Always be drunk. That's it! The great imperative! In order not to feel
time's horrible burden that breaks your shoulders, grinding you into earth,
get drunk and stay that way.
On what? Wine, poetry, virtue, whatever. But get drunk.
And if you sometimes happen to wake up on the porches of a palace, in
the green grass of a ditch, in the dismal loneliness of your own room,
your drunkenness gone or disappearing, ask the wind, the wave, the
star, the bird, the clock, ask everything that flees, everything that
groans or rolls or sings, everything that speaks, ask what time it is;
and the wind, the wave, the star, the bird, the clock will answer you:
"Time to get drunk! Don't be martyred slaves of Time, get drunk
forever! Get drunk! Stay drunk! On wine, poetry, virtue, whatever.
Charles Baudelaire from Petit Poemes en Prose
Translated from the French by Michael Hamburger
For almost a year running illegal immigration has been a hot political topic in the United States of America. In a country where the realm of politics is dominated by fear tactics it is no surprise that immigration policy has been coupled with national security policy and the war on terror. The United States must secure its boarders in order to secure the safety of its citizen’s security. From the redundant department of redundancy.
The president of the United States of America decided (or was told by his handlers-which ever you chose to believe is none of my business) that illegal immigrants represent a terrorist threat. In addition to that, illegal immigrants were accused of negatively impacting the economy. Apparently, illegals come to the United States to take advantage of the social welfare system and to receive better health care and education* without paying taxes. Illegal immigrants are taking jobs away from legal immigrants. I can see where this conservative line of reasoning is headed. I will indulge you. You see the real problem seems to stem from the fact that legal immigrants qualify for the dole and therefore are not really seeking gainful employment. The current welfare system only encourages sloth and irresponsibility by providing too much incentive to be unemployed. The government cheese is really that good! The United States needs to head in a new direction with social welfare policy that encourages productivity and responsibility. No more free rides for the down trodden. It is time they learned to pull themselves up from their bootstraps and make the American Dream into reality. Horatio Alger hooray! Now for a dose of reality: most recipients on the dole live beneath the poverty line. Most are not proud of their situation. Most do not have the support or encouragement necessary to “pull themselves up”. I believe the federal and state-at least in California-welfare systems are in dire need of reform. However I think to fix the system we need to reward (not encourage) welfare recipients for their efforts to get off the dole and on the payroll. But I have gone off in a tangent.
Illegal immigration policy was what I intended this rant to be about but I lost my way, well I have found my way back. The Republican leadership in Washington D.C. identified illegal immigration-particularly along our Southern boarder-as a security threat. Fair enough, I will not argue the merits of the importance of immigration policy as it pertains to national security and the war on terror. The assertion that illegal immigrants have a negative impact on the economy, I find hard to swallow. To me, it shows that the administration does not understand the problem of illegal immigration or-and more significantly-the problems (plural) facing the economy. First of all, the majority of illegal immigrants do not come to the United States to drain the welfare system. Most do not intend to become permanent residence (shame that). They come for the same reasons the legal immigrants come: to escape political or religious persecution and/or for the chance at a higher standard of living for their family. They come to work and make money. To that end most illegal immigrants work hard at backbreaking jobs that the legal citizenry is unwilling to perform. These Jobs also happen to be essential to the economy. Illegal immigrants typically provide the manual labor for the housing industry and agriculture. Over the last 3-4 years the housing market carried the US economy. I would argue migrant (mostly immigrant and mostly illegal immigrant) labour is the backbone of the agricultural industry. Another large factor in the greater US economy. The current administration in an effort to stem the flow of illegal immigrants across our Southern boarder proposed to build a wall stretching from the Pacific coast in California all the way to the Gulf of Mexico in Texas. To suggest such a monstrosity as a solution to the problem is ghastly. I mean, didn’t the communists put up a wall after World War II? Didn’t that wall signal the beginning of the cold war? How did that all turn out? Then there is the question of who would build the wall? I am sure Bechtel would bid on the contract. The cost of construction would probably be greater than the cost of illegal immigration, especially when you consider that illegal immigrants would not likely be providing cheap manual labour for the project (ironic?). Maybe the construction firm could hire Canadians as cheap labour. Not bloody likely, that is not unless the wall is to be built 2500 miles North and stretched from the Pacific to the Atlantic-a new manifest destiny. In the end, a wall would more than likely only prove to be another speed bump on the route to the United States. It would mean more suffering and chance of death in the desert boarder wastelands for the desperate immigrants. The cost of a coyote^ would increase and that cost would be passed on to you the consumer. Instead of $5/hour the guys in the parking lot at your local Home Depot or Lowes are going to want $7.50/hour for their services. Farmers can forget about the bargain labour deals of the past and so your tomatoes will cost more at the grocers. We should all be opposed to the wall solution.
Congress-forced to respond to this grave danger of illegal immigration-proposed legislation that would make it illegal to be an illegal immigrant. Huh? That’s right, instead of sending illegal immigrants back home, Congress proposed sending them to jail. It is illegal to be an illegal immigrant after all and jail is the way we punish criminals but, isn’t putting illegal immigrants in jail a lot like putting them on the dole? I am not a Congressman but I do have a legislative solution to the illegal immigration problem: go after the companies and industries that exploit illegal immigrant labour. If you provide negative incentives to employers of illegal immigrants the job market for illegal immigrants will dry up. The illegal immigrants are only coming to work and when there are no jobs they will stop coming, trust me on this one. I know, I know, it sounds like punishing the victim right? These employers do not know they are hiring illegal immigrants. That is complete bullshit. I will not accept that excuse, as a matter of fact these employers should probably be charged with human rights violations. In all likelihood if they had legal workers, they would at least be in trouble with OSHA. But I am going off on another tangent. The problem with my solution is not that it is unfair to the illegal immigrants or their employers, it is unfair to us, the consumers. Like I said before, if there is no cheap labour force the price of just about everything goes up.
There is hope, the president of the United States did propose the idea of a work exchange program*^. This policy would allow immigrants seeking work in specified “high need” unskilled labour positions (ie. the migrant labour camps) to legally enter the United States for a limited period of time to work. US citizens would be allowed the same opportunities in Mexico (I do not think there will be a brain drain). I think this plan is mutually beneficial to the United States and the illegal immigrants who so desperately want to work in the US. It is an intelligent and insightful solution to the illegal immigration problem and I hope that it will become popular with citizens and ultimately become policy and law.
FOOT NOTES:
* These immigrants may want to reconsider their destination. It is true that the United States of America citizens have access to perhaps the world’s finest health practitioners, the most modern and technologically advanced health care, and some of the world’s finest institutions of education. However, less than 1 percent of the population actually has access (read: can afford) to these facilities and institutions. There is no socialized medicine and the public schools are lagging behind other industrialized nations and even some third world countries. That’s what happens when you spend billions of dollars on defense and to occupy a distant land (notice, I do not consider the Iraqi occupation part of “defense”).
^ A “coyote” is a person who leads illegal immigrants across the frontier between the United States and Mexico.
*^ George W. Bush claimed that the work exchange visa was an original idea of his. I would have to dispute that claim considering the fact that the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the European Union (most countries in the EU had similar agreements before joining the EU) all have long standing working holiday exchange programs. Nice try George. I am fairly certain that the president was the first person in his camp to think of the work exchange visa solution. Carl Rove probably slapped his forehead silly and said “d’oh!” when George mentioned it. Oh, and for the US citizens who did not already know: the United States does have a work exchange agreement with New Zealand. US citizens aged 18-30 are eligible for a 12-month working holiday visa. The visa allows for multiple entries into New Zealand (so you can jump the pond to Australia for a visit or up to Fiji for a holiday from your holiday) over 12 months. The visa also provides you with legal opportunity to work while on holiday in New Zealand. You can apply for the visa on line but there are only a limited number of visas available annually. The cost of the visa is about $100 US. I do not think that this program is reciprocal.
All sports that require a referee(s) to interpret and enforce the rules and/or to arbitrate on matters arising from play are subject to errors by the human officials. Every coach or athlete that participates in a sport involving referees should be aware of the potential for mistakes in the officiating of the contest. Missed calls. Bad calls. Biased calls. They are all inherent to any sport that requires referees. It is part of the game, always has been, always will be.
When a mistake is made by an official during a game it may appear that the “blown call” favors one team or participant over the other. That the impact of the blown call actually influences the ultimate outcome of the game. It does and it does not. Certainly, errors in officiating have an effect on the contest. A missed call may change the momentum of play. A biased call might inspire an otherwise uninspired team or player. A bad call might cause an emotional participant to be removed (forcibly) or retired from play. These are just three examples-out of thousands-of how referee’s calls may impact a contest. However, it is all part of the game and therefore it does not change the result of the contest. The officiating is part of the game. Your team either won or they lost, that is it.
I agree that we should try to limit the number of errors committed by the officials and thus let the results of the contest be determined as much as possible on the field by the teams or individuals involved. But how? We can begin by selecting officials that are impartial and not biased. We already have a problem. Unless his holiness the fourteenth Dalai Lama is officiating, the referee is going to have some bias-even if the referee has never heard of the teams participating in the contest. For example the ref may prefer blue to red and therefore be more likely to make calls favoring the team in blue. That’s a bias. It is human nature and there is no way around it. What about honest mistakes and the video replay solution? Great, video replay allows the referees an opportunity to correct errors in judgment made during play but at a cost. The original rules of the game often need to be modified to incorporate video replay into the officiating. Not to mention the ebb and flow of the game play is impacted when the game is stopped to review video. Even video replay is subject to limitations. There may not be a video providing the proper angle or perfect picture of what really happened for any given play. Human referees will still have to make an interpretation of the video replay. The reality is that officiating sport contests is dependent on human referees. No amount of technology is going to eliminate the human factor. I am all for video replay I just think we need to recognize the limitations and keep them in mind when we think we (or our team) has been cheated by a call.
A final digression. Officiating any game is difficult. The faster the game, the bigger the playing surface, the more players involved all add to the difficulty of officiating. The referee must know all the rules of play. The ref can not be more than one place at a time and therefore can not see everything that happens. Even multiple referees are going to miss calls. Remember this the next time you are a spectator at a sporting event about to start the “get a rope, get a tree, hang that fucking referee” cheer. If you really want to appreciate the job the referee is doing, try and referee a game yourself sometime. I guarantee you will find it more challenging than competitively participating in the sport you officiate. Of course none of this changes the fact that I am the first person in the referee’s face when s/he makes a bad call in a game I am playing in.
“Son, when you participate in a sporting event, it is not whether you win or lose, it is about how drunk you can get.” Amen Homer.
You hear respectable Republicans-Rush Limbaugh or former House Majority Leader Tom Delay-use the term ‘cut and run’ to describe what Democrat party leadership would do in Iraq if they were elected. ‘Cut and run’ essentially refers to the idea that politicians who have positioned themselves in opposition to the war in Iraq will opt to “cut our (the United States of America’s) losses” and “run away from the war in Iraq”. Fair enough but what I do not understand is why the opposition does not clarify their position on an appropriate Iraqi occupation exit plan? I think this would go along way to allay United States of America citizens concerns about security and safety regarding American interests at home and abroad in respect to the war in Iraq.
First of all the opposition should continue to make their case that the “coalition” invasion of Iraq was not a preemptive strike in the war on terror. The case made by the current administration for war in Iraq was a farce. Saddam Hussein’s military capabilities were never a threat to the United States of America, its citizens*, and its interests (Israel and petroleum) in the Middle East region. The secular leadership of Iraq did not associate and had no ties with the fanatic Islamic government of Afghanistan (the Taliban) or with Osama Bin Ladin’s Al-Qaeda terror organization. In all likelihood, the Iraqi regime was fundamentally opposed to these groups since these Islamic fanatics represented a specific threat to the Iraqi regime’s power base. Sure, Saddam was an awful dictator who committed horrible crimes against his people. It happens all the time-is happening right now-but it is not a reason to invade a country and dispose of its dictator. The Bush administration called for regime change-not necessarily the United States of America’s foreign policy specialty-we always fuck up regime change (google Chile and Pinochet for a shining example). Besides, there is a saying, “know the devil you’ve got.” Effectively that means: you know the current bad guy and what he is capable of but you do not know what evil will replace him if you eliminate him. I know hindsight is 20/20, sorry for the tangent. My point was, the opposition should continue to illuminate these facts to the voting public just to reemphasize how the current administration and Republican leadership has screwed up-and continues to screw up-in the war on terror. But I digress. Like I was saying, the opposition needs to formulate a plan for Iraq that responds to the ‘cut and run’ accusations. Folks, we have to be realistic, coalition forces are not leaving Iraq any time soon, nor should they, not until stability and security in the country is established. How do we establish stability and security in Iraq? Well, that’s what the Democrats need to figure out. Of course I have a few suggestions I am willing to share with you and I do hope you will give me some feedback and tell me what you think of what I think. ?
First of all, the situation in Iraq needs to be addressed by the entire international community (Iran, Cuba, North Korea and Venezuela included) and not just the coalition of the willing. In order for this to happen the United States of America and the United Kingdom will have to open up the reconstruction effort and subsequent new free markets of Iraq-that have been exclusively available to US and UK interests-to other nations in exchange for military and police support as it pertains to Iraqi national security. This action alone would go a long way to relieve the concerns of the Iraqi people, international Islamic leaders, and other nations that the occupying forces are acting as colonial rulers or represent imperialist interests.
The next step to stopping the violence in Iraq would be to restore the psyche of the Iraqi people and reconstruct the infrastructure destroyed by the invasion, occupation, and subsequent insurgency. The Iraqi people need to be involved in the process of rebuilding the infrastructure and not just from a planning perspective. The Iraqi people need jobs to provide for their families. They need work to occupy and stimulate their minds in a positive fashion and instill a sense of pride and responsibility in the community and nation. The international companies that bid for reconstruction contracts should be required to hire a certain percentage of Iraqi citizens to complete the awarded contracts.^ Thus, the Iraqi psyche and national infrastructure could be repaired simultaneously. At this point I think the insurgency would lose credibility with the Iraqi citizens and security would improve dramatically. The threat of terrorist training compounds would evaporate in the desert sands with the people’s improved living standards and freedom. This would allow the growing democracy an opportunity to flourish and the occupying forces the opportunity to pull out. International anti-American sentiment would decrease and with it the threat of terrorist activities directed at the United States and its interests abroad. A positive conclusion to the occupation of Iraq and a successful chapter in the war on terror.
FOOT NOTES:
* The Iraqi army only became a threat to US citizens when the Commander and Chief of the Continental Army, George W. Bush, decided to invade Iraq.
^ I understand that many of these Iraqi citizens do not possess the trade skills necessary to complete the work. However, they can provide the most essential ingredient to any construction project: labour. In addition to that, these people are intelligent and capable of learning a trade that they could continue well after the international companies (and militaries) have gone home.
I have added a few pictures from my trip out to Tennessee for the California v. Tennessee American football game. I will also be posting photos from my John Muir Trail experience (coming soon).
Since we have been back stateside if I had a dollar for every time someone asked me, “so, what are you going to do next?” I would not have to find a job. Just because I do not get a dollar when queried does not mean I am actively seeking employment opportunities-I’m not. You might now be formulating a new dollar question-“well then, what do you do all day?”-to answer that question I will go with the three R’s: I read news, sports, and literature; I write ideas, blogs, and journal entries; and arithmetic: I figure out how I am going to keep paying my bills without an income.
Want to pursue a life of leisure like me? Well before you hand in your letter of resignation you should know: that is not all I have done in the three months we have been back in the land of the free home of the paranoid. We, Amy and I, have visited family and friends in Iowa and all over California. I have been fly fishing (rather unsuccessfully) the lakes and streams of northern California. I spent 4.5 days walking 70 miles on the John Muir Trail out of Yosemite. I have been helping provide day care for my nephew and niece. I have organized a very successful yard sale (part II coming in October) and I am currently refinishing the hard wood floors at my parent’s house to be followed by my extensive painting through out the familial home. Oh, and I became a Ted-head.*
As such I have been traveling to all of California’s games in this young season of collegiate American football. The only road game was the season opener at perennial football power the University of Tennessee. Despite a poor showing last season, the Volunteers have excellent tradition, an outstanding program, and a spectacular venue to host matches. So I was really psyched to get out to Knoxville for some good ole fashioned southern hospitality and a great football game to boot. Well, the Tennessee folks held up their end of the bargain. I am not used to the opponents fans welcoming me to their campus, offering me food and drink, and being genuinely polite but that is what happened in Tennessee.^ A sea of orange clad fans treated Cal fans to a good time all the way up to and including the prayer before the game. Then the place turned hostile and 106009 people watched the home team dismantle the visiting side. It was an arse whoopin’. The Cal team looked like a deer in the headlights as Tennessee rolled out to a 35 nil lead. Ouch! I knew going in that Tennessee was game but I thought Cal had a chance to win. I did not see the blow out coming. Despite the result of the game I had a great time with my Cal friends and made some new friends in Tennessee. I look forward to next season’s opener when the Vols come west to play in Memorial stadium at Strawberry canyon.
Just a brief aside: back in Nashville on Sunday my friends and I decided to have a walk around downtown to kill some time before our flights back to Cali. After checking out the Charlie Daniel’s Band museum we found ourselves in a bar, of course. It was not just any bar but the ridiculously themed Coyote Ugly bar where the all female bartenders take turns dancing on the bar top-sometimes with customers. Now, I am not the kind of guy to visit this kind of establishment (I only recently had my first Hooters experience) with any kind of frequency or regularity but I did find the spectacle entertaining. The weirdest part for me was that it was a Sunday afternoon at about 2pm and the patrons were mostly made up of families. We definitely were no longer in California. Do not get me wrong, I think it is cool for families to get out and do things together, but going to a bar-where the bar maids dance in skimpy clothing on the bar?!? The 10-year old boys were definitely enjoying their soda. The 14-year old girl who got up and danced with the bartenders won a free tee shirt. Great, clothes for school I suppose. Some families stopped to have a portrait done in the pub. I am sure that will look nice on the mantle piece. These are the same people who give me dirty looks for wearing a Mirslov Satan jersey? For all my foreign readers who asked me, “how does George Bush get reelected?” Remember my answer was always the Bible belt. Well, guess where I saw these scenes? The Bible belt. I rest my case.
The first two home games for Cal have been blow outs in the other direction. It seems the team decided to play up to expectations and put the beat down on the visitors. This weekend the team gets another shot at redemption at home against a ranked conference opponent-the Arizona State Sun Devils. It should be a good game and it will be nationally televised on Fox Sports Net (apologies to my international readers, collegiate American football is not available for viewing purposes on your cable networks) at 1530 Eastern time. If you are watching to see me in the stands just keep an eye out for the guy in a brown serape. Go Bears!
Oh, I almost forgot. Who has my ticket to the November 18 game at USC? I need a ticket. Help! Anyone? Anyone?
FOOT NOTES:
* The University of California, Berkeley head football coach is Jeff Tedford. People who follow the program like Deadheads followed Jerry Garcia are known as Ted-Heads. Get it. Got it. Good.
^ The only exception being the Knoxville police. Apparently it is illegal to be on the streets of the city after 2am if you are Californian. No, it is definitely not a laughing matter because that is also illegal for Californians in Knoxville. I witnessed several arrests and one beating-all peeps wearing blue and gold-after having a great time with Vols fans Friday night into Saturday morning. Here’s to you Knoxville police (get BENT)!
Remember when the Republican Party billed itself as the compassionate conservative party? What ever became of that? Now they want us to believe they are the party that can lead the United States to victory in the war on terror. I have to ask myself, why? Is it because they were the leaders-by default-immediately following the attacks of September 11th? Has the current administration pursued a course of action that can ultimately lead to victory over terrorist ideology?
At the time of the terrorist attacks the Republican administration and Republican controlled congress responded by forcefully passing legislation designed to protect United States of America citizens from further terror attacks. The so-called “Patriot Act” gave broad new powers to police forces and intelligence agencies, which are now able to observe and monitor the communications of suspected terrorists more easily. It also allows for the tapping of phones of suspected terrorists and nationwide search warrants for computer information. Civil liberties groups have expressed concerns over provisions in the legislation concerning military tribunals, wiretapping and detentions. Over the last five years the temporary provisions of the Patriot Act have been extended, until recently, when 14 of the 16 provisions were made permanent law. The current administration was able to coerce the opposition-including Republican members of congress-into approving the extensions of the legislation by accusing opponents of being soft on national security or anti-American. When did protecting civil liberties become anti-American?* Many Republicans assert the world is more secure from terrorist attack because of legislation like the Patriot Act (and its United Kingdom equivalent the Prevention of Terrorism Act) Maybe so and maybe not. They state that recently thwarted terrorist plots are proof that the legislation is effective in pre-empting terrorist attacks. I do not feel more secure from the threat of terrorist attack because the FBI and CIA can read this blog and decide to legally monitor my phone calls, email, bank transactions, and library activity. I have nothing to hide but I somehow feel violated^.
The Republican administration is quick to point out that serious potential terrorist threats remain and that we are fighting “the great ideological struggle of the 21st century”. I could not agree more. Every day we learn about the success of police forces and intelligence agencies in preventing terrorist conspiracies but we have also witnessed the death and destruction-in Madrid, in London, in Kuta-when these same organizations succeed. Since September 11, 2001 it is no longer just Al-Qaeda that is an international terror threat to the United States of America and our allies. Now there are so-called “home grown” terrorist in our midst. Where did these people come from? Have they always been terrorists? The likely answer is no. They are a result of the anti-Islamic foreign policy of the Bush administration. Every success is ultimately a failure in this war. For every terrorist suspect arrested-and subsequently either charged and convicted or released-another terrorist (or terrorists) is created. Sooner or later the police and intelligence agencies are going to fail to discover a terrorist plot and another group will achieve its goal of terror through death and destruction.
George W. bush tells the world that in order to win the war on terror the United States of America must “stay the course”. But what if the course is wrong? If you know your course is going to cause you to crash don’t you change your course? Isn’t that reasonable? This administration has steered the wrong course in the war on terror and created a far stronger foe than there was on that horrible September day in 2001. Further this administration and the Republican leadership in congress are incapable of changing course. The administration will not admit to making foreign policy mistakes and instead continues to make the same errors. The Republican Party has proclaimed supremacy in fighting the war on terror and would have you believe that the war on terror is going well-for them it is, they continue to exploit our fear to get reelected-and that we are winning this ideological (theological?) war. That is not the reality of the situation. The Republicans have declared that the Democrat Party does not have the capacity to fight this war on terror. They would have you believe the Democrat leaders are incompetent and soft, even pro-terrorist. Don’t believe the hype. We can all see the path we are on-the path to destruction-but there is still time to change paths. This November election is not about the economy or taxes. Nor is it about abortion or gay marriage. It is not about health care or education. It is about changing course because none of that matters if the terrorists win. Give peace a chance: Do not vote for congressmen who have or will align themselves with the war-mongers (they are not hawks, that is insulting to raptors to call them hawks) of the current administration. Lame duck Bushes ass*^
Foot Notes:
* What next? Bring back the House Committee on Un-American Activities.
^ FBI, NSA, CIA, Department of Homeland Security please note: I am not a terrorist.
*^ Homer Simpson says: "lame duck. grrrrlllllllllllllllllllllllll."