pinions of buddy don: a prophet presdent gits no respeck at home

i wuz trine to splain sumthin to myself n had to pull out the Bible to doot. heres sum verses that proovd hepful:

• But Jesus, said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, but in his own country, and among his own kin, and in his own house. (Mark 6:4)
• And he said, Verily I say unto you, No prophet is accepted in his own country. (Luke 4:24)
• For Jesus himself testified, that a prophet hath no honour in his own country. (John 4:44)

whut i wuz trine to splain to myself is how the local newspaper could turn agin its famus local hero. twuz here that it happend n heres the reasons they put out fer why thar a'doon it:

Few Americans would have voted for George W. Bush four years ago if he had promised that, as President, he would:

• Empty the Social Security trust fund by $507 billion to help offset fiscal irresponsibility and at the same time slash Social Security benefits.
• Cut Medicare by 17 percent and reduce veterans’ benefits and military pay.
• Eliminate overtime pay for millions of Americans and raise oil prices by 50 percent.
• Give tax cuts to businesses that sent American jobs overseas, and, in fact, by policy encourage their departure.
• Give away billions of tax dollars in government contracts without competitive bids.
• Involve this country in a deadly and highly questionable war, and
• Take a budget surplus and turn it into the worst deficit in the history of the United States, creating a debt in just four years that will take generations to repay.

These were elements of a hidden agenda that surfaced only after he took office.

The publishers of The Iconoclast endorsed Bush four years ago, based on the things he promised, not on this smoke-screened agenda.

Today, we are endorsing his opponent, John Kerry, based not only on the things that Bush has delivered, but also on the vision of a return to normality that Kerry says our country needs.

whut a dis gracefull attack on the presdent! dont mr bush deserve no respeck in his own home town? aint them librul media folks afraid they mite embolden the enemy into attackin our soljers over in iraq?

lucky fer everbidy thats hopin fer the raptchur thats a'gone float jes them few that bleeves jes the rite thangs up to heaven rite befor the end of the worl, they gut em a film maker on the case that made em a film name of "George W. Bush: Faith in the White House," witch it dint git no big run in theaters but twill be sent out on dvd to 300,000 folks in churches. ye kin read all bout that grate wurk of prophesy here.

whuts so good bout thisn is how i wuz afraid them publican had dun lost thar relijun whenever i red this articull bout how thay dun give up on that balanced budget amendment they wun on whenever gingrich n his bunch wuz takin out the contract on amurka back in 1994. fack is, dint they close down the gummint over that problem? but thay wuznt nuthin to wurry bout on a counta ifn the worl is bout to end, ye dont half to wurry nun bout them big deficits on a counta ye wont need no grandchildren to pay em on a counta how thay wont have deficits to be paid once the worl has ended.

the worl is much safer now!

pinions of buddy don: credibilty gap -- tiz deja vu all over agin

mayhap ye member them sixties. mayhap ye dont, witch ye mite coulda had too much fun to member much of innythang. innywho, tiz spooky how simlar thangs is now. we gut ourselves stuck in a war we dont know how to win. everbidys fussin n fitin bout whuts our exit strategy. spookiest of all is how we gut a presdent frum texas who dont bleeve he has to tell us the truth bout thangs over in the war. they used to call it a 'credibilty gap.'

Iraqi civilian casualties mounting:

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Operations by U.S. and multinational forces and Iraqi police are killing twice as many Iraqis - most of them civilians - as attacks by insurgents, according to statistics compiled by the Iraqi Health Ministry and obtained exclusively by Knight Ridder.

According to the ministry, the interim Iraqi government recorded 3,487 Iraqi deaths in 15 of the country's 18 provinces from April 5 - when the ministry began compiling the data - until Sept. 19. Of those, 328 were women and children. Another 13,720 Iraqis were injured, the ministry said.

While most of the dead are believed to be civilians, the data include an unknown number of police and Iraqi national guardsmen. Many Iraqi deaths, especially of insurgents, are never reported, so the actual number of Iraqis killed in fighting could be significantly higher.

During the same period, 432 American soldiers were killed.

Iraqi officials said the statistics proved that U.S. airstrikes intended for insurgents also were killing large numbers of innocent civilians. Some say these casualties are undermining popular acceptance of the American-backed interim government.

Bush, Allawi Resolved to Quell Insurgency, Hold Elections in Iraq:

PRIME MINISTER ALLAWI: Thank you, Mr. President. It's very important for the people of the world really to know that we are winning, we are making progress in Iraq. We are defeating terrorists. Najaf, Samarra, Mosul, Basra are all live examples that a lot of progress have been made. Unfortunately, the media have not been covering these significant gains in Iraq. And this is all because of the determination of the Iraqi people. The light that they are seeing at the end will -- democracy will prevail, the rule of law will prevail. The issues and culture of human rights will prevail. And the friendship with the United States and with the civilized nations are comfortable there.

So, really, the winning, it's unfortunate, is not being portrayed in the media. This is very unfortunate. I always say that we are welcoming any media who wants to come to Iraq and see for themselves the grounds we are covering and the winning we are doing in Iraq.

‘Staying the Course’ Isn’t an Option:

From a purely military standpoint, the war in Iraq is an unmitigated disaster. This administration failed to make even a cursory effort at adequately defining the political end state they sought to achieve by removing Saddam Hussein, making it impossible to precisely define long-term military success. That, in turn, makes it impossible to lay out a rational exit strategy for U.S. troops. Like Vietnam, the military is again being asked to clean up the detritus of a failed foreign policy. We are nose-deep in a protracted insurgency, an occupying Christian power in an oil-rich, Arab country. That country is not now and has never been a single nation. A single, unified, democratic Iraq comprised of Kurds, Shiites and Sunnis is a willfully ignorant illusion at best.

Two thirds of America's combat brigades are now tied down in this war which, under present conditions, is categorically unwinnable. Having alienated virtually every major ally who might help, our troops are simply targets. If Bush is re-elected, there are only two possible outcomes in Iraq:

• Four years from now, America will have 5,000 dead servicemen and women and an untold number of dead Iraqis at a cost of about $1 trillion, yet still be no closer to success than we are right now, or
• The U.S. will be gone, and we will witness the birth of a violent breeding ground for Shiite terrorists posing a far greater threat to Americans than a contained Saddam.

Bush, Allawi Resolved to Quell Insurgency, Hold Elections in Iraq:

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. You've answered some of Senator Kerry's criticisms in the last couple days about your Iraq policy. A couple of Republicans have raised some questions, as well, in the last couple days. Senator Hagel said that, "sharp analysis of our policies is required. We didn't do that in Vietnam, to the point where we finally lost." Senator McCain, you're not being "as straight as we would want him to be," about the situation in Iraq. What do you say to them?

PRESIDENT BUSH: Both Senators you quoted strongly want me elected as President. We agree that the world is better off with Saddam Hussein sitting in a prison cell. And that stands in stark contrast to the statement my opponent made yesterday when he said that the world was better off with Saddam in power.

Networks allowed Bush to distort Kerry's position; right-wing media made it even worse:

KERRY [in a video clip]: Saddam Hussein was a brutal dictator who deserves his own special place in hell. But that was not, that was not, in and of itself, a reason to go to war.

[applause]

The satisfaction that we take in his downfall does not hide this fact: We have traded a dictator for a chaos that has left America less secure.

Growing Pessimism on Iraq; Doubts Increase Within U.S. Security Agencies:

A growing number of career professionals within national security agencies believe that the situation in Iraq is much worse, and the path to success much more tenuous, than is being expressed in public by top Bush administration officials, according to former and current government officials and assessments over the past year by intelligence officials at the CIA and the departments of State and Defense.

While President Bush, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and others have delivered optimistic public appraisals, officials who fight the Iraqi insurgency and study it at the CIA and the State Department and within the Army officer corps believe the rebellion is deeper and more widespread than is being publicly acknowledged, officials say.

People at the CIA "are mad at the policy in Iraq because it's a disaster, and they're digging the hole deeper and deeper and deeper," said one former intelligence officer who maintains contact with CIA officials. "There's no obvious way to fix it. The best we can hope for is a semi-failed state hobbling along with terrorists and a succession of weak governments."

"Things are definitely not improving," said one U.S. government official who reads the intelligence analyses on Iraq.

"It is getting worse," agreed an Army staff officer who served in Iraq and stays in touch with comrades in Baghdad through e-mail. "It just seems there is a lot of pessimism flowing out of theater now. There are things going on that are unbelievable to me. They have infiltrators conducting attacks in the Green Zone. That was not the case a year ago."

This weekend, in a rare departure from the positive talking points used by administration spokesmen, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell acknowledged that the insurgency is strengthening and that anti-Americanism in the Middle East is increasing. "Yes, it's getting worse," he said of the insurgency on ABC's "This Week." At the same time, the U.S. commander for the Middle East, Gen. John P. Abizaid, told NBC's "Meet the Press" that "we will fight our way through the elections." Abizaid said he believes Iraq is still winnable once a new political order and the Iraqi security force is in place.

Why We Cannot Win:

Before I begin, let me state that I am a soldier currently deployed in Iraq, I am not an armchair quarterback. Nor am I some politically idealistic and naïve young soldier, I am an old and seasoned Non-Commissioned Officer with nearly 20 years under my belt. Additionally, I am not just a soldier with a muds-eye view of the war, I am in Civil Affairs and as such, it is my job to be aware of all the events occurring in this country and specifically in my region.

I have come to the conclusion that we cannot win here for a number of reasons. Ideology and idealism will never trump history and reality.

. . .

Here are the specific reasons why we cannot win in Iraq.

First, we refuse to deal in reality. We are in a guerilla war, but because of politics, we are not allowed to declare it a guerilla war and must label the increasingly effective guerilla forces arrayed against us as "terrorists, criminals and dead-enders."

This implies that there is a zero sum game at work, i.e. we can simply kill X number of the enemy and then the fight is over, mission accomplished, everybody wins. Unfortunately, this is not the case. We have few tools at our disposal and those are proving to be wholly ineffective at fighting the guerillas.

. . .

Second, our assessment of what motivates the average Iraqi was skewed, again by politically motivated "experts." We came here with some fantasy idea that the natives were all ignorant, mud-hut dwelling camel riders who would line the streets and pelt us with rose petals, lay palm fronds in the street and be eternally grateful. While at one time there may have actually been support and respect from the locals, months of occupation by our regular military forces have turned the formerly friendly into the recently hostile.

. . .

Third, the guerillas are filling their losses faster than we can create them. This is almost always the case in guerilla warfare, especially when your tactics for battling the guerillas are aimed at killing guerillas instead of eroding their support. For every guerilla we kill with a "smart bomb" we kill many more innocent civilians and create rage and anger in the Iraqi community. This rage and anger translates into more recruits for the terrorists and less support for us.

. . .

Fourth, their lines of supply and communication are much shorter than ours and much less vulnerable. We must import everything we need into this place; this costs money and is dangerous. Whether we fly the supplies in or bring them by truck, they are vulnerable to attack, most especially those brought by truck. This not only increases the likelihood of the supplies being interrupted. Every bean, every bullet and every bandage becomes infinitely more expensive.

Bush, Allawi Resolved to Quell Insurgency, Hold Elections in Iraq:

Q Right here, Mr. President, thank you. Why do you think the CIA's assessment of conditions in Iraq are so much at odds with the optimism that you and Prime Minister Allawi are expressing at the moment?

PRESIDENT BUSH: The CIA laid out a -- several scenarios that said, life could be lousy, life could be okay, life could be better. And they were just guessing as to what the conditions might be like. The Iraqi citizens are defying the pessimistic predictions. The Iraqi citizens are headed toward free elections. This government has been in place for a little over two months, and the Iraqi citizens are seeing a determined effort by responsible citizens to lead to a more hopeful tomorrow. And I am optimistic we'll succeed.

pinions of buddy don: the nintendo man

one of the thangs bout them video games is how ye generly play a role of sum kind, lack a lil italian name of super mario trine to save a princess or sumthin. them nintendo worls seem dangerus a counta how yer lil mario kin die ifn he duz sumthin too deadly, lack fall into a abyss. but the grate thang bout them games is how even after ye fail as much as ye kin by dyin, ye dont half to quit playin on a counta how ye git a new free life. ifn ye larn speshul codes, ye kin git almos unlimited lives.

mr bush has lived his life lack he wuz playin in a nintendo game. heres how he has dun used sum of his new free lives:

• he dint wonta go to vietnam, witch he wuz a big supporter of that war bein fought long as twuznt mr bush doin the fitin, witch he rote that he dint wonta go to canada or shoot out his ear drum, so he joined the texas nashnul guard, witch that wuz the first time he had to use one of his new free lives. most them other players in the vietnam game dint git no free life in the nashunul guard on a counta the nashunul guard wuz properly used to give folks of qualty n influence a safe place to do thar war duty.
• corse, that vietnam war game wuznt no fun even ifn ye did git a stateside assignment on a counta how they wonted ye to keep showin up n doin yer job n stayin sober n reddy to perteck the cuntry. that kinda thang kin git in the way of inny good partyin style n as he add mitts, whenever mr bush wuz young n foolish, he wuz young n foolish. so he needed a nuther new free life or two, witch he gut em, furst by gittin to go to alabam to hep one of his dadys friends run a palliticull camp pain n then sos he could try fer collidge.
• corse that collidge thang means ye half to qualify to git in, witch twuz a bit of a problem on a counta how mr bush had dun so poorly on his lsat that he couldnt git into the university of texas law skool. but he had him a nuther new free life a'cummin on a counta how his daddy could git im in to harvard.
• once he had dun finishd his mba, mr bush went off to play the bizness game. furst he tried his luck with a lil cumpny name of arbusto, witch is kindly a joke on his last name. that cumpny wuz a huge failure n lost millions of dollars but that dint matter to mr bush. lack super mario, he gut im a new free life.
• mayhap twuz time to try fer publick offus, so he run fer the house of representatives n lost. time fer a nuther new life.
• he dint half to wurry much bout whar he could git up the scratch to start sumthin new on a counta how he had so minny rich friends n thay all give him the money to buy them texas rangers. use of tax laws hepped make thatn a winner fer im so he turnt a lil borried money into the start of his fortchun. but he traded sammy sosa n them rangers dint do so well, so he cashed out fer a nuther new free life.
• twuz back to bizness, this time with harken energy. thar he musta figgerd out how to use one them speshul nintendo keystroke entries to give im the rite to ignore sum of the rules, lack the one splainin how ye caint sell stock when ye gut insider infermayshun or how ye gut to report yer stock sales rite after makin em, but he gut to wait fer about eight munths. them new free lives is amazin thangs!
• whut he needed wuz a easy job that he couldnt mess up much, witch guvner of texas wuz the spot. ye dint half to go in ever day n dint half to do much of nuthin, witch he had dun practissd thatn a lot. he led the way in makin shore them criminulls dint git no new free lives, even ifn they had dun cunverted to christchun, witch thay mus be a bible out thar that sez ye aint sposed to let god do the judgin n folks the fergivin, but ye dont half to wurry bout such thangs when yer a nintendo man. in 1995 he vetoed a patients bill of rights health care bill, witch it gut its own new free life frum sum dimcrats a nuff to git passd n becum law without his signatchur. but the nintendo man could even git a new free life fer that ackshun n have one of his camp pain ads claim that "While Washington was deadlocked, he passed a patients' bill of rights."
• nex new free life is a run fer president, witch even when he wuz outvoted on thatn, he still wuz able to pull a new free life out of the supreme court of nintendo hats n becum presdent.
• he failed to take the warnins frum the clinton dimcrats bout al qaida serious or even the reports frum his own intelligents on a counta how he wuz wurkin on that star wars plan in sted, witch thatns good fer bizness ifn yer a big weppons perducer. his failure to ack wuz at lease one of the thangs that led to 9/11, but no matter: frum that, the nintendo man could pull out his best ever new free life: war president. everbidy wuz moved by how he claimed he wuz a'gone git osama bin ladin dead or alive, how them terrsts could hide in thar caves n run whar they wood, but we wood hunt em down n brang em to justus fer whut thay dun. but thay wuz rite hard to catch n thay wuznt hardly nuthin to bomb over whar they wuz. so he gut im a new life as preemptive war presdent, invadin iraq.
• now the nice thang bout them video games is how ye dont half to pay tenchun to no reality since it aint allowed in. that must be how mr bush splains the worl to his self. them that aint playin his game mite be confused: he n mr allawi claims them insurgents is all forners, but them troops on the ground is playin in a differnt universe whar them insurgents is mostly iraqi. i reckon they dont git the part whar ye gut to suspend yer disbelief to play the game proper lack.
• n his lil nintendo worl, tiz progress n demockrussy in iraq. ifn ye aint in the nintendo worl, ye keep gittin confused by how we gut 'no-go zones' n cities that dont recognize the iraqi gummint n use thar own laws. n ye here bout how twood be hard to hold eleckshuns thar ifn twuz spozed to be one whar everbidy gits to vote. lack mr rumsfled sed, ye could git maybe 75% or 80% of em to vote as a proof of concep kinda thang. in the nintendo worl ye dont half to wurry bout borry n spend budget deficits nor 8% growth of gummint (twice the rate of growth under clinton) nor usin all the soshul securty surpluss to hep pay fer yer tax cuts n wars on a counta ye kin make folks go with fewer benefits or higher payments or mayhap bof. tiz a grate lil worl he lives in.

now hes a'pushin on the new free life button by runnin a eleckshun of slander, sophistry, outright lies n inuendo. he needs a new free life.

will we ast him to live in reality down in crawford, witch tiz jes whut he deesurves fer losin the game so cumpletely? or will we give him a nuther undeservd new free life?

pinions of buddy don: no time to blog

too much wurk to git dun. mayhap i kin make up fer it tomorrow.

revues of buddy don: books about sangle malt scotch

sumtimes bad brakes turn into good luck. twuz the case fer me n miz bd one day back in feberwary whenever we went to the likker store fer sum jack daniels n wuz sprized to find they had dun sold out of it. whut to do? i writ to eric over at straight white guy to ast bout them sangle malt scotches he had dun writ about. he wuz kind a nuff to rit me a post to git me started, witch ye kin read it here. we deecided to try the middle malt he had suggested, witch twuz talisker n we luv it to this verr day. twuz luv at furst taste or nose or wee dram or even wee half, as i read they lack to say over in the homeland of this wonderful amber liquid.

me n miz bd wuz bout even in our luv of sangle malts, so we gut to doin lots of studyin, furst by buyin a new bottle or two ever week even tho we couldn't hardly finish it, witch one result is how we gut us a lil colleckshun of unopened bottles. ifn i had the rite lite, i wood take a pitcher of it to show how bad we dun got. but ifn yer a'gone resurch sumthin, ye gut to do the wurk, witch aint no better wurk than the porin, add mirin, sniffin, tastin n feelin the warmth of a fine malt. after a while, we real eyesd how thay wuz more malts than ye could shake a stick at, so we gut to doin a bit of book studyin on the topick. heres a lil list of books ever luver of sangle malt scotches wood be lackly to enjoy:

1. Jim Murray's Whiskey Bible 2004: tiz a nice lil book in a sturdy form that ye kin stick in yer back pocket, witch ye mite wonta do that ifn ye cum upon a likker store that has much seeleckshun n me n miz bd is lucky a nuff to have minny a one rite here in the metropolltun new york city area. the author rates over 2000 differnt whiskeys, including ryes n blends n even tennessee whiskeys lack jack daniels, witch he gives thatn a score of 87. fer comparison, here's a few other scores:
   • talisker 10 year: 86
   • laphroaig 10 year: 90
   • lagavulin 16 year: 86
   • ardbeg 10 year: 93
   • glenmorangie 10 year: 94
   • bowmore 12 year: 85
2. Michael Jackson's Complete Guide to Single Malt Scotch: looks lack this here michael jackson feller, witch he aint no pop star ifn yer wunderin, really knows his stuff. he also lacks to rate whiskeys n thang is, he n jim murray dont always agree. heres sum eggzamples:
   • talisker 10 year: 90
   • laphroaig 10 year: 86
   • lagavulin 16 year: 95
   • glenmorangie 10 year: 80
   • bowmore 12 year: he dont rate it!
3. Scotland and its Whiskies: The Great Whiskies and Their Landscapes by Michael Jackson: thisns a grate read, speshly ifn yer thankin bout makin a tour of them distillries over in scotland, witch thats jes whut me n miz bd is a'hopin to do nex year. he takes ye frum glasgow, over to campbelltown by way of arran fer a visit to springbank, maker of springbank 10 year (grate new discuvry that we open last weekend), then to islay, whar they distill n bottle our faverts, including laphroaig, ardbeg, lagavulin, bowmore, bruichladdich, bunnahabhain n caol ila. then he makes a quick visit to the isle of jura, whars thays a nuther goodn named after the island. he pays visits to mull (tobermory n ledaig), skye (talisker) n the orkney islands, whar highland park is distilled. once he gits dun with the islands, he drops by tain to see glenmorangie n then takes im a long walk on the speyside way, witch ye kin visit more distillries along that one walk than they gut in all of the usa. i wont spoil it by tellin ye everthang he duz, so go read the book. ye a'gone luv it. tiz almost lack takin the tour frum yer armchair.
4. David Wishart has a book name of Whisky Classified, witch whut's best bout thisn is how he duznt try to rate the sangle malts but duz try to give ye a idee bout how they taste. ifn ye lack laphroaig, then ye lack the taste of peat n iodine n seaweed n such, so ye kin figger out witch otherns ye mite lack frum this book. ifn ye dont lack laphroaig, then ye kin figger out how to avoid them verr same tastes, witch me n miz bd so far purty much lacks em all, only the islay malts are our faverts.
5. John Lamond & Robin Tucek take a simlar tack with thar book, The Malt Whisky File, witch one of the good thangs bout thisn is how they cum up with a lil discusshun of ever sangle malt they kin.

corse, frum all we been able to deetermin, the bes way to larn bout them sangle malt scotch whiskys is to drank a minny of em as ye kin. i reckon twood take a lifetime to git a good taste of em all. tonite me n miz bd plans to open a bottle of mackillops choice clynelish 1989 aged 14 years (scroll down till ye find it, tho ye mite jes wonta read the hole site, ifn ye gut a week or two). tiz a new add ventchur ever time ye pull off the bond frum the bottle!

pinions of buddy don: wurds of the father

ye mite member how mr bush sed he dint lack to go to his own daddy fer add vice on a counta how he could go to a higher father. we dont know eggzacky whut that higher father has told mr bush or even ifn innybidy is willin to tell mr bush the truth bout thangs in iraq or ifn they do, whuther hes willin to bleeve em. but i kindly wish he wooda ast his own daddy bout iraq or even red his own daddy's book name of A World Transformed, witch mr bush's daddy gut hep frum brent scowcroft to rite it, but he wuz still proud a nuff of it to put his name toot. heres sum wurds of add vice mr dubya shoulda red (p.489):

We would have been forced to occupy Baghdad and, in effect, rule Iraq. The coalition would instantly have collapsed, the Arabs deserting it in anger and other allies pulling out as well. Under those circumstances, there was no viable "exit strategy" we could see, violating another of our principles. Furthermore, we had been self-consciously trying to set a pattern for handling aggression in the post-Cold War world. Going in and occupying Iraq, thus unilaterally exceeding the United Nations' mandate, would have destroyed the precedent of international response to aggression that we hoped to establish. Had we gone the invasion route, the United States could conceivably still be an occupying power in a bitterly hostile land. It would have been a dramatically different -- and perhaps barren -- outcome.

meanwhile, how is thangs a'goin over in iraq now that mr bush dun ignord his daddy's add vice? tiz hard to tell. the publicans claim we aint gittin the truth, that thangs is a'gone so good with the rebuildin of the recently bombed cuntry that they dont half to use all the rebuildin money fer rebuildin but kin use a few billyun of it fer securty. but folks thats over thar in iraq reportin on thangs orta know, rite? n they aint sayin thangs is as good as them publicans tell us thay is. heres whut a feller name of Phillip Robertson had to say bout it:

Reconstruction, the most important step on the path to a sovereign and stable Iraq, has all but stalled because of targeted acts of violence that reach all the way south to Basra and north to Mosul. Successful countermoves by the Sunni insurgents have prevented the United States and new Iraqi government from gaining any real political support. In fact, billions of dollars originally allocated for reconstruction are now headed for security companies, which are quickly becoming private militias. Unfortunately for optimistic planners in the Bush administration, the coalition is up against not one single group but a constellation of allied militias. It's as if the United States had gone to war against the tribal system itself. There are so many new fighter cells that they are at a loss to distinguish themselves, and so use kidnapping and videotapes as branding strategies. In this market, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's Tawhid wa al Jihad, with its monstrous beheading trademark, is the undisputed brand king. Some of the groups are crazier than others. It is a free market of demons.

In the past year, al-Qaida operatives have found in Iraq a fertile recruiting ground, the best possible training camp for jihad against the West, a destination any angry young man can reach if he has the will and pocket money. Iraq's borders, which stretch across hundreds of miles of empty desert, are perfect for smugglers and men seeking martyrdom. No one really knows how many people are coming into Iraq to fight the U.S. But the fighters who do make it across are changing the character of the resistance, internationalizing it, injecting religious extremism into the politics of a once-secular Iraq. Young men coming in from other countries don't fight for Iraq, they fight for Islam.

One of the unutterable truths for the administration is that the U.S. occupation is breeding and fueling insurgent groups. Iraqi government officials rightly fear for their lives, but Iraqi forces, which are supposed to be fighting alongside U.S. troops in the cause of a free and democratic Iraq, are often undisciplined, dangerous and in some places infiltrated by insurgent groups. The Mahdi Army in Sadr City has a number of police officers in its ranks, and in a little remarked upon event that took place during one of the large demonstrations in Baghdad at the time of the siege, the Iraqi police helped Sadr officials address a crowd of Muqtada al-Sadr supporters outside the neutral Green Zone.

we dun herd thay wuz over 1,000 of our brave soljers killt over thar, but the upi bleeves thays minny more casualties we aint been tole bout:

Nearly 17,000 service members medically evacuated from Iraq and Afghanistan are absent from public Pentagon casualty reports commonly cited by newspapers, according to military data reviewed by United Press International. Most don't fit the definition of casualties, according to the Pentagon, but a veterans' advocate said they should all be counted.

The Pentagon has reported 1,019 dead and 7,245 wounded from Iraq.

lease we been perteckted agin cat stevens musick!

corse, ifn ye read much histry, ye gut to wunder bout the parallels twixt whut's a'gone on with iraq n them greeks attackin sicily. case ye dont member thatn, ye kin read bout it here. warning: ifn ye read bout them greeks, it mite hurt or even scare ye.

but all the news aint bad. even tho ye kin proov how mr bush has dun flip flopped all over the place, he dun stuck the label on john kerry to whar it wont cum off. so ye kin see whenever it cums to camp painin, them publicans is good. they even know how to keep the rong folks frum votin, witch ye kin read all bout that in a articull name of Millions Blocked from Voting in Election. good thang thar pertecktin us frum that kinda thang!

pinions of buddy don: now that we know them memos is fake . . .

. . . kin we git back to whuther they refleckted the truth? as everbidy knows, thats whut marian carr knox claims, witch shes the one who sed thay wuznt they ones she typed, but they did have the same infermayshun as the ones she typed.

corse, the idee that dan rather is a librul has been a main stanza of the never-endin chorus of the right wing agin the medya whenever it disagrees with thar point of view. so twernt much of a sprize when he wuz bout thonly jurnlist standin up to the addministrayshun. but how kin ye splain this articull in the air force times? witch the air force is whut mr bush claims he wuz in even tho he never wuz, so mayhap they gut a lil riled up by the lie. but whutever twuz, they gut em a riter name of william h michael, witch he cum out with a aritcull name of Bush’s Air Guard stint started well, then faded into mystery. heres a cuple of the snippets:

From most accounts, Bush appears to have received preferential treatment to get into the Air National Guard and avoid the draft after he graduated from Yale University in 1968. He was initially regarded as a good pilot, but his performance faded over his final two years in the Guard and he was suspended from flight status. He did not fly for the remaining 18 months he served in the Guard, though he was obligated to do so.

And for significant chunks of time, Bush did not report for duty at all. His superiors took no action, and he was honorably discharged in 1973, six months before he should have been.

In a 2002 interview with USA Today, Dean Roome, a former fighter pilot who lived with Bush in the early 1970s, said Bush was a model officer during the first part of his career. But overall, he said, Bush’s Air Guard career was erratic — the first three years solid, the last two troubled.

“You wonder if you know who George Bush is,” Roome said. “I think he digressed after a while. In the first half, he was gung-ho. Where George failed was to fulfill his obligation as a pilot. It was an irrational time in his life.”

. . .

Handwriting experts hired by many media organizations as well as other critics contend the document, and possibly all four, are forgeries. However, Killian’s order is confirmed by two documents that were not part of the CBS papers. The first is a White House-released letter from the commander of the 147th Fighter Group, Col. Bobby W. Hodges, to its Texas higher command dated Sept. 5, 1972, with a subject line of “Suspension From Flying Status.”

The letter documents the missed flight physical and the suspension, “effective 1 Aug 1972.” A Sept. 29 order from the National Guard Bureau further confirms the missed physical and the suspension.

On May 26, 1972, Bush asked in writing for reassignment to an Air Reserve squadron in Alabama so he could work on the U.S. Senate campaign of Republican Winton “Red” Blount, a close friend of his influential father. That was rejected because Bush was obligated to serve as a Ready Reservist until May 26, 1974, and was ineligible for assignment to the Air Reserve. About three months later, on Sept. 5, Bush asked to perform “equivalent duty” with the Alabama unit from September to November. Killian approved the request a day later. The orders went through on Sept. 15, and while Bush had missed the Sept. 9-10 unit training assembly, the document noted he could make the next two. Bush’s Officer Military Record shows an Oct. 1, 1973, discharge from the Texas Air National Guard and transfer to the Alabama unit.

Another White House-released document shows a total of 56 points Bush apparently earned during this 12-month period, but it’s awarded in one lump sum rather than credited for each training period. But this document also contains an error, listing Bush’s status as “PLT On-Fly” — meaning he was on flight status — when he had not been for a year. This, said retired Army Lt. Col. Gerald A. Lechliter, who has done an in-depth analysis of Bush’s pay records (www.nytimes.com/packages/pdf/opinion/lechliter.pdf), makes the form’s authenticity suspect.

There’s also the record of a Jan. 6, 1973, dental exam performed on Bush at Dannelly Air National Guard Base, Ala. There’s nothing that documents why Bush, who reportedly returned to Texas after the election, didn’t get this work done closer to home.

Bush’s attendance and participation in weekend drills had been meticulously recorded up through May 1972. But other than the points record and the dental exam record, the year following Bush’s request for reassignment to Alabama is a blank.

In a fitness report supplement released by the White House this year, an administrative officer wrote, “Not rated for the period 1 May 72 through 30 Apr 73. Report for this period not available for administrative reasons.”

In the remarks section, Killian wrote that Bush “has not been observed at this unit during the period of report. … He cleared this base on 15 May 1972 and has been performing equivalent training in a non flying status” with the Alabama unit. Bush, however, was only authorized to be gone from September to November.

whut really gits me bout all this is how we a'gone eleck our presdent on the basis of how well a campain is cunducted, not how well eethur of the two candidates wood perform as presdent. with a media sleepin at the wheel, the rules git to whar ye kin tell inny lie bout yer opponent n ifn he dont lie back, ye claim he aint fit to lead the moral charge fer harts n minds agin the terrists.

fer that, ye need sumbidy who lies so well he even bleeves his own lies, witch thats thonly way ye kin splain how mr bush claims the chattel property status of afghan women is progress tords freedum or how iraq is on the march to freedum n demockrussy. fack is, the insurgency is alreddy a civil war n he wont even add mitt it, even tho the number of cities they call 'no go zones' n the number of ded colishun fiters n iraqis keeps a gittin higher.

let freedom reign?

sprize of buddy don: lookie here at who thar callin progressiv!

wuz i ever sprized whenever i follerd a lank offn kevin drums site name of politcal animal, witch hes the feller that used to be called calpundit. he writ a lil post name of progressive blog directory bout all them blogs on the progressiv side of the fence, listed state by state. so i tuck the bait n follerd the lank till i cum to a site with the hedline States Writes: a Progressive Peer Directory; from The American Street. scroll down to new jersey n thar it be, a lank to wandering hillbilly.

whuts so mazin bout this is how tiz a purty good day fer this site ifn it gits 50 visters. so twuz a speshly good day whenever one of em red a nuff to put me on the list. tiz a honor!

weekend of buddy don: black cloud with silver linin

furst, thay wuznt no whisky tastin at astor place on fridy nite, but ye had to go down thar -- schlepp is the wurd fer go in nyc n it means how taint easy in this town to git frum one place to a nuthern -- ifn ye wonted to find that out. so twuzny much fun n me n miz bd gut home late.

then i woke up in the middle of then nite with a strange but familyer feelin, witch twuz a migraine a'cummin on only i dint real eyes it till twuz near mornin. seems lack i git em when thays a radicull change in the weather, witch we wuz jes gittin the tail end of ivan by then. innywho, i tuck my medicine n went to bed whar i spent most the day.

that evenin cum the silver linin in the game twixt tennessee n florida. i wuz too tired to give up on them vols, but i gut a jolt of eggcitement whenever wilhoit kicked that long field goal.

othern that, seem lack i'm still fogged in by that migraine or that migraine medicine, tho i did make it in to wurk.

evenin plans of buddy don: astor place whisky tastin

thays plenty of thangs to hate bout livin up here in new york. we git to be on a higher color alert fer them terrsts than the rest of the cuntry, we dont git to see mr bush nor mr kerry camp-pain here since the electoral collidge takes the profit out of it fer em, thays way too minny folks fer the size of the isle of man hattan, n tiz dirty n kin be dangerus n so forth. but thays a reason so minny folks lacks to be here n this evenin me n miz bd is plannin on takin add vantage of one of em, witch tiz the fack that ye gut free events such as thisn:

Friday,September 17; 5-8 PM
Easy-sipping French and Portuguese Wines and Banfi of Italy;
Bruichladdich & Springbank Single Malts

corse, we wont be wastin inny time on them wines, but twill be a deelite to taste them sangle malts! we aint never had no cambelltown malts yet, so the springbank should be innerestin. we alreddy know the bruichladdich is sum grate islay malt.

pinions of buddy don: folks that votes fer folks that makes fun of em

sumthin i dont git bout the eleckshun thats a'gone on twixt kerry n bush. seems lack thonly place thar showin lots of them camp-pain advertisements is in the states that aint been deecided yet on a counta mos folks has dun made up thar minds (corse, they lacks to show them lyin ads by them swift boat liars on cnn as minny times as they kin, even in states thats dun been deecided by sumbidys poll).

that means, mos of the eleckshuneerin is goin after them undeecided voters. now ifn yer a undeecided voter, that means eethur (1) ye have truble makin up yer mind or (2) ye keep changin yer mind twixt one side n tuther. heres whut i dont git: to attrack such voters, mr bush wonts to claim mr kerry is a flip-flopper. fack is, mr bush flips n flops a lot moren mr kerry, but that dont matter since mr bush is the one who wonts to attack folks that lacks to give keerful cunsidderayshun to importunt deecisions. but aint them undeecided voters more or less flip floppers thar ownself? so why wood ye wonta make yer camp-pain theme sumthin that makes fun of em fer makin deeliberut deecishuns?

i kin understand why lots of them folks that has thar minds made up fer bush dont wonta change em on a counta he lacks to make a deecishun n stick with it no matter how bad it is or how minny lies he has to tell or how minny times he has to tell the same lie over n over agin (wmd, saddam/al qaida conneckshun, the economy is turnin the corner, thangs is grate in iraq, thay aint no global warmin or ifn thar is, taint the fault of human acktivity or ifn tiz, aint nuthin kin be dun bout it now). tiz the kinda thang that has 42% of folks thankin saddam had sumthin to do with 9/11, witch they dun proovd that aint true bout fifty differnt ways.

after a while, ye wont sum strate talk, mayhap frum sumbidy thats dun been thar. i wzu sprized to see sum of that cummin frum the tv yesterdy. twuz on the news hour with jim lehrer, witch they had em one of them bof sides now deebates whar that dont report the news but lets partisan folks tell ye whut they wont ye to bleeve. tiz yer post-post-modernism vershun of the news, witch thats whut ye git whenever ye let four or five cumpnies cuntrol over 80% of the media.

innywho, i wuz so impressd by the strate talkin of this one feller name of jon stolz, a veterun fer kerry, that i figgerd i wood cut n paste a lil of it in here. ye kin read the hole thang here:

John Kerry's the only one of the two candidates running for president who understands my war, the war I fought in Iraq, who understands what it's like to be far from your family in a war that... let's be honest, the truth has not been told. John Kerry's the only one of the two candidates who has the ability to put our direction on course.

He's the man who has the leadership and the character that we need. I want a commander-in-chief who knows what it's like to be in combat like I was, who knows what it's like to be far from your family and probably tell them things are okay when they're actually not . . .

. . .

the first thing we need to note here is that the president is a failed commander- in-chief. President Bush sent soldiers like me to die for weapons that we can't find.

If that doesn't prove that he's failed his last four years as president, frankly, I'm not sure what does. Sen. Kerry is the only one of the two candidates who has the credibility to bring allies to our side.

Our force levels in Iraq are so high that soldiers like myself, who spent, you know, an entire year... or some of them have spent entire years in Iraq, have come home for a year, and are now going back. 43 percent of Operation Iraqi Freedom Three is going to be guard and reserve forces.

This president has broken this military. And John Kerry's the only one of the two who's given us any alternatives or any possibility of hope. He's the one who supports increasing the size of the army by 40,000 soldiers, not President Bush.

He's the one who has the credibility to go back to the world, because let's be honest, the world isn't against the United States; they're against our president.

And I'll tell you what, going it alone hurt soldiers like me. Going it alone burdened our American army to a point where we've had to back draft people in our military.

I went to war because of this backdoor draft. Even though my time was up, I still went, and I did my duty. But the American public has a right to know the truth about this war.

We can talk all day long about what Sen. Kerry said at the National Guard today, but, you know what, he leveled with the national guardsmen. He didn't make any crazy attempts to link al-Qaida and Saddam Hussein. He leveled with the soldiers and said, "you know, you guys are fighting hard."

And I'm going to be honest with you, President Bush continues to mislead our country about the direction of our war. And he hasn't even... this is a guy... this is a president who will not even support mandatory funding for our health care.

It was a dark day for me when I had to return home from the war in Iraq, have some bad dreams, go to my veterans hospital only to find out that the same man who sent me to war has turned his back on me when I came home, and decided that he was going to close our veterans hospital here in Pittsburgh on Highland Drive.

He's turned his back on his veterans and he's led our country in the wrong direction in Iraq.

cum on now, all ye voters that lacks to thank bout thangs n make keerful deecishuns, that lacks to change yer mind ifn yer rong, that mr bush is makin fun of whenever he makes fun of folks that thanks bout thangs n kin change thar mind ifn they larn they dun made a miss take or even gut tricked into makin one by sumbidy that lies to em! cum on, all ye flip-floppin voters: dont vote fer the feller that lacks to make fun of ye!

lessn ye thank thangs is gittin better over in iraq lack mr bush sez they is.

pinions of buddy don: tiz untellin whuts a'gone on in iraq?

mayhap ye dun saw that story in the new york times name of U.S. Intelligence Shows Pessimism on Iraq's Future. it splains a report they give mr bush bout how thangs is a'gone in iraq, witch seems lack thangs aint near as good as hes been a'tellin us:

A classified National Intelligence Estimate prepared for President Bush in late July spells out a dark assessment of prospects for Iraq, government officials said Wednesday.

The estimate outlines three possibilities for Iraq through the end of 2005, with the worst case being developments that could lead to civil war, the officials said. The most favorable outcome described is an Iraq whose stability would remain tenuous in political, economic and security terms.

corse, to be fair, ye gut to include the spin frum the white house, witch they put in that same articull to proov how thar good jurnlists:

As described by the officials, the pessimistic tone of the new estimate stands in contrast to recent statements by Bush administration officials, including comments on Wednesday by Scott McClellan, the White House spokesman, who asserted that progress was being made.

"You know, every step of the way in Iraq there have been pessimists and hand-wringers who said it can't be done," Mr. McClellan said at a news briefing. "And every step of the way, the Iraqi leadership and the Iraqi people have proven them wrong because they are determined to have a free and peaceful future."

a bidy mite could wunder whar thangs went rong. i aint claimin that them ackshul folks on the ground, marines n such, wood know, but they gut pinions bout it. ye kin read em in a articull name of Turning point in salon by david j. morris:

On Sunday, at his change-of-command ceremony, the outgoing top Marine general in Iraq, Lt. Gen. James Conway, gave tragic voice to what thousands of servicemen throughout Iraq have believed for months. He announced that the April assault on Fallujah had been an overly aggressive mistake and that the often-vacillating American approach to the town had undermined U.S. efforts to win the hearts and minds of local Iraqis.

how could we make such a miss take? dint we larn bout this kinda thang in a nuther war? wasnt thay no lessuns thar? fack is, one of the bes known students of the vietnam war had this to say:

The thing about the Vietnam War that troubles me as I look back was it was a political war. We had politicians making military decisions, and it is lessons that any president must learn, and that is to the set the goal and the objective and allow the military to come up with the plans to achieve that objective. And those are essential lessons to be learned from the Vietnam War.

now i aint claimin this particular student is known fer his abilty to larn thangs. at lease one of his teachers, a harvard perfesser name of Yoshi Tsurumi thanks he wuz among his verr wurst students:

"I don't remember all the students in detail unless I'm prompted by something," Tsurumi said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "But I always remember two types of students. One is the very excellent student, the type as a professor you feel honored to be working with. Someone with strong social values, compassion and intellect -- the very rare person you never forget. And then you remember students like George Bush, those who are totally the opposite."

. . .

One of Tsurumi's standout students was Rep. Chris Cox, R-Calif., now the seventh-ranking member of the House Republican leadership. "I typed him as a conservative Republican with a conscience," Tsurumi said. "He never confused his own ideology with economics, and he didn't try to hide his ignorance of a subject in mumbo jumbo. He was what I call a principled conservative." (Though clearly a partisan one. On Wednesday, Cox called for a congressional investigation of the validity of documents that CBS News obtained for a story questioning Bush's attendance at Guard duty in Alabama.)

Bush, by contrast, "was totally the opposite of Chris Cox," Tsurumi said. "He showed pathological lying habits and was in denial when challenged on his prejudices and biases. He would even deny saying something he just said 30 seconds ago. He was famous for that. Students jumped on him; I challenged him." When asked to explain a particular comment, said Tsurumi, Bush would respond, "Oh, I never said that." A White House spokeswoman did not return a phone call seeking comment.

In 1973, as the oil and energy crisis raged, Tsurumi led a discussion on whether government should assist retirees and other people on fixed incomes with heating costs. Bush, he recalled, "made this ridiculous statement and when I asked him to explain, he said, 'The government doesn't have to help poor people -- because they are lazy.' I said, 'Well, could you explain that assumption?' Not only could he not explain it, he started backtracking on it, saying, 'No, I didn't say that.'"

If Cox had been in the same class, Tsurumi said, "I could have asked him to challenge that and he would have demolished it. Not personally or emotionally, but intellectually."

so mayhap we need a better student to study these thangs, but i caint hep but wunder on a counta heres sum more quotes frum mr bush:

"A generation shaped by Vietnam must remember the lessons of Vietnam. When America uses force in the world, the cause must be just, the goal must be clear, and the victory must be overwhelming."
George W. Bush 2000 Republican Convention

BUSH: If this were a spending contest, I’d come in second. I readily admit, I’m not going to grow the size of the federal government like he is. [There was a question about] deployment. It must be in the national interests. It must be in our vital interest whether we ever send troops. The mission must be clear. Soldiers must understand why we’re going. The force must be strong enough so that the mission can be accomplished. And the exit strategy needs to be well-defined. I’m concerned that we’re overdeployed around the world. You see, I think the mission has somewhat become fuzzy. Should I be fortunate enough to earn your confidence, the mission of the United States military will be to be prepared and ready to fight and win war, and therefore prevent war from happening in the first place. There may be some moments when we use our troops as peacekeepers, but not often.
Source: St. Louis debate Oct 17, 2000

I want to rebuild our military to keep the peace. I want to have a strong hand when it comes to the US and world affairs. I don’t want to try to put our troops in all places at all times. I don’t want to be the world’s policeman. I want to be the world’s peacemaker by having a military of high morale and a military that’s well-equipped. I want to have antiballistic missile systems to protect ourselves and our allies from a rogue nation that may try to hold us hostage or blackmail a friend.
Source: Presidential debate, Boston MA Oct 3, 2000

I believe the role of the military is to fight and win war and, therefore, prevent war from happening. And so I take my responsibility seriously. And it starts with making sure we rebuild our military. Morale in today’s military is low. We’re having trouble meeting recruiting goals. Some of our troops are not well-equipped. I believe we’re overextended in too many places. I want to rebuild the military power. It starts with a billion dollar pay raise for the men and women who wear the uniform to make sure our troops are well-housed and well-equipped; bonus plans to keep some of our high-skilled folks in the services; and a commander in chief who clearly sets the mission.
Source: Presidential debate, Boston MA Oct 3, 2000

Despite Pentagon assurances that all of the U.S. Army’s divisions are “fit to fight and ready to deploy,” Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush refused Friday to concede that the U.S. military is combat-ready. “No, I would not concede that necessarily. I’m amazed that they would put out a statement right after our convention” The U.S. Army said Friday that Bush was wrong when he said in his speech Thursday night to the Republican National Convention that two of the Army’s 10 divisions were not ready to fight. Bush had said: “If called on by the commander-in-chief today, two entire divisions of the Army would have to report ‘Not ready for duty, sir.’” But Maj. Thomas Collins, an Army spokesman, told CNN: “All 10 Army divisions are combat-ready, fully able to meet their war-fighting mission.”
Source: CNN.com Aug 4, 2000

A generation shaped by Vietnam must remember the lessons of Vietnam. When America uses force in the world, the cause must be just, the goal must be clear, and the victory must be overwhelming.
Source: Speech to Republican National Convention Aug 3, 2000

innerestin thangs bout them quotes:

1. bush has grown the fedrul gummint at a rate of 8% per year, cumpard to clintons 4%, so he ackshly is a bit shy whenever he sez he couldnt spend as fast as mr gore, differents bein how he lacks to spend borried money.
2. the military that mr bush sed he woodnt stretch too thin and that he sed wuznt reddy wuz able to win the war over in afghanistan n had "catastrophic success" in iraq, but lack most of them left wing pundits sed, the peace wuznt near as easy to win. but the military wuz reddy. could they be stretched too thin now?
3. i guess ye kin wurk to reduce nuclear weppons in the worl but let yer friends in pakistan -- khan! -- go rite ahed n share thar secrets with folks in iran n north korea, witch seems lack they really do have wmd.
4. finely, fer the war in iraq, the cause wuz murky: furst wmd, witch they wuznt nun, then al qaida conneckshuns, witch they wuznt nun, then twuz to brang democracy to the middle east, witch the report frum his intelligents bunch dont list that as one of the remainin possibillties; whutever the goal mite be now aint clear a nuff fer him to state on the stump; ifn this is a overwhelmin vicktry, we need to go back to the dickshunairy to larn whut vicktry means or overwhelmin.

corse, thangs lack facks or reports frum his own intelligents shouldnt git in the way of a good bit of spin. so witch of the two candidates is tellin the truth? here's a cuple quotes frum em:

The president said while there may be setbacks in Iraq, the nation is moving steadily toward independence.

"Despite ongoing violence in Iraq," he said, "that country now has a strong prime minister, a national council and national elections are scheduled for January. The world is changing for the better."

Kerry condemned the president's comments as "distortions" while campaigning in Toledo, Ohio, yesterday.

"I'll be straight with you: Things are getting worse," Kerry said. "More than 1,000 Americans have been killed. Instability is rising. Violence is spreading. Extremism is growing. There are now havens for terrorists that weren't there before.

"And the Pentagon has even admitted that entire regions of Iraq are now controlled by insurgents and terrorists. The situation is serious – and we need a president who will set a new direction and be straight with the American people."

looks lack a toss up, huh?

pinions of buddy don: playin the echo chamber

tiz sed that one side of the fence -- the right -- has em a good echo chamber a'goin on. taint the case on tuther side to the same eggstint, probly on a counta how the media is owned mosly by tuther side. so heres a echo of sumthin everbidy mite wonta cunsidder whenever folks gits to usin 9/11 as the mane reason they bleeve mr bush should be eleckted. tiz frum a interview twixt judy woodruff n kristen breitweiser, witch shes one of them 9/11 widows that had to fite lack crazy agin mr bush jes to git em a 9/11 commisshun a'goin:

WOODRUFF: Here in Washington a short time ago, five women who lost husbands on 9/11 publicly endorsed John Kerry for president. Kristen Breitweiser of New Jersey is leading the charge, and she is with me now here in Washington.

Why do this, Ms. Breitweiser?

KRISTEN BREITWEISER, 9/11 WIDOW: I think because I spent, along with the other 9/11 family members, three years trying to get 9/11 issues addressed by this administration. And it's been a long fight, and I use the word fight because that's what it was. And I think it's disappointing to be this far removed from 9/11 and to still not feel as safe as we could be feeling.

It's been a long three years, and we tried to get failures addressed. We tried to have accountability assigned, and it's just not happening under this administration. And I have a five-year-old daughter. I want to know that I'm safer than I am right now. And President Bush has not put me in that place, and I believe Senator Kerry will.

WOODRUFF: You said that you voted for George W. Bush in 2000. What has turned you around?

BREITWEISER: I think my own personal experience in the last three years, where I'd hoped that President Bush -- someone that I voted for, that my husband voted for -- would have been my biggest ally in trying to correct the problems that occurred on the morning of September 11th and trying to make this nation safer.

And what I found out, for the last three years, is that he was our biggest adversary. And I'm very disappointed...

WOODRUFF: Specifically because he what?

BREITWEISER: With regard to the 9/11 Commission, President Bush: fought the creation of the commission; fought the legislative language to make sure the commission was set up in a bipartisan manner; fought the funding of the commission; fought an extension for the commission; fought access to individuals and documents.

This commission was very important because it was going to make sure that we learn from the mistakes that occurred in 9/11 and, in a sense, honor the lost lives by making sure that in the next attack -- which we know is going to happen -- more lives would be saved.

WOODRUFF: But in the last analysis, the president did come around on most of that, didn't he?

BREITWEISER: He came around after he was backed into a corner and after a 90-8 vote in the Senate. And it was a long year. And I wonder, what if the president had started his own commission in the days after 9/11, much like happened in Pearl Harbor. Maybe this wouldn't be a campaign issue this year. Maybe national security would be taken care of. Maybe I would feel safe. Maybe I wouldn't be so scared three years since 9/11.

And I think it's terribly sad that it is an issue in this campaign, because it's an issue -- because it hasn't been taken care of.

WOODRUFF: Are you going to get involved in his campaign? Will you campaign for him?

You were just telling me that you haven't flown in an airplane since 9/11.

BREITWEISER: I have not flown in an airplane since 9/11. When I see planes in the sky, I have flashbacks of the plane entering my husband's building.

I have committed to the campaign that I will travel. I want to get the word out. I want the people in this country to understand that national security must be a priority -- a priority in action, not just in words.

And I'm willing to get on a plane. And assuming I can do that, I will do that. And that is how committed I am, and how much I believe in Senator Kerry being our president.

WOODRUFF: Some people are going to ask, were you in any way used by this campaign? Are they in any way taking advantage of your obvious and understandable emotions in order to get you to...

BREITWEISER: And I can tell you from my heart, I reached out to the Kerry campaign. I reached out after the Republican convention that was in New York, and I felt that listening to people talk about 9/11 as incessantly as it was done during the campaign -- or the convention in New York, if you're going to use 9/11, use it to make this nation safer than it was on 9/11. And that's not being done. If you're going to use 9/11, if you're going to be impassioned about the lives lost on 9/11, then do so by making us safer. Don't use 9/11 to go to war in a country that had nothing to do with 9/11 -- not on my husband's name. The war in Iraq has increased recruitment of al Qaeda. It has increased animosity and hatred toward Americans.

I want to know that I'm safer. I lost my husband. I want to know that my daughter and I are safer. And President Bush hasn't one that. As much as we have begged and pleaded and screamed to try to get these problems fixed, to try and become safer living in this country, it just hasn't happened.

Kristen Breitweiser, who lost her husband on 9/11, we thank you very much for coming to talk with us today.

BREITWEISER: Thank you for having me.

WOODRUFF: We appreciate it.

purty much sez it all, n it bears repeatin.

pinions of buddy don: more hipockrussy

yesterdy miz bd wuz watchin news hour with jim lehrer n they put up a spot with mr bush speakin to one of his hand-picked audientses. he wuz splainin bout how john kerrys spendin plans wood add up to near 2 trillion. whut he dint say wuz cuverd in this mornins washington post in a post name of $3 Trillion Price Tag Left Out As Bush Details His Agenda, witch aint no touchin him whenever it cums to bein the champeen of hipocrits:

The expansive agenda President Bush laid out at the Republican National Convention was missing a price tag, but administration figures show the total is likely to be well in excess of $3 trillion over a decade.

A staple of Bush's stump speech is his claim that his Democratic challenger, John F. Kerry, has proposed $2 trillion in long-term spending, a figure the Massachusetts senator's campaign calls exaggerated. But the cost of the new tax breaks and spending outlined by Bush at the GOP convention far eclipses that of the Kerry plan.

Bush's pledge to make permanent his tax cuts, which are set to expire at the end of 2010 or before, would reduce government revenue by about $1 trillion over 10 years, according to administration estimates. His proposed changes in Social Security to allow younger workers to invest part of their payroll taxes in stocks and bonds could cost the government $2 trillion over the coming decade, according to the calculations of independent domestic policy experts.

i aint sayin kerry wood be inny better, but nobidy could be wurser. whar i wurk, ifn ye turn a $400 billion profit into a $422 billion loss, ye git fired.

pinions of buddy don: its the hipockrussy, stupid

twuz a sprize to find this here articull name of Both Candidates Often Shift Positions frum the a.p. writ by a feller name of Tom Raum, witch he's been coverin washington since 1973. he notes how them publicans has been chantin flip flop fer kerry fer munths, but as innybidy who pays inny tenchun has to know, bush flip flops jes as much as kerry n mayhap more.

whut disgusts me is the hipockrussy. heres a quote frum the articull:

_In 2000, Bush argued against new military entanglements and nation building. He's done both in Iraq.
_He opposed a Homeland Security Department, then embraced it.
_He opposed creation of an independent Sept. 11 commission, then supported it. He first refused to speak to its members, then agreed only if Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) came with him.
_Bush argued for free trade, then imposed three-year tariffs on steel imports in 2002, only to withdraw them after 21 months.
_Last month, he said he doubted the war on terror could be won, then reversed himself to say it could and would.
_A week after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, Bush said he wanted Osama bin Laden (news - web sites) "dead or alive." But he told reporters six months later, "I truly am not that concerned about him." He did not mention bin Laden in his hour-long convention acceptance speech.
"I'm a war president," Bush told NBC's "Meet the Press" on Feb. 8. But in a July 20 speech in Iowa, he said: "Nobody wants to be the war president. I want to be the peace president."
Bush keeps revising his Iraq war rationale: The need to seize Saddam Hussein (news - web sites)'s weapons of mass destruction until none were found; liberating the Iraqi people from a brutal dictator; fighting terrorists in Iraq not at home; spreading democracy throughout the Middle East. Now it's a safer America and a safer world.

but wait, thays more:

Bush has changed his positions on new Clean Air Act restrictions, protecting the Social Security (news - web sites) surplus, tobacco subsidies, the level of assistance to help combat AIDs in Africa, campaign finance overhaul and whether to negotiate with North Korean officials.

corse ye kin thank of otherns besides these. lack how he dint wonta give the new head of intelligents power over the budget but then flip flopped when the politicull presshur gut to im.

whenever if see such hipockrussy, it puts me in mind of them folks that asts "whut wood jesus do?" on a counta how jesus give us sum clues on thatn in matthew, chaptur 7:

1 Judge not, that ye be not judged.
2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.
3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

mayhap mr bush has a differnt bible?

memries of buddy don: that awful day

revues of buddy don: red cavalry

thays four grate riters frum the soviet era of russian language literchur: Mikhail Bulgakov who writ a grate book name of Master and Margarita; Boris Pasternak, witch ye probly saw the movie they made frum his famus book name of Dr. Zhivago; Aleksander Solzhenitsyn who wrote numerous grate books includin Cancer Ward, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and The Gulag Archipelago; n finely, thays Isaac Babel, witch he writ Red Cavalry.

i herd bout Red Cavalry frum Eric over at Straight White Guy, witch he recommended i read it after i writ bout readin good soldier švejk. thatn wuz a verr funny take on military life.

taint the case with red cavalry, witch tiz made outta stories writ by issac babel when he was a war correspondent travelin with the red cavalry durin the russian civil war twixt the reds n the whites. his assinement tuck him in to poland whar he wuz able to see at verr close range jes how war kin be a odd mix of the ridiculus, the gruesum n the cruel. each of the stories aint no moren about as much as ye kin fit into a newspaper column, witch they usually run twixt 500 n 2,000 words. taint a hole story all strung together, but as ye read each of the lil stories, the bigger tale emerges. ye git a lot of odd moments.

in one of the furst stories in the book, the narrator is billeted in the home of a jewish fambly, witch thay wuz a cuple of women thar n a nuther feller asleep turnt tords the walls. the narrator has bad dreams, so one of the women wakes him up n sez she wonts to move im to a nuther corner of the room on a counta how he's kickin her papa in his distrubed sleep. turnt out the feller facin the wall wuz her papa.

She raises her thin legs and round belly from the floor and pulls the blanker off the sleeping man. An old man is lying there on his back, dead. His gullet has been ripped out, his face hacked in two, and dark blood is clinging to his beard like a clump of lead.

tiz a tipicull endin fer the stories in the book. tiz often the case whar ye go frum everday boredum to grisly revelayshun of whut war leaves behind.

tiz hard to ride in the red cavalry with isaac babel, but tiz near impossibull to turn away frum it. he makes ye see how bof sides in the anarchy of war kin git to whar they do thangs we call atrocities. tiz one of the thangs leaders dont lack to tell folks whenever thar wurkin up the argument fer goin to war. one thangs fer sartin: ifn ye read too minny books lack red cavalry, ye aint a'gone be sprized by no pitchers frum abu ghraib.

a nuther thang to cunsidder is how brave isaac babel wuz. he wuz verr famus in the u.s.s.r. even tho he wuz ritin the truth as he saw it n that truth wuz not sumthin joseph stalin wonted folks to know. he had im a home in paris with a wife n fambly, but he bleeved his place wuz in his home of russia, witch he went back thar even tho he knew twuz dangrus. then in 1940, he wuz disappeard into the state prison system, witch tiz bleeved he wuz executed. twuz lack the endin to one of them stories in red cavalary.

distrakshuns of buddy don: caint git the nex chaptur writ

fer the last few weeks, i been trine to rite the nex chaptur of life n pinions of buddy don, hillbilly, but i aint a'gittin nowhar.thays a cuple reason fer that. one of the mane ones is how the nex chaptur covers a hard topick. once ye git sumthin lack that novel a'goin, ye git to whar each chaptur seems more importunt. i know frum a life of ritin that at sum point i need to jes open up the program whar i rite n git toot. aint gonna be no wurser that a unwrit chaptur.

but hard as the topick of the nex chaptur is, i half to add mitt taint the real reason. tiz on a counta how i caint take my eyes offn the news. heres sum of the stories i caint seem to ignore.

• Records Say Bush Balked at Order: "President Bush failed to carry out a direct order from his superior in the Texas Air National Guard in May 1972 to undertake a medical examination that was necessary for him to remain a qualified pilot, according to documents made public yesterday."
• Stung!: "A swarm of new media stories on young George W. Bush's dereliction of duty pops his heroic-leadership bubble."
• Documents Suggest Special Treatment for Bush in Guard: "WASHINGTON, Sept. 8 - President Bush's Vietnam-era service in the National Guard came under renewed scrutiny on Wednesday as newfound documents emerged from his squadron commander's file that suggested favorable treatment."
• Bush fell short on duty at Guard: " . . . Bush fell well short of meeting his military obligation, a Globe reexamination of the records shows: Twice during his Guard service -- first when he joined in May 1968, and again before he transferred out of his unit in mid-1973 to attend Harvard Business School -- Bush signed documents pledging to meet training commitments or face a punitive call-up to active duty."
• Today Iraq, tomorrow Iran: "What are all these wrong predictions, which are now at risk of being relegated down the memory hole as Orwellian nonhistory that never happened? There are at least 21." this here articull goes onto document 21 of the claims made bout how thangs wuz a'gone go in iraq, witch aint a one of em true. here's my cundensed vershun:
  1. cakewalk
  2. chalabi
  3. no guerillas = few troops needed
  4. lanks twixt saddam n al qaeda
  5. wmd
  6. weaker al qaeda
  7. democracy in iraq
  8. sunnis wont cooperate with shias
  9. easy recunstruckshun
  10. nato dint matter
  11. u.n. dint matter
  12. france n germany wood be sorry
  13. spain, japan n poland: no problems at home ifn they sent troops
  14. iraq oil kin pay fer everthang
  15. oil prices drop to $20-$25 a barrel
  16. demoralized palestinians, busted intifada
  17. democracy in middle east
  18. cia n uther intel agencies could be ignord (rumsfeld, feith n wolfowitz dint need em)
  19. bremer could ignore intell n army recommendayshuns
  20. muqtada al sadr: killed or captchurd
  21. insurgency only fer bitter-enders n forn terrsts n couldnt last long

i half to add mitt to bein sick n tired of all this stuff, but i caint seem to look away. tiz lack a snake eatin a bird. ifn ye cum upon one, could ye look away, even ifn tiz gruesum?

innywho, tiz time to turn my tenchun to sumthin more positive, witch here tiz: whiskyfest, new york. me n miz bd is a'plannin on goin. corse, we're a'gone invite our irish frien n his english wife. n i plan on takin a day of vacashun fer the day after.

now ifn i kin jes git myself to quit lookin fer the snake to eat the bird, mayhap i kin finely rite that nex chaptur. in the long run, tiz thonly ritin that matters fer me.

pinions of buddy don: biased numbers

old u.s. fedrull deficit recurd: $375,000,000,000 or $375 billyuns -- 2003

new u.s. fedrull deficit recurd: $422,000,000,000 or $422 billyuns -- 2004

cbo forecast of u.s. fedrull deficits over nex ten years: $2,300,000,000,000 or $2.3 trillyuns

u.s. deaths in iraq: over 1,000

attacks in iraq by the munth (u.s. military deaths):

• mar 2004: ~600 (52)
• april 2004: ~1,750 (135)
• may 2004: ~1,800 (80)
• june 2004: ~1,550 (42)
• july 2004: ~1,600 (54)
• august 2004: ~2,300 (66)
• september 2004: number of attacks unknown (23 u.s. military deaths so far)

but the real deal bout them bush numbers kin be read here. tiz a articull bout bush n sum odd thangs bout numbers. heres a few of em to git ye started:

• 1 Number of Bush administration public statements on National security issued between 20 January 2001 and 10 September 2001 that mentioned al-Qa'ida.
• 104 Number of Bush administration public statements on National security and defence in the same period that mentioned Iraq or Saddam Hussein.
• 101 Number of Bush administration public statements on National security and defence in the same period that mentioned missile defence.
• 0 Number of times Bush mentioned Osama bin Laden in his three State of the Union addresses.
• 83 Number of times Bush mentioned Saddam, Iraq, or regime (as in change) in his three State of the Union addresses.
• $0 Amount approved by George Bush to hire more INS special agents.
• $10m Amount Bush cut from the INS's existing terrorism budget.
• $50m Amount granted to the commission that looked into the Columbia space shuttle crash.

ye caint git much more biased than them numbers. ifn ye wont to git the full outrage, foller that lank. thays minny more biased numbers fer ye.

oh yeah, heres a nuther number ye mite lack, witch i found it at joshua micah marshalls site. it shows ye jes how grate the plannin by our fedrull gummint really is: number of minutes twixt the a.p. story announcin iraq death toll wuz over 1,000 (4:27 pm, sept 7, 2004) n ridge's announcement that terrsts hope to disrupt u.s. eleckshuns (4:40 pm, sept 7, 2004): 13.

pinions of buddy don: dreary day

tiz a dreary day up here in the metropolitun area. makes me wonta stay in bed, but that aint one of the possibull choices. twuz a nice weekend. we had us a birthday to celebrate. its untellin why a person wood be more tuckerd out after a long weekend than after a reglar one, but thats how im a'feelin.

pinions of buddy don: bye gop! twuz fun havin ye here!

thay wuz plenty of side benefits dint nobidy eggspect when it cums to havin the rnc in new york. fer one thang, ye never saw so minny po-leece. they wuz herdin folks into pens jes as po-lite as could be, witch over at kos ye kin read bout how curteeus n nice they wuz n how they had a big tent kinda inclusivity ye dont find much these days: why, ye could git yerself arrested jes by sittin on the steps of the publick liberry, witch folks duz that everday of the week ifn tiz nice out, but i reckun them folks they arrested musta been a'doon it in a threatnin way.

then thays the fack that wudnt much of innybidy who lives here willin to stay in town fer the cunventchun, n that made it easy to walk the streets whar ye wuz allowed to walk, witch ye had to be keerful ye dint git into a crowd that wuz about to git arrested, but othern that, twuz as easy to walk as innytime i member since arrivin here back in '85.

ye caint overestimate the cunsidderayshun them publicans had fer local folk, speshly how they fenced thar ownselves off cumpletely sos they woodnt run into no new yorkers, witch that wuz hepful fer folks that dont much lack runnin into publicans. it wurked purty well on a counta aint hardly nobidy spotted no delegates outside of thar pertecktiv bubble name of the security zone.

twuz also nice havin all them po-leece frum here n even sum frum other places, witch i caint find out how minny even tho i been astin. i hadnt never seen no capital po-leece car befor, but thay wuz sevrul ye could spot in yer travels round town.

n did i mentchun how eggciting twuz how everwhar ye went thay wuz securty folks standin round, sum of em with huge weppons? makes ye feel safe n perteckted, kindly lack twuz in east berlin back befor the berlin wall cum down, witch tiz thonly other place i been whar thay wuz so minny uniformd folks runnin round carryin weppons.

wunder ifn thar a'gone go home now that thay aint a cunventchun to perteck? mayhap sum of em will be re-dee-ployed to wyoming, witch that must be a hard place to perteck! corse, nice as twuz to have all them uniforms around, we caint afford to keep it up no more.

pinions of buddy don: aint nuthin changed in 2,500 years

las nites ugly display of base, misleadin n outrite lyin rhetorick at the rnc n the fack that nobidy seems to keer bout what lie is tole, just whuther it heps thar side, has me so deepressd i wood druther not rite.

i used to thank that thay wuz such a thang as progress, that after we had dun larnt that tiz a fallacy to thank repeatin a lie makes it true, that tiz a fallacy to attack a persun n thank yer attackin the argument that person is makin, that to put up a false view of yer opponent sos ye kin tear down the verr straw man ye created is rong, that tiz a fallacy to reduce everthang to two choices in a worl whar thays minny excluded by that kind of fallacy -- i used to thank we larnt frum such miss takes. i even thought dint nobidy wonta use hitlers teckneeks, such as the big lie, but i wuz rong. all that matters is whuther it heps yer side. lack i sed, i thought we larnt sumthin frum such miss takes n dint wonta repeat em. i thought we aimed fer sumthin higher n more honest.

but we dont. seems lack the sophists won out over plato n aristotle n all them nuanced flossofers. heres a lil more bout them sophists:

The most popular career of a Greek of ability at the time was politics; hence the sophists largely concentrated on teaching rhetoric. The aims of the young politicians whom they trained were to persuade the multitude of whatever they wished them to believe. The search for truth was not top priority. Consequently the sophists undertook to provide a stock of arguments on any subject, or to prove any position. They boasted of their ability to make the worse appear the better reason, to prove that black is white. Some, like Gorgias, asserted that it was not necessary to have any knowledge of a subject to give satisfactory replies as regards it. Thus, Gorgias ostentatiously answered any question on any subject instantly and without consideration. To attain these ends mere quibbling, and the scoring of verbal points were employed. In this way, the sophists tried to entangle, entrap, and confuse their opponents, and even, if this were not possible, to beat them down by mere violence and noise. They sought also to dazzle by means of strange or flowery metaphors, by unusual figures of speech, by epigrams and paradoxes, and in general by being clever and smart, rather than earnest and truthful.

looks to me lack them publican speech riters has been studyin up on thar sophistry.

pinions of buddy don: psst, hey gop — wonta know whar to meet the new immigrunts?

wuznt that a speech to git ye inspired last nite? twuz deliverd by that grate amurkin, ahnold the barbariyun. tiz nice to see a immigrunt git such good treatment. taint the same fer that amurkin name of george soros, witch he becum a amurkin citizen in 1956 but sum acks lack hes still a forner. lucky fer ahnold, that aint no problem. tiz even ok ifn he groped young ladies n whutnot. hes a good amurkin now. ye caint be astin whar did he git his money on a counta how everbidy knows frum watchin his movies. same thang is true of george soros. innybidy that really wonts to know whar his money cum frum kin look at the publick recurd. they kin also see how he spent billions of it openin up the cuntries liberated whenever the iron curtain cum down. mayhap we kin larn that frum the grate statesmen at the rnc; mayhap not.

so in sted of gittin cawt up in witch immigrunts is good n witch aint, twood be better to hep our gop visters out. they mite wonta meet sum of the new immigrunts sos they kin tell witchns is wurthy of respeck n witchns is wurthy of lyin statements lack mr hastert lacks to make about mr soros.

man hattan is the place fer meetin folks frum other places. heres how it wurks: ye kin meet the kinda immigrunt ye wont by lookin at whar they wurk, witch bleev't or not, mos folks cums here sos they kin git em a good job. heres a ruff brakedown based on whut i dun observd with my own eyes in the past 19 years.

greeks: ye kin meet yer greek immigrunts in diners, witch ye kin find a diner mos innywhar ye go in this town. tiz a good place to eat n while yer a'doon it, ye kin meet the greek that's a'waitin on ye. crose, he or she is a'gone be a eggspurt in not noticin ye when ye wont em to brang ye the check or sum more coffee, so ye mite git to feelin the way lots of folks duz, invisibull.

injuns (frum india): chantses are ifn ye go to a news stand to buy yer paper, yer a'gone meet a injun, witch i aint talkin bout no cherokee or no native amurkin injuns but them injuns frum india. ye kin also meet em programmin cumputers n such. ye kin also meet em by callin yer health care hep line, witch chantses are good yer ackshly talkin to a injun over in india.

injuns (frum amurka): ye probly dun herd bout how they wuz folks a'livin here whenever god made it the manifest destiny of the amurkins to git this fine place. they call these folks injuns on a counta how they dint unnerstand worl geogruffy n figgerd they wuz bout to run into india whenever they cum to amurka. ye aint too lackly to meet these folks n real eyes it. sum of em ye kin watch in wunder way up on them tall bildins that ye kin find under cunstruckshun. thar the ones up highest, a standin on a beam of iron n direcktin other beams into place. corse, ye mite no reckon-eyes lots of the injuns frum amurka that ye mite on a counta ye mite could figger twuz black folk. turns out that a huge percent of all black folk born in amurka has injun ancesters. ifn ye ast one, ye mite larn bout it.

pakistanis: whenever ye take a taxi cab, tiz lackly yer a'gone meet ye a feller frum pakistan. ast him whut he thanks bout amurka, but be keerful on a counta he jes mite tell ye (aint never seed nor herd tell of no female pakistani cab driver, witch i reckun thar could be sum).

jamaicans: tiz amazin how near ever flebotomist ye meet is frum jamaica. they have em a way with a needle n i been amazed how they kin slide it in without causin no pane. corse, to do that, ye wood half to go give blood, witch why wood ye do that since ye shouldnt half to share yer blood with sumbidy that wuznt keerful a nuff with tharn, rite? same is true of health care n welfare.

mexicuns: ye mite not notice it, but whenever ye wuz in that diner a'meetin yer greeks, ye had a good chants to meet ye sum mexicuns since thar lack as not the ones bussin yer table n washin yer dishes n such. ifn ye go into a deli, thays a good chants the feller makin yer sandwitch is a'gone be a mexicun. ye kin git a better sandwitch by practicin yer spanish with em.

africuns: ye mite not know it, but them folks a'sellin ye the cheap rolex watches n umbrellas whenever it rains n other deesigner stuff on the street corners, thays generly frum africa. ye kin talk with em fer as long as ye lack ifn ye pertend ye wonta buy sumthin.

irish:lack ye mite have dun herd, thar the cops n firefiters pertecktin ye. ye mite wonta be keerful with them cops since they aint had a contrack in two years, witch thats how ye all run this grate city! dont tip em, even ifn they do need the money. n dont wurry bout the firefiters gittin rich. the one that makes the mos dont git a nuff to make it on jes one job. aint we lucky they doot fer sum reason besides money? kin ye magine the kinda good-harted folk ye mite could git as ceos ifn ye dint half to pay em 540 times as much as the avridge wurker?

dominicuns: fack is, ye probly wont git to meet yer dominicuns lessn yer willin to go to upper man hattan (tiz whar they keep harlem) or the so-calld outer boros (thats whut they call the parts of new york that aint man hattan), but ifn ye do ventchur so far outta the cunventchun bubble n deecide ye wood lack to git a cab, ye wont find no yeller cab with a pakistani drivin it. in sted, ye mite see sum nice cars drivin by slow, a'lookin at ye lack they wonta know sumthin. ifn ye wonta meet em n git a ride at the same time, whut ye do is kindly wave yer hand at the ground, lack ye wuz indicatin whar they should stop to pick ye up. ifn ye speak spanish with em, ye wont half to pay as much fer the ride, but how often ye gone git the chants to meet sum grate immigrunts? tiz a bargain at twice the price.

chinese: they gut em a hole town name of chinatown whar ye kin go n meet folks frum china. ye kin also see em cookin in chinese restrunts. ifn ye go to chinatown n take a open mind, ye mite could find ye a better way to deal with yer mentalpause or other health problems, but thay aint all sankshunned by the the fda.

reglar amurkins: i read whar sum of ye thanks that all the reglar amurkins lives in the center of the cuntry, that theys all white folk that goes to local protestunt churches n such, but the fack is, ifn ye tuck the time to meet inny of them folks i jes listed, yer meetin folks that bleeves in the amurkin dream, folks that cum to this cuntry sos they could make that dream real. they dont all look alike or speak without a acksent. they dont git thar money frum drugs, but frum wurkin hard. tiz a murkin tradishun, witch by the way, tiz eggzackly how george soros made n is a'usin his pile. ye kin look it up.