"My people love me!"

And from the following picture, we can see how enthusiastically they love Moammar Gaddafi.


From http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/live-blog-libya-march-27

This picture is used under Creative Commons (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/)

Republicans again oppose true free markets

We listen to Minnesota Public Radio regularly and are Sustaining Members, but we find tiresome the frequent announcements by MPR President Bill Kling about needing to get federal funding.

I often wonder why federal funding is needed but I don't think the bill to cut federal funding of public broadcasting, H.R. 1076, is really based on budget concerns.

It is really an attack on a source of news and commentary that doesn't follow the current Republican line.  One could say that it wants to whip the boy who said the emperor has no clothes.

What is really interesting that H.R. 1076 also prohibits federal funds being used to purchase NPR content.  This doesn't sound very free market to me.  It looks like it's OK to purchase Fox News content with federal funds but not NPR content.  And Fox News gets far more federal subsidies than NPR.

One, News Corp paid taxes at a six percent rate while Disney paid 31 percent.  The mickey mouse network paid less tax than the real Mickey Mouse company!!

Two, bailout money for the likes of GM has been used to buy ads on Fox.  Where's the bill to prohibit this?

See "End the Federal Funding of Fox News", The Daily Kos, 2011-03-21.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker soft on crime?

Gov. Walker's budget has denied funding for a "police file-sharing system that supporters say already has grown into a crucial tool in detecting criminals' cross-jurisdiction patterns."  It had been built using mostly federal funds, "but Walker declined to devote any state dollars to it because of tight budgets."  "APNewsBreak: Wis. gov's budget denies finding for police communication, file-sharing system", Star Tribune, 2011-03-11 http://www.startribune.com/local/118735484.html

If Republicans have derided Democrats as being soft on crime, why is Walker making it easier for criminals to hide their activities?

The center of what?

I posted the following comment on the Coffee Party's Facebook page in response to "Practical is not political", Nicholas Goebel, The Pragmatic Center.

"I wonder if talking about the center is the correct metaphor.  Do ideas really morph from right to left or vice versa?  If the big-enders are on one island and the little-enders are on another island, are the people who think the question is irrelevant in the water between?"

Practice what you preach

Republicans claim to uphold "family values".

Minnesota Republicans are promoting a casino at Canterbury Park (a race track)

Since when is gambling a family value?

Throw darts to pay less taxes

I finally finished and filed my 2010 Federal income taxes.  I found out that by throwing darts I had certain income that was charged ten percent lower taxes than other income.  To get that income, I didn't sit in a cubicle, I didn't dig ditches, I didn't wait table until my feet hurt.  I just threw some darts a few years ago, and bingo!  I pay less taxes because I'm "stimulating the economy."

What were these darts?  They were decisions to buy certain stocks.  It really didn't take a lot of work to do that.  I just read a few reports, looked up some history, or followed Motley Fool's advice.

Of this income that was taxed less, half was from gains for selling some stock and half was for "qualified dividends", whatever those are.

None of this was based on helping a business get started.  I bought shares in existing companies, and so all I was really doing was providing liquidity for previous owners of those shares.  That is an important service because people need to sell stock from time to time for a variety of reasons, but should providing liquidity gain special treatment?  Congress after congress seems to think so.

Congress did give a sop to people who actually show up to work.  It was called "Making Work Pay".  I don't remember what the upper limit on this deduction was, but my wife got an eight-dollar credit for the one day she was an election judge.

I don't have any clear ideas on what a more fair tax system would be, but I do think we should take a good look at what the true purpose and result of various tax gimmicks are.

An interesting view of Tripoli

Al-Jazeera is showing moderate auto traffic in Tripoli at 9:18p.m. today Libyan time.  See today's live blog http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/libya-live-blog-march-20-0 and scroll down to the YouTube at 9:18 p.m.

It looks rather normal.  I won't venture any reasons for this; I can only speculate on various scenarios.

A reminder why I don't fly

The Wall Street Journal had a great article on how to handle various situations in current day air travel.  "So who gets the armrest", Scott McCartney, Wall Street Journal, 2011-03-17 reinforced my decision to avoid flying anywhere.  It just ain't fun anymore.

Benefits - Getting mad at the wrong people?

Tony Sheda wrote an interesting "Local View" in today's Duluth News Tribune.  The editors titled it "It's upsetting to pay so others can get better salaries, benefits".

He relates how he left being a union carpenter to have his own business.  He sometimes could not put into his IRA all that he would have liked.  He has catastrophic health insurance so that his premiums are lower.  He has had to pay a $5,000 premium and had $5,000 deductibles.

He is unhappy that his taxes are going to pay for better pay and benefits for public employees than he has.

I think his ire is misdirected.  He would be really mad if he read Wendell Potter's "Deadly Spin".  Potter is a former PR executive for CIGNA, one of the big health insurers.  Potter got fed up with making the health insurers look like they really cared about people's health.  He wrote how consolidation and concentration of power has led to huge salaries and benefits for insurance company executives while trying to pay out as little as possible of the premiums they were raking in.

Remember William McGuire of United HealthCare with his million plus salary, the huge number of stock options he received, and the manipulation to backdate those options so that he paid even less for his stock.

Now there is something to "get mad at having to pay so others can get better pay and benefits than we do."

Three cheers for government being in the way

One of the current mantras is to get government out of the way of business.  There are many reasons that a government of the people should be in the way of business, but I'll save that for another day.

One of the ways that government should be in the way of business is with building codes.  If every builder of houses or of skyscrapers did it their own way, would you feel secure walking into any building?  Although most build sturdy, safe buildings, there are some who will cut corners to save a few bucks.  It is government that works to check up on these corner cutters.

What would have happened in Tokyo if many of the large buildings were not built to government standards?  What would the toll in lives have been if contractors had cut corners?  What would the toll have been if government inspectors hadn't checked on standards being met?

You don't need to live in earthquake zones to be concerned with building safety.  What if you put lots of money into the structural integrity of your building but your neighbor didn't.  Comes the hurricane or the tornado and his building tumbles into yours.

Many think zoning codes are anti-business, but they can be pro-business.  What if you put up a nice hotel and a junk yard is put in next door.  How much business would the junk yard deter?

Many who want zoning codes changed from residential to commercial wouldn't appreciate the same changes in their own neighborhood.  Maybe any developer who wants to change a residential neighborhood should be willing to have a similar change made in his own neighborhood.

Getting government out of the way of business is one of those notions that you should be careful what you ask for.

Why is nuclear energy so popular among some politicians?

Because it is anti-free market.

Anti-free market?  How can that be?  We have legislatures dominated by free-market proponents.

How many large companies stand to benefit from nuclear power?  You don't need to use more than one hand to count them.

How many medium and small companies benefit from wind and solar?  Lots and lots.

A free market has many buyers and many sellers.  If you have a few sellers, the market is not so free.

It is the interest of ever-larger corporations to become even larger.  Larger corporations give larger donations.

Nuclear power companies probably have given some very large political donations.

Can the wind energy market give such large donations?

Now you know why the push for nuclear energy.

Foreign language spell-checking?

I have been writing a bit of French and Swedish lately, using Apple's TextEdit and Microsoft's Word and Outlook.  I've found that TextEdit will correct my French and that Microsoft's software corrects both.

For example, I deliberately typed "Je ne peut pass écrir français bein" and it corrected my text to "Je ne peut pas écrire français bien."  In fact I had to un-correct the first phrase.

I still have to look up words and grammar, but a lot less than a few years ago.

Oops!  Le spell-checker n'est pas parfait.  "Je ne peux pas écrire français bien" est correcte.  (2011-03-29)

What's this about the DMV?

One of the favorite government punching bags in cartoons and politics is the Department of Motor Vehicles.  Supposedly all across the country DMVs are hotbeds of long lines and surliness.

Whoever is making these assertions doesn't live in Minnesota.   I had a wait of less than ten minutes, each clerk treated customers with respect, even when there were problems, and I was served with grace and humor.  Thanks, Julie!

Granted that I renewed my driver's license at the County Auditor's branch office, but it is the representative of the Department of Vehicle Services.

Our way is good; your way is bad

There is a guy going around with a video camera, setting up crazy situations, and getting people to say silly things.  He then publishes his videos and the right jumps over the follies of the few as indicative of how bad the whole organization is.  He did it against ACORN and now he has done it against NPR.  ACORN has closed its doors; NPR will probably survive because it has many well-heeled supporters.

However, if somebody entraps a Republican like Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, it's called unfair and brushed off as inconsequential.

Subsidies for green energy are bad; energy costs should be determined by free market forces.

But the same people who say this want to supply subsidies to the oil and nuclear industries.

Interestingly, the nuclear industry is not supported by the free market; banks and investors think they are too risky.  See "Japan disaster may mean setback for U.S. nuclear energy", Washington Post, Jia Lynn Yang, 2011-03-13.

It could have been us

We were in the Sendai area in October 2007 with our son, his wife and many of her family, their daughter, and my wife's mother.  We stayed at the Pension Mirai in Shichigahama.

Much of the Sendai area was beautiful but I assume much of what we saw was destroyed because it was so close to the water.  According to Google Earth, the pension was only three meters above sea level, even if the beach was at least a five-minute walk away.

You can see some of what we saw in 2007 at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28887068@N00/sets/72157602788527775/

Coffee Party Yard Sign Contest

The Coffee Party is having a yard sign contest "To make us laugh and save America".  See http://www.coffeepartyusa.com/yardsigns.

My own lame offerings really can't compete with

THIS SIGN
COST MORE THAN
BANK OF AMERICA
PAID IN TAXES
LAST YEAR.

and

Keep your corporate hands off my governor!

Mine were inspired by the fact that in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and many other states the number of eligible voters who did not vote was greater than the number of voters who voted for the "winners".

Of course your vote didn't count!
You didn't cast it!
Now look where you got us!

Stop minority government!
VOTE!

Third party candidates aren't the spoilers!
No-show voters are the spoilers!

Libya: Damned if you do and damned if you don't

There are many voices being raised in the U.S. that the U.S. should enforce a no-fly zone over Libya to reduce Gaddafi's advantage over the opposition.

One of these is Nicholas Kristof, "The Case for a No-Fly Zone Over Libya", New York Times, 2011-03-09.

On the other hand, they are those who give many arguments for the long-term consequences of  unilateral action, "Kicking the Intervention Habit", Richard Falk, Al-Jazeera, 2010-03-10.

Count me as one of the sympathizers of a no-fly zone, yet I really hesitate because of the long-term damage to U.S. prestige and influence.  What right does a country thousands of miles away have to determine military action that is not threatening its own shores?  What arrogance to think that the U.S. military is the only one capable of acting?

Wouldn't the European Union be a more appropriate actor than the U.S.?  Don't France, Germany, and the U.K. have sufficient capability to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya?  Even then, it will be interpreted by many in the Arab world as another example of colonialism.

If any no-fly zone were to be enforced, it would have to come from an Arab country.  Is it in the interest of the current governments of Tunisia and Egypt to do so?  They are the ones who had to deal with the thousands of refugees fleeing Libya.  Is not Egypt getting over $50 billion per year in military aid?  Is that going into paper airplanes?

I think the only course of action for the U.S. is to have very private talks with the Egyptians as to what the latter can and should do.

Maybe there is one other thing the U.S. can do.  If the embargo on Libya is rewritten to exempt the opposition government, then by all means ship arms, food, and other supplies into Benghazi and other safe ports.  If the U.S. could supply Stinger missiles to the Mujahideen in Afghanistan with disastrous effects on Soviet forces, could and should it supply them to the opposition in Libya, either directly or through a surrogate?

Family News from Japan

Our son Darryl put this on his Facebook page:

So the earthquake was pretty bad in Tokyo, but at least the building stayed up. Most people stayed frozen at their desks; I went to the stairwell, stood in the doorframe and watched these cracks form. 


We assembled on the sidewalk and watched the building sway in the aftershocks. Since the trains were all stopped I walked home (90 min). There are still streams of people heading home even now.

We also spoke with him via Skype.  His almost 4-year-old daughter Kayo is still frightened.  They went out for a few groceries and it was a struggle to return home.  So many people who would have been on the subway were walking towards them that he had "to fight his way" through.

Putting budget cuts in perspective

Read this story about one school librarian's testimony to the Appropriations Committee of the Maine Legislature.

Be sure to read to the end to see her impact on the committee members.

Mob rule or "people's" rights

Gov. Scott Walker and the Wisconsin Senate have unleashed the whirlwind by ramming through a bill to limit the rights of union workers.  It is hard to say what will get blown down.

Are the protesters storming the state capitol an attempt to govern by mobs?  Or are they legitimate expressions of grievances?  How many are people who will be directly impacted by this legislation?  How many are people that just rally to a cause they are sympathetic to?

The police have given up trying to keep people out of the Capitol, but there are two tactics that they might try to limit the number.

First, of course, is safety.  What is the occupancy limit that the fire marshall has set for the Capitol?  The limit established of course before Walker was elected governor.

Second, did all the protesters vote?  Any protesters who didn't vote in the last election have only themselves to blame.  It would be a logistical nightmare to check if each and every protester voted, but one could ask all those who didn't vote to leave.  It would be interesting to see how many, if any, walk sheepishly out.

I think Wisconsin is going to see a drastic drop in the number and quality of government workers.  Some will take earlier retirement than they had planned.  Some will find other lines of work, difficult as it is currently.  Others may just depend on spouse income.

I wonder if some teachers will band together to form tutoring companies.  For a fee, they would tutor individual or small groups of students outside of classrooms.  Of course, this will limit access to learning to many, but the "short-term" pain may serve as a wake-up call to the importance of properly funding public education.

Social Security: Raiding the tip jar

Deficit hawks often lump Social Security as one of the drains on the budget; according to them it should be reined in to reduce the deficit.

But this is like a restaurant owner lumping the contents of the tip jar in with his overall income and then considering paying the contents to his employee as an expense.  If he reduces the expense of the tip jar, then he can improve his balance sheet.  He completely ignores that the tip jar is funded by customers with the intent that the contents go to the employees.

Similarly, Social Security is funded by the payroll tax.  Current revenues, by law, go into government securities.  This practice gives rise to the notion that the government is raiding Social Security.  You wouldn't want the money kept in a bank that might fold, would you?  And you would like to see the money earn interest, wouldn't you?

So, the anti-Social Security folks raise a hue and cry about Social Security contributing to the national debt.  Reduce Social Security payments and we can reduce the national debt.

I wouldn't want to be wait staff in a restaurant run by these people.

Are you an armchair activist?

I am not a big fan of demonstrations or petitions; they often seem to me to be more mob rule than serious deliberation.  For the 1,000 that show up for a demonstration, were there 10,000 that had a different opinion?  For the 100,000 who signed a petition, were there 1,000,000 who had a different opinion?  Just like all the no-shows on voting or the uncalled on polling, we can never be sure what the inactive think.

However, like letters to the editor, one should often raise one's voice to at least make an opinion known.

Reading today's Al Jazeera blog on Libya I saw that Avaaz has created a petition urging the UN Security Council to impose a no-fly zone in Libya.  Avaaz's campaign for sanctions two weeks ago with 450,000 emails stunned the Security Council office.

One must admit, such actions often do get attention.

More wealthy calling for more taxes

Bill Gross, a founder of PIMCO, an account management services company, added his voice to those of Warren Buffett and Bill Gates that the wealthy should pay more taxes.

"Add PIMCO founder Bill Gross to the list of wealthy Americans who think they aren't being taxed enough, already.  'Of course we should' pay higher taxes, Gross says. 'Higher income groups have enjoyed an enormous privilege ever since the Reagan tax cuts...and actually ever since Kennedy began the process back in the ‘60s.'"

See "Bill Gross: 'Of course' the Wealthy Should Pay Higher Taxes, Corporations Too", Tech Ticker, 2011-03-07.

Nowhere in the interview did he mention any rationale besides that they can pay more.  I wish he had mentioned all the services of a civil society that make it possible for the wealthy to become wealthy.

Maybe some clever economist or accountant could come up with a cost-benefit ratio to show that those who can afford to pay more should pay more taxes; if they pay less taxes they will get less benefit from a civil society.  Maybe even their overall costs will go up because they pay less taxes.

Being charged for receiving unsolicited advertising

I just received my Verizon Wireless bill.  It was 21 cents higher than last month.  I'm kind of used to the crazy gyrations of phone bills, and I usually check why.

This time it was for a text message.  Guess who from?  Verizon Wireless after I upgraded my phone!  Twenty cents isn't a big deal, but consider how many phones they sell a day.

I don't know what percentage of the market Verizon has, but over one billion cell phones are sold every year.  At 20 cents for each phone sold, that's getting consumers to pay over 250 million dollars to be advertised to.

And businesses get upset about being regulated.  Many aren't regulated enough.  Congress did have the power to regulate commerce until commerce bought Congress.

Of course our children and grandchildren will pay for…

…investments we make in their future.  Just like we paid off the debt for some of the investments our parents and grandparents made in our future.

One of the big grumbles about government debt is that our children and grandchildren will have to pay.  However, what many of these people are grumbling about assumes that all debt is wasteful.

In many cases this can be true, especially if it is borrowing for today's operating expenses.  On the other hand, many things we need to borrow for to have in the future.  All that paid cash for every house they ever owned, please raise your hand.  Same for every car.

We as a society need to borrow for school buildings, government buildings, streets, sewers, and other infra-structure.  Do you think our great-grandparents had a bake sale to build the sewers we take for granted?

My persistent cold is making me thankful for all that has been made possible by past generations.

I don't have to go out in the cold to get wood to keep warm.  The gas keeps coming and the furnace ignites automatically as needed to keep our house at the temperature we selected.

I don't have to go out in the cold to well to get water.  Whenever I wash or want to make coffee, I just turn on the faucet.  I think on our street those waterlines were laid in the 40s or even before.

I don't have to go out in the cold to the outhouse.  I just go to the bathroom, push the little handle when I'm done, and all that stuff goes out of sight and out of mind.

We are all better off for these investments made by generations gone by.

We are also healthier and longer-lived because of those investments.  Even as ambulatory as I am with this cold that will probably be gone in another week, what would it be like if I had to go outside frequently for wood, for water, and for the toilet?  What would be the chances of my developing pneumonia and not being able to get help because there was no telephone?

It is true that we should pause now and then and be thankful for our blessings, especially those given to us by people long-gone.

Free markets and capitalism – their supporters don't want them!

Disclaimer: We own shares in some companies and mutual funds.  In our retirement we will depend more and more on dividends and interest.  However, we don't feel compelled to hide the warts in the system.

We read many complaints that the U.S. is becoming socialist and turning against free markets and capitalism.  Well, we are seeing many efforts to erode free markets and capitalism, but these efforts are being made most strongly by those who proclaim them.

The classical definition of a free market is one with many buyers and many sellers and with both buyer and seller having all the information they need to make a decision.  Oh, also, either the buyer or seller should be free to enter or leave the market.

We see many moves to reduce the number of sellers as companies gobble up their competitors.  We also see some moves to reduce the number of buyers - Wal-Mart has become the sole buyer for many suppliers.

Many large corporations fight efforts to give buyers important information to make a good decision.  The tobacco companies denying their products caused harm is one of the more egregious distortions of important information.  Agribusiness companies don't want foods labelled as genetically modified.  Many large dairy companies don't want competitors products labeled BGH-free (bovine growth hormone).  Telecommunication companies make it difficult to know the exact cost of their services before a customer makes a purchase.  How come the billing computers know exactly what a customer should pay but the sales computers supposedly don't have that information?

Freedom to enter and leave the market exists in varying degrees.  There are certainly many products we can choose to buy or not buy.  Suppliers with a single buyer can stop selling to that buyer, but they will have a lot of work to replace that buyer.

Capitalism - ah, a lovely concept when it started.  Some people got together and pooled their money to form a company, each getting shares proportional to their contribution.  Then markets developed to buy and sell those shares as owners wanted to reallocate their investments.  All well and good.  If Smith wanted to sell his shares in XYZ to buy a house and Jones was glad to buy XYZ shares because he missed out when they were issued, that's all above board.

I won't get into day-trading versus investing or all the derivatives that Wall Street thinks up.  This is almost all smoke and mirrors and a long, long way from capitalism.

As economies grew, so did the companies originally financed with stock.  But as they grew, the shareholders became more and more distant from the operation of the company.  They had to hire executives and board members to run the company.  All well and good.  But with all the buying and selling of shares, the shareholders had little interest in the company other than it grew and turned a profit.  Few had any interest in the day-to-day running of the company.

As time went on, the board members nominated themselves for successive terms, without any competition.  Shareholders could either accept them or withhold their votes; the boards made any mechanisms to offer a different slate extremely difficult.  To make matters worse, many of the shares were owned by mutual funds and other institutions; in general, the operators of these institutions exercised their "fiduciary responsibility" and voted with the board.

In many democratic countries, the boards lobbied their friends in governments to put up various hindrances to any shareholder control beyond the above yes or no votes.

These board members grant their appointed executives shares in the company for their "performance" and grant themselves the same.  In other words, they are giving themselves more and more of the company and more and more of the votes.  The board members often get over $100,000 per year for showing up for six meetings.  Nice work if you can get it.

Many define this whole process as capitalism and as a great good.  I call it capturism; the few have captured control of a company to run as they see fit.  At least, unlike many oligarchies, they don't throw dissidents in jail.

Is Gaddafi a paper tiger?

There have been many reports about Gaddafi's loyalists making attacks in several locations, but many seem to have been repulsed.  Has he executed so many who refused to obey his orders that he is greatly understaffed?  Are many who still nominally support him making themselves scarce so they can avoid doing his bidding or avoid execution?

We don't know.  When it is all over will we find only a bunker like Hitler's?

I was "forced" to join Facebook

I've been reluctant to join Facebook even though many of my relatives seem to be communicating only through Facebook and not email or letters.

The tipping point was when I read a Coffee Party article called "The Tipping Point".  It listed ten wake-up calls that citizens should heed to turn the U.S. around from a plutocracy to a democracy.

You know me.  I just had to comment on this.  And you guessed it, I had to put in my two cents that our problem is that we have minority governments because too many people don't vote.

The only way I could comment on the article was to join Facebook.  So I did.

If you're on Facebook, you can see my comment at http://www.facebook.com/coffeeparty/posts/201407736552986

Retirement is good for public health

Saturday I came down with a cold.  I was really worn out by the time I had split the tree I had cut down earlier in the day.  As my wife was not happy with the low temperatures, she was very glad that I was amenable to returning to Duluth rather than staying another day.

Sunday I was even more worn out, napped a bit, and otherwise lolligagged around the house.  Monday, the same thing.  Today I cough some but have a bit more energy; still, I decided not to go out to a coffee shop.

But if I was still working somewhere, be it in an office or driving a bus, I probably would have gone to work on Monday.  If I did that, how many people would I have infected with my cold, be it by sneezing, shaking hands, or touching doorknobs?

A butterfly flapped its wings in Tunisia

A student, Mohamed Bouazizi, is selling vegetables in Tunis to support his family.  A policewoman complains that he doesn't have the proper permit.  In the argument, she slaps him.  He is humiliated and sets himself on fire.  This in turn sets many Arab countries on fire.

Many have complained that the U.S. with its vast intelligence network didn't foresee this.  Consider that many didn't foresee the fall of the Czar of Russia.  Consider that Winston Churchill said in the 1920s that he thought war with Japan was impossible.

Other than knowing that kowtowing to dictators is itself playing with fire, I won't pretend to judge the intelligence community.  I'll let you read some short analyses by other commentators.  See "Why Didn't the U.S. Foresee the Arab Revolts?", Room for Debate, New York Times, 2011-02-24.

Here we are at Irregular Blog entry 1000

This is the 1000th blog entry I've posted in the "Irregular Blog".  It's been nearly four-and-a-half years since I posted the first entry at http://magree.blogspot.com. 

It hasn't been the most popular blog around; it took a long time to even get to over 20 subscribers per day and to get two followers.

I suppose it doesn't matter in the bigger scheme.  I've gotten some ideas out of my head.  Some of you, if you didn't get new ideas in your head, you might have gotten a little different view of some ideas.  I do hope that long-time readers, if any, have had a few "Ah, hah" moments and a few chuckles.

Almost twelve years ago, newly arrived in Duluth and walking around, I was struck with the urge to write more than letters to the editor.  I told myself, if you want to write, you have to write.

I did join the Lake Superior Writers Group and wrote a few essays.  One was a collection of bear stories, but only Kyle Eller, editor-to-be of the Duluth Budgeteer, was the only one to show up that evening.

I started picking up the Northland Reader, which had ads for writers.  I called Richard Thomas, the editor, and he said I should send something in.  I sent in "Bear Stories".  Lucky me, he published it in the 1999-09-30 issue.

Every few issues, I would send something more and he generally would publish it.  Then I started submitting something for every bi-weekly issue.  Then the Northland Reader became the Reader Weekly, and I started writing weekly.  Then I was bumped down to bi-weekly.  My guess is that I had about 160 fans; that is, something like that many people told me they enjoyed the columns.

I think I wrote over 200 articles until I was bumped one too many times.

I posted many of these at my website, http://www.cpinternet.com/~mdmagree and still have a few buried on my hard drive.  I also started writing a blog at the same site.  Then I discovered Blogger and started writing entries for it.

People often asked me what I wrote about.  I replied, "What I damn well please."

I have continued that attitude with this blog.  But now I don't have to meet a deadline.  Of course, I like to post something everyday, but if I don't, I don't.  However, if I want to write two or three entries, I can.  I have no space limitation except my readers' attention span.

If you like what I write, please tell your friends.

Here's to the next 1,000 blog entries.  No, let's be ambitious, here's to the next 10,000 entries.

Solidarity - an overused word?

When I lived in Sweden in the early 70s, I saw many a poster proclaiming "solidarity" with this group or that group.  Somehow it seemed to me that claiming "solidarity" without doing much more than making a poster or holding a meeting was an empty gesture.

With all the protests, rebellions, and revolutions going on now, especially in North Africa, many people are claiming "solidarity" with the people in North Africa.

I've thought that solidarity as a concept gained currency with the labor movement.  If the union voted for a strike, all members went on strike in solidarity, whichever way they voted.  If one union at a factory went on strike, other unions might go on strike in solidarity with the first.  It was a one for all and all for one attitude.

Now people in many countries go out on peaceful streets and hold up signs of "solidarity" with the people of North Africa.  Where was their "solidarity" when Western countries were kowtowing to these dictators for oil or for "national security"?

Well, better late than never.  These demonstrations do give some hope to those struggling against dictators.  Their struggles are not going unnoticed.

If you really want to show "solidarity", hop on a plane and help get supplies into Libya.  If you can only show "sympathy", attending a demonstration is helpful.  But even more help is to send a check to one of the many organizations that are actually doing something on the ground.  Choices include the International Committee for the Red Cross, Médecins sans Frontières (Doctors without Borders) , and the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR).

Is Gov. Scott Walker following the Wisconsin Constitution?

The preamble of the Wisconsin Constitution states:

We, the people of Wisconsin, grateful to Almighty God for our freedom, in order to secure its blessings, form a more perfect government, insure domestic tranquility and promote the general welfare, do establish this constitution.

First, Gov. Walker had on his podium at his acceptance speech a sign that that stated, "Wisconsin, Open for Business".

Business generally means a few people, not "the people".  This was clearly shown when Gov. Walker was entrapped into speaking with a resident of Manhattan, New York,  David Koch, Executive Vice President of Koch Industries.

Second, by raising such a contentious issue as restricting the rights of public employee unions, no matter at what level of government, he definitely is not seeking domestic tranquility.

Third, promoting the welfare of business over people is not promoting the general welfare.

Some would argue that this is a case for impeachment.  Whether it is or is not, the Wisconsin Legislature is controlled by Republicans; impeachment is a moot point.

Maybe some Wisconsin dissident would display this version of the Wisconsin Constitution:

We, the corporations of Wisconsin and elsewhere, grateful to the Republican Party for our freedom, in order to secure its blessings, form a more pliant government, insure domestic tranquility and promote corporate welfare, do establish this constitution.

The "people" are speaking, but a bit late

This morning's Duluth News Tribune published my Local View contribution with the title "The people (some of them, anyway) have spoken".  My own title was "The people have spoken!  Which ones?"

I was considering changing the opening from Egypt to Wisconsin, but I couldn't see how to replace it without rewriting some of the rest of the article.  Also, if I made a change, it might be delay publication.

My change was:

"[T]he people of Wisconsin chose to switch control of the governorship, assembly and senate to Republicans" according to Newt Gingrich on the website Human Events.  Which people, Newt?

Granted, Scott Walker received 52.25 percent of the votes cast, but the turnout was only 49.56 percent.  That means that 50.44 percent of the eligible voters didn't care for any of the candidates, at least care enough to show up.   Scott Walker received the support of 25.9 percent of the eligible voters.  That is a very poor second to none of the above.  Looked at this way, Scott Walker does not have the support of "the people".

From data published online by the Wisconsin Accountability Board.

"The people" are speaking in another way.  I wouldn't say the protesters against Walker's anti-union efforts represent "the people", but many people from around the world are supporting the protesters.

Last night we heard on MPR about Ian's Pizza going from 300-600 pizzas a day to over 1000 pizzas a day, the increase because of orders from around the world to send pizzas to the protesters at the Wisconsin State Capitol.  Even from Egypt, where they know a thing or two about protest.

If you would like to send a pizza to the protesters, order it through Badger Bites.  The top of the page has ordering instructions.

Calls for action from those who can do nothing

Government leaders from around the world are saying that the actions of Gaddafi of Libya are unacceptable, including Hilary Clinton and Ban Ki-Moon.  However, many commentators from bloggers to the Wall Street Journal are calling for more concrete action.

But what can any government do without making matters worse?

First, they have to get all their citizens out of Libya safely.  There are many thousands from dozens of countries who have to not only get to an airport or a harbor, but the countries have to supply sufficient craft at places where they won't be attacked by pro-Gaddafi supporters.

Second, if they did supply limited military forces at these embarkation points, would that very act put their countrymen in even more danger?  When dealing with delusional leaders, one does have to expect the worse.

Third, if they did invade beyond the embarkation points, would that unleash an even bigger massacre of civilians, Libyans and foreigners alike?

About the only military action would have to be from the Arab League, and many of the members have their own upheavals to deal with.

That leaves only the Libyan Army to resolve the problem.  We are starting to see many units join "the people".  How effective they will be outside the areas that "the people" control remains to be seen.

As more and more cities come under control of anti-Gaddafi groups, we may see an acceleration towards a conclusion favorable to these groups.

Meanwhile, really the best others outside Libya can do is keep up the verbal pressure, make sure information flows out of Libya, and make sure some information gets back in.

What a way to run a railroad!!

Given my reluctance to fly and my growing reluctance to drive long distances, my sister-in-law suggested that we take Amtrak to visit them in Colorado in May.

I checked Amtrak for schedules.  The cost for two of us from Minneapolis-St. Paul would be $694, not too bad for two coach seats.  But the trip leaves Minneapolis-St. Paul on May 15 at 11:15 p.m., arrives in Portland OR on May 17 at 10:10 a.m., leaves Portland on May 17 at 2:25 p.m, arrives in Sacramento CA on May 18 at 6:15 a.m, leaves Sacramento on May 18 at 11:09 a.m., and arrives in Denver CO on May 19 at 6:38 p.m.  That is labeled as the "Shortest Trip".

That would be four days of sitting up day and night.  A roomette from the Twin Cities to Portland would be $268 extra, rooms from Portland to Sacramento are already sold out for May 17, and a roomette from Sacramento to Denver would be $436.

I can drive from the Twin Cities to Denver in two days and sleep in a solid bed overnight for less than half the cost of a roomette on the cheapest leg.

Also, the $694 is for one-way.  Even though I clicked Round-Trip, the web site only gives me one-way.

Looking at a route map, the alternative is to go to Chicago and then to Denver.  So I gave that a go with scheduling, giving a round trip itinerary.  The time would be much better with an eight hour and an eighteen hour leg.  Unfortunately, there would be a 22 hour layover in Chicago on the way to Denver and a 23 hour layover on the way back.  Plus, the web site wouldn't process this any further – "Problem with your itinerary".  I gave up.  I don't know the cost of this trip.

It seems that Amtrak has almost been designed to discourage train travel.  I think that only two groups of people would be interested.  First would be those who have time and are traveling between two cities on the same train.  The sold out rooms on a May train between Portland and Sacramento may be an indicator that this group will support the current schedule.  Second would be those who take trains just to take trains.

It doesn't have to be this way.  I took trains as a kid out of Cleveland's Terminal and it was a busy place.  Now the Cleveland stop isn't much more than a siding for a one train a day each way.  I've taken trains all over Europe, both day trips and overnight, and I have ridden the bullet and regular trains in Japan.

Maybe Steve Jobs will start the train "for the rest of us"?

A pun in French that I hope is to your taste

Il y avait un compositeur qui a écrit une chaconne à son goût.
(There was a composer who wrote a chaconne to his taste.)

A chaconne is a musical form; "chacun à son goût" means "each to his taste".

I knew there was an opera which had an aria including "chacun à son gout". I found a multi-lingual snippet of "Die Fledermaus" performed at Covent Garden in 1984.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l6uEmtn56M0

But I didn't hear "chacun à son goût"!

On a second viewing I heard it at the end of Prince Orlofsky's aria.  I remember seeing a production with Beverly Sills years ago, and I remember hearing "chacun à son gout" several times.

Oh, drat!  "Chaconne à son gout" is not original.  Google gives over 1500 hits including a P.D.Q. Bach Gross Concerto by that name.

Power plays

We have the Republicans in Congress voting in lockstep to oppose Obama and the Democrats.  Well, almost, now we have "Tea Party" Republicans voting in lockstep to defeat spending proposals of veteran Republican legislators.

We have Democrats in the Wisconsin Senate disappearing to deprive the Republicans of a quorum to pass an anti-public union bill.

We have thousands packing the Wisconsin capitol to protest the bill.

I have a couple of questions.

How many of the protestors voted in the last election?  If the turnout of these voters was the same as the general population, they partly have themselves to blame.  If they all turned out, maybe they should work harder at getting a bigger turnout in the next election.

Why the big push to strip unions of power?  Could it be part of a larger corporate strategy to weaken those who question corporate power?

It seems that many corporate executives want everything their own way; governments and unions shouldn't even question their decisions.  It seems that their only goal is to maximize their own compensation, to hell with the shareholders, to hell with the environment, to hell with the public good.

Not all corporate executives behave this way, but enough do and are pushing us down a slippery slope to a very uncivil society, one which really won't be good for business in the long term.  It's another version of Lenin's "A capitalist will sell you the rope to hang him with."

What is a "fair share"?

One of the buzz words on taxes is "fair share", meaning that those who have higher incomes should be paying more taxes than currently.  Those who oppose taxes in general think that "fair share" will stifle business.

What we should really be asking is: are people paying for government services balanced according to what they receive in government services and according to what they can afford to pay.

To take a trite example, many theaters offer student and senior prices.  If there are no seat-related prices, the benefit to all ticket purchasers is the same.  The assumption is that students or seniors will be less able to pay the full price and so are given a discount.  Actually it is to the theaters' benefit to entice a few more buyers to fill the seats.

So it is with government services.  Some people really can't afford to pay the taxes commensurate with the services received.  Firefighters aren't going to determine if the occupants have paid sufficient taxes before they turn on the hoses.

On the other hand, some people with relatively high incomes receive far more benefits than others.  Their businesses would not survive without the services provided by taxes.  For example, without an efficient highway system, they could not have goods brought in and goods moved out, they could not have customers come to their stores, and they could not have employees come to work.

How many big box stores went to the outskirts of cities to get cheap land?  Now few customers and employees can walk to these stores, few if any bus lines are available, and almost all customers and employees have to drive on more miles of roads.  What is the fair share of taxes for the executives of these stores who are getting big salaries?

How many oil executives are getting rich because people are driving more miles for their daily business?  What would the fair share of taxes be for them to cover all the costs of the roads, including repair, widening, traffic management, and crash assistance?

Who benefits from public education?  Of course, each of us benefits personally from our education, whether it is knowing how to be a good citizen or acquiring a marketable skill.  On the other hand, would businesses prosper without a good supply of educated people?  Since a good work force makes possible a successful company, what is a fair share of taxes for the highly-paid executives of a successful company?

"Low taxes" and "fair share" are almost meaningless phrases.  I don't have much hope for any serious thinking among politicians or voters to think past these slogans.

This world cannot endure, permanently, half slave and half free

I find it very interesting that some members of the party of Lincoln do not believe the above paraphrase of a statement by Lincoln.

They would have some of the world be slaves to dictators in the interest of our national security.  For example, Tim Pawlenty said we need to "get tough on our enemies, not our friends." ("At CPAC, Egypt appears to be an afterthought", Washington Post, 2011-02-11)

Come on, Tim, with friends like Mubarak we create enemies, like the Egyptian Mohamed Atta.

This won't happen in America

As I wandered the world via newspapers, I came across a Rubygate story in Le Monde, a French newspaper.

You may have heard about Rubygate, the charges against the Italian prime minister, Sergio Berlusconi.  He is accused of paying $10,000 to an underage belly dancer.  I'll let you dig out the details.

Back to Le Monde.  It had a video in the middle of all the French text of a "commercial" made for the new Italian women's group "Se non ora quando" ("If not now when").  Essentially, many Italian women are tired of being second-class citizens.  Sympathetic men welcome.  The video is in Italian, without subtitles or dubbing.  See "Le 'Rubygate' fait descendre les Italiennes dans la rue", Le Monde, 2011-02-09.   How often do you would you see this much in a foreign language in American newspapers?

Well, as of a few minutes ago, even the New York Times has not carried much news about the charges and nothing about the million women who have turned out around the world in support of Se non ora quando".  However, see "Ruby, un milione di donne nelle piazza urlano indignate: 'Se non ora, quando?'" Il Messaggero, 2011-02-13  ("Ruby, a million women in the squares shout indignantly, "If not now, when?")  The demonstrations are being held in over 230 Italian cities and 30 other cities.

The New York Times has nothing about "Se non ora quando" and nothing about the demonstration of 200-300 outside Ruby Tuesday's in New York.  I found out about his in Il Messaggero, "New York, la polizia ordina: 'Manifestate davanti al ristorante Ruby'"

Oh, I should point out that my headline didn't mean that thousands of women across the country wouldn't demonstrate for more dignity.  I meant that few, if any, American newspapers would report so much in a foreign languages.  Of course, few American papers report much foreign news beyond wars and politics.

Freedom and democracy: It's not what you believe but what you do

I find it very hard to read Charles Krauthammer; I think he is very rigid in his thinking.  When he wrote in his latest column, "From freedom agenda to freedom doctrine", Washington Post, 2011-02-10, that George Bush and the neo-cons were the only ones interested in promoting freedom and democracy, I stopped reading.

What he ignores is that the neo-cons solution was to bring freedom and democracy at the point of a gun.  We can see how well that is working in Iraq and Afghanistan where chaos is more the norm.  What he ignores is that the Egyptians have started on a path to freedom and democracy, not with guns but with their gums.  They did it not with outside armies but by themselves.

In writing this, I did go back and skim Krauthammer's article.  He does make a good point with the second point of his Freedom Doctrine, but most of the rest is a call for the world being as we think it should be, not as others may want it.

A much better read is "They Did It", Thomas Friedman, New York Times, 2011-02-12, written in Cairo.  One of the best quotes is, "Because the Obama team never found the voice to fully endorse the Tahrir Square revolution until it was over, the people in that square now know one very powerful thing: They did this all by themselves."

A sneaky attempt to convert the U.S. to the metric system

I am watching Al-Jazeera live and just saw the North American web report.  Chicago was warming up with 3 degrees and Havana had a balmy 20 degrees?

Ah!  That is Celsius.

I wonder if Al-Jazeera gets on U.S. cable, if it will be a wedge to finally move the U.S to the measuring system used almost every where else in the world.

Egypt may gain democracy; will U.S. lose its?

The everyday Egyptians rebelled against an elite that was governing without concern for them.  Many of the U.S. cheered them on.  Now we should look to our own house and consider if we are losing our own democracy to a plutocracy.

Remember, democracy means rule by the people.

Consider that the people's schools are being decimated because we can't afford them.  To afford the schools, we all really need to pitch in.

Plutocracy means rule by the wealthy.

Who is making the most noise about needing lower taxes?  Who is contributing more and more to politicians and political campaigns?  Who decided that corporations should not be limited in making political corporations?

For more on our coming plutocracy, see "When Democracy Weakens", Bob Herbert, New York Times, 2011-02-12.

Revolution as spectator sport

"Egypt from 5,000 Miles Away", a cartoon by Domitille Collardey and Sarah Glidden, encapsulates the feelings of many of us who watched events unfold in Egypt.  We could only cheer for our team, we couldn't bat or carry the ball.

Do you remember where you were when…

...you learned that Hosni Mubarak resigned as president of Egypt.

From http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2011/02/10/live-blog-feb-11-egypt-protests

6:03pm: He's gone. He's resigned. 30 years of Mubarak rule is over. Omar Suleiman says:
President Hosni Mubarak has waived the office of president.

6:01pm: Omar Suleiman addressing nation now.

6:01 pm Cairo is 4:01 pm GMT, 9:01 am Eastern, and 10:01 am Central.

At 10:35 Central during a break in a University for Seniors French class, I took out my iPod and connected to the UMD network.  Oh, wow!  I interrupted everybody else's conversation to let them know.
The question is did Mubarak "waive the office of the president" or was he pushed out by other ministers or the army.  Do we even know if he is alive?

Either we are for freedom and democracy or we are for realpolitik

The Guardian has an interesting opinion by Slavoj Žižek, "For Egypt, this is the miracle of Tahrir Square".

It was amazing that most of the comments were ad hominem attacks rather than a critique of his thoughts.

Culture of democracy? Who blocked it?

According to Aljazeer.net, Omar Suleiman, Vice-President of Egypt said on ABC that he wanted to see democracy, "But when will we do that?  When the people here have the culture of democracy."Suleiman was quoted in an 11:34 a.m. entry at http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2011/02/10/live-blog-feb-10-egypt-protests

My question is who has been blocking the development of that culture.

That leads me to make a challenge to the protesters, show him you have democracy.  Organize at the local level, say at Tahrir Square, wherever large number of people have gathered.  Determine the offices that are needed to govern yourselves in your immediate vicinity.  You might start with a rules committee.  Be sure to have more nominations than the members on the committee.  Have everybody in the area vote on the slate.  Let the committee work a day or two.  Vote on their suggestions.  Repeat.  If this process is not real democracy, I don't know what is.

Business-friendly policies? Friendly to which businesses?

One of the buzz words in politics is being business-friendly.  Makes me think the Constitution begins "We the Corporations of the United States…"

Businesses run the gamut from über-corporations like Wal-Mart and Apple to local businesses with a few dozen employees to single-person businesses.  One size of politics does not fit all.

One would think that the U. S. Chamber of Commerce represents all businesses, but according to Daniel Gross, "Does the Chamber of Commerce Know What's Best for Business?", Yahoo Finance Tech Ticker, it is "essentially a lobbying group for large businesses".  Well, not all businesses, Apple quit the Chamber in 2009 over climate change.  Pick your story with a search for "Apple Chamber of Commerce".

Gross points out that the Chamber angers "everyone from deficit hawks" to environmentalists.  He also points out that the Chamber got much of what it wanted but that didn't deliver the results the Chamber promised.

To think that the House of Representatives began its year with the reading of the Constitution and immediately forgot "We the People".

I did half of a New York Times crossword in less than a minute

Today I bought my wife a new iMac and proceeded to transfer her files from her laptop to the iMac.  The process itself is worth a blog I may never write.

After finding all the needed cables, the "migration" supposedly took less than two hours.  I'm not sure, it started with "1 hour 59 minutes remaining", dropped to under one hour, bounced up to over one hour, and so on.

Sometimes around "20 minutes remaining" I did the SuDoKu puzzle and the New York Times crossword puzzle in the Monday's Star Tribune.

When I was about half-way through the crossword puzzle, there was "less than a minute remaining" for the migration.  Every couple of clues, I'd look up and see "less than a minute remaining".  When I finished the puzzle, there was still "less than a minute remaining".

So, I must have done half New York Times crossword is less than a minute.

U.S and Iran need each other, to hell with the people

I found an interesting opinion on how the Arab and Muslim people are caught between a rock and a hard place.  Foreign policy of nations antagonistic to each other goes on without consideration of the affected people.  The author of "Green and Jasmine bleeding together", Hamid Dabashi, makes the point that Islamic Republic of Iran needs to demonize the U. S. to hold its power and that the U. S. needs the threat of Islamic terrorism to support autocratic "allies".  Both sides could care less about the people in the affected nations.

Letter on Egypt to President Obama

In November 2008 many voted for "Change".  As far as foreign policy goes, nothing has changed.  It is still the same old "national security" and "national interest" leading to greater insecurity and results contrary to our real national interests.

If you haven't already read Andrew Bacevich's "Washington Rules", please do so as soon as possible.

The U.S. is still propping up anti-democratic autocrats like Hosni Mubarak despite very strong dissatisfaction from a large number of people.  And U.S. diplomats are still supportive of him, buying his line that he is standing between stability and chaos.  Remember the Shah of Iran and his Savak.

Sent via webform at http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Al-Jazeera overloaded?

At about 7:00 CST this morning, I could not get the English edition of Al-Jazeera.  The progress bar would only go partway and the pages loaded indicator said "Contacting http://english.aljazeera.net" and nothing more.  If I did nothing, my browser said it was unable to contact the site.

I did find aljazeera.com, a magazine, but it didn't have he details of aljazeera.net.

Finally at about 8:30 I was able to get aljazeera.net.

My guess is that many people on the East Coast were online before going to work or just as they got to their offices.

Today's blog offered hope that the thugs had been pushed back, then it mentions that the army had left one bridge, and finally that thugs crashed through a group of supporters.

Counter-demonstration or government attack

Al-Jazeera and others seem unwilling to call the "pro-Mubarak" demonstrators for what they are without more details.  I think these "demonstrators'" methods speak rather clearly.

If they were counter-demonstrators, they would use the same tactics as the anti-government demonstrators.  They would march, hold signs, and chant slogans.  They would not come in on horses and camels and beat those of another opinion.  They would not drop stones, cement blocks, and fire bombs from buildings.

Proving that these pro-Mubarak people are security police is another matter.  But consider that the security police were outmaneuvered and outmanned by the anti-government demonstrators.  Maybe they disappeared for a few days to regroup and come back in another guise.

Another example of corporate "efficiency"

Yesterday I tried to pay my Verizon Wireless bill online, something I've been doing for more than a couple of years.  It worked fine at the beginning of January.  Yesterday when I clicked the "Submit" button, nothing happened.  Well, the second time I tried, the button enlarged.

Today I tried again.  Same result.  I tried with Firefox instead of Safari.  Same result.

One of the "efficiencies" any well-run organization tries for is cash flow.  Don't let the checks pile up in a drawer, but get them to a bank PDQ and let the dollars work for you.  I don't know how many thousands or millions of dollars Verizon receives each day, but I would think it would review its software changes quickly to get that cash flow back up.

Now I know who should win the SuperBowl

Today a friend asked me who I thought would win the SuperBowl.  I asked who is giving a big bowl as a prize.

Last week another friend asked me who I thought would win, the packers or the bears.  I replied that the meatpackers always win over the bears.

Today I found out a reason to cheer for the Green Bay Packers.  They are the only team owned by the "people" and not by a few billionaires.  There are over 120,000 shareholders of the Packers, and no shareholder may own more than 200,000 shares.  Assuming most of those shareholders live in the Green Bay area, they probably won't move the team to get a better deal.

See "Support the Packers; Annoy the Rich", Brett Arends, Market Watch, 2011-02-01

Keeping up with events in Egypt

If you are a news freak who couldn't get enough news about Iran in 2009, your best source on Egypt is Al-Jazeera.  The English version on the web is at

http://english.aljazeera.net/

For the latest, check out the blogs.  There is also plenty of commentary from many sources and perspectives.  One I found particular interesting is "The triviality of US Mideast policy" by Robert Grenier, a former director of the CIA's Counter-Terrorism Center.  He relates how the headmaster of his school was unknowingly made irrelevant by an anti-Vietnam War protest.    Similarly, events have made most of U.S. Mideast policy irrelevant and outdated.

P.S. Cairo time is 8 hours ahead of Central Standard Time.

A little thing to help the Egyptian people

On June 23, 2009, President Obama made a strong statement in support of the Iranian people protesting against the official election results.

His concluding remark was:

As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people have a universal right to assembly and free speech. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect those rights and heed the will of its own people. It must govern through consent and not coercion. That's what Iran's own people are calling for, and the Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2009/06/23/presidents-opening-remarks-iran-with-persian-translation

What you can do is send web-form email to the president asking him to speak out more strongly about Egypt in the same way.  You'll find a "contact us" button in the upper right hand corner of most White House pages.

My own message was

Please make strong remarks about the situation in Egypt similar to those you made about Iran on June 23, 2009.

Our quest for "national security" has made us more insecure.