As a matter of fact, who can be believed?
By Special K
Disassociated Press
June 30, 2009

Reference:
Betraying the Planet
By PAUL KRUGMAN
Published: June 28, 2009
The New York Times

So the House passed the Waxman-Markey climate-change bill. In political terms, it was a remarkable achievement.
But 212 representatives voted no. A handful of these no votes came from representatives who considered the bill too weak, but most rejected the bill because they rejected the whole notion that we have to do something about greenhouse gases.
And as I watched the deniers make their arguments, I couldn’t help thinking that I was watching a form of treason — treason against the planet
Do you remember the days when Bush administration officials claimed that terrorism posed an “existential threat” to America, a threat in whose face normal rules no longer applied? That was hyperbole — but the existential threat from climate change is all too real.
Yet the deniers are choosing, willfully, to ignore that threat, placing future generations of Americans in grave danger, simply because it’s in their political interest to pretend that there’s nothing to worry about. If that’s not betrayal, I don’t know what is. (emphasis added).

That more than 212 representatives voted “aye”
Is sufficient in and of itself to indicate
A deficiency in congressional reasoning capacity
That is becoming increasingly great.

Closer to home:
The greater number included three from New Jersey,
Namely, Messrs. LoBiondo, Smith and Lance
Who--like Specter, Collins and Snowe recently in the Senate--voted “aye”
And thus toward local and national interest took a negative stance.

And as for doing something about greenhouse gases
It’s been said in cattle country that no self-respecting bull
Would ever risk being seen making passes at cows--
Of whatever visual acuity and conformation--passing greenhouse gases.

Moreover, the idea that mere humans can control the climate
Seems more than a little presumptuous,
Especially coming from folks who claim to be certain
That Mother Nature left regulation of climate change up to us.

Recall that right here in the great State of New Jersey, on 07-07-07,
Our governor signed a bill designed for climate control
But given the unseasonably cool and wet weather in the interim
It seems to have failed in its purpose, by and large, on the whole.

It must be said, too, that terrorists and terrorism,
Qualify very clearly as threats quite existential
As compared to which threats to climate that are amenable to human control,
Are by any theoretical or empirical standard in.con.se.quential.

It’s particularly interesting that columnists
With absolutely no expertise in the climatology sphere
Hold forth on climate as though they knew what they were talking about--
And to their dire warnings apparently expect others to give ear.

Of course, it matters little what columnists choose to say
Or whether to their admonitions ordinary citizens give ear:
The actions of folks like LoBiondo, Lance and Smith (all NJ),
Obama, Specter, Collins and Snowe are what this country has real cause to fear.

By this reporter’s count we’re now 169 days
Into the putative Era of Responsi.bil.i.ty
So by this time some evidence thereof should have emerged
In the vicinity of Washington, D. C.

So the rest of the nation now waits with breath bated
To learn what Senators in their wisdom will do
When the “thing” that the House has passed (barely)
Comes within their official purview.

Editor’s note.
Readers may well ask how Special K speaks with such confidence
On matters regarding which he, like Professor Krugman, lacks expertise?
Well . . . when it comes to commenting on topics they know little about
Both are equally able to do it with consummate ease.

If a thing 'ain’t broke' ….
June 27, 2009

Reference. News Alert
05:28 PM EDT Friday, June 26, 2009

White House Drafts Executive Order to Hold Detainees Indefinitely
Fearing battle with Congress that could stall Guantanamo closure, administration drafts order that would embrace Bush claims that certain people can be detained without trial for long periods under laws of war.
. . . On the day Obama took office, 242 men were imprisoned at Guantanamo. In his May speech, the president outlined five strategies the administration would use to deal with them: criminal trials, revamped military tribunals, transfers to other countries, releases and continued detention. (emphasis added). Since the inauguration, 11 detainees have been released or transferred, one prisoner committed suicide[1] and one was moved to New York to face terrorism charges in federal court. (emphasis added). http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/26/AR2009062603361.html

It seems clear that Obama
Would have been better off leaving well enough alone,
Rather than speaking in haste about intentions
Whose realization was not a conclusion foregone.

But he has been hubristic from the outset
Apparently believing that his words are the gospel--
That, for example, when he says “jump” folks everywhere
Themselves through the air should promptly propel.

How he came to be hubristic is simple enough:
Winning a presidential election with his resume,
He had to conclude, necessarily reflects innate superiority,
Leading naturally to his behaving in a hubristic way.

However, sooner or later he’ll likely discover
That many folks (still) have minds of their own;
And come to realize that jumps at his every command
Can’t be thought of as a conclusion foregone.

And re: Guantamo’s closing he failed to heed
An adage that his effort to do so seems clearly to fit--
One that is timeless in its applicability--
Namely, If a thing ‘ain’t broke’, don’t try to fix it.

______

[1] It has been reported on good authority that this poor fellow
Heard only about the options of being variously tried, released or transferred
And had no inkling of the option of continued detention--
Something it was said he most likely would have preferred.

None is so blind…

Ref: Confidence in Stimulus Plan Ebbs, Poll Finds
Barely half of Americans are now confident that President Obama's $787 billion stimulus measure will boost the economy, and the rapid rise in optimism about the state of the nation that followed the 2008 election has abated, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.
By Dan Balz and Jon Cohen
"One factor that continues to work for Obama, however, is that
most Americans still see him as a new type of Democrat, one
"who will be careful with the public's money," rather than an
old-style, "tax-and-spend Democrat" . . . (emphasis added).
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/06/22/AR2009062202000.html

Having already put the country in debt
In an amount that boggles the mind,
The basis for judging him as "careful with the public's money"
Surely will be quite hard to find.

It's nothing short of interesting
That public attitudes toward Obama
Suggest that they approve of his starring performance
In our national reality drama.

And re: his media reinforced omnipresence,
Time will tell whether or not he's exempt
From provisions of the time-tested adage:
Familiarity breeds contempt.

(The Supreme Court is aware of the latter,
Refusing to allow TV coverage of its daily routine;
Perhaps there's a viable "exclusion clause"
For one Veep-labeled as "articulate and clean").

What Karzai is up against…
http://www.defence.pk/forums/world-affairs/28518-new-hope-afghanistan.html
June 20, 2009
Corruption Crusader Aims for Afghan Presidency
By ADAM B. ELLICK
KABUL, Afghanistan

RAMAZAN BASHARDOST’S election campaign seems better suited for a student government race than a drive for the presidency of Afghanistan. Each day, dozens of volunteers visit his headquarters, a dust-blown tent on a dirt road, eager to hear his anticorruption platform . . .
THE campaign runs on $20,000, mostly donations from diaspora Afghans. All contributors are listed on Mr. Bashardost’s Web site.
Critics cast him as more of a moralist than a leader with ideas of his own. Commentators refer to him as genuine but slightly insane, as evidenced by his rants that end far removed from where they began. As a result, his policy prescriptions are murky . . .. (emphasis added).

Unlike the one (who) when young did eagerly frequent
Doctor and saint, and heard great argument,
But evermore
Came out by the same door as in (he) went.
Omar Khayyam
http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/o/omarkhayya153456.html

Moreover, Bashrdost’s murky policy prescriptions
Defy all who’ve attempted clarifying descriptions;
Just where in his rants he’s going
There’s absolutely no way of knowing
And those who want to know are having conniptions.

But here’s some advice before they yield to despair
And for defeat, in abject resignation, prepare:
Though his policy goals aren’t clear,
In lack of specificity there’s naught to fear,
For if he doesn’t know where he’s going, any road will get him there.

Still, it’s likely in the circumstances that Karzai will win;
Also that Mr. Bashrdost’s supporters will create a din
Not over the kind of race Karzai ran
But the widespread corruption in Afghanistan
And his failure to stamp out that form of venial sin.

Speak no evil

Thursday, June 18, 2009

1. In Poll, Obama Is Seen as Ineffective on the Economy
By JEFF ZELENY and DALIA SUSSMAN
The latest New York Times/CBS News poll found a distinct gulf between President Obama’s overall standing and how some of his key initiatives, including health care reform, are viewed.

2. Obama Poll Sees Doubt on Budget and Health Care
By JEFF ZELENY and DALIA SUSSMAN
The latest New York Times/CBS News poll found a distinct gulf between President Obama’s overall standing and how some of his key initiative are viewed.

The first item, above, was filed earlier than the second
And between the first and the second we see
A change in header emphasis designed, it appears, to downplay
“Obama (being) seen as ineffective
on the e.con.o.my” (emphasis added).

Reinforcing the oft-stated position
That “the media are ’in the tank’ for Obama”
And can’t find it within themselves to be critical
Of the leading actor in our national drama.

Some things are hard to believe

From months ago, but still a topic that boggles the mind:
December 14, 2007:

Your Mike Bloomberg Alert for Environment & Sustainability
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg Addresses Delegates
At United Nations Framework Convention For Climate Change Conference

. If we are to stabilize the world’s climate, science says we must cut carbon emissions by some 60% to 80% worldwide by mid-century.

The notion of reducing pollution, per se,
Is really not too hard to take,
But that doing so will “stabilize the world’s climate” (no less),
Is a bit far out--might as well say it would stop an earthquake!

On dealing with inconvenient standards

N.J.'s alternative test to pass high school is subject of intensive study

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/06/new_jersey_may_change_states_a.html

"Policymakers seek to fine-tune paths to meaningful diplomas (via testing)"

If students the first time around don't "pass"

Let them re-test using an alternate, somewhat easier exam

That they can pass, and thus qualify to graduate with their class.

Standards, after all, are set primarily to be ignored if they prove to be inconvenient.

As the late Sen. Dirksen reportedly said:

I am a man of fixed and unbending principles, the first of which is to be flexible at all times.
Everett Dirksen

Other utterances--off this particular topic--are very apt in other current arenas:

I have said, with respect to authorization bills, that I do not want the Congress or the country to commit fiscal suicide on the installment plan.
Everett Dirksen

The mind is no match with the heart in persuasion; constitutionality is no match with compassion.

This one fits to a "T" the problem posed for constitutionality

(should she be confirmed by the Senate)

by Obama's choice as Supreme Court nominee.

• http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/e/everett_dirksen.html