July 2003, Week 3

Monday July 14 , 2003

If a fanatic is willing to give his life for a cause, he's probably willing to give yours as well.

David Gerrold

Calie and Christian went to Camp Cedar Falls for a week, Christy took them up yesterday, she stopped by to see her folks in Riverside and didn't get back till about 2330.

I am waiting on Randy from American WaterWell, he said he would be out in the late morning, it is now 1135... damn. I need to get the kids in about 20 minutes.

He came about 1230, we went down to the well, he found a fuse blown, he had his Ammeter plugged in and saw it draw a whole bunch of current and popped the fuse back out, we looked around the front at the connection block and he saw a stripped wire, we undid the terminals and he grabbed the wire and said "I almost dropped the pump." Apparently there is pipe attached at the cap on the well casing and at the pump, the wires attach to the pump only, the pipe has broken or come apart and the strain on the wires shorted them out at the top by the connector strip. He has to come out with the truck to pull the pipe and the pump out of the well. Apparently they used flawed materials or there was a mistake during the installation, I wonder what they will charge. I am getting a little tired of being blindsided by unexpected bills... Car... IRS... Well... Bad stuff happens in threes... I hope.

I watched "Copy-Cat" with Sigourney Weaver and Holly Hunter, it was excellent, and very intense...

Tuesday July 15 , 2003

Politics, n. Strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles.

-Ambrose Bierce, writer (1842-1914)

The Post also noticed another, ahem, misstatement by yesterday Bush: He said Saddam "wouldn't let [U.N. inspectors] in." The paper notes, too politely, that the president's assertion "appeared to contradict the events leading up to war." Appeared? Talk about "Revisionist History" Only a year has passed and he is already denying that he is the one who refused to send in the U. N. Inspectors... Sadaam was begging for Inspectors, Hell, the whole world was begging for more Inspectors... Americans have short memories, but damn. George "The buck stops over there somewhere" Bush is turning the Sadaam has Uranium, Sadaam bought Uranium but didn't get Uranium, Sadaam tried to buy Uranium, CIA says Sadaam tried to buy Uranium, The British say Sadaam tried to buy Uranium, Sadaam planned to buy Uranium from someone, ploy . "Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive".

The guys came to pull the pump out of the well about 1230, they were done about1600, the pipe wasn't broken the tape they used to attach the wires to the outside of the pipe came apart at the top and the weight of the wire eventually pulled it away from the joint below and so on till there was enough weight to strip the insulation at the top connector and short the wires... bummer.

Wednesday July 16 , 2003

It is better to suffer wrong than to do it,

and happier to be sometimes cheated than not to trust.

Samuel Johnson

Christy and I scurried around getting her and the kids ready to take off at 0400 tomorrow morning, we wanted to get the van ready yesterday but we were too late at T&J and the wanks at the Jiffy-Lube joint in Palmdale wouldn't do it because the drain plug was too tight... (Why would I lie about a stupid thing like that?) so we got to T&J early and they did the job, they also replaced a headlight and replaced the Brake Master Cylinder, I have been nursing it along for a year, Jeff said it was time so... It's time, I like being able to trust my mechanic... $255.00. I feel better about letting Christy take it up north now that it has been checked out.

We ordered water for the water tank, I don't want to stress the well or strain the pump... there was enough water left over to top off the pool.

I took Mike to Kaiser to be tested for drugs and picked up some medicine for Christy. I got some Chinese food, not very good this time...

I went shopping while Christy packed... what a chore, it took me 2 hours in the store to find all the stuff... damn. She was almost done packing when I got home

Thursday July 17 , 2003

All the papers were talking about (Paraphrase) Dick Gephardt has made a disappointing showing by coming up short on money raising... Talk about manipulative Media... I wonder why they are picking on poor old Dick, I am not fond of him, I think he is a weatherman, he will say what the polls say he should but he is #5 in money accumulation in a field of 9, not a word about the 4 that trail him. "One day the press says you're out of the top tier because you didn't raise enough money, and the next day people stop giving you money because they've heard you're out of the top tier. All the while, the press pretends not to be driving this cycle." (William Saletan)

I would ask the Editor If you want to publish the fund raising accomplishments of the Democratic challengers why did you feel that it was necessary to pick on Gephardt when Joe Lieberman has raised only $700k while Gephardt has raised 3.8 million, Dean has only $100k more and John Kerry is on another planet but #2 Edwards has only $600k more than Dick. Seems to me like the press wants Gephardt out of the race"

Quote from the new American Commander in Iraq: "It's low-intensity conflict, in our doctrinal terms, but it's war, however you describe it," said the U.S.'s new commander for the Mid-east, Gen. John Abizaid. As recently as Sunday, Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld refused to invoke the G-word. Abizaid seemed to also contradict his boss when he noted that the guerrillas are "better coordinated now" and have "some level of regional command-and-control." Finally, Abizaid responded to soldiers' ripping Rummy, reminding GIs, "None of us that wear this uniform are free to say anything disparaging about the secretary of defense or the president of the United States. It's our professional code."

That last bit is one of the concepts that precipitated my decision to get the hell out of the Navy, You lose your rights as an American Citizen when you join the Service... You are governed by the "UCMJ" Uniform Code of Military Justice... The reality of the service is that you are Guilty until proven innocent, your beliefs and opinions are the beliefs and opinions of your immediate superior, or you don't survive.

Taking Mike to therapy in Lancaster at Noon, Mike's bus doesn't get here till 1245, so I have to pick up "B" early, pick up Mike early and take him to Kaiser Drug Intervention Therapy... "B" goes too... oops... Just noticed I have an appointment with "B"'s Social Worker on the same date and time... damn... Must call and reschedule in the AM...

Took care of the DMV today so I have the Van Registration and the Cadillac is officially junked.

To date: 224 Americans killed in Iraq

Friday July 18 , 2003

I noticed in the NYT that Bush has discontinued the address president@whitehouse.gov, well, you can still write there but it connects to an auto-responder, no one actually reads it. They have set up a website www.whitehouse.gov/webmail to filter his mail...

First you tell the program if you are opposed or in support of the president

Then you select a general subject from a drop down menu, when you do a sub-topic menu opens and you select one item from there. Once you are done with that you fill out a questionnaire. then the program formats the e-mail for you... It's pathetic, it's like being a teenager writing to some heart-throb's Fan Club.

I sent this off to Cousin George....

To: President George W. Bush

From: Mrs. Peter A. Daggett <padagge@hotmail.net>

Subject: Write a Supporting Comment on Legal/Judicial (Death Penalty)

Dear President Bush: (Yeah, sure...)

I have nothing to say on any of the subjects your website has restricted me to... I find this procedure to be an insult to the concept of free speech and demeaning to me personally. You have merely set up a crude "Pro - Con" poll on subjects politically sensitive to Cousin George.

Body count is up to 225... ask cousin George how he's sleeping...

"When governments fear the people there is liberty. When the people fear the government there is tyranny."

Thomas Jefferson, Third US president (1743-1826)

Sincerely,

Peter Daggett

Last day of school for "B", he has been home 4 hours and is already bored out of his skull. Last night Mike promised to clean the kitchen, he took off for Donnie's house at 0830...

Saturday July 19 , 2003

I have to get ready to to go get Calie, Christian and Shon tomorrow, I have to pick them up at 10:00, then I have to take them up to where Christy is near Santa Cruise.

Friday July 18, 2003 1134 hours

Following is an excerpt from today's press briefing by President Bush's new Press Secretary, Scott McClellan:

Tom Robbins (Associated News): "Scott, there is a story out of Connecticut which says that President Bush claims to have been born in a log cabin. Any truth to this?"

Scott McClellan: "I spoke to the President about this story yesterday. He was a bit annoyed that the media had, once again, gotten it wrong. So let me put that story to rest; the President was NOT born in a log cabin and never claimed to have been born in a log cabin. I have it on the authority of the President himself, he was born in a MANGER."

"B" and I went to breakfast and then came home and cleaned... I can't find Mike, he went to Donnie's yesterday I have called several times and even went down there twice, thee was no answer. Three hours up and three hours back, then Monday it's 6 hours up and 6 hours back to Socal (by Monterey)

Sunday July 20 , 2003

A living language is like a man suffering incessantly from small hemorrhages, and what it needs above all else is constant transactions of new blood from other tongues. The day the gates go up, that day it begins to die.

H.L. Mencken, writer, editor, and critic (1880-1956)

Is his silly or what:

From: Art Olson (olson@ghpc.org) Subject: "courrier electronique," the literal translation of electronic mail

From July 18 Wall Street Journal Afternoon Report...

Ridicule Electronique Always on the prowl against an Anglo-Saxon linguistic invasion, the French Culture Ministry is hoping to stamp out the widely used "e-mail" by adopting a Quebecois compromise. Despite the existence of an officially sanctioned alternative -- "courrier electronique," the literal translation of electronic mail -- many French have continued to use "e-mail," pronouncing it "ey-mayal." The ministry's General Commission on Terminology and Neology decided recently to follow Quebec's use of "courriel," a smoother, truncated version, and it announced a ban on the use of "e-mail" in all government documents.

I left at 0730 and arrived at Camp Cedar Falls to pick up Calie and Christian (Amazingly) at exactly 10:00 that's after taking a twenty minute detour because I missed the turn-off from the freeway... I picked up Mike and brought him home, he is going to stay here I guess... stupid of me. I am going to go to bed early and get up around midnight and head north... I should be able to make it in about six hours, six and a half if we stop for breakfast. I want to be back down here between 1300 and 1400... but I don't know if I can do it. It depends on what Christy has planned.

I can't not include this:

THE LION OF AFRICA ROARS
Copyright: Eric S. Margolis, 2003

July 14, 2003

MIAMI - Illustrating the maxim that all politics are local, American politicians used to lavish attention during election years on the `three I's' - Israel, Ireland, and Italy. Today, Israel remains in first place, but thanks to demographic changes , Africa and Mexico have replaced Ireland and Italy.

Last week, President George Bush, who is campaigning for re-election, voyaged to Africa on a self-described mission to promote democracy, and combat AIDS, terrorism, and poverty. Before leaving, Bush, whose strong suit is not geography, proclaimed, `Africa is a nation with a lot of diseases.'

Bush's African trip may win away a few black votes from the Democrats. Bill Clinton made a similar pre-election media safari. But Bush's trip was aimed more at his missionary-minded, Bible Belt core supporters, riled up by their preacher's dire warnings that `evil' Islam is devouring sub-Saharan Africa.

The trip was also about securing new, non-Mideastern oil supplies for the power-insatiable US, and opening up the world's last big, untapped market to US business. Bush's promise of US $15 billion to combat AIDS in black Africa was a laudable, desperately-needed effort that may help counteract the negative worldwide image of the US that President Bush has fostered.

But once the Great White Father from Washington returns home, Africa's problems will continue to fester. Liberia, the focus of current attention, is an egregious example. The West African state was founded in 1847 by freed American slaves. The ex-slaves, in a telling comment on human nature, promptly enslaved local tribes, formed a dynasty, and turned the country into a plantation run by Firestone Tire Company. The `American' oligarchy was overthrown in a bloody 1980 coup by an illiterate, syphilitic soldier, Master Sergeant Samuel K. Doe.

Before Doe, the decrepit capitol, Monrovia (named after US President James Monroe), had a whiff of civilization. The demented Doe brought in fellow tribesmen from the stone-age interior, turning Liberia into an even scarier, more wretched place than Idi Amin's Uganda or Papa Doc's Haiti. President Ronald Reagan received Doe at the White House, unfortunately referring to him as `my very good friend, Chairman Mo.'

Doe was overthrown in 1990 by rebels led by former US-resident Charles Taylor, and forced, while being videotaped, to eat his ears and other body parts, then killed.

Taylor, who was much smarter than Doe, is blamed for stirring civil war in neighboring Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast. Bush has demanded he quit office and may send US troops to Liberia. Unlike the imperial adventures in Afghanistan and Iraq, US intervention in Liberia would be a true `liberation' and genuine humanitarian mission. Only western troops can bring law and order to anarchic Liberia.

But intervention in Liberia will not begin to address Africa's many miseries. Africa's underlying problem, as this writer found covering the continent's wars, is rotten government, rampant corruption, tribalism, disorder, disease, and a runaway birth rate that gobbles up any scant economic progress.

Oil-rich Nigeria, black Africa's most populous nation, and Olympic scam champion - `hello, I am the daughter of Jonas Savimbi' or `make $30 million from frozen bank accounts,' is a chaotic mass of corruption, ethnic hatreds, and political chicanery. ,

Liberia, Sierra Leone and now Ivory Coast are terrorized by gangs of heavily armed teenage thugs crazed on palm beer and potent marijuana. Congo, Africa's heartland, is being ravaged by tribal warfare and plundering neighbors. Rwanda risks new genocide. Zimbabwe and Ethiopia face famine.

The old order, where respected tribal chiefs ruled and administered justice, is breaking down, replaced by corrupt officials, urban gangs, and anarchy. Farmers have been ruined by high western tariffs and surplus foodstuffs dumped on Africa by the Europe and the US. Governments across the continent are totally addicted to cash handouts from abroad.

Parts of black Africa have regressed economically, politically and socially since independence in the 1960's. Slavery and colonialism left pernicious legacies, to be sure, but the main blame lies with Africans themselves. In the 1980's, UN experts estimated that Angola alone, if properly run and farmed, could easily feed all black Africa. Yet today, after untold billions in aid, and endless conferences, Africans continue to starve and suffer.

Attempts by African states and ill-trained UN peacekeeping forces to deal with Africa's war-torn regions have failed. However, small numbers of troops from former colonial powers France, Britain, and Belgium, have been highly successful in imposing order and driving off armed rabble. Now, sub-Saharan Africa may well be heading towards re-colonialization by western powers, a renewed version of what Kipling called `the white man's burden,' where permanent garrisons of mobile western troops keep the Pax Americana and impose law and order.

Bush made his longest stop in South Africa. Nelson Mandela, the world's most respected and venerated figure after Pope John Paul II, refused to meet with Bush and instead left the country. Both Mandela and the Pope condemned Bush's war against Iraq in the strongest possible terms. Mandela's pointed departure was not a proud moment for the USA.

Bush's aides may sneer Mandela has neither divisions nor billions. True enough. But when old lion Mandela roars, all Africa listens.