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It’s time to revamp the way we register and insure automobiles.

While driving my mother home from using her Kohl’s gift-card, a red Nissan 370Z passed me going 20 km/h over the speed-limit.

Despite the driver’s haste, that wasn’t what caught my attention about the car.
It had no license-plates, either front or back, nor did it have a dealer’s tag in the window.

I watched in stunned amazement as the red Nissan pulled slightly ahead of a Harris County Deputy Sheriff and cut over into his lane with less than a metre to spare…and there were no lights.

No lights. No siren. The deputy just let him go on his merry way.

My curiosity piqued, and the speed-limit and licensing of automobiles apparently being in abeyance, I accelerated and followed the car, wanting to see just how far this asshole would get. It was on my way home, anyway, so what the hell?

I followed that guy for 20 km, until I finally had to turn off toward my house, and the strangest thing was that about 2 km before the turn-off, I saw a rapidly approaching black 370Z in my side mirror.

That car also had no front license-plate, but I didn’t get to see whether the back plate was also absent.

I’m from New Mexico, so I don’t really believe in front-plates. NM hasn’t used them since 1970, and it gives people a chance to have personalized plates. Mine used to say something I can’t repeat in a blog.

That aside; the absence of license-plates in Texas isn’t a rarity.
Beginning in 2008, I noticed an abundance of hand-lettered—the expiry date—paper-tags with “untitled vehicle” stenciled across the top.

I immediately had three questions:
1—If it’s not your vehicle, why are you driving it?
2—If it’s not your vehicle, who is carrying the insurance? (You cannot insure a vehicle, unless it’s in your name.)
3—If it’s not that person’s vehicle, how the hell do the police know it isn’t stolen?

So, here’s how the scam works:
1—Buy a vehicle from a “pay-by-the-week” dealership. (A real hit with the unlicensed, uninsured crowd.)
2—Pay for the abovementioned tag.
3—When that tag expires, pay for another, ad infinitum.

I’ve never actually been in a jurisdiction which allows untitled, uninsured vehicles on the road.
In NM, any vehicle found to be on the roads without valid title, registration or insurance is subject to immediate impoundment.

Thing is, I have an idea. It’s same one used by the UK, but with a twist.

We’ve all seen these bright, clear signs, which have the ability to display different messages, haven’t we?
The pixels in those are LEDS, the same sort used in the taillights of high-end luxury-cars.

Let’s shift registration of automobiles to the US-DOT, much as the registration of aircraft is under the FAA.

All vehicles, beginning with the 2012 model year, should be required to have a 75cm by 20cm LED screen incorporated into the location normally occupied by the license-plate and powered by the wiring which would normally go to the plate-light.

The front-screen could be wired into the DRLs.

Upon arriving at the dealership—for domestically manufactured vehicles—or a North American port—for foreign-manufactured vehicles—a SIM card would be inserted into a port under the dashboard of each vehicle, the door to which would be glued shut, and the removal of which would be a second-degree felony.

The registration would be renewed each year, when the emissions-control people plugged into the vehicle during the annual inspection, and you would be offered the option of renewing for a period of one to four years.

Such vehicles would also have the same cellular communications capability found in such offerings as GM’s “On-Star”, allowing the car to receive “update” signals from each state or province’s department or ministry of transportation.

The result of this would be that the LED screens would revert to a purple field and flashing yellow text reading “UNINSURED”, within twelve-hours after the lapse or cancellation of any policy covering the vehicle.

The screens would only display the unique license-number within the SIM card, upon payment of any premiums or fines.

The SIM card would go with the car, from owner to owner, until the car was crushed and shredded.

…and the Nobel Piece (of s***) Prize goes to Obama’s critics.

“What has President Obama actually accomplished?” said Michael Steele, chairman of the Republican National Committee.

“It is unfortunate that the president’s star power has outshined tireless advocates who have made real achievements working towards peace and human rights.”
In a development which surprised everyone, including U.S. President Barack Obama, he won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize.

President Obama won the prize for a variety of reasons, one of which was his ability to marshal support for a ban on nuclear weapons.

I don’t care if you agree with the decision, but at least show the honor some respect. I remember when being named a Nobel laureate was a good thing…a high honor.

I will post some of the critiques, prefaced by a letter of the alphabet. At the bottom of the blog, I will post each letter, followed by the name of the person who uttered the comment.

Why such a “Mickey Mouse” thing? I want you to guess which responses came from Democrats, GOP, the terrorist-linked Hamas and Taliban, and a certain foreign government.

A—”We are not upset and we hope that by receiving this prize he will start taking practical steps to remove injustice in the world. If he removes the veto from the United Nations Security Council, then it shows the prize was given correctly to him.”

B—”He has done nothing for peace in Afghanistan … We condemn the award of the Nobel Peace Prize for Obama.”

C—”Under any circumstance an appropriate response is to say congratulations,”

D—”What’s Obama done? What peace has he negotiated? … I suppose an organization that thought Yasser Arafat worthy of the same prize can’t be taken seriously anyway. But they are.”

E—”Obama has a long way to go still and lots of work to do before he can deserve a reward. Obama only made promises and did not contribute any substance to world peace.”

F—”I’m not sure what the international community loved best; his waffling on Afghanistan, pulling defense missiles out of Eastern Europe, turning his back on freedom fighters in Honduras, coddling Castro, siding with Palestinians against Israel, or almost getting tough on Iran,” Barrett said.

G—”I did not realize the Nobel Peace Prize had an affirmative action quota for it, but that is the only thing I can think of for this news,” Erickson wrote. “There is no way Barack Obama earned it in the nominations period. “

A—Ali Abkar Javanfekr, media aide to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

B— Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman

C— Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty.

D—Rick Moran in his blog on American Thinker.

E—Sami Abu Zuhri, a Hamas official

F—GOP Rep. Gresham Barrett, who is running for governor of South Carolina.

G—Erick Erickson, writing on the conservative RedState.com.

That’s right:
There were no Democrats on the list—I punked you on that—and the Islamic Republic of Iran had more respect for the Nobel—and President Obama—than the Republicans. In fact, the Republicans, Taliban and Hamas sounded alike.

Remember that when you vote next year. The GOP sounded like the Taliban and Hamas.

A loss of civility, why we have rules and what happens when egos take over.

A loss of civility, why we have rules and what happens when they are disregarded

Please keep your kids in school, and don’t give in to the fear.

Mideast Peace? Yes, we can (and so can they).

Yesterday, I watched David Gregory’s Meet The Press interview with His Majesty, King Abdullah II of Jordan. (I’m obviouslly not Jordanian, but I strive to be polite, hence the use of his title.)

Two things stood out about him, compared with other mideast leaders:
1–His intelligence and calm. In stark contrast to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who denies the holocaust and waxes borderline orgasmic when discussing possible attacks on Israel, King Abdullah II is cordial, fairly soft spoken and projects an air mental stability. There were no rants of ‘death to Israel’.

2–King Abdullah explictly endorsed the so-called ‘two-state’ solution. At the same moment, on ABC’s This Week, Ahmadinejad was the very definition of disingenuity, wriggling like a worm on a hook whenever George Stephanopoulos questioned him about the same strategy for mideast peace.

For those who don’t know, the term ‘two-state solution’ refers to a proposed Palestinian state, independent and equal to Israel.

Close, but no cigar!

I propose a ‘three-state’ solution, in the form of either an Israeli-Palestinian Federation or Israeli Federation

It would take the following form:
1–The State of Israel. Israel without the Palestinian Territories and Tel Aviv as its state capital.
2–The State of Palestine. This Palestine would be different than the present Palestinian Territories.
The map below shows the way things are today, with–in essence–‘West Palestine’ and ‘East Palestine’.

This really untenable. You can’t have a nation divided by another nation between its halves. This situation is what led to the present situation, where ‘Gaza’ Palestine is Hamas controlled, but ‘West Bank’ Palestine is Fatah controlled. They’re essentially two different nations.
In the interest of stability, the following land-swap should occur.

Israel would absorb ‘Gaza’ Palestine, which is only twice the area of Central Park, ceding the blue areas to a unified Palestine with its capital as either Ramallah or Nablus.
In the State of Palestine, all territory–including the settlements, most of which violate international law–would be under Palestinian control.

3–The third state would be the City-State of Jerusalem. In addition to being a self-governing entity along the lines of Singapore, it would also be the Federal capital.
Jerusalem is the third rail of religion, politics and culture. Any attempt to divide it is doomed to failure, just as the Berlin Wall didn’t work.
Jerusalem is indivisible. The only solution is that it revert to its original status as a city-state.

The Federation–Israeli-Palestinian, Palestinian-Israeli or whatever–would have a representative government, those representatives to be determined by periodic census. (Sound familiar?)

The flag of this federation would look nothing like either the Israeli or Palestinian flags. Those flags would belong to the states. The federation would need a completely new flag as part of a completely new beginning.

Before you shoot the idea down, give it some thought. I’m proposing a true compromise…nobody gets exactly what they want, but everyone gets what they need to survive.

Allow me to introduce someone from my past.

A few weeks ago, Cindy, a friend who happens to teach in Los Angeles, asked me to write about a teacher who inspired me.

For those of you who have read the Hitchhikers’ Trilogy, the past few weeks have been roughly equivalent to Zaphod going into the booth and glimpsing the entire universe.

(Those of you who know the dollars and cents of my stay in British Columbia can a much more in-depth explanation.)

Anyway…ten days ago, an article appeared about a science teacher being honoured for her skill and dedication.

It wasn’t just any science teacher.  It was Laura Greer!
She definitely made an impression and a difference…especially the impression.

She’s fifty-three now, but she was twenty-eight or twenty-nine when I knew her.

Here’s how I met her, with the exception of seeing her at an assembly.

The first day of grade-nine physical science, I walked into the classroom, the wooden floor squeaking with every footstep–totally uncool–and saw a young woman who looked like Ann Wilson in her Dreamboat Annie days.
(Those of you born too late for this to make sense; just know that she looked a lot like Lily Allen.)

I took a course syllabus from her, sat down and concentrated on not looking at her for reasons apparent to guys.

After everyone had filed in and she had taken roll, she turned on the gas-burner on her desk, scooped some Tide laundry detergent into a flask and jammed the end of a metre-long pipette into it.

“I believe in making science interesting.” Mrs. Greer announced, her grin hinting at something better than a boring textbook. “By the way; never do any of the things you’ll see me do. I’m a professional.”

She stuck the loaded end of the pipette about ten centimetres from the flame and blew through it, causing a ball of fire to belch forth as the detergent ignited like rocket fuel.

That was just the beginning!

From her, I learned the following:
The elements of the periodic table. I already knew some of it, but memorising the table had been doomed, as the only one I had was in a set of encyclopaedias.
She gave each of us a copy of the table, which I still have. It’s a bit worn, but I don’t use it much. I committed it to memory.
(It is for this reason, that upon encountering something with a chemical formula indicating that it was basically antimony hexafluoride with an accompanying hydrogen ion, I immediately realised it was the most powerful acid ever invented. Organic material literally disappears in a puff of smoke and heat. Just take my word for that.)

That alcohol has an acetate group in it. (Reverse ‘h’ and ‘o’, revealing ‘COOH’…the basic chemical formula for acetate.)
This is a good thing to remember when you’re listening to Sweeny Todd, The Who or anyone else while drinking. You just stick to vodka or everclear and drink plenty of water. It’s that acetate group and the fusel oils found in ‘non-clear’ liquors that gives you the killer hangover.

That terminal velocity on Earth is 9.6m/s².
(In fact, this is where my father and I began to significantly diverge.
He said, “You mean thirty-two feet per second.”
“Whatever.” I replied, implying that he was stuck in the past.)

I learned that zero kelvins (or kelvin, if you prefer) is absolute zero. My father being a ‘Rankine’ person, didn’t budge. Oh well.

I also learned that temperature is the measure of the kinetic energy within a system.
(If you doubt this, feel free to spray your wheels with a water-hose after a long drive. You’ll see a lot of steam. Of course, if you just run the water directly on the rotors, they will very likely shatter, hence my mention of spraying. This is also one reason that high-velocity ammunition does so much damage.)

In short; this was the point where a kid from rural New Mexico quit thinking as such and began turning into me.

This was where I began simultaneously thinking of things in metric and US units.
(True story: When I drove my car through the Peace Arch Crossing, the Canadian border officer handed my license back to me and said, “We use the metric system. 110 means roughly seventy, not one-hundred ten miles per hour.”
To which I replied, “I’m American, but I’m not stupid. I’ve always driven on the metric system. I’ve used it since I was fourteen.”)

I was able to say that, thanks to Laura Greer.

It was only her second year as a teacher, but Laura Greer made us think!
Each of us had to write a report on an element–mine was bismuth, although I almost chose antimony–and read it.
Each of us had to choose a project for the science-fair and build it.
(I originally chose a ‘shotgun-mic’, but I couldn’t afford the supplies and my father had a TV kit lying around–another blog–so I changed my project to a colour TV.)
She did not hide behind the desk like many other teachers, but stood in front of it, hands clasped behind her back as she swayed slightly, side-to-side like a skier–turns out that she was–ready to help any student–even offering limited assistance on exams–and pounce upon any would-be cheats.

I say “pounce,” but she wasn’t really pouncing or even moving that fast, as she was in the last trimester of her pregnancy–with her son, Adam, if my memory serves me properly.

I remember her as a very funny, approachable person.
I remember her talking of how she hoped to someday have a lab of her own as a research chemist.
I also remember her talking about her hobby of restoring old furniture–stripping and reapplying finish, et cetera–which stuck in my head. Such a hobby was normally the province of fathers and grandfathers, not beautiful young women.

Laura Greer also entered the lexicon of my personal language.
When the Pamela Smart, Mary Kay Letourneau, Pamela Rogers Turner and Debra Lafave cases forced their way into the media, I would always say, “Sex with a teacher? My God! There weren’t even any of mine I would’ve wanted to see in a swimsuit…except…for Mrs. Greer and, even then, sex never crossed my mind!”

I’ll tell you another thing which was different; religion.
It simply wasn’t mentioned in school.
I was in a science class, not a theology lecture.
She–as were most of my other teachers–was married, so I assumed she was a Christian. I couldn’t tell you if she was Baptist, Methodist, Catholic or even an Atheist. We didn’t talk about that sort of thing.

This blog seems to be running a lot longer than I’d intended, so I’ll wrap things up.

Mrs. Greer left at midterm, and another excellent teacher–of whom I’ll soon blog–who can best be compared to Holly Hunter in “Saving Grace” took her place.

I’m very happy that Laura Greer returned to teaching.
Losing someone like her would have been a detriment to education; her honours are well-deserved and I wish her many more happy years in the classroom.

“Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Most people would think that Jesus Christ first asked that question…and they would be wrong.

 

Genesis 4:9 “Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ ‘I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?'”

I have no brother, but answering ‘no’ would also answer a timelier and intrinsically related question.

Am I my nation’s keeper?

Yes, I am.

It’s ironic that a quote from history’s first recorded murderer should underpin the concept of social responsibility, yet it does.

First, please allow me to digress; I promise it is relevant.

I know that it’s been quite some time since I last touched base with my Friends of The Geneva Convention group, but it isn’t for either a dearth or paucity of material.

I’ve been overwhelmed! It’s been like standing a metre behind an elephant, so much has come out since 20 January!  I simply haven’t known where to begin.

Then, after remembering something my grandfather had done, I decided citizenship and civics would be a good place to begin.

I am a keeper of the Republic!
Every U.S. Citizen is vested with a share of the Republic, whether at birth or naturalization. ‘We The People’ own the United States of America. My citizenship-and yours, if you have it-grants me one three-hundred-ten millionth ownership of the USA.

 

Most Americans falsely believe that the phrase, ‘Keeper of the Republic’ only applies to police officers, members of the military and employees of intelligence organizations.

 

These didn’t exist on 19 April, 1775.

(Hold those comments about the Declaration of Independence being dated on 4 July, 1776.)

 

19 April used to be celebrated as ‘Patriots’ Day.’

It’s the day some guys-that’s what they were…’some guys’ who formed the Massachusetts Militia-fought the losing battle of Lexington, just after sunrise and, after regrouping for lunch and other things, fought the winning battle of Concord.

It’s the day the American Revolution began, after the colonists realized that they had a stake in their society’s future…stake that worthy of a stand which sometimes ended in death.

Last year, I was heartened to see a resurgence of the citizen ‘Keepers of the Republic.”

We rose, shook off a mendacious government which did not represent us, our values or interests and voted in numbers not seen for decades.

 

We were the worthy heirs of the Patriots, Militiamen and Minutemen.

 

Where are you? (***sound of my voice echoing inestimable times***)

 

It’s like the Chinese aphorism that a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

 

We took one hell of a step, but the GOP stragglers have laid out tripwires and buried quite a few ‘bouncing betties’ in the path of change.

That much vaunted stimulus package? It might as well have included ‘French ticklers and tubes of Astroglide for every recipient.

Obama allowed it to be dealed away and whittled into a half-measure, and any physics student can easily explain that moving half the distance again and again leaves you forever shy of your goal.

President Obama did this because he’s still afraid of breaking a promise. Remember when he promised to be bipartisan?

 

Keepers of the Republic! Those of you who caucused, campaigned, voted, campaigned even more and finally voted in November, America needs you to raise your voices again!

 

We elected a majority in the House and Senate. We gave President Obama everything he could want! Now, we must give him permission to ram through the real change.

We must have universal health care!

We must have widespread infrastructure spending!

We must have stem-cell research!

We must tell the government to halt discrimination against gays and stay out of our houses…particularly, our bedrooms! (Believe it or not, buying a dildo or a jelly vibrator remains illegal in Texas.)

 

Oh…I almost forgot…we must send a clear message that the Constitution is not a periodical-old French joke-and is not open to supercession!

 

Two days ago, President Obama declassified many of the Bush Administration’s secret Depart of Justice memos and e-mails.

 

Among the many things these authorized:

The apprehension and indefinite detention-without habeas corpus-of anyone in the United States, regardless of citizenship, believed to be a threat to national security, terrorist or aid to such parties.

Military strikes-including armored attack or airstrike-upon any location in the United States suspected to be a threat to national security, a terrorist hideout or location of terrorist aides.

Oh…and one suggested that the government could ‘just execute them on the spot.’ The ‘them,’ in this case, could easily have been us, as the definition of the ‘enemies of the state’ was deliberately left vague.

“Dub’ya” didn’t quite have the balls to go for it, but as my mother used to tell me about Christmas gifts of clothing, it’s the thought that counts.

Uncle Sam had airstrikes and firing-squads waiting for those of us who didn’t play well with others.

(I would like to pause at this moment to say something to the former administration, since George Carlin can’t…blow me!)

So, do you understand why I want Bush and company tried for war-crimes, among other things?

They were so ready to dispatch firing squads; it’s only fair that they face a few.

This is our nation. We own it. We are the Keepers of the Republic.
We ensure that our Senators represent our states’ best interests.
We ensure that our Congressmen, the Representatives, represent ours.
We ensure that the Constitution is not soiled, damaged or trod upon.
Most importantly, we ensure that those who do so are punished, including the use of capital punishment or life imprisonment.

We are United States citizens.

Possible serious problem with the Gardasil vaccine! (Please read before use! Please reach your own conclusion!)

 I make no claims, pro or con, regarding possible serious or potentially fatal side-effects associated with the use of the Gardasil vaccine. 

(That said…there is chatter about such things. In fact, the articles below are necessary reading for any parent about to consent to their daughter’s inoculation or any young woman contemplating said inoculation!)

 The following articles appeared in the Hobbs News-Sun, published in Hobbs, New Mexico.

Hobbs is approximately 20km from where I grew up and has a total population of approximately thirty-thousand people.

Despite Hobbs’ modest size, two HHS students fell ill after receiving the complete Gardasil vaccine. 

They blame the vaccine.

I’ll allow you to judge for yourselves.

 

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and Merck Pharmaceuticals had the following response…

 
                             A California chiropractor believes he can offer some assistance…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                For legal reasons, I cannot take a position.
Were I a parent, I would take the following position…”not only no, but hell no!”

 

Yes, cervical cancer is a killer, but this vaccine may have been rushed out too soon.

Simply get yearly Pap smears, use condoms and make showers both a part of foreplay and afterplay.

BTW: Guys, the same virus has been known to cause throat cancer in those who perform oral sex.

Today is just the end of the beginning.

Convention I
For the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field, Geneva, 12 August 1949

Preamble
The undersigned Plenipotentiaries of the Governments represented at the Diplomatic Conference held at Geneva from April 21 to August 12, 1949, for the purpose of revising the Geneva Convention for the Relief of the Wounded and Sick in Armies in the Field of July 27, 1929, have agreed as follows:

Chapter I. General Provisions
Art. 1. The High Contracting Parties undertake to respect and to ensure respect for the present Convention in all circumstances.

Art. 2. In addition to the provisions which shall be implemented in peacetime, the present Convention shall apply to all cases of declared war or of any other armed conflict which may arise between two or more of the High Contracting Parties, even if the state of war is not recognized by one of them.

The Convention shall also apply to all cases of partial or total occupation of the territory of a High Contracting Party, even if the said occupation meets with no armed resistance.

Although one of the Powers in conflict may not be a party to the present Convention, the Powers who are parties thereto shall remain bound by it in their mutual relations. They shall furthermore be bound by the Convention in relation to the said Power, if the latter accepts and applies the provisions thereof.

Art. 3. In the case of armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each Party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the following provisions: (1) Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria. To this end, the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons: (a) violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture; (b) taking of hostages; (c) outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating and degrading treatment; (d) the passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgement pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples. (2) The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for. An impartial humanitarian body, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, may offer its services to the Parties to the conflict.

The Parties to the conflict should further endeavour to bring into force, by means of special agreements, all or part of the other provisions of the present Convention.

The application of the preceding provisions shall not affect the legal status of the Parties to the conflict.

Chapter IX. Repression of Abuses and Infractions
Art. 49. The High Contracting Parties undertake to enact any legislation necessary to provide effective penal sanctions for persons committing, or ordering to be committed, any of the grave breaches of the present Convention defined in the following Article.

Each High Contracting Party shall be under the obligation to search for persons alleged to have committed, or to have ordered to be committed, such grave breaches, arid shall bring such persons, regardless of their nationality, before its own courts. It may also, if it prefers, and in accordance with the provisions of its own legislation, hand such persons over for trial to another High Contracting Party concerned, provided such High Contracting Party has made out a prima facie case.

Each High Contracting Party shall take measures necessary for the suppression of all acts contrary to the provisions of the present Convention other than the grave breaches defined in the following Article.

In all circumstances, the accused persons shall benefit by safeguards of proper trial and defence, which shall not be less favourable than those provided by Article 105 and those following, of the Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War of 12 August 1949.

Art. 50. Grave breaches to which the preceding Article relates shall be those involving any of the following acts, if committed against persons or property protected by the Convention: wilful killing, torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments, wilfully causing great suffering or serious injury to body or health, and extensive destruction and appropriation of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly.

Art. 51. No High Contracting Party shall be allowed to absolve itself or any other High Contracting Party of any liability incurred by itself or by another High Contracting Party in respect of breaches referred to in the preceding Article.

 

Today, the United States of America begins the long road of rehabilitation.

 Social rehabilitation. Constitutional rehabilitation. International rehabilitation.

Those of us who have been to rehab or know someone who has, realise that facing up to past mistakes and being brutally honest is the most important step.
It is simply not possible to successfully “rehab” without doing so.

The following United States citizens are widely accused of having committed war crimes and crimes against humanity by violating the above sections of the Geneva Convention; George Walker Bush, Richard Bruce Cheney, Donald Henry Rumsffeld, Paul Dundes Wolfowitz and Alberto Gonzales.

Bush and Cheney bear principal resopnsibility for any crimes which may have occured as the respective 43rd President and 46th Vice-President of the United States.
As former U.S. President Harry Truman stated during his tenure, “the buck stops there.”

Alberto Gonzales, 80th U.S. Attorney General, bears particular responsibility for issuing an opinion during his tenure as White House Counsel, in which he called Article III of the Geneva Convention as “quaint.” This ruling abetted the “interrogations” at Abu Ghraib, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba by affixing the imprimatur of U.S. law.

I won’t bore you all with the titles of the remaining unindicted coconspirators (should they be so), for they are all in Wikipedia.

Post-War Japan became one of the greatest–if not the greatest–economic success stories of the twentieth century, and a major factor of that renaissance was comeing to terms with wartime atrocities.
We executed Japanese war criminals for “waterboarding,” among other crimes.

One of our staunchest allies and the heart of the European Union is Germany.
Germany fully faced its crimes in Britain’s Belsen Trials and the Allies’ Nuremberg Trials, which ended in scores of hangings.
In Germany, it is a crime to espouse Nazi ideology, glorify National Socialism or promote a Supremacist agenda.

In both cases, the nations recovered after facinging up to and atoning for their collective sins.

I did not personally torture anyone, my friend Pappyjoe didn’t, nor did my friends Kristi and Erica.
However, the United States–at least, in principal–is a democratic republic, and that means whatever its government did, we did.

We must clear our names.
The only way to do so is to arrest the aforementioned people–and possibly more–and try them for their crimes in the United States.

But, Eric! I hear you yelling as you lunge for your keyboards. There’s never been an American War Crimes Tribunal!

Wrong!
Following the U.S. Civil War–yes, the concept of war crimes already existed–the comanding officer of the Confederate States’ Andersonville prisoner of war camp was tried on such charges and hanged.
My family fought for the Confederacy, but I’ll be the first to admit it; Andersonville would have pleased Adolf Hitler. Its atrocities compared to any Stalag or possibly even Dachau.

We survived a civil war. We survived a war-crimes trial. We even survived the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, picked ourselves up, grew into a nuclear-armed superpower and went to the moon.

We’ll survive the trial of a former President.
To paraphrase President Obama; “the future of our nation lies not in red states, blue states or a state of denial, but in the United States.”

Why my last blog entry mattered…

…because Obama’s become entangled in the CDR case.

To summarize:
1–In February, 2008–less than a month after President-Elect Obama’s Iowa-Caucus upset of upset of Hillary Clinton–David Rubin, CEO of Beverly Hills-based CDR Financial Products, gave Obama’s campaign $1,000.
2–At beginning of the post-convention rush toward the Presidency, Rubin gave the Democratic Party $26,200 on 19 September, 2008.
3–Eleven days later, on 30 September, he also gave Obama’s campaign $2,300.

These are small gifts, Eric! I hear you saying. Why do they matter?

Well…the Richardson brouhaha began with a November 2006 FBI raid of CDR’s California offices at the start of a bid rigging investigation spanning several states…not just New Mexico.
(In a completely unrelated development, then-Senator Obama announced his candidacy for President, roughly a month later.)

Anyone remember Whitewater and the Rose Law Firm?
Remember how Bill Clinton’s health-care reform and everything else was cockblocked?
That’s why it matters!
The Justice Department’s Antitrust Division, U.S. Internal Revenue Service and Securities and Exchange Commission have been investigating CDR’s business dealings for some time. In fact, the IRS is reviewing more than twenty deals between 1996 and 2005, so there’s the potential for this mess to spread much, much farther.

Back to the donations…
On 17 September, two days before Mr. Rubin’s rather large donation to the DNC, he was on the guest list of an $11 million Obama fundraiser.
Hundreds of A-Listers–along with B, C and even D-Listers–were also on the list, including Leonardo DiCaprio and Jeffrey Katzenberg.

Remember the years of hearing knuckle-draggers, muckrakers and right-wing water-carriers piss and moan about the “Hollywood Elite?”

This plays right into every damn stereotype the Republicans have nurtured since Bill Clinton’s first term!  Jesus Christ!
That’s what the right-wingers are saying, you know? Oh, they probably phrase it as “Thank you, Jay-zus!”
This matters because it’s Manna from Heaven for the GOP and the right.  We’re in for four to eight years of cockblocking…change can be either better or worse.