on Memorial Day...

words from Abraham Lincoln:

"With malice toward none; with charity for all;
with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right,
let us strive on to finish the work we are in;
to bind up the nation's wounds;
to care for him who shall have borne the battle,
and for his widow, and his orphan --
to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace,
among ourselves, and with all nations."

Had a great time protesting Cheney...

...who was in San Diego yesterday, speaking at a fundraiser for Brian Bilbray, the Republican who is running against Democrat Francine Busby for Duke Cunningham's vacant seat in Congress.


The fundraiser was right off Harbor Drive, a scenic stretch of road near San Diego's airport, and the picturesque locale - along with some beautiful sunny weather and a friendly crowd - made a lovely setting for some demonstrating. About 100 people showed up, and after waving our signs at honking drivers for a couple of hours, we got our big payoff when Cheney's motorcade shuffled by, just a couple lanes away from us discontents and our signs - including the dead-on black and green one above.

Heartfelt reporting from Iraq...

...in this touching article from The New York Times:

As Death Stalks Iraq, Middle Class Exodus Begins
by Sabrina Tavernise

BAGHDAD, Iraq, May 18 — Deaths run like water through the life of the Bahjat family. Four neighbors. A barber. Three grocers. Two men who ran a currency exchange shop.

But when six armed men stormed into their sons' primary school this month, shot a guard dead, and left fliers ordering it to close, Assad Bahjat knew it was time to leave.

"The main thing now is to just get out of Iraq," said Mr. Bahjat, standing in a room heaped with suitcases and bedroom furniture in eastern Baghdad...

"Shadows," said Eileen Bahjat, Mr. Bahjat's wife, standing with her two sons and describing what is left in the neighborhood. "Shadows and killing." (full article here)

Here comes the 'gration pork...

So at first glance, Bush's plan to militarize the border struck me as a desperate attempt to appeal to red voters' Neanderthal instincts, a la the condemnation of gay marriage. My second thought was "What stake might Halliburton have in this?" Sure enough, today's news tells of another W-enabled defense industry windfall.
This is how they fleece us:

Bush Turns to Big Military Contractors for Border Control
by Eric Lipton, The New York Times

WASHINGTON, May 17 — The quick fix may involve sending in the National Guard. But to really patch up the broken border, President Bush is preparing to turn to a familiar administration partner: the nation's giant military contractors.

Lockheed Martin, Raytheon and Northrop Grumman, three of the largest, are among the companies that said they would submit bids within two weeks for a multibillion-dollar federal contract to build what the administration calls a "virtual fence" along the nation's land borders.

Using some of the same high-priced, high-tech tools these companies have already put to work in Iraq and Afghanistan — like unmanned aerial vehicles, ground surveillance satellites and motion-detection video equipment — the military contractors are zeroing in on the rivers, deserts, mountains and settled areas that separate Mexico and Canada from the United States...The equipment Border Patrol agents use, how and when they are dispatched to spots along the border, where the agents assemble the captured immigrants, how they process them and transport them — all these steps will now be scripted by the winning contractor, who could earn an estimated $2 billion over the next three to six years on the Secure Border job...

full article

Tom Tomorrow's come up with an equation...

...that makes a lot of sense to me. You can see more in Tom's store, and you can read his superb political cartoon - This Modern World - in dozens of papers and on sites like WorkingForChange.com.

I've long loved the writings of Paul Krugman...

...a Princeton economist and long-time Bush critic who has a knack for explaining tricky issues in simple, understandable terms. While many other pundits are devoting their air time to the immigration debate (which still seems like a suspicious debate to me - how it kind of materialized out of thin air), Krugman recently co-wrote a great summary piece on health care reform. Here's the moral:

A history of failed attempts to introduce universal health insurance has left us with a system in which the government pays directly or indirectly for more than half of the nation's health care, but the actual delivery both of insurance and of care is undertaken by a crazy quilt of private insurers, for-profit hospitals, and other players who add cost without adding value. A Canadian-style single-payer system, in which the government directly provides insurance, would almost surely be both cheaper and more effective than what we now have. And we could do even better if we learned from "integrated" systems, like the Veterans Administration, that directly provide some health care as well as medical insurance...

If you're interested in an enjoyably insightful breakdown of our nation's health care challenges, check Krugman's full briefing here.

The BBC on Cheney and the Russian response...

The Kremlin has described US Vice President Dick Cheney's tough condemnation of Russia on Thursday as "completely incomprehensible". Mr Cheney made his comments in a speech in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. He accused the Russian government was using oil and gas as tools of intimidation or blackmail...

Mr Cheney was on Friday in Kazakhstan promoting a new gas pipeline route that will by-pass Russia. The scramble for energy resources, so-called "pipeline diplomacy", has been likened to "the Great Game" during the 19th Century - the struggle for influence in Central Asia...

Full article here.

Here's a piece from David Swanson...

...at AfterDowningStreet.org. Some insightful analysis on the building GOP smear campaign against John Conyers, who has sounded but the faintest rumblings of impeachment.

Congressman Conyers has not done what the vast majority of Democratic voters and many Republicans want; he has not introduced articles of impeachment. Rather, he's stepped back a step and proposed creating an investigation that would make recommendations on impeachment. Talk about going slow! This is a proposal to make recommendations on beginning a process to charge people with a crime we all already know they're guilty of. That's all before a trial can even begin..

Swanson points to a poll that suggests - based on a survey of voters in battleground state Pennsylvania - that about 85% of Democrats would be likely to vote for a congressional candidate who supported impeachment. Interestingly, however, about 90% of Republicans said they would not support such a candidate. Anyhow, check Swanson's full article here.

Here's a piece by a friend's 8-year-old nephew...

...his name is Sabri, and President Bush ain't get nothing past him:

Fascinating immigration-related facts...

from 2 agencies withhold key data on workers - Records could help find illegal immigrants
by Liz Chandler, Knight Ridder News Service

The IRS and the Social Security Administration routinely collect strong evidence of potential workplace crimes, including names and addresses of millions of people who are using bogus Social Security numbers, their wage records and the identities of the bosses who knowingly hire them.

But they keep those facts secret... The two agencies don't analyze their data to root out likely immigration fraud – and they won't share their millions of records so that law enforcement agencies can do that, either. Privacy laws, they say, prohibit them from sharing their files with anyone, except in rare criminal investigations.

But the agencies don't even use the power they have. The IRS doesn't fine even the most egregious employers who repeatedly submit inaccurate data about their workers. The Social Security Administration does virtually nothing to alert citizens whose Social Security numbers are being used by others...

To work lawfully in the United States, individuals must have valid Social Security numbers or authorization from the Department of Homeland Security. But the law doesn't require companies to verify that workers give them names and numbers that match Social Security records. So most companies don't check. That loophole, created by Congress in 1986, makes it hard to prove whether employers know they're hiring illegal workers.

There's another War we need to end...

...it's the War on Drugs, and in a way it's even more twisted than Iraq, as it's largely a war our country fights against its own citizens. But don't forget that - by fostering a massive black market whose tentacles slime through dozens of other countries - our War on Drugs is in many ways as much an affront to the rest of the world as is our seige of Iraq.

Take this news item from the city of Acapulco, one of Mexico's major resort destinations. To me, it seems that the cloak of fear that shrouds this city is akin to one of terror - and is woven by policy here in the States.

Two Mexican Police Officials Decapitated
By NATALIA PARRA Associated Press Writer
April 20,2006 | ACAPULCO, Mexico -- The decapitated heads of two police officials were found early Thursday dumped in front of a government building in this Pacific coast resort, authorities said.
The heads of police commander Mario Nunez Magana and officer Jesus Alberto Ibarra were found at the same site where four drug traffickers died during a shootout with law enforcement. The heads of the two -- who were involved in the Jan. 27 shootout -- were accompanied by sign that warned, "So that you learn to respect."
...Federal investigators link the violence to a turf war between drug gangs in northern Mexico for lucrative smuggling routes into the United States.

Here's a timeline of Iranian history...

...from The Sun magazine, the latest issue of which includes an insightful collection of blog entries by Iranian citizens. Note how Western intervention disrupted the country's development 50 years ago - and how Iran's current president, Mr. Angry Nuclear Guy, was elected just last year...a reaction to more-recent Western meddling in the Middle East, perhaps?

1953: To protect Western oil interests, U.S. and British intelligence agencies orchestrate a coup, overthrowing the Iranian prime minister and reinstating the traditional monarch, the shah, a pro-American dictator.

1979: The shah is deposed during the Iranian Revolution, and Iran becomes an Islamic republic. A president and parliament are elected, but true power is held by a council of clerics headed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khomeini.

1980: Iraq invades Iran, starting the Iran-Iraq War.

1988: A cease-fire is declared, and the war ends in a stalemate.

1997: Iranian voters reject the state-approved presidential candidate and elect reformist Mohammad Khatami by a wide margin.

2001: Khatami is reelected, but meaningufl reforms are blocked by the conservative clerics who control the government.

2005: Hard-line conservative Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is elected president.

In a partnership with AfterDowningStreet.org...

...and with San Diego-area peace activist Barbara Cummings, we began offering "Impeach Bush!" shirts in February of this year. Thanks to an ad at the top of the awesome After Downing Street blog - and to the growing realization that Bush's Iraq-related activities have included impeachable offenses - we've shipped well over 200 shirts to concerned citizens across the United States.

Proceeds from sales of "Impeach Bush!" shirts help support Barbara's tireless activism. This week, she's back in Crawford, TX, where Bush was supposed to take a spring vacation. Last month, Barbara helped a group of UCSD students put together a big anti-war rally, which featured speakers like Cindy Sheehan and After Downing Street's David Swanson.

After Downing Street is a coalition of over 100 veterans' groups, peace groups, and political activist groups that pressure both Congress and the media to investigate whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in connection with the Iraq war. The coalition takes its name from the emergence in 2005 of several documents that quickly came to be known as the Downing Street Memos.

OMG, is this Iran stuff for real?

If you're like me, you're dumbfounded by the Bush administration's Iran saber-rattling, and you're wondering what to make of the whole thing. Well, here's some good news: a recent Bloomberg/LA Times poll shows that 54% of Americans "don't trust" Bush to make the right decision about going to war with Iran. Dude, there's my country.

So what the hell is Bush's rationale this time - and how separated is it from reality? Here are some key takeaways from an excellent article by Bill Scher of LiberalOasis.com:

Bush frames the case against Iran like this:
1. Iran is close to getting nukes.
2. Iran's President is crazy and irrational and committed to wiping Israel off the map. He can't be reasoned with.
3. Bush is trying real super hard to get the UN to do something about it, but if they won't...

Here's a less war-happy way to look at the situation:
1. Iran has legitimate, rational, self-defense-related incentives to want nukes.
2. To resolve the current stalemate, we need to address those incentives.
3. Because Iran is at least 5 years from getting nukes, time is on our side.

Check out Scher's full article - a short but reassuring read - for more details. And then start spreading the word!

Cheney Surreality continues...

...with this picture and accompanying caption from MSNBC.com. Maybe I am becoming unhealthily fascinated with the guy, or hating on him as kind of a physical representation of war and greed and all that...but sometimes the situations I see him in strike me as ironic or just bizarre. Check out all the symbolism going on in this photo...

Vice President Dick Cheney waits outside the dugout to be introduced before throwing out the ceremonial first pitch of the home opener baseball game between the New York Mets and Washington Nationals at RFK Stadium, Tuesday, April 11, 2006, in Washington. Behind Cheney, from left, are Purple Heart recipients Army Staff Sgt. Derek L. Drew of Goldsboro, N.C.; Marine Cpl. Jamel Daniels of New York; who were injured in Iraq and Army Spc. Javier Torres of New York, who was injured in Afghanistan.

Got a nice note from a Wavelength shopper...

...named Michelle, who recently ran into someone with similar sensibilities:

"I was on vacation and I saw your Impeach Bush shirt...the man said his wife gave it to him...I saw his wife and she told me about your web site. I cracked up...I showed her my daughter's Wanker shirt and she laughed. I don't drink, but she offered me one, just want to tell you that....nice to see that really one person makes a difference..."

Indeed, it is nice to see that one person makes a difference, and that Wavelength shirts are helping foster some positive communication. Thanks for the note, Michelle - and if you receive any more complimentary drink offers in the future, feel free to pass them our way!

Fiscal 2005 was kinda tough for Wavelength...

...at least from a profit/loss perspective. The business lost a significant amount of money, most of which came in the form of an "inventory write-down." Let me explain.

Wavelength Clothing hit the web in June 2005, unveiling nine t-shirt designs and marketing them with Google's AdWords program (which I've described in a much-earlier post to this blog). As sales receipts came in, it quickly became clear that only 4 of the 9 designs were decent sellers. With impressive regularity, shoppers ignored the other 5 designs nearly completely...to this day, I've only sold one or two shirts with the So Money design, and the same is true for each of the designs in the WackWear collection, with the exception of W is for Wack.

Whether I should have seen this coming is the topic of another discussion. My point here is that - because no one wanted to buy them, even at severely discounted prices - the shirts with the unpopular designs were worth nothing. They had no cash value. And as a result, the money spent on them could be written off as a loss.

This loss combined with 2005's other expenses to total significantly more than the sales revenues brought in by the business during the year. The difference between total expenses and total sales is the amount I, as sole proprietor of Wavelength, was able to declare as a "business income or (loss)" on my tax return. In the end, the IRS had to cut me a substantial refund check.

Now, I don't mind paying taxes - in fact, I try to look at paying taxes as a duty and an honor, and I also think I get a pretty good return on the money I send to Uncle Sam. But this year I'm going to indulge myself and enjoy knowing that I took a little loot back out of W's war chest.

I had no idea how close the FBI came...

...to potentially preventing the 9/11 attacks. Here's an excerpt from The New York Times that captures some incredible details from the Zacarias Moussaoui trial. It's like the chance to avert 9/11 evaporated in a situation straight out of Office Space hell:

A Minnesota F.B.I. agent, Harry M. Samit, warned in a memorandum that Mr. Moussaoui was a dangerous Islamic extremist whose study of how to fly a Boeing 747-400 seemed to be part of a sinister plot...

Gripping testimony came from Mr. Samit, who arrested Mr. Moussaoui on Aug. 16 [2001] and quickly became convinced that he was a terrorist who knew about an imminent hijacking plot. Mr. Samit said that he sent about 70 warning messages about Mr. Moussaoui, but that they produced no results.

The agent said he was puzzled at the reluctance of Michael Maltbie, a supervisor with the Radical Fundamentalist Unit at bureau headquarters, to seek a search warrant for Mr. Moussaoui's belongings from a special intelligence court.

Mr. Samit seemed unable to satisfy Mr. Maltbie's demand that he provide a tangible link between Mr. Moussaoui and a foreign power, a requirement for a warrant from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court. He thought he had sufficient evidence from two French intelligence reports showing Mr. Moussaoui had recruited someone to fight in Chechnya for an Islamist group allied with Mr. bin Laden.

But on Aug. 24, 2001, a frustrated Mr. Samit sent an e-mail message to Charles Frahm, a friend and, at the time, an F.B.I. liaison to the C.I.A., asking for information to help make his case. "We're trying to close the wiggle room for F.B.I. headquarters to claim there is no connection to a foreign power," he wrote.

Mr. Moussaoui's lawyers asserted that Mr. Maltbie undermined the effort to obtain a search warrant by deleting some details from Mr. Samit's requests. Mr. Samit said Mr. Maltbie told him he was reluctant to press for a warrant because it would be risky for his career and "he was not about to let that happen to him."

Growth in the Corporate Suite...

...is the title The Wall Street Journal gave a recent news item that spoke to an important trend in income distribution across the United States. Here's an excerpt, along with a related chart with 1997 data from The Economist:

The economy is certainly doing well - for the corporate sector...Since the last business cycle peak - the first quarter of 2001 - "the share of GDI going to corporate profits has risen by 3.9 percentage points, while the share going to labor compensation has fallen by 1.4 percentage points."

Overall, the economy grew at a 1.7% pace in the fourth quarter [2005], but analysts estimate it picked up sharply in the first quarter to around a 5% growth rate. Whether this will translate to stronger growth in wages and benefits as the economic cycle continues is another story... "This strong productivity growth provides the potential to generate broad-based increases in American living standards, but, so far corporate profits have been the only clear winner."

This means that - unless your income is tied closely to corporate profits - the economic expansion is leaving you behind. It's precisely what should happen in a Republican era...tax burdens on big-money earners are lightened, services for low-earners are scaled back, and the scales do some tippin'.

Is the immigration debate a distraction...

...conjured up to sow contention among the American public, just as we seem to be reaching a consensus against the war in Iraq and against corruption in Washington, D.C.? I'm not big on conspiracy theories, but immigration reform sure seems hot and divisive, and sure has managed to ply its way into the national spotlight pretty quickly- just like the gay marriage debate did in 2004. Do our leaders and their strategists actually play us like that? Argh. I think I almost have to believe that they don't.

Anyway, from day one, our country's invasion of Iraq has struck me as clearly wrong, as unnecessary violence always will. The issue of immigration, however, is much more complex. I'm pretty sure that felonizing undocumented migrants is not the answer, but I'm not sure what is.

I do know that the free-markets-friendly finance major in me is very uncomfortable with the notion of a guest worker program. If an employer wants to fill an undesirable job, the employer should boost the job's pay until the job is no longer undesirable - end of story. A market in which some employers can skirt this fundamental rule of economics is not a free market at all.

ADDENDUM: I heard Robert Reich, former Secretary of Labor under President Clinton, discussing immigration reform on NPR this morning. He pointed out that, if U.S. employers stopped hiring "illegal" immigrants, most of these immigrants would no longer have a motive for sneaking in. This is the key to the whole issue, amigos. It means that one group of Americans, by simply deciding to follow the law, could pretty much solve the problem of illegal immigration on their own.