Susan Bartholomew's arm was partially blown off. Her daughter and husband had three gunshot wounds each. Their trial is ongoing.
Ronald Madison, a forty-year-old mentally disabled man, was one of the two people killed. He was walking across the bridge with his older brother Lance, when, according to police, he was shot in the back and died. Lance was initially arrested and jailed for attempting to murder the police officers. He was later released after a grand jury cleared his name.
Dr. Rommel Madison is the brother of Lance and Ronald Madison. He is a dentist, and he testified this week at the International Tribunal on Hurricane Katrina that was put together by the People’s Hurricane Fund.
DR. ROMELL MADISON: My brothers were seeking help to get to safety on the east side of the Danziger Bridge by officers on the west side, and it hadn’t flooded, so they had refuge there. But they didn't have food or water, so they would go to the east side, where everyone was being picked up to be brought to safety to the dome and to the Convention Center.
On the day of September 4th, there was a family at the foot of the bridge, a husband, wife, daughter, three small kids and a teenager. During that time they were on the bridge, they noticed a rental truck, a moving van-type-sized truck, about a mid-sized van. It pulled up where the family was. They exited the truck. About seven men exited the truck, and they opened fire on the family at the foot of the bridge. One individual was killed. Everyone was wounded, but one of the children. The children's ages were from fourteen to nineteen.
After seeing that, they started retreating back to the westbound side of the Danziger Bridge back toward my office again. And at that point the police officers opened fire on them. They wounded my brother Ronald in the back twice. My brother Lance was able to get him to the other side of the bridge and put him on the grass, and then he ran for help. When he did return, he was relieved to find the National Guard and the state police, and he was telling them what happened.
At that point, the police officers walked up, and then they finally disclosed that they were police, because when they originally got out of the van, they were dressed in shorts, T-shirts, just plain shirts. They never identified themselves as being police. And to see them open fire on a small group of individuals, African American individuals, at the foot of the bridge, they just figured they were out to, you know, go hunting and shooting and killing people.
[snip]
AMY GOODMAN: What do you think needs to be done now? In the case of your family, the police officers are going on trial, Dr. Madison. Your family has also sued?
DR. ROMELL MADISON: My mother and brother have. But presently, we're still faced with the uphill fight with the judicial system. OK, when the indictments were handed out to the police on December 28th of ’05, they were allowed to turn themselves in January 2nd of ’06, so that they could have this time to spend with their families.
The second thing that the judge did that I feel was incorrect was that he provided bail for first-degree murder. Nowhere in the United States is anyone provided bail for first-degree murder. These individuals were provided bail. One of the officers quit and was allowed to move to Houston, Texas, to leave the state. And that's unheard of also. They were supposed to be on house arrest, and they shouldn't have left -- he shouldn’t have gone anywhere.
Third, they were allowed to go back to work as police in the police department, which is really a tragedy to the public. They’ve fired police for second-degree battery, let alone for being charged for first-degree murder, and allowed them to come back to work as police officers.
The last thing is that the violation of the grand jury testimony, too, by giving it to the defense attorneys for the police, to allow them to find out what’s [inaudible] in it and whether it would have a means to try to have the charges dropped against their clients. Now, that is another violation of civil rights injustice, because no one's allowed to view the grand jury testimony. If that was the case, they could have let the defense attorney decide whether or not they should be charged or not.
Everything has really been the complete opposite of what should be. And finally the judge -- there was a motion for the judge to recuse himself. I don't think just because of this, but because of his air of impropriety that was given in his disclosure. So at this point, that's what we're all working on: his recusal from the case and trying to obtain a judge that will deal with everything strictly by the book and fairly.
ROSANA CRUZ: And just to clarify, the judge on this case is a close friend of the police department, has three staff members who have direct family relationships or business relationships with the defense attorneys.
If and when the state of affairs in this country deteriorates to the point of Martial Law being declared, which Arthur thinks may be closer than one is comfortable thinking about, the social structure will likely show immediate signs of fracture along the lines of race and economic status. It is not difficult to imagine a bloodbath the likes of which would make the above chronicled events look like a schoolyard shoving match.
The fault lines that such a fracture would follow exist today and have existed for hundreds of years. No amount of military defeats or proclamations or legislative acts have been able to alter the deep seated traditions and beliefs of white people towards people of color, specifically African Americans. Part of it is the resistance toward governance by a body thousands of miles away that has no perceived frame of reference to the local circumstances, but the greater part is the deep seated human tendency to continue to vilify what has been viewed as that which is not a part of us, past and present and future, simply out of the fear of change. Sadly, the circumstances that will most likely bring upon an escalation of this behavior are also the greatest opportunity for the dismantling of those attitudes and barriers.
The choice to continue down the path of separation and marginalization through intimidation and violence is easier than the uncertain choice to cross the barriers and engage. A very unique set of circumstances need to fall into place in order for this to happen and they need to be met with an open eyed attitude. This is not usually the mindset people are operating in when faced with the daunting scenarios found during a large natural (or man made, in the case of the Levees rupturing) disaster or a police or militarily enforced social regimen (which is what Martial Law essentially is.)
One would hope that we have evolved far enough that there are people whose cooler heads would prevail in some situations like this, as they did in the case of Houston Mayor Bill White overruling Harris County Judge Robert Eckels in the matter of accepting the bulk of evacuees from New Orleans two years ago. Unfortunately, the possibility of examples of the conduct detailed above cannot be ruled out.
The Danziger Bridge Killings: How New Orleans Police Gunned Down Civilians Fleeing the Flood
Democracy Now!:
On the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, we take a look back the Danziger Bridge killings. Seven police officers been indicted for opening fire on two African American families on the Danziger Bridge days after the storm, killing two people and wounding four others. At the time, the official story was that they gunned down snipers. Now the question is why they shot at two families fleeing the flood.
Last December, seven police officers were indicted for killing two people walking across the bridge. They were from two families, the Bartholomews and the Madisons. James Brisette, a young man who was a friend of the Bartholomews, was killed by seven bullets in his back and legs. Susan Bartholomew's arm was partially blown off. Her daughter and husband had three gunshot wounds each. Their trial is ongoing.
Ronald Madison, a forty-year-old mentally disabled man, was one of the two people killed. He was walking across the bridge with his older brother Lance, when, according to police, he was shot in the back and died. Lance was initially arrested and jailed for attempting to murder the police officers. He was later released after a grand jury cleared his name.
Dr. Rommel Madison is the brother of Lance and Ronald Madison. He is a dentist, and he testified this week at the International Tribunal on Hurricane Katrina that was put together by the People’s Hurricane Fund.
DR. ROMELL MADISON: My brothers were seeking help to get to safety on the east side of the Danziger Bridge by officers on the west side, and it hadn’t flooded, so they had refuge there. But they didn't have food or water, so they would go to the east side, where everyone was being picked up to be brought to safety to the dome and to the Convention Center.
On the day of September 4th, there was a family at the foot of the bridge, a husband, wife, daughter, three small kids and a teenager. During that time they were on the bridge, they noticed a rental truck, a moving van-type-sized truck, about a mid-sized van. It pulled up where the family was. They exited the truck. About seven men exited the truck, and they opened fire on the family at the foot of the bridge. One individual was killed. Everyone was wounded, but one of the children. The children's ages were from fourteen to nineteen.
After seeing that, they started retreating back to the westbound side of the Danziger Bridge back toward my office again. And at that point the police officers opened fire on them. They wounded my brother Ronald in the back twice. My brother Lance was able to get him to the other side of the bridge and put him on the grass, and then he ran for help. When he did return, he was relieved to find the National Guard and the state police, and he was telling them what happened.
At that point, the police officers walked up, and then they finally disclosed that they were police, because when they originally got out of the van, they were dressed in shorts, T-shirts, just plain shirts. They never identified themselves as being police. And to see them open fire on a small group of individuals, African American individuals, at the foot of the bridge, they just figured they were out to, you know, go hunting and shooting and killing people.
[snip]
AMY GOODMAN: What do you think needs to be done now? In the case of your family, the police officers are going on trial, Dr. Madison. Your family has also sued?
DR. ROMELL MADISON: My mother and brother have. But presently, we're still faced with the uphill fight with the judicial system. OK, when the indictments were handed out to the police on December 28th of ’05, they were allowed to turn themselves in January 2nd of ’06, so that they could have this time to spend with their families.
The second thing that the judge did that I feel was incorrect was that he provided bail for first-degree murder. Nowhere in the United States is anyone provided bail for first-degree murder. These individuals were provided bail. One of the officers quit and was allowed to move to Houston, Texas, to leave the state. And that's unheard of also. They were supposed to be on house arrest, and they shouldn't have left -- he shouldn’t have gone anywhere.
Third, they were allowed to go back to work as police in the police department, which is really a tragedy to the public. They’ve fired police for second-degree battery, let alone for being charged for first-degree murder, and allowed them to come back to work as police officers.
The last thing is that the violation of the grand jury testimony, too, by giving it to the defense attorneys for the police, to allow them to find out what’s [inaudible] in it and whether it would have a means to try to have the charges dropped against their clients. Now, that is another violation of civil rights injustice, because no one's allowed to view the grand jury testimony. If that was the case, they could have let the defense attorney decide whether or not they should be charged or not.
Everything has really been the complete opposite of what should be. And finally the judge -- there was a motion for the judge to recuse himself. I don't think just because of this, but because of his air of impropriety that was given in his disclosure. So at this point, that's what we're all working on: his recusal from the case and trying to obtain a judge that will deal with everything strictly by the book and fairly.
ROSANA CRUZ: And just to clarify, the judge on this case is a close friend of the police department, has three staff members who have direct family relationships or business relationships with the defense attorneys.
If and when the state of affairs in this country deteriorates to the point of Martial Law being declared, which Arthur thinks may be closer than one is comfortable thinking about, the social structure will likely show immediate signs of fracture along the lines of race and economic status. It is not difficult to imagine a bloodbath the likes of which would make the above chronicled events look like a schoolyard shoving match.
The fault lines that such a fracture would follow exist today and have existed for hundreds of years. No amount of military defeats or proclamations or legislative acts have been able to alter the deep seated traditions and beliefs of white people towards people of color, specifically African Americans. Part of it is the resistance toward governance by a body thousands of miles away that has no perceived frame of reference to the local circumstances, but the greater part is the deep seated human tendency to continue to vilify what has been viewed as that which is not a part of us, past and present and future, simply out of the fear of change. Sadly, the circumstances that will most likely bring upon an escalation of this behavior are also the greatest opportunity for the dismantling of those attitudes and barriers.
The choice to continue down the path of separation and marginalization through intimidation and violence is easier than the uncertain choice to cross the barriers and engage. A very unique set of circumstances need to fall into place in order for this to happen and they need to be met with an open eyed attitude. This is not usually the mindset people are operating in when faced with the daunting scenarios found during a large natural (or man made, in the case of the Levees rupturing) disaster or a police or militarily enforced social regimen (which is what Martial Law essentially is.)
One would hope that we have evolved far enough that there are people whose cooler heads would prevail in some situations like this, as they did in the case of Houston Mayor Bill White overruling Harris County Judge Robert Eckels in the matter of accepting the bulk of evacuees from New Orleans two years ago. Unfortunately, the possibility of examples of the conduct detailed above cannot be ruled out.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Their Loss=Our Gain
John McClain:
Looking back at March 22, the day Matt Schaub was acquired by the Texans, I'll never forget the haunting words of one member of the Falcons organization: "We just traded the wrong quarterback."
Little did he or anyone in Atlanta understand just how prophetic those words would become.
Before the Texans made the trade, Schaub got strong endorsements from two coaches Kubiak knows well from working with them for so many years at Denver.
Bill Musgrave, who coaches quarterbacks at Atlanta, tutored Schaub last season and at the University of Virginia. Alex Gibbs was a Falcons assistant during Schaub's first three years. They told Kubiak that Schaub was just about everything he wanted in a quarterback and that he would make a smooth transition into the Texans' system.
As a Texans fan, this is a development of such proportions that one tends to get a bit giddy at the prospect of the team's performance in the next few years. It also is an example of such bitter irony for the Falcons organization and their fans that you can't help but feel some empathy. How can you giggle behind a bunched hand or chuckle to yourself mentally at the man who gets clocked by a falling safe in the middle of a meadow?
While the statement from the Falcons representative quoted above does indicate the knowledge of potential issues with Vick both on field and off, there can't be any way of foreseeing the firestorm that is in motion and will most likely end in jail time and the end of his NFL, if not his entire professional football, career. However, the statement seems to cut in another direction, this one strictly football related.
The running quarterback's days are numbered. This is not to say that we are looking at a return of the proliference of the classic immobile pocket passer in the NFL, but more to the passing quarterback with good pocket instincts--the ability to feel pressure and avoid it long enough to gain a small amount of yardage or avoid a large loss fifty percent of the time or more. Yes, this is a lot to ask, but players can be developed (and can develop themselves) to meet this criteria.
The classic running quarterback (notice I didn't say 'scrambling') is a dying breed mainly due to his own attractiveness in two ways: the potential for yards and touchdowns both through the air and on the ground, and the potential gate and television revenue generated by an exciting player who can potentially provide an amazing play worthy of Sunday night highlights and play of the year accolades at every snap of the ball. Based on the value attached to those two attractive possibilities, owners such as Norman Braman, Zygi Wilf, and Arthur Blank secured running quarterbacks Randall Cunningham, Dante Culpepper and Vick with huge contracts and signing bonuses.
However, this strategy soon came to reveal itself as a sharp double edged sword. Along with the gate value and improvement that this new generation of QBs brought to the team, it also exposed them to more serious types of injury more often than the classic pocket QB. Another, perhaps even more serious issue that reared its ugly head was the matter of conditioning that showed itself in the tendency of these quarterbacks to fade a little or succumb to more minor injuries that they might have been able to play through earlier in the season in the last quarter of the season or (worse) during the playoffs.
This has proven itself to be a recurring factor in the late season and playoff performances of the Eagles in the eighties and nineties with Cunningham, and again here in the aughts with McNabb, the Vikings in the nineties with both Cunningham and Culpepper, the Steelers in the late nineties with Kordell Stewart, and the Falcons in recent years with Vick. Contrast that with the QBs who have made it deep into the playoffs and to the Super Bowl and won it such as Brady, Manning, Warner, Elway, Favre, and Aikman. The only two examples of classic running QBs who made it to the Super Bowl are McNair with the Titans in the 1999 season, and you can hardly pin the outcome of that game on his ability--the entire team played their hearts out and almost snatched that game out from under Kurt Warner and Dick Vermeil's noses, and McNabb with the Eagles two years ago--and that loss can be attributed more to the questionable late game play calling of Andy Reid than McNabb's performance, the inane comments of Terrell Owens not withstanding.
You have to think that GM's and coaches pay attention to these results and act accordingly. David Carr was an above average QB at Fresno State, but the NFL isn't the WAC and the schedule is a bit more intense than what he experienced in college. The sieve of an offensive line that he had to work with for most of his career also had a lot to do with it, but McClain also makes these good points:
Schaub gets rid of the ball fast. He's been sacked once in three games. Kubiak wants the Texans to have fewer than 30 sacks, which would be a franchise-record low.
Schaub feels pressure and knows how to sidestep it. Sage Rosenfels, who's capable of being a starter in Kubiak's system, also has that pocket presence coaches talk so much about.
Schaub makes good decisions. In other words, he doesn't throw the ball to the wrong spot or step into sacks. He's authoritative in the huddle, it's clear he's in charge, and no one else talks.
Schaub doesn't say the wrong thing. He listens and soaks in everything he hears that might benefit him. He doesn't make excuses. He takes the blame whether he deserves it or not. He accepts criticism. When he makes a mistake, he gets angry at himself, not anyone else, and vows not to make the same mistake again.
Sorry Falcons. You pay your money, you take your chances...
Looking back at March 22, the day Matt Schaub was acquired by the Texans, I'll never forget the haunting words of one member of the Falcons organization: "We just traded the wrong quarterback."
Little did he or anyone in Atlanta understand just how prophetic those words would become.
Before the Texans made the trade, Schaub got strong endorsements from two coaches Kubiak knows well from working with them for so many years at Denver.
Bill Musgrave, who coaches quarterbacks at Atlanta, tutored Schaub last season and at the University of Virginia. Alex Gibbs was a Falcons assistant during Schaub's first three years. They told Kubiak that Schaub was just about everything he wanted in a quarterback and that he would make a smooth transition into the Texans' system.
As a Texans fan, this is a development of such proportions that one tends to get a bit giddy at the prospect of the team's performance in the next few years. It also is an example of such bitter irony for the Falcons organization and their fans that you can't help but feel some empathy. How can you giggle behind a bunched hand or chuckle to yourself mentally at the man who gets clocked by a falling safe in the middle of a meadow?
While the statement from the Falcons representative quoted above does indicate the knowledge of potential issues with Vick both on field and off, there can't be any way of foreseeing the firestorm that is in motion and will most likely end in jail time and the end of his NFL, if not his entire professional football, career. However, the statement seems to cut in another direction, this one strictly football related.
The running quarterback's days are numbered. This is not to say that we are looking at a return of the proliference of the classic immobile pocket passer in the NFL, but more to the passing quarterback with good pocket instincts--the ability to feel pressure and avoid it long enough to gain a small amount of yardage or avoid a large loss fifty percent of the time or more. Yes, this is a lot to ask, but players can be developed (and can develop themselves) to meet this criteria.
The classic running quarterback (notice I didn't say 'scrambling') is a dying breed mainly due to his own attractiveness in two ways: the potential for yards and touchdowns both through the air and on the ground, and the potential gate and television revenue generated by an exciting player who can potentially provide an amazing play worthy of Sunday night highlights and play of the year accolades at every snap of the ball. Based on the value attached to those two attractive possibilities, owners such as Norman Braman, Zygi Wilf, and Arthur Blank secured running quarterbacks Randall Cunningham, Dante Culpepper and Vick with huge contracts and signing bonuses.
However, this strategy soon came to reveal itself as a sharp double edged sword. Along with the gate value and improvement that this new generation of QBs brought to the team, it also exposed them to more serious types of injury more often than the classic pocket QB. Another, perhaps even more serious issue that reared its ugly head was the matter of conditioning that showed itself in the tendency of these quarterbacks to fade a little or succumb to more minor injuries that they might have been able to play through earlier in the season in the last quarter of the season or (worse) during the playoffs.
This has proven itself to be a recurring factor in the late season and playoff performances of the Eagles in the eighties and nineties with Cunningham, and again here in the aughts with McNabb, the Vikings in the nineties with both Cunningham and Culpepper, the Steelers in the late nineties with Kordell Stewart, and the Falcons in recent years with Vick. Contrast that with the QBs who have made it deep into the playoffs and to the Super Bowl and won it such as Brady, Manning, Warner, Elway, Favre, and Aikman. The only two examples of classic running QBs who made it to the Super Bowl are McNair with the Titans in the 1999 season, and you can hardly pin the outcome of that game on his ability--the entire team played their hearts out and almost snatched that game out from under Kurt Warner and Dick Vermeil's noses, and McNabb with the Eagles two years ago--and that loss can be attributed more to the questionable late game play calling of Andy Reid than McNabb's performance, the inane comments of Terrell Owens not withstanding.
You have to think that GM's and coaches pay attention to these results and act accordingly. David Carr was an above average QB at Fresno State, but the NFL isn't the WAC and the schedule is a bit more intense than what he experienced in college. The sieve of an offensive line that he had to work with for most of his career also had a lot to do with it, but McClain also makes these good points:
Schaub gets rid of the ball fast. He's been sacked once in three games. Kubiak wants the Texans to have fewer than 30 sacks, which would be a franchise-record low.
Schaub feels pressure and knows how to sidestep it. Sage Rosenfels, who's capable of being a starter in Kubiak's system, also has that pocket presence coaches talk so much about.
Schaub makes good decisions. In other words, he doesn't throw the ball to the wrong spot or step into sacks. He's authoritative in the huddle, it's clear he's in charge, and no one else talks.
Schaub doesn't say the wrong thing. He listens and soaks in everything he hears that might benefit him. He doesn't make excuses. He takes the blame whether he deserves it or not. He accepts criticism. When he makes a mistake, he gets angry at himself, not anyone else, and vows not to make the same mistake again.
Sorry Falcons. You pay your money, you take your chances...
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Just leave 'em alone!
Houston Press:
Freaking ferrets. They're insidious. Their cuteness conquers all. It makes people forget the high price of keeping them, measured in both vets' bills and time spent entertaining them. It trumps the fact that you're going to be spending a lot of time cleaning up ferret shit. It blinds you to the realization that you're loving a weasel.
"I call them the 'Thief of Hearts,'" Clark says. "They will steal your heart, but they will also break it pretty bad when they go. Next year I'll have to get another to replace Vladi."
My brother had several of these little critters when we were in college and both living at home. The most annoying thing about them was their habit of chewing on the back of my Timberland boots, which gave them a well worn look but made it hazardous to move in a rolling chair after sitting for a period of time more than, say, thirty seconds. When Rikki died he had him cremated and still has the ashes in an Urn at his house (he has two dogs now). The other two Ferrets were being boarded while the medical clearances to go to Japan to live with his girlfriend at the time's sister and her husband.
Yeah, they smelled, and the percentage of accuracy in terms of the litter box did leave a bit to be desired, but they lived primarily in his room, so it wasn't that much of an issue. It certainly wasn't as serious a problem as some people make it out to be:
Giuliani: This conversation is over, David. Thank you. [Mr. Giuliani cuts him off.] There is something really, really, very sad about you. You need help. You need somebody to help you. I know you feel insulted by that, but I'm being honest with you. This excessive concern with little weasels is a sickness.
I'm sorry. That's my opinion. You don't have to accept it. There are probably very few people who would be as honest with you about that. But you should go consult a psychologist or a psychiatrist, and have him help you with this excessive concern, how you are devoting your life to weasels.
There are people in this city and in this world that need a lot of help. Something has gone wrong with you. Your compulsion about it, your excessive concern with it, is a sign of something wrong in your personality. I do not mean to be insulting. I'm trying to be honest with you and I'm trying to give you advice for your own good. I know you, I know how you operate, I know how many times you called here this week. Three or 4 o'clock in the morning, David, you called here.
You have a sickness. I know it's hard for you to accept that, because you hang on to this sickness, and it's your shield, it's your whatever. You know, you gotta go to someone who understands this a lot better than I do. And I know you're real angry at me, you're gonna attack me, but actually you're angry at yourself and you're afraid of what I'm raising with you. And if you don't deal with it, I don't know what you're gonna do. But you called here excessively all week, and you called here at 3 o'clock in the morning. And 4 o'clock in the morning. Over weasels. Over a ferret.
The fact that they're illegal to be kept as pets in some municipalities across the country and here in the Houston metropolitan area under the pretense that they are as dangerous as predatory cats is ludicrous. People keep animals as pets that are more dangerous and more eccentric than Ferrets, sometimes with deadly results. Whoever heard of a Ferret choking the life out of its owner? And when the little guys do bite you, it's all in play and totally harmless (as long as they've had their rabies shots), unlike
this:
From ALLAN HALL
in Berlin
A MAN who lived in his own “zoo” of lizards and insects was fatally bitten by a pet black widow spider — then eaten by the other creepy-crawlies.
Police broke in to Mark Voegel’s apartment to find spider Bettina along with 200 others, several snakes, a gecko lizard called Helmut and several thousand termites had gorged on his body.
It may not be illegal, but, man, that's just STOOOPID...
Pets are great, not matter what anyone else thinks about them. They provide companionship, and their love is unconditional as long as you treat them with respect and compassion. Whoever heard of a well loved pet going bad?
One more thing about Ferrets. They don't take kindly to being called weasels, and they're not afraid to speak out against attempts at oppression:
Freaking ferrets. They're insidious. Their cuteness conquers all. It makes people forget the high price of keeping them, measured in both vets' bills and time spent entertaining them. It trumps the fact that you're going to be spending a lot of time cleaning up ferret shit. It blinds you to the realization that you're loving a weasel.
"I call them the 'Thief of Hearts,'" Clark says. "They will steal your heart, but they will also break it pretty bad when they go. Next year I'll have to get another to replace Vladi."
My brother had several of these little critters when we were in college and both living at home. The most annoying thing about them was their habit of chewing on the back of my Timberland boots, which gave them a well worn look but made it hazardous to move in a rolling chair after sitting for a period of time more than, say, thirty seconds. When Rikki died he had him cremated and still has the ashes in an Urn at his house (he has two dogs now). The other two Ferrets were being boarded while the medical clearances to go to Japan to live with his girlfriend at the time's sister and her husband.
Yeah, they smelled, and the percentage of accuracy in terms of the litter box did leave a bit to be desired, but they lived primarily in his room, so it wasn't that much of an issue. It certainly wasn't as serious a problem as some people make it out to be:
Giuliani: This conversation is over, David. Thank you. [Mr. Giuliani cuts him off.] There is something really, really, very sad about you. You need help. You need somebody to help you. I know you feel insulted by that, but I'm being honest with you. This excessive concern with little weasels is a sickness.
I'm sorry. That's my opinion. You don't have to accept it. There are probably very few people who would be as honest with you about that. But you should go consult a psychologist or a psychiatrist, and have him help you with this excessive concern, how you are devoting your life to weasels.
There are people in this city and in this world that need a lot of help. Something has gone wrong with you. Your compulsion about it, your excessive concern with it, is a sign of something wrong in your personality. I do not mean to be insulting. I'm trying to be honest with you and I'm trying to give you advice for your own good. I know you, I know how you operate, I know how many times you called here this week. Three or 4 o'clock in the morning, David, you called here.
You have a sickness. I know it's hard for you to accept that, because you hang on to this sickness, and it's your shield, it's your whatever. You know, you gotta go to someone who understands this a lot better than I do. And I know you're real angry at me, you're gonna attack me, but actually you're angry at yourself and you're afraid of what I'm raising with you. And if you don't deal with it, I don't know what you're gonna do. But you called here excessively all week, and you called here at 3 o'clock in the morning. And 4 o'clock in the morning. Over weasels. Over a ferret.
The fact that they're illegal to be kept as pets in some municipalities across the country and here in the Houston metropolitan area under the pretense that they are as dangerous as predatory cats is ludicrous. People keep animals as pets that are more dangerous and more eccentric than Ferrets, sometimes with deadly results. Whoever heard of a Ferret choking the life out of its owner? And when the little guys do bite you, it's all in play and totally harmless (as long as they've had their rabies shots), unlike
this:
From ALLAN HALL
in Berlin
A MAN who lived in his own “zoo” of lizards and insects was fatally bitten by a pet black widow spider — then eaten by the other creepy-crawlies.
Police broke in to Mark Voegel’s apartment to find spider Bettina along with 200 others, several snakes, a gecko lizard called Helmut and several thousand termites had gorged on his body.
It may not be illegal, but, man, that's just STOOOPID...
Pets are great, not matter what anyone else thinks about them. They provide companionship, and their love is unconditional as long as you treat them with respect and compassion. Whoever heard of a well loved pet going bad?
One more thing about Ferrets. They don't take kindly to being called weasels, and they're not afraid to speak out against attempts at oppression:
Attitude
I'm honored to have been asked to be a part of a new newsblog that my fellow blogger Hill has started, the Tude. There is a great team of news hounds with strong opinions and writing skills working to keep people informed on the fast developing situations in our world today and providing some alternative perspective on them. Check it out when you get a moment.
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Motivation
GIs' morale dips as Iraq war drags on
With tours extended, multiple deployments and new tactics that put them in bare posts in greater danger, they feel leaders are out of touch with reality.
"I don't see any progress. Just us getting killed," said Spc. Yvenson Tertulien, one of those in the dining hall in Yousifiya, 10 miles south of Baghdad, as Bush's speech aired last month. "I don't want to be here anymore."
Arthur's latest post highlights the oft overlooked and/or actively denied reality of the deliberate manner in which the U. S. has forced its will upon the nations of the world merely for the sake of doing so.
He cites a passage from The March of Folly by Barbara Tuchman, part of which follows:
Wooden-headedness, the "Don't-confuse-me-with-the-facts" habit, is a universal folly never more conspicuous than at upper levels of Washington with respect to Vietnam. Its grossest fault was underestimation of North Vietnam's commitment to its goal. Enemy motivation was a missing element in American calculations, and Washington could therefore ignore all the evidence of nationalist fervor and of the passion for independence which as early as 1945 Hanoi had declared "no human force can any longer restrain." Washington could ignore General Leclerc's prediction that conquest would take half a million men and "Even then it could not be done." It could ignore the demonstration of elan and capacity that won victory over a French army with modern weapons at Dien Bien Phu, and all the continuing evidence thereafter.
American refusal to take the enemy's grim will and capacity into account has been explained by those responsible on the ground of ignorance of Vietnam's history, traditions and national character: there were "no experts available," in the words of one high-ranking official. But the longevity of Vietnamese resistance to foreign rule could have been learned from any history book on Indochina. Attentive consultation with French administrators whose official lives had been spent in Vietnam would have made up for the lack of American expertise. Even superficial American acquaintance with the area, when it began to supply reports, provided creditable information. Not ignorance, but refusal to credit the evidence and, more fundamentally, refusal to grant stature and fixed purpose to a "fourth-rate" Asiatic country were the determining factors, much as in the case of the British attitude toward the American colonies. The irony of history is inexorable.
The colonial Americans were committed to their independence from the rule of Imperial England under George III in a much stronger way than the British army regulars and hired Hessian guns were to quelling the rebellion (insurgency?).
Andrew Bacevich(h/t Arthur):
The communists of North Vietnam were less interested in promoting world revolution than in unifying their country under socialist rule. We deluded ourselves into thinking that we were defending freedom against totalitarianism.
They were much more committed to this goal than the French and later U. S. forces were to stopping the misperceived push for worldwide totalitarian revolution (which was ill communicated to the ranks anyway)
Bin Laden, Al Qaeda and the insurgent groups are all similar in at least one way: They all want to see the U.S. out of the region physically, politically, and economically. They don't want to destroy our way of life, they just want to be able to live their way of life in their homeland(s). The fact that we may not agree with some of what that way of life entails (and there are some egregious facets to it to be sure) and that we don't like the way they want to develop natural resources that rightfully belong to them is not an acceptable motive for our actions over the past several decades.
The attempt to tell these people what to do, when to do it, and to do all of it with a smile and shows of grateful subservience only serves to strengthen the resolve of these people to resist these efforts. They're not stupid. They know when they're being told what to do. And it's certainly not the first time, either.
With tours extended, multiple deployments and new tactics that put them in bare posts in greater danger, they feel leaders are out of touch with reality.
"I don't see any progress. Just us getting killed," said Spc. Yvenson Tertulien, one of those in the dining hall in Yousifiya, 10 miles south of Baghdad, as Bush's speech aired last month. "I don't want to be here anymore."
Arthur's latest post highlights the oft overlooked and/or actively denied reality of the deliberate manner in which the U. S. has forced its will upon the nations of the world merely for the sake of doing so.
He cites a passage from The March of Folly by Barbara Tuchman, part of which follows:
Wooden-headedness, the "Don't-confuse-me-with-the-facts" habit, is a universal folly never more conspicuous than at upper levels of Washington with respect to Vietnam. Its grossest fault was underestimation of North Vietnam's commitment to its goal. Enemy motivation was a missing element in American calculations, and Washington could therefore ignore all the evidence of nationalist fervor and of the passion for independence which as early as 1945 Hanoi had declared "no human force can any longer restrain." Washington could ignore General Leclerc's prediction that conquest would take half a million men and "Even then it could not be done." It could ignore the demonstration of elan and capacity that won victory over a French army with modern weapons at Dien Bien Phu, and all the continuing evidence thereafter.
American refusal to take the enemy's grim will and capacity into account has been explained by those responsible on the ground of ignorance of Vietnam's history, traditions and national character: there were "no experts available," in the words of one high-ranking official. But the longevity of Vietnamese resistance to foreign rule could have been learned from any history book on Indochina. Attentive consultation with French administrators whose official lives had been spent in Vietnam would have made up for the lack of American expertise. Even superficial American acquaintance with the area, when it began to supply reports, provided creditable information. Not ignorance, but refusal to credit the evidence and, more fundamentally, refusal to grant stature and fixed purpose to a "fourth-rate" Asiatic country were the determining factors, much as in the case of the British attitude toward the American colonies. The irony of history is inexorable.
The colonial Americans were committed to their independence from the rule of Imperial England under George III in a much stronger way than the British army regulars and hired Hessian guns were to quelling the rebellion (insurgency?).
Andrew Bacevich(h/t Arthur):
The communists of North Vietnam were less interested in promoting world revolution than in unifying their country under socialist rule. We deluded ourselves into thinking that we were defending freedom against totalitarianism.
They were much more committed to this goal than the French and later U. S. forces were to stopping the misperceived push for worldwide totalitarian revolution (which was ill communicated to the ranks anyway)
Bin Laden, Al Qaeda and the insurgent groups are all similar in at least one way: They all want to see the U.S. out of the region physically, politically, and economically. They don't want to destroy our way of life, they just want to be able to live their way of life in their homeland(s). The fact that we may not agree with some of what that way of life entails (and there are some egregious facets to it to be sure) and that we don't like the way they want to develop natural resources that rightfully belong to them is not an acceptable motive for our actions over the past several decades.
The attempt to tell these people what to do, when to do it, and to do all of it with a smile and shows of grateful subservience only serves to strengthen the resolve of these people to resist these efforts. They're not stupid. They know when they're being told what to do. And it's certainly not the first time, either.
Saturday, August 25, 2007
You can't look at both sides of a coin at the same time...
The beat on immigration goes on, in opposite directions from the same mouths.
SSDD:
Romney blasts 'sanctuary cities', calls for tough immigration policy
The Salt Lake Tribune new services
Article Last Updated: 08/22/2007 01:35:57 PM MDT
New York Times News Service
Romney's campaign radio commercial in the early battleground states of Iowa and New Hampshire challenged the "sanctuary policies" of "cities like Newark, San Francisco and New York" that bar local police from alerting federal immigration authorities about arrests of undocumented immigrants.
At least 32 communities and counties nationwide have adopted sanctuary policies, according to a 2006 study by the Congressional Research Service. The cities include: Houston, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Baltimore, Detroit, Minneapolis, New York, Austin and Seattle.
"Sanctuary cities become magnets that encourage illegal immigration and undermine secure borders," Romney's campaign ad said.
And yet:
CAMILO MEJIA: The military is aggressively targeting Hispanics to join the military. Some people may have heard about the DREAM Act, through which the military hopes to recruit undocumented youth who are graduating from high school. The proposal is to serve two years in the military or go to college for two years and then get your green card, which 65,000 people who are undocumented and graduate from high school and are not eligible for financial aid from the federal government are not going to be able to go to college for two years. So, you know, this is one of the ways in which, you know, the military is targeting young immigrants, mostly Latinos, to join the military. You know, it’s -- again, it’s a poverty -- it’s an immigration draft that’s going on.
And yet:
EL PASO, Texas (Reuters) - The mayors of the Texan city of El Paso and the Mexican city of Juarez led a protest by dozens of people on Saturday against a planned border wall to stem illegal immigration into America.
The protesters held hands across the Paso del Norte Bridge, which spans the Rio Grande and connects the downtown cores of the two cities.
El Paso Mayor John Cook and Juarez Mayor Hector Murguia Lardizabal embraced at the top of the bridge.
So, we want to keep these folks out of the country but don't mind them enlisting in our armed forces to fight our ill conceived wars of preemption and aggression, not to mention cleaning our houses, mowing our lawns, and cooking that yummy mexican food we love?
This, my friends, is a classic example of wanting to have one's cake and eat it too.
Can't.
Be.
Done.
Who is gonna build that damn wall, anyway?
SSDD:
Romney blasts 'sanctuary cities', calls for tough immigration policy
The Salt Lake Tribune new services
Article Last Updated: 08/22/2007 01:35:57 PM MDT
New York Times News Service
Romney's campaign radio commercial in the early battleground states of Iowa and New Hampshire challenged the "sanctuary policies" of "cities like Newark, San Francisco and New York" that bar local police from alerting federal immigration authorities about arrests of undocumented immigrants.
At least 32 communities and counties nationwide have adopted sanctuary policies, according to a 2006 study by the Congressional Research Service. The cities include: Houston, Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco, Baltimore, Detroit, Minneapolis, New York, Austin and Seattle.
"Sanctuary cities become magnets that encourage illegal immigration and undermine secure borders," Romney's campaign ad said.
And yet:
CAMILO MEJIA: The military is aggressively targeting Hispanics to join the military. Some people may have heard about the DREAM Act, through which the military hopes to recruit undocumented youth who are graduating from high school. The proposal is to serve two years in the military or go to college for two years and then get your green card, which 65,000 people who are undocumented and graduate from high school and are not eligible for financial aid from the federal government are not going to be able to go to college for two years. So, you know, this is one of the ways in which, you know, the military is targeting young immigrants, mostly Latinos, to join the military. You know, it’s -- again, it’s a poverty -- it’s an immigration draft that’s going on.
And yet:
EL PASO, Texas (Reuters) - The mayors of the Texan city of El Paso and the Mexican city of Juarez led a protest by dozens of people on Saturday against a planned border wall to stem illegal immigration into America.
The protesters held hands across the Paso del Norte Bridge, which spans the Rio Grande and connects the downtown cores of the two cities.
El Paso Mayor John Cook and Juarez Mayor Hector Murguia Lardizabal embraced at the top of the bridge.
So, we want to keep these folks out of the country but don't mind them enlisting in our armed forces to fight our ill conceived wars of preemption and aggression, not to mention cleaning our houses, mowing our lawns, and cooking that yummy mexican food we love?
This, my friends, is a classic example of wanting to have one's cake and eat it too.
Can't.
Be.
Done.
Who is gonna build that damn wall, anyway?
Friday, August 24, 2007
Say it again, brother
Hal:
The war cannot be won militarily. The war cannot be won militarily. The war cannot be won militarily. The war cannot be won militarily. The war cannot be won militarily.
What are those pigs good for, anyway?
The war cannot be won militarily. The war cannot be won militarily. The war cannot be won militarily. The war cannot be won militarily. The war cannot be won militarily.
What are those pigs good for, anyway?
Thursday, August 23, 2007
The Walrus Weighs In
Permit me to utilize the Leatherneck Weapons Inspector to debunk him:
John Bolton:
I hope Iran understands that we are very serious, that we are determined they are not going to get a nuclear weapon capability, and unless they change the strategic decision they’ve been pursuing for close to 20 years, that that’s something they better factor into their calculations.
Scott Ritter:
When the Iranians operate their cascades for any significant duration of time, every single time, the cascades self destruct. This president's trying to tell us that we are at imminent risk from the Iranians. That this Nuclear program represents a real and imminent threat to the security of the United States of America. The Vice President is creating a sense of urgency. The Media is hyping up that we're one year away from a Nuclear armed Iran. I'm telling you right now, even if Iran has a covert Nuclear weapons program, which no one has demonstrated they have, they couldn't build a Nuclear weapon if they wanted to. They just don't have the technological capacity.
Now, how do we know all this? From the inspectors.
Contrary to popular belief, Iran has not kicked out the inspectors.
Iran is operating 100% in compliance with it's legal obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran is permitted, under Article 4 of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, to enrich Uranium. We are demanding that Iran be denied that which it is legally allowed to do when we say it must suspend it's Uranium enrichment program.
But even more than this, we're told that the Iranians are "picking a fight," that they're "searching for a conflict."
Iran fought an eight year war with Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of Iranians were killed. Their economy was devastated. They are just beginning to recover from that and they are going through a serious period of economic difficulty with high unemployment. This nation awash in a sea of oil spends 30 billion dollars a year to import gasoline because they don't have the refining capacity to produce indigenous gasoline. They're not looking for a fight. The last thing they want is a fight with the world's sole remaining superpower.
I don't really have anything to add except perhaps this:
NIR ROSEN:
I am skeptical that they are actually sending fighters to Iraq. I just don’t see the need for it. Iraqis are very well trained. [Iran] might be sending some weapons. But then again, there’s also a black market in weapons, so just because a weapon is Iranian doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily been sold by Iran.
John Bolton:
I hope Iran understands that we are very serious, that we are determined they are not going to get a nuclear weapon capability, and unless they change the strategic decision they’ve been pursuing for close to 20 years, that that’s something they better factor into their calculations.
Scott Ritter:
When the Iranians operate their cascades for any significant duration of time, every single time, the cascades self destruct. This president's trying to tell us that we are at imminent risk from the Iranians. That this Nuclear program represents a real and imminent threat to the security of the United States of America. The Vice President is creating a sense of urgency. The Media is hyping up that we're one year away from a Nuclear armed Iran. I'm telling you right now, even if Iran has a covert Nuclear weapons program, which no one has demonstrated they have, they couldn't build a Nuclear weapon if they wanted to. They just don't have the technological capacity.
Now, how do we know all this? From the inspectors.
Contrary to popular belief, Iran has not kicked out the inspectors.
Iran is operating 100% in compliance with it's legal obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. Iran is permitted, under Article 4 of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, to enrich Uranium. We are demanding that Iran be denied that which it is legally allowed to do when we say it must suspend it's Uranium enrichment program.
But even more than this, we're told that the Iranians are "picking a fight," that they're "searching for a conflict."
Iran fought an eight year war with Iraq. Hundreds of thousands of Iranians were killed. Their economy was devastated. They are just beginning to recover from that and they are going through a serious period of economic difficulty with high unemployment. This nation awash in a sea of oil spends 30 billion dollars a year to import gasoline because they don't have the refining capacity to produce indigenous gasoline. They're not looking for a fight. The last thing they want is a fight with the world's sole remaining superpower.
I don't really have anything to add except perhaps this:
NIR ROSEN:
I am skeptical that they are actually sending fighters to Iraq. I just don’t see the need for it. Iraqis are very well trained. [Iran] might be sending some weapons. But then again, there’s also a black market in weapons, so just because a weapon is Iranian doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily been sold by Iran.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)