We're gonna need a bigger clock

The digital counter that marks the U.S. debt has run out of digits.

The more I seek the more I'm sought

I like the sincerity of this.

Joe Pug "Hymn #101"

Those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it

In the first presidential debate John McCain said:

"The next president of the United States is not going to have to address the issue as to whether we went into Iraq or not. The next president of the United States is going to have to decide how we leave, when we leave, and what we leave behind. That's the decision of the next president of the United States."

The quote makes for a good lead into a book review I never wrote about What Happened, former White House press secretary Scott McClellan's memoir about his days working for the Bush administration. Members of the administration fed him bad information and then left him to deal with the public and the media on his own when it was found out he had relayed lies. He writes about journalists, the practice of the permanent campaign, the run up to the war and how it was sold to the public, and, most interestingly, the character of the man who has done more to change the world than any single president in U.S. history.

About the war:

Today, as I look back on the campaign we waged to sell the Iraq war to the American people--a campaign I participated in--I see more clearly the downside of applying modern campaign tactics to matters of grave historical import.

They are caught up in an endless effort to manipulate public opinion to their advantage.

It is all part of the political propaganda effort to advance one's causes.

About his relationship with Bush:

I know the president pretty well. I believe that, if he had been given a crystal ball in which he could have foreseen the costs of war--more than 4,000 American troops killed, 30,000 injured, and tens of thousands of innocent Iraqi citizens dead--he would have never made the decision to invade, despite what he might say or feel he has to say publicly today.

But Bush was not one to look back once a decision was made. Rather than suffer any sense of guilt and anguish, Bush chose not to go down the road of self-doubt or take on the difficult task of honest evaluation and reassessment. Rather than look back, he would always look forward, focused on the challenges of the future rather than the regrets of the past. That was especially true when it came to a decision as irrevocable and consequential as war in Iraq.

Which is what McCain doesn't understand when he talks about not having to address the issue of how we got into Iraq. If he becomes president, under these current economic conditions, he could possibly be asked to make a decision about going to war with another country.

About the media:

The American public hungers for truth--not just as it relates to petty partisan squabbles and the controversy of the day, but larger truth, including the hard truths we too rarely hear emphasized on television or see written prominently about in our major newspapers and magazines.

We need to give a greater emphasis to who is right and who is wrong, who is telling the truth and who is not, and the larger truths about our society and our world might achieve some amazing results.

About Bush putting shit up his nose:

"The media won't let go of these ridiculous cocaine rumors," I heard Bush say. "You know, the truth is I honestly don't know whether I tried it or not. We had some pretty wild parties back in the day, and I just don't remember."

I remember thinking to myself, How can that be? How can someone simply not remember whether or not they used an illegal substance like cocaine?

Fuck the police

A Slate piece on Obama and Biden's criminal justice policy worries me.

In particular, Biden and Obama have promised to beef up two federal grant programs critics say have exacerbated many of the very problems Obama expressed concern about earlier in the primaries. Obama and Biden's position shows an unwillingness to think critically about criminal justice. They are opting instead for the reflexive belief that more federal involvement is always preferable to less.

One of the least appealing aspects of American life is the police state it has become.

The New Yorker endorses Obama

The mighty magazine from NYC has spoken.

The incumbent Administration has distinguished itself for the ages. The Presidency of George W. Bush is the worst since Reconstruction, so there is no mystery about why the Republican Party—which has held dominion over the executive branch of the federal government for the past eight years and the legislative branch for most of that time—has little desire to defend its record, domestic or foreign.

Read the rest here.

Can't put all the blame on Bush, at least not for this

An article in the Oct. 6 edition of the Washington Post helps to make sense of the deregulation argument.

So the first cause of the crisis lies with the Fed, not with deregulation. If too much money was lent and borrowed, it was because Chinese savings made capital cheap and the Fed was not aggressive enough in hiking interest rates to counteract that. Moreover, the Fed's track record of cutting interest rates to clear up previous bubbles had created a seductive one-way bet. Financial engineers built huge mountains of debt partly because they expected to profit in good times -- and then be rescued by the Fed when they got into trouble.

Read the rest here.

Songs for musical chairs

Chicago multi-instrumentalist and bad ass whistler Andrew Bird's new album Noble Beast drops on January 27, on Fat Possum Records. No Seoul tour dates yet.

Bird performing the new single "Oh No" from Noble Beast:

The pulse thing was optional: 23 dead people in Ohio were also approved

If you're anything like me, it's hard to get all these economic terms to sink in. This week-old New York Times article about the media trying to make this all less nonsensical helps a little.

“We ordered three, four bottles of Cristal at $1,000 per bottle,” he said on the broadcast, recalling a night when he had a table at Marquee, a nightclub in Manhattan. “They bring it out, you know they’re walking through the crowd, they’re holding the bottles over their heads. There’re firecrackers, sparklers. You know, the little cocktail waitresses,” he said. “You know so you order three or four bottles of those and they’re walking through the crowd and everyone’s like: Whoa, who’re the cool guys? We were the cool guys.”

"This American Life" has a follow-up show here.

Don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows

Palin's claim that Obama hangs out with terrorists is tenuous at best. This is a little background on that.

Irishman shares wave with a Great White

"Just imagine being in the barrel and looking at a massive shark like you're at the bloody aquarium or something."

I'm going to pass, but thanks. Story here.

Seeing South Korea

Home and Away Magazine ran a story on their website last month I wrote about traveling in Korea. I wrote the story last year during Chuseok, when I traveled through Gangwando, visiting Seoraksan and Sokcho. The story was written for an American audience without prior knowledge of Korea, so please forgive some of the generalities. From the story:

"If you are the type that needs your vanity affirmed, Koreans are happy to oblige. They often stare from a short distance as though you are unaware, especially children. This takes some getting used to, but once you manage it, stare back. They mean no harm. Some of them are quite interesting to look at."

To read the rest here you have to enter a zip code -- 46032 -- and then click on Web Exclusives on the left. It's probably really of the most interest to you poor suckers living outside of Korea.

Al-Jazeera People Power North Korea

Sing along: The pathetic Americans kneel on the ground/they beg for mercy. A long (22 min.) news program on the North from Al-Jazeera. It looks bleak, devoid of color.



(Stolen from Korea Beat.)

Obama Kids: Sing for Change (Pyongyang Remix)

(Stolen from the Marmot's Hole)

Super Kim

Palin the Post Turtle

While suturing a cut on the hand of a 75-year-old rancher, whose hand was caught in the gate while working cattle, the doctor struck up a conversation with the old man. Eventually the topic got around to Palin and her bid.

The old rancher said, "Well, ya know, Palin is a Post Turtle."

Not being familiar with the term, the doctor asked him what a "post turtle" was.

The old rancher said, "When you're driving down a country road you come across a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a 'post turtle.'"

The old rancher saw the puzzled look on the doctor's face so he continued to explain. "You know she didn't get up there by herself, she doesn't belong up there, and she doesn't know what to do while she's up there, and you just wonder what kind of dummy put her up there to begin with."