March 30, 2007
After Gloat
Paul Slansky, famous for his quizzes in the New Yorker points out:
Gonzales and Co. could have just said, "We're firing these people because we can," and that would have been that.....Sure, Josh Marshall might still have been all over it, but he would have been just a dismissible left-wing blogger. And sure, John Conyers and Chuck Schumer might still have fulminated about it on C-SPAN, but most House and Senate Democrats are such wusses that nothing would have come of that, either. The White House would have been home free, with the story having vanished from the front pages weeks ago.
But NOOOOOOO! These spiteful sadists, who so revel in causing pain that they can't let a single opportunity pass untaken, had to impugn the fitness of the fired, thus forcing them to defend themselves by attacking their attackers and elevating their dismissals to, as George H.W. Bush was fond of putting it, a media "feeding frenzy." Their "performance" wasn't up to snuff! If there's any finger you would think these overweening incompetents wouldn't dare to point, it's that one, though nothing clouds judgment more thoroughly than a total lack of shame. (And speaking of shamelessness, one would think the hypocrisy of these serial election stealers complaining about insufficiently vigorous prosecution of voter fraud would be eagerly pointed out by hundreds of reporters and pundits. But NOOOOOOO!)....
And then he provides a little known quotation:
In 1967, the Yale Daily News exposed the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity's penchant for branding pledges with red hot wire hangers. The New York Times picked up the story, which featured a former president of the frat, one George W. Bush, dismissing the resulting "insignificant" wound as "only a cigarette burn" that leaves "no scarring mark, physically or mentally." So, Bush's first quote in the national press was a defense of torture.
The essay is entitled "Deep Gloat".
Actually, all of us gloaters here at Dakota are wondering what comes after gloating. We fear it is despair for the irreparable damage that has been done to democracy, the military and the media in this country, to Iraq and Iraqis, and to our environment and good relations with the rest of the world.
The decimation is severe and ongoing. How will we stop the destruction? Is it so deeply embedded that it will be exploding like buried land mines in unexpected places everywhere for years and years to come?
On this note I went out on a bike ride this beautiful spring day, during which I imagined how scholars and curatiors must feel about the looting and destruction of the Baghdad Museum How overjoyed could they be even if they find the missing treasures, which they have preserved fastidiously, in the hands of people who care nothing for them, and have no intention of giving them back intact. People who know nothing of their history or importance. Even if some of the treasures are retrieved intact, the collection is scattered and damaged, and its meaning as a whole is lost. It can never be restored and placed within the same container again.
Destruction, like creation, is a crucial part of the continuum of life and death. Since the midterm elections, we have partially uncovered just how much damage has been done to democracy by its destroyers.
The real question, as we assess the ruins and try to put some controls on the devastators, is what will we create out of the chaos, using our even more passionate desire for liberty and freedom, whetted by near loss.
Addendum: On second thought, perhaps the after gloat comes revenge.
Photo note: The three pagotas in Dali China -- still standing after lots of bad weather and Mao, (China's own devastator) finished with the Cultural Revolution. Tricky way to do the rant with the travel shot, huh?
March 29, 2007
Patriotism reconsidered
Rebecca Solnit asked a very important question which I think we should all consider. "Was I a Good American in the Time of George W.Bush?"
Was I a good American? How good an American was I? Did I do what I could to resist the takeover of my country and the brutalisation of my fellow human beings? How much further could I have gone? Were the crimes of the Bush administration those that demand you give up your life and everyday commitments to throw yourself into maximum resistance? If not, then what were we waiting for? The questions have troubled me regularly these last five years, because I was one of the millions of American citizens who did not shut down Guantánamo Bay and stop the other atrocities of the administration.......Before the current administration, it had always been easy to condemn the "good Germans" who did nothing while Jews, Gypsies and others were rounded up for extermination. One likes to believe that one will be different, will harbour Anne Frank in one's secret annex, smuggle people across the border, defy the authorities who do evil. Those we scornfully call good Germans merely did little while the mouth of hell opened up.....
And she concludes:
There is resistance. But if it were enough, the crimes would have stopped, the war would have ended. When it does and they do, some will have been heroes. Some will have been honourable but moderate, in times that did not call for moderation. And some will have consented, through inaction, to crimes against humanity.
Rocky Anderson, Salt Lake City's mayor is speaking out.
We are here to say 'no more.' No more war in Iraq. No more movement toward war in Iran. No more justification of killing and torture by God-is-on-our-side religious nonsense. No more wars of aggression. No more violations of the United Nations Charter. No more violations of human rights treaties. No more torture. No more kidnapping and disappearing of people. No more trampling upon our Constitution. No more warrantless wiretapping of American citizens. No more lies to Congress and the American people. No more conveying of government propaganda by the complicit corporate media. No more destruction of the rule of law. No more timidity by Congress. No more Dick Cheney or George Bush in the White House. No more silence by the American people.As we say 'no' to the international and domestic outlaws in the White House, we say 'yes' to the pursuit of peace, to the rule of law, to our Constitution, to accountability and to communicating to the rest of the world -- by impeachment -- that we are not the kind of nation that tolerates the violations of treaties, wars of aggression and human rights abuses perpetrated by our vice president and president.
We will continue to raise our voices and demand of Congress:
Stop the abuse of our nation and of its people.
Stop the damage done to our standing around the world.
Stop the atrocities.
Stop this insane, illegal, destructive war.
And stop, without further delay, this president and vice president.
Don't believe them when they say that no crimes have been committed. This is not a political fight, it is a criminal takeover of a democratic government.
Neoconservative Republicans are a political party in name only. This group of people are systematically taking apart a democracy and a Constitution. They have almost succeeded. If they are allowed to continue we will surely live in their police state.
Each time they are confronted with their egregious criminal behavior, they joke and minimize or behave with imperial distain-- and the American people yawn or lose interest.
They are counting on our disinterest while they put their "people" in place. Incompetents and/or criminals now lead the Department of Justice, the Department of Health and Human Services, FEMA, the Department of the Interior, the Center for Disease Control, the FDA,the Smithsonian and assuredly many more federal agencies. Halliburton, Blackwater and Wackenhut offer private armies, private prisons renditions, torture and equipment at a premium to our burgeoning despots.
Groups like Code Pink are protesting, but are not as effective as they once were, since the mainstream media has been co-opted and does not report their demonstrations.
As far as I'm concerned, the members of the left wing blogosphere are the real heros of the day. Bloggers at Firedoglake, some, trial lawyers themselves, reported live from Scooter Libby's trial , and they're doing the same at the Senate Hearings on the firing of US prosecutors by the Department of Justice.
Josh Marshall at Talking Points Memo doggedly stayed with the federal prosecuter firings and brought them to public attention. Paul Kiel explains the voluntary group effort that took place through TPM Muckraker when, just last week, many volunteers reviewed the heap of documents the Justice Department dumped on the congressional oversight committee, finding a number of off- the-record email addresses used by the administration to cover their dirty dealings, and a suspicious 16 day gap in correspondence They're still at it . Slate published a handy chart so that you can follow the chronology of criminal activity at the Department of Justice.
Most of the mainstream media did not or would not cover these extremely important issues until they were forced into the light by good citizens of cyberspace.
Solnit says "I wanted to do something so epic that it would turn the tide, stop the crime. Then I would consider that the best approaches were probably already being taken, by the heroic lawyers at the Centre for Constitutional Rights and other human rights organisations, and I would write another cheque and some more letters and feel a little futile and a little corrupt."
I say, oh go ahead, write a check -- to the folks at Firedoglake, or Talking Points Memo, or Crooks and Liars, or Daily Kos and then read what they're writing about and tell your friends. It may not be enough, but it's a very patriotic place to start
Photo note: Buying a flag, however voluminous, does not constitute adequate patriotism in this, the time of George W. Bush. Put your money where it will really count -- support the left wing blogosphere. (It won't take much, since most of them work for nothing)
March 28, 2007
Did you notice?
All of us here at Dakota are so impressed by what appears to be a new strategy developed by the Democratic women leading Congress. It is unique in its civility, warmth, humor, soothing tones and very firm limits -- a very pretty package. Their tone falls short of patronizing, but, by contrast, makes the Republican huffy puffers look like the full blown lunatics that they are. We find it most reassuring.
Wanna see the movies?
Last week Barbara Boxer calmed down Senator Inhofe at Al Gore's testimony on global warming, and today Nancy Pelosi did the same to the petulant President whose brittle narcissism was punctured by Congress's insistence on a deadline for withdrawal from Iraq.
They're flooding the political arena with oxytocin as an antedote to toxic testosterone levels.
Photo note: A peaceful scene, for a peaceful tactic -- Soothing tranquility, white bridge, blue sky , reflected in Black Dragon Pool Lijaing, Yunnan
Addendum: This is my new Chinese refrigerator magnet to remind me to follow the classy new strategy.
March 27, 2007
Speaking of Slimey
We keep hearing that one of the primary reasons that the Department of Justice fired federal prosecutors was their failure to prosecute Democratic voter fraud promptly. Excuse me, what Democratic voter fraud? Weren't the dysfunctional voting machines all Diebold? Isn't Diebold a Republican bastion? Weren't all those nifty voter suppression measures instituted by Republicans?
A clear case of political projection -- in psychology this occurs if one has an unpleasant feeling, and one projects it onto others in order to avoid feeling it oneself, thus disclosing one's unconscious intentions. In political projection the Republicans project their next nasty scheme onto the Democrats, thus disclosing to all what they have up their slimy little sleeves.
Dan Froomkin, of washingtonpost.com, one of our favorite truth telling journalists, has figured it out:
In fact, if you believe that the whole purge was Karl Rove's idea (see my Friday column) then the McClatchy team exposes what could be his central motivation: "Last April, while the Justice Department and the White House were planning the firings, Rove gave a speech in Washington to the Republican National Lawyers Association. He ticked off 11 states that he said could be pivotal in the 2008 elections. Bush has appointed new U.S. attorneys in nine of them since 2005: Florida, Colorado, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Arkansas, Michigan, Nevada and New Mexico. U.S. attorneys in the latter four were among those fired."Rove thanked the audience for 'all that you are doing in those hot spots around the country to ensure that the integrity of the ballot is protected.' He added, 'A lot in American politics is up for grabs.'"
Blogger Hilzoy proposes another possible 2008-related Rove motivation: "It's not surprising, at the beginning of a Presidential campaign season, for the Republican party to send its chief opposition researcher -- the guy responsible for digging up dirt on political opponents -- to the very state where Hillary Clinton, one of the frontrunners for the Democratic nomination, spent most of her adult life. But it's completely out of line for them to send their chief opposition researcher to Arkansas as a US Attorney with subpoena power."
They may be down, but they're not out. Take a peek at the debate on Holt's Election Reform Bill
So far the lizards are still operating in full force, they've just slipped under a rock temporairily. Nothing stops this kind of criminal activity like a jail term.
In the fine book "The Sociopath Next Door" psychologist Martha Stout explains why sociopaths rise to the top so easily -- they have no conscience. They are willing to do anything to "win" --lie, cheat, steal, the works. Let's let them do it in jail for cigarettes with the rest of their cohorts, rather than in our democracy.
Photo note: American flag, fragmented, pointing backward, downward, but still flying
March 25, 2007
Sufficiently Amused?
Two movies and a bit of commentary to make certain that you are all up to speed on the latest travesties of our administration and the press coverage of same.
Comic Bill Maher explaining something that's not very funny
Reporters laughing uproariously, at something that's also not very funny, with Glen Greenwald's visceral response.
That's quite enough for today.
Photo note: A metaphorophoto --even though you may not be entirely familiar with all the characters, you know slime when you see it. Shot for your viewing pleasure at the Hong Kong "wet market".
March 24, 2007
Elizabeth Edwards
I have always been a big Elizabeth Edwards fan, and I am so sorry that her cancer has returned. I am inspired by her determination to continue to campaign with her husband, to reframe her condition as chronic, and to stay engaged with life in the face of fear.
Jane Hamsher, who last month had surgery for a third recurrence of breast cancer, the day before she was to cover the Scooter Libby trial for her blog Firedoglake, had a few things to say in response to Jay Carney's commentary on Elizabeth's decision. She can say them with authority.
Yes, because Elizabeth Edwards is now a cripple. Handicapped, a withering violet who must be banished from public life, consigned to the fainting couch. Quick, somebody fetch the laudanum and lace hankies.For the good of the nation (and presumably white males everywhere, who need to have a champion in the race according to white male Carney), Elizabeth Edwards is no longer entitled to free will, self determination, and certainly not capable of making decisions about her own life. Nor is she entitled to respect for her choices which we think are honorable but are really just selfish. No, she and her husband owe it to white males everywhere to do the brave thing. Edwards must forthwith kneel by her bedside, teardrops falling on her porcelain hand as he scribbles love sonnets with parchment and quill. Because let's face it, she's got one foot in the grave.
Who the fuck does he think she is, Elizabeth Barrett Browning? What patronizing drivel. How thoroughly offensive.
Jane Hamsher and Elizabeth Edwards are cyberbuddies..... Elizabeth is no stranger to the internet. From an interview with Campus Progress in 2005:
CP: I hear you are an internet news junkie. What’s in your media diet?EE: After the recent election I’ve been spending a lot of time on channels that have to do with garden landscaping because it was just easier for me, less heartburn. I just get very frustrated listening to mainstream media, like they will report that the new budget increases money for Pell Grants. I just want to say, I beg your pardon? They’re cutting off 90,000 people from those grants, and it isn’t even part of the discussion.
I do listen to CSPAN in the car and Air American and Talk Left radio. I read the Washington Post and the New York Times. But I go to a lot of websites, I spend a lot of time on the internet. I get a lot of information from blogs, I have a whole list including Talking Points, Daily Kos, Democratic Underground and more. Sometimes I check out the right wing sites to see what they are talking about. I have a whole folder of sites and I open them all up every day and see what catches my eye.
CP: Any interest in being the next Wonkette?
EE: No. I don’t think I could do a blog everyday. You can’t just put up something every few days, you have to be really attentive to it and I don’t have that sort of time or energy. But that doesn’t mean I don’t participate. Sometimes I would post on blogs not under my real name.
CP: So you’re a secret blogger?
EE: Well, I used to do that. And no, I won’t tell you what sites I did it on. But I had to stop doing that after John started running. Now I sometimes participate under my own name. I participate in blogs and newsgroups – not just political ones but other issues too. I initially went to graduate school for English, so I am part of some newsgroups on the use of the English language, like alt.englishusage, people just love to argue about everything on that one!
In an NPR interview with Michelle Norris , where her warmth drapes around us like a cashmere afghan, Elizabeth talks about using
communities on the internet for solace while grieving for the death of her son and facing breast cancer. She's very authentic.
Recently, she almost found herself in a little hot water because of her internet saavy. There are some who suspect that she had a hand in hiring the feisty Amanda Marcotte from the blog Pandagon for blogmaster on her husband's website. If you scroll down on this clickie you can watch the right wing hatchet job.
Just in case you were wondering, Elizabeth Edwards is NOT Dakota ---but all of us here at Dakota admire her greatly and send her light.
Photo note: Orchids from the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens half way up the outdoor escalator that runs through the city.
Addendum: Jay Carney eats a little crow
March 22, 2007
Chinese Food
The entire duck was on the plate-- the back sliced, the head and neck intact.
Dialog:
"I believe that it is the privilege of the Patriarch to eat the head."
"The Patriarch grants that privilege to number one son."
"Who passes the privilege to number two son"
Who grabbed the head and bit the beak.
"Tastes a lot like fingernails"
Photo note: One of these, on a plate
Gate and Shadow
This is practically the only picture that I took in China that I like. The juxstaposition between old and new, the robotic tower with the ubiquitous blue and white advertisement that's painted on country walls and barns everywhere "China Mobile" - it looks so nice in Mandarin. The sense of cage or prison. The fence with its half hearts and arrows - and the plethora of triangles.
What can I say, taking technically poor pictures of roadside attractions, ethnic dancing and Chinese scenery is simply not my cup of tea. I find that I am not enjoying my blog at the moment either, because, for some reason, I feel obligated to write about China when other interesting things are drawing my attention, like the sixteen day gap in the emails that the justice department supplied to Congress regarding the firing of federal prosecutors, and the discovery of a most breathtaking 1992 silent film on Google Video named "Baraka". I shall let China integrate and bubble up when appropriate. China bubbles up quite a bit in "Baraka".
Photo note: A metaphorophoto. I seem to have been locking myself in a prison of my own making -- hey, I'm the big blog boss around here. I get to put up anything that suits my fancy. I even get to manage my own thoughts ....when I pay attention. It's such a shame that that's so easy to forget. Actually, a gate in Shaping, China
March 20, 2007
Bai
Every Monday morning the Bai people who live in Dali around Erhai Lake (ear-shaped) hold a market, actually two. One takes place in a town square, and contiguous streets in front of established stores, - the other, up in the hills of Shaping (ironically pronounced shop-ping). These markets are distinct from thedaily downtown, old town Dali street market which caters primarily to Chinese tourists, in that (mainly) local folks are buying and selling local goods to one another. I happened to land in Dali on the right day.
It's hard to imagine just how many tons of produce are hauled in for the occasion, much of it on the backs of women. If you examine the Bai headresses carefully, you can see that they easliy accommodate a head rope for hauling heavy loads. Notice that the woman below in native dress, is hooked up to a closed sack, and the woman to her right , in jeans, has a basket of produce that she's carrying with a headstrap. The Bai's neighbors to the north, the Naxi, have cross-the-chest straps designed into their native dresses for easy hook ups. You'll see that later.
Most of the ladies have a wide straw hat to pop on over their headdresses when they need a little shade.
I don't know whether I've said this, but I found photographing on this trip a bit stressful. There was so much visual richness that it was hard to focus. I just kept pressing the button. I prefer to take a little time to contemplate my subject. I also found that I was embarrassed to take pictures of people, particularly without their permission. Although I'm sure some of them would have gladly posed, I was too shy to ask, then felt terrible sticking my camera intrusively into places and faces. As a consequence, I have lots of shots of people's backs. I have clickied in some of R. Todd King's beautiful photographs of the area, so you can get a fuller sense of the experience.
This is the long view of the market in the square as seen from the from the butcher shop.
The produce section was abundant. There were recognizable veggies like eggplant, scallions, spinach, peppers , daikon radishes baby bok choy (which I saw for the first time at the Farmer's Market back home). There were some greens I couldn't identify.
The same could be said for the display of the pickle peddlers. I did recognize the Asian pears.
In the poultry section the fuzzy little duckies would have been adorable, if we didn't know so much.
The mushrooms were spectacular.
and the palm sugar unrefined and sold in little domes.
Of course there were all manner of household decorations and necessities available as well, but I'm photoposted out for the day, and only slightly demoralized ` by R. Todd's photos.
March 19, 2007
Population Control Measures
The Chinese practice what they preach, at least in one area. In 1979 concerns about burgeoning population lead to the institution of the One Child Rule. Lately affluent families are flaunting it, and there are certainly pros and cons to the initiative. However, it is refreshing indeed that the government doesn't expect the populace to abstain from sexual activity in order to implement this measure.
Every guest room, from those in five star hotels to simple country inns, had a condom corner in the bathroom -- an on-hand birth control minibar. And the price is right -- if my currency conversion is correct, this condom could be had for $1.29.
Speaking of hypocrisy (were we?) during my visit, China responded to the our State Department's criticism of their human rights record with a report of their own assessing human rights in the USA. The US didn't do very well. No propaganda was necessary.
Photo note: Condom corner at the Sheraton Guilin.
March 18, 2007
China Glimpses - Quick Summary
Having a little trouble settling back down into the old blog. God knows there are enough vacation pictures dangling in cyberspace already.
It has been suggested that I do a little precis of my trip to China, as an orientation.
Hong Kong (15 hours over the North Pole, which was hard to check in the dark) was first on the agenda in order to rendezvous with some dear and close personal relatives who had already spent time in China, and spoke rudimentary Mandarin. This probably made the trip much more comfortable, since they provided a ready introduction to the culture in general, and the toilets, and other important differences, in particular. They could carry on sufficiently in Chinese to order dinner, ask directions, bargain and discourage overenthusiastic entrepreneurs when necessary. It's hard to tell how much of a difference this made. Of course, I'd like to think that I just nestled right into the Chinese bosom all on my own, but I doubt this is the case
Hong Kong was fabulous, but not inexpensive, though bargains could certainly be found -- the nightly laser show over the harbor as seen from Kowloon is oft photographed and absolutely free
as was the the daytime panorama from the same location -- behind the Renaissance Kowloon.
Flew from Hong Kong to Guilin, home of rock formations extraordinaire, in and out of the ground, and the lovely Li River -- made famous by Chinese painters.
And onto Yunnan Province via Kunming to Dali, and, by bus to Lijaing -- both home to unspoiled "old cities" (adjoining larger, new cities, which went virtually unvisited) and a number of China's ethnic minorities, with scenes such as this.
In between were miles of mountains and farms, resplendent with blooming golden rapeseed (used to make canola oil)
and terraced fields
Then back to Hong Kong for a night, just long enough to hit the Night Markets for Mao watches
or have a fortune told. You will be surprised that I skipped that, but I could already predict that I'd be jet lagged.
March 16, 2007
Hong Kong Cakes
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Hong Kong is a city of contrasts. I bet that there are more Armani stores in the glitzy malls of Hong Kong than there are in Rome. Right around the corner from Armani, the fishmonger, at the wet market eviscerates his catch, so that he may better display their swim bladders.
Here we have captured the contrast in one fell swoop. I have spared you both the glitz and the blood, which I thought you would appreciate. This is a state of the art, chi chi wedding cake emporium. The classic gray Hong Kong apartment buildingis reflected in it's window. Notice the air conditioners and the laundry.
Photo note: as above
March 13, 2007
Pigs, Golden and Otherwise
I was wisely advised to avoid travel to China during the two weeks of Chinese New Year since many spectacles are closed for the holiday and mobs are on the move. Fortunately, all the New Year's decorations were still intact when I arrived (see lavish display above). It is the Year of the Pig, and not just any pig, the Golden kind, which cycles once every 600 years, thus making 2007 an auspicious one for birthing fortunate, if wandering, children.
Pigs prevailed -- in spite of the Shanghai market crash that happened two days after my arrival.
Happy David Chen, our delightful Guilin guide, had in hand for slow moments, the Chinese/English version of Warren Buffet's investment advice. Like many Chinese people who have only recently availed themselves of capitalistic endeavors, he was fascinated by finance. He took notes on the miracle of compound interest and the rule of seven, but was, due to cultural pig connotations, completely baffled by the phrase "Be a bull, be a bear, but never be a pig"
Speaking of never being a pig.
Three little pigs go to market
Pigs roasting on open fires for street snacking
Raw pig head with ears at the Shaping Market. I did not ask the price
March 12, 2007
Vehicle
In my lagged stupor, I just erased a whole entry --- GRRRR..r...r
This is an example of one of the many creatively adapted vehicles that can be found on highways (yikes) all over the Yunnan countryside. It was undoubtedly used to transport family, produce and/or product to the Bai market in Shaping, just outside of Dali. Note the colorful ornamentation inside and out. A similar canopy is often dropped atop a tractor (otherwise useless in the tiered fields) or a bicycle. I probably have pictures of both, but am too cross-eyed at the moment to find them in the vast cyberheap.
Photo note: As above
March 11, 2007
Ni Hao
Ni hao as they say in the People's Republic. I'm back from China and so jet lagged that I probably shouldn't be operating a computer, let alone a motor vehicle. The thirteen hour time difference is harder to handle on the way home for some reason. The new and useless daylight savings switch landed conveniently on top of my arrival. I felt much perkier upon landing in Hong Kong than I do now, perhaps it was the duties that I faced. None--- whereas today has been been a day of locating toothbrushes, stowing equipment, doing laundry, sorting snail and email and generally preparing to return to the real world.
Ye ole spammers have been busy in my absence, so there's lots of information about viagra and ringtones to vacuum off Dakota too.
Suffice it to say that I had a lovely time and would go back in an instant. The Chinese people are warm, friendly, funny and astonishingly entrepreneurial in a way that can only have been inspired by many years of oppression.
I shot up three and a half 2GB cards, as well as all four of my 512MB cards. I doubt that I have room on my hard drive to download most of my photos. Many were taken on bumpy roads, out of spotty bus windows with the mystic knot tassle hanging from the rearview mirror swishing through the view, so there's a little editing to do there too.
Photo note: The lighted lotus, albeit plastic, at a Tibetan cafe in Da Li