This morning on CNN George H. W. Bush, in a boat off the coast of Japan, tossed bouquets of flowers into the sea to commemorate the deaths of two of his colleagues when he was in active duty there.

Considering the relatively low profile he's maintained during the last couple of years, this timing of this action could hardly be more productive for his namesake's administration. A cynic might think Daddy was volunteering to be a stage prop in the Chickenhawk Dynasty Theatre of War.

{ 2:52 PM }

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From the casino economy to the pawn shop economy in two short years. "Pawnbrokers gauge how bad the economy really is, as small business owners arrive to pawn valuables and automobiles for short-term loans." Listen to the whole report from NPR. [RealAudio]

{ 12:06 PM }

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Peace... Haiku... Masturbation. What more could anyone want from pacifism?

{ 11:20 AM }

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New frontiers in blame. Paralyzed actor Christopher Reeve blames George W. Bush and the Catholic Church for his continuing disability, if this article in The Guardian is to be believed.

What could have caused his stupidity in making this absurd assignment of blame? The horse he was riding seven years ago shook his brains so hard that all his rationality fell out of his head?

I will be the first to get in line to criticize Bush and/or the Catholic Church -- whenever there's legitimate cause, which is often enough to keep us all busy. But Reeve's pathetic whining for publicity is becoming more grotesque with each new story. What will he do next? Sue for future damages not prevented by future cures? Tell it to the horse!

{ 4:46 PM }

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Progress is revolting. This article in the UK's Telegraph suggests that the 9/11 attacks on the US have fueled anti-intellectual sentiment and mistrust of science.

"An increasing proportion of the population seems to distrust rational inquiry to establish both the facts and the uncertainties; rather they prefer their instincts or even to celebrate anti-intellectualism."

His [Prof Sir Howard Newby, the chief executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England's] comments reflect concerns of the scientific establishment that the public has lost faith in science. People are less deferential, and less willing to accept the views of "experts" without question, he believes.

[...]

The scientific community has retreated from engagement with society, just as society at large has been excluded from the real world of scientific method.

"The scientific community is mystified by the idea that morals should direct its research, while those who seek to make science more publicly accountable are equally baffled by the logic and methods of science.

"The public now feels that it is reduced to the role of a hapless bystander or, at best, the recipient of scientific advance and technological innovation which the scientific community believes it ought to want."

Could it be that science is beholden to something other than social progress, namely, the globalized interests of power and profit, which work ceaselessly against social progress?

This mystifying article also ignores the substantial influence of religious superstitions in the form of fundamentalism. Regardless of whether they are Christian or Muslim, fundamentalsts who insist upon revealed truth will always fight with those who insist upon scientific truth, and the poor hapless suckers who get caught in the middle are simply further evidence of the impossibility of social progress in a world dominated by politicized religion and politicized technologies.

Secular humanism never looked so good.

{ 9:42 AM }

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Enronistan. With all the Iraq rhetoric flying, US citizens should pause to remember what made the present administration noteworthy: namely, al-Qaeda and Enron. See our map of the redistricting of Afghanistan in accordance with the overriding needs of the Bush dynasty.

{ 9:07 AM }

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