Tuesday Thoughts

Ok, two days in a row this week. Well, Tuesday is appointment and errand day around the area, so I buy a few newspaper, get a cup of coffee, make lunch and read with scissors. And it's another late spring rainy day here in paradise. We even had snow in the passes and the photo is at Paradise Inn in Mt. Rainier NP, inside a cloud. Not a bright, sunny day there.

Ok, the news which couldn't wait?

Why is the Bush administration is making a lot of noise and flak about Iran's nuclear power and potentially bomb program? Ok, we all understand that to some degree. But then why is the same Bush administration quietly selling the same nuclear power and potentially bomb technology to Saudi Arabia?

This is referred to in an op-ed piece by Representative Markey (D-Mass.) in today Wall Street Journal. And he points out, we provided some of the same nuclear technology to Iran to the former Shah of Iran's government until it was overthrown in 1979. We seem to help build our own enemies. We gave Iran the interest and incentive to further develop their own nuclear program which is now sponsored by Russia, and dare we say it, some US corporations too.

And now beside selling Saudi Arabia our latest military technology in terms of aircraft, tanks, weapons, missles, etc., we're prepared to sell them nuclear technology. Not just material for a program but the technology and equipment. And this is how we build peace in the Middle East, by arming Isreal and Saudi Arabia, but deny Iran, Iraq, Syria and Jordan the same?

Onward. When is going backward going forward?

Apparently all those Senators just can't agree on the new surveillence bill so they're set to let the current one expire and go back to the "old" days of FISA and reality. And the surveillence advocates are crying foul and we're going backward. Well, maybe it's time to test the old rules again. They worked for nearly 30 years until Bush, etal decided they didn't work or simply ignored them, illegally I might add.

Simply put we should keep surveillence under judicial oversight with Congressional overview. Let's protect our civil rights and liberties and our right to privacy from intrusive government intervention and surveillence in our lives. I'm for doing nothing, which is a step forward by going backward. It's not going backward in the sense the critics cites. That's bullshit as we're protected and government has rules to follow.

After all, no one has yet proven the new laws actually worked for finding and catching terrorists, but was used for all sorts of other criminal activities, by the FBI's own admission last year. And we don't need to give any telecommunications company immunity, past, present and future. They should be held liable for violating our privacy and the law, and be open to lawsuits by anyone.

So, that's it for today. Enuf rants and vents at the world. I'm off for more trips around paradise. I'll see you later in the week. Or not, if summer decides to peek through the spring a day or so, especially, maybe the weekend. Ok, we can hope.