Just Observing

Man Made.....

2012-01-25T19:54:00.000-08:00

This was written in 2000. The references to events of that time may be anachronistic

MAN MADE GOD

by

Keith Taylor

Modern science has shown us an unbelievably immense universe. It’s so overwhelming we can merely guess at it’s origins or its future. How much easier it is to make up an answer, declare it to be true, and refuse to question that declaration.

I postulate that’s why man made god, thousands of gods as a matter of fact. All were powerful; most were omnipotent. All were wise; most were omniscient. All were much better than humans; most were perfect.

Then after each god was created he was recreated. Like an auto or a home appliance, a new, improved version of the omnipotent, omniscient, perfect god has been trotted out about every year or so. The illogical idea that such a god would even need to change is shunted aside by the explanation that he gave us new revelations or that man had discerned a new understanding of an immutable truth. Some of the new revelations are a sharp departure from the earlier understanding, but god is mysterious. That solves that.

An old story has it that a preacher underlines certain parts of his sermon. The argument for those parts is so weak the preacher needs to shout to cover up the weakness. How similar that is to the evangelical idea that we all must share, or at least claim we share, the prevailing religious beliefs.

That zeal leads Americans to place symbols of god on our mountain tops, often in defiance of the law. They acknowledge him on our currency, our buildings, our most important patriotic statements, and the end zone after a touchdown.

Belief in god, no matter how credulous, is not merely acceptable, it’s required for those who want to enjoy the benefits of mainstream America. Many, perhaps most, civic or fraternal organizations require a positive affirmation of him for membership. Most importantly it doesn’t matter what you believe as long as you believe in something. You can even make up your own god.

One organization that demands a belief is the Boy Scouts of America. They took a case to the California Supreme Court to exclude two aspiring Eagle Scouts. The naive young men thought the BSA really meant that part about being honest. Thus, they refused to acknowledge a belief they didn’t have.

It needn’t have been a problem. Neither the scouts nor any other organization will admit it officially, but every doubter has been told that all a person has to do is say he believes. The aspiring Eagle Scouts could have made up a god and it would have worked just fine for the BSA--if not for their own sense of honor.

Alcoholics, who often see things that aren’t there, are encouraged by Alcoholics Anonymous to fight their delusions except when it comes to a god. Seen or unseen, he must be used to help them battle something they are told they are otherwise helpless to fight. If an alcoholic doesn’t have a god he can make one up on the spot. Nobody would question it. AA even uses a euphemism, “higher power,” to make it easy.

What about those who lead our country? They all have a god, or say they do. You’ll not find an admitted atheist among the 435 members of the house, 100 members of the senate, or nine members of the Supreme Court. Of course some don’t appear very religious. Given the eager acceptance of even an ill defined god, it’s easy to make one up. Rep. Sam Rayburn, long time house majority leader from Texas, could have been thinking of religion when he said “To get along, go along.”

And the big guys themselves, how about them? Just this past year, both of our presidential candidates wooed the electorate with repeated expressions of their own piety. Al Gore claimed to follow the faddish mantra of today’s pious youth with “What Would Jesus Do?” The nice thing about a religious mantra is that unlike his purported statement that he had created the Internet, WWJD wasn’t questioned. When ya proclaim a belief in god you need prove nothing! That makes it easy to get along and go along.

Did Al Gore make up his own god? Nobody asked the fellow who is sometimes called one of the most scientifically astute politicians of our time. It would have seemed such a natural question too.

Turned out though that Gore, and possibly Jesus, didn’t do well in the election. He either came in second or close enough so that they gave it to the other guy. For some reason he didn’t ask Jesus to share responsibility for his defeat. God is blameless no matter what. He was made that way.

George Bush, the other guy, goes even further. He conquered alcohol, temptation, and possibly some drugs he won’t mention, all with the help of god. He never misses an opportunity to tell us of his devotion to the god (or son of god, representative of god, lamb of god: take your pick) he once called a great philosopher.

Bush once checked with the guru of his predecessors, Billy Graham, on whether Jews could go to heaven. Graham decided he couldn’t answer for god--this after a lifetime’s preaching that the only way to salvation was through Christ. We can not only invent god, we can reinvent him in a moment of political correctness. At least we can if we have the stature of a religious guru of presidents.

In any case our new president’s popularity will not suffer because of his faith in the almighty. Faith is expected throughout the land, demanded in some places. Bush’s springboard to the highest office in the land was the governor’s mansion in Texas, the state whose constitution opens with: “Humbly invoking the blessings of Almighty God, the people of the state of Texas do ordain and establish this Constitution.”

After acknowledging his existence in the preamble, the document insists its employees and officers do the same. Article I Sec 4 says, “No religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust in this State; nor shall anyone be excluded from holding office on account of his religious sentiments, provided he acknowledge the existence of a Supreme Being” (emphasis mine).

In Texas, the state that holds with rugged individualism, ya can believe in anything folks, but it darn tooting better be something. If ya don’t have a god you’d better make one up or forget about any job with the state. Texas doesn’t fool around with no varmint atheists.

Nor is the Lone Star State alone. An aspiring office holder or public servant also must acknowledge a belief in god in North Carolina, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Maryland and, Tennessee.

Of course that flies in the face of the establishment clause of the US Constitution but it’s right there in the Constitutions of those states. Furthermore it’s tacitly required in the other forty-three. If you don’t believe it, run for office in your own local state and describe yourself as a dreaded nonbeliever. On the other hand one can just say he believes in something and folks won’t fuss a bit. What would be the outcry if those constitutions excluded any one religion?

One who wants to make up his own religions has all sorts of examples to choose from. According to Michael Shermer in his book How We Believe, some ten thousand religions, each with its own idea of god, have been recorded since the dawn of history. In addition many other ad hoc gods have been created then discarded as soon as a problem was solved, or when it just went away.

The histories of all cultures are replete with references to God. The Sumerians of Mesopotamia were the among the first to give us a written record of their history. They had many gods. One was Ninkasi, a goddess of brewing. Her name meant “you who fill my mouth so full.” I like Ninkasi even though she was a minor goddess. If I were to make up my own god or goddess it would be one like her.

Surely she and the other Sumerian gods and goddesses were made up. Otherwise, where did they go? The nature of a god is to be eternal.

Some of the gods of other early civilizations weren’t as benign as my favorite, Ninkasi. Take the Aztec god with the wowser name of Xiuhtecutli. He was the god of fire. They appeased him by placing sacrificial victims on burning coals, after their hearts were cut out. The once immortal Xiuhtecutli is gone now, replaced by the one true god of the European conquerors. The European’s true god in turn was replaced by other true gods of folks who believed differently.

The god we Americans of today are faced with is the god of the Bible. The Bible is considered his holy word. It is often quoted, albeit selectively, to prove this point or that point. Some of the parts do seem a bit difficult to comprehend in light of today’s knowledge of the universe. For example Genesis 1:6 17, 7:11, 8:2 tells of a firmament that can be opened or closed to allow rain to drop on us. It must have been easy to imagine a god who simply made it that way. Those parts of the Bible aren’t quoted very often nowadays.

Neither is Matthew 19:12 which seems to laud eunuchs as being especially worthy of heaven. That would include those “which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake.” Christians with strong libidos hardly ever mention Matthew 19:12. I suspect most avoid thinking about it.

Not that thinking is all that important. Without a lick of proof, folks can simply pick and choose whatever suits their purposes. Take the Southern Baptists. The Baptist religion routinely splits along the lines of politics, geography, and race since it, itself, split from the Congregationalists around the middle of the 18th century.

The biggest rift came in 1845. Southerners wanted sanction for slavery. Northerners did not. The Southern Baptists emerged and used their version of god to justify one man’s owning another man. Because their own made-up god approved, the Southern Baptists didn’t have to offer a lick of proof to justify slavery.

Certainly proof is in short supply in another church, the one that not only uses the Bible, but gave us a whole new scripture. According to Trouble Enough, a history of Joseph Smith and the early Mormon Church, Smith claimed The Book of Mormon was given to him by divine revelation. He used a couple magic peepholes and, alone, read golden plates to a friend who recorded them. Then on June 14, 1828 the friend lost the first 114 pages.

Surely this could not be a problem. With divine revelation those lost pages could simply be recorded again. But what if the original turned up again and it didn’t agree with the second reading? Neither an immutable god nor his special messengers should be capable of making a mistake. Still all wasn’t lost on the imaginative Smith. He simply translated the new, improved version with the caveat : “. . . and being commanded of the Lord that I should not translate the same over again, for Satan had put it into their hearts to tempt the Lord their God by altering the words . . . ”

Who could doubt that? There is every bit as much evidence for satan as there is for god. Otherwise the Mormon Church has been a microcosm we can study for the ever changing ideas of god. Some of the main characters of the Book of Mormon, the tribe of Lamanites were said to be so sinful and warlike that god gave them red skin. That bit of lore disappeared in the face of 20th century political correctness. The idea that blacks were not worthy of the highest level of sainthood also disappeared due to political correctness and possibly because BYU needed some faster running backs. Polygamy disappeared in order for Utah to become a state.

Such disingenuous ideas haven’t hurt the church a whit. It is one of the strongest and richest religions in the world. It’s also one of the most politically active. Not long ago the Arizona Republic reported that not one single law in Utah had passed if the church disapproved. Furthermore Mormonism is growing faster than almost any other. You can believe in anything as long as you believe in something, and as long as you control the surroundings.

Similar contradictions can be found in every religion. Some four hundred years ago the Catholic Church threatened Galileo with the rack for his heretical ideas. Recently the church that claims to be the sole earthly authority for god decided those ideas weren’t heretical after all. They now recognize that the earth isn’t the center of the universe. Even more recently they accepted evolution. Sometimes it’s hard to defend an immutable god.

Man made god. That is obvious. All of recorded history, including two thousand years of Christianity, has given us countless conflicting wild stories of him. There is not a bit of proof for any one. Such a belief was understandable when man couldn’t see beyond the range of his naked eye. We ought to know better today. It is important we challenge the credulous ideas that have allowed mankind to justify slavery, wars, inquisitions, cruelty, and ignorance.

Richard Dawkins said it best with “Faith is the great cop-out, the great excuse to evade the need to think and evaluate evidence. Faith is belief in spite of, even perhaps because of, the lack of evidence.”

//Keith Taylor is a retired Navy officer and general trouble maker in Chula Vista, Ca He can be reached at KRTaylorxyz@aol.com

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Switch Vote? It Ain't Easy...

2012-01-10T14:28:00.000-08:00

As some of you know, I decided to vote for Repub Jon Huntsman for Prez awhile ago. Haven't changed my mind. So after breakfast at Acapulco this morning, off I went to find out what I needed to do to do that.

I've always been a registered Dem. Did I need to change my registration to Repub to vote for Huntsman?

Went off to find out. It took awhile, but finally found this huge building on Ruffin Rd..the Voters' Registration place. Yes. I'll have to change my registration to Repub to vote for Huntsman. There's no other way.

So got this big form to fill out to do that. It must arrive back there 15 days before voting day.

This business really torques me. After voting, I'll wait awhile and then have to change my registration back to Dem. Wonder whose big idea that was...to make it hard as possible to vote for whoever you want to without going thru actually changing your registration. Guess they really don't want a change. Gonna be something for folks who think they'll just be able to go vote for whomever they please on voting day and then find out they can't.

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It's Monday...so Seaport Village...

2012-01-09T18:26:00.000-08:00

I go walkin' down at Seaport Village every Mon, Wed, Fri. From the parking lot, I stroll thru the village to the boardwalk. I'm heading toward the sidewalk that leads out on N. Embarcadero Island in San Diego's harbor. On the way, I stop to chat with the guy who stacks rocks. Balances them atop one another, using their pointed ends. He's just amazing. Talk about steady hands. I couldn't do that with a gun at my head...and I doubt many of the other folks who have stopped to watch could either.

Walk a bit further and stop to chat with Jerry, the artist. He immediately tells me who he's drawn so far that day. When it's very quiet, he'll get up and stand on some of the rocks along the water and chant, or blow his flute. I think it's a flute anyway. May be another name for it. Who knows?

After Jerry, I hang a right and start the trip out on the island. The sidewalk used to be bordered with thick bushes, but they cut them all down, so now the view of the harbor is unimpeded. Can look across the water to the North Island Naval Base, and until yesterday, the big nuclear aircraft carrier, #76, the Ronald Reagan, was anchored over there. They'd planned to sail out and head for Washington State a couple of evenings ago, but heavy fog moved in and so the ship stayed put until yesterday morn or the morn before. I forget which. Seems strange to look over and see no ship there.

In any case, once I get back to Seaport's boardwalk, I turn left and stroll down the boardwalk until a right turn brings me to the Seaport Deli. Take the brick sidewalk around it's side, mount 3 steps and into the deli for a sandwich and coffee. Then back out that same back door to the table against the wall in the corner. There's half a tree there where up on a branch sits Big Bird. And he really is. A black crowned heron about the size of a big fat chicken. Sits on a branch and casts a dead level look straight out at the harbor. Meanest look I've ever seen on a bird. He has a long, very sharp black beak and round black eyes that are about as cold as I've ever seen anywhere. He is some bird. And arrogant as can be.

So there at the corner table I sit and watch the folks in the food court...the plaza...just below the porch and on the other side of the sidewalk and hedge. On the far side of the plaza is a stage and behind the stage is the carousel. Ringing the plaza are other little food shops and the fudge factory...which is almost NEVER empty. Huge big tree in the center of the plaza and surrounded with at least a dozen round concrete tables with curved, backless benches around them.

When the plaza is full of people, it's quite a sight. They come from countries all over the world, speaking all kinds of languages, wearing everything from strapless dresses to jeans to shorts...you name it, the men, women and kids are wearing it. So funny...most of the San Diegans, if the breeze over the harbor is even a little chilly, are bundled up...while all those other folks are stripped down.

And so I head for home at about 4PM. Back to peace and quiet. Seaport is quite a place.

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National Intel Cut Jobs....

2012-01-05T13:59:00.000-08:00

From Secrecy News...

DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE CUT JOBS AND SECRETS IN 2011

In a portent of spending cuts that are still to come, the number of employees at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) dropped significantly over the past year.

Interestingly, one of the first visible signs of the reduction in the workforce was a decline in the level of ODNI classification activity, which dropped by 17.3% from the year before.

"The decrease in total [classification] decisions was largely driven by a 12.9% decrease in population size from last year," wrote ODNI Information Management chief John F. Hackett in a November 7, 2011 report to the Information Security Oversight Office. A copy was obtained by Secrecy News under the Freedom of Information Act.

A spokesman for ODNI public affairs said he could not immediately comment on the report, which may reflect a drop in staff as well as contractor personnel, both of which are authorized to generate classified information at ODNI.

A former ODNI official told Secrecy News that "hundreds" of ODNI jobs had been eliminated. He said that the size of the ODNI workforce was on the order of 2000 people, and that the loss of hundreds of positions was consistent with the reported 12.9% "decrease in population size."

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Happy 2012,,,I Hope...

2012-01-02T12:33:00.000-08:00

Been so immersed in the political goings-on that when I did decide to post, found out that absence had caused me not to be able to write a damned word on this blog. Have just now been able to access it for the first time since Keith had me post his article.

Major problem getting back on here was in discovering a password from the past. Of course I'd completely forgotten what it was. Taken two days to find it, and I still don't know what it was. Doin' good, huh? But accidents happen and so, at last, I can access this blog. Sheesh! Talk about a complicated procedure to do that tho.

Never mind. We're off and running in 2012. Should be a hell of a year, what with all those Repubs running. Problem is, I'm mad as hell at Obama. Let it be known far and wide that I flat do not approve of the military being able to grab a U.S.A. someone and disappear them with the total absence of normal legal proceedings. That's a criminal act from my perspective. Obama is becoming a dictator if he already isn't one in fact.

Gonna change my registration to Independent. So far as the Repubs are concerned, the only honest and decent one that I can see is Jon Huntsman, who is really working hard in New Hampshire to be at least noticed by the voters. Guess he figured campaigning in Iowa was a lost cause going in.

So we'll wait to see the Iowa results. Until then...

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No Moral Qualities!!!

2011-12-16T12:25:00.000-08:00

Hut, Hut, Holy Moly!

by

Keith Taylor

You're more likely to see a miracle at a football game than at Lourdes. Take the recent string of miracles taking place around the second-year quarterback playing for the Broncos. His "miracle" doesn't change much from game to game.

It goes something like this: A burly center looks back through his legs, then hikes the ball straight to a guy named Tebow who runs with it willy-nilly. Several linemen hit their opponents from the other side hard, knocking them silly. Silly knocking is a plus in football. The referee decides a blocker holding a defensive pass rusher by the shirt isn't a violation. The quarterback slips through an opening and makes a touchdown.

Then Tebow gets on his knees and thanks God.

That's worth a chuckle, but I dare not laugh. Hell . . . uh, heck, I better not even frown. Tebow is busy talking with God. This is a moment for piety, a time for me to recapture that pious look I used to effect at the alter rail at communion.

Most football fans, and all politicians, think football is so important the creator of a universe -- huge beyond description -- has a personal interest in it. They don't want no making fun of the deity, or his herald angels like guys named Tebow.

In America any dissenters from claims of our most favored religion are called heretics. That includes me. Naively I think believing in unsubstantiated claims is imprudent, but my thinking doesn't sway many people. Dissent in things religious is discouraged. In fact if I grumble about it too much I'll become a pariah, and Boy Scouts won't have me.

Tebow, of course, does not have those problems. Belief in things supernatural needs no verification. In fact asking for it is blasphemous, and woe unto the blasphemers.

And providence does indeed seem to be shining down on the young quarterback. He looks All-American, even ecumenical. Although he's a Baptist, his name sounds as if it emanated from Salt Lake City. It is on a par with Moab, Deseret, Lamanite, or Nephi.

He gets superstar type press coverage even though his "miracles" are merely average by NFL standards. Since becoming starting quarterback he has won six and lost one. Only in places like Buffalo would that be considered supernatural.

Claims of his heroism are protected by the true believers. Sean Hannity on Fox news went bonkers over the disrespect for a man who's setting such a good example for the youth of our country. Hannity, of course, loves to juxtapose the saintly demeanor of the shining knight in a Broncos helmet with the sinfulness of bad guys -- dopers and adulterers.

Reid Cherner in the Huffington Post quotes a football fan from Alabama (where else?) , as saying, "We are a nation founded upon religious freedom and expression. We're a melting pot. But instead of respecting and embracing our differences we're becoming more and more intolerant. To me, that's more egregious than anything Tim Tebow has done or will do. It's sad, really."

Could it be more egregious than having my a vice president once say an atheist could not be a citizen or patriotic. Or how about knowing that the majority of citizens would not vote for a dreaded non-believer no matter what their qualifications. Albert Einstein and Mark Twain wouldn't have a chance.

And as for intolerance, the Boy Scouts would only accept me if I claimed a belief in God. Otherwise little kids would be told I didn't have the moral qualities to be a scout.

Amen

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CIA & Open Source Intel...

2011-12-13T15:32:00.000-08:00

From Secrecy News...

December 12, 2011

Secrecy News Blog: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

** CHARTER OF OPEN SOURCE ORG IS CLASSIFIED, CIA SAYS
** A SURVEY OF FEDERAL LAWS RELATED TO CYBERSECURITY

CHARTER OF OPEN SOURCE ORG IS CLASSIFIED, CIA SAYS

Open Source Works, which is the CIA's in-house open source analysis component, is devoted to intelligence analysis of unclassified, open source information. Oddly, however, the directive that established Open Source Works is classified, as is the charter of the organization. In fact, CIA says the very existence of any such records is a classified fact.

"The CIA can neither confirm nor deny the existence or nonexistence of records responsive to your request," wrote Susan Viscuso, CIA Information and Privacy Coordinator, in a November 29 response to a Freedom of Information Act request from Jeffrey Richelson of the National Security Archive for the Open Source Works directive and charter.

"The fact of the existence or nonexistence of requested records is currently and properly classified and is intelligence sources and methods information that is protected from disclosure," Dr. Viscuso wrote.

This is a surprising development since Open Source Works -- by definition -- does not engage in clandestine collection of intelligence. Rather, it performs analysis based on unclassified, open source materials.

Thus, according to a November 2010 CIA report, Open Source Works "was charged by the [CIA] Director for Intelligence with drawing on language-trained analysts to mine open-source information for new or alternative insights on intelligence issues. Open Source Works' products, based only on open source information, do not represent the coordinated views of the Central Intelligence Agency."

As such, there is no basis for treating Open Source Works as a covert, unacknowledged intelligence organization. It isn't one.

(Even if Open Source Works were engaged in classified intelligence analysis, the idea that its charter must necessarily be classified is a non-sequitur. Illustrating the contrary proposition, the Department of Defense last week issued a new Instruction on "Geospatial Intelligence (GEOINT)," setting forth the policies governing that largely classified intelligence domain.)

Beyond that, it is an interesting question "why the CIA felt the need to establish such a unit given the existence of the DNI Open Source Center," said Dr. Richelson. The Open Source Center, the successor to the Foreign Broadcast Information Service, is the U.S. Government's principal open source agency. It is, naturally, a publicly acknowledged organization.

"An even more interesting question," he added, is "why would the CIA, whose DI [Directorate of Intelligence] organization structure is published on its website, feel it necessary to refuse to confirm or deny the existence of this new open source component?"

The CIA's extreme approach to classification policy is timely in one sense: It provides a convenient benchmark for evaluating current progress in combating overclassification.

If the charter of CIA's Open Source Works remains classified six months from now, when the Obama Administration's Fundamental Classification Guidance Review will have completed its first cycle, that will be a decisive indication that the Review failed to eliminate even the most blatant examples of overclassification.

A SURVEY OF FEDERAL LAWS RELATED TO CYBERSECURITY

There are more than 50 federal statutes that pertain to some aspect of cybersecurity, according to the Congressional Research Service. Those statutes, and the potential impact on them of several pending legislative proposals, are described in a new CRS report. See "Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Discussion of Proposed Revisions," December 7, 2011.

_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.

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Civil Liberties...

2011-11-29T15:20:00.001-08:00

From Secrecy News...

CIVIL LIBERTIES OVERSIGHT BOARD STILL DORMANT

The Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board that was supposed to provide independent oversight of U.S. counterterrorism policies remains dormant and out of service because its members have still not been named and confirmed.

In a report that was newly updated this month, the Congressional Research Service traced the origins of the Board from a recommendation by the 9/11 Commission through its initial establishment as a White House agency to its reconstitution as an independent agency chartered by statute in 2007.

The Board was assigned two overriding missions: It was supposed to "analyze and review actions the executive branch takes to protect the Nation from terrorism, ensuring that the need for such actions is balanced with the need to protect privacy and civil liberties"; and to "ensure that liberty concerns are appropriately considered in the development and implementation of laws, regulations, and policies related to efforts to protect the Nation against terrorism."

So had the Board been functional, it might have been a valuable participant in current deliberations over military detention authority, for example. It might also have conducted investigative oversight into any number of other counterterrorism policies, as mandated by law. But for all practical purposes, there is no Board.

Last January, President Obama named Elizabeth C. Cook and James X. Dempsey to serve on the Board. The Senate has not acted on their nomination. Even if they had been confirmed, however, they would not have constituted a quorum. Thus, the Board's activation is still dependent on presidential nomination of additional Board members. See "Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board: New Independent Agency Status," November 14, 2011.
_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.

The Secrecy News Blog is at:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

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You Think? You Believe?

2011-11-21T12:10:00.000-08:00

Believing doesn't always mean thinking

by

Keith Taylor

Here we go again. A small group of veterans erected a cross at Camp Pendleton to commemorate Major Zembiec, Major Mendoza, Lance Corporal Austin, and Lance Corporal Zurheide. All were once stationed at the huge base, and all were killed in action.

And once again we see protesters. And the argument is underway. The question they will be asked is do they have a moral right to protest a sacred symbol erected to commemorate fallen heroes.

The first to raise a voice in protest was Jason Torpey, himself a veteran. Jason is a graduate of West Point. He served in both Kuwait and Iraq, and he is an atheist. Jason knows what it is for any nonbeliever to serve in an institution as resolutely religious are our Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force.

Jason is now president of the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers, an outfit started by an old friend of mine, Kathleen Johnson, now a retired Army sergeant.

Jason was quoted by the North County Times as saying, "No cross or statue of Jesus represents military service. Military service is being exploited to secure unconstitutional Christian privilege. His arguments were echoed by Debbie Allen, head of the San Diego Coalition of Reason, a partnership of fifteen local secular organizations. "We must be faithful to the first amendment to the US Constitution . . . after all, all soldiers take an oath to defend it."

I'm with these folks, both sentimentially and as a member of both their groups. I am a Navy Veteran who served his country in uniform for nearly twenty-three years. Of course, I mourn the loss of all my fallen veterans. Although I'm no longer religious I can understand the comfort those who are get from symbols of their own religion.

But does it hurt that somone wants to use a symbol of religion to honor their buddies? With so many crosses, all around the county. What does one more matter. A single cross can't hurt much. Neither could the posting of the Ten Commandments in public school. Neither could opening a school session with a prayer invoked over the loud speaker. Our money spends quite as well with our national motto emblazoned with "In God We Trust."

The constitutions of Arkansas, Maryland, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas and Tennessee forbid any non believer from holding office of any sort, but I don't live in any of those states. So why should I worry about it?

All these things are defended by "oh what does it hurt?" And they don't, not if they are taken separately.

But taken as a whole, we hear the incorrect and dangerous words "we are a Christian nation." Many Supreme Court Decisions have determined that to be untrue. The Treaty of Tripoli in 1796, signed by President John Adams and approved by the Congress affirmed it.

It is dangerous because nations basing laws, treaties, and wars on religion rather than on facts lead almost always has led to irrational acts, acts which cannot be challenged by facts or any sort of rational thinking. A glance at history shows us crusades, inquisitions, book burning, and countless wars done in the name of one god or another.

And it continues to this day. Despite the outrageous claims of many, those guys who flew airplanes into buildings were not atheists.

Neither was the man who ordered the retaliation against the act of 9/11 who once claimed his told him to bomb Baghdad.

Some religious based laws would forbid acts which would save women's lives in order to keep a fetus alive.

When religion holds sway we see laws, treaties, foreign policy decisions all made on religion. Take embryonic stem cells. The religious belief that a soul was put in each stem cell stymied support for this research on them for years. This despite the fact that only research could discover treatment, perhaps cures, for our some of our most dreaded diseases.

Or how about the actions of a recent administration that aid to some countries would be denied if they even thought of abortion, even to save a woman's life.

The solution to our many problems isn't simple, but our attempt to find it should not be acceptance of dogma. .

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// Keith Taylor is a retired Navy officer living in Chula Vista. He can be reached at krtaylorxyz@aol.com //

I Am Voting For...

2011-11-06T22:30:00.000-08:00

I am not happy. It's raining in Sunny San Diego. Thank heavens it's gonna quit that and be sunny tomorrow.

I'm fascinated with politics. Definitely gonna vote for Jon Huntsman. Don't care if he is a Repub and I'm a registered Dem. A good man is hard to find...for the office of President of the USA, but I do believe Huntsman is far and away the best we have. In case someone doesn't know, he's been Gov of Utah twice and did a great job...and he's been a diplomat sent off to China and did a great job there as well. He's married and has 7 kids. Three of them are campaigning for "their Dad". A very decent and honorable man is Jon Huntsman.

Problem is, he's a rather quiet guy. Not someone like Cain, for sure. Or any of the others. He went campaigning in New Hampshire. Went all over the State, but did not do any fund-raising. Never asked for money. No matter. Some of the folks contributed. He ended up with $1000.00 anyway. Reason he didn't ask for money? He's a millionaire, so pays his way with his own money. I don't believe he has more than one campaign ad out...and he just tells who he is, what he's done, what he believes and that's it.

And, like Romney, he is a Morman. I don't see that as a problem for either of the men.

So I'm determined to have my say and vote for the man.

Wrap...

SHANGHIED!!!!

2011-10-29T14:45:00.000-07:00

SHANGHIED. Okay. Pay attention! Go immediately to Amazon.com and buy this book. I kid you not...this is the best book I think I've ever read...and my office is full of books. More I've written a book myself.

SHANGHIED is not a novel. The guy who wrote it, lived it. He was indeed shanghied..on to a huge cargo ship. He was 15 years old.

Trust me...you'll never look at a cargo ship the same way again.

Wrap...

War Casualties...

2011-10-27T21:42:00.000-07:00

From Secrecy News...

AFGHANISTAN WAR CASUALTIES, AND MORE FROM CRS

Between January and June 2011, the United Nations documented 1,462 civilian deaths in Afghanistan, which was a 15% increase over the same six months the year before. Anti-government forces, e.g. the Taliban, were responsible for 77% of the casualties and pro-government forces were responsible for 12%. (The remainder were indeterminate.) These and other casualty figures were compiled from published sources by the Congressional Research Service (CRS) in "Afghanistan Casualties: Military Forces and Civilians," September 30, 2011.

Wrap...

Geospatial Intel Agency...

2011-10-19T22:21:00.000-07:00

GEOSPATIAL INTEL AGENCY RELEASES DECLASSIFIED BUDGET DOCS

The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) hired 600 to 700 new employees each year between 2005 and 2008, newly released budget documents indicate. Still, "the coming wave of retirement... presents significant risks that the program will lose valuable institutional knowledge and critical skills and capability."

These observations were presented in NGA's annual budget justification materials for fiscal years 2009, 2010 and 2011 (pdf). Unclassified excerpts of the budget documents were released by NGA last week in response to Freedom of Information Act requests from the Federation of American Scientists.

NGA is an intelligence agency that provides all manner of imagery, mapping and other "geospatial intelligence" (GEOINT) products for national security as well as other applications. It is funded through the National Intelligence Program (NIP) and also through the Military Intelligence Program (MIP).

NGA products "support mission planning, mapping, environmental monitoring, urban planning, treaty monitoring, safe navigation, management of natural resources, homeland defense planning, emergency preparedness, and responses to natural and manmade disasters worldwide," the budget documents say.

Only a fraction -- perhaps 10% or so -- of the classified NGA budget documents survived the declassification process and were released under FOIA. Some of the coherent themes that emerge from the declassified documents include the transition to a new Agency headquarters at Fort Belvoir, which was completed last year, and the continuing integration of commercial satellite imagery into the NGA product line. The Agency's classified programs and activities (and spending levels) were not disclosed.

But many unfamiliar fine details of Agency operation and management were described. The National GEOINT Committee was established as an Intelligence Community body chaired by NGA to promote cross-discipline collaboration on GEOINT issues. Beginning in FY 2010, a program or process called "LEAR JET" was introduced as "a CI [counterintelligence] network monitoring tool to combat the cyber insider threat." And so on.

These budget justification materials are the first such documents to be released by NGA. The move invites the question: Why did the Agency release them? (This in turn is a subset of a broader question: Why and how does secrecy policy ever change?)

In this case, several factors leading up to release can be identified. First, there was a "demand" for the documents; they would not have been spontaneously released. Second, the Agency might have attempted to withhold them anyway, but a ruling by Judge Reggie B. Walton in a 2006 lawsuit against the National Reconnaissance Office found that such documents are subject to the FOIA.

But even that might not have been enough without an indispensable measure of good faith on the part of the Agency. "NGA wants to make it easy for the public to understand who we are," said NGA Director Letitia Long earlier this month.

Wrap...

Having His Say....

2011-10-08T12:43:00.000-07:00

AN OCTOGENARIAN'S LEGACY

by

KEITH TAYLOR

Insurance agents don't come around much any more. Octogenarians with high blood pressure, atrial fibrillation diabetes, neuropathy, and pessimism don't figure to be a good risk.

Dying doesn't particularly bother me. My legacy does, and that isn't looking too good right now. I came into the world a few months after the start of the greatest depression in America history.

And now in my "golden years" things are happening that worry me. When I see a virtually unanimous effort to throw out a president, as happened in the Clinton presidency, I cringe knowing that's part of the legacy I will leave behind.

And I cringe that my country actually re-elected a president after there was compelling evidence he had cooked intelligence to start a war against a nation which represented no danger to ours.

The folks whose agenda is the same as the guy who started this mess in the first place have now drawn their line in the sand. With little mention of what their plan is, they harp on just one thing: Make Obama a one-term president.

I've always been an active participant in elections, and I'll be more so this time. I write, talk to people, exchange ideas on the Internet, and give dirty looks to folks who say "God bless you" when I sneeze.

The political party which motivates me to fuss so much isn't going it alone. They have backing from the folks who have the bucks and the know-how to buy anything they want. These folks count their small change in the billions have been buying up politicians as if there is a fire sale on them.

Nothing could be more disastrous to our country than to see even more of them in positions of power. For something to worry you before you've finished your first cup of morning coffee, contemplate what the results will be if the next couple appointments to the Supreme Court are dogmatic theists like Scalia and Thomas.

They will be fine if you don't mind a theocracy. And it will be even dandy if you don't mind paying the taxes which aren't paid by the minority who control the majority of the wealth.

And that's going to happen if we put more of those folks who only have to remember that obstruction will guarantee we won't have to look at an uppity Negro in the White House.

Yes I have heard that so often it sickens me. Even worse is when it's always accompanied by a claim of patriotism.

It isn't easy to take a stand as intransigent as the one I oppose because It's long been American chic to vote for the man, not the party. Dating back to my first election in 1952 I have routinely split my ticket and voted for candidates from both major parties.

No more! I insist that anything less than the reelection of our current president will be a disaster. The coattails of any of Republican will drag in more folks determined to not only crush liberals, but crush things they, themselves, refuse to believe because believing might take action and action might hurt next quarters profits for their employers.

Check the politics of the next person you hear claim climate change is a hoax. Check the politics of the next person who cries that taxes are un-American, especially taxes on the folks who own the oil well, coal mines, automobile factories which turn our air brown.

And above all check the politics of those who kept their promise and got government off the back of our financial institutions. You know, those guys who turned loose predatory lenders, invented a spanking new word "robo-signing," and turned six million people out of their homes.

Now, protesters are marching again, only this time it's called "occupying." Wall Street has been filled with protesters for more than a week. Other cities have followed. San Diego's media have been agog at how our laid back city came to life.

Suits me. I intend to take part in one next Monday. Moveon.org has organized a protest on the corner of University Avenue and College Avenue starting at noon.

Moveon is by any means of measure a left wing group. It started in 1998 to protest the brouhaha which brought about the impeachment of President Clinton and has held the line against right wing shenanigans ever since.

The local mover and shaker for Moveon is lady named Carolyn Zollender who seems to have been put on earth to keep people like me involved. Carolyn has done her homework, and resistance is futile when she gets going. I recently visited with her in her son's beauty salon. I disagreed with her on a point or so and next thing I knew I was backed into a corner. She knew her stuff and made sure I was aware of it as well.

When the current brouhaha over the current obstruction subsides we'll still have the party of obstruction pursuing it's goal of preventing the re-election of President Obama. I hope to be involved all the way.

My legacy demands it.

Wrap...

Weather!

2011-10-06T21:51:00.000-07:00

San Diego had some! It started raining yesterday afternoon and rained a good portion of the night too. I was horrified. :)) But that disappeared before dawn and so on my way down to Acapulco for breakfast, blue skies and sunshine...tho I admit there were still some clouds floating around. So I'm content.

Wrap...

Whoa! Been Awhile Since I've Been Here...

2011-10-03T23:00:00.000-07:00

I'm just going happily along, reading all about our politics. Love it that people are in the streets and protesting Wall Street's shenanigans. If I could I'd just wring the necks of those Wall Street greedy bastards.

And 2012 is getting closer and closer and still nobody to vote for for Prez. Fine state of affairs. I'm talkin' both Repubs and Dem here. If it were possible, I swear I'd vote for Warren. Time we had a female president...and she has excellent sense. The males running certainly don't seem to have any sense.

Been trying to find a writer to write a book on a guy...a former Ranger, who has done both Iraq and Afghanistan and who, I think, has one awful case of PTSD. Like the Vietnam vet who I wrote a book with based on his experiences, this Ranger says, "Sleep is my enemy." The Ranger, having read that book, wants me to write his. Problem is, I've never met him in person. I can't imagine doing a book concerning someone I've never met, using his real experiences. For this kind of book, I'm definitely a hands on writer. Ah me...

Wrap...

Love Those Indy Weblogs...

2011-09-22T22:18:00.000-07:00

Well, hell. I swear I truly tried to watch the Repubs' debate tonight. I guess I lasted about ten minutes before turning away and doing the recommends on the Indy Weblogs. The Indys are a group of Dem political bloggers. Altogether there are 425 of them at last count. Thank heavens they don't all post at once. Usually about 30 of them post. Less on weekends. Often mighty stringent opinions. Good people. In case anyone would like to read some of them, the URL is:

http://www.drlaniac.com/feeds/search.asp?mode=recent

My apologies for not making that URL a link, but I never learned how to do that. :(((

Ralph, who lives in New Jersey, gathered up those bloggers and he ships the posts to Lana up in San Francisco and Lana gets them all in order and I have the URL to get them down here in San Diego so I can do the recommends. Posts are up every 4 hours, 24 hours a day. I do the recommends at 11AM, 3PM, and 7PM. Do them 7 days a week.
And they're bloggers from all over the USA so there's certainly different opinions of what's going on in our country. Wouldn't give them up for love nor money.

And the poor East Coast is getting rained on something terrible again. Sure do feel for them.

Wrap...

Things To Watch Out For....

2011-09-20T17:50:00.000-07:00

*Heaven forbid, but if you have a family member who is about to die, and if you intend to have a notice of that death in your newspaper's Obituaries page, you'd better have enough money in the bank to pay for it. They cost a fortune. Just check that out and prepare to be shocked.

*The Southern California Writers Conference convenes this weekend in Anaheim, California. If you're a writer...beginning or experienced...it is definitely worth attending. Not only are the workshop leaders excellent, but agents are accomplished and if you've written a book, gotten it polished, and need an agent (it's a very tough market out there) do try and attend. Check details at www.writersconference.com/la.

*Be very sure that you want to access the sites of either Linked In or Facebook. Once you get in, you may never find a way to get out. I tried, with zero success. Have come to the conclusion that if either pops up on my email again, I'll simply delete them. Also have decided that the reason deleting is almost impossible is because they can then trap enough people on their sites to be able to say they have one huge number of folks who use their sites.

Wrap...

Open Government or No?.....

2011-09-19T14:03:00.000-07:00

From Secrecy News:

AN AMBIVALENT WHITE HOUSE REPORT ON OPEN GOVERNMENT

The White House reiterated its support for open government in a new report issued Friday afternoon. But curiously, the 33-page document on "The Obama Administration's Commitment to Open Government" (pdf) downplays or overlooks many of the Administration's principal achievements in reducing inappropriate secrecy. At the same time, it fails to acknowledge the major defects of the openness program to date. And so it presents a muddled picture of the state of open government, while providing a poor guide to future policy.

"At the President's direction, federal agencies have promoted greater transparency, participation, and collaboration through a number of major initiatives," the new report says. "The results of those efforts are measurable, and they are substantial. Agencies have disclosed more information in response to FOIA requests; developed and begun to implement comprehensive Open Government plans; made thousands of government data sets publically available; promoted partnerships and leveraged private innovation to improve citizens' lives; increased federal spending transparency; and declassified information and limited the proliferation of classified information."

Most of that is true, in varying degrees. (However, there is no evidence that the proliferation of classified information has in fact been limited; the opposite is the case.)

And yet despite the abundance of itemized detail in the new report, it misses or misrepresents crucial aspects of what has been accomplished and what has not.

Particularly within the domain of national security secrecy, the report leaves out the Obama Administration's boldest departures from past secrecy policies, suggesting that the White House itself is ambivalent or perhaps remorseful about them. For example, the report does not mention these groundbreaking measures:

In April 2009, the President broke with prior policy and declassified four Office of Legal Counsel opinions on interrogation and torture that had been tightly held by the previous Administration. ("OLC Torture Memos Declassified," Secrecy News, April 17, 2009). This act finally exposed the purported legal basis for some of the government's most controversial actions of recent years, and for a while it seemed to promise a new attitude toward the use of secrecy.

In May 2010, the Obama Administration declassified the current size of the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal for the first time ever. ("Size of Nuclear Stockpile to be Disclosed," May 3, 2010). This is a category of information the disclosure of which had been sought without success for more than half a century, and its release created the potential for greater transparency and accountability in nuclear weapons policy.

In May 2011, the President personally ordered the declassification of an excerpt of a 1968 edition of the President's Daily Brief -- over the objections of intelligence agencies. ("Obama Declassifies Portion of 1968 President's Daily Brief," June 3, 2011). This act alone lent new substance to the otherwise rhetorical statement that "no information may remain classified indefinitely" and prompted a revision of entrenched prejudices concerning secret intelligence records.

For the first time ever, the Administration this year declassified and disclosed the size of the intelligence budget request for the coming year. ("A New Milestone in Intelligence Budget Disclosure," February 15, 2011). In 1998, the Director of Central Intelligence declared under penalty of perjury that disclosure of such information would cause damage to national security. But in the Obama Administration, that Cold War perspective has finally been abandoned even by the most senior intelligence officials.

These are among the most important changes in national security secrecy that have been accomplished in the Obama Administration. So it is puzzling and disturbing that in its own "review of the progress the Administration has made" in promoting greater openness, the new report does not mention any of them. For whatever reason, the White House does not seem to want to take "credit" for these actions, or to remind readers of them.

If the report minimizes the most positive achievements of secrecy reform to date, it also declines to acknowledge the serious failures of the President's openness initiative.

Thus, it does not mention that during the first full year of the Obama Administration, the number of new national security secrets (or "original classification decisions") actually increased by 22.6 percent, according to the latest annual report of the Information Security Oversight Office. ("Transforming Classification, or Not," May 18, 2011). Because it does not include such significant adverse data, the White House report more closely approximates a public relations exercise than a candid account of the current status of openness.

The report alludes to new requirements in the President's 2009 executive order 13256 that dictate "clarified, and stricter, standards for classifying information." But it does not mention that the Department of Defense, the largest classifying agency, failed to meet the President's deadline for issuing implementing guidance for the new executive order. The upshot is that many of those new requirements are not being fulfilled in practice, more than a year after the President's order came into effect. ("Secrecy Reform Stymied by the Pentagon," February 24, 2011). By not admitting such problems, the report also misses the opportunity to identify solutions to them.

Nor does the term "state secrets privilege" appear in the new report, although the Administration's use of the privilege has been an impenetrable barrier to the resolution of many festering disputes on torture, rendition and surveillance. Can one even speak of open government when individuals who have been victims of torture like Maher Arar and Khaled el-Masri are barred by secrecy from presenting evidence in a court of law or seeking some other lawful remedy?

The White House report demonstrates that the Obama Administration not only wants to be perceived as open, but that it actually has a commitment to open government. In addition to the precedent-setting breakthroughs noted above, many of the openness initiatives discussed in the report, such as the access to agency information provided through the website Data.gov, are commendable and worthwhile.

But the report also shows that the Administration's commitment lacks clarity, consistency, and self-confidence. This makes it harder to build on the most notable and successful achievements of the past few years.

On Tuesday, September 20, President Obama will participate in the launch of the Open Government Partnership, a multi-national effort to foster open government practices around the world.

_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.

The Secrecy News Blog is at:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

Wrap...

I Absolutely Hate....

2011-09-05T17:39:00.000-07:00

...the phrase, "Just sayin'". It's a copout if ever there was one. Saying the person speaking is not responsible in any way, shape, or form for whatever the hell is coming outta their mouth. Noooo. They're just repeating what someone else is saying or has said or done...but they're not giving it as their opinion or anything else. Just an absolutely cowardly phrase.

Wrap...

Book Review: The 19th Wife....

2011-09-03T12:59:00.000-07:00

This was first published in Secular Humanist Briefs, a newsletter of the Council of Secular Humanism.

The 19th Wife

a novel by David Ebershoff

Published by Random House 2008

ISBN: 987-1-58836-748-8

V3.0

An Irreverent look at Mormons and their weird church

by

Keith Taylor

Religions fascinate atheists and skeptics. The 19th Wife, a novel covering the antics of Mormons of the nineteenth and of the twenty-first centuries, will do more than fascinate you. It will grab you and refuse to let go.

All Christian religions stress taking things on faith and come up with some strange beliefs. But the Mormons! That religion is a wonderment unto itself. In less than a couple centuries the Saints came up with as many impossible ideas as had the Catholic Church in twenty.

Joseph Smith threw out most of the irrational Christian ideas and replaced them with a new set of even more irrational ones. None were tested by dispassionate examination. Religious things are above that with the old "higher power" copout they all claim guides their lives.

Books critical of the Mormon church such as Trouble Enough by Ernest Taves, Secret Ceremonies by Deborah Laake, and A Study in Scarlet by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle tell compelling stories of a strange religion. But none impressed me as did the tale by David Ebershoff. He told the story of Ann Eliza Young, Brigham's nineteenth, or, maybe fifty-fourth wife..

Ann divorced her husband and asked for money from him, possibly the richest man in the country. The resulting tumult resulted in polygamy being banned.

Ebershoff not only told the story of Ms. Young, he told it convincingly from the viewpoints of herself, her mother, her father, Brigham Young, and a young twenty-first century man who was excommunicated by later version of the church which insisted it was the first.

The 19th Wife keeps the reader on his toes by shifting from one point of view to another, one story line to another, and by moving between the mid 19th century to the 21st. century Somehow Ebershoff does a superb job of it.

The reader's hardest job is to keep track of the century and the narrator. It is a culture shock to leave the 19th century with the problems of a young, pious 19th century polygamous bride, then try to empathize with a 21st century young, recalcitrant, excommunicated, Mormon who is trying to save his mom from execution for killing his dad.

The book is rightly described as a page turner, so finishing a chapter isn't hard. What's hard is to resist starting the next where the reader will land in a different century and in the mind of a different point of view. Bring along the forbidden drink, coffee, because you'll read longer than you planned. and find yourself still reading far into the morning.

Although his life is the secondary story line Jordan Scott, the young recalcitrant guy, is the most compelling character in the book. As a doddering geezer I take a perverse delight in imaginative cussing. Thus I laughed when Jordan used the term "fuck log" to describe the notes his father kept to remind himself who was the next wife he'd sleep with. And for empathy we can feel Jordan's discomfort in explaining the term to his pious mother.

If a humanist or skeptics group had a list of "must read" books, this one would be near the top. As with Huckleberry Finn and all other great novels it is much more than a good story. It takes the gentiles, as we're called, inside a church recently created out of whole cloth and lets us see the damage done by deliberate ignorance.

*******************************************

//Keith Taylor is a former president and program chair for the San Diego Association for Rational Inquiry. He can be reached at krtaylorxyz@aol.com //

Wrap...

Our Secret Government...

2011-09-01T18:11:00.000-07:00

From Secrecy News...

A SPOTLIGHT ON "TOP SECRET AMERICA"

Most people can vaguely recall that there was once no U.S. Department of Homeland Security and that there was a time when you didn't have to take your shoes off before boarding an airplane or submit to other dubious security practices.

But hardly anyone truly comprehends the enormous expansion of the military, intelligence and homeland security bureaucracy that has occurred over the past decade, and the often irrational transformation of American life that has accompanied it.

The great virtue of the new book "Top Secret America" by Dana Priest and William M. Arkin (Little Brown, September 2011) is that it illuminates various facets of our secret government, lifting them from the periphery of awareness to full, sustained attention.

Top Secret America, which builds on the series of stories the authors produced for the Washington Post in July 2010, delineates the contours of "the new American security state." Since 9/11, for example, some 33 large office complexes for top secret intelligence work have been completed in the Washington DC area, the equivalent in size of nearly three Pentagons. More than 250,000 contractors are working on top secret programs. A bewildering number of agencies - more than a thousand -- have been created to execute security policy, including at least 24 new organizations last year alone. And so on.

But the vast scale of this activity says nothing about its quality or utility. The authors, who are scrupulous in their presentation of the facts, are critical in their evaluation:

"One of the greatest secrets of Top Secret America is its disturbing dysfunction."

"Ten years after the attacks of 9/11, more secret projects, more secret organizations, more secret authorities, more secret decision making, more watchlists, and more databases are not the answer to every problem. In fact, more has become too much."

"It is time to close the decade-long chapter of fear, to confront the colossal sum of money that could have been saved or better spent, to remember what we are truly defending, and in doing so, to begin a new era of openness and better security against our enemies."

(From this point of view, it was disappointing to hear the former chair of the 9/11 Commission, Gov. Tom Kean, declare yesterday that "we are not as secure as we could or should be." We need to accelerate along the path we have been following, Gov. Kean seemed to say, not to fundamentally change course.)

According to Priest and Arkin, "The government has still not engaged the American people in an honest conversation about terrorism and the appropriate U.S. response to it. We hope our book will promote one."

Despite the sobering subject matter, Top Secret America actually makes for lively reading. It is full of the authors' remarkable insights, anecdotes and encounters. Dana Priest explored some of the physical geography of the classified world, taking elevators to unmarked floors in suburban office buildings and driving up to guard booths at secret facilities to innocently ask for information. She accompanied police in Memphis while they conducted neighborhood surveillance with newfangled automatic license plate readers. She was polygraphed at her request -- and found to be a poor liar. Bill Arkin, whose painstaking research informed the entire work (which is narrated by Priest), spent ten days in Qatar at the U.S. military facility that controls air operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan, and somehow got himself invited to classified briefings.

One question that lurks throughout the book is whether the excesses and misjudgments that constitute so much of Top Secret America can be corrected or reversed. The authors are not very optimistic, particularly since there are so many people who benefit from current arrangements, however wasteful, useless or pointless they might be.

By way of illustration they cite U.S. Northern Command, the newest military command that is nominally responsible for defense of North America but in practice is largely subordinate to other agencies and organizations. "The fact that Northern Command would even continue to exist as a major, four-star-led, geographic military command, with virtually no responsibilities, no competencies, and no unique role to fill, demonstrated the resiliency of institutions created in the wake of 9/11 and just how difficult it would be to ever actually shrink Top Secret America," they wrote.

Secrecy is naturally a persistent theme throughout the book. As is often the case in national security reporting, the authors relied on unauthorized disclosures to complement their own research and reporting. And in this case, such disclosures served as a particularly effective antidote to overclassification.

"Most of those who helped us did so with the knowledge that they were breaking some internal agency rule in doing so; they proceeded anyway because they wanted us to have a more complete picture of the inner workings of the post-9/11 world we sought to describe and because they, too, believe too much information is classified for no good reason," they wrote.

At the same time, the authors noted that they "have left out some information" based on national security considerations.

Top Secret America will be featured on PBS Frontline on September 6, the book's official release date.

******************************************
SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2011, Issue No. 83
September 1, 2011

Secrecy News Blog: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

Wrap...

What's Good For The Crooks is Good For the Cops...

2011-08-25T22:24:00.000-07:00

Gettin' a little late here, but the neighborhood is quiet. Hope that's not deceiving. A couple of streets away, sometimes within 600 feet so at the end of our block, bad things are going on...assaults, home burglaries, stuff with cars, etc. All started about 5 or 6 months ago. I'm thinking a new family moved into the area. Most of us have been here for years. Never had that stuff before.

Except for once...couple of guys stole the back wheel off my car, which was parked on the street in front of the house. Little did they know that the neighbor across the street in front and another neighbor across the side street were both armed and watching the whole thing. One of them got the thieves' license number. Both were prepared to act if either of the thieves headed toward our house.

So of course we phoned the police and they came and took information from all of us. Now I consider the San Diego police force to be the best and most decent in the entire USA...and they can also be hilarious.

Next day came a knock on the door. I answered and there stood 2 policemen and my wheel. I asked how they got it back...and they grinned from ear to ear and one said, "The same way the crooks got it." :)))

They'd actually gone out that night and stole it right off the crooks' car. Just tickled themselves. And I just cracked up laughing. :))

Wrap...

Thinking vs Believing....

2011-08-23T18:47:00.000-07:00

That Undying Symbol

by

Keith Taylor

It is a simple design, useful in the construction of grand buildings, or as a small platform from which to hang trouble makers. It has also become the world's most recognizable religious symbol.

In its most utilitarian usage, it is part of the framework of building
It is so impressive, we need be reminded it is utilitarian, not miraculous. Despite its inspiring design, it failed along with the rest of the framework, to stop religious zealots from destroying two of our largest buildings plus themselves in their effort to prove their god was better than our god.

Somewhere in there lies an inspiring religious message. It must be so because when our buildings fell and 2700 people died, people in many foreign countries, those with the other god celebrated. Death and the celebration of it are big deals in religions.

The cross, called the symbol of peace, is more often associated with mass killing and cruelty. Spanish conquistadors brandished flags decorated with crosses as they killed countless native Americans in their search for gold and other riches. Pious Christians, crosses on their vestments and shields, journeyed from Europe to the Holy Land to kill, plunder, and secure land they deemed sacred because a man/god had been crucified there.

It was the very symbol of the Spanish Inquisition. Countless heretics were killed because they committed one of the prime sins: questioning unproven claims. Today the word "inquisition" conjures up a vision of cruel men wearing crosses causing unbearable pain to folks who merely asked the most basic sentence in science "why?"

Reminders of the sacred icon are everywhere, and defended zealously. Defying the Constitution, a court order, and affirmation of that order by an appeals court, a cross still stands on public property on a mountain overlooking La Jolla, California.

Others have not been so prominently displayed. A piece of the framework in the shape of a cross was found in the wreckage of the twin towers. This was the symbol, many felt, to inspire us to . . . uh, to adorn a new, replacement building.

A photo shows a priest and the former mayor of our greatest city adding a blessing to the symbol pulled from the wreckage of the twin towers felled on 9/11. Some object to this use of a religious symbol, sometimes citing it's long and poignant history of violence and killing.

But to the adherents of our god, history is ignored. After all, they claim, believers are enjoined to never question God or his works. You can find it in every catechism or Sunday school tract.

So, should we object to yet another religious symbol? After all those of us who don't share this zealous feeling that comes from belief in things not proved are shunned, often considered eccentric. More than half the electorate would not vote for someone who does not acknowledge a belief in a supreme being, and the cross does represent just such a thing. Who knows how bad it will get if we object to a sacred symbol?

Let's leave it be. Agree it will stay there, but as a reminder of what we lose when we substitute faith for reason in trying to determine what is happening on our earth. When a non-believer views the symbol which inspires so many believers he might take off his hat and stand quietly while contemplating what the world would be like if we started thinking rather than believing.

Thinking will not produce miracles but it may help us understand those who believe in them.

-0-

//Keith Taylor is a retired Navy officer living in Chula Vista, Ca. He can be reached at krtaylorxyz@aol.com //

Wrap...

Law Enforcement Officer...From the Inside....

2011-08-23T14:18:00.000-07:00

http://richardcraiganderson.com/

For some fascinating reading, go to Rick's blog. URL above. Rick is a former Maryland State trooper. Moved to Florida and became a FAM...Federal Air Marshall. Their motto:
"We don't miss". Better not, since they're the guy in the plane with you, there to take out the bad guy, and they really don't want to shoot a hole in the plane rather than a hole in the bad guy.

Just fascinating. Latest post from Rick is on the matter of confidential informants. A good police officer...and every other law enforcement officer...has those crucial people.

It's one thing to know about these things and, believe me, another to learn about them from inside the game...which you will if you read Rick's posts. Enjoy!

Wrap...

Huntsman for President!!!

2011-08-13T12:57:00.000-07:00

So now Rick Perry from Texas is joining the run for Prez. W.Bush was better than this guy would be. I can just see Perry keeping religion separate. Not a chance.

Have not changed my mind one bit...Jon Huntsman is my choice. He may be a Repub, but he is an INDEPENDENT Repub. And that gives the other people and the media fits. The media invariably leaves the Independent out. More, he's no liar.

It's plain to see he qualifies, having been Gov of Utah and diplomat to China. But he continually gets ignored because he's not flashy like the other Repubs running. He just does the job.

Wrap...

Take It On Faith...Or Else.....

2011-07-26T20:08:00.000-07:00

This was to be the first chapter in a book I intended to call Epiphany of an Atheist. Sadly I don't have the stamina to fight the battle of self publishing, and not many publishers are interested in the musings of someone without high profile.

How I Became a True Believer . .. . With a Few Doubts

by

Keith Taylor

One night sixty-one years ago, a young lass and I were – as they say today – making out. We were parked in the shadow of a tree on a Naval station near Seattle. She had let me get to second base. My hand was under her blouse. Only her thin bra stood between my fingers and a real life titty.

Surely it was about to happen; my 20-year virginity would come to an end right there in the back seat. I had read Forever Amber and Duchess Hotspur. It was all there – the passionate kissing, the heavy breathing, the tight embrace.

I pleaded, “Can we do it? You know, go all the way?”

She stopped me with, “Oh God, I want to, but I can’t, not unless we’re married.”

“Let's get married tonight, maybe drive to Canada or something?”

“No, it has to be by a priest, and I can’t even do that unless you are a Catholic.”

The next morning I hied myself down to Saint Cecilia’s, found the parish priest, and asked him how I could become a Catholic. He told me I would have to take instructions. That was easy. Hell, I was a sailor and folks gave me instructions all day long. I couldn't even clean the head without a boatswain's mate telling me how to clean up the turd tracks.

But instructions on how to find God defied logic. Father Murphy explained that people didn’t really have to believe that a woman talked to a snake, but they had to be baptized to excise the damage done by that conversation anyhow. He also taught me that the passion that led me to St. Cecilia’s was itself a sin. I would have to sincerely repent the heavy breathing as well as the indecent touching that caused it.

Also I would have to firmly resolve that it wouldn’t happen again. How disappointing! That girl taught me how to French kiss and I liked it so much I was sure we would do it again even before holy words sanctified the consummation of our lust.

She went back home to Illinois. The Navy kept me in the Seattle area. All the while I practiced the repenting and firmly-resolving business, but those prurient sinful thoughts popped up again and again. Self-abuse was immediately followed by prayers begging forgiveness for doing it. This religious business took all the fun out of it.

Although I’d always been one of those who felt “something must be out there” the instructions taught by Father Murphy revealed a religion not filled with hope and answers, but one filled with conundrums. Some had been with the church from the beginning; others were added, seemingly willy-nilly, over 2000 years. Father Murphy’s answer to my questions was that each had a special purpose and must be taken on faith.

The Father Murphys of the world were allowed to make their claims with little interference, even from outside the church. The rare dissenting voices were shushed with "oh it's their right to believe what they want." Any doubts I might have had were simply to be subjected the one great truth and immune from critical thought, as were claims proclaimed by a thousand different interpretations by thousands of other religions.

A parishioner had to take all sorts of things on faith. Furthermore that faith must not be questioned, especially by reading. The Catholic Church of the 1950s dutifully provided “The Index of Forbidden Books” – a compilation of books, plays, songs, and other heretical tracts deemed dangerous to people’s faith. The list, running into the thousands, forbad a Catholic’s reading some or all of the works of many of the most respected writers in history.

After I thwarted the devil by having water dumped on my head, I could no longer read things by Anatole France, René Descartes, Emile Zola and, it seems, some versions of God’s book itself. The King James version of the holy book was not only off limits for reading, in 1950, a Catholic could not have one in his house!

While all this was going on, the girl who caused my conversion sent me a “Dear John.” She had gone back home to Elgin, Illinois and left me to marry a Marine. Undeterred I went on with my conversion. The priest said things in Latin as he poured water over my head. I tried but didn’t feel the ecstasy associated with the possibility of now living forever in bliss.

I was a Catholic, the only one from Sevastopol, Indiana. My conversion lasted about ten years.

Wrap...

From Presidential Candidates to ComicCon....

2011-07-24T12:49:00.000-07:00

So be it. Jon Huntsman, Republican running for Prez of the USA...just happens to be the only decent, honest candidate I have seen. Therefore, he's my choice for Prez, no matter that I have never voted Repub before. So that's settled.

Then there's the Oslo killer. Pay attention here: he is NOT a Muslim. What he is is a CHRISTIAN FUNDAMENTALIST. You sure wouldn't know it from most of the media reports. We have a whole bunch of those people on the Repub Right. Especially in the Southern US states. Now, who do you think we'd best keep an eye on?

It's hotter than hell in almost every state in the USA. Only civilized weather is in Alaska, and the West Coast states...along the beaches only.

Don't you just admire the new labels on cigarettes? GAWD! But don't try and convince me that drinking doesn't kill more people...especially drinking and driving. I have yet to see a single person, upon getting a whiff of someone's cigarette smoke, just keel over dead...but a clip from a drinking or texting driver on any road in the country can make people dead a whole lot faster...and does, every hour of every day.

Somehow, some way, the scientists MUST find a way to cure or eliminate cancer. One out of every five men is cursed with prostate cancer. Our daughter died when her second brain cancer developed and attached to her brain stem. A horrible way to go. Moments before her death, her facial muscles just melted away and her face below her eyes simply flowed down toward her right ear. She'd been beautiful and was a former model. Never mind new weapons...CURE CANCER.

Some good news...ComicCon, with somewhere around 130,000 attendees at the San Diego Convention Center, has been a tremendous success. Yesterday afternoon, strolling through the lobby and stopping to chat with people, was Johnny Depp...star of Pirates of the Carribean. Not going to see stars doing that very often, but attend ComicCon and you will. Keep in mind though that Security Guards from all over the city and those who work there were keeping Conv.Center safe. Not that they had anything much to do since the attendees were all happy souls and behaving wonderfully well as usual. And the media were definitely in attendence. One of their groups asked permission of the Conv Ctrs' #1 Doorman to photo and interview him. His reply was that it was fine with him, but they'd have to get an okay from his bosses to do that. But no, the media did not have time. Too much else needed to be covered.
A pity. That doorman has worked there for 21 years and has been at the door for every ComicCon that has been held there...and so knows all the guys who originated the convention.

And that's all for now...
Wrap...

Science? Deliberate Ignorance? Choose...

2011-07-11T17:09:00.000-07:00

This appeared in Skeptical Inquirer, a magazine dedicated to rational and critical thought and to using science, not dogma or superstition to find answers. It is available at some newstands. Individual copies can also be bought at www.csicop.org

DELIBERATE IGNORANCE

by

Keith Taylor

Perhaps fearful that even a small amount of it is a dangerous thing, knowledge is held in disdain by many Americans. Yet the same people accept ridiculous claims as long as they are they want to hear. And legislators know what that is!

Turn on C-SPAN and the chances are good you'll see a member of Congress leading a blind charge into the land of make believe.

Climate change? Some time back, the chair of the Senate Science Climate Change Committee invited a science fiction author, not a scientist, and certainly not a climatologist, to testify. Then, having heard what he wanted to hear, the Senator joined the author in declaring that the scientists' concern over the looming disaster was a myth.

That year was the hottest on record. So was the next and the next. The pattern continues, but thanks in part to the senator, the myth about a myth persists.

Science can be touted, but only if it reflects what a legislator thinks the majority of his constituents want to hear. One from the Midwest regularly holds forth on the virtues of ethanol to protect us from the climate change he doesn't believe in. I've never heard him own up to the scientifically tested and vetted fact that ethanol made from corn or soy beans gives a us net increase of CO2 in the atmosphere while decreasing the world food supply.

Deliberate ignorance along with jingoism and dogmatic stubbornness shapes too much of America's intellect. During the cold war we simply would not be beat or outdone by the Soviets, not even in silly things. In the late sixties someone in our intelligence services suspected the commies were keeping tabs on us with remote viewing. Not to be outdone in dumb ideas our army set up a program headed by the Stanford Research Institute -- no direct connection to the university.

By 1985 no useful information was gleaned by folks sitting around thinking real hard, so the Army ceased funding it. Still when an idea, no matter how wacko, gets the attention of Congress it's life is extended and the money keeps coming in.

Operation Stargate, as it was sometimes called, was kept alive. It only cost 20 million dollars and had some interesting results which couldn't be denied because they were never tested. In 1996 the Science Applications International Corp, a San Diego Based think tank had conducted some of the experiments. When I checked on it for a story, they admitted they participated in the program but all results are classified. I called the FBI and a PR guy also told me told they couldn't comment because it was classified.

The best I got was from a less reticent source, the grapevine. There I "learned" one remote viewer got a peek inside a Rusky submarine but wasn't able see anything classified. Nor was she able to determine which ocean the U-boat was in, but it was somewhere! As a retired Navy cryptologist I was amazed at the ability of an outfit to spend so much for information which could be gleaned by just thinking.

Thomas Jefferson warned us, "An enlightened citizenry is indispensable for the proper functioning of a republic." You have to wonder what ol' Tom would have to say about the citizenry which elected today's leaders.

Where do we get our wacko ideas? Try the information highway. The brightest scholars in history would envy today's Americans with who have so much valid scientific information available on the web. But today's Americans also have even more claims of things they want to believe, verification be damned!

Then they vote.

Is there help in stemming this tide of deliberate ignorance? Not from Texas it seems. In May, the Texas State Board of Education adopted a social studies and history curriculum which undermined much of what we know about science and our past. Tom Jefferson who worried about such credulity was himself was downgraded, perhaps to make room for Jefferson Davis who was President of the Confederacy.

Because Texas is one of the largest buyers of textbooks, credulous ideas will be taught as fact to children across our nation. The pious Texans want us to understand that we were founded as a Christian nation, which might have surprised one of the founders. John Adams signed the Treaty of Tripoli which emphatically said America was in no sense a Christian nation. That treaty was ratified unanimously by the Senate and has never been withdrawn.

The Constitution's only mention of religion is to restrict it.

But today. America is galloping blithely down the road to blind faith in nonsense. Their race into credulous thinking is supported by the vested interests of those who want their next quarter's interests protected whether an interminably long summer bodes ill for our grandchildren or not.

We hear "oh scientists don't know everything" so often it ought to be a warning to every skeptic. We who believe in science are also dismissed with the canard that we are merely eccentric. After all deliberate ignorance works wonders for the deliberately ignorant. To those of us who want our history untainted and our findings of science tested it will be a disaster.

Can this disaster be avoided or averted? Sure, but it will take a massive effort backed by a knowledgeable populace.

Will it? Probably not unless more of the populace start looking for real answers That won't be easy when faced with relentless barrage of sophistic answers from deniers of hard facts. The ultimate refuge for deniers of hard facts is religion; every congressman except Pete Stark of Oakland claims a belief in a supreme being. , and only Pete Stark in Oakland will admit he didn't believe.

I hate to be contrary, but was anybody except me frightened when, at a political debate of would-be presidents, three viable candidates admitted they admitted they do not believe in evolution. And how much different are they from the rest of the candidates who will grudgingly admit they do believe in the most tested scientific theory of all time, but refuse to support it?

Science can't compete with charisma except in the real world.

And don't forget the money! A recent headline blared: OIL BILLIONAIRES BACKING PROP. 23 -- a California effort to curb global warming. Yup, and that included a million from Koch Industries, ranked by Forbes as the second largest private company in the U.S.A. It is also among the top ten polluters. I'm proud to say my state rejected the self-serving proposition.

We're in a world of hurt here folks and you can take that from a very worried but eccentric curmudgeon.

//Keith Taylor is a former president and current program chair of the San Diego Association for Rational Inquiry living in Chula Vista, Ca. He can be reached at krtaylorxyz@aol.com//

Wrap...

Trying Honesty...

2011-07-04T13:37:00.000-07:00

Let's Try Honesty

by

Keith Taylor

Loch David Crane just sent a letter announcing his intention to run for mayor of San Diego. He has no chance, but he's got my support. San Diego would be better off with a mayor of his stature and imagination. This is an open letter to my hero:

Dear Loch: Sorry I cannot give you more encouragement, but you aren't going to be elected. Mayors of cities the size of San Diego are bought by the folks who own the country -- the corporations. They aren't about to open their pockets to a man so honest he won't claim supernatural powers to pull rabbits out of a hat.

Of course that doesn't mean your effort has to be in vain. Richard Rider, who could be your inspiration in losing elections, pointed out that in 1940 Socialist perennial presidential candidate Norman Thomas was asked if he'd run for a seventh time. Thomas remarked that he didn't need to. Everything the Socialists had fought for in 1916 had been enacted by Republicans and Democrats by 1940.

And of course it's true. We can't always effect change but we can sit quietly by as it evolves. Uh, don't use the word "evolve" in your campaign. Let God take credit for it all. Then folks will admire your sagacity.

In your campaign you ought not have any problem getting plenty of attention from the media. They love the flamboyant over the mundane. Be sure to use your startrike, USS Enterprise, the one connoting the starship not CVN-69.

I remember you got some great publicity when you used the contraption to give a lift to Mike Aguirre. He needed a ride so he could make his commitment to both the Rock and Roll Marathon and his engagement to speak at the graduation ceremony of the Thomas Jefferson Law School.

Perhaps some sort of reenactment of that would be appropriate. The publicity might be even more effective if you took Mike off somewhere, say in Oklahoma, and left him there. Mike has little political capital. His record didn't inspire voters in his own run for mayor. I'm telling ya being honest just isn't going to do much for you on election day.

First you're gonna need a platform. No, don't promise to fix the impressive debt racked up by your predecessors. That can't be done unless we get more money and that means taxes, and taxes are more deadly than cuss words at a Mormon prayer meeting. Also don't promise a commitment to the new library. That's only of interest to folks who actually read, a rapidly shrinking part of our population.

One issue will ensure the inevitable, your defeat. It will also ensure all sorts of attention which can be used after honesty comes back into vogue.

Come out in support of the Constitution. Demand the city obey the law and take down the cross from Mt. Soledad. While it is true that most San Diegans are Christians, a significant minority are not. Furthermore they're getting restless at listening to talk show hosts shoving a decidedly sectarian symbol in their faces then claiming the symbol as a reason to make decisions based on belief not rational thought.

Just think of the wacko things we've done in the name of God. Then when someone objects, pseudo pious leaders claim symbols as validation for whatever they choose to believe and do.

Suck it up Loch and take a giant stand for the minority of us who don't believe. Be the leader who makes his decisions based on science and facts rather than obeisance to a being who hasn't shown up for two thousand years.

You won't ride that idea into the mayor's mansion (do we have one?) but you aren't going to win anyhow. Let's use your candidacy to help advance ideas not superstition. Believe me you won't have much competition.

The cross issue is an open and shut case. It was placed atop the mountain on Easter Sunday 1954 and dedicated to "our lord and savior, Jesus Christ." Each Easter thereafter an Easter sunrise service was held atop the mountain.

Then in 1989 my good friend Phil Paulson and his co-litigant Howard Kristner sued to have it removed from public property. In 1993 the decision in favor of the plaintiffs was handed down by Gordon Thompson, a judge for the United States District Court. Suddenly -- almost supernaturally -- plaques started appearing on the base of the cross.

We had us a retroactive war memorial. History and truth be damned! The cross is still there, still mocking those of us who don't accept a symbol which also has been used to as a reason for 2000 years of crusades, wars, inquisitions, book burning, slavery and other misdemeanors.

But in the eyes of the courts the case has been settled. The thing left to do is lead a charge to get San Diego to obey the law.

Naturally there will be a last ditch stand by those who insist we shun critical thinking and embrace dogma. Leading the charge are Maureen O'Connor and Roger Hedgecock, two former mayors who have pledged to defend the symbol from destruction by lying down in front of the bulldozers.

That alone would be worth the effort. Just think of Maureen and Roger lying down together. In a moment of passion they might do to each other what they did to the city while in office.

Wrap...

Jon Huntsman is my candidate...

2011-06-22T12:59:00.000-07:00

Finally somebody has entered the race for Prez that I feel fine about voting for: Jon Huntsman. Former Gov of Utah, former Ambassador to China, all around decent guy. He is a moderate/liberal Repub. Has a terrific reputation. Nice family. And decent stands on issues. I see no downsides. And no, he is not beholden to Wall Street or any other outfit or individual. Sure is nice to not have to compromise.

Wrap...

This is Bull....

2011-06-18T14:14:00.000-07:00

From Secrecy News...

GOVT OPPOSES ATTORNEYS' FREE USE OF WIKILEAKS DOCS

The government yesterday filed a formal response (pdf) in federal court in opposition to the public use of WikiLeaks documents by a habeas attorney who represents a client in U.S. military detention at Guantanamo Bay. Those documents are or may be classified, the government insisted, and must continue to be treated as such.

In an April 27 motion (pdf), attorney David Remes had asked the Court to authorize "full and unfettered access" to WikiLeaks documents pertaining to his client, and to affirm that he "may publicly view, download, print, copy, disseminate, and discuss the documents and their contents, without fear of any sanctions."

"Any member of the general public can view these files, download them, print them, circulate them, and comment on them," Mr. Remes wrote. "Undersigned counsel, however, fears that he will face potential sanctions, legal or otherwise, if he does exactly the same things without express government permission."

In its response yesterday, the government said that Mr. Remes (and other habeas attorneys) may "view" the documents on a non-governmental computer, but may not "download, print, copy, disseminate, [or] discuss these documents" in public.

To justify its position, the government argued that it had not confirmed the authenticity of any particular WikiLeaks document, and that the restrictions on attorneys' use of the documents serve to maintain the possibility that one or more of the documents is not genuine.

"Although the Government has confirmed that purported detainee assessments were leaked to WikiLeaks, the Government has neither confirmed nor denied that any particular individual report appearing on the WikiLeaks website is an official government document," the government attorneys wrote.

"The Government must refrain from confirming whether any particular reports disseminated by WikiLeaks are genuine detainee assessments or not, to avoid the risk of even greater harm to national security than may have already been caused by WikiLeaks' disclosures."

This argument seems weakened, however, by the fact that the Government has not identified even one document among the many thousands released by WikiLeaks that is not genuine or is not what it appears to be. In the absence of even a single such case of falsification, the documents may be understood to be presumptively authentic even if government officials will not deign to say so.

It will be up to the Court to decide which party's perspective is legally compelling.

Wrap...

Still learning...

2011-06-16T23:06:00.000-07:00

Well, hell! Just found out I need to moderate comments here. I've been so interested in the political news...and the news, sparse as it is...on our guys in Afghanistan that I just neglected to "take care of business". My apologies. Also, thanks to you guys who "follow" this blog. Just now learned about you all.

Wondering if any of you have any idea who you'll vote for for Prez come 2012. I sure am not a bit happy with any of the candidates, Repub or Dem. Have a writer friend who swears she's not even gonna bother to vote at all. Not happy with the state of the United States either. Oh no.

Have just finished reading Wasdin's book on his 12 years in SEAL Team 6. Learned about a whole lot of interesting things like examining natural things like leaves to gauge wind speed. Title of book: "SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL sniper." What that guy had to learn and do to become a sniper, much less a SEAL, is just incredible. There will never ever be females in that outfit.

Our San Diego Convention Center had two events going today. Arianna Huffington was keynote speaker at one of them. Would have enjoyed hearing her. Heard her speak at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference and enjoyed every moment.

Wrap...

And It's One, Two, Three Strikes and....

2011-06-12T17:11:00.000-07:00

THAT’S BASEBALL
by
Keith Taylor

George Herman McClusky and his grandson, Joe, loved baseball. George tried out for every navy softball or baseball team on every ship or station but could only make the lineup as a right fielder on pickup games when only eight others showed up.

His grandson had a better shot. Mike, his dad managed the Reds, a Little League team. Joe was a fair to middling player who pitched and played other positions as well.

The three of them even made it to a World Series game in person. A few days after the World Series, Joe was playing in his own game in an off season practice league. Unlike at A T & T park in San Francisco the crowd the gathering at Sweetwater Little League field was shy of a sellout and would have been if capacity had been a couple dozen.

The big leaguers played nearly flawless ball. The Little League Reds and Pirates weren’t quite as perfect. The six umpires at the World Series game were highly paid professionals. The sole umpire at the Little League game was an amateur. The professional’s job was made easy by major league players. Big leaguers never run the wrong direction on the bases, nor do they stop playing to stare at airplanes flying over.

George Herman was the sole umpire at the little league game where watching airplanes was just as important was watching the ball, and a kid might head back to first from second if he left his hat behind, or if he just felt like it.

George Herman’s son, Mike, had cajoled him into officiating in a post-season practice league game. What’s more, he had to do his umpiring forty-six feet from the plate. Someone forgot to bring the face mask so he made his calls standing on the pitcher’s mound. Still the old man would give it his best. He had too much respect for the tradition of baseball to do anything else.

He had a couple things going for him. First was the unofficial rule was that nobody argued with the umpire. That rule was obeyed stringently by the coaches, and sometimes by the kids themselves. Also George Herman remembered an umpire from his own youth, George Magerkurth. Magerkurth was bigger than most players and tried with some success to cow them into silence with his size and wild histrionics.

George Herman, himself about the old umpire’s size, added his own histrionics for a good reason. It would take a brave kid to challenge a guy that big, especially if the big guy was making all that noise while jumping around like a cartoon character.

It was game time, and the pitcher warmed up, and warmed up, and warmed up. Finally the ersatz Magerkurth asked the kid if he was ready. The kid stared back and didn’t answer.

“Hey, kid. You loose?”

The youngster stared some more, then threw to the catcher again.

“Look, we don’t have all day. You about ready?” Again, another stare, then he chucked it to the catcher again.

This was getting silly. The ump shouted to his son sitting on the bench.“ Hey, Mike Your pitcher about ready? He won’t talk to me.”

“Oh, he doesn’t speak English. He just moved here from Japan. Take the ball from him and don’t give it back or he’ll keep playing catch all day. He loves to play catch.”

The Reds, Joe’s team, had won practically every game in the short season, and they didn’t want to get beat by the Pirates who hadn’t won a single one. A victory by the Pirates would make the season a success, at least for the day. Tomorrow would take care of itself.

Finally they got underway and the game bumped along, inning by inning.

Both managers had promised each player he could pitch to a batter or so. One kid couldn’t get past the warm-up stage. His best pitch missed home plate by a couple feet. The harder he tried, the worse he got. Then, the young fellow remembered he had a serious stomach ache and said he’d feel better if he was in right field.

Not long after that the ump had one of those challenges a guy loves when things are going right. The batter lofted a high one down the right field line. As befits a good ump, George Herman hustled over to get a good look at it. It didn’t help. The chalk mark must have been laid down by one of the kids while he was watching an airplane. The line skewed towards center field, then petered out. The ball landed in no-man’s land. It was either fail, foul, or too close to call.

According to tradition, the umpire is only supposed to make a verbal call if the ball is foul, but with kids if he doesn’t say something they will all stop and wait. In his best Magerkurth voice he made the call. “FAIR BALL!” The right fielder who couldn’t find home plate a little earlier grabbed the thing and made the best throw of the game, right to the second baseman. The infielder tagged the batter, and held on.

“YER OUT,” bellowed the ump. Then he whirled to see the other runner almost, but not quite, at home plate. He ran towards home and shouted “THIS RUN DOESN’T COUNT!” Twas a critical call because that run would have made it 14 to 4, Pirates.

That call also earned George Herman his only sign of approval the entire game. Mike gave his dad a little smile and almost nodded his head. The umpire remained stoic. Umpires don’t smile. They do stick their tongues out now and then though. An inning or so later he called a close--but correct he was pretty sure--third strike on his grandson. Joe gave his grandfather a scowl and looked like he was going to break rule number one. George Herman gave the kid the tongue. Joe returned the salute, but followed it with a smile. Hey, they were going for a bike ride after the game.

Even easy calls aren’t easy in Little League practice games. A batter socked one high over the fence. It was, as they say nowadays, a no-doubter. The ball cleared the fence by ten feet, hit a tree, and bounced back onto the field. George Herman had a call nobody could blow. He gave the traditional signal by pointing skyward and making a circle with his finger.

As usual, he should have shouted. In the absence of any verbal direction, the left fielder invoked his own rule. He’d play any ball that got into his territory, no matter how it got there. The kid grabbed it and fired a strike to the shortstop who had wandered out to the cutoff position merely to watch the home run.

The shortstop, not quite sure what to do, whirled and pegged the ball right to the catcher who chased the runner back towards third. The kid on third, who would have been heading for home himself except that he had stopped to watch an airplane, headed back towards second.

Confusion set in. Kids ran the bases counterclockwise then clockwise. The ball was thrown willy-nilly. George Herman thought one of the runners passed another, but he figured

nobody else knew for sure. To settle things once and for all he got hold of the ball, put it in his pocket, lined up the runners and marched them across home plate.

Then he found the kid who had hit his first ever homer and gave him the ball, or one about like it anyhow.

Finally the game came down to the final at bat. Thanks in part to the homer the Reds had fought back and were within one big swing of yet another win, thus relegating the Pirates to a winless season. The overdogs were down one run with two ducks on the pond, two outs, and two strikes on their batter.

The umpire didn’t want a tough call at this point, but easy calls are for the Major Leagues. The Little League pitcher could have passed for a miniature version of 1940’s Rip Sewell. The one-time Pirate pitcher threw what he called an eephus pitch. It was a lob that went high in the air and came down, almost vertically, across the strike zone. Unfortunately Sewell’s most notable eephus pitch was one served to Ted Williams in an all-star game. Williams knocked it out of sight.

George Herman cast a quick glace toward the sky, ignored a passing plane, and pleaded with the baseball gods to help the pitcher put one right down the middle. Likely that’s what the pitcher tried to do, but it had all the zip of a eephus ball tacking into the wind. The dying quail tailed away to catch the corner, or pretty close anyhow. He heard somebody shout, “STEEERIKE THREE, YER OUT!”

It was him. The game was over.

The Pirates poured out of the dugout to celebrate their only victory. The Reds made do with that “TWO FOUR SIX EIGHT, WHO DO WE APPRECIATE” thing.

The parents hugged their kids and told them they were proud of them.

The managers congratulated each other.

The umpire walked to his car all alone. Nobody said a word to him.

That’s baseball.

-30-

Wrap...

Santorum...UGH!

2011-06-07T12:28:00.000-07:00

The Nation
Richard Kim
June 6, 2011
|
Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum is ardently anti-gay and has an acute talent for tapping into the homophobic imagination of social conservatives. “Man on child,” “man on dog,” incest, “priests with 3-year-olds,” polygamy, the welfare of children, the decline of Western civilization—if it’s in the vocabulary of anti-gay hysteria, Santorum has been there, done that. As a result, he’s become the target of a Google bomb, led by gay columnist Dan Savage, that successfully redefined “santorum” as a substance most straight people probably didn’t know existed and most gay men never thought to name, especially not in honor of a Republican US senator. But hey, shit happens—and now Santorum is widely considered a joke. The launch of his presidential campaign today was greeted with a chorus of knowing sneers.

augh away—for now he has the support of just two percent of Republican voters—but remember, Santorum wasn’t always just for shits and giggles. Before he crashed and burned in his race for a third Senate term, Santorum was considered a golden boy of the GOP. He had won four elections in a row in a swing state against well-financed Democrats. He was the youngest member of the GOP Senate leadership and, for much of the early 2000s, one of its most frequent TV spokesmen.
Most importantly, Santorum was the baby face of compassionate conservatism and an important architect of its signature pieces of legislation. As head of the House GOP Task Force on Welfare Reform, Santorum wrote key parts of what became the landmark 1996 welfare reform bill signed by Bill Clinton. He championed No Child Left Behind and proposed the Santorum Amendment to it, which attempted to insert teaching on the theory of intelligent design. Along with Democrat Dick Durbin, Santorum crusaded for increasing US spending on the global fight against HIV/AIDS, especially if it went to church groups and controversial abstinence-only programs. He considered enlarging the US role in fighting AIDS integral to "American exceptionalism," and he earned the praise of Bono, among others, for his advocacy. Throughout it all, he worked behind the scenes to increase government funding for faith-based social services.

As conservative pundit Kathleen Parker lamented in September 2006, when it was clear that Santorum would go down to Bob Casey, “Santorum has been the conservatives’ point man for the world’s disenfranchised—the poor, the sick and the meek. If he loses, the face of compassionate conservatism will be gone.”

Parker was right. Nobody on the right talks of compassionate conservatism anymore, especially now that the Tea Party is running the show. In part that’s because it collapsed on its own internal contradictions. As an ideology, compassionate conservatism championed state support for social justice —to fight poverty, illiteracy or disease, for example—but it opposed the state doing that work itself. In practice, that meant turning the state into a giant, heavily politicized pass-through mechanism that redistributed tax-payer dollars to private charities and corporations without meaningful accountability. Because compassionate conservatism is rooted in Christian missionary zealotry, it inevitably engaged in social engineering—abstinence-only sex education and discrimination against gays and lesbians, for example. And most importantly for the Tea Party right, it ran up the deficit. Along with the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, for Tea Party conservatives, it is the most visible symbol of how Bush went wrong, corrupting real conservatism with profligate cronyism.

That’s the real reason why Santorum’s candidacy seems so laughable now. He’s a relic from another time, one marked by plentitude and optimism, when conservatives embraced a global role for the United States, attempted to hijack American progressivism and above all, needed a new brand to bring them back from the mean years of straight-up bashing welfare queens and fags with AIDS (see Jesse Helms). Santorum fulfilled that role, speaking of America’s great and charitable mission to aid the poor while retaining enough smiling hatred to stoke the old base. It didn’t really make sense then. It really doesn’t make sense now.

Wrap....

Just Shut Your Mouth.....

2011-06-07T12:19:00.000-07:00

Pecadilloes and Penises
by
Keith Taylor

Here we go again! A congress member violated the modern bugaboo of political correctness. No, he didn't take or misuse public money. He didn't vote to start an unnecessary war. He didn't do something against the wishes of most of his constituents. He got carried away in a private conversation and it involved sex.

Now he's on the skids and his life is on the verge of being ruined. When a righteous blogger posted a story of Congressman Anthony Weiner's Internet peccadilloes Weiner made the expected response. He lied about it, and very poorly.

He would have saved himself a lot of trouble if he'd simply shut the hell up and let it ride. After all, how many people were really shocked at what looked like the outline of a modest sized boner in his skivvies? Indeed no laws were broken, at least no man-made laws. But what about those laws not of this kingdom?

We're talking religion here and that brings into play an entirely new set of laws, those believed to have been laid down by the creator of a universe now known said by scientists to be thirteen billion years old. across.

But according to the adherents of most Western religions, some ten thousand years ago that creator not only gave us the universe he also laid down laws governing everybody in it. Those laws include their innermost thoughts. And the penalty for breaking those laws is severe.

Thanks to the astute founding fathers of our nation and a succession of court rulings, laws governing based merely on a belief on unseen beings are unconstitutional. Hence those of us who choose to think, not merely to believe, are protected from this idea that flights of fancy are punishable by temporal law.

Sadly there is no protection against someone's throwing a fit about a violation of what they think is immoral, such as thinking about anything. And even more sadly those people vote.

So, unless Anthony Weiner keeps his mouth shut long enough for the titillation over his modest boner wears off, he's a goner, and there's no telling what the hypocrite who replaces him will be like. The only thing for sure is he'll will assure us he doesn't impure thoughts.

I worry about my country.

Wrap...

Books and More Books...

2011-06-02T16:16:00.000-07:00

From Publishers Lunch Weekly....

FICTION
Mystery/Crime
David Mark's crime debut THE DARK WINTER, to David Rosenthal at Blue Rider Press, in a two-book deal, for publication starting in Summer 2012, by Oliver Munson at the Blake Friedmann (US & Canada).
Ullstein and Mondadori pre-empted German and Italian rights.

Thriller
Writing as J.I. Baker, debut novelist James Ireland Baker's THE EMPTY GLASS, a riveting, paranoiac thriller told by the young L.A. coroner who is among the first on the scene at Marilyn Monroe's bungalow the morning she is found dead, about the secret diary he discovers and the conspiracy he unravels in the following days, to Sarah Hochman at Blue Rider Press, by Richard Pine at Inkwell Management (World English).

Women's/Romance
NYT bestselling author Gena Showalter's next four HQN novels, including books to continue her Lords of the Underworld series, as well as titles in a brand new series, to Margo Lipschultz at Harlequin, by Deidre Knight at The Knight Agency (world).

British historian Hallie Rubenhold's MISTRESS OF MY FATE and THE FRENCH LESSON, the first two installments in a new series, recounting the adventures of a seventeen-year old aristocrat; torn from her home, she is thrown into the world and must learn to wear many masks -- courtesan, spy, actress, artist, forger, cardsharp -- as she wends her way through Europe in the midst of revolution and turmoil in pursuit of her true love, to Deb Futter at Grand Central, by Tina Bennett at Janklow & Nesbit on behalf of Claire Paterson at Janklow & Nesbit UK (NA).
Transworld will publish in the UK starting in July 2012.

Children's: Middle grade
The eighth and final installment of Eoin Colfer's ARTEMIS FOWL series THE LAST GUARDIAN, for publication in summer 2012, plus two books in a new W.A.R.P. series, beginning with The Reluctant Assassin for publication in Winter 2013, about young Riley, who has fallen into the FBI's Witness Anonymous Relocation Program, after a murderous escapade with a Victorian illusionist -- who he tries to keep from returning to Victorian times, where, with his new knowledge of all things scientific and technological, he could literally change the world, again to Stephanie Owens Lurie at Disney-Hyperion, by Sophie Hicks at Ed Victor Ltd.

NYT bestsellers K.L. Armstrong & M.A. Marr's THE BLACKWELL PAGES, a trilogy about three 12-year olds descended from Norse Gods who have to stop the impending apocalypse, to Megan Tingley at Little, Brown, in a pre-empt, with Kate Sullivan editing, for publication in Spring 2013, by Merrilee Heifetz at Writers House on behalf of Marr and Sarah Heller at Helen Heller Agency on behalf of Armstrong (NA).

Author of Newbery Honor book THE EVOLUTION OF CALPURNIA TATE Jacqueline Kelly's WIND IN THE WILLOWS REDUX, a sequel to the beloved classic, to be illustrated by Clint G. Young, creator of the forthcoming picture book THE WISH COLLECTOR, to Laura Godwin at Holt Children's, for publication in Fall 2012, by Marcy Posner of Folio Literary Management (Kelly) and Erin Murphy of Erin Murphy Literary Agency (Young).

Children's: Picture book
David Milgrim's GOODNIGHT iPAD: A 2-G PARODY, written under the pseudonym Ann Droyd, for parents and children alike about how to say goodnight to electronics before bedtime, to David Rosenthal and Sarah Hochman at Blue Rider Press, by Brenda Bowen at Sanford J. Greenburger Associates (World).

NONFICTION
Biography
Jonathan Reggio's HANGING MAN: AI WEIWEI, a biography of the celebrated artist and an original perspective on the contemporary political power in China, to Eric Chinski at Farrar, Straus, in a nice deal, and to Ambo/Anthos in the Netherlands and to Saggiatore in Italy, by Lisa Baker at Faber and Faber (NA).

Cooking
Bestselling author, Food Network star, and lifestyle expert Sandra Lee's two cookbooks focusing on healthful, quick-scratch meals; an entertaining/lifestyle book; and two novels, for publication starting in Fall 2011 in tandem with the re-launch of Lee's "Sandra's Money Saving Meals" television show, to Ellen Archer at Hyperion (World).
The deal includes plans by Disney Interactive Media Group to develop a web platform and 15-episode online cooking series.

Owners of Cakelava in Kailua, Hawaii, Rick Reichart, of TLC's Cake Crew, and Sasha Reichart's EXTREME CAKEOVERS, a cake decorating cookbook with 40 projects for easily transforming ho-hum supermarket sheet cakes and other common store-bought ingredients, including candies and doughnuts, into spectacular cakes that look like they came out of a specialty bakery, with stunning before and after photos, to Rica Allannic and Ashley Phillips at Clarkson Potter, at auction, by Holly Schmidt and Allan Penn at Hollan Publishing (World).

History/Politics/Current Affairs
Donald Trump's vision for bringing America back to "number one," to Regnery, for publication in fall 2011.

Former Senate Select Committee on Intelligence professional staff member and current Harvard Kennedy School of Government instructor on national security policy Eric Rosenbach and former CIA Counterterrorism Center analyst Aki Peritz's THE HUNT: Inside America's Find-Fix-Finish Campaigns and Winning the War on Terror, on how the U.S. is much safer today because of the radical counterterrorism strategies developed and refined since 9/11 and culminating in the killing of Osama bin Laden, to Clive Priddle at Public Affairs, for publication in early 2012, by Matthew Carnicelli at Carnicelli Literary Management (World).

Memoir
30-year Navy SEAL and SEAL Team 6 veteran, Don Mann's memoir, co-witten by Ralph Pezzulo, author of bestselling JAWBREAKER, to Geoff Shandler and John Parsley at Little, Brown, for publication in Fall 2011, by Heather Mitchell at Gelfman Schneider.

New York Times contributor, artist and author Leanne Shapton's SWIMMING STORIES, an illustrated collection of autobiographical stories about Shapton's life as a swimmer, exploring her training as a teenager for the 1988 and '92 Olympic trials, the competitive pressures and meditative calm found in the sport and the pastime, to Sarah Hochman at Blue Rider Press, in a two-book deal, by Andrew Wylie at The Wylie Agency (NA). Shapton's most recent book, IMPORTANT ARTIFACTS, is currently under option to Plan B/Paramount Pictures, with Brad Pitt and Natalie Portman attached to star in the lead roles.

Narrative
A reissue of Susan Orlean's SATURDAY NIGHT, a guided tour of Saturday night in America, updated by the author, to Jofie Ferrari-Adler at Simon & Schuster, for release in October to coincide with publication of RIN TIN TIN, by Richard Pine at Inkwell Management.

Julian Guthrie's THE BILLIONAIRE AND THE MECHANIC, the behind-the-scenes story of the unlikely partnership forged between software billionaire Larry Ellison and a blue-collar mechanic during their audacious bid to win the America's Cup, featuring sailing lore, technological wonder, and an inside look into the competition and camaraderie of the world's top yacht clubs, to Morgan Entrekin at Grove/Atlantic, for publication in Spring 2013, by Joe Veltre at Gersh Agency (NA).

Sports
NYT columnist Harvey Araton's DRIVING MR. YOGI, a poignant and inspiring portrait of one of baseball's most unique kinships, between Ron Guidry, the Cy Young Award-winning former Yankees pitcher and Hall of Fame catcher turned national treasure, Yogi Berra, as revisited every spring at spring training; Yogi Berra and Ron Guidry are participating in the project, to Susan Canavan at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, at auction, for publication in Spring 2012, by Andrew Blauner of Blauner Books Literary Agency (world).

UK
Asia Bibi's BLASPHEMY, sentenced to death over a glass of water, falsely accused of blasphemy, the author sends a call for help from behind prison walls; two men have tried to come to her aid: the governor of Punjab and the Pakistani Minister for Minorities; both have been violently assassinated, to Lennie Goodings at Virago; Francesco Anzelmo at Mondadori in Italy; Hans-Peter Ubleis at Droemer-Knaur in Germany, by Andrea Field at Oh! Editions.
afield@xoeditions.com

Canada
Michael Vlessides's THE ICE PILOTS: Flying with the Mavericks of the Great White North, tie-in to the TV show, following the adventures of the most unorthodox flyboys on Earth; renegade Arctic airline Buffalo Airways defies the cold and the competition by using WWII-era propeller planes to haul vital fuel, supplies, and passengers to remote outposts across the world's last great wilderness, to Trena White at Douglas & McIntyre.

Wrap...

Patriot Act Stinks....

2011-05-25T22:00:00.000-07:00

From Secrecy News:

SEN. WYDEN DECRIES "SECRET LAW" ON PATRIOT ACT

An amendment offered on May 24 by Sen. Ron Wyden would have challenged the Administration's reliance on what he called "secret law" and required the Attorney General to explain the legal basis for its intelligence collection activities under the USA PATRIOT Act. But that and other proposed amendments to the PATRIOT Act have been blocked in the Senate.

"The public will be surprised... when they learn about some of the interpretations of the PATRIOT Act," Sen. Wyden said, based on his access to classified correspondence between the Justice Department and the Senate Intelligence Committee.

"U.S. Government officials should not secretly reinterpret public laws and statutes in a manner that is inconsistent with the public's understanding of these laws or describe the execution of these laws in a way that misinforms or misleads the public."

"We can have honest and legitimate disagreements about exactly how broad intelligence collection authorities ought to be, and members of the public do not expect to know all of the details about how those authorities are used," Sen. Wyden said. "But I hope each Senator would agree that the law itself should not be kept secret and that the government should always be open and honest with the American people about what the law means."

But the Senate moved toward cloture on reauthorization of the PATRIOT Act provisions and the Wyden amendment, which was co-sponsored by several Senate colleagues, was not permitted to be offered or to be voted upon.

The House Judiciary Committee issued a report last week on the reauthorization of surveillance provisions in the USA PATRIOT Act, with a lengthy dissent from the minority members of the Committee. See "FISA Sunsets Reauthorization Act of 2011," House Report 112-79, part 1, May 18, 2011.

In 2008, then-Sen. Russ Feingold chaired a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on "Secret Law and the Threat to Democratic and Accountable Government."

Wrap...

Voting For Prez in 2012....

2011-05-22T13:35:00.000-07:00

Tell you what...I'm having a hell of a frustrating time trying to figure out who, if anyone, I'm gonna vote for in 2012. And I'm not the only one. At least one of my writer friends says she may not vote at all, given the lousy choices. More...we're both Dems. Or at least, we always have been in the past.

So this set of choices just stinks. Wish there were a viable 3rd party. Wonder why the Greens aren't really publicizing their candidate. Or are they? I have no idea.

Just really don't like being in this situation.

Wrap...

Paul Krugman Tells All....

2011-05-13T17:28:00.000-07:00

Paul Krugman, in his New York Times column on "Seniors, Guns, and Money", starts out:

"This has to be one of the funniest political stories of recent weeks: On Tuesday, 42 freshmen Republican members of Congress sent a letter urging President Obama to stop Democrats from engaging in “Mediscare” tactics — that is, to stop saying that the Republican budget plan released early last month, which would end Medicare as we know it, is a plan to end Medicare as we know it."

Read it at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/13/opinion/13krugman.html

Wrap...

Missing Person Alert...

2011-05-13T16:39:00.000-07:00

May 13, 2011 (Santa Ysabel)--The Sheriff's Search and Rescue (SAR) and deputies from the Pine Valley Substation are looking for a missing 63-year-old woman. Patricia McGinn was last seen walking away from her car in the 4800 block of Mountainbrook Road at 11:30 a.m.

The area is near the Inaja Memorial Park (Thomas Guide page 1135-C4) in Santa Ysabel. Patricia McGinn is a white female, 5 feet 8 inches tall, with gray hair. She was last seen wearing a light blue shirt and dark blue pants.

It's unclear at this time, why she wandered away from her car. If you've seen Patricia McGinn, please call (858) 565-5200.If you have photos or eye-witness info on a wildfire, please email editor@eastcountymagazine.org or post in the comments section at the bottom of the article on our homepage.

Watch for updates at
www.EastCountyMagazine.org .

If you received this from a friend, sign up for free Viejas Wildfire & Emergency alerts, as well as a free weekly newsletter from East County Magazine, via email by clicking the link at the top right side of our homepage at www.EastCountyMagazine.org
You can also follow ViejasAlerts at www.Twitter.com to receive alerts on your cell phone or mobile device.

Wrap...

Education...Begging For Mercy....

2011-05-12T13:11:00.000-07:00

Reading,'Riting and Revenues

by Gail Collins

May 11, 2011
American education is going to be reformed until it rolls over and begs for mercy. Vouchers! Guns on campus! Just the other day, the Florida State Legislature took a giant step toward ending the scourge of droopy drawers in high school by upping the penalties for underwear-exposing pants.

Today, let’s take a look at the privatization craze and the conviction that there is nothing about molding young minds that can’t be improved by the profit motive.

Enrollment in for-profit colleges has ballooned to almost two million, propelled by more than $25 billion in federal student loans, many of which are apparently never going to be repaid. More than 700 public K-12 schools around the country are now managed by for-profit companies. Last week, in Ohio, the State House went for the whole hog and approved legislation that would allow for-profit businesses to open up their own taxpayer-financed charter schools.

“It takes the public out of public education,” complained Bill Sims of the Ohio Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

This exciting new plan, which seemed to have been inserted into the state budget bill by a magical invisible hand, would also reduce oversight. It got a rave review in The Columbus Dispatch from an op-ed contributor named Thomas Needles, who cheered legislators for trying to end the “drip-drop of wrongheaded regulation” of charter schools.

Needles is a consultant for White Hat Management, the largest company currently managing charter schools in Ohio — and with none too great a record, according to the National Education Policy Center, which said that only 2 percent of the schools White Hat runs have scored well on yearly progress tests. The owner of White Hat is a gynormous donor to the state Republican Party. Not that that would make any difference. Just saying.

So that’s the pathbreaking privatization news in Ohio. Now let’s take a look at Texas, which has been leading the way in putting for-profit companies in charge of certifying teachers.

“Very interesting and very disturbing,” said Linda Darling-Hammond, a professor of education at Stanford who studies teacher certification issues. Darling-Hammond says that when the federal government began demanding certified teachers in every classroom, Texas was among the states that responded by creating alternative certification programs, some of which have requirements slightly less rigorous than those for the trainers at neighborhood gyms. Most of the new teachers in Texas — particularly at schools in poor neighborhoods — come from alternative certification programs.

Then, the Legislature invited for-profit businesses into the game. “Ever since then, the innovation and competition has been phenomenal,” claimed Vernon Reaser, the president of Texas Teachers, the largest of the state’s alt-cert companies.

Here is one indicator of how innovative things are getting. Texas is currently considering — although not with any great intensity — a bill that would require that people who go through these programs spend a couple of days practice teaching before they are turned loose in their own classrooms.

The sponsor is Representative Mike Villarreal of San Antonio. Villarreal first came to my attention as the legislator who proposed requiring that the course content in public school sex education classes be medically accurate. The man has a positive genius for coming up with bills to make the Texas education system do something we really had assumed it had been doing all along. None of which make it out of committee.

At a public hearing on Villarreal’s bill, Reaser vigorously denounced the idea of requiring would-be teachers to actually get classroom experience as part of their training: “Practice teachers in front of kids that aren’t practice learning!”

To get an alternative teaching certificate in Texas you need to take coursework and have 30 hours of “field-based” experience, 15 of which can be spent watching videos. Villarreal says some programs fill up the other 15 with things like chaperoning field trips.

It’s not clear how many people get hired as full-time teachers without ever having stood in front of a classroom for a single hour. The $4,195 Texas Teachers program (its ubiquitous billboards read: “Want to Teach? When Can You Start?”) is a little opaque. For instance, Reaser assured me in a phone conversation that his students were required to have a variety of in-person interactions with their instructors even though the Web site says you can opt for “fully online instruction.”

“On our Web site, we intentionally don’t say everything,” Reaser explained. “It’s basically to get you to call us and ask us.”

When we all started clamoring for more investment in education, I don’t think we envisioned it going into corporate profits. We have seen the future, and the good news is that the kids in Florida will be wearing belts.

Wrap...

Asking & Telling...Navy Style....

2011-05-11T17:57:00.000-07:00

Marching into Trouble

by

Keith Taylor

Late this month the graduating midshipmen will march into the Naval Academy's Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Their college days over, they will now start their education. The new ensigns will have a lot to learn from those who have "Been there. Done that." And they better pay attention.

Something's wrong afloat. You could get the admirals confused with reality talk show hosts the way they're firing their captains. So far ten skippers have been relieved for cause.

It's baffling to this old sailor. Starting in 1947, I served 22 years, nine months, and 11 days, more or less. They called it a man's navy in those days. Today, thirty percent of our sailors, officer and enlisted, are women. The women aren't meek, compliant ones either. One recently lost her job as skipper of a cruiser because she was a foul-mouthed martinet.

This un-meek lady punctuated her orders with the same cuss words I used in boot camp. She threw coffee cups. She threatened to throttle a junior officer, and demonstrated how it would be done by grasping his throat with her hands. She ran over a whale.

One would expect that most of the firings would be for mistakes in ship handling or for abuse of power. But no. Most were for the very human failure of personal misconduct, usually involving sex or liquor. That's not surprising because lots of guys sign on because of sex or liquor, usually both.

And they love going where it is. Ask any old salt to name his favorite liberty port. Don't be surprised to learn Adak isn't on the list.

Their alleged acts in several "good" ports in the Mediterranean included drunkenness, inappropriate dancing, fighting between chief petty officers, and fraternization up and down the pay grades -- Sounded about like what we called one helluva liberty. The commanding officer, command master chief, six other chiefs, one junior officer and one petty officer were removed from the ship as of March 1.

The commander of a aviation patrol squadron near Seattle, did what an officer is expected to do after he'd screwed up and got caught doing what he wasn't supposed to do. When a cop arrested him for driving drunk he was assured no report would be made to his superiors. Regulations stipulated that personnel arrested for DWI be reported to his command. He reported himself and got fired. Our Navy lost another good officer. Navy Times reported last year he was a finalist for the 2010 Vice Adm. James Stockdale leadership award. I hope his fitness report mentions his honesty and courage for doing what he was expected to do.

The executive officer, and presumptive captain of the USS Enterprise was rated by two of his former commanding officers as being perfect. From his fitness reports we would assume if there had been a category "better than perfect," he'd have been marked up to that status.

Perfect wasn't good enough, not when he did was what sailors of all ranks have done after their ships slip over the horizon and out of sight of land. He entertained his shipmates with bawdy jokes and by filming skits which crossed that ephemeral line of propriety.

Was he guilty? Sure. Was it offensive? Yeah, most skits of this sort are. Did he have permission? No. but others above him sat in on the skits and laughed along with the crew. He was fired.

But, is it as bad as all that? Yes. In spite of automatic responses about a small percent of a bad apples, it is a fetid mess when Navy Times blares "five firings in ten days" from the front page. Something is wrong here that cannot be cured by bromides. The command structure that has allowed the mess to grow was put together by nabobs who were once ensigns. Today's new ensigns will find themselves caught up in a frenzy to fix a broken system.

So is there a lesson in all this for those brand new ensigns? Yeah. the sailors down in the crew's quarters know what it is -- Cover your derriere. Some of the sailors might not use those exact words though.

Have a fair wind and a following sea maties.
************************************

//Keith Taylor retired from the navy as a junior officer some forty years ago. He can be reached at krtaylorxyz@aol.com

Wrap...

Images of bin Laden...

2011-05-11T17:52:00.000-07:00

Old Man With Clicker
By MAUREEN DOWD
HOLLYWOOD

There were differences.

She had a dead chimp. He had a live water buffalo. She had an Isotta Fraschini with leopard-skin upholstery. He had a Suzuki van. She used tuberoses.

He used Avena syrup, an herbal Viagra. She liked Champagne and caviar.

He liked Coca-Cola and Pepsi. She had a script. He had a Koran. She had a white telephone. He had no telephone.

But the similarities were striking. The faded murderous glamour queen and faded murderous terror king relied on drivers to negotiate their relations with the world. Married multiple times, they were both ensconced with lovers half their age in high-priced villas that shut out the world, vainly looking at old videos of themselves and primping, hoping for spectacular comebacks that would wow their fans.

Instead, Justice pounded up the stairs.

Maybe it’s because I watched the videos of Osama bin Laden released by the Obama administration while staying at the Sunset Tower Hotel on Sunset Boulevard. But seeing him holed up in his room, looking pathetic with white beard and blankie, gazing at himself on screen in his heyday, Osama was oh so Norma Desmond (with a dash of Woody Allen in “Bananas”).“I am big,” he might have sneered. “It’s the thumb drives that got small.”

The C.I.A. is playing mind games — both with Al Qaeda, trying to show its slain leader as a pitiable figure, and with Pakistan, sending a message that we may have even more information than we do, and that double-dealing Pakistanis had best cooperate because they could be embarrassed, too.

I don’t think we need to worry about inflaming Al Qaeda. They come pre-inflamed. But the C.I.A.’s propaganda message is a bit mixed. On the one hand, Osama seems risible, an old man with a clicker trapped in a dorm room. On the other, intelligence sources have said that the cloistered, swaddled Bin Laden was still a threat, plotting more transportation cataclysms here. Pitiable or potent? Make up your minds.

When American officials wanted to scare the world about the Soviet threat, they would show surveillance shots of missiles. But now, in the age of technology and terror, the dire threats come from much more homely adversaries. They can emanate from the nondescript third floor of a house in a picturesque hamlet in Pakistan.

Just because Bin Laden didn’t look like a Bond villain stalking around some elaborate lair didn’t make him less of a threat.

The monster’s myth-making and video-star turns are over. Now Hollywood will have its say. There’s probably someone right this minute pitching Bravo on “The Real Housewives of Abbottabad.”

The inside track goes to director Kathryn Bigelow and screenwriter Mark Boal, the pair who won Oscars for “The Hurt Locker,” a movie about a bomb-defusing team of soldiers in Iraq that was so tense you thought your head would explode.

Boal, who lived in New York and went to ground zero on 9/11, has covered the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq as a journalist. He and Bigelow began working on a movie about the hunt for Bin Laden in 2008 — at a time when President Bush and Hollywood suits had put the terrorist leader on the back burner.

“After the lack of appetite when we were raising money for ‘The Hurt Locker,’ Kathryn and I thought it was not a bad sign that we were doing something that people were not interested in,” Boal said dryly.

Studios shy away from making movies about unpopular wars we’re still stuck in, but Boal, who lives here now, disagrees. “Why wait?” he asked. “I might be retired by the time we get out of Afghanistan. Don’t you want to live in a world where artists mix it up in the culture in a timely way?”

He knows, however, that mixing it up about Osama can be dangerous, and is conscious of “the security ramifications.”

He and Bigelow optioned a book written anonymously by a Delta Force commander at Tora Bora, where Osama slipped away in 2001. And about a year ago, Boal learned that the hunt for Osama had intensified.

Then the Navy Seal Team 6 dropped from the Pakistan sky. And now the duo, planning for a 2012 release, have an exciting ending and excited financiers.

“We’ve certainly been getting more calls from studios,” Boal says wryly. “We were charging ahead with a movie that ended in Tora Bora with Bin Laden still alive. Now we have a definitive ending.”

He said he’s been surprised by some of the reaction on the left against the Navy Seal unit taking out Bin Laden, noting: “The debate about whether there should have been a trial feels a little bit like looking a gift horse in the mouth.”

Osama is ready for his close-up. But it’s going to be less flattering — and more final — than he intended.

Wrap...

On This Mother's Day...a story...

2011-05-08T17:57:00.000-07:00

excerpt from "Epiphany of an Atheist:

A Memory of Mom

by Keith Taylor

1 Mom went to every funeral she could get to in the Model A. One time she got word of a relative who had died over in Ohio, more than a hundred miles away. She got her old pal, Cindy, to go along and off they went. It was a long ways for the old car, and, as usual, she didn’t get started on time. But a fur’nal was waiting and if she was late, she could visit with folks afterwards.

Late she was. A couple wrong turns and then they had to find the church, but she made it just about the time the show got started. This funeral was larger than she’d expected for Joe, who hadn’t amounted to much in the first place. Somehow Mom and Cindy managed to find seats together in the middle of the church..

“Heck-a-daisies,” she later told us. “I looked around and didn’t recognize a soul. Folks was a’lookin’ right back like they didn’t know us either.

“I said, ‘Cindy, do you know any of these folks?’

“Well, Cindy didn’t, but you know her. She would forget her own brother sometimes. Well anyhow we couldn’t do much except just sit there. Pretty soon the preacher come out and gave the sermon. It was a good one I reckon, but that sure wasn’t Joe he was talkin’ about.

“By this time, Cindy and I had put two and two together and figured out what happened, but we had to stay put. Pretty soon the procession started past the casket. We went along; I knew it couldn’t be Joe, but I had to see for myself anyhow. Sure as heck it wasn’t. It was some big fat guy I never saw before.

“You know Cindy would say something. Loud enough for other folks to hear, she whispered, ‘Looks like Joe put on a little weight, but he looks pretty good all the same.’

“I started laughing and Cindy nearly peed herself. We looked around and some of the folks had figured out what happened and they started laughing right along with us.

“Afterwards we talked to some of the people and they asked us over to the house because they had more food than they could eat. They was the nicest folks you would ever want to meet too. We had a dandy time.”

Oh, I suppose a story reconstructed from memory might not be precise in its detail, but Mom did go to the wrong funeral in Ohio. And she did stay around for the food. She made a lot of new friends and she found she knew some of their relatives in Indiana too. If Icie Taylor didn’t know someone, she knew someone they knew. Unlike Will Rogers, Mom didn’t always like everybody she met, but she’d talk to them anyhow.

Funerals, including hers are some of my fondest memories of Mom. She died in 1978 and hers would have been one she liked -- even the squabble by my two elder sisters, Wanda and Roberta. It started over something years before I was born, and was part of every family get-together . Likely that wouldn’t have spoiled it for Mom though. Nobody was going to control a fifty year-old squabble. She generally got involved herself.

Otherwise, the funeral was about what one would expect in northern Indiana. Just about everybody who knew Icie came and said how nice she looked as she lay in the casket which she would have said cost too much money. Still, she would have though it was pretty, but there were way too many cut flowers. Mom always liked real flowers, not cut flowers from the florist. I thought both were real, but never pushed the point.

I sat in the church during Mom’s funeral, reflecting that all-in-all it had been a good one. Mom would surely have kept track of the folks who cried, and she would have liked the nice casket even if it did cost too much. She’d have delighted in all her old friends and all the laughter. Even the cut flowers would have been important. They were a way of keeping score, and she’d done well.

To my surprise, I’d found that throughout the days at the funeral home I had laughed just like Mom had all those times. It seemed appropriate too. By 1978 I had left religion out of the picture and didn't worry about whether Mom -- or Dad for that matter -- were in heaven.

I mourned her death of course, and have so many warm memories of my mother, but it's hard to be sad when you remember so many wonderful things about a wonderful person.

Despite the prediction of every evangelical preacher Mom's knee didn't bend. She simply met death stoically. Even during her last desperate months in the nursing home when she drifted into and out of rational thought, she refused to attend chapel services or do more than give a grudging hello to a visiting preacher. Still, there was one of them up there preaching. At least he wasn’t shouting; Mom hated that. Icie Taylor’s signature comment on religion was “poo shit.” She didn’t say it in front of some people of course, but she said it a lot otherwise. Somewhat redundant, the precise meaning is vague.

I am a sentimental guy and easily given to tears. They weren’t too far away by the time the preacher said was in the arms of Jesus.

I couldn’t help but think poo shit. After all, I was Icie’s boy. Afterwards, my niece said I had a half smile during the rest of the sermon. Someone later commented that they admired my faith in the lord. That would have made Icie Taylor laugh right out loud, maybe say poo shit.

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Privacy...All Gone....

2011-05-08T17:44:00.000-07:00

DOMESTIC INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE GREW IN 2010

By every available measure, the level of domestic intelligence surveillance activity in 2010 increased from the year before, according to a new Justice Department report to Congress on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

"During calendar year 2010, the Government made 1,579 applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (hereinafter 'FISC') for authority to conduct electronic surveillance and/or physical searches for foreign intelligence purposes," according to the new report (pdf). This compares to a reported 1,376 applications in 2009. (In 2008, however, the reported figure -- 2,082 -- was quite a bit higher.)

In 2010, the government made 96 applications for access to business records (and "tangible things") for foreign intelligence purposes, up from 21 applications in 2009.

And in 2010, the FBI made 24,287 "national security letter" requests for information pertaining to 14,212 different U.S. persons, a substantial increase from the 2009 level of 14,788 NSL requests concerning 6,114 U.S. persons. (In 2008, the number of NSL requests was 24,744, pertaining to 7,225 persons.)

While the 2010 figures are below the record high levels of a few years ago, they are considerably higher than they were, say, a decade ago. There is no indication that intelligence oversight activity and capacity have grown at the same rate.

A copy of the latest report to Congress, dated April 29, was released under the Freedom of Information Act.

A recent report from the Congressional Research Service addressed "Amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Set to Expire May 27, 2011" (pdf). FISA Amendments in the USA Patriot Act were discussed at a House Judiciary Committee hearing on "Reauthorization of the Patriot Act" (pdf) on March 9, 2011, the record of which has just been published. Related issues were discussed in another House Judiciary Committee hearing on "Permanent Provisions of the Patriot Act" (pdf) on March 30, 2011.

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Bodyboarding is...easy?

2011-05-02T17:52:00.000-07:00

The Wave, a Metaphor

by

Keith Taylor

The old man and his bodyboard ducked under the last wave and popped up in the smooth, green water on the seaward side. He was now out where the big ones would break. The sun peeked between two high-rise apartments to greet him. It shot a beam of light across his little sliver of the Pacific. The dark water caught the sun’s rays and reflected back its own emerald hue, an iridescent emerald.

This was the best time of the day. The surface was smooth as glass, and the waves broke sharp and clean. According to the weather reports, a storm off New Zealand had kicked up some dandies; they were supposed to arrive this morning.

The kid was already out there. He rested easily on top of his bodyboard, as if his lithe body had been sculpted for it.

The old man greeted the youngster, “Hey kid, where’s your grandpa this morning?”

“He’s home chasing grandma around the bedroom, not farting around on a silly piece of plastic.” The kid always gave a smart-ass answer.

“Some day I’ll meet your parents, and I’ll tell them you’re a dirty-mouthed kid.” The old man was smiling, but he wished the youngster wouldn’t always include his little dig about his own sex life.

They had forged an unusual friendship over the past several months, alone on the early-morning waves. The old man was retired; time didn’t matter to him. The kid didn’t seem to have much of a schedule either. Kids nowadays didn’t.

Together they would kill time waiting on those big ones. They would just talk and wait. It was nice out there—no newspapers, radios or TV sets—not even a cell phone. Their early morning spot in the Pacific was a special sanctuary. Whatever happened ashore was left ashore. Neither the Middle East nor the president bothered him. Even that that damn hole in the ozone layer could be forgotten until he returned to the beach. He wondered if the kid worried about such things. Hell, did he even know about them? Some day he’d ask him, maybe.

Then, a nice wave came along and the kid caught it. He disappeared behind the crest and left the old man alone with his thoughts. He envied the kid’s youth. Some guys welcome old age. It means they no longer have to prove things. Others deny their age with facelifts, liposuction, Grecian Formula, young women, and sports cars.

The old man wasn’t quite sure where he fit in. The young women would be fun, but he realized that the smiles he was getting simply meant they now considered him harmless. “God,” he wondered, “was he?”

He remembered his own fourteenth year. He was helping win World War II by working for his uncle, raising potatoes and onions on his Indiana farm. It didn’t seem so long ago. As a kid he hoped they could keep the war going until he could get his licks in. At fourteen he knew exactly what war would be like. Heck, every week the theater in Warsaw had a new war movie and they were accurate. His uncles, home on leave from For Benjamin Harrison down in Indianapolis told him so.

It turned out he missed that war by a year or so, but as soon as he could he joined the Army where he stayed for 23 years. nearly more than seventy years and several other wars later, the old man had enough of them. Still he was sure he had been saddled with the responsibility of saving the world. Sometimes he forgot about that responsibility out there on the waves though.

The kid and the bodyboard provided a link with his own youth, even though he had plenty of reminders that it was gone and how reluctant he was to really let it go. His own children bought him a bicycle a while back. He “took a header,” as they called it, the first week and skinned both his arm and hip; his head was saved by a helmet. Helmets are mandatory for kids; they should be for geezers.

The previous April the old man and his son took three of his pre-teen granddaughters on a hiking expedition into the Grand Canyon. They eschewed the jackasses and hiked all the way to the bottom and back. A year or so back, he and a couple of his boys had hiked to the top of both Half Dome and Mount Whitney. He’d even struggled through a couple of marathons to celebrate both his 70th and 72nd birthdays..

Each adventure was a triumph, but each was a stark reminder that old age was moving toward him inexorably, just like those waves from New Zealand. Hills got higher; campsites got farther apart. On his runs, it took longer to reach the check points. One of his fingers hung askew; it had slammed into the bottom of the ocean on a bad ride a couple years ago, and a tendon had popped loose. His eldest grandson finally beat him in a tennis match. His back hurt more every year. The doctor had just put him on a strict, low fat diet because of a high blood-sugar count. Breakfast started with a handful of pills.

The doc explained, “That’s to be expected with old age.” That mantra was getting to be a pain in the ass.

Damn! As that kid might say, bad vibes followed him everywhere. Now they were intruding on his thoughts even out on the ocean. He didn’t even realize the kid had returned until he heard him shout, “Hey gramps, Here comes the one we been waiting on.”

Wow, was it ever! The really great waves sometimes sneak in among the two or three footers. It would be a job just to stay on top of this one. The old man jockeyed about, a few feet this way and a few feet that, trying to guess where the monster from down under would break. Position is everything for a bodyboarder, especially one who is a little too old and slow to make a last minute correction. A bit too far out and the wave will slide right on by, too far in and the damn thing will catch a guy in the curl and turn him upside down. Usually it’ll slam him right into the bottom. Broken necks go with the sport. Old, brittle bones snap easily.

The wave moved inexorably toward the old man and the kid. Then, things started to move. The kelp was sucked into the wave. The water became so shallow he could see the bottom. The crest loomed high above his head, so high he had to crane his neck to see the top. Out of the corner of his eye he saw his young friend turn to catch it. The kid didn’t hesitate; his young bones were not yet brittle. At any rate the young pip-squeak wouldn’t let one like this go by, not with the old man out there watching him. The kid was a natural showoff.

It was a monster; that was for sure. This was one the old man could tell his grandkids about—if he lived through it. He followed the young lad’s lead and pointed the nose of his board toward the shore.

He was ready for it, and in the right position. Now, it was simply kick ONE TWO THREE with the fins, push ahead of the foaming crest, and it would be his. Like the seaweed, he was drawn into the wave. It picked him up from the shallow water. He looked down the front, waaay down. Recently the old man had visited Yosemite where he peeked over a waterfall. The wave looked just like that. The drop would be tremendous. The push off had better be perfect.

The kid gave a yelp and went over first. He got the whole thing! The old man, down the wave a little bit, waited a split second for the exact moment. Then he kicked ONE TWO—and pulled back. The wave broke with a roar, headed toward the beach like a runaway freight train. It left him behind.

Shit!

“Oh well.” He thought, “Old folks aren’t supposed to catch big waves anyhow. This is a sport for kids.

But, he didn’t mean it. He had chickened out.

The old man watched from behind for the first sign of the kid. The lad was good--damn good! He could do flips, turns, barrel-rolls, and disappear into the “green room” beneath the curl. He could even pop back over the top of the wave just like one of those characters in a video game.

Sure enough, the youngster came flying back over the top in a maneuver the old man could only admire, not match.

“Jesus, what a ride, kid, you’re good.” The compliment was unnecessary, like telling Tony Gwynn he could hit. Still, he had given that thing a heluva ride!

Even before he could accept the plaudits the kid saw the next one, “Hey gray-haired old fart, you got the balls to catch that one coming?”

My god. Another monster was on the way. This was the second one within a minute or so. The waves had traveled across two hemispheres just to crash on the sands of San Diego’s Pacific Beach, and to give a bodyboarder a heluva ride—if he did indeed have to balls to get in front of it.

With a bravado he didn’t really feel, the old man answered the kid, “Hell yes. They ain’t built a wave so big I can’t handle. I aim to take her straight in.”

What in the hell had he done? He’d backed off the first one, now he claimed dibs on another, even larger one. One thing for sure, that kid would be watching him. The old man realized he had his own audience to impress. Ya don’t get too old to be a showoff.

Again, he looked up at the crest, higher than before. Again, the wave pulled the seaweed, then him, into it. Again he had to make a decision. When he got to the top, he kicked ONE TWO THREE.

Every great wave brings its own special moment of terror. The bodyboarder has to make his own decision of what to do about it. This time the old man pushed the board forward and it caught.

It was like he’d gone from zero to 73-miles-per hour, one mile for each year of his life. The drop was so huge he felt like a parachutist in a free fall. Aerodynamic skills suddenly became as important as surfing skills. Another bodyboarder was on the way out. She saw him fly down the front of the wave right at her, and ducked under the water.

He went down into the foam, blinded. Cold water beat its way into his wet suit chilling the very balls the kid had questioned. Then, the old man realized he had won. The terror lasts just one moment, no more. If a guy wipes out, his concern becomes his neck, literally. If he stays on top of the board, and the board stays on top of the water the moment of terror passes.

When the old man opened his eyes, he was on top of the water. He had overtaken the foam and was simply flying along like a bird—a graceful, unfettered, gray-haired, sore-backed, ancient, bird. The danger was past and the ride was over. He could stop and go back to catch another.

“Nope,” He told himself, “This wave came all the way from New Zealand just for me. I’ll ride it right into the sand. I earned the right.”

From the distance he heard a voice call out: “Way to go you old fart."

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The Sticking Place...

2011-04-30T18:07:00.000-07:00

Here is a book that absolutely should not be missed if ever you've wondered what a San Diego policeman's day asks of him.

Even as I write, there's a squad car parked across the street from our house where a neighbor's home was burglarized this morning. Seems the home was entered thru the opened bathroom window. The thieves took jewelry...both old and new, opened the front door and left.

Amazing. This is a quiet neighborhood but lately been a lot of car and home burglaries occuring. Only thing I can figure out is that someone new has moved nearby.

T.B. Smith wrote "The Sticking Place." The man knows what he's talkin' about. He was a San Diego policeman for 27 years. Ended his career as a Lieutenant.

More, this is the fastest reading book I've ever met. Here's the opening sentence:

"Phillip McGrath was on his way to kill somebody." And sure enough, he did.

3rd page begins Chapter 2: Twenty-three-year-old Police trainee Luke Jones was one person who would deal with the mess.

What mess?: McGrath spread his legs, propped the rifle between them, swallowed the barrel and pulled the trigger. With no regard for who would deal with the mess.

Tim Smith's book is no mess. He's a hell of a fine writer. Do not miss reading "The Sticking Place."

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Having My Say...

2011-04-28T18:18:00.000-07:00

April 28, 2011...

Would I ever live anywhere else? Never. Right now, the sky is solid blue and San Diego is absolutely blanketed with masses of flowers. Can't go a single block in any direction without seeing flowers of every kind and color.

Been doing what I normally do and that's reading the news...Have BBC for a home page. Good one, too. Had the NY Times until they started charging. Nope. Too many other good choices. If I didn't already subscribe to the LA Times, that paper would be my home page.

But I do. And subscribe to the San Diego Union-Tribune too...a pitiful excuse for a newspaper if there ever was one.

I go out to breakfast every morning and I want those papers in hand to read while I'm there. Been doing that for years. Breakfast without the papers is unthinkable.

Much writing and speculating on Obama's birth certificate lately. Between Trump and that unbelievable Orly Taitz...GAWD! Talk about ignorant!!! Laurence O'Donnell got so fed up with her that he had her thrown off his show. I approve.

I, along with a lot of others, want our military out of Iraq, out of Afghanistan. NOW. Why the hell we're still there, I will never know. Originally, until George W Bush screwed everything up, our guys had Osama bin Laden trapped and were within an hour or so of capturing him...and capturing him was the ONLY reason we ever sat foot in that place. 10 years later, we're still there. Obama says he's starting to bring the guys home in July.

But look at the people he's just nominated to serve in DC. I can only say that I'm hoping they're not gonna behave as that ass, Donald Rumsfeld, did. We won't even discuss that s.o.b., Cheney.

I don't write many posts, but just wanted to have my say at the moment.

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Rules of Discourse....

2011-04-27T13:04:00.001-07:00

Grumble Grumble

by

Keith Taylor

I disagree with what you say but I’ll defend unto the death your right to say it.

If Voltaire were alive today he’d have a hard time selling that idea, and it was such an impressive idea too. A radio program of the 1940s, Mr. District Attorney, appropriated the line for a stirring lead-in. I knew what Voltaire said before I knew who he was.

Sadly the brightest light of the Enlightenment is out of date.

In today's cyberspace age he would have to say I disagree with what you say but I’ll defend unto the death your right to forward it incessantly even if it's nonsense.

Veracity is taking a beating nowadays. With the immense traffic jam on the information highway most folks just give up and choose what they want to believe.

Then they send it to me via twitter, I-Pod, or the increasingly obsolescent e-mail. Breathless discoveries are passed around at the speed of light. And so are disagreements. Old friends send me things they know will upset me, then get upset if I disagree. It's rough for a geezer like me. Many relationships built up over decades have become strained. Quite a few have been knocked for a loop.

We need some rules of discourse. I have written ten. I hope they help.

1. If you don’t want your ideas challenged, don’t send them to people who think.

2. Don't be surprised if your recipient ignores such admonitions as “If you don’t agree with this, delete it.” He may just keep it just as a reminder of how arrogant you are.

3. Keep in mind that “Don’t send me that crap” means little if you’re sending crap yourself.

4. Don't claim things without proof as fact unless it is something so obvious it cannot be disputed. “God wants you to vote Republican” does not fit that description.

5. If you don’t care enough about what you send to check it out, someone will take great delight in looking it up and sending his findings to everybody on your mailing list.

6. Claims of the paranormal are encouraged as long as they are accompanied by proof of the paranormal.

7. Believing is not science. Do treat not something as if it is, even if it comes from a politician.

8. Sending an e-mail telling a dissenter to “sit down and shut up” is not the best use of the first amendment.

9. The wisest thing a person can say is “I don’t know.”

10. Or, it might be "I was wrong." I don't know.

10. Don't start to write list of ten rules unless you can count. -30-

*************************
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//Keith Taylor is a retired Navy officer living in Chula Vista. He can be reached at krtaylorxyz@aol.com

Cyber Threats...Pay Attention

2011-04-18T13:44:00.001-07:00

From Secrecy News:

SECRECY OF CYBER THREATS SAID TO CAUSE COMPLACENCY

The American public does not have an accurate sense of the threat posed by attacks in cyberspace because most of the relevant threat information is classified, according to Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), who introduced legislation last week to raise public awareness of cyber security hazards.

"The damage caused by malicious activity in cyberspace is enormous and unrelenting," Sen. Whitehouse said on April 14. "Every year, cyber attacks inflict vast damage on our Nation's consumers, businesses, and government agencies. This constant cyber assault has resulted in the theft of millions of Americans' identities; exfiltration of billions of dollars of intellectual property; loss of countless American jobs; vulnerability of critical infrastructure to sabotage; and intrusions into sensitive government networks."

"These massive attacks have not received the attention they deserve. Instead, we as a nation remain woefully unaware of the risks that cyber attacks pose to our economy, our national security, and our privacy," he said.

"This problem is caused in large part by the fact that cyber threat information ordinarily is classified when it is gathered by the government or held as proprietary when collected by a company that has been attacked. As a result, Americans do not have an appropriate sense of the threats that they face as individual Internet users, the damage inflicted on our businesses and the jobs they create, or the scale of the attacks undertaken by foreign agents against American interests."

With Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ), Sen. Whitehouse introduced the "Cyber Security Public Awareness Act" to require government agencies to provide increased public reporting of cyber threat information.

"As of 2011, the level of public awareness of cyber security threats is unacceptably low. Only a tiny portion of relevant cyber security information is released to the public. Information about attacks on Federal Government systems is usually classified. Information about attacks on private systems is ordinarily kept confidential. Sufficient mechanisms do not exist to provide meaningful threat reports to the public in unclassified and anonymized form," the bill stated.

Last year, Sen. Whitehouse chaired a bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee task force on cyber security.

"The government keeps the damage we are sustaining from cyber attacks secret because it is classified," he said last November. The private sector keeps the damage they are sustaining from cyber attacks secret so as not to look bad to customers, to regulators, and to investors. The net result of that is that the American public gets left in the dark."

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No Obama Classification...

2011-04-12T14:33:00.000-07:00

From Secrecy News:

OBAMA CLASSIFICATION REFORM EFFORT FAILS TO TAKE HOLD

An Obama Administration initiative to curb overclassification of national security information that was announced in December 2009 has produced no known results to date.

The Fundamental Classification Guidance Review, which was mandated by President Obama's executive order 13526 (section 1.9), requires each classifying agency to review all of its existing classification instructions prior to June 2012 and "to identify classified information that no longer requires protection and can be declassified." While more than a year remains to complete the process, it is already behind schedule.

The Department of Defense, the most prolific classifying agency, failed to produce implementing regulations for the executive order in advance of the December 31, 2010 deadline for doing so set by the President. As a result, most DoD components have not even started to review their classification guides, of which there are thousands.

Most recently, U.S. Central Command said that it had no records concerning the Fundamental Classification Guidance Review. "We conducted a thorough and good faith search for responsive information," CENTCOM told us in a March 28 letter (pdf). "Despite our extensive and careful search for documents pertaining to your request, we were unable to locate responsive information."

U.S. European Command, on the other hand, said that it had already completed its Fundamental Review. But it concluded that its existing classification practices were already optimal, so no reductions in classification were required!

"The EUCOM Intelligence Office conducted a review as directed by E.O. 13526 for a Fundamental Classification Guidance Review," EUCOM said (pdf) on January 18. "No inefficiencies were found during the EUCOM review. No documents were produced during the review therefore, EUCOM reports a no records found in response to your FOIA request."

Other agencies, including the Department of Energy, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Department of State seem to be taking a more diligent approach to the Fundamental Review, though even in those cases no specific elimination of any current classification instruction is known to have occurred thus far.

Some significant reductions in Obama Administration classification policy have occurred, including dramatic changes in intelligence budget secrecy and nuclear stockpile secrecy. But these important developments emerged from issue-specific circumstances, and not from systematic classification reform efforts.

Last January, the director of the Information Security Oversight Office wrote to senior agency officials to emphasize the importance of the Fundamental Review and the need for rigorous implementation.

"The scope of this review needs to be systematic, comprehensive, and conducted with thoughtful scrutiny involving detailed data analysis," wrote ISOO director William J. Bosanko. But Mr. Bosanko has recently moved on from ISOO, which awaits appointment of a new director. Meanwhile the Fundamental Review appears stalled and unproductive in much of the executive branch.

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On Not Voting Republican...

2011-04-09T13:05:00.000-07:00

Vote Republican? Like Hell I will!

by

Keith Taylor

Icie Taylor was a cantankerous sort -- called herself as independent as a hog on ice no less. Icie's biggest cantanker was her assessment politics. She just never saw anything good in any Republican. I'm sure she never voted for one, not even if he was a good customer in the dilapidated general store she ran in northern Indiana's smallest hamlet, Sevastopol.

Icie was also my Mom. I idolized her, even though for the first eighty years of my life I was sure she was wrong -- dead wrong -- about Republicans. An entire organization could not possibly be that bad.

Now I'm not so sure, especially when I see the parade of fools holding forth on C-SPAN. One after the other they bloviate on the what they perceive to be the evils of sin and socialism on the floor of the House.

Then I have to wonder if, once again, Mom wasn't right. Nary an idea from those right folks varies from wisdom as perceived by Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, or Bill O'Reilly.

Their virtues would be more evident if they showed the ability to stop yammering about patriotism and showed some. Shutting down the government to protect God's will doesn't do it. Neither did eight years of trying to throw out a very effective president on spurious charges of lying under oath.

As they say in sporting contests, that was a nice try, but lying isn't just for Democrats. The icon of modern conservatism, Ronald Reagan, lied some thirty times under oath.

Some thirty times he smiled, said "by golly," gave us that disarming smile and swore "I don't remember " when he was deposed about the Iran-Contra affair. And in case someone wants to claim the onset of Alzheimers for the record breaking lapse of memory, Ronnie's Veep and successor G. H. W. Bush used the same cop-out. A huge computer couldn't calculate the odds of both forgetting every salient point of the biggest scandal of their administration.

It takes a tremendous leap of imagination to consider lying about a sex act to protect a marriage, a moral equivalency to lying about selling arms to a nation to a belligerent nation in order to help a rebellious one overthrow its own government.

But in a world bounded by lies leaping imaginations abound.

When today's Republicans get going, there is no telling what they will tell us. Truth is what they choose to believe, especially anything that has to do with science. Following the example of that noted climatologist, Rush Limbaugh, they simply choose not to believe climate change is a problem. Research on embryonic stem cells is abortion. So is most birth control.

When they lack proof or empirical evidence, they resort to childish wise cracks. Everybody remember Bush's childish comments about Gore? Ozone head indeed! Limbaugh evokes the same sarcasm with "duddle up duddle up duddle up."

But that was history. How about today?.

Yeah, how about it? It just keeps on getting worse. On the opening of the 112th Congress, the Speaker of the House and the Senate Majority Leader held a special news conference to take their bows. They paid lip service to the debt, national defense, terrorism, unemployment, and all the rest. But their overriding objective was to get rid of Obama!

And lies, the offense for which Clinton was impeached? The party wallowed in them. Not all Republicans told the most egregious ones, but if it fit the overriding objective, even those with a veneer of common sense sat back and smiled as fanatics repeated tales that Obama is a Muslim, socialist, Kenyan, unpatriotic because he didn't salute properly, or whatever sounds good in their zeal to thwart the democratic process.

Surely there are some good folks in today's Republican Party. Am I not being just cantankerous in refusing to even consider supporting them? Oh yes, but "considering" is as far as it goes. When the voting comes, it is unanimous. No dissent in today's Republican Party!

So Icie Taylor would probably smile if she learned that the baby of her family finally agreed with her about the bad guys. I will not vote for a Republican until we hear some of that loyal opposition stuff from them.

Wrap...

To borrow from one of the more visible ones: "Vote Republican? Like Hell I will!"

//Keith Taylor is a retired Navy officer living in Chula Vista, Ca. He can be reached at krtaylorxyz@aol.com //

Classifications...and then some...

2011-04-05T14:18:00.000-07:00

From Secrecy News...

NEW LEAK PENALTIES PROPOSED IN SENATE INTEL BILL

The Senate Intelligence Committee is proposing to punish leaks of classified information by authorizing intelligence agencies to seize the pension benefits of current or former employees who are believed to have committed an unauthorized disclosure of classified information.

The pending proposal would "provide an additional administrative option for the Intelligence Community to deter leakers who violate the prepublication review requirements of their non-disclosure agreements," the Committee said in its new report (pdf) on the FY2011 Intelligence Authorization Act.

"This option may require individuals to surrender their current and future federal government pension benefits if they knowingly violate the prepublication review requirements in their non-disclosure agreements in a manner that discloses classified information to an unauthorized person or entity," the report said.

But the premises of the new proposal are questionable and it has generated some controversy even within the Senate Committee itself.

The starting point of the Committee proposal is that leakers are rarely if ever punished. "A particular source of frustration has been that leakers are rarely seen to suffer consequences for leaking classified information." In fact, however, the number of ongoing leak-related prosecutions is currently at an all-time high.

Secondly, the Committee believes that existing administrative sanctions that stop short of criminal prosecution -- including "security clearance revocation, suspension, or termination" -- are inadequate and incomplete because they cannot reach persons who are no longer government employees. "Unfortunately, these sanctions are not generally available for use against a key source of leaks, former Intelligence Community employees." But it is not at all clear, and the Committee does not attempt to demonstrate, that former Intelligence Community employees are "a key source of leaks." In practice, the government already has strong legal authority to enforce prepublication review requirements, and the CIA is currently engaged in suing at least one of its former employees ("Ishmael Jones") for an alleged violation of those requirements.

Perhaps for those reasons and others, the Intelligence Community itself did not request the pension seizure authority that the Senate Intelligence Committee now proposes to bestow on it.

But the pending proposal may be worse than unnecessary, said Sen. Ron Wyden in a dissenting statement attached to the new Intelligence Committee report. He said it could discourage whistleblowers and impede congressional access to information.

"My concern is that giving intelligence agency heads the authority to take away the pensions of individuals who haven't been formally convicted of any wrongdoing could pose serious problems for the due process rights of intelligence professionals, and particularly the rights of whistleblowers who report waste, fraud and abuse to Congress or Inspectors General," Sen. Wyden wrote.

"It is unfortunately entirely plausible to me that a given intelligence agency could conclude that a written submission to the congressional intelligence committees or an agency Inspector General is an 'unauthorized publication,' and that the whistleblower who submitted it is thereby subject to punishment under [this provision], especially since there is no explicit language in the bill that contradicts this conclusion."

"Withholding pension benefits from a legitimate whistleblower would be highly inappropriate, but overzealous and even unscrupulous individuals have served in senior government positions in the past, and will undoubtedly do so again in the future. This is why it is essential to have strong protections for whistleblowers enshrined in law, and this is particularly true for intelligence whistleblowers, since, given the covert nature of intelligence operations and activities, there are limited opportunities for public oversight. But reporting fraud and abuse by one's own colleagues takes courage, and no whistleblowers will come forward if they do not believe that they will be protected from retaliation," wrote Sen. Wyden, who voted against the pending bill (pdf).

Another provision of the bill calls for establishment of "an effective automated insider threat detection program for the information resources in each element of the Intelligence Community in order to detect unauthorized access to, or use or transmission of, classified information."

Setting aside the specifics of the proposals, the underlying message from the Senate Committee is that agencies should do even more, not anything less or different, to combat leaks of classified information. The Senate Committee was silent on other aspects of classification policy. In particular, it had no guidance to offer concerning the halting efforts in the Intelligence Community to reduce overclassification.

_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.

The Secrecy News Blog is at:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

Wrap...

Adult & Children...BOOKS!

2011-04-02T15:46:00.000-07:00

From Publishers Lunch Weekly....

Fiction:
General/Other...

#1 NYT bestselling author of The Historian and The Swan Thieves Elizabeth Kostova's untitled new novel, set in the U.S. and Eastern Europe, moving between the past and present and combining elements of suspense, myth and folklore, moves to Libby McGuire for Ballantine, with Jennifer Hershey to edit, for publication in 2013, by Amy Williams at McCormick & Williams Literary Agency (NA).

NYT bestselling author Amy Tan's THE VALLEY OF AMAZEMENT, set in 1890-1940 San Francisco and Shanghai, about a painting called the 'Valley of Amazement' that is passed along through three generations of women of the same family, moves to Dan Halpern at Ecco for the US, by Sandra Dijkstra at Sandra Dijkstra Literary Agency, and to Iris Tupholme at Harper Canada, by John Pearce at Westwood Creative Artists on behalf of Sandy Dijkstra.
UK rights sold again to Clare Reihill at Fourth Estate.

Author of THE IMPRESSIONIST, TRANSMISSION and MY REVOLUTIONS, Hari Kunzru's GODS WITHOUT MEN, a multi-stranded narrative set in the Mohave Desert revolving around the disappearance of an autistic little boy whose parents find themselves at the center of a media witch hunt that kicks off a malestrom of events, where the present is connected with the past, before the boy is found mysteriously changed, moving to Carole Baron at Knopf, for publication in spring 2012, by Jonny Geller at Curtis Brown.

NYT bestselling author of COLD MOUNTAIN and THIRTEEN MOONS Charles Frazier's NIGHTWOODS, set in rural North Carolina in the 1950s and telling of a young woman who cares for her murdered sister's twins, to Random House, for release in October 2011, by Amanda Urban at ICM.

Children's/Middle Grade...

Anne Cameron's ANGUS McFANGUS, the first in a four-book series about a boy who learns he is someone with the rare ability to predict catastrophic weather, to Steve Geck at Greenwillow Books, in a pre-empt, by Madeleine Buston at the Darley Anderson.

Children's/Picture Book...

Caldecott-winning author of WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE and other classic children's books (which have collectively sold nearly 30 million copies in the US) Maurice Sendak's BUMBLE-ARDY, the first book illustrated and written by Sendak since OUTSIDE OVER THERE in 1981, about a mischievous pig who has reached the age of nine without ever having a birthday party -- all that changes when Bumble throws a party for himself and invites all his friends, leading to a wild masquerade that quickly gets out of hand, to Harper Children's, for publication in September 2011.

Children's/Young Adult....

USA Today bestselling self-published ebook phenomenon Amanda Hocking's WATERSONG series, to Rose Hilliard at St. Martin's, for four books, at auction, reportedly for over $2 million, for publication beginning in Fall 2012, by Steven Axelrod at The Axelrod Agency (World English).
Lenore Appelhans's debut YA novel LEVEL 2, a thriller set in the liminal place between our world and heaven, about a 17 year-old girl who spends her days reliving her memories from the security of her pod until she gets broken out by a boy from her past life, to Justin Chanda and Alexandra Cooper at Simon & Schuster Children's, in a pre-empt, in a two-book deal, by Stephen Barbara at Foundry Literary + Media.
Film rights sold simultaneously to Wolfgang Hammer at CBS Films, by CAA. Audio rights to Rebecca Waugh at Listening Library, also in a pre-empt.
hgordon@foundrymedia.com

NYT bestselling author Gail Carriger's debut YA historical fantasy series ESPIONAGE AND ETIQUETTE, set in her Soulless Alexia Tarabotti world but 25 years prior, an incorrigible aristocrat is sent off to finishing school to learn how to be lady only to discover that the school trains young ladies alright but for the wrong kind of "finishing," pitched as Ally Carter meets Steampunk, to Kate Sullivan at Little, Brown Children's, in a pre-empt, in a four-book deal, by Kristin Nelson at Nelson Literary Agency (NA).
UK & Translation: wlee@fieldingagency.com
Film: macendejas@lynnpleshetteagency.com

Christopher Paolini's INHERITANCE, the fourth and final book in his #1 NYT bestselling Inheritance cycle, to Michelle Frey at Knopf Children's, for simultaneous publication in the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand on November 8, 2011, by Simon Lipskar at Writers House (World).
Random House Germany imprint CBT will again publish the German edition.

TV...

Robert Egan and Kurt Pitzer's EATING WITH THE ENEMY, a true story about a New Jersey rib joint owner who befriended high-level North Korean officials in New York, improving decades of poor US diplomacy and eventually negotiating with them over nuclear proliferation, to HBO Films for James Gandolfini to star and Robert De Niro's Tribeca Productions to produce, by Hotchkiss and Associates, on behalf of Jim Rutman at Sterling Lord Literistic and Alice Martell at The Martell Agency.

NONFICTION: Advice/Relationships...

Oscar-nominated filmmaker and novelist Dana Adam Shapiro's YOU CAN BE RIGHT OR YOU CAN BE MARRIED, in which the author intimately interviews dozens of divorced men and women in hopes of understanding what really makes marriages fail so that he can find happiness in a marriage of his own -- pitched as "the most provocative relationship guide couples will ever read," to Nan Graham and Whitney Frick at Scribner, by Daniel Greenberg at Levine Greenberg Literary Agency (World English).
efisher@levinegreenberg.com

History/Politics/Current Affairs....

Governor of Indiana Mitch Daniels's KEEPING THE REPUBLIC: Limited Government, Unlimited Citizens, addressing America's urgent need for limited but more effective government, fiscal discipline at all levels, increased liberty for individuals, and a restoration of our national greatness, to Adrian Zackheim for Sentinel, for publication in September 2011, by Robert Barnett of Williams & Connolly.

Washington, D.C.-based BBC State Department correspondent Kim Ghattas's FROM BEIRUT TO WASHINGTON, the story of Hillary Clinton's time as Secretary of State, an on-the-ground account of Ghattas's time traveling and reporting as part of Clinton's press corps, using Ghattas's global perspective as a Dutch-Lebanese citizen raised in the crossfire of her country's civil war to explore the larger question of America's place in a rapidly changing global landscape, and drawing on extensive interviews inside the administration, around Washington and further afield, to Serena Jones at Times Books, in a pre-empt, by Dorian Karchmar at William Morris Endeavor (NA).

Professor of Egyptology at UCLA and host of Discovery Channel's Out of Egypt Kara Cooney's HATSHEPSUT: THE WOMAN WHO BECAME KING, providing the definitive account of one of the ancient world's most accomplished and audacious rulers who at the age of 25 took on a masculine identity to transform herself into the androgynous ruler (and god on earth) of ancient Egypt, reigning peacefully and successfully for over twenty years, only to have her name and likeness mysteriously erased from monuments throughout the kingdom after her death, to Vanessa Mobley at Crown, for publication in Spring 2014, by Marc Gerald at The Agency Group.
sasharaskin@theagencygroup.com

Humor...

Dan Sinker's THE F***ING EPIC TWITTER QUEST OF @MAYOREMANUEL, an at-the-time anonymous, fake Rahm Emanuel mayoral campaign Twitter feed, annotated and to include Sinker's first-person account of the phenomenon that has attracted loads of followers and media, with a Foreword by co-founder of Twitter Biz Stone, to Brant Rumble at Scribner, by Seth Fishman at The Gernert Company in association with co-agent Johnny Temple (NA).

Memoir...

Founder of SociopathWorld.com M.E. Thomas's HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT: Inside the Mind of a Sociopath, the first-ever confession by a high-functioning, non-criminal, diagnosed sociopath and accomplished law professor, a story of cruelty and manipulation followed by redemption and ultimately love and friendship, combining memoir and the latest research on the science of the "empathy-challenged," to Jenna Ciongoli at Broadway, at auction, by Emmanuelle Morgen at Judith Ehrlich Literary Management (NA).

Legendary conductor Maestro James Levine's untitled book, to be written with Harvey Sachs, on his brilliant, more than fifty-year career in music (35 of those at the helm of the Metropolitan Opera), to Jonathan Segal at Knopf, by Denise Shannon at Denise Shannon Literary Agency (World).

Narrative...

Caroline Stoessinger's ALICE'S WORLD, in which the life of 107-year old Alice Herz-Sommer, the world's oldest living Holocaust survivor and concert pianist, is used as a lens not only to show the power of music, but how her refusal to hate brings goodness into the world, to Cindy Spiegel of Spiegel & Grau, in a pre-empt, for publication in early 2013, by Marly Rusoff of Marly Rusoff & Associates (World).

Linda Alice Dewey and James Campbell's THE KASSEL MISSION, a dramatic account of survival and unlikely friendships set during World War II, about an elite U.S. Air Force squadron (of which Dewey's father was a member), a secret bombing mission gone disastrously awry, and a daughter's present-day search for the truth, to Bruce Nichols at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, in a pre-empt, by David McCormick at McCormick & Williams Literary Agency (NA).

Wrap....

The Game...

2011-03-31T14:54:00.000-07:00

H/T to Fallen Monk...

Rule: Go to page 56 in nearest book, post 5th sentence:

1)Later as president, Obama abolished the CIA's enhanced interrogation program -- even in its reduced form.

2) "Perhaps he had wanted Hari to understand the man's current plight, to put things in perspective, perhaps to pity him, at least feel something, and not reduce everything to equations and numbers, as Cleon felt was Hari's wont."

Japan: Personal Accounts...

2011-03-25T12:59:00.000-07:00

From Keith Taylor...

This was given me by my good friend and dentist, John Yamamoto. Dr. Yamamoto spent the years of 1942 to 1944 in a detention camp in Colorado. He has several relatives in Japan. He and I often discuss three years of his youth in a detention camp. Dr. Yamamoto and I have been discussing the results of the earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disaster.

He forwarded this e-mail to me yesterday, March 25th. I don't know the author but understand he or she was in Tokyo and this reflects the condition there.

I sent him a note telling him: I felt your emotion this morning. Now I share it. Each culture has it's own rhythm. What those Japanese people were saying and doing would have sounded mawkish in today's United States, but the simplicity of all it resonated well with what I understand, and remember, of the Japanese culture. I will send it to a friend who runs a blog. Then I will link to it on Facebook. It will help all us understand how the people over there are coping with a disaster.
*******************************

Personal accounts by number of people, on-the-street:

Last night when I was walking home (since all traffic had stopped), I saw an old lady at a bakery shop. It was totally past their closing time, but she was giving out free bread. Even at times like this, people were trying to find what they can do and it made my heart warm.

In the supermarket, where items of all the shelves fell, people were picking up things so neatly together, and then quietly stand in line to buy food. Instead of creating panic and buying as much as needed, they bought as little as they needed. I was proud to be a Japanese.

When I was walking home, for 4 hours, there was a lady holding a sign that said, “Please use our toilet.” They were opening their house for people to go to the restroom. It was hard not to tear up, when I saw the warmth of people.
At Disneyland, they were giving out candies. High school girls were taking so many so I was thinking, “What???” But then the next minute, they ran to the children in the evacuation place and handed it to them. That was a sweet gesture.

My co-worker wanted to help somehow, even if it was just to one person. So he wrote a sign: “If you’re okay with motor cycle, I will drive you to your house.” He stood in the cold with that sign. And then I saw him take one gentleman home, all the way to Tokorozawa! I was so moved. I felt like I wanted to help others too.

A high school boy was saved because he climbed up on top of the roof of a department store during the flood. The flood came so suddenly, that he just saw people below him, trying to frantically climb up the roof and being taken by the flood. To help others, he kept filming them so their loved ones could see. He still hasn’t been able to reach his own parents but he says, “Its nobody’s fault. There is no one to blame. We have to stay strong.”

There is a lack of gas now and many gasoline stations are either closed or haave very loooong lines. I got worried, since I was behind 15 cars. Finally, when it was my turn, the man smiled and said, “Because of this situation, we are only giving $30 worth gas per each person. Is that alright?” “Of course its alright. I’m just glad that we are all able to share,” I said. His smile gave me so much relief.

I saw a little boy thanking a public transit employee, saying, “Thank you so much for trying hard to run the train last night.” It brought tears to the employee’s eyes, and mine.

A foreign friend told me that she was shocked to see a looong queue form so neatly behind one public phone. Everyone waited so patiently to use the phone even though everyone must have been so eager to call their families.
The traffic was horrible!! Only one car can move forward at green light. But everyone was driving so calmly. During the 10 hour drive (which would only take 30 minutes normally) the only horns I heard was a horn of thank you. It was a fearful time — but then again a time of warmth and it made me love Japan more.

When I was waiting at the platform, so tired and exhausted, a homeless person came to us and gave us a cardboard to sit on. Even though we usually ignore them in our daily life, they were ready to serve us.

Suntory (a juice company) is giving out free drinks, phone companies are creating more wi-fi spots, 1,000,000 noodles were given by a food company, and everyone is trying to help the best way they can. We, too, have to stand up and do our best.

Whenever there is a black out, people are working hard to fix it. Whenever the water stops, there are people working to fix that too. And when there is problem with nuclear energy, there are people trying to fix that too. It doesn’t just fix itself. While we are waiting to regain the heat in the cool temperature or have running water, there were people risking their life to fix it for us.

An old woman said, on a train: “Blackouts are no problem for me. I am used to saving electricity for this country, and turning off lights. At least, this time we don’t have bombs flying over our heads. I’m willing to happy to shut off my electricity!” Everyone around couldn’t say a word in response.

In one area, when the electricity returned, people rejoiced. And then someone yelled: “We got electricity because someone else probably conserved theirs! Thank you so much to EVERYONE who saved electricity for us. Thank you everyone!”

An old man at the evacuation shelter said, “What’s going to happen now?” And then a young high school boy sitting next to him said, “Don’t worry! When we grow up, we will promise to fix it back!” While saying this, he was rubbing the old man’s back. And when I was listening to that conversation, I felt hope. There is a bright future, on the other side of this crisis.

Wrap...

CIA's Interrogation Program Review....

2011-03-23T19:29:00.001-07:00

From Secrecy News:

REVIEW OF CIA INTERROGATION PROGRAM STILL UNFINISHED

It is nearly a decade since the Central Intelligence Agency embarked on its controversial post-9/11 program of prisoner detention and interrogation, which included "enhanced" procedures that would later be repudiated and that were widely regarded as torture. But even now, an accurate and complete account of that episode remains unavailable.

It is more than two years since the Senate Intelligence Committee belatedly began "a study of the CIA's detention and interrogation program." The Committee reported (pdf) this month that "the CIA has made available to the Committee over 4 million pages of CIA records relating to its detention and interrogation program."

Yet the Committee said that its two year old review of the nearly decade-old program is still not complete: "The review has continued toward the goal of presenting to the Committee, in the [current] 112th Congress, the results of the review of the extensive documentary record that has been provided to the Committee." There was no mention of presenting the results of the review to the public. See "Report of the Select Committee on Intelligence Covering the Period January 3, 2009 to January 4, 2001," Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, March 17, 2011.

The Intelligence Committee report presented a number of other noteworthy statements:

A review of electro-optical intelligence satellite collection systems by members of the Committee's Technical Advisory Group in 2010 "found flawed processes and results from the earliest stage of the requirements process... [and] judged the technical justification for the proposed system fell far short of the standard they expected from an investment of this magnitude."

The Committee staff "found that too many [defense] attaches are not sufficiently conversant in the languages, cultures, and traditions of the countries to which they are assigned."

Intelligence agencies continue to fail to produce financial records that can be independently audited. The National Reconnaissance Office "is the only one of the IC agencies required to produce auditable financial statements that has achieved what appears to be a sustainable opinion with no qualifications from its independent auditors.... The CIA has submitted its financial reports to an independent auditor but has received a disclaimer of opinion due to the inability of the auditor to gather certain relevant facts. The NSA, DIA, and NGA are still not even prepared to submit their financial reports to independent audit," the Senate report said.

Secrecy News Blog: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

Wrap...

On Sex and Honor....

2011-03-06T12:26:00.000-08:00

BRIGHAM YOUNG, HIS WIVES, HIS UNIVERSITY, AND THE HONOR CODE

by

Keith Taylor

Folks in Utah are proud to tell us Utah's founder, Brigham Young, had fifty-five wives. They don't brag too much that many of that fifty-five were children, or that history tells us that Brigham was complicit in the killing of 124 men women and children at Mountain Meadows in 1857. Few Mormons like to review history which doesn't reflect favorably on the founder of Salt Lake City.

The largest university in Utah is named for Brigham. Its 30,000 students must sign an honor code which stipulates that, like him, they must be honest, live a chaste and virtuous life, use clean language and abstain from alcohol, tobacco, tea, coffee and drugs. Other prohibitions including cussing and beards have been added and/or deleted from time to time, but premarital chastity has always been on the list.

Despite the prohibition, sex reared its head at BYU and that head had to roll. One of the best players on the high flying Cougar basketball team violated the code by having premarital sex with a co-ed. Brandon Davies was kicked off the team, an act which jeopardized the team's shot at a national championship, and a first place seed in the forthcoming NCAA tournament.

Premarital sex is a common occurrence among students in forty-nine of our states, but not at the university named after a man who routinely married and impregnated teenage girls. Brigham Young University takes a strong stand against lots of things which they choose to believe, and teach, God doesn't allow.

Honor, at least the perception of it, is a big deal with Mormons, and improperly sanctified sex is against their honor code. But all isn't lost for horny young women and men. They can do it a lot if it is sanctified by a proper authority -- one who also teaches that a woman talked to a snake, and native Americans are Israelis who immigrated here from Israel 2800 years ago.

But the thinking at this university with 30 thousand students is that it is decreed that a biological urge followed by two consenting people in the prime of their lives was evil? At BYU, they have more respect for superstitions than they do for science, and the sex act is biological after all.

So far as I can tell science, especially biology and anthropology, aren't strong subjects at BYU? I once talked to a BYU grad and former missionary who told me that a science professor showed a dinosaur fossil to his class. When he told them it was billions of years old, a student asked how that could be when the religion professor told them the earth was no more than 10 thousand years old, he was told "don't ask."

Don't ask! How is a student to learn?

At BYU that seems to be the idea.

***********************

//Keith Taylor is a retired navy guy who lives in Chula Vista. He can be reached at krtaylorxyz@aol.com

DOD won't do it...

2011-02-24T15:38:00.001-08:00

SECRECY REFORM STYMIED BY THE PENTAGON

The Obama Administration has taken several initial steps to modernize the national security classification system and to combat overclassification. But those halting efforts are being undermined by the Department of Defense, which is not implementing the President's policy.

DoD, which is the government's largest producer of classified information, has failed to update its internal regulation on information security, despite a specific Presidential directive to do so. The result is that military components today are following old, incomplete and misleading guidance on classification policy.

For example, one such component, U.S. Transportation Command (TRANSCOM), said on February 20 that it was unaware of a current requirement to update and correct its classification guidance. It had "no records" pertaining to the performance of a Fundamental Classification Guidance Review, which was required by President Obama's Executive Order 13526. Why? Because, it said, "no Review was required [by] DoD 5200.1-R," the Pentagon's regulation on information security (pdf).

This is a startling misunderstanding and a grievous lapse of responsibility on the part of the Pentagon. The reason that TRANSCOM is unaware of the new requirement to perform a Fundamental Classification Guidance Review is that DoD's internal regulation 5200-1.R on classification policy has not been updated since January 1997! In effect, DoD has been blocking the transmission of the President's instructions to classifiers and declassifiers in the field.

This in itself is an act of defiance, particularly since the President himself ordered senior agency officials to prepare new classification policy regulations. "Such regulations shall be issued in final form within 180 days of ISOO's publication of its implementing directive for the order," President Obama wrote in his December 29, 2009 memorandum that accompanied the issuance of Executive Order 13526.

The Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) did publish its implementing directive (pdf) for the Executive Order on June 28, 2010. Therefore, agencies officials were obliged to complete their implementing regulations 180 days later, by the end of December 2010. At the Pentagon, officials failed to comply.

"The promulgation of implementing regulations for [President Obama's] E.O. 13526... is not an optional activity," said William J. Bosanko, director of the Information Security Oversight Office, which oversees the classification system.

"Such regulations serve as the foundation for the implementation of the Order at each agency," he explained. "Failure to update regulations in a timely manner impedes the implementation of the President's direction and risks undermining the confidence in the classification system. It also places classified information at needless risk and otherwise makes it difficult to hold accountable those who fail to meet their responsibilities."

"How can we expect personnel to properly classify, safeguard, and declassify national security information if we do not provide them with the 'rules'? How can we maintain the trust of the American people and our State, local, tribal, private sector, and foreign partners if we don't even comply with the most basic requirements ourselves?"

Mr. Bosanko said that ISOO was pressing for agency compliance with the requirements of the executive order. He said the status of such compliance would be addressed in the forthcoming FY 2010 ISOO Report to the President.

Meanwhile, throughout the Department of Defense, officials are diligently following the wrong instructions. According to the DoD directives website, the 1997 regulation 5200-1.R -- with all of its outdated guidance -- is currently one of the top five most frequently downloaded DoD publications.

Wrap...

The Pentagon Papers...

2011-02-15T14:20:00.000-08:00

From Secrecy News...

DECLASSIFYING THE PENTAGON PAPERS, FINALLY

The National Declassification Center (NDC) at the National Archives will declassify the full text of the Pentagon Papers as well as the underlying documentation on which they are based, along with investigative material concerning the 1971 leak of the Papers by Daniel Ellsberg, the NDC said yesterday.

"One matter to keep in mind concerning the Pentagon Papers is that there is no complete record of the report in the public domain," the NDC blog said.

The Pentagon Papers Project "is both an interagency and intra-agency effort. NARA is working closely with its partners in the intelligence and defense communities, and the Department of Justice to ensure that we make available as much of this historical collection as possible."

But one wonders why a "project," complete with inter- and intra-agency coordination, is necessary at all to process defense policy records that were mostly made public 40 years ago. A better use of public resources would be to wave a wand and simply declare the records open.

Wrap...

Air Force and Wikileaks...

2011-02-09T17:54:00.000-08:00

From Secrecy News...

AIR FORCE RESCINDS NEW GUIDANCE ON WIKILEAKS

Secrecy News reported Monday on strange new guidance from the Air Force Materiel Command declaring that Air Force employees and even their family members could be prosecuted under the Espionage Act for accessing the WikiLeaks web site. On Monday night that new guidance was abruptly withdrawn.

Lt. Col. Richard L. Johnson of Air Force Headquarters released this statement:

"Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) recently published an internal news story that discussed the implications of downloading presumed classified information from WikiLeaks. The release was not previously coordinated with Headquarters Air Force and has been removed from the AFMC website. The Air Force has provided guidance to military members and employees to avoid downloading what could be classified information into Air Force unclassified networks and reminded them that publication of information does not itself constitute declassification of such information. The Air Force guidance did not address family members who are not Air Force members or employees. The Air Force defers to the Department of Justice in all non-military matters related to WikiLeaks."

A copy of the withdrawn release is archived here. See also "US air force backtracks over WikiLeaks ban" by Ewen MacAskill, The Guardian, February 8, and "No espionage charges for airmen on Wikileaks" by Scott Fontaine, Air Force Times, February 8.

DER SPIEGEL ON "STAATSFEIND WIKILEAKS"

"Aftergood is too close to the center of power," said Julian Assange. "He is not an independent fighter for freedom of information."

The passing criticism of me (I'm also "jealous") was the first thing that caught my eye in the new book "Staatsfeind WikiLeaks" by Der Spiegel reporters Marcel Rosenbach and Holger Stark. But the book itself is quite a bit more interesting and perceptive than that.

The authors, who are neither fans nor opponents of WikiLeaks, go out of their way to gather new information about the origins and development of the project. They seek out contrasting perspectives and bring them to bear in interesting and challenging ways. Of course, the story is unfinished.

"WikiLeaks is an organization in transition, with a dialectical relation to the mass media. WikiLeaks has changed journalism, but journalism has also changed WikiLeaks," they write.

See the Spiegel website on "Staatsfeind WikiLeaks" here. An English-language excerpt, published last month, is here.

Wrap...

Was Honors Honorable?

2011-02-08T11:33:00.000-08:00

From Guest Poster, Keith Taylor....

Perfect isn't good enough

by

Keith Taylor

Captain Owen Honors, the recently fired executive officer and presumptive next captain of the USS Enterprise was rated by two of his former commanding officers as being perfect. From his fitness reports we would assume if there had been a category "better than perfect," he'd have been marked up to that status. Now, with the help of both, he's disgraced and out the door.

All he did was what sailors of all ranks have done when their ship slipped over the horizon and out of sight of land. He entertained his shipmates with bawdy jokes crossing every line of propriety.

But these weren't just distasteful jokes on the mess decks or the wardroom. They were in a skit taped and broadcast to the crew on a weekly basis. Now we are told that at least four senior officers, all now admirals, knew of it and had the duty to stop anything untoward. Two were his skippers who both gave him perfect marks in his fitness reports.

Captain Honors claims they not only knew of his skits, they tacitly approved of them.

As a an old sailor and officer who fancied himself quite a wit I learned a lot as I worked his way up through the ranks (stopping far short of captain). I always knew which of my superiors liked my jokes and which were offended by them. You can bet when I was a young white hat if I said something that a chief didn't like, I'd be very skittish about telling the same joke to my the division officer.

And so went, on up the ladder. There's just something about hearing, "Knock it off smart ass" that discourages a wannabe comedian.

For all its whiz bang cyber age electronics and gee whiz gadgetry the Navy is still run by people, and while most know their place in the hierarchy, everybody has to grope his way though the ephemeral and unofficial rules of propriety.

But somehow every sailor from the latest boot camp graduate to Admiral Mullen at the top knows when he has crossed the line. Surely the XO of the USS Enterprise would not have persisted in his "XO Movie Night Skit" if Captains (now rear admirals) Larry Rice and Ron Horton plus Rear Admiral Raymond Spicer, and Vice Admiral Daniel Holloway had said, "Uh. Owen. That's over the line for an executive officer."

He could have got the idea if one of them had merely scowled at him. I was never the executive officer of a huge fighting ship, but I got to know some. Every one had the ability to adjust to the withering scowl of a senior officer.

But for the most part no scowls or "tut tuts" were forthcoming, not even from those who might have been personally offended, the women and gays who were often the subject of the jokes in the skits.

As I understand it, "something was said about it" at time and the skits stopped. The entire thing simply died about four or five years ago. Yet we now have a new brouhaha and a valuable officer is gone -- out the door by request.

Now from outside the system, Captain Honors is naming names while maintaining his presumption of innocence. I'd say he certainly had a right to presume no harm was being done.

Try as I might, the worst thing I could see about it is that the skits were simply not very funny. I know about those things. Some years ago I tried standup comedy. Believe me a night facing a quiet audience is a night nobody wants to face. Jon Stewart of the Daily Show, who is very funny if you agree with his politics, agrees. He panned hell out of the tapes.

There's an old saying "you can't unring a bell." Perhaps not, but wouldn't it be better to say we can surely try to correct an overreaction. And ought it not be done by the people who overreacted, not a judge?

In 1998 the Navy learned that the hard way. Despite the wacko "Don't ask/don't tell" law, Senior Chief Timothy McVeigh (not the bomber) was being booted from the Navy for being gay. He fought back and a federal judge reversed the entire thing. McVeigh was awarded $90 thousand, promoted and retired as a master chief, and everybody from his commanding officer up to the commander in chief looked silly.

Who knows if there is a cause here for a lawsuit? But the Navy ought to beware. Standing by your guns can be expensive, especially when you have no ammunition in the first place.

And looking silly is unbecoming to those wearing a uniform.

//Keith Taylor is long retired from the Navy and is a freelance writer and author living in Chula Vista. He can be reached at krtaylorxyz@aol.com //

Wrap...

NSA Stands Accused...

2011-02-03T21:46:00.000-08:00

From Secrecy News....

ANOTHER WORD ON DIANE ROARK AND INTELLIGENCE OVERSIGHT

A January 31 Secrecy News item on "Diane Roark and the Drama of Intelligence Oversight" focused on the personal friction and hostility that are sometimes generated by the intelligence oversight process. Unfortunately, what I wrote did an injustice to Ms. Roark, the former House Intelligence Committee staffer, and to Thomas Drake, the former National Security Agency official, as well as to the larger issues involved.

I should have made it clear that I do not endorse the criticism of Ms. Roark that was expressed by Barbara McNamara, another NSA official. On the contrary, under prevailing circumstances the "intrusiveness" that Ms. Roark was accused of is likely to be a virtue, not a defect. It is the NSA, not Ms. Roark, that stands accused of mismanaging billions of dollars and operating in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

Ms. Roark together with Thomas Drake and others did exactly what they should have done by bringing their concerns about NSA mismanagement to the attention of the DoD Inspector General, among other things. Significantly, they had nothing to gain for themselves. Their actions did not embody any motive of personal interest or self-aggrandizement, but something more like the opposite. They were acting in the public interest, as they understood it. That they (and especially Mr. Drake, who is now under indictment) are suffering for it is a worrisome sign of a broken system.

I also should not have repeated the insinuation from the Drake indictment which implied that he and Ms. Roark had an intimate relationship. This would be irrelevant in any case, but in this case it is also false.

My apologies to Ms. Roark and Mr. Drake.

_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.

The Secrecy News Blog is at:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

Wrap...

Deliberate Ignorance...

2011-01-26T17:07:00.000-08:00

From Keith Taylor...

DARING TO THINK

by

Keith Taylor

I gave a talk to the Atheist Coalition, a group affiliated with American Atheists and headed by one of San Diego's firebrands recently.

It's refreshing to be where we are allowed to call things what they are, and to use the proper name for ourselves. I'm proud to call myself an atheist because that describes me completely. Pretending otherwise is just plain dumb.

Probably if I told you that Americans are really dumb, you'd call me arrogant, and you'd be right. But, maybe, we can agree that Americans do really dumb things. So let's call it deliberately ignorant. Being deliberately ignorant is so democratic. You are not restricted to just one answer. You can choose what to believe, and you can choose to believe as many wrong things each morning as Alice in Wonderland..

And that's what Americans do, especially when it comes to religion. Just confront a theist for his role in any of the excesses of religion such as denying science and trying to prevent its being taught in schools, or for allowing children to die rather than accept scientific medicine and sooner or later you'll hear "I choose to believe.

The Patrick Moyinhan quote: 'Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." doesn't faze them one bit.

By the way did you ever notice that the phrase "I never argue religion" always comes from those who are religious. I submit that's because they have no argument except "I choose to believe?"

Politicians know about this deliberate ignorance. Those candidates who tell the majority of folks what they want to hear get elected, and they make laws, and they make foreign policy, and they choose who we are going to bomb into oblivion, and we've been doing far too much of that.

Turn on C-SPAN and the chances are good you'll see a legislator leading a blind charge into the land of make believe of his own choosing. Some time back, the chair of the Science Climate Change Committee invited a science fiction author, not a scientist, and certainly not a climatologist, to testify.

Then, having heard what he wanted to hear, the Senator joined the sci fi author in declaring that our concern over the looming disaster was a myth. That year was the hottest on record. So was the next and the one after that.

The pattern continues, but thanks in part to the senator and his advisor , the myth about a myth persists, and the folks in Oklahoma are comfortable with that as long as they stay in their air conditioned houses while their air conditioners contribute to the climate change they choose not to believe in.

Americans want their answers from that immutable source, God Almighty! Who gives a damn what a bunch of scientists think when an omniscient being is just waiting to answer all our questions? And be patient. He's thousands of years behind now.

Deliberate ignorance is my rant lately. In fact I have an article upcoming in Skeptical Inquirer with that title. It should be out next issue, but without the histrionics.

According to the book The Faith of George W. Bush, our recent president said "I've heard the call. I believe God wants me to run for President."

Why, oh why didn't someone hang up that damn telephone?

That president was also quoted as telling a Palestinian foreign minister that god wanted him to bomb Baghdad. The veracity of this is questioned but one thing is certain, he did bomb hell out of a country that presented no danger to ours.

Is this an example of deliberate ignorance or is it blasphemy to say so? "

Deliberate ignorance! Those who take such comfort in it insist we all believe in it. One of the arguments for keeping the cross on Mount Soledad is that it isn't really a cross, and certainly not a religious symbol. It's a war memorial and always has been.

Except when it wasn't like all the years before Howard Kristner and Phil Paulson filed and won a suit to get a religious symbol removed from public property. The confusion may have been caused because The Mt. Soledad Easter Cross was dedicated to "Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" in a dedication bulletin by the grandmother of William J. Kellogg, President of the Mt. Soledad Memorial Association on Easter Sunday, 1954.

In fact not one ceremony or plaque or anything mentioned wars or veterans until Howard and Kristner won their case. Then memorials were put up.

And the claim that the unmistakable Christian cross is a secular symbol is an insult to our intelligence, but don't wait on Roger Hedgecock or any politician to apologize.

If you are a Christian you get all incensed at anything except abject reverence in connection to anything symbolic of their belief. That's why San Diego, in debt a billion and half bucks keeps throwing money in their effort to disobey the law and the constitution.

And why not? The same inspiration worked for the guys on the crusades, the inquisition, countless book burnings, beheadings, and torture.

Amazing things happen when people choose what to believe.

Are we wrong in calling it deliberate ignorance?

If so I have a history of writing about it. One of my favorite projects as a freelance writer was Operation Stargate.

During the cold war we had a paranoia of being outdone by the Soviets, even in things paranormal. In the late sixties our intelligence services suspected the commies were keeping tabs on us with remote viewing. Not to be outdone in dumb ideas, our army set up a program headed by the Stanford Research Institute -- no direct connection to the university.

By 1985 no useful information was gleaned by folks sitting around thinking real hard, so the Army ceased funding it. Still when an idea, no matter how wacko, gets the attention of the likes of Senator Claiborne Pell and Representative Charles Rose it's life is extended and the money keeps flowing.

Operation Stargate, as it was sometimes called, was kept alive. It only cost 20 million dollars and had some interesting results which couldn't be denied because they were never tested. In 1996 the Science Applications International Corp, a San Diego Based super think tank -- and super money maker -- conducted some of the experiments. When I called them, they admitted they participated in the program but all results are classified.

I called the FBI and was told they couldn't comment because it was classified. The best I got was from a less reticent source, the grapevine: There I "learned" one remote viewer got a peek inside a Rusky submarine but wasn't able see anything classified. Nor was she able to determine which ocean the U-boat was in.

Is there help in stemming this tide of deliberate ignorance? Not from Texas it seems. In May, the Texas State Board of Education adopted a social studies and history curriculum which undermined much of what we know about science and our past. Evolution would be taught as just a theory. The Civil War was about states rights, not the right of one group of citizens to own another. This even though the constitutions of every seceding state listed the right to own slaves as a reason. Four cited states rights.

I'm telling ya, when we choose to believe anything is possible: often phrased as "in god anything is possible."

Thomas Jefferson warned us, "An enlightened citizenry is indispensable for the proper functioning of a republic Self-government . . ." You have to wonder what ol Tom would have to say about a citizenry which elected today's leaders.

I hate to be contrary, but was anybody except me frightened when, at a political debate of would-be presidents, Senator Sam Brownback, Governor Mike Huckabee, and Representative Tom Tancredo admitted they do not believe in evolution.

Who do you suppose elected those people to their offices, and who do you suppose would support them for the job of the most powerful person in the world? And how much different are they from the rest of the candidates who will grudgingly admit they do believe in the most tested scientific theory of all time, but refuse to confront those who choose to deny it?

I devoted fourteen years to this business of fighting deliberate ignorance as president or program chair of SDARI. I quit because I became an octogenarian and was goddamn tired. The deal was sealed when an ambulance hauled me off to a hospital while I cried out in agony with horrific chest pains. I was certain it was a one-way trip, but my knee didn't bend in adulation of a myth.

I'm proud of my affiliation with a skeptics group. It and others like it are needed in this world of superstition and religion, if there is a difference. My one regret is that our group and the larger one in Buffalo tries to draw a line between superstition and religion.

The claim seems to be that religion cannot be falsified therefore it can't be debated. That looks like a nebulous reason to me. The claims of religion may not be falsifiable, but their claim of being enlightened can and should be constantly held up to scrutiny. A candidate wanting to run for the most powerful job in the world should be asked to show his credentials for critical thinking, not a belief in things unproved and extremely unlikely.

So, at SDARI we may have not changed the world or helped thinking candidates get elected,. but I'm sure we caused a few people to think. I just wish we'd done more of that. Thinking is in short supply in this world. and I hope SDARI keeps it's campaign to confront deliberate ignorance.

Whether we made a dent in this deliberate ignorance thing or not, I insist our cause is a noble one. Rather than proclaim "the truth" and demand folks accept it we must continue to demand those who make decisions look for the truth, then test what they find, then have others test it. Then they must be willing to change their minds if their ideas are found to be wrong.

That's what science demands, and it's the right way. And let me quote my favorite scientist, Elie Shneour, in this regard, "Science is not for the scientists." It is for us to understand, use, and defend.

But we have a higher duty than to defend science. It's our patriotic duty to confront credulous and sophistic ideas. The people choosing to believe, and the leaders telling them what they want to hear are making us a third-world nation. A recent study by the Organization for Economic Development shows that our fifteen-year-olds rank in the bottom quarter of the participating countries.

I just pulled that off the internet, but study after study indicates we are lagging terribly. And I doubt studying the bible is going to solve that problem.

Nothing will unless we follow the dictum of my old outfit: DARE TO THINK!

Wrap...

More On Wikileaks...

2011-01-20T18:03:00.000-08:00

From Secrecy News....

DOD TAKES FLEXIBLE VIEW ON DELETING WIKILEAKS DOCS

Department of Defense employees who downloaded classified documents from Wikileaks onto unclassified government computer systems may delete them without further "sanitizing" their systems or taking any other remedial measures, the Pentagon said in a policy memo (pdf) last week.

The release of classified State Department cables and other classified documents by Wikileaks has produced special consternation among security officers, who have tended to respond "by the book" to this unprecedented breach of security procedures. But "the book," which is the product of an earlier era, is quickly becoming obsolete. And in the worst case, some officials say, the government's unimaginative response to Wikileaks could do more damage than the original disclosures.

But now some tentative signs of flexibility can be detected from Pentagon policy makers.

Under the new guidance, DoD employees and contractors who have downloaded classified documents from the Wikileaks website onto an unclassified government computer or network -- which is still prohibited -- do not need to take any extreme corrective measures in response, the Pentagon said. In particular, there is no need to prepare a formal incident report or to "sanitize" their information systems by overwriting or degaussing them. Instead, the documents can simply be deleted.

"In the case of classified documents inadvertently accessed or downloaded from the WikiLeaks website or other websites posting WikiLeaks-related classified documents, the IAM [information assurance manager] will document each occurrence and delete the affected file(s) by holding down the SHIFT key while pressing the DELETE key for Windows-based systems," said Acting Under Secretary of Defense Thomas A. Ferguson in a January 11 memo.

Using the shift and delete keys simultaneously is a way of "permanently deleting" a document, so that it is removed from the file directory and does not appear in the Trash or Recycle Bin. This action does not, however, physically erase or eliminate the document from the computer's hard drive. In other cases of inadvertent transfer of classified information to an unclassified system, a more rigorous response is often required. But this will now be good enough for the purpose of eliminating classified Wikileaks documents.

"No incident report or further sanitization of government IT systems is required," Under Secretary Ferguson continued.

The new flexibility only extends to Wikileaks-related documents, not to other "spillages" of classified information, he said. "This guidance pertains only to the accessing or downloading of the classified documents described above because of the extent of the compromise and the prohibitive cost of standard sanitization procedures. All other classified spillages must be handled in accordance with existing regulations," according to the Pentagon memo.

See "Notice to DoD Employees and Contractors on Protecting Classified Information and the Integrity of Unclassified Government Information Technology (IT) Systems," memorandum for senior DoD officials from Acting Under Secretary of Defense Thomas A. Ferguson, January 11, 2011.

Wrap...

Hmmm...Wikileaks Needed?

2011-01-04T14:10:00.000-08:00

From Secrecy News...

AIR FORCE SAP POLICY LIMITS CONGRESSIONAL CONTACTS

The Air Force issued updated guidance (pdf) last week concerning its highly classified special access programs, including new language prohibiting unauthorized communications with Congress.

Special access programs (SAPs) involve access and safeguarding restrictions that are more extensive than those that apply to other classified programs. SAPs are nominally established "to protect the Nation's most sensitive capabilities, information, technologies and operations."

The new Air Force guidance emphatically limits contacts with Congress concerning SAPs.

"It is strictly forbidden for any employee of the Air Force or any appropriately accessed organization or company to brief or provide SAP material to any Congressional Member or staff without DoD SAPCO [Special Access Program Central Office] approval. Additionally, the Director, SAF/AAZ will be kept informed of any interaction with Congress." See Air Force Policy Directive 16-7, "Special Access Programs," December 29, 2010.

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Info on Social Security & Disability....

2011-01-03T18:51:00.000-08:00

The Social Security and Disability Resource Center website (SSDRC.com) provides a detailed overview of how the federal disability system works (social security disability and SSI) and also provides answers to many questions that applicants typically have, but often have trouble finding answers to. For the most part, the site is based on the author's personal experience as a former disability-medicaid caseworker, and also as a former disability examiner for the social security administration.

Here is a link to the site: http://www.ssdrc.com/

Wrap...

Christmas In Sunny San Diego

2010-12-25T12:37:00.000-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQfpD3Mocs0

Wrap...:)))

Breakin' the Law...

2010-12-23T22:14:00.000-08:00

Just disgusted and angry with the Obama admin. They continually break or ignore the laws. And so underhanded. And what the hell are they doing, trading with Iran? They're mighty good at saying one thing and doing another. So is the DOJ doing anything? Hell no.

What's this business with jailing people whenever they want with no trial? Why are those Gitmo prisoners still down there?

What are they doing, paying the Taliban to let trucks cross into Afghanistan? Nice to finance the people we're fighting.

And how much are we giving Pakistan? Something like $900 million a year? So they can protect the Taliban hiding in their territory?

And on and on and on. Scared shitless about what Assange might leak about what? He's right...it's terrorism.

But Obama taught law. Glad I wasn't one of his students. Suppose he taught how to blantantly break the laws? Constitutional? Hell, he doesn't need to be in a classroom. All his students need to do is watch he and his administration in action.

And he gets people like Timmie G in his admin to deal with Wall Street when that s.o.b. was part of that despicable outfit. Really brillant.

Hope he just stays in Hawaii and disappears from our view.

Obama has got to go...

2010-12-05T21:00:00.000-08:00

Never thought I'd say this, but Obama has got to go in 2012. I've had it with his bending over for Repub positions. He has no guts. And is not likely to get any either.

So who would be the best candidate to take his place? At this point, he's become so cowardly that almost any Dem would do. And that's all I have to say on the matter.

Wrap...

Fascinating Books On the Way...

2010-12-04T15:34:00.001-08:00

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION
DEBUT...

Owen Laukkanen's THE PROFESSIONALS, pitched as comparable to the work of John Sandford and Thomas Perry, a state policeman is teamed with an FBI agent to track down four recent college graduates who, facing the worst job market in recent history, decide to create their own jobs as professional kidnappers, to Neil Nyren at Putnam, in a two-book deal, by Stacia Decker at the Donald Maass Literary Agency (World).

Patrick Flanery's THE CENSOR, set in contemporary South Africa, about the relationship between a renowned, elderly female author and the man she has selected to be her official biographer - and the powerful unspoken link between them in the author's daughter, an active member of the anti-apartheid movement, who disappeared without a trace many years ago, to Sarah McGrath at Riverhead, by George Lucas at Inkwell Management, on behalf of Victoria Hobbs at A M Heath (US).

MYSTERY/CRIME...

William Kent Krueger's two more books in the NYT bestselling Cork O'Connor crime series and the stand-alone ORDINARY GRACE, a coming-of-age story about a tragedy that strikes a Methodist minister in 1961 and what it does to his faith, his family, and the fabric of the small town in which he lives, told forty years later by the minister's son, to Sarah Branham at Atria, by Danielle Egan-Miller at Browne & Miller Literary Associates (World).
Film joel@ipglm.com

SCI-FI/FANTASY...

Julianna Baggott's PURE trilogy, a YA/adult crossover dystopian novel about a society of haves, who escaped an apocalypse in a futuristic dome-covered city, and have-nots, who survived the nearly destroyed outside world, to Jaime Levine at Grand Central, in a three-book deal, by Nat Sobel at Sobel Weber Associates (NA).

THRILLER...

Silver Dagger and Hammett winner Dan Fesperman's THE DOUBLE GAME, in which Cold War spy novels and other classic works of espionage become the clues to uncover a possible double agent, to Sonny Mehta at Knopf.
UK rights to Nick Cheetham at Corvus, by Jane Chelius at Jane Chelius Literary Agency.

GENERAL/OTHER...

Spanish novelist Víctor del Arbol's THE SAMARAI'S GRIEF, about multiple betrayals, personal and political, pitched as evocative of Le Carre's Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and Zafon's The Shadow of the Wind, and set alternately in the pro-Nazi Spain of 1941 -- when an aristocrat becomes involved in a plot to kill her Fascist husband, only to be betrayed by her lover -- and during the attempted Fascist coup of 1981, when a young lawyer is accused of plotting the prison escape of the man she successfully prosecuted for attempted murder five years earlier; with the Japanese sword of the title providing -- and ultimately severing -- the link between the two women's lives, to Aaron Schlechter at Holt, in a pre-empt, for publication in February 2011, by Thomas Colchie of The Colchie Agency, representing the Spanish publisher Alreves on behalf of principal agent Antonia Kerrigan in Barcelona (world English).

Rachel Hore's A PLACE OF SECRETS, when an auction house appraiser of old books and manuscripts, a woman struggling to come to terms with the death of her young husband, is asked to value a collection belonging to a reclusive 18th century astronomer, she jumps at the chance to escape London to be closer to her sister and niece and begin deciphering the mysteries of the astronomer's world, only to find all sorts of disturbing links with her own family's history, to Aaron Schlechter at Holt, for publication in February 2012, by Lisa Bankoff at ICM, on behalf of Sheila Crowley at Curtis Brown UK (NA).

CHILDREN'S YOUNG ADULT...

Debut author Marissa Meyer's four-book YA futuristic, fairy-tale inspired series, starting with CINDER, Cinderella is re-envisioned through teen heroine Cinder, part girl and part machine, who must piece together her mysterious past before she can fulfill her destiny and save the kingdom -- and the rest of planet Earth -- from an otherworldly enemy; as Cinder's quest continues through the series, she finds allies loosely based Little Red Riding Hood (SCARLET), Rapunzel (CRESS), and Snow White (WINTER) -- as they join forces to conquer evil and find their happily-ever-afters, to Jean Feiwel of Feiwel and Friends, at auction, by Jill Grinberg at Jill Grinberg Literary Management (NA).

BIOGRAPHY...

Coauthor of the Pulitzer Prize-winning AMERICAN PROMETHEUS Kai Bird's THE GOOD SPY, centering on the career and tragic death of CIA legend Robert Ames, whose passing marked a dramatic shift in foreign policy that still haunts America's relationship with the Muslim world, to Rick Horgan at Crown, in a pre-empt, for publication in 2013, by Gail Ross of the Ross Yoon Agency.

With the royal engagement news comes the pre-planned announcement of author of The Day Diana Died Christopher Andersen's WILLIAM AND KATE: The Love Story, about how Prince William and Kate Middleton "defied all odds to forge a storybook romance amidst the scandals, power struggles, tragedies, and general dysfunction that are the hallmarks of Britain's Royal Family," promising "intimate details of their celebrated courtship" and more, to Jennifer Bergstrom at Gallery, with Mitchell Ivers editing, for publication in February 2011, by Ellen Levine at Trident Media Group (NA).

Pulitzer Prize winner Eileen McNamara's untitled biography of Eunice Kennedy Shriver, telling the story of the often-overlooked Kennedy who founded the Special Olympics and left behind one of the family's most enduring civil rights legacies, to Priscilla Painton at Simon & Schuster, by Colleen Mohyde at the Doe Coover Agency (World).

MEMOIR...

Former CBS anchor Dan Rather's SUMMING UP, with the 79-year-old saying "the time had come for me to sum up my career in a candid memoir, and now I feel the time is right. Plus, with the changing climate -- and attitude -- about news and journalists, I feel I can give readers an honest perspective on the present, and, more important, on the future of news," to Rick Wolff at Grand Central, for publication in 2012, by Paul Fedorko at N.S. Bienstock.

NARRATIVE...

NYT bestselling and Emmy Award-winning DESPERADOS Elaine Shannon's LEFT OF BOOM, a narrative of the DEA's mission-critical operations in Afghanistan and what they portend for the future of war fighting, to Rick Horgan at Crown, in a pre-empt, for publication in early 2012, by Gail Ross of the Ross Yoon Agency (world).

SPORTS...

Major league catcher and winner of two World Series rings Bengie Molina's PAPI, an account of fathers, sons, and baseball that tells the story Molina's family and specifically his late father, Benjamin Molina Santana, who rose from poverty in Puerto Rico and worked in a factory for thirty years while coaching his three sons (Bengie, Jose, and Yadier) into the major leagues, where they became the first three brothers in history to all win World Series championships, written with Little Girls in Pretty Boxes author Joan Ryan, to Jofie Ferrari-Adler at Simon & Schuster, at auction, by Betsy Lerner at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner (World).

Wrap...

About Wikileaks...

2010-12-01T17:32:00.000-08:00

From Secrecy News...

Sifting Through the Fallout from Wikileaks
December 1st, 2010 by Steven Aftergood

The ongoing release of U.S. diplomatic communications by the Wikileaks organization is “embarrassing” and “awkward,” said Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates yesterday, but its consequences for U.S. foreign policy are likely to be “fairly modest.”

“I’ve heard the impact of these releases on our foreign policy described as a meltdown, as a game-changer, and so on. I think those descriptions are fairly significantly overwrought. The fact is, governments deal with the United States because it’s in their interest, not because they like us, not because they trust us, and not because they believe we can keep secrets… Other nations will continue to deal with us. They will continue to work with us. We will continue to share sensitive information with one another.”

Coming from the Secretary of Defense, that measured statement should help to deflate some of the more extreme reactions to the Wikileaks action.

The Obama Administration should “use all legal means necessary to shut down Wikileaks before it can do more damage by releasing additional cables,” said Sen. Joe Lieberman on November 28.

Wikileaks leader Julian Assange should be designated an enemy combatant, suggested Rep. Steve King (R-IA) on the House floor yesterday. Then he could be “moved over to a place offshore of the United States outside of the jurisdiction of the Federal courts…, and adjudicated under a military tribunal in a fashion that was designed by this Congress and directed by this Congress. That’s what I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to do.”

Such fantastic notions probably cannot survive the judgment of the U.S. Secretary of Defense that what is at stake is “embarrassment” and “awkwardness,” not the defense of the realm.

That does not mean that the policy consequences of the latest Wikileaks release will be insignificant. Information sharing within the government is already being curtailed, and avenues of public disclosure may be adversely affected by the Wikileaks controversy. In a November 28 email message to reporters, the Pentagon spelled out several security measures that have already been implemented to restrict and monitor the dissemination of classification information in DoD networks.

“Bottom line: It is now much more difficult for a determined actor to get access to and move information outside of authorized channels,” wrote Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman.

Meanwhile, the Office of Management and Budget ordered (pdf) each agency that handles classified information to perform a security review of its procedures and to reinforce the traditional “need to know” requirements that strictly limit individual access to classified information.

“Any failure by agencies to safeguard classified information pursuant to relevant laws, including but not limited to Executive Order 13526, Classified National Security Information (December 29, 2009), is unacceptable and will not be tolerated,” the OMB memo stated.

The possibility of prosecuting Wikileaks as a criminal enterprise is reportedly under consideration, and has been publicly urged by some members of Congress and others. The feasibility of such a prosecution is uncertain, and nothing quite like it has been attempted before. The most “promising” legal avenue of attack against Wikileaks would seem to be a charge of conspiracy to violate the Espionage Act (under 18 USC 793g), based on the allegation that Wikileaks encouraged and collaborated with others in violating the terms of the Act. But these are dangerous legal waters, fraught with undesirable consequences for other publishers of controversial information.

Wrap...

Corporations Have Personal Privacy?

2010-11-18T12:58:00.000-08:00

From Secrecy News:

Do Corporations Have Personal Privacy Rights?
November 18th, 2010 by Steven Aftergood

The Supreme Court will decide next year whether corporations are entitled to “personal privacy” and whether they may prevent the release of records under the Freedom of Information Act on that basis. FOIA advocates say that assigning personal privacy rights to corporations could deal a crippling blow to the Act.

The case before the Court — known as FCC v. AT&T — arose from a FOIA request to the Federal Communications Commission for records of an investigation of a government contract held by AT&T. The FCC found that the requested records were subject to release under FOIA. But AT&T challenged that decision and won an appeals court ruling that the documents were law enforcement records that were exempt from disclosure because their release would constitute “an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy” — namely, the “personal privacy” of AT&T.

The appeals court noted that the word “person” is defined in the Administrative Procedures Act (APA) to include corporations, and it went on to infer from this that the FOIA exemption for “personal privacy” in law enforcement records must logically extend to corporations as well.

But “that analysis does not withstand scrutiny,” the government argued in its petition (pdf) to the Supreme Court for review of the case. Personal privacy can only apply to individual human beings, it said, and not to other entities. “The court of appeals’ novel construction would erroneously create a new and amorphous ‘privacy’ right not only for corporations but also for local, state, and foreign governments [which also fall under the APA definition of 'person'].”

A concise description of the pending case as well as key case files and amicus briefs filed with the Supreme Court by several FOIA advocacy organizations are conveniently available from the Electronic Privacy Information Center. (EPIC prepared one of the amicus briefs and I was among the signatories to it.)

Corporate information that qualifies as a “trade secret” has long been exempt from disclosure under the FOIA. But prior to this case, no court had ever held that a corporation also has personal privacy rights.

If affirmed by the Supreme Court, the appeals court ruling “could vastly expand the rights of corporations to shield their activities from public view,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy this week, and it “would close a vital window into how our government works.”

“Congress never intended for this [personal privacy] exemption to apply to corporations,” he said. “I also fear that extending this exemption to corporations would permit corporations to shield from public view critical information about public health and safety, environmental dangers, and financial misconduct, among other things — to the great detriment of the people’s right to know and to our democracy.”

“I sincerely hope that our nation’s highest Court… will narrowly construe the personal privacy exemption, consistent with congressional intent,” said Sen. Leahy. “Should the Court decide to do otherwise, I will work with others in the Congress to ensure that FOIA, and specifically the personal privacy exemption for law enforcement records, remains a meaningful safeguard for the American people’s right to know,” he said.

FCC v. AT&T is scheduled to be argued before the U.S. Supreme Court on January 19, 2011

Wrap...

Selection of Interesting Books On the Way....

2010-11-12T14:21:00.000-08:00

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION
DEBUT:

I. J. Kay's MOUNTAINS OF THE MOON, about a woman newly released from prison and the mystery of who she is and what led her there; taking us from a casino in Bristol to the Ruwenzori mountains of Africa as she bounds backwards, sideways, and ultimately forward with her many selves, to Carole De Santi at Viking, at auction, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency on behalf of Anna Webber at United Agents (NA).
UK rights to Dan Franklin at Jonathan Cape, by Anna Webber at United Agents, at auction, and German rights to Helga Frese-Resch at Kiepenheuer & Witsch, by Jessica Craig at United Agents on behalf of Anna Webber.

Dana Gynther's CROSSING ON THE PARIS, chronicling the lives of three women of different generations and classes whose lives intersect on a majestic ocean liner traveling from Paris to New York in the wake of World War I, exploring the power of chance encounters, to Erika Imranyi at Dutton, at auction, by Michelle Brower at Folio Literary Management.

Brandon Jones's ALL WOMAN AND SPRINGTIME, about human trafficking that follows two orphaned girlfriends as they are taken from their factory jobs in North Korea, smuggled across the Demilitarized Zone, and eventually shipped to the United States, to Andra Miller at Algonquin, by Wendy Weil at the Wendy Weil Agency.

THRILLER:

Pulitzer Prize winner and NYT bestselling author of I, SNIPER Stephen Hunter's two untitled thrillers, the first featuring a Marine sniper, to Sarah Knight at Simon & Schuster, in a two-book deal, for publication in Fall 2012 and Fall 2013, by Esther Newberg at ICM.

COLD and THE ANARCHIST author John Smolen's THE SCHOOLMASTER'S DAUGHTER, a tale of historical intrigue featuring a young girl who is caught between family loyalties during the American Revolution as the city of Boston burns, to Claiborne Hancock and Jessica Case at Pegasus, on behalf of Noah Lukeman at Lukeman Literary Management (World).

GENERAL/OTHER:

Charlotte Rogan's THE LIFEBOAT, a story set at the turn of the twentieth century, about a wealthy young woman whose life is forever altered when the ship she is honeymooning on mysteriously explodes and she is cast adrift on an overcrowded lifeboat with thirty-nine strangers, to Andrea Walker at Reagan Arthur Books, in a pre-empt, by David McCormick at McCormick & Williams Literary Agency (World English).

Past fellow of the NEA and the recipient of the NBCC Citation for Excellence in Reviewing Carol Anshaw's CARRY THE ONE, spanning almost three decades and following four characters whose lives are forever altered and entwined by the events of one night, to Trish Todd for Touchstone, in a nice deal, for publication in spring 2012, by Joy Harris (NA).

Jo-Ann Mapson's MIRACLE OF MIRACLES, in which a woman begins a new life with a man and their adopted daughter, whose sister's kidnapping and disappearance formed the backdrop of the first novel, to Nancy Miller at Bloomsbury, for publication in the US and UK, by Deborah Schneider.

NONFICTION

BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:

Veteran publishing executive, attorney and consultant Martin Levin's ALL I KNOW ABOUT MANAGEMENT I LEARNED FROM MY DOG, a 91-year-old management guru's touching account of the insights he gained from his experiences with a golden retriever named Angel, to Mark Weinstein at Skyhorse, in a nice deal, for publication in Spring 2011, by Levin (world).

COOKING:

Author of 2010 James Beard Award winner Pasta Sfoglia, Chef Ron Suhanosky's THE FAMILY TABLE, family-style meals featuring Italian-influenced "new traditional" cuisine with an uncomplicated, family-friendly approach, to Anja Schmidt at Kyle Books, by Celeste Fine at Folio Literary Management.

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:

Journalist Elizabeth Nickson's A SOFT PLACE TO FALL, an expose about the destructive and obsessive side of environmental movement that has run amok, to Adam Bellow at Broadside, by Don Fehr at Trident Media Group.

Daniel Ellsberg's THE AMERICAN DOOMSDAY MACHINE, a memoir of his experiences as a high level nuclear planner for the US Department of Defense and detailing the shocking and untold story, much of it still secret, of the approved US nuclear stategy calculated to kill 600,000,000 people, to Peter Ginna at Bloomsbury Press, in a very nice deal, by Andy Ross at Andy Ross Agency (World)

MEMOIR:

Charlotte Silver's CHARLOTTE AU CHOCOLATE: Memories of a Restaurant Girlhood, tracing the author's childhood through scenes in her mother's famous, sumptuous restaurant, Upstairs at the Pudding, located above Harvard's Hasty Pudding Club: a life of foie gras and Shirley Temples on school nights; of candied violets, pink linens and party dresses; of front room vs. kitchen; and of a rotating cast of eccentric staff members as parental surrogates, to Sarah McGrath at Riverhead, by Emily Forland at the Wendy Weil Agency (World).

NARRATIVE:

NYC-based Guardian writer Emma Brockes's untitled memoir, about something that happened in her mother's family in South Africa fifty years ago, the repercussions it continues to have on her family, and the author's journey, after her mother died, to reconcile the person she had known her mother to be with the person who emerged from the story she uncovered, to Ann Godoff at Penguin Press, at auction, by Zoe Pagnamenta at the Zoe Pagnamenta Agency (NA).

UK rights to Hannah Griffiths at Faber, by Simon Trewin at United Agents, Dutch rights to Arbeiderspers and German rights to DTV, by Jessica Craig at United Agents, all at auction.
Translation: jcraig@unitedagents.co.uk
Film: glewis@unitedagents.co.uk

SCIENCE:

Expert on the scientific study of death and near-death experiences, Dr. Sam Parnia's THE LAZARUS EFFECT: The Science that is Erasing the Boundaries Between Life and Death, a work of narrative nonfiction that brings together compelling stories with the latest research at the frontiers of resuscitation medicine to shed light on the ultimate mystery -- what happens to human consciousness during and after death -- and to show how medical science is rendering previously unthinkable outcomes entirely plausible, to Roger Freet at Harper One, at auction, by Andrew Stuart at The Stuart Agency (World).
UK: Robert Kirby at United Agents

Wrap...

Thoughts on Veteran's Day...

2010-11-11T13:13:00.000-08:00

Today is Veteran's Day...and I'm thinking of my better half, plus all my brothers, uncles, and the rest of the extended family back to 1630 when they first landed on these shores...knowing that in every single war the US has been in since then has had one of my family in the service, including 2 of my sons. That's pretty amazing.

Wrap...

One Unhappy Dem Calls It Like He Sees It....

2010-11-08T08:23:00.000-08:00

BITCHING, STRUTTING, AND BRANDISHING

by

Keith Taylor

Okay I've had it. You are Tea Party dudes, Dittoheads, America Firsters, Birthers, Minutemen, and, Republicans from places like Ohio. The names are different, but your message doesn't change. You've bitched, strutted around, brandished your damn fool guns all in the name of . . . uh what was it you wanted?

Oh yeah, you wanted your country back. Or, maybe, you wanted it back like it was. If you get your wish will you be the one to tell your wife she can't vote? That's the way it was. Or did it mean you wanted to own another person? Tell you what go make an offer to buy one of them football players, maybe a guy who makes eight or nine million a year because he can take another guy's head off.

And do you really want our good old religion and no other to provide a wisdom and morality for our country? Thems the guys who gave us the inquisition, crusades, witch burning, countless wars, and priests who rape little boys knowing the worst the holy church will do is move you to another parish where you can find new children for you to rape. Or, maybe, you want to torture those who believe in evolution?

Just what the hell is it you want? You got the megaphones and the signs but you shout so loud it's hard to figure you out!

I know you don't want gays in the military cause we didn't never have none, and by cracky we won all those wars -- uh, most all of them anyhow. Yeah, I know that. I was there for 22 years, 9 months, and 11 days. But is it really that bad? In this new world you protest, the CIA has openly gay people spying for us. So does the outfit where I worked, NSA. Also damn near every police department in the country including the FBI has lifted the restriction. And overseas we see no other country in NATO has a prohibition against them except Turkey. We're in good company there my jingoistic friends.

I also hear from your strutting, shouting, and sign waving you don't want the government to have be involved in your health care. No sir. No socialistic medicine for you! And that's too bad because ours is easily the most expensive in the world. YES THE WORLD!! It consumes nineteen percent of our gross national product and is rising faster than inflation. Ask any high school math teacher where that will lead. That brick building is the school house. Now go ahead, take your stupid gun down there ask for an answer.

The answer ain't good, you dimwit redneck. It means the country can now look down the road and see where keeping folks alive will take more money than we got unless we do something about it except whine.

Maybe we could limit medical care to those who can prove they are able to think good enough to be productive. Wouldn't that be a hoot, unless you are actually as dumb as you act?

And what else? Oh yeah, you don't want no new taxes and you want to eliminate waste. That a way you can pull off a miracle and pay down the national debt without using no money. Sure, you betcha, and good luck. On this weekend's "Meet the Press" Alan Greenspan and Michael Bloomberg, both conservative Republicans, flatly stated that tax cuts will do nothing to reduce the deficit. It seems pretty simple except to them deadheads you just sent to Congress.

But you go right ahead and bellyache about it. And bring your shootin' irons when you do your bellyaching. Those fat bellies you dudes sport will look just dandy, them and those tea bags hanging from your hat and those misspelled signs you wave.

Now I apolygize for mocking your looks, idiotology, signs, and six shooters; but I'm kinda pissed myself right about now. It's been bad enough listening to the idiots in congress shouting "Like Hell I Will," and now you cretins brought us a new bunch of dummies -- no telling what they will do.

The country has been in terrible shape lately, and you just made it worse.

*//Keith Taylor lives in Chula Vista, Ca and can be reached at dipsydmstr@aol.com

Wrap...

Controlled Unclassified Info...

2010-11-05T17:11:00.000-07:00

From Secrecy News:

A NEW POLICY ON CONTROLLED UNCLASSIFIED INFO

The White House today issued an executive order to establish a uniform policy for handling "controlled unclassified information" (CUI), which is information that is restricted from disclosure because it involves personal privacy, proprietary data, law enforcement investigations, or for certain other reasons besides national security.

The new CUI framework will replace the multiplicity of agency markings such as "sensitive but unclassified," "for official use only," and over a hundred more. By prohibiting the use of such improvised markings and by adopting a standard CUI marking which is subject to external approval and oversight across the executive branch, the new policy is expected to facilitate information sharing among agencies without fostering new secrecy.

CUI policy had been an open, unresolved item on the government's information policy agenda for nearly five years, ever since President Bush directed agency heads to "standardize procedures for sensitive but unclassified information" in a December 16, 2005 memorandum.

Significantly, the executive order on CUI does not create any new authority to withhold information from disclosure. It limits the use of the CUI marking to information that is already protected by statute, by regulation or by government-wide policy. Furthermore, it requires agencies to gain the approval of the CUI "Executive Agent" before using the CUI marking on any particular category of information. And it mandates that all such approved categories are to be made public on an official Registry.

In short, the CUI program seems well-crafted to streamline information handling in the executive branch without creating any new obstacles to public access.

But it almost turned out very differently, and one of the most important secrecy policy stories of recent years is what did not happen in the lengthy deliberative process over CUI. What was poised to happen -- but didn't -- is that CUI nearly became an adjunct part of a vastly expanded national security classification system.

As recently as last summer, the proposed CUI concept had all of the essential attributes of classification. Under a July 2010 draft of the executive order (pdf), agencies would have been permitted to impose CUI controls using a loose, undefined standard ("compelling need"). Access to CUI would have been conditional on a form of "need to know." And unauthorized disclosure of CUI would have been subject to administrative or criminal sanctions.

In every significant respect, CUI would have constituted another level of classification, by another name. It would have overwhelmed efforts to rein in and reduce official secrecy.

Fortunately a different path was chosen. To an unusual extent, the Obama Administration consulted with public interest groups on the emerging CUI policy. In response to their comments, the attributes of classification that appeared in previous drafts were not merely modified but were eliminated altogether. The result is a tightly focused executive order that clearly articulates a problem and advances a sensible solution to it.

Wrap...

Some Choice Books On the Way....

2010-10-26T13:59:00.000-07:00

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION
DEBUT...

Anna Funder's ALL THAT I AM, about German refugees from Hitler's Germany living in London during the mid-1930s, and the nonfiction STASILAND: STORIES FROM BEHIND THE BERLIN WALL, investigative journalism that offers an account of life in Communist East Germany under a regime of terror and persecution maintained by the infamous secret police, the Stasi, to Terry Karten at Harper, for publication in Spring 2012, by Sarah Chalfant at The Wylie Agency (US).

Robin Yocum's FAVORITE SONS, in which a teenage boy's murder in 1971 sends an innocent man to prison and the boys responsible for the death vow to each other to keep their secret; thirty years later, one of the boys, now a candidate for state attorney general, is being blackmailed by an ex-con with knowledge of the crime; with a week to go to the election, the candidate tries to sort through three decades of the deceit he helped create, to Lilly Golden at Arcade, for publication in Spring 2011, by Colleen Mohyde at the Doe Coover Agency (World).

GENERAL/OTHER:

Kalyan Ray's multi-generational novel, NO COUNTRY, that winds its way through 19th and 20th century Ireland, America and India, touching on the Irish famine, Ireland and India's parallel quests for Independence, and the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire; exploring themes of diaspora, the making and unmaking of emigrant lives, and ultimately, the few intimate degrees of separation that lie between love and murder, to Anjali Singh at Simon & Schuster (NA), and UK rights to Alexandra Pringle at Bloomsbury UK, both by Elizabeth Sheinkman at Curtis Brown UK.

Philippa Gregory's THE KINGMAKERS' DAUGHTERS, for publication in 2012, followed by THE WHITE PRINCESS and THE LAST ROSE, all continuations of her writing about the women of The War of the Roses, again to Trish Todd at Touchstone, with Suzanne Baboneau at Simon & Schuster UK co-editing, in a three-book deal, by Anthony Mason (world).

Writer's Trust shortlisted Trevor Cole's PRACTICAL JEAN, in which a middle-aged artist sets about killing her friends in order to spare them a painful death, to Kate Nintzel at Harper Perennial, for publication in Fall 2011, by Carolyn Forde on behalf of Bruce Westwood of Westwood Creative Artists (US).

Author and syndicated columnist Dan Savage and his husband, Terry Miller's IT GETS BETTER, a collection of essays where celebrities and ordinary people in the LGBT community share their personal and inspirational stories, inspired by a series of popular YouTube videos they created that have gone viral, to Brian Tart at Dutton, for publication in March 2011, by Elizabeth Wales of Wales Literary Agency.

NONFICTION
ADVICE/RELATIONSHIPS:

Sorbonne professor Luc Ferry's LEARNING TO LIVE, a short history of Western thought that shows what philosophy can teach us about how to live a better life; reported as a 300,000-copy bestseller in France, to Peter Hubbard at Harper Perennial, for publication in 2011, by Andrea Joyce at Canongate UK (NA).

BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE:

Author of Career Renegade, entrepreneur and lifestyle blogger at JonathanFields.com Jonathan Fields's BEYOND CREATION: How to Stake Your Claim To Genius Without Losing Your Mind, to Courtney Young at Portfolio, in a pre-empt, by Wendy Sherman (World).

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS:

ABC News senior White House correspondent Jake Tapper's ENEMY IN THE WIRE, the investigative and inspiring story of US forces' deadliest battle to date in Afghanistan, in which 54 US soldiers fended off 300 to 400 Taliban fighters, to Geoff Shandler at Little, Brown, for publication in late 2011, by Christy Fletcher at Fletcher & Company (world).

Author of RECOLLECTIONS OF REAGAN and public affairs consultant, Peter Hannaford's PRESIDENTIAL RETREATS, an in-depth history of presidential vacation homes, such as Mount Vernon, Kennebunkport, Hyannisport, and the political plotting and planning, meetings with foreign dignitaries, and stories about the families that lived at these monumental locations, to Anthony Ziccardi at Threshold, with Kathy Sagan editing, for publication in 2011, by Joy Azmitia at Russell & Volkening (World).

World Spanish rights to veteran Chilean journalist and PR executive Manuel Pino's ALIVE UNDERGROUND, a behind-the-scenes account of the Chilean mining disaster and rescue, including exclusive interviews with several of the miners and analysis of the government and corporate interests and leaders involved, to Erik Riesenberg at Penguin, to launch their new, Spanish-language imprint Acento, for publication in January 2011, by Diane Stockwell at Globo Libros Literary Management.

SCIENCE:

David Haskell's FOREST MANDALA, an expansive portrait of nature's complex ecological and biological web, drawn from the author's year-long observation of a one-square-meter patch of old-growth forest in Tennessee, to Kevin Doughten at Viking Penguin, for publication in Winter 2012, by Alice Martell at The Martell Agency (World English).

Wrap...

Some Leaks Are....????

2010-10-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

From Secrecy News:

A DOUBLE STANDARD IN LEAK INQUIRIES?

It seems that some disclosures of classified information can lead a person to poverty, ignominy and a jail sentence, while others provide a royal road to fame and fortune. Some leaks are relentlessly investigated, while others are tolerated or encouraged.

This apparent inconsistency, as notably illustrated once again in the phenomenon of author Bob Woodward, was examined by Michael Isikoff in "'Double standard' in White House leak inquiries?", NBC News, October 18.

In the wake of an earlier Woodward book in 2007, Rep. Henry Waxman noted a similar discrepancy in the Bush Administration's response to leaks.

"The administration seems to be inconsistent in their approach in these cases, and it's troubling," Rep. Waxman said at a March 16, 2007 hearing. "They raise very serious questions about whether White House policies on sensitive information are driven by political considerations. If it's a critic [who discloses classified information] they are going to investigate, they're going to really stop it. When it comes to people in-house, people they like, people they trust, well, the investigation hasn't even started with regard to those people."

Wrap...

Better Not To Have These!

2010-10-16T13:02:00.000-07:00

I FAILED AT HAVING A HEART ATTACK

by

Keith Taylor

My computer had 390 e-mails on the screen name "DipsyDmstr" alone when I returned from a five-day, ultra expensive vacation at Sharp Chula Vista Hospital.

One was five-day old and from Neika, my magnificent great grand niece back in Indiana. She and I often exchange e-mails. I tell her what it's like to be old and grouchy and she tells me LOL.

My last had been about an exchange with a woman in Bangladesh who didn't understand "Dipsey Dumpster talk" or Midwestern humor. Neika learned the exciting news that the computer had survived the two language restoration and I was now relaxing before tackling the problems of the day -- saving the world from itself.

But, as it ensued, fate doesn't always work according to plan. About the time I sent my note to Neika I was besieged with a series of chest pains -- just the thing to help an octogenarian relax. I figured it was the result of my internet frustration and would soon pass.

But not this time. The pangs kept getting worse. I have no idea how to measure a threshold of pain, but this was ridiculous. A comparable excruciating pain may have been when, as a ten or eleven-year old, I pissed on an electric fence. Although I don't keep records of such things, I'm sure the fence pissing caper didn't compare with my recent screaming thorax.

The best medicine for recovery from the pain of hangovers had always been to lie down. Maybe it would work for angina, But no! I simply could not lie down. That made things worse. And don't even ask about the result of trying to maintain the good old Hoosier farm boy treatment for any pain, emitting methane though my anus!

Finally my wife summoned help by punching 911. It fetched the only public service left in debt stricken California, an ambulance.

Away I went, lights a'flashing and siren a'blazing. The medics were too busy exchanging pulse rates, blood pressure readings, breathing rate et al with the rapidly approaching hospital to spend any time with me except to reassure me with promises that "you,ll be fine" and "we're about there," I knew that the first was as true as what we get from most any of today's politicians, and the second was true in fact.

Back in the days of strenuous exercise I often ran from my house to the hospital, got a drink, then ran back. It was about five miles round trip! The ambulance ride broke my existing record for the distance. My wife followed behind in Spiffy, our shiny, modern car with multi colored lights in the coffee cup holders.

At the hospital things brightened up a teeny bit for a teeny while. One of the medics was a well constructed middle age lass. She positioned herself at my feet when they rolled me and my gurney out of the ambulance. In fact my feet were directly on her boobs. Why had I insisted on wearing shoes?

Into the emergency room we went. There the pain continued and the questioning commenced. My wife hugged me as I suffered, crying with me on the overwhelming spasms. I looked at her and realized she looked more like Theresa Wright every day.

Then the questioning: Eighty years and 258 days after my date of birth I was asked for it and again, eventually by every employee of Sharp General, and again every time any one of them had occasion to have intercourse (in the classical, not coital, sense) with me.

And all sorts of other shit! At times it seemed they were lined up to ask me "On a scale of one to ten, how much pain do you have."

My answer, "If this isn't a ten I've never had one. I've never hurt so fucking much in my life."

I couldn't tell if they recorded the entire answer or not. A guy, I presume was a janitor, did seem to get a kick out of it.

It was now back to the loud moaning, bitching, and bellyaching. This set off my neighbors in the ER where deathly sick or deathly poor patients were waiting in quasi rooms -- actually partitions separated by a curtain. They started praying. Most went at it by reciting the Rosary. I already had learned it in English and Portuguese.

Portuguese: Ave maria chia de gras

mumble mumble

mumble mumble

agora e em a' hora de sus muertos

mumble mumble

'e sua filho Jeeeeeezus.

Ameeennn

Now, I had the delight of recognizing and misunderstanding the words in espanol. It didn't help calm me, nor did it seem to bring any miracles. Of course the supplicants were also patients in the emergency room so they had their own problems and likely weren't including me in their pleas.

After a few minutes which seemed like hours I managed to see some doctors. Each would ask me the "one to ten" question. Then he'd poke and prod a bit, look at one of the two, maybe three, EKG printouts. Then he'd go back to his cubbyhole and write an order for a test. One after the other they put me into contraptions which squealed, schreeched, binked and boinked.

Together the robotic monsters told him that I had not had a heart attack after all.

How disappointing! I still have one coming! I wonder if they'll have to come up with a new scale to measure the pain.?

The robotics and medicos diagnosed my pain as something that sounds like pericarditis -- and I have no idea how close that is to the korrect speling. This peri thing is an inflammation of the area where the sternum hooks up with the rib cage. Possibly it's caused by a virus, and I'm guessing it isn't detectable by McAfee.

The medicos increased my pill count from the one good-sized handful I'd been taking to two good sized handfuls including one to control the fibrillation which showed up in the tests. After a couple of days, and after my heart beat returned to normal I was set to go home. At three in the morning of my anticipated departure a nurse woke me with the news that my heart had gone into fibrillation again.

That meant one more day of bland food, ersatz coffee, and a continuous stream of solicitous needle pokers and blood pressure takers.

The last night I was treated to a gran fiesta without the mariachis and aye yi yi music, but with two giggling teenagers who aperiodically told my antediluvian roommate who had just been admitted: "oh grandpa you'll outlive us all."

Please pass the word I do not want to ever hear that? It's hard enough making it through this world in 80 years. Outliving those giggling girls would make it unbearable.

The fiesta commenced at 9 p.m. and ended with the last round of "you'll out live us all" at 12.30." I did not pray for him. Surely he needs to get some rest and those kids and their idiot parents who laughed at how cute they were, put they old boy through hell enough for one lifetime.

If he ever asks for my help I'll notify my grand/greatgrand relatives to come visit him. They all know enough to avoid making a grumpy "papa" even grumpier by uttering bullshit, and they are too smart to stay up until the next day with an octogenarian. Few of us are much fun!

Finally that ephemeral balance was achieved. The ol' ticker was beating normally, or within some sort of "normal range." That morning the cardiologist came in, said I was good as new and I could go home. I didn't want to complicate things by bitching about a fiesta that continued hours after visiting hours were over.

My exit wasn't as I had imagined. Surely I would walk through the lobby waving at loving doctors, nurses, and various attendants, all of whom knew my date of birth. Out the door I'd go into the waiting arms of Theresa Wright.

But, wouldn't you know it, there were more papers to be signed. These were by a woman who also wanted to know my date of birth. How long will so many retain the knowledge of that event which took place in Atwood, Indiana on 2/10/30?

Finally, with the help of Spiffy, Theresa drove me home. I'd again eluded the grim reaper and lived to tell about it.

Wrap...

Ah...Secrets.....

2010-10-07T15:02:00.001-07:00

From Secrecy News:

OPERATION DARK HEART: THE AFTERMATH

The Pentagon's heavy-handed attempt to censor the new Afghanistan war memoir "Operation Dark Heart" by Anthony Shaffer has predictably turned a volume of narrow, specialized interest into a mainstream bestseller.

It has also focused attention on just what information the government was seeking to conceal, and why. For a review of the material that was blacked out in the second edition of the book, see "Censored book masks sensitive operations" by Sean D. Naylor, Army Times, October 4. A side-by-side view of the book's Index, in censored and uncensored formats, is here (pdf).

Wrap...

Whole Mess of Good Books Coming....

2010-10-02T15:07:00.000-07:00

From Publishers Lunch Weekly:

FICTION
DEBUT...

Ayad Akhtar's unsparing debut novel, AMERICAN DERVISH, about an American Muslim family struggling with faith and belonging in a diverse yet divisive heartland community, to Judy Clain at Little, Brown, by Donna Bagdasarian at Publication Riot Group (world).

Erin Morgenstern's THE NIGHT CIRCUS, set at the turn of the 19th century, which tells the story of two young magicians, pawns in an age-old rivalry between their mercurial, illusionist fathers, and the enchanted circus where their competition (and romance) plays out, leaving the fates of everyone involved - from creators and performers to patrons - hanging in the balance, to Alison Callahan at Doubleday, by Richard Pine at Inkwell Management (World).

Alan Lazar's ROAM, the story of a little dog who gets lost for eight years, and when he is miraculously reunited with his owner, has traveled thousands of miles and lost a leg, in an epic journey across America that includes many narrow escapes and living with a pack of wolves for a time, while never losing his longing for the Great Love, his first owner, to Sarah Durand at Atria, by Henry Dunow at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner (NA).

MYSTERY/CRIME...

Lisa Lutz and David Hayward's HEADS YOU LOSE, a collaborative crime novel written in alternating chapters about a pair of pot-growing siblings who find a decapitated body in their yard and are forced to deal with the consequences, pitched as Weeds meets Adaptation with the humor of The Spellman Files, to Marysue Rucci at Putnam, for publication in Spring 2011, by Stephanie Kip Rostan at Levine Greenberg Literary Agency (world English).

GENERAL/OTHER...

Janice Steinberg's AN INTELLIGENT JEWESS, about an 85-year-old woman, finding a clue to the whereabouts of her twin sister, who disappeared from the little-known Jewish mecca of Boyle Heights, LA on the eve of WWII, and plunging back into memories of her childhood and the momentous historical facts that impacted her family; along the way there are stories within this story - those from the Old Country, and tales of immigration travails - not only about the stories we tell but more importantly those that we believe, especially the ones about ourselves, to Kendra Harpster at Random House, by Susan Golomb at the Susan Golomb Agency (NA).

Natasa Dragnic's EVERY DAY, EVERY HOUR, pitched as reminiscent of The Solitude of Prime Numbers and The Time Traveler's Wife set in Croatia and Paris, about a couple who are meant to be together, but fate keeps them apart; beginning with their meeting as children, when a young boy faints at the sight of his beguiling kindergarten classmate, and following the brief episodes when they reconnect over the course of their lives, through marriages and children, careers and personal tragedies, to Stephen Morrison at Viking, with Alexis Washam editing, by Gesche Wendebourg at DVA.

Rights have also been sold to Chatto, De Bezige Bij, Seix Barral, Flammarion, Feltrinelli, Doubleday Canada, and Gyldendal (for Norway and Denmark).

CHILDREN'S: MIDDLE GRADE...

THE CHRONICLES OF HARRIS BURDICK: 14 Amazing Authors Tell the Tales, in which fourteen notable authors will each contribute a short story for middle-grade readers based on an illustration, including an introduction by Daniel Handler and stories Sherman Alexie, M.T. Anderson, Kate DiCamillo, Cory Doctorow, Jules Feiffer, Stephen King, Tabitha King, Lois Lowry, Gregory Maguire, Walter Dean Myers, Linda Sue Park, Louis Sachar, Jon Scieszka, and Chris Van Allsburg, to Margaret Raymo at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Children's, for publication in Fall 2011.

CHILDREN'S: YOUNG ADULT...

Veronica Rossi's UNDER THE NEVER SKY, about forbidden lovers from radically different societies - following a girl banished from her enclosed, technology-bound city out into the deadly natural world, where she encounters a savage boy who becomes her only chance to survive and return home, to Barbara Lalicki at Harper, in a three-book deal, for publication in Winter 2012, by Josh Adams at Adams Literary (NA).

CLA Award-winning author Lesley Livingston's trilogy STARLING, pitched as a supernatural Bourne Identity that blends Norse, Egyptian, and Greek mythologies with paranormal elements, to Laura Arnold at Harper Children's, by Jessica Regel at the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency (NA).

NONFICTION

BIOGRAPHY...

CLA Award-winning author Lesley Livingston's trilogy STARLING, pitched as a supernatural Bourne Identity that blends Norse, Egyptian, and Greek mythologies with paranormal elements, to Laura Arnold at Harper Children's, by Jessica Regel at the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency (NA).

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS...

NYT bestselling author Stephan Talty's AGENT GARBO: How a Brilliant and Eccentric Double Agent Tricked the Nazis and Saved D-Day, the little known World War II espionage story of Spaniard Juan Pujol, whose intrinsic role in leading Hitler's Abwehr on a wild, several-year goose chase for the landing area of D-Day aided in the success of the famous mission and saved thousands of lives, moving to Bruce Nichols at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, by Scott Waxman at the Waxman Literary Agency (NA).

MEMOIR:

Grammy-winner Shania Twain's autobiography, ranging from her difficult childhood to her recent divorce from music producer Robert "Mutt" Lange, driven by a "sudden urgency to document my life before I ran out of time," to Atria, by Robert Barnett at Williams & Connolly.

Richard Seaver's THE TENDER HOUR OF TWILIGHT, about the publisher, editor, and translator who died in 2009 after twenty years at the head of Arcade Publishing, covering his years in Paris in the 1950s and New York City in the 1960s at Grove Press, as he brought the likes of Samuel Beckett, William Burroughs, Jean Genet, Henry Miller, Octavio Paz, Pauline R�age, the Marquis de Sade, Hubert Selby, Jr, and Malcolm X to American readers -- often finding himself embroiled in what are now landmark censorship battles to do so, to Jonathan Galassi at Farrar, Straus, for publication in spring 2012, by Leon Friedman representing Jeannette Seaver (world).

Wrap....

For Truth Seekers, A Must Read Book....

2010-09-29T13:41:00.000-07:00

From Secrecy News:

BEHIND THE CENSORSHIP OF OPERATION DARK HEART

By censoring Anthony Shaffer's new book "Operation Dark Heart" even though uncensored review copies are already available in the public domain, the Department of Defense has produced a genuinely unique product: a revealing snapshot of the way that the Obama Administration classifies national security information in 2010.

With both versions before them (excerpts), readers can see for themselves exactly what the Pentagon classifiers wanted to withhold, and can judge for themselves whether the secrecy they tried to impose can be justified on valid national security grounds. In the majority of instances, the results of such an inspection seem disappointing, if not very surprising, and they tend to confirm the most skeptical view of the operation of the classification system.

The most commonly repeated "redaction" in Operation Dark Heart is the author's cover name, "Christopher Stryker," that he used while serving in Afghanistan. Probably the second most common redactions are references to the National Security Agency, its heaquarters location at Fort Meade, Maryland, the familiar abbreviation SIGINT (referring to "signals intelligence"), and offhand remarks like "Guys on phones were always great sources of intel," which is blacked out on the bottom of page 56.

Also frequently redacted are mentions of the term TAREX or "Target Exploitation," referring to intelligence collection gathered at a sensitive site, and all references to low-profile organizations such as the Air Force Special Activities Center and the Joint Special Operations Command, as well as to foreign intelligence partners such as New Zealand. Task Force 121 gets renamed Task Force 1099. The code name Copper Green, referring to an "enhanced" interrogation program, is deleted.

Perhaps 10% of the redacted passages do have some conceivable security sensitivity, including the identity of the CIA chief of station in Kabul, who has been renamed "Jacob Walker" in the new version, and a physical description of the location and appearance of the CIA station itself, which has been censored.

Many other redactions are extremely tenuous. The name of character actor Ned Beatty is not properly classified in any known universe, yet it has been blacked out on page 15 of the book. (It still appears intact in the Index.)

In short, the book embodies the practice of national security classification as it exists in the United States today. It does not exactly command respect.

A few selected pages from the original and the censored versions of Operation Dark Heart have been posted side-by-side for easy comparison here (pdf).

The New York Times reported on the Pentagon's dubious handling of the book in "Secrets in Plain Sight in Censored Book's Reprint" by Scott Shane, September 18.

Wrap...

Our Own Terrorism....

2010-09-24T17:16:00.000-07:00

From Secrecy News:

AMERICAN JIHADIST TERRORISM, AND MORE FROM CRS

An apparent spike in Islamist terrorist plots by American citizens and residents is examined in another new report (pdf) from the Congressional Research Service.

"This report describes homegrown violent jihadists and the plots and attacks that have occurred since 9/11." The report uses the term "jihadist" to refer to "radicalized individuals using Islam as an ideological and/or religious justification for their belief in the establishment of a global caliphate."

The 128-page report describes the radicalization process and the responses of government and law enforcement agencies. An appendix provides details about each post-9/11 incident of "homegrown jihadist terrorist plots and attacks" while a second appendix describes engagement and partnership activities by federal agencies with Muslim-American communities. See "American Jihadist Terrorism: Combating a Complex Threat," September 20, 2010.

Other new reports from CRS include the following (both pdf).

"The Mexican Economy After the Global Financial Crisis," September 9, 2010.

"Deflation: Economic Significance, Current Risk, and Policy Responses," August 30, 2010.

Wrap...

Rule of Law Should Come First....

2010-09-20T12:29:00.000-07:00

From Secrecy News:

STATE SECRETS VS. THE RULE OF LAW

The inherent tension between the state secrets privilege and the rule of law reached the breaking point last week when an appeals court dismissed the claims of several persons who said they were illegally transported and tortured through a CIA "extraordinary rendition" program. They would not be permitted to litigate their case, the court decided, because to do so would place "state secrets" at risk.

"This case presents a painful conflict between human rights and national security," the 9th circuit court of appeals noted in its September 8 opinion (pdf) in Mohamed v. Jeppesen Dataplan, and by a 6-5 majority the judges determined that security considerations would take precedence.

"We have thoroughly and critically reviewed the government's public and classified declarations and are convinced that at least some of the matters it seeks to protect from disclosure in this litigation are valid state secrets, 'which, in the interest of national security, should not be divulged'," according to the majority opinion.

At the same time, the majority acknowledged, "Denial of a judicial forum based on the state secrets doctrine poses concerns at both individual and structural levels. For the individual plaintiffs in this action, our decision forecloses at least one set of judicial remedies, and deprives them of the opportunity to prove their alleged mistreatment and obtain damages. At a structural level, terminating the case eliminates further judicial review in this civil litigation, one important check on alleged abuse by government officials and putative contractors."

For these reasons, "Dismissal at the pleading stage" as in this case "is a drastic result and should not be readily granted." Yet grant it the court did.

But the majority seemed conflicted and apologetic about its own ruling. It ordered the government to pay the parties' costs, and it devoted several speculative paragraphs to identifying potential "non-judicial remedies" that might be available to the plaintiffs. Perhaps Congress could investigate the matter, the court weakly noted, or maybe pass legislation on behalf of the plaintiffs.

And just because the court ruled against the plaintiffs, the majority suggested, that "does not preclude the government from honoring the fundamental principles of justice" and providing reparations to the plaintiffs anyway.

But these suggestions range from "impractical" to "absurd," five dissenting judges wrote. "Permitting the executive to police its own errors and determine the remedy dispensed would not only deprive the judiciary of its role, but also deprive Plaintiffs of a fair assessment of their claims by a neutral arbiter."

Attorney General Eric Holder's September 23, 2009 policy statement on the state secrets privilege did hold out the possibility of seeking Inspector General review of allegations of misconduct whose adjudication was blocked by the use of the state secrets privilege:

"If the Attorney General concludes that it would be proper to defend invocation of the privilege in a case, and that invocation of the privilege would preclude adjudication of particular claims, but that the case raises credible allegations of government wrongdoing, the Department will refer those allegations to the Inspector General of the appropriate department or agency for further investigation...." (section 4C).

Given the court's extended discussion of non-judicial remedies, this case would seem to be a fitting subject for an Inspector General investigation under the 2009 Justice Department policy. But it could not immediately be learned if the Department has made such a referral to an agency Inspector General in this or any other state secrets case.

"The state secrets doctrine is a judicial construct without foundation in the Constitution, yet its application often trumps what we ordinarily consider to be due process of law," the five dissenting judges wrote. "This case now presents a classic illustration."

Wrap...

Selection of Unusual Books On the Way....

2010-09-17T16:57:00.000-07:00

FROM PUBLISHERS LUNCH WEEKLY...

FICTION
DEBUT:

Author of the memoir A Slippery Year, Melanie Gideon's debut novel WIFE 22, about a woman amidst a midlife crisis who agrees to anonymously participate in a survey about marital happiness only to experience a reawakening through the power of confession -- told through a story that unfolds via Facebook statuses, Google searches, questionnaires and first-person narrative, satirizing our obsession with the internet and the ease with which we can reveal things to strangers but not to those we love, to Jennifer Hershey for Ballantine, by Elizabeth Sheinkman at Curtis Brown UK (NA).
Film rights optioned to Working Title. Dutch rights to Bruna.
Translation: betsy@curtisbrown.co.uk

Aatish Taseer's A TREMOR IN THE EARTH, a family saga about India, Pakistan, and a young man straddling these two worlds as he attempts to make his way in an environment full of toxicity and moral danger, to Mitzi Angel at Faber, for publication in Fall 2011, by Anna Stein on behalf of Andrew Kidd at Aitken Alexander Associates (NA).

Princeton undergraduate writing award-winner and New School MFA graduate Julie Sarkissian's THIS IS HOW TO FIND ME, in which a mentally disabled girl is sent to live on a farm where she discovers the dark secrets of her caretakers, befriends a pregnant teen whose baby is taken after its birth, and ultimately, with the help of a talking chicken, embarks on a brave, captivating journey to reunite mother and child, to Sarah Knight at Simon & Schuster, by Judy Heiblum at Sterling Lord Literistic (World).

THRILLER:

Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee Senator Bob Graham's THE KEY TO THE KINGDOM, a topical and provocative debut political thriller, to Roger Cooper at Vanguard Press, for publication in Spring 2011, by Ed Victor at Ed Victor Ltd. (NA).

GENERAL/OTHER:

Author of A COMPLICATED KINDNESS Miriam Toews's SMALL BIRD, BEATING HEART, the story of a nineteen-year old who, with her thirteen-year old sister, is forced to flee their punishing Mennonite community in rural Mexico, and SWING LOW: A LIFE, about manic-depression that reads like a novel, to Terry Karten at Harper, for publication in Fall 2011, by Sarah Chalfant at The Wylie Agency (US).

Author of Governor General's Award-winning THE LAW OF DREAMS Peter Behrens's CALLING ME THROUGH THUNDER, which follows a man and his family during the first half of the twentieth century, as he leaves behind abject poverty to become a North American railroad magnate; about the pressure of history on a family over time, how the generations layer and reflect back on one another with both love and incomprehension, to Deb Garrison at Pantheon, by Sarah Burnes at The Gernert Company (US).
Canadian rights to Sarah MacLachlan at House of Anasi.

Winner of the Somerset Maugham Prize for White is for Witching Helen Oyeyemi's MR FOX, reinventing the titular "Bluebeard"-like English fairy tale in nine variations on a twisted love story about a novelist and his frustrated muse, to Megan Lynch at Riverhead Books, by Jin Auh at The Wylie Agency (US).

MEMOIR:

Former President of Ireland and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and honorary president of Oxfam and president of the International Commission of Jurists, Mary Robinson's EVERYBODY MATTERS, sharing the story of her lifelong fight for the voiceless around the world, to George Gibson at Bloomsbury, for publication in Fall 2012, by Lynn Franklin of Lynn Franklin Associates (NA).

UK/Commonwealth and Ireland rights to Rowena Webb at Hodder and Stoughton and Breda Purdue of Hachette Ireland, by Mary Clemmey in cooperation with Lynn Franklin Associates.

Tim Parks's TEACH US TO SIT STILL, about his transformative journey through a debilitating medical condition that eluded diagnosis or conventional treatment, ultimately finding relief through a self-awareness, Buddhist meditation and a process of "emptying the head," with detours into the realms of literature, art, religion and philosophy, to Colin Dickerman at Rodale, by Henry Dunow at Dunow, Carlson & Lerner on behalf of Antony Harwood (NA).

POP CULTURE:

THE TRANSFORMERS VAULT, covering more than 25 years of the Transformers Universe history, from the toys to the animated series, live-action movies, comics, and collectable merchandise, and feature never-before-seen images and inside information, to Eric Klopfer at Abrams, for publication in Spring 2011, by becker&mayer!

Chief legal analyst for NBC News and MSNBC and founder of the Abrams Media Network, Dan Abrams's MAN DOWN: Proof Beyond A Reasonable Doubt That Women Are Better Cops, Drivers, Gamblers, Spies, World Leaders, Beer Tasters, Hedge Fund Managers, and Just About Everything Else, to Jennifer Levesque at Abrams Image, for publication in May 2011, by Laura Dail at Laura Dail Literary Agency
(World English).

SCIENCE:

Duke University distinguished professor Adrian Bejan and columnist J. Peder Zane's THE CONSTRUCTAL LAW OF DESIGN IN NATURE, an examination of the universality of design in nature providing a broader understanding of evolution that unites the animate and inanimate through the Constructal Law, a first principle of physics that describes the natural tendency of all systems to generate configurations that evolve to flow more easily over time, to Melissa Danaczko at Doubleday, by Tina Bennett at Janklow & Nesbit (NA).

WRAP....

Pentagon to Press.....Work With Us...

2010-09-07T14:36:00.000-07:00

From Secrecy News....

SECRECY NEWS
from the FAS Project on Government Secrecy
Volume 2010, Issue No. 71
September 7, 2010

Secrecy News Blog: http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

** PENTAGON SEEKS "COORDINATION" OF MEDIA ACTIVITIES
** A REPORT CARD ON SECRECY

PENTAGON SEEKS "COORDINATION" OF MEDIA ACTIVITIES

The Department of Defense last week increased its efforts to require that Department contacts with the media be monitored and approved by DoD public affairs officials.

"I am asking the heads of the Military Services, the Joint Staff and the Combatant Commands to reinforce to all of their employees to work closely and effectively with their public affairs offices to ensure full situational awareness," wrote Douglas B. Wilson, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public Affairs in a September 2 memorandum (pdf).

The latest Pentagon move follows up on a July 2 memo (pdf) from Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, who stated that the DoD Office of Public Affairs "is the sole release authority for official DoD information to news media in Washington, and ... all media activities must be coordinated through appropriate public affairs channels. This policy is all too often ignored," he complained.

"We have far too many people talking to the media outside of channels, sometimes providing information which is simply incorrect, out of proper context, unauthorized, or uninformed...," Secretary Gates wrote.

Both memoranda assert prohibitions on unauthorized disclosures of classified information as well as on unclassified but sensitive or predecisional information.

As a practical matter, the degree of control over DoD contacts with the media sought by the Pentagon may be impossible to achieve. The Department is too large (with millions of employees), too decentralized (with thousands of locations) and, perhaps, too open (with hundreds of reporters holding building permits at the Pentagon alone) to allow rigorous monitoring or "coordination" of more than a fraction of all external contacts and communications.

And though it may not be convenient for Pentagon officials to say so, almost everyone understands that freedom of the press means something more, and something different, than reproducing authorized government releases. Unauthorized disclosures -- even incomplete or partially inaccurate ones -- often serve a valuable public policy function, at least when they do not trespass on legitimate secrets, because they enable reporters and others to develop an independent account of events and to generate a more complete public record. When the short-term institutional interests of the Pentagon or other U.S. government agencies lead them to overclassify or otherwise impede public access to information, unauthorized and "uncoordinated" disclosures help to fill the void.

A REPORT CARD ON SECRECY

Last year, the number of "original classification decisions" -- or new national security secrets -- actually declined by almost ten percent from the year before.

This and other empirical measures of government secrecy were compiled in a new Secrecy Report Card (pdf) that was issued today by Openthegovernment.org, a coalition of public interest advocacy organizations. The Report Card presented data on classification and declassification activity, classification costs, Freedom of Information Act requests, Presidential signing statements, assertions of the state secrets privilege, and other aspects of official secrecy.

While new classification activity slowed last year, the Report Card noted, so too did declassification, with 8% fewer pages declassified in 2009 than in 2008. A National Declassification Center that was established in December 2009 is supposed to sharply increase the number of pages declassified in the coming months and years.

_______________________________________________
Secrecy News is written by Steven Aftergood and published by the Federation of American Scientists.

The Secrecy News Blog is at:
http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/

Wrap...

Stepping Out With Secrets...

2010-08-31T13:46:00.000-07:00

From Secrecy News:

ANOTHER LEAK PROSECUTION

The Obama Administration continued its pursuit of individuals who leak classified information to the press with another indictment of a suspected leaker. The Department of Justice announced last week that Stephen Jin-Woo Kim, a State Department contractor, had been indicted (pdf) under the Espionage Act for the unauthorized disclosure of national defense information and for lying to the FBI. Mr. Kim pleaded not guilty to both charges.

The classified information, which was not specified in the indictment, reportedly consisted of a 2009 intelligence assessment conveyed to Fox News stating that North Korea was likely to respond to United Nations sanctions by conducting another nuclear explosive test.

"The willful disclosure of classified information to those not entitled to it is a serious crime," said Assistant Attorney General David S. Kris in an August 27 news release. "Today's indictment should serve as a warning to anyone who is entrusted with sensitive national security information and would consider compromising it."

Mr. Kim's attorneys blasted the decision to indict him.

"In its obsession to clamp down on perfectly appropriate conversations between government employees and the press, the Obama Administration has forgotten that wise foreign policy must be founded on a two-way conversation between government and the public," said Abbe D. Lowell and Ruth Wedgwood in an August 27 statement (pdf) on the case.

"It is so disappointing that the Justice Department has chosen to stretch the espionage laws to cover ordinary and normal conversations between government officials and the press and, in doing so, destroy the career of a loyal civil servant and brilliant foreign policy analyst," they said. "There is no allegation that a document was given, that any money changed hands, that any foreign government was involved, or that there was any improper motive in the type of government/media exchanges that happen hundreds of times a day in Washington."

Mr. Kim was released pending trial on a $100,000 property bond. A status conference in the case has been set for October 13, 2010.

In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this month, former Defense Secretary William J. Perry said that more criminal prosecutions were needed to deter leaks of classified information.

"When I was secretary, we had an example of an egregious leak which I thought compromised national security," Secretary Perry told Senator McCain on August 3. "We prosecuted a case and sent the leaker to prison. And I think more examples of that would be useful in injecting better discipline in the system."

However, he may have misspoken. There does not seem to have been a leak prosecution during the years that he served as Secretary (1993-1997), and Dr. Perry's office was not able to provide clarification of his remarks.

Wrap...

On the Nukes...

2010-08-27T21:29:00.000-07:00

From Secrecy News...

THE TWILIGHT OF THE BOMBS

In "The Twilight of the Bombs," the fourth and final volume of his epic history of the nuclear era, author Richard Rhodes examines "how the dangerous post-Cold War transition was managed, who its heroes were, what we learned from it, and where it carried us."

Covering the years 1990-2010, from the collapse of the Soviet Union onward, much of the latest history is familiar. But by focusing on nuclear weapons development, proliferation and testing, Rhodes fashions his own narrative arc, enriched by new interviews and insights.

In the end, he sees a hopeful trajectory of "nuclear limitation and foreclosure: from Mikhail Gorbachev's and Ronald Reagan's initiatives to end the Cold War, to the voluntary disarming of the former Soviet republics and the security of nuclear materials, to the U.S. and Russia's deepening mutual arms reduction, to the up-and-down negotiations with North Korea that have nevertheless prevented another Korean war, to international diplomatic pressure brought to bear effectively on India and Pakistan, to the persistent march forward of negotiations toward treaties to limit nuclear testing and proliferation." (However, Rhodes does not specifically address the case of Iran's nuclear program, as noted by Tim Rutten in an August 18 review in the Los Angeles Times.)

In the concluding pages of the book, Rhodes posits an analogy between previous campaigns to eradicate or limit disease and current efforts to abolish nuclear weapons, which he deems both necessary and feasible. "In 1999, for the first time in human history, infectious diseases no longer ranked first among causes of death worldwide" thanks to the discipline of public health. In a similarly efficacious way, he says, the ingredients of the analogous discipline of public safety against nuclear weapons "have already begun to assemble themselves: materials control and accounting, cooperative threat reduction, security guarantees, agreements and treaties, surveillance and inspection, sanctions, forceful disarming if all else fails."

"The Twilight of the Bombs" cannot match Rhodes' first volume on "The Making of the Atomic Bomb" for sheer mythological power, but it is fluidly and eloquently written. The author's prose ranges widely, sometimes vertiginously: In the book's Index, Scott Ritter comes right after Rainer Maria Rilke, the Ayatollah Khomeini is just above Nicole Kidman, and Sig Hecker of Los Alamos is separated from Jesse Helms by G.W.F. Hegel.

Mr. Rhodes (who I should say has been a consistent supporter of Secrecy News) ends the book with Acknowledgments, including a valentine to his wife: "She, not thermonuclear fusion, makes the sun shine."

Wrap...

Assholes Abound....

2010-08-22T14:18:00.000-07:00

As a writer friend of mine says, "I fear for my country." Precisely. The Republicans have become an evil force, far as I'm concerned.

Worse is the massive number of flat out stupid people who will swallow any damned thing the Repubs say.

Right off the top, those people need to know that Obama is NOT a Muslim. I don't care what his father was. That man has nothing to do with Obama. He disappeared from sight almost as soon as he impregnanted Obama's mother. Obama was raised a Christian and still is one.

Our Bill of Rights in this Republic of the United States of America says very plainly that we have freedom of religion...which means that Muslims have the right, as US citizens, to build their social center any damned place they please so long as they own the land legally. Which they do. And that's that.

The Republicans have instilled fear in those who buy their bullshit. I cannot imagine why anybody does, but far too many of them do. Pitiful, that they cannot think for themselves.

Of course part of the reason for their stupidity is the fact that our Republican owned news media are yellow journalists of the first order.

And why anybody with brains pays the least attention to assholes like Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck is beyond me. I guess they're hearing what they want to hear, not realizing they're swallowing idiocy whole...evil idiocy. It's all about the money, people!!! Rush and Beck are being paid plenty to continue to cram that crap down people's throats every chance they get.

Media, by the way, includes TV and radio. Yellow journalism. I hope those corporate owners strangle.

And then there's the Supreme Court. Majority are Repugs. So of course they made the decision that corporations are people. Like hell they are. $$$$$$$$$$ rules. And may they rot while still living.

More, they own too many politicians, lock, stock, barrel. It's a hell of a thing that it costs so much to run for office, the way it's set up. Be much cleaner if campaigns were publically financed. And if the reputations of the people running were checked out first for crimes of one kind or another committed.

I do wish that Obama would not try so hard to work deals with both Repugs and Dems to get their joint agreement. It ain't gonna happen.

Wrap...

Replacing Obama...

2010-08-11T13:40:00.000-07:00

Okay then, Dems ...you don't like Obama, you're not gonna have a Repug...so who the hell do you want to replace Obama? Gotta have somebody. Maybe Kucinich? But would he want that lousy job?

Ah...I can hear some people yelling, "HILARY".

Best give some thought to that. Nov 2012 is on its way.

Wrap...

Good Books On The Way....

2010-08-08T15:56:00.000-07:00

From Publishers Lunch Weekly...

FICTION:
DEBUT...

InStyle magazine deputy and books editor Nancy Bilyeau's historical thriller THE LAST NUN, about a novice who is imprisoned in the Tower for breaking the sacred rule of enclosure and, in exchange for her freedom and her father's life, is charged to find a hidden legendary relic that could save the way of life that she loves from Cromwell's advancing army of destruction, to Trish Todd at Touchstone Fireside, in a very nice deal, at auction, by Josh Getzler at Russell & Volkening (NA).

Former analyst at Goldman, Sachs and corporate attorney Cristina Alger's debut THE DARLINGS, a family drama about a New York high society finance family and the race to uncover -- or cover up -- the truth behind a tragic event that sets off a scandal with enormous financial and personal implications, with great insights into a NY world rarely glimpsed by outsiders, and pitched as having echoes of THE FIRM, BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES and Clare Messud's THE EMPEROR'S CHILDREN, to Pamela Dorman at Pamela Dorman Books, in a pre-empt, for publication in winter 2012, by Pilar Queen at McCormick & Williams Literary Agency (world).

MYSTERY/CRIME...

Two-time Edgar nominee Charlie Huston's SKINNER, the first in an epic series about a man raised in a box who becomes the world's most skilled assassin, to John Schoenfelder at Mulholland Books and Bill Massey at Orion, in a three-book deal, for publication beginning Spring 2012, by Simon Lipskar at Writers House (World English).

Four-time Edgar and Shamus Award-winner and Edgar Grand Master Award recipient Lawrence Block's A DROP OF THE HARD STUFF, a new Matthew Scudder novel, to John Schoenfelder at Mulholland Books, for Spring 2011 publication, by Danny Baror at Baror International (NA).

THRILLER...

Duane Swierczynski's FUN AND GAMES, HELL AND GONE and POINT AND SHOOT, a thriller in three parts, starring an ex-cop who lives in exile to protect his family and is driven to uphold justice no matter the personal cost, to be published over a period of six months, to John Schoenfelder at Mulholland Books, in a three-book deal, for publication in Spring through Fall 2011, by David Hale Smith at DHS Literary (World English).
Translation: DHS Literary/Baror International

GENERAL/OTHER...

Tony D'Souza's MULE, in which a young professional couple with a new baby fall into a life as drug mules after they lose their jobs in the economic downturn, to Jenna Johnson at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, for publication in Spring 2012, by Liz Darhansoff at Darhansoff, Verrill, Feldman (NA).

CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT...

IMMORTALS author Alyson Noel's SOUL SEEKER series, a supernatural story that will "explore themes of Shamanism and the ability to walk through the Upperworld and the Underworld and to walk amongst the dead," again to Rose Hilliard at St. Martin's, for publication beginning in 2012, by Bill Contardi at Brandt & Hochman.

NONFICTION:
BIOGRAPHY...

Washington Irving biographer Brian Jay Jones's Jim Henson biography, with the cooperation of the Henson family, beginning with Henson's days as an early TV pioneer, innovative artist and businessman who created a whole new way to present puppetry, covering Henson's creations, such as The Muppet Show, Fraggle Rock and his important contribution to the development and success of Sesame Street, and describing his groundbreaking artistic and technological work that continues to this day, to Jill Schwartzman at Ballantine, by Jonathan Lyons of Lyons Literary (world).

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS...

THE LONGEST WINTER and THE BEDFORD BOYS author Alex Kershaw's 500 DAYS: An Epic of Liberation, a closely focused but expansively painted war saga about an American infantry commander's descent into the deepest maelstrom of World War II Europe, from the landings at Sicily in July 1943 to Anzio, where he was the lone survivor of his company, to the drama of the liberation of Dachau, developing a transcendently human story of fortitude, faith and sacrifice, to Charlie Conrad at Broadway, for publication in 2012, by Jim Hornfischer at Hornfischer Literary Management (world).
Film: jerry@ipglm.com

NYT bestselling author of Renegade: The Making of a President and political analyst for MSNBC Richard Wolffe's untitled book based on exclusive and extensive interviews with President Obama and White House Staff; an in depth study of the Obama Administration at work, to Crown, for publication in November 2010.

Former UK prime minister Gordon Brown's book on the global financial crisis, with insight into the events that led to the fiscal downward spiral and the reactions of world leaders as they took steps to avoid further disaster, and suggestions for measures Brown believes the world should adopt to regain fiscal stability, to Free Press and Simon & Schuster UK, for publication in November 2010, by Philippa Brophy at Sterling Lord Literistic (world).

MEMOIR...

New York Magazine online editor Carolyn Murnick's THE HOT ONE, a memoir about women, friendship and the murder of her childhood best friend at the age of 22, which takes us from the suburbs of New Jersey to the seedy underworld of Los Angeles, to Amber Qureshi at Free Press, at auction, by Larry Weissman at Larry Weissman Literary (world English).

SCIENCE...

Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and senior associate in neurology at Children's Hospital Boston Frances Jensen, M.D., with Amy Ellis Nutt's THE TEENAGE BRAIN, the latest scientific research to unlock the secrets of adolescent behavior and explain what is happening at the interface of a teenager's brain and the world, to Claire Wachtel at Harper, in a major deal, at auction, by Wendy Strothman at The Strothman Agency (World).

Wrap...

Secrets? What Secrets....

2010-07-29T11:56:00.000-07:00

From Secrecy News:

CAN THE SECRECY SYSTEM BE FIXED?

The release of some 90,000 classified records on the Afghanistan War by Wikileaks is the largest single unauthorized disclosure of currently classified records that has ever taken place, and it naturally raises many questions about information security, the politics of disclosure, and the possible impact on the future conduct of the war in Afghanistan.

But among those questions is this: Can the national security classification system be fixed before it breaks down altogether in a frenzy of uncontrolled leaks, renewed barriers against information dissemination, and a growing loss of confidence in the integrity of the system?

That the classification system needs fixing is beyond any doubt.

"I agree with you, sir," Gen. James R. Clapper, Jr., told Sen. Ron Wyden at his DNI confirmation hearing last week, "we do overclassify."

That makes it more or less unanimous. What has always been less clear is just what to do about the problem.

In what may be the last opportunity to systematically correct classification policy and to place it on a sound footing, the Obama Administration has ordered all classifying agencies to perform a Fundamental Classification Guidance Review. The purpose of the Review is to evaluate current classification policies based on "the broadest possible range of perspectives" and to eliminate obsolete or unnecessary classification requirements. Executive Order 13526, section 1.9 directed that such reviews must be completed within the next two years.

"There is an executive order that we, the [intelligence] community, are in the process of gearing up on how to respond to this, because this is going to be a more systematized process, and a lot more discipline to it," Gen. Clapper said.

"Having been involved in this, I will tell you my general philosophy is that we can be a lot more liberal, I think, about declassifying, and we should be," Gen. Clapper said.

It is unclear at this point whether the Fundamental Review will be faithfully implemented by executive branch agencies, whether it will have the intended effect of sharply reducing the scope of the national security classification system, or whether the system itself is already beyond repair.

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ComicCon Is Up & Running....

2010-07-21T20:54:00.000-07:00

Well, ComicCon is rolling. Doors opened at the Convention Center at 6:30PM this evening.

So Skip, the doorman who has been there for 20 years is suddenly asked about what to do when one of the ComicCon folks says, "There's a sea gull in the lobby!"

Not much can be done since the ceiling of the lobby is 2 stories high and thus the sea gull can and will fly around until he finds a way out.

Attendees, who drive into San Diego, can park at Qualcomm stadium in Mission Valley and ride one of the red trolleys non-stop to the Conv Ctr. The problem for the locals will be trying to get across the tracks downtown between trolleys. Apparently the Padres may be playing at Petco Park downtown...across from the Conv Ctr...sometime within the next three days. Fans are gonna have fun trying to find parking. Be good if they take the trolleys too.

Me, I'm gonna enjoy Seaport Village which is a decent distance down Harbor Drive from the Conv Ctr. Was there this afternoon. When I left, to drive down Pacific Hwy, the first cross street was Harbor Drive. Nothing but a solid mass of cars heading toward the Conv Ctr. Ah me. Having ComicCon in town is always intersting.

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Read This Book In Feb, 2011....

2010-07-20T22:15:00.000-07:00

Harriet A. Washington was kind enough to email me a photo of her book jacket, but I can't figure a way to get it over here. In any case, the title is "Deadly Monopolies", and here are quotes from some of the reviews:

Harriet A. Washington has unearthed an enormous amount of shocking information and shaped it into a riveting, carefully documented book.'
—The New York Times

'Medical Apartheid is fascinating and compelling. ...The book’s analysis challenges the reader to question established paradigms in the history of medicine.'
—Marius Turda, Oxford Brookes University, Social History of Medicine

Medical Apartheid: The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans
from Colonial Times to the Present

Winner, National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, PEN/Oakland Award, BCALA Nonfiction Award, Gustavus Meyers Award

Also, she says, "Deadly Monopolies will be published in February 2011, and I posted an essay on HuffPo that dicusses a few of the topics it addresses. I thought you might be interested, so here's the link.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/harriet-a-washington/gene-patenting-produces-p_b_645862.html

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Military Contractors Outnumber Military....

2010-07-19T13:41:00.000-07:00

From Secrecy News:

MILITARY CONTRACTORS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN

The Department of Defense has more contractors in Iraq and Afghanistan than it has uniformed military personnel, another newly updated report from the Congressional Research Service reminds us.

"The Department of Defense increasingly relies upon contractors to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, which has resulted in a DOD workforce that has 19% more contractor personnel (207,600) than uniformed personnel (175,000)," said the CRS report -- which forms a timely counterpoint to this week's Washington Post "Top Secret America" series on the tremendous expansion of the intelligence bureaucracy, including the increased and often unchecked reliance on contractors.

The explosive growth in reliance on contractors naturally entails new difficulties in management and oversight. "Some analysts believe that poor contract management has also played a role in abuses and crimes committed by certain contractors against local nationals, which may have undermined U.S. counterinsurgency efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan," the CRS said.

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Westboro Baptists vs Navy SEALs....& ComicCon..

2010-07-18T12:51:00.000-07:00

From Tom Blair's column in the San Diego Union-Tribune paper this morning:

"Last item in Tom Blair's column this morning...
: The Westboro Baptist Church, famed for picketing the funerals of American soldiers, will picket Comic-Con here on Thursday. The controversial church, headed by Fred Phelps , accuses conventioneers of worshipping comic book idols. Says the Westboro website: “If these people would spend even some of the energy they spend on these comic books, reading the Bible, well no high hopes here.” Batman and the Green Lantern garner most of Phelps’ wrath"

So now everybody wants me to make sure the Navy SEALs...their base is just a couple of
miles away...know. And the Camp Pendleton Marines...just about 25 miles up the coast, as well. Thursday may be those assholes' waterloo.

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Conv Ctr Tour Plus ComicCon Plus Secret Services.

2010-07-17T20:31:00.000-07:00

The powers that be gathered at the San Diego Conv Ctr this morning to tour the place. The idea was to help them decide whether to expand its size, and thus keep ComicCon holding their conferences there. Right now, ComicCon has become such a large size that there is simply not enough space to hold all they'd like to do. We shall see.

My opinion is that expanding the Conv Ctr is the smart thing to do. A better choice than building the proposed new library downtown near Petco ballpark. And if the Chargers need a new stadium, let Spanos build it. We're still losing money on Qualcom.

********************

Additionally, there are two books that I consider must-reads. The first is fiction and entitled "Crashers". Normally, when a passenger jet crashes, there are pictures of the crash site in the MSM. Later, the media might have pictures of the sections of the jet all laid out nicely in a large hanger. "Crashers" deals with the activity that occurs between those two events. Lemme tell you, I had no idea of what goes on. Absolutely a hair-standing novel and when I tell you that you won't be able to put it down, I mean exactly what I say. One absolutely terrific piece of work.

The second book is a non-fiction, entitled "In The President's Secret Service" by Ron Kessler. Talk about shock value! I was astounded by the difference between our presidents' public and private behaviors. And no, I'm not gonna give examples. This is a book that seriously needs to be read. It doesn't cut any of those guys any slack. The Secret Service knows all, I kid you not...and in this book, tells all.
More, you'd best read it BEFORE the next presidential election.

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Special Forces & Green Berets New Book ....

2010-07-15T15:50:00.000-07:00

From Publishers Lunch Weekly...

FICTION..
DEBUT...

Cornell MFA and former University of Chicago mathematics scholar Catherine Chung's FORGOTTEN COUNTRY, the story of a Korean American woman sent by her terminally ill father to find her missing sister, leading to a larger journey that forces her to confront her family's tragic history and to understand the consequences of the truth coming to light under the weight of national, cultural, and personal traditions of silence, to Megan Lynch at Riverhead, at auction, by Maria Massie at Lippincott Massie McQuilkin (NA).

Madeline Miller's IN THE ARMOR OF ACHILLES, yielding a tender love story and a chronicle of the Trojan War; narrated by Patroclus, best friend and lover of the Greek hero, Achilles, these childhood friends suddenly face the rising tide of war when Helen is captured by Troy; following him to the distant battlefields, Patroclus is willing to sacrifice anything to prolong the mortal life of his immortal love, to Lee Boudreaux at Ecco, at auction, for publication Summer 2012, by Julie Barer at Barer Literary, and to Alexandra Pringle at Bloomsbury UK, by Caspian Dennis for Barer Literary.

MYSTERY/CRIME...

Two-time Agatha Award winner and NYT bestselling author Jacqueline Winspear's 9th and 10th novels in the series featuring psychologist and investigator MAISIE DOBBS, again to Jennifer Barth at Harper, in a major deal, by Amy Rennert at the Amy Rennert Agency.

THRILLER...

Three new FBI thrillers by No. 1 NYT bestselling author Catherine Coulter, featuring her lead characters Lacey Sherlock and Dillon Savich, to Ivan Held at Putnam, for publication once a year, by Robert Gottlieb at Trident Media Group (NA).

David Jack Bell's CEMETERY GIRL, in which a couple who seemingly has it all, loses almost everything when their twelve-year-old daughter disappears without a trace, and then, four years later, is found and returned to them, but refuses to talk about where she was, what happened to her -- and why, to Danielle Perez at NAL, in a two-book deal, by Laney Katz Becker at Markson Thoma (World English).

CHILDREN'S/YOUNG ADULT...

Jodi Meadows's trilogy, beginning with ERIN INCARNATE, about the only girl who is new in a world where everyone is perpetually reincarnated, and her quest to discover why she was born, and what happened to the person she replaced, to Sarah Shumway at Katherine Tegen Books, at auction, by Lauren MacLeod at The Strothman Agency (World English).

NONFICTION:
BUSINESS/INVESTING/FINANCE...

Houston Chronicle business columnist Loren Steffy's untitled book on BP, tracing how the current disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is only a part of a larger pattern of corporate cost-cutting and image-making that has compromised safety across BP's operations for years, to Mary Glenn at McGraw-Hill, by Matthew Carnicelli at Trident Media Group (World).

Huffington Post blogger and Magnify.net CEO Steve Rosenbaum's CURATION NATION: How to Profit in the New World of User-Generated Content, illuminating one of today's hottest business trends -- curation: the art of discovering, sorting, and giving context to the explosion of content on the web in order to make it relevant to one's consumer, to Leila Porteous at McGraw-Hill Professional, by John Wright at John Wright Literary Associates.

HISTORY/POLITICS/CURRENT AFFAIRS...

Tony Schwalm's THE GUERRILLA FACTORY, a narrative of the author's experiences in the U.S. Army's legendary training crucible, the Q Course at Fort Bragg, which produces elite Special Forces operators, also known as Green Berets, and his tour of duty as its commander, to Dominick Anfuso at Free Press, for publication in 2012, by Jim Hornfischer at Hornfischer Literary Management (World).

MoveOn.org board president Eli Pariser's DONT BE EVIL: Filter Bubbles, Click Signals, And Why It Matters That the Net Knows Your Name, on the unprecedented rise of personalization on the web, revealing what it's doing to us, where it's going, how it will increasingly restrict the news we consume and curb innovation, and why we can - and must - change course, to Ann Godoff and Laura Stickney at Penguin Press, at auction, for publication in May 2011, by Elyse Cheney at Elyse Cheney Agency (NA).

Author of the newsmaking Rolling Stone article The Runaway General, journalist Michael Hastings' untitled book, promising "an unprecedented behind-the-scenes account of America's longest war," with an unfiltered look at the war, and the soldiers, diplomats and politicians who are waging it, to Geoff Shandler at Little, Brown, by Scott Moyers at The Wylie Agency.

Oceanographer and MacArthur fellow Carl Safina's BLOWOUT, on the environmental consequences of the BP disaster, to John Glusman of Crown, by Jean Naggar of the Jean V. Naggar Literary Agency (World English).

MEMOIR...

Co-host of the Emmy-winning TV show "The Doctors" Dr. Lisa Masterson, PAPER DOLLHOUSE, tracing her path from an unconventional childhood with a larger-than-life, "flim-flam the rich, fund your dreams" mother to the firing lines of medical school, her charity in Africa, and co-hosting a hit TV series while remaining first and foremost a doctor, to Janice Goldklang at Globe Pequot, for publication in May 2011, by BJ Robbins at BJ Robbins Literary Agency (World English).

Wrap...