The Frog's Pad

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/21/politics/21reclassify.html

Perhaps it is my own rampant paranoia or maybe I am merely fueled by the fact that I have recently finished George Orwell's 1984 but this article scared the hell out of me. It would seem that the US government is now in the process of reclassifying secret documents that have already been released for the consumption of the general public. With my understanding of what is happening, after 25 years the government declassifies certain top secret documents that are deemed to not contain anything that could compromise national security. Historians and others have seen these documents and in some instances published them. Now the government is going back and reclassifying certain documents.

The most disturbing part of this is that what was once freely available is now not available. What got my attention was this:

Among the 50 withdrawn documents that Mr. Aid found in his own files is a 1948 memorandum on a C.I.A. scheme to float balloons over countries behind the Iron Curtain and drop propaganda leaflets. It was reclassified in 2001 even though it had been published by the State Department in 1996.

Another historian, William Burr, found a dozen documents he had copied years ago whose reclassification he considers "silly," including a 1962 telegram from George F. Kennan, then ambassador to Yugoslavia, containing an English translation of a Belgrade newspaper article on China's nuclear weapons program.

One reclassified document in Mr. Aid's files, for instance, gives the C.I.A.'s assessment on Oct. 12, 1950, that Chinese intervention in the Korean War was "not probable in 1950." Just two weeks later, on Oct. 27, some 300,000 Chinese troops crossed into Korea.

In the book 1984 Winston Smith works at the Ministry of Truth. His job there was to change history to fit the government's current agenda. He did this by rewriting articles and other publications. History became whatever the government wanted it to be.

I am being brief in my description of 1984 but I think I hit the important highlights at least as I see it to pertain to this news article. With the "Patriot Act" Big Brother can be watching you. With the recent government attempts to get Internet search records from Google, even what we do in the privacy of our own home is subject to being monitored. I really do not think that I am being paranoid. If you put the recent headlines about wiretaps and this headline and the Google headlines the picture that I am beginning to see is indeed a frightening one. Has the US government gotten to the point of being far to invasive into our private lives? Are they using 9-11-2001 as a launching point for a government not by the people and for the people but for their own power and control? Is it possible that we are seeing the beginning of the end of freedoms and civil liberties as we know them right now? Are the people of the US ready to allow this sort of thing to happen not because we want it to, but because we are powerless to change it?

One final thought and then I will leave you with something more to ponder. I am not calling for a revolution but, perhaps, a reevaluation of how our government operates. Do we need to haul in the reigns of the governing bodies and let them know who they are supposed to be working for? A few years ago a group of people got together and put some thoughts on paper... I leave you with their thoughts:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,–That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security."

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What the hell ever happened to responsibility? What ever happened to taking credit for being wrong? Why have we all taken the stance that personal responsibility is someone else's problem, not our own? I read an article the other day about a Massachusetts group that is suing Kellogg's and the TV channel Nickelodeon to get them to stop promoting junk foods in a marketing ploy aimed at children. Their contention is that Nickelodeon and Kellogg's use popular characters like Sponge Bob to promote junk foods ignoring the fact that child obesity is a growing problem in the USA. Have I missed something? I grew up with Tony The Tiger, The Pillsbury Doughboy, Choo-Choo Charlie, Toucan Sam, The Frito Bandito and various other product icons that do not come to mind. I remember many marketing promotions that had ties to popular films of the day and TV shows etc. The funny thing is, when I went to the grocery store with my parents and I asked for those foods, they said no. Getting one of those foods would be a huge treat that I would savor and enjoy, but it was not a dietary staple.

I was a skinny kid, and so were the majority of my friends. We didn't have Nintendo or X-Box... computers were only something we had seen in movies or comic books... and the Internet? Well... we had no idea what that was. We went outside to play with our friends, we ran around for hours and hours. We rode bikes, climbed trees and played baseball and football. The bottom line is, we were active kids. Sure we had things in our diet that weren't all that great, but they were the exception, not the rule. And our parents knew how to say no to us. Today it is different... very different. Parents don't have time to make dinner so fast food, even the kind you make at home, is a dietary staple. Kids are now electronically mesmerized by TV and video games. Hours and hours of their young lives are spent in front of something that provides no physical exertion other than pressing buttons. However this is the junk food companies and TV stations fault because kids are obese.

Suing McDonalds because they made you fat is just ridiculous. You should know that a double quarter pounder with cheese and a large fries and a large Coke are not good for you. You should understand that if you sit for hours, endlessly being fed mental candy by an electronic box that your health will be adversely affected. But no one wants to take responsibility for their part in their own poor health. Sadly this has become an epidemic. A young rap star recently fatally shot himself with a pen gun. He thought the thing had malfunctioned and placed it against his head and pulled the trigger not once, but three times. Well, the third time was the charm and he killed himself. His mother came out and wanted pen guns outlawed afterward. Now, I agree that there is no reason for a pen gun to be owned by anyone, but it isn't the guns fault that her son is dead. It was the stupidity of the young man that killed him, he pulled the trigger three times... what exactly did he expect would happen if the gun went off? Responsibility. Call it what it is. It may be the ugly truth, but it IS the truth. Kids go and shoot up a high school and the first thing that is reported is that the kids listened to Marilyn Manson. He may be a freak, but he didn't influence the kids to kill others... the ones with the guns are the murderers, not a rock star.

More and more people skate through life with impunity. They point fingers at others in the hopes that they will not be held accountable for their own actions. It is quite sad that people cannot or will not be honest with themselves.

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Let's get this out of the way first before I start... I am not against religion. I believe in God. I am not against anyone's right to believe what they want to believe, but there should be limitations to how those views are expressed.

Instead of beating around the bush and trying to not offend someone, I will come right out and say what is on my mind. Pat Robertson is an idiot. To some of you this claim may be shocking, to others it might be something you agree with and to others I am a heathen that is going straight to Hell with not even so much as a glimpse of the Almighty. If that is the case, so be it.

Robertson is a blight on Christianity. Recently, Pat Robertson called for the assassination of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. This is a prominent Christian leader calling for a political assassination. Perhaps those of you that remember Oral Roberts claiming he saw a seven-hundred foot Jesus, will not be shocked by Robertson's request. Robertson later apologized to Chavez. 

Pat Robertson is the founder of The 700 Club, a conservative Christian organization with a large following of television viewers. Televangelists have had a rough enough time of things without Robertson opening up his mouth just to prove he can fit his foot in it.

Robertson's latest tirade has to do with lesbian comedian Ellen Degeneres hosting televisions' Emmy Awards. Robertson stated that the disaster in New Orleans is God's wrath for Hollywood choosing Degeneres to host a nationally televised event. Robertson said, “Is it any surprise that the Almighty chose to strike at Miss Degeneres’ hometown?”

Robertson also refered to the last time that Degeneres hosted the Emmy Awards that the September 11th terrorist attacks took place. “This is the second time in a row that God has invoked a disaster shortly before lesbian Ellen Degeneres hosted the Emmy Awards,” Robertson told the viewers of The 700 Club. He continued, “America is waiting for her to apologize for the death and destruction that her sexual deviance has brought onto this great nation.” He also added that other tragedies of the past several years can be linked to Degeneres’ increasing fame.

I am sorry, this is way out of line. Blaming Ellen Degeneres for terrorists attacks and natural disasters merely because she is homosexual is sensationalistic, yellow journalism. Besides, we all know that the reason Katrina destroyed New Orleans wasbecause God doesn't like crawfish. I mean, that claim is no more factual than Robertson's viewpoint. This anti-gay agenda of the Christian right is running rampant. Personally, I have my own opinions of homosexuals, but I keep them to myself and I accept who and what they are. Tolerance is a door that swings both ways. Perhaps I should remind Mr. Robertson that when Jesus walked the earth he befriended whores and kept company with some of the most contemptible people of that day.

Somewhere the message that Jesus taught got lost. Christ preached about love and He loved people that were unlovely. Sadly in this day and age, the message of hate sells better than love because love takes work. Hate takes no effort at all.

What ever happened to the edict, "Love the sinner, hate the sin?" I am not getting on a soapbox to preach fundamental Christian viewpoints, nor do I hold to an atheistic or agnostic or pagan belief system. All I am asking is where does someone stand up and say enough? There is enough in this world to be angry about, but having a lesbian host a TV show isn't one of them. The purpose of preachers of the Word of God is to spread the Good News aka. The Gospel.

I am not sure what scares me more... Pat Robertsons' obvious hate mongering or that people actually tune into his television program to watch it and say, "Amen Brother!"   

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Katrina hit the Gulf Coast like a massive wall of destruction. Thousands of people are homeless, helpless and dying. Natural phenomenon cannot be stopped, but people should be prepared for such events. Citizens of this country should prepare themselves for disaster. It can happen and we would be naive to think it can't. No one expected the magnitude of Katrina to lay waste to 90,000 square miles, but it did.

The response of the people in that area has been one of frustration, anger and deep sadness. Of course, people have shown their true colors while looting stores etc. Now, I will do most anything to survive and insure the survival of my children under those types of circumstances so I can understand looting food, clothes, medicine and water. But I ask you this, how is a TV or DVD player going to help relieve your suffering? It is a sad commentary on humanity as a whole that faced with utter desperation, some dolt has to figure it is open season for whatever his little heart desires.

Not only is that a sad indictment on how far our society has degraded, let me point to the news media for a minute. They are flying their helicopters around shooting sensational footage of people stranded on their roofs, but did they ever stop to help one of these poor unfortunate people? Nope. It is disturbing that fellow human beings are that focused on getting ratings so they can cash the fat checks of their sponsors. But, wait! It's their job! In the sage words of Col. Sherman Potter of M*A*S*H, "Monkey Muffins!" What you are filming so that America can tune in and watch is tragic, so stop looking for a juicy news angle and render aid to a fellow human. How many times must we look at the same footage over and over? Enough already, it is horrible and everyone on the planet now knows what Katrina did. Let's start helping out other Americans.

I can't help but look at the government's pathetic responses either. FEMA chief Michael Brown had no idea until Thursday that there were 15,000 victims of the hurricane in the New Orleans Convention Center. But Mr. Bush praised Brown by saying, "Brownie, you're doing a heck of a job." He sure is Mr. Bush. On September 11th, 2001 the mayor of New York Rudy Giuliani, sprung into action and helped coordinate a response to the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. Mr. Bush on the other hand has sat on his duff, and watched as this disaster hit the Gulf. Preparations could have been made for a response, but they weren't.

OK, maybe I am being a little hard on Mr. Bush, but in his live interview in Mississippi he sounded like a bumbling fool. He stated that "No one expected the levees to give out," when there had been overwhelming evidence to the contrary. In fact, back in 2001 the three potential disasters that were most talked about were a terrorist attack in New York City, a San Francisco earthquake and a hurricane hitting New Orleans. What is the old saying... an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure? Steps could have been taken, but weren't and it is costing American lives now.

I don't know about any of you, but I am very worried about this country right now. We have a global image problem. We look like the schoolyard bullies with the war in Iraq, and as the richest nation in the world, we look like a swarm of inept cretins meandering about in confusion in trying to help out our own citizens. If this is the response that our government provides for a natural disaster, God help us if we really need them to step up and stave off another terrorist attack or worse.

In closing, I just want everyone to know that I am deeply saddened by the tragedy in the Gulf Coast. I encourage everyone to donate whatever they can to a reputable charity to help the victims of what might prove to be the worst disaster to ever hit America. My prayers go out to those people. And I hang my head in shame that lives were lost that could have been saved.

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What makes people in California smarter than the rest of the nation? It certainly cannot be the fact that they drink double mocha-chino lattes with nonfat steamed milk. Nor could it be their vegetarian pizza with cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus and goat cheese. And I won't even go into what they call their "Philly Style Cheesesteaks" with green peppers, mushrooms, pineapple and feta cheese. But these culinary geniuses have now come up with what most likely might be the most obvious lawsuit in years.

The Attorney General's office in the state of California has brought a suit against some fast food chains and potato chip companies to place warning labels on fry and chip packages. Their contention is that these products contain a byproduct of chemicals and heat that is "Known in the state of California to cause cancer." OK, I didn't know about the cancer causing agent, but what person actually thinks that fries and chips are actually good for them?

The offending agent is acrylamide which has been found in minute levels in a few foods but have their highest concentration in fries and chips. There is some debate as to the scientific basis for the claims of acrylamide to cause cancer, but the Left Coast people have it all pigeon-holed  and figured out. It is quite simple actually; they are smarter than the rest of us.

I remember reading a label on a ladder that I bought from Home Depot that said that some of the materials that made up the ladder were "Known in the state of California to cause cancer." What I wondered was why it didn't say the state of Idaho or New Jersey. It has to be that the rest of us lack the scientific know-how that the West Coasters have.

I want to do a quick analysis, just to see if they are smarter. The San Andreas Fault. Major epicenter of tectonic shifting and potential site of devastating earthquakes. People actually build homes on or near that site. Hmmm... let me think here. I don't see people in Hawaii building homes on the side of an active volcano. But I am supposed to trust that Californians have my health interests well in hand?

I know at least one Californian that has things pretty well figured out. She has even labeled herself on her abdomen. Angelina Jolie has a tattoo that reads, "Quod me nutrit me destruit" ("What nourishes me also destroys me"). I think that is a good sentiment and should be printed on all foods, every one of them. It is a decent blanket statement and then the Attorneys General of the nation can actually concentrate on putting real criminals behind bars rather than spending their time on frivolous things such as labeling fries and chips.

I think that a general warning should be placed on every possible consumer product from the ever useful duct tape, to toothpicks, to automobiles and so on. Warning: You Are Going To Die, and this product might or might not contribute to your inevitable death. The fact that we have warning labels on coffee cups that say, "Warning: Hot!" is a testament to the blatant stupidity that has woven itself throughout the fabric of our litigious society.

If I walk by your home and I trip on your sidewalk and twist an ankle you will live the next three years in fear that I will bring a lawsuit against you. I was the one that tripped... sure, it might be your sidewalk, but I was the one that wasn't watching where I was going. I remember several lawsuits involving criminals suing their victims for inadequate safety precautions in their homes or businesses. One in particular was a burglar that sued a company because he fell through the skylight he was breaking into and was paralyzed. He won a multimillion dollar settlement, yet he was the criminal.

Let's face some facts, there are not enough labels that we can place on items of potential danger to avoid some dumbass bringing up some lawsuit against us, because that same dumbass will sue their school for the fact that they can't read the warning labels. I digress.

I am glad that Californians are smarter than I am. Maybe I should move there instead of living in Pennsylvania. I was thinking that I might buy some property and build a home... I better get to Mapquest and see where the San Andreas Fault is located.

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You know, America is at war. Maybe someone should tell the President. It would seem that W has taken more vacation time than he has at trying to solve the problems of this nation that is on the verge of a crisis. If the price of gas goes up any more somewhere, somehow our government has to step in and begin to regulate prices.

I am not in favor of the government sticking their noses in where it truly doesn't belong, but something must be done. It would seem that W agrees on the gas prices and has begun to do his part to save fuel by riding his bike more on his vacations. He has spent over 300 days on vacation since he has been elected. If the Presidential motorcade burns approximately (this is a guess) one hundred gallons of fuel a day, Bush has actually saved thirty-thousand gallons thus far by taking time off of his job running this country. Every American should follow Mr. Bush's lead and take more time off work and ride their bikes.

Watching W on TV has now become as painful as dental surgery. I should know, I just had some two days ago. I am really not a political person, nor do I follow politics closely at all but where is the outrage over this President's lack of interest in this debacle that he has basically caused all by himself? The government was ready to lynch Clinton for having sex with a woman other than his wife and some in America were calling for impeachment. While I do not condone sleeping with another woman when you are married, I do condemn sending young men and women to their deaths for a war that could have been avoided. Bush lied and got caught... so did Clinton, but no one is calling for W's ouster. Why is that?

Have we as a nation become so jaded by politicians that we merely shrug our shoulders and change the channel? To quote South Park, "When it comes to voting you are either faced by a choice between a turd sandwich or a big, giant douche." That is a sad statement because it rings true to my ears at least.

Bush will leave office when his term is over, but his grim legacy of his seemingly cavalier attitude toward world politics and America will live on. It is a sad legacy that he leaves for our children and our children's children.

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