Think about the future...

If I were a nation state that feels it might be threatened by the U.S. in the future and I was looking at the current progress of this war, the technological advantage, the ‘smart’ bomb capability, the vast air superiority, I’d be very worried. But I wouldn’t feel completely hopeless. Instead, I would be quickly retooling my defense infrastructure.

I would stop building airplanes and I would find someway to counter the ‘stealth’ capability of America’s main bombing force. I would stop building nuclear weapons and I would find a way to counter-strike the e-bomb (An Electro Magnetic Pulse weapon that disables/melts all electronics within a certain range) with one of my own (indeed I would develop an anti-aircraft EMP weapon). Instead of buying long range missiles, I would want to find someway to ‘jam’ the Tomahawk missiles.

I would stockpile my e-bomb around the world so it could be launched at appropriate forces in the event I am attacked. I would target financial and technology centers first, then military bases only when I have enough e-bomb’s stockpiled. I would also find a way to launch anti-aircraft e-bombs so they are small enough to not register on radar.

Finally, I would want to make sure I had a powerful media empire established around the world. I would launch cable stations, radio broadcast, and internet web sites (official and ‘grassroots’), to push my agenda even before the first bomb falls.

The object, of course, to make waging war against me such an large economic cost that the U.S. won’t want to get involved and to have the potential to keep world opinion on my side.

So while am I telling you this now... because, if I can think of it, I guarantee you North Korea and China already have.

Untelevised has important commentary on the Quality (think Pirsig's Lila) of media coverage.

A snapshot of who I'm reading:


The Agonist -- by far the best blog covering the war.
Atrios' Eschaton -- one of the top left leaning blogs out there. Written anonymously.
The Daily Kos -- Forbes recently listed them as the number two warblog. I agree.
Back To Iraq 2.0 -- a journalist returning to Iraq to report via his blog.
Instapundit -- one of the top right leaning blogs out there. I try to keep my reading somewhat balanced.
Rebecca's Pocket -- A breath of humanity in these days of war.
Body and Soul -- Good analysis and a breath of humanity. Written anonymously.
Talk Left -- Talk from the left, and good war coverage and analysis.
Where's Raed? -- The blog from Bagdad everyone is talking about.
Stand Down -- A no war blog.



There's more... but that's enough to keep you busy for now.

Another article proclaiming that this is just the first step in a regional quagmire that the U.S. will find itself forced to fight it's way out of. The old adage "never fight a land war in Asia" may yet ring true.

Tacitus's Law -- so true!

Nathan Newman posts that we're dropping napalm on the Iraqis in violation of the UN Commission of Human Rights. In my book napalm is the same as chemical weapons. If this is true, then we need to put a stop to it immediately.

Trishymouse blogs with the unique angle of having Kurdish relatives in Iraq. They are currently unreachable, having fled into the mountians.

Although I've yet to hear it get much news coverage (Print), TV, or weblog), it seems obvious to me that one result of this war should be to provide autonomy to the world's largest ethnic people without a home nation. I speak of course, about Kurdistan. Plenty to read on Google.

P.L.A. - A Journal of Politics, Law and Autism has some insight into the hypocrisy of the Republican congress regarding the right to dissent.

This post on kottke.org nicely sums up much of what I'm feeling about the upcoming War, the President, and the state of our nation right now. Just one example, We have a major healthcare provider about to go belly up a la Enron, and no word on the major networks. 2004 might be the U.S.'s only chance to turn the nation around before we totally lose face to the rest of the world.

One more thought. I was watching a military analyst (ex-general) on one of the big three cable news channels this morning. When he started talking about how this war will be different than any other war ever fought his eyes lit up with an eerie sense of glee. I think I've figured out why we're going to war. It's not about removing Hussein, peace in the middle east, or even oil. Those are all just nice side effects. No, it's simply a chance for the U.S. to prove that our toys are bigger and better than yours. That our military might is so great that no one had ever even think about opposing our wishes or the same thing might happen to you.

Watched a bit of the Bill Moyer's NOW last night. He interviewed Joseph Wilson, the last US Diplomat to meet with Saddam Hussein (where he was asked what it would take for the U.S. to ignore Iraq's invasion of Kuwait). Wilson made the excellent point that the U.S. is dangling the wrong carrot for its goal of Peace, Stability, Freedom, and Democracy (in some form) in the middle east. The carrot we're using right now is "conform to our wishes or we will bomb you back to stone age" when it should be "we've just removed your number one complaint, so it's time to conform to our wishes." What's the number one complaint? Well it's the red herring of a Palestine Homeland, of course. Wilson correctly states that until that issue is resolved every arab state, terrorist group, religious iman, can always point at that situation and say the U.S. really doesn't have peace as it's number one concern.

Of course, this little bit of info from the Daily Kos is a real gem too. Like the U.S. has done on so many occaisions, looks like Isreal has made their bed and prefer to bulldoze the house rather than sleep in it.

I always like a good Gore Vidal interview. This one does not disappoint.

Thestory you don't want to read, but definately should.

This conversation contains some of the scariest stuff I've read in over a decade. Bill Moyers is possibly the only journalist right now who even cares to bring this into the light. All I can do is shed a little more light on the matter.

By far the best information on the Columbia Disaster I've seen in a blog -- Saltire by Steve MacLaughlin.

Tom Tomorrow, whose website I read regularly, posts a disturbing image of Japan's latest craze 'Nipple Scarves'. You have to see it to believe it.

I'm happy to announce that GalleryIndigo.com has been listed in Paypal.com's excellent shop list. I've already received a few visits from the listing as well. Look for a new artist in the coming week or two.

This weekend my step sister Kelly is coming to town with her hubby Steven. He is displaying some audio equipment at CES (which would be fun to explore!). I'll be sure to post a picture as it's been a long time since I've seen them (their marriage, in fact). That's one of the benefits of living in Las Vegas, eventually everyone comes here whether for vacation or business conference.

My brother David links to an article by Joan Didion. In the article Didion examines some of the issues with the Political manipulation of the post 9-11 landscape. She points out many of the illegitimacies of the arguments being made for war and shines a much needed light on a few of the hypocrisies the USA would be committing if we invaded Iraq. What she doesn't do is offer a tangible solution for the problems we are faced with. Nor have I really seen anyone coming up with an alternate stratagy to deal with Isreal, Palestine, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, all the -stans, Russia's unruly provinces, and the growing threat of Islamic extremists. To say we've made our own bed is certainly true. But sleeping in it will only cause a greater loss of American life.

How do we go back and fix mistakes made 50 years ago, what about mistakes made 500 or 1000 years ago (or more). We can't. We can, however, marshall our non-military forces of democracy for change (this would be education, infrastructure, industry, agriculuture, and arts) and start to work some magic where we can. The number one point of insertion for these forces of democracy should Afganistan. Too long has that neck of the woods been a playground for the Superpowers and oil-mongers. Now we have the opportunity to spend a generation or two doing good for the people of that country. When we're done, no children will be working to make bricks, no women's schools fire bombed, and commerce and democracy will flow from the region. Those who remember the age of Warlords and fighting for territory will be old and powerless against the ranks of educated and free citizens. Before we're done, a dozen countries will be lined up to ditch their dictatorships and enroll America's forces of change.

Until I see proof of its failure, this must be the model for change from now on.

Stacey and I had a great time and a great view for the NYE fireworks on the strip.



This view was just a few blocks from our house, which is nice. However, maybe next year we'll be able to afford a strip view at The Palms or Rio hotels. The parties were going for $100+++.

We also continued our tradition of the first photo of the New Year (and the first kiss too!).

Happy New Year's Eve everyone. I'm looking forward to this year's firework spectacular. However, we'll be viewing it from the very safe distance of Anthem. Too much craziness down on the strip.

I've started up a second blog that focuses on Las Vegas and Nevada. The plan is to link to many of the local journalists and weblogs rather than the local newspapers. My story today lists my top 5 best and worst events of 2002.

Two "Austin City Limits" broadcasts of note coming soon: Nickel Creek/Ralph Stanley - Dec 28, 11:00PM and Beck - Jan 4, 11:00PM. But Check your local listings.

I hope everyone has survived the holidays so far. I saw on the news that Dorothea and Linda got 30 some inches of snow for a very white christmas. Need any help digging out?

I've been working on GalleryIndigo.com quite a bit. Stacey is working on more eggs, David has some of his photos he plans to send my way, and beginning in January, I expect to have an amazing woodcarver with a variety of great items. However, I'm still looking for new artists. If you're interested please email me.