So Iran has been caught with a secret nuclear lab under a mountain. We are shocked, shocked that they would do such a thing. Imagine any country having nuclear power, shocking!
For the record, let me say I don't like nuclear weapons. I understand why they were developed, but it was all based on a very cynical and fatalistic view of the world. And now Iran has a not so secret nuclear lab. Not so secret because the US has known about it for months. Only now we feel this renewed sense of outrage. Now I will not say anything in favor of the current regime in Iran, but all the same I feel inclined to take a contrary position to the whining of the west.
The US has had an openly hostile relationship with Iran for many years. After the shah was kicked out the first time, the CIA orchestrated a coup to oust the elected prime minister Mossadegh, so the shah could be reinstalled. Jimmy Carter made the serious error of lionizing the shah in spite of the popular discontent in Iran with the shah. When the shah was kicked out the second time, Jimmy Carter invited him here. Was the Iranian reaction really such a surprise?
More recently, the US invaded and overthrew governments in both Iraq, Iran's neighbor to the west, and in Afghanistan, Iran's neighbor to the east. So the US military is facing Iran on two fronts.
The US is the only country in the world to have used nuclear weapons against another country. The US is hostile toward Iran. The US has interfered in Iran's politics. The US takes out governments on both sides of Iran. The US is outraged that Iran is doing anything with nuclear power, even though Iran says it is for peaceful purposes. Yes, it might well be a lie, but it might not be. And who else is outraged? The nuclear armed UK. The nuclear armed France. The nuclear armed Israel, who bombed a nuclear plant in Iraq and has said all options are on the table regarding Iran.
The US has invaded other countries, numerous times. When has Iran invaded another country? Is it possible Iran feels threatened by nuclear armed bullies who claim it is fine for them to have nuclear weapons but Iran must not be allowed to have an effective deterrent against countries with hostile intentions? The last time Iran fought a war was against an invader from the west, Iraq. Saddam Hussein is no longer there, but the US is. For Iran, which is more of a threat?
Once again, I don't like nuclear weapons. I wish no one had them. But the arrogance and hypocrisy of the west and Israel toward Iran is absurd. Under the circumstances, if any country is entitled to have a nuclear weapon it is Iran. To suggest that Iran would ever proactively use such a weapon against another country is not so plausible. They know a multinational response would be fast on its way. But the danger for Iran of being invaded again is probably very real for them. They lost many thousands of people to Iraq. Should they be denied a deterrent?
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Monday, August 17, 2009
Dog Days and Cold Hands
It was hot today. Roasty toasty. Near 95 degrees F. And what did I do? Spent the day indoors, under florescent lights, in an air conditioned meat locker, otherwise known as a professional office with private offices that have doors and windows distributed around the periphery of the building, while everyone else not in some managerial role languishes in cubicle purgatory.
Some wretched popinjays might suggest I was better off where I was, not having to deal with the heat. Well, rot and poppycock I say. Heat is good. Why are there saunas after all? Sweat is good. Having to sit on my hands to thaw them out is not good. Not during the dog days of August. It's damned silly.
Now if it were winter, if it were bitterly cold outside, if the frost penetrated my mittens so I had to clench my hands in a fist inside, I would wish I were inside sitting on my hands to thaw them out. It would not seem so damned silly then, now would it? Or would it? I wonder if then I might wonder, wonder if indeed it were damned silly to be living in such a cold climate where you have to retreat indoors and burn copious amounts of fossil fuels while you sit on your hands to thaw them out.
But be it winter or summer, always, always, I have to sit on my hands to thaw them out. Fiddlesticks. Stuff and nonsense.
It's too cold! Crank up the heat. It's too hot! Crank up the AC. Well the way I look at it, when it is cold your hands can freeze. But when it is hot, what happens to your hands? They don't melt. They suffer no damage. You see? Cold is bad, hot is good. Got it? Good.
Gosh, it can be fun taking a hyperbolic position. But I am American after all. Americans are very good at hyperbole. We are the original swift boaters. We will lie like rugs and create reality. Joseph Goebbels was very good at this. But wait, he wasn't American! Which reminds me of a Dave Berg conversation:
First man: Anyone who is not a right wing conservative like me is either a communist or a damned foreigner.
Second man: Isn't that a bit extreme? A great man once said "Moderation, all things to moderation!"
First man: Oh yeah? Who said that?
Second man: Aristotle, the Greek philosopher!
First man: Aha, you see? He was a damned foreigner!
Some wretched popinjays might suggest I was better off where I was, not having to deal with the heat. Well, rot and poppycock I say. Heat is good. Why are there saunas after all? Sweat is good. Having to sit on my hands to thaw them out is not good. Not during the dog days of August. It's damned silly.
Now if it were winter, if it were bitterly cold outside, if the frost penetrated my mittens so I had to clench my hands in a fist inside, I would wish I were inside sitting on my hands to thaw them out. It would not seem so damned silly then, now would it? Or would it? I wonder if then I might wonder, wonder if indeed it were damned silly to be living in such a cold climate where you have to retreat indoors and burn copious amounts of fossil fuels while you sit on your hands to thaw them out.
But be it winter or summer, always, always, I have to sit on my hands to thaw them out. Fiddlesticks. Stuff and nonsense.
It's too cold! Crank up the heat. It's too hot! Crank up the AC. Well the way I look at it, when it is cold your hands can freeze. But when it is hot, what happens to your hands? They don't melt. They suffer no damage. You see? Cold is bad, hot is good. Got it? Good.
Gosh, it can be fun taking a hyperbolic position. But I am American after all. Americans are very good at hyperbole. We are the original swift boaters. We will lie like rugs and create reality. Joseph Goebbels was very good at this. But wait, he wasn't American! Which reminds me of a Dave Berg conversation:
First man: Anyone who is not a right wing conservative like me is either a communist or a damned foreigner.
Second man: Isn't that a bit extreme? A great man once said "Moderation, all things to moderation!"
First man: Oh yeah? Who said that?
Second man: Aristotle, the Greek philosopher!
First man: Aha, you see? He was a damned foreigner!
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Hither and Thither
I was just checking... my last blog posting was early January. Now it is early August. Say what? Can I claim this is an actual blog when I add nothing to it for seven months? My sense of priorities and my command of self-discipline can get into a rather sub-abysmal channel. It does not help that I opened a Facebook account, which I also have a hell of time maintaining. It does not help that I have a LinkedIn account, which, even though it requires minimal attention, nonetheless it is one more online account which I should maintain. It does not help that I had to relocate (on a temporary basis but of uncertain duration) from one state to another because the market in Massachusetts is a train wreck.
It's a good thing it is summer. Summer makes everything easier. And since coming to Pennsylvania, and after moving to my third place to sleep at night, I am pleased to report I have a really nice room in a really nice house I am renting from a really nice guy. I am also pleased (pleased as punch) to report that my commute to the office is a FIVE MINUTE WALK. Yes, walk. Walk from door to door. And this is not in a big city, no sir, not at all. This is a small town on the banks of the Susquehanna River. Amish country. Farm country. Cornfields. Cows. Fresh produce. And the best damned tomatoes you will find anywhere, locally grown. And there are breweries. And there are wineries.
I visited a winery today. Just a few miles away. I took a self guided tour, then did a tasting. The grapes they can grow here and the way they make the wine is not entirely what I like best, but I did buy one bottle. It may not be a Spanish Tempranillo, but it is OK. I think it will be decent with the right cheese, if I can figure out what that is. Perhaps a cave-aged gruyere?
But wait, you say, walk to an office in a small town in farm country? Am I working for the local cooperative extension service? No. Something rather different. But the reason for this location is related to this being farm country. I am working for Glaxo Smith Kline, the second largest pharmaceutical company in the world. They have a campus that used to be owned by Wyeth, a campus that dates back to the 1880's when work was being done with animal vaccines, work including horses. Still on the campus is a very large barn which housed horses. GSK bought the campus and has been renovating it for their own use which at the moment involves a new packaging line. No horses, though. The barn is simply a storage space now. It doesn't meet any current codes for any other use as I understand it. But it is a solid building, and they may renovate that too.
It's a good thing it is summer. Summer makes everything easier. And since coming to Pennsylvania, and after moving to my third place to sleep at night, I am pleased to report I have a really nice room in a really nice house I am renting from a really nice guy. I am also pleased (pleased as punch) to report that my commute to the office is a FIVE MINUTE WALK. Yes, walk. Walk from door to door. And this is not in a big city, no sir, not at all. This is a small town on the banks of the Susquehanna River. Amish country. Farm country. Cornfields. Cows. Fresh produce. And the best damned tomatoes you will find anywhere, locally grown. And there are breweries. And there are wineries.
I visited a winery today. Just a few miles away. I took a self guided tour, then did a tasting. The grapes they can grow here and the way they make the wine is not entirely what I like best, but I did buy one bottle. It may not be a Spanish Tempranillo, but it is OK. I think it will be decent with the right cheese, if I can figure out what that is. Perhaps a cave-aged gruyere?
But wait, you say, walk to an office in a small town in farm country? Am I working for the local cooperative extension service? No. Something rather different. But the reason for this location is related to this being farm country. I am working for Glaxo Smith Kline, the second largest pharmaceutical company in the world. They have a campus that used to be owned by Wyeth, a campus that dates back to the 1880's when work was being done with animal vaccines, work including horses. Still on the campus is a very large barn which housed horses. GSK bought the campus and has been renovating it for their own use which at the moment involves a new packaging line. No horses, though. The barn is simply a storage space now. It doesn't meet any current codes for any other use as I understand it. But it is a solid building, and they may renovate that too.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Israel and Palestine
There is a phenomenon known as underground fire, where a fire burns below the surface of the ground. Such fires can burn for years, with no definite end, evidently having gotten into a virtually inexhaustible supply of fuel. Such fires can erupt at the surface and destroy whatever is there. It may then retreat back underground for a while, where it continues to simmer.
The Holy Land has a metaphorically similar fire. It has been burning since before the common era. It caused the initial Jewish diaspora, which resulted over many years in the scattering of Jews throughout Europe and elsewhere around the world. Jews became integrated, in a manner of speaking, in many other areas and cultures. But this "integration" was always a bit uneasy. In many places it resulted in open hostility, as tribalism is inclined to do.
The open hostility toward Jews reached a pinnacle in Germany after World War I. This had a wide-ranging effect throughout Europe, where antisemitism had, for a time, an unstoppable ally. It can't be surprising that the destruction of Jewish culture throughout Europe would cause a reverse diaspora.
But there was a problem. The historic land of Israel to which many Jews felt forced to return was mixed up with the historic land of Palestine. This historic land was fought over for many years by Jews, Romans, Arabs and Christian crusaders.
Of course, the British got involved as did the League of Nations and later the UN, supposedly to ensure the rights of the Jews and the Palestinians.
Ah, but wait a minute, the Palestinians? Who are they? They are Arabs, mostly Muslims, mostly Sunni, who were native to the area called Palestine, and who like the Jews went through a diaspora with many Palestinians including a significant percentage of refugees were scattered to other areas. A very large number of Palestinians are in Jordan.
Before 1948, the Palestinians protested the British effort to establish a Jewish state on top of Palestine. The Palestinians, like the Jews, had never before enjoyed sovereignty of their own. In 1948 Jordan and Egypt grabbed bits of Palestine, Israel grabbed other bits, prompting a significant Palestinian exodus. In 1967 Israel grabbed the bits that Jordan and Egypt had grabbed, prompting an even more significant Palestinian exodus.
It may serve no purpose other than to muddy the waters further, but I also wonder about another issue that is not talked about much in the mainstream media. The Palestinians are Arabs, but they have traditionally been less than welcome in other Arab communities. And some Palestinians consider themselves more civilized than other Arabs. And then some Palestinians consider themselves more civilized than other Palestinians. This micro-tribalism may help to explain why Fatah and Hamas are always crossing swords. It does not bode well for a Palestinian state.
But to my mind, I see the situation as based on a fundamental tenet. The modern state of Israel has been established and it is counterproductive at best to question this. By the same standard, the modern state of Palestine must be established as soon as possible and it is equally counterproductive to question this. Stopping the violence seems intractable, but everyone must keep their eyes on the prize, the prize being that there can be and there must be the sovereign nations of Israel and Palestine, neighbors at peace.
The Holy Land has a metaphorically similar fire. It has been burning since before the common era. It caused the initial Jewish diaspora, which resulted over many years in the scattering of Jews throughout Europe and elsewhere around the world. Jews became integrated, in a manner of speaking, in many other areas and cultures. But this "integration" was always a bit uneasy. In many places it resulted in open hostility, as tribalism is inclined to do.
The open hostility toward Jews reached a pinnacle in Germany after World War I. This had a wide-ranging effect throughout Europe, where antisemitism had, for a time, an unstoppable ally. It can't be surprising that the destruction of Jewish culture throughout Europe would cause a reverse diaspora.
But there was a problem. The historic land of Israel to which many Jews felt forced to return was mixed up with the historic land of Palestine. This historic land was fought over for many years by Jews, Romans, Arabs and Christian crusaders.
Of course, the British got involved as did the League of Nations and later the UN, supposedly to ensure the rights of the Jews and the Palestinians.
Ah, but wait a minute, the Palestinians? Who are they? They are Arabs, mostly Muslims, mostly Sunni, who were native to the area called Palestine, and who like the Jews went through a diaspora with many Palestinians including a significant percentage of refugees were scattered to other areas. A very large number of Palestinians are in Jordan.
Before 1948, the Palestinians protested the British effort to establish a Jewish state on top of Palestine. The Palestinians, like the Jews, had never before enjoyed sovereignty of their own. In 1948 Jordan and Egypt grabbed bits of Palestine, Israel grabbed other bits, prompting a significant Palestinian exodus. In 1967 Israel grabbed the bits that Jordan and Egypt had grabbed, prompting an even more significant Palestinian exodus.
It may serve no purpose other than to muddy the waters further, but I also wonder about another issue that is not talked about much in the mainstream media. The Palestinians are Arabs, but they have traditionally been less than welcome in other Arab communities. And some Palestinians consider themselves more civilized than other Arabs. And then some Palestinians consider themselves more civilized than other Palestinians. This micro-tribalism may help to explain why Fatah and Hamas are always crossing swords. It does not bode well for a Palestinian state.
But to my mind, I see the situation as based on a fundamental tenet. The modern state of Israel has been established and it is counterproductive at best to question this. By the same standard, the modern state of Palestine must be established as soon as possible and it is equally counterproductive to question this. Stopping the violence seems intractable, but everyone must keep their eyes on the prize, the prize being that there can be and there must be the sovereign nations of Israel and Palestine, neighbors at peace.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Cold Redux
It's a bit chilly out there, cold up there in them these here hills. Dry snow covers the landscape, or perhaps in these here hills, the cityscape. This is indeed a city, albeit a small one, and a tortured one, having had its glory days around 100 years before now. And back to now, this small city on the river struggles to find new meaning, new life, new vibrancy.
So what does this city do? Treats the public library as a cash cow that can be slowly slaughtered in a desperate attempt to balance the budget. And because of some (excuse me) imbecilic requirements, now that it is 2009 and the library can only open for three days a week, it is now de-certified, meaning it has been ostracized, cast out of the library network, so all that exquisite inter-library service is now no more than a mashed polecat smeared across the cold, hard pavement. Way to go, in these times of trouble and desperation, when demand for and dependence on the precious resource of the public library is greater than ever, lay off most of the staff and lock the doors most of the time. Let all those books, CDs, videos, magazines, newspapers, just gather dust in the dark for four days in a row. Let the only truly free internet access be mostly off limits to the poorest job-seekers. Give those with no place to go even one less place to go. Here's to the city you've torn out the heart of, Fitchburg you better find another country to be part of.
So what does this city do? Treats the public library as a cash cow that can be slowly slaughtered in a desperate attempt to balance the budget. And because of some (excuse me) imbecilic requirements, now that it is 2009 and the library can only open for three days a week, it is now de-certified, meaning it has been ostracized, cast out of the library network, so all that exquisite inter-library service is now no more than a mashed polecat smeared across the cold, hard pavement. Way to go, in these times of trouble and desperation, when demand for and dependence on the precious resource of the public library is greater than ever, lay off most of the staff and lock the doors most of the time. Let all those books, CDs, videos, magazines, newspapers, just gather dust in the dark for four days in a row. Let the only truly free internet access be mostly off limits to the poorest job-seekers. Give those with no place to go even one less place to go. Here's to the city you've torn out the heart of, Fitchburg you better find another country to be part of.
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