Year of the Hero
Nostril Shots Make You Look Mean

 "The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace in a continual state of alarm (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing them with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary." -H.L. Mencken

At the close of the Worst Year of My Life (so far), I ponder events and trends. It does not look rosy. Time has come for resolutions to improve oneself in the coming year. I will endeavor to persevere, lose weight and look for something positive to believe about my country. None of this is easy.
It seems that we are surrounded by inferior men and women leading superior forces against laughable opponents in a war without intellectual meaning. Each development sinks US deeper into the Muddle East quagmire, while the home fires burn brightly for the most muddleheaded President in history. Our nation remains together in its hatred for the perpetrators of the horrid Attack of September 11th. We remain separated by our own ignorance. And, so much of that seems by design.

I do not belive much of what is filtered over media as news. Fact is most of what is reported is shallow and misses any overview implication completely. It is fragmented and slanted to ultra conservative viewpoints.
The Taliban has been disposed of their tyranny; the alQuieda hides in holes they had ready for this purpose. A new government is in place in Afghanistan, with a six-month proxy from "international authority." Hundreds of troops from Alliance countries stream into the country to begin the difficult job of peacekeeping, not the least of which will be disarming the beligerents. Pakistan and India are massing forces on each others borders, each publicly denying their intent is to end political conflict through war. Ayatollah bin Ladmin and Mullah Omar are missing and rumored to be either dead or in Pakistan, whichever is most politically convienient/expedient. Rumors abound that Iraq is next on the list of lost nations needing "good Christian justice."

I believe that truth will become known and will lead to eventual freedom from many maladies apparent today. The ambition of reporters, willing to risk their lives being in Afghanistan, makes apparent that any story may find a market; in which their idolated selves may find a voice. The rise of Walter Cronkite and Edward R. Murrow began a long line of correspondents to rise through the ashes of war to prominence and station in American life. The medium is Big Money...rewards beyond balance. In their quest for this notorious success, these "Cadres of the Lost or Really Stupid" often unearth nuggets of truth that add to an overall sence of what really is going on. For example:
...How long is "a very long war" and why does every leader warn that theirs will be one?
...Why is there no public dialoge regarding how to pay for this War on Terrorism?
...Why transport Taliban prisoners to Guantanmo base, Cuba?
...How much will the Uzbeckistan-to-Arabian Sea oil pipeline actually cost in lives, rubles, dollars and/or Euros?
...Will camera operators ever learn that shooting from the hip (nostril shots) makes subjects look mean and evil?
...Will the Bush Doctrine Against Terrorism ever be formalized?

Consider that the Shrub had ten months to assess the true threat presented by terrorists before the Attack. Weigh that no defense against air attack was launched against the terrorists. Add to that the way the Shrub was able to take office, the history of his and Assistant President Cheney's industry affiliations, and his father's history as head of the CIA.

Remember, to quote Norman Normal, that if it looks like a fish, swims like a fish, takes any bait...then something smells fishy around here.