TRUFFULAUT #27
http://home.earthlink.net/~truffulaut/id41.html
31 March
2005
For those of you
familiar with the Strong family, it will come as no surprise that events of the
past several months, specifically the lengthy hospitalization of Betty Strong,
have delayed Truffulaut. But were I to
wait another day, it should be April 1, and the abundance of foolish things
happening in the world today force me to take action so that facts are not
mistaken for jokes, especially when they are not funny.
I hope you are doing
well. Feel free to distribute this or
parts of it as you see fit, and send comments to:
http://home.earthlink.net/~truffulaut/id17.html
or write to me as
usual:
mailto:truffulaut@earthlink.net
GOVERNMENT
DIPLOMATIC
RELATIONS
It is interesting to
see a list of all these nations, some of which have embassies in Washington
D.C. It is astonishing that many
nations apparently do not have embassies in the USA. How can we ever expect to negotiate with other nations if we do
not have diplomatic relations with them?
Did we forget that they exist?
Are they inhabited by non-humans?
The easiest first step to keeping peace with any nation would be to
establish diplomatic relations with it, but then I did not attend Yale, so what
do I know?
http://www.embassy.org/embassies/index.html
CHINA SPEAKS
Even if I were not part
Cherokee, I can read history. When the
USA starts criticizing human rights abuses in other nations, I am often quick
to remind people that, “When you point, four fingers are pointing back at
you.” I would never endorse the
opinions of the government of China, but the world's most populous nation has a
voice worth listening to from time to time.
In 2004 the atrocity of
US troops abusing Iraqi POWs exposed the dark side of human rights performance
of the United States. The scandal
shocked the humanity and was condemned by the international community. It is quite ironic that on February 28 of
this year, the State Department of the United States once again posed as the
"the world human rights police" and released its Country Reports on
Human Rights Practices for 2004. As in
previous years, the reports pointed fingers at human rights situation in more
than 190 countries and regions (including China) but kept silent on the US
misdeeds in this field. Therefore, the
world people have to probe the human rights record behind the Statue of Liberty
in the United States.
http://english.people.com.cn/200503/03/eng20050303_175406.html
SOCIAL SECURITY
I often tell people
that rather than investing in the stock market, they would be better off taking
a lot of paper currency and setting fire to it in the middle of the
street. I will never recommend this
because the Treasury Department takes defacing cash seriously (unlike what
passes for the current administration, which acts as if it believes that
American dollars are not yet worthless enough). Unlike investing, when currency burns, one does not lose any more
than what was put in. The stock market
can take more than you ever had to begin with.
What all this has to do with Social Security is an example of an adage:
If you repeat an
absurdity long enough, some people might forget what you were talking about in
the first place.
Fortunately, factual
information is available independently of the RNC.
First launched in 1997,
the Social Security Network has served as an important resource for information
and research on the Social Security program and the debate about its
future. Featuring research conducted by
The Century Foundation on Social Security as well as broader issues of
retirement security, the site strives to present the best facts and analysis
available to academics, policymakers, journalists, and the public.
http://www.socsec.org/
The above site is a
project of The Century Foundation.
The Century Foundation
conducts public policy research and analyses of economic, social, and foreign
policy issues, including inequality, retirement security, election reform, media
studies, homeland security, and international affairs. The foundation produces books, reports, and
other publications, convenes task forces and working groups, and operates eight
informational Web sites. With offices
in New York City and Washington, D.C., The Century Foundation is nonprofit and
nonpartisan. It was founded in 1919 by
Edward A. Filene.
http://www.tcf.org/
POLITICS
GOVERNOR HOWARD DEAN, M.D.
Congratulations to the new chair of the
Democratic National Committee!
http://www.democrats.org/
and to the new chairman of Democracy for
America, James Dean (Howards brother).
http://democracyforamerica.com/
HISTORY
BLACK HISTORY MONTH
Better late than never?
Welcome to Encyclopędia
Britannica's Guide to Black History.
This site presents a vast array of articles, hundreds of images, and a
wide assortment of audio clips, film clips, and multimedia presentations.
http://www.britannica.com/Blackhistory/home.do;jsessionid=7E6A66EF1E2240610DDC2A605EC52636
INTERNET HISTORY
The Internet Archive is
building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in
digital form. Like a paper library, we
provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, and the general
public.
http://www.archive.org/?PHPSESSID=7b02b96e8b306b59a710f27595524130
TEXAS
A pentagon, 9/11,
eternal war, stars and stripes — display your pride in being an imperialist
war-monger, a race-baiter, a fear-monger, and a Texan! Xenophobia rocks!
http://www.dot.state.tx.us/vtr/spplates/specialplate.htm?nbr=121
MEDIA
Welcome to Austin, Air America Radio! Listen on KOKE 1600 AM or streaming online:
http://www.airamericaradio.com/
INTERNET RADIO FOR THE
LEFT
Further hour-by-hour listings & links for shows on the
air & Internet all day from around the country! And more!
http://www.zianet.com/insightanalytical/radio.htm
LUFKIN DAILY NEWS
Remember to vote in
Lufkins daily poll! They are famously
isolated in Deep East Texas and now that they have opened up to the world, via
the Internet, Truffulaut wants you to let them know, repeatedly, what the world
thinks.
http://www.lufkindailynews.com/news/content/homepage/home_poll.html
WAR
GREG PALAST
In the April edition of
Harper’s, Greg Palast, aided by BBC, exposes plans made in advance and
independently of any war efforts for Iraq’s oil.
"The petroleum
industry, the chemical industry, the banking industry -- they'd hoped that Iraq
would go for a revolution like in the past and government was shut down for two
or three days," Aljibury told me.
On this plan, Hussein would simply have been replaced by some former
Baathist general. However, by February
2003, a hundred-page blueprint for the occupied nation, favored by neo-cons,
had been enshrined as official policy.
"Moving the Iraqi Economy from Recovery to Sustainable Growth"
generally embodied the principles for postwar Iraq favored by Deputy Defense
Secretary Paul Wolfowitz and the Iran-Contra figure, now Deputy National
Security Advisor, Elliott Abrams. The
blue-print mapped out a radical makeover of Iraq as a free-market Xanadu
including, on page 73, the sell-off of the nation's crown jewels:
"privatization [of] the oil and
supporting industries.
http://gregpalast.com/video/BBCIraqOilReport.mov
http://gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=418&row=0
An interesting
discussion of this plan, courtesy of our very own US Navy, uses the term
“neo-liberal” as roughly equivalent to what many call “neocon.” Truffulaut is working on a glossary, but
whatever you call it, it is not democracy.
“Citizen” and “stock-holder” are not identical terms, and pressing us
into an ownership society is a sure way to enslave us once again, or a sure
way to foster rebellion. Which are you: Slave or Free?
http://www.ccc.nps.navy.mil/si/aug03/middleEast.asp
RELIGION IN AMERICA
AMERICAN MUSLIM PERSPECTIVES ON THE 9/11
COMMISSION REPORT
Our unique position as
Muslims in America necessitates our having an independent voice in matters
pertaining to civil rights and liberties, national security, and the well being
of the country. As responsible
citizens, we need to ensure that any response we have is balanced, relevant,
and non-reactionary.
http://ccmo-911report.net/
EYES WIDE OPEN
Because of rain, the
final night was held indoors at the Unitarian Church on Grover. There was room for boots representing Texas
military personnel, and several family members showed up, including the family
of the first Texan killed in Iraq, this time around. One lady was wearing a jacket with “St. David’s Hospital” on it,
and after speaking to her, I learned that she had helped Betty Strong during
her hospitalization last year. This
kind nurse was leaving a note to her younger brother with the boots on the pew
that memorialized him.
Eyes Wide Open, the
American Friends Service Committees widely-acclaimed exhibition on the human
cost of the Iraq War, features a pair of boots honoring each U.S. military
casualty, a field of shoes and a Wall of Remembrance to memorialize the Iraqis
killed in the conflict, and a multimedia display exploring the history, cost
and consequences of the war.
The American Friends
Service Committee have stood for peace throughout the history of the USA, and
we all owe them a great debt of gratitude for keeping the faith. Check the schedule; apparently they are
headed for Northwestern USA (one of my favorite places).
http://www.afsc.org/eyes/
THE RIVERSIDE CHURCH IN
THE CITY OF NEW YORK
Their current pastor
(“Senior Minister” seems to be the current nomenclature) is The Reverend Doctor
James Alexander Forbes, Jr. Doctor
Forbes has become very active in countering the right wing in both politics and
religion (the lines between which have been intentionally blurred by
Dominionists and others of their ilk) from an enlightened religious
perspective.
http://www.theriversidechurchny.org/index.asp?id=200
In the early twentieth
century, Christian congregations (in New York) and those who supported them
were torn between a modernist and fundamentalist interpretation of the Holy
Scriptures. The man who they looked to for
answers was a Doctor Harry Emerson Fosdick who preached passionately and became
a central speaker in the debate stemming from a sermon he gave on May 21, 1922
in the First Presbyterian Church in New York City, titled "Shall the
Fundamentalists Win?
http://www.interfaithalliance.org/site/pp.asp?c=8dJIIWMCE&b=258294
Sparked by Fosdick's
words, and led by John D Rockefeller, Jr., the body of members desired to
create a church, beautiful beyond words, and as great as the city where it
would be erected.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/medny/retarides.html
http://www.theriversidechurchny.org/index.asp?id=100
TRUFFUANOMICS, OR MONEY FOR ROPE
[http://www.oldielyrics.com/lyrics/john_lennon/give_me_some_truth.html
heading illumination]
The people handling the finances of the USA are
doing a very poor job. Their
incompetence is not necessary.
Center
on Budget and Policy Priorities
The Center on Budget
and Policy Priorities is one of the nation’s premier policy organizations
working at the federal and state levels on fiscal policy and public programs
that affect low- and moderate-income families and individuals. The Center conducts research and analysis to
inform public debates over proposed budget and tax policies and to help ensure
that the needs of low-income families and individuals are considered in these
debates. We also develop policy options to alleviate poverty,
particularly among working families.
820 1st Street, NE, #510
Washington, DC 20002
Ph: 202-408-1080
Fax: 202-408-1056
mailto:center@cbpp.org
http://www.cbpp.org/
BROKERAGE LEAVES
COALITION
A large Midwest
brokerage [Edward Jones] abruptly withdrew from a
business coalition that backs President Bush's Social Security proposals after
the AFL-CIO staged protests at two of the firm's offices and attacked [sic]
it on the Internet.
Power to the
people! A protest does not qualify as
an attack, but we live in violent times where such terms are tossed about
lightly.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A17563-2005Feb11.html
AMUSEMENT
TIME -- WHAT DO MEMBERS OF COMPUTER CLUBS IN HIGH
SCHOOL DO WHEN THEY GROW UP?
Humanclock.com shows a photograph of the current time, with the photo
changing every minute of the day (all 1,440 occurring minutes on Earth!)
http://www.humanclock.com/?s=1
NOT MADE IN CHINA
What
says, “I am an American” clearer than attaching something made in China out of
plastic to your automobile?
Nothing. After Zero Day,
American flags were being flown from passenger truck and automobile window
frames flags made in China. More
common today are blown-up replicas of the kinds of ribbons they wore at an
awards show one year, with clever messages, usually “Support Our Troops,”
written on them.
Truffulaut
wants what is the best for all of the members of the US Military — which is to
be returned safely home where they can, following the grand example of the
Father of Our Nation, George Washington, resign their commissions. Sending them anywhere under-equipped for
their maximum safety is a criminal act of negligence and should be prosecuted
as such.
Starting
a war is also not appropriate behavior.
We have heard it said, “We didn’t start it, but we are sure going to
finish it.” We cannot say that now; we
did start it.
Some
ideas are too complex or too subtly nuanced to lend themselves easily to being
put on bumper stickers, but anti-car-magnet sentiments have now been enshrined
on bumper stickers. The manufacturers
of these bumper stickers have assured me that I will in no way profit from
their sales, so my conscience is clean (as is my bumper).
http://www.antimagnet.com/
Have you ever wondered what would have happened
if “Monica” Lewinski had instead been “Fred” Lewinski? Bill Maher may not have a place on network TV, but then
apparently neither does journalism.
http://homepage.mac.com/njenson/movies/billmaher021805gannon.html
We are not going to
negotiate with ourselves. We are not
going to negotiate with those who do not agree with us. We are not going to engage in the
politics-as-usual of compromise. You
are either for us or against us. We
want bipartisanship. All parties should
kowtow to our badly warped vision of reality.
We want a Constitutional Amendment giving Freedom of the Press only to
those few designated by us, specially if their areas of expertise lean more
heavily towards adult entertainment than towards journalism. We have a cute boyfriend named Scott who says
all of the really big words for us so that we can stay on message over and
over and over. We have never done an
honest day’s work in our entire lives.
Our handlers wish we would stick to the script. We misses our boozes, yes we does. We are not bad -- not really -- we are just
badly misunderstood. That little black
lady that follows me around knows what I like...
When she’s wired to the gills, the brave little wife pretends to
understand, but no one else even tries any more. Thats okay. We do not
need to be understood: We rule!
[hand-written by Truffulaut]
PAX
p
TRUFFULAUT
