Lazy Ramadi

Great stuff! Hey guys don't... oh, wait DO quit your day job.

If this strikes you as only mildly funny for a really bad rap video then you have to watch the original SNL video Chronic(what?)cles of Narnia! which is hysterical all by itself even if you don't know anything about the film's history as a viral video.

Blog Report of 1st District Candidates Forum, Pt. II

Okay, picking up with...

Question Five: What committee assignments would you pick?

BB: Ag, Education, Judicial

RD: Education and Workforce. Points out the error in Bruce's nomenclature. Agriculture. During the rambling response he says something about the majority our Natural Gas being imported from the Middle East, which is just flat out incorrect. Almost all NG is produced in North America because it is not readily transportable like oil.

BG: Human Resources and Health, Transportation. Points out those are just his wishes and the freshmen Congrescritters pretty much have to take what they get from the leadership.

DH: Anything dealing with environment. Armed Services, Education, Budget and, "anything with oversight."

Scoring: One point for Dickinson for pointing out the matter of committee assignments being not much of a matter of choice.

Question Six: What will you do about the immigration problem?

RD: He's been campaigning for 18 months now and never heard a word about immigration from voters until December. It's an issue now, because the Republicans want it to be and so it needs to be addressed by us. Basically he supports the McCain - Kennedy bill in the Senate. "But we need to take the hate out of the debate." Then he goes on to say, and I must paraphrase... When I look at the names of those killed in action in Iraq, I don't find anyone with the surname Dix, or Whalen or Kennedy, or Nussle. What I do find is Mendez, Gutierrez... Wraps up by saying that these people are good enough to come here and work for us and die for us and they deserve to be treated like human beings, not as a wedge issue to divide Americans.

I realize that I have totally failed to capture the strength if his statement. But, not only was this the best single answer by any candidate of either party to any of the questions in the debate, it was also one of the most eloquent statements on the current state of the immigration discourse in the nation. It was the best moment of the entire two plus hours.

BG: Compliments Rick on his eloquence. Swipes at Denny's harebrained scheme. Mentions Irish-Polish roots. Also supports McCain - Kennedy bill. We need to go after those who employ illegals.

DH: Begins his rant on bringing home the troops from South Korea to seal the southern border. "We could have this underway by late summer." Working with military planners on this. Points out that we allow 1 million legal Mexican immigrants every year.

BB: Slams the inherent racism in the debate. Mentions that people forget that we took Texas from the Mexicans, invaded Mexico and sacked Mexico City. Says that lots of Republicans are talking about a 2,000 mile wall, but, "you will never hear a word about how we'll pay to build it, how we'll pay to maintain and repair it." The GOP's greatest hero is remembered best for his demand that, "Mr. Gorbachev tear down this wall." "It is time to send practical, rational-thinking people to Washington." Oh and by the way, he inserts, he's the only candidate with a multi-lingual website (Spanish and Bosnian).

Scoring: Dickinson 4*, Braley 3, Gluba 2, Heath 0

Question Seven: What will you do to decrease our trade and general account deficit with China and India?

BG: The biggest deficits in history under Bush. Current account deficit now at 6% of GDP. We need tax incentives for companies that retain jobs as opposed to incentives for companies to export jobs. Repeats his call for repeal of CAFTA and NAFTA, "CAFTA plus NAFTA equals Shafta." Quotes Warren Buffet saying that the trade balance threatens to sink the US ship of state.

DH: Quotes Dennis Kucinich right out of the gate that NAFTA must be nullified. Then goes on to talk about the parable of teaching people to fish. "We have taught the rest of the world everything we know." Goes into a bit of a pretty good breakdown of global economics. Were stuck here. We have to compete on productivity and quality.

Again, Denny shows a glimmer of serious intelligence among the silliness.

BB: Points out that NAFTA and CAFTA have nothing whatsoever to do with the question which is about China and India. Well done Bruce. The trade agreements signed during the first Bush and Clinton administrations were supposed to open up markets to us. Exact opposite. Talks about a Frontline Special, 300 containers of Chinese goods enter Port of Los Angeles compared to 30 going out. "We get cheap consumer goods and electronics and in return they get scrap metal and recycled cardboard." Also talks about The End of Poverty by Jeffery Sachs. In the end, Bruce says that we must redouble our investment in education in order to maintain technical and productivity leadership.

RD: "We must invest... We need to build a Nation, not Iraq, America." Education pays off in economic development and innovation which is our competitive advantage. Must fix the fiscal (budget) deficit. Must hold companies accountable for lazy business practices. Talks about the Maytag closure. Says that it took five times longer for the Newton Maytag plant to produce a washer than the equivalent product in the Whirlpool factory in Ohio. "Shame on Maytag." We have to do better.

Scoring: Braley 3.5, Dickinson 3, Heath 3, Gluba 2

Question Eight: What should the Federal Government do to combat the Methamphetamine epidemic?

DH: Difficult. The only thing we can do is step up the law enforcement efforts we have in place. Why do people need it (meth)? The answer is to educate children and encourage good homes.

BB: The Federal government does not have ultimate responsibility here. The feds can provide resources and work with state agencies. Thinks there is misinformation about the extent and impact of the problem. Must focus on education, DARE programs and public service announcements. Actually mentions in a positive light the old, fried egg in a skillet PSA's, this is your brain, this is your brain on drugs.

Seriously Bruce? I never realized that you were such a hopeless square.

RD: His first job out of college was as a corrections officer in Clinton. An eye opening experience for a kid who grew up an a wholesome family on the farm. "Its all there just across the street." hopelessness and lack of opportunity is what causes the problem. These people are in many ways victims. Meth is just the new drug, latest in a long line from pot, to coke, to crack. Treatment for the addicts and economic and educational development to prevent the circumstances of drug use away.

BG: Unemployment is the biggest factor leading to drug use. It is not coincidence that Clayton County has the highest rate of meth arrests and also has the highest unemployment rate in the district. The poverty rate under Bush has increased. We need to produce jobs. Hypes his endorsement by Clinton County Sheriff, Rick Lincoln. We need to give more assistance to law enforcement, and then points out that the increases in manpower resources and funding under Clinton have been slashed by Bush. "We need to put people first."

Scoring: Braley 1, Dickinson 3.5, Gluba 3, Heath 2

Closing Statements

DH: Discussed the process of getting Republican lawyers to sign his petitions. He talked them into it because they could see that he was a common sense person. And what kind of indictment of the judgment of GOP lawyers is that, eh? Focus on individual rights. More ADM screed. "Take care of the small people." Midgets and dwarves? Quotes Ben Franklin, "Don't let the lawyers get control of Congress." "Don't pick who you think can win, pick the best person for the job." Closer: "The best days are yet to come."

BG The country is heading in the wrong direction and it is time for fundamental change. "The Republicans are destroying this country." The number one issue is ending the war in Iraq. As in ages past, "it will be the Democratic Party that comes forward and does what needs to be done." Commits to single-payer healthcare system the same as members of Congress get. Mentions Social Security, Bill Gluba will depend on Social Security and mentions the Railroad Retirement fund again. Closer is a JFK quote, "...with a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, lets us go forth and lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth, God's work must truly be our own"

RD: Gets all up in Bruce's face, saying "people running in this race" have not been active Democrats, not voted in primaries, not cared whether Anne Hutchinson or Dave Nagle go elected. "They want it so bad they can taste it." "Watched a couple of reruns of The West Wing and woke up one day and decided to run for Congress." speaks for a while in the third person again about his experience in winning elections and economic development. "I've been doing Jim Nussle's job for 18 months," citing his Medicare D seminars and No Town Left Behind efforts. "We don't just talk about economic development, we have a strategy." Closer: Something about being, "your champion, your advocate and your servant."

DH Plugs the website. "It will take a tough person to win this seat." Then echoes lays into Bruce a bit. You should elect someone with 23 years fighting for little people. Again with the pandering to the midgets and dwarves. He's the only candidate calling for Rumsfeld's resignation, the only candidate who's called Bush a liar. No congressional pay raises without hike in minimum wage. A very forgettable closer about being tough.

Scoring: Braley 2.5, Dickinson 2.5, Gluba 2.5, Heath 1

Final tally based on my and the Union Thug's scoring:

Braley 26.5
Dickinson: 28.5
Gluba: 20
Heath: 16

So, a narrow win for Rick Dickinson, mostly on the strength of that kick ass immigration answer, being a smartass on committee asignments and the fact that Bruce's answer on the meth question was uncharacteristically silly.

My personal anylisys is that this is Braley's race to loose but his margin is razor thin. He comes across too often as the smartest kid in the class. And despite Rick's rather gutless sideways referrals to "trial lawyers" and "people in this race" who haven't been lifelong Democrats that may end up costing him a vital percent or two. He is doing the right thing I think just raising money, running TV and ignoring it for now.

Rick would be a stronger threat if he would make economic development A part of the rationale for voting for him other than THE rationale. His answer on the immigration and the meth questions show he can do that and he should make more of an issue of it. And if you are going to put the knife in, for God's sake have the balls to just come out and do it, i.e. see Kennedy's attacks on Bill Dix.

Bill Gluba, bless his heart is bringing his A Game. If we had seen this Bill Gluba two years ago he might be the Congressman. But it's too late and the smarts of both Rick and Bruce put the fact that he's a bit of a lightweight on actually knowing the issues in a pretty harsh light.

I'm glad Denny is in the race if only as comic relief. But on the other hand, having him be the nutball and having him be the only one saying, "Drive less," and "were stuck with the global economy, now let's get busy," just makes those statements seem less important than they are. But at least someone is saying it.

I think it will be a long election night and we may yet all have to troop back up to Peosta. I guess it all depends on how much of his core support Gluba holds onto and if Denny can get more than 7% or so of the folksy, libertarian, nutcase wing of the party.

Blog Report of 1st District Candidates Forum, Pt. I

It is a pretty good indication of what a crap blogger I am that it didn't even occur to me to take notes and file a report until the second (Democratic) half of the forum. So, even though I'd like to post a nice, bipartisan inside baseball report of all seven candidates, I can't.

Also, you must forgive the general, and horserace nature of this post. First, spur of the moment. Second, no laptop. Third, by the end of the forum 75 minutes later my wrist was killing me and I can barely read my notes. Fourth, I'm starting this at 11:30 as me and the Union Thug had to go out for a few post mortem beers first.

I will say this about the GOP contenders: there isn't a whole lot of there there. The reason they -- well Kennedy and Dix anyway -- are going so hard at one another is because there really isn't a hair breadth of difference between them. If you held a gun to my head and said, "Pick a Republican, hippie!" I'd probably go with Whalen as he seems like a bit more of a out-of-the box type of guy. But that said, all I heard out of all three of them were the same laisses faire , Devil take the hindmost, race-baiting, tax cutting bullshit as we've had for what seems an eternity now. So, there you have it, tip of the hat to Mike Whalen and a plague on all their houses.

So, format. 2 minute opening, 3 minute closing. Seven questions prepared in advance by the Clinton Chamber of Commerce Gov't Affairs Committee, et. al. (including yours truly) 2 mins. per question, no rebuttal, same questions asked of all three parties. Although, I must say, the guy doing the GOP moderation departed the text substantially, and his "additions" on the fuel question were quite unhelpful, in fact were outright stupid.

The Union Thug and I scored each candidate 1-4 on each segment.

Opening statements
The candidates open in alphabetical order.

Bruce Braley: Money Quote: "What candidate has the best opportunity to end 30 years of Republican domination of the 1st District."

Rick Dickinson: Rick is the only candidate who elects to go tie-less by the way, although he is wearing a suit. Focused on his record of never having lost an election and his economic development experience.

Bill Gluba: Most experienced candidate. Glad to be in Dubuque? (Only time he makes this gaffe) List the usual Democratic grievances; the war, the lies, the deficit... Makes a point of saying he is committed to keeping the Railroad Retirement System separate from Social Security. Pandering a bit there.

Denny Heath:Plugs the website right away. Wants to bring US military home from South Korea to defend the southern border. Money quote: When choosing your candidate in this election, "follow the money." He doesn't take PAC money. As if!

Scoring Dickinson 4 (slightly ahead on rhetorical style), Braley 3 (narrowly) Gluba 2.5, Heath 1

First Question: What are your plans for constituent service?

BB: Cites long history of community volunteer work and knows people have a "need for strong connections to their congressman." Bashes Nussle for not caring about the people in the First, too busy "serving his real constituents, special interest money."

RD: The one candidate "dedicated to community development." Talks about his No Town Left Behind tour and program of the same name. Mentions the unemployment rate. Says, "Business will be welcome in my congressional office." Two questions he will ask those businesses. "One, do you employ anyone in the First District? Two, if not why not?"

BG: Touts his experience as the person who helped set up Lane Evans' district office system, well known as a hallmark of constituent service. True dat. Panders to seniors, veterans, Highway 30 advocates and Chambers of Commerce.

DH: Nussle has no Clinton office, he will. Consider his life experience, he worked his way through college -- two degrees! Held almost every kind of job. Knows where constituents are coming from. Accessible. Tenacious working for them.

Scoring: Braley 3, Gluba 3, Dickinson 3, Heath 2

Second Question: What will you do to encourage young people to stay in the state? Both moderators felt it necessary to free-form this question into an general econ development question.

RD Money Quote: "I'm not going to Congress to change the world, I'm going there to change our world." Long econ development rant. Talks about his CREATE acronym and plan. Touts his experience in Dubuque development. 4k new jobs 10% of state job growth with 7% of population.

BG Sit down with businesses and figure stuff out. Very vague. Basically need to abolish NAFTA and CAFTA. "Fair trade not free trade." Very tame stuff.

DH: Focus on retaining jobs we have. Touched on the situation with Alcoa and employees working without a contract threatening strike over retaining what benefits they have. China's cheap goods are a detriment rather than a benefit to society.

BB: Money Quote: "I'm not running to be economic development director of the First District, I'm running to represent all citizens." BAM! First blood to Bruce. Wants to focus on economic justice. Cites statistics saying education investment is more effective than corporate incentives. Pledges to do everything he can to block Congressional pay raises without rise in minimum wage.

Scoring: Braley 3.5, Dickinson 3.5, Gluba 2.5 (mostly for pandering to the Union Thug), Heath 2

Third Question: What's your position on Kelo v. New London? This is in reference to eminent domain, deliberately worded to try to trip up clueless candidates. None of the seven faltered at this rather low jump.

BG: He has serious problems with government takings without a clear public interest. Cites how Clinton did the south of Hwy 30/HyVee project without ever resorting to using eminent domain. "Cities must act in a fair, reasonable and rational way."

DH: "astounded by the Supreme Court." "Worst ruling in 100 years." Unconstitutional. Talks about ADM... WTF? Ends up saying government should not be allowed to condemn property under any circumstances without paying whatever the seller asks. But what if they won't sell Denny?

BB: He's the only one who read the opinion (Geek!) "Lots of knee jerk reactions," in the community and in Des Moines. It is a critical issue... Goes off into very erudite but technical analysis and looses 90% of the listening audience. Basically need to weigh on a case-by-case basis, "whether it benefits a small group or all of us."

RD "I'm not running for Congress to be a trial lawyer." Rick has been waiting all night to get that one in. It falls flat in my opinion. It's not Bruce's fault he's a lawyer being asked about a legal case. Then he basically goes on to make the same point Bruce made but takes longer to get there. He's never had to use eminent domain in all his years in economic development. Share benefits and burdens for all, "good people use good laws well." Which is a nice rhetorical flourish but I'm not sure what it means.

Scoring: Braley 4, Dickinson 3, Gluba 2, Heath 1

Fourth Question: What will you do to help reduce our dependence on fossil fuels? Two things here. First, I authored this question. Second, the GOP moderator took it upon himself sometime this afternoon to add the following: Specifically, talk about ANWR, refineries, alternative fuels, and offshore drilling. See, all but one thing are about... more fossil fuels! Idiots.

DH: Talks about the geothermal system in his new house. "We looked at wind but it is not cost effective yet. Our next car is a hybrid." We all have to do things like this. No to ANWR and coastal drilling. Leave it in the ground for future generations. Money quote: "Use less gas, drive less." Bless.

Too bad for Denny that his really interesting and courageous statements are bookended by totally crazy shit. Denny was the only candidate to utter the magic words, "DRIVE LESS."

BB: Catches the fundamental flaw in the reworded question. Money quote: "The bridge to energy independence does not pass through (over?) renewed dependence on fossil fuels." Bravo! Wants to offer incentives to entrepreneurs and R&D to explore new tech, including renewables and biofuels. Also discussed solar and wind. Tax incentives for R&D and adoption are the way to go.

RD: "Experience matters... I don't plant myself in front of an ethanol plant for a photo op, I am involved in building them." Again comes across as trying to be to hard, but a valid point nonetheless. "We have been involved personally with developing this industry."

Okay Rick. It is time to stop referring to yourself using the third person. I know you are trying to refer to your wife, family and "team," but it just sounds stupid. Stop. Now.

"We have to take the keys away from the energy companies." Rant about CEO pay and profits in the oil sector.

BG Compared the three responses to the responses of the GOP candidates -- al uniformly in favor of turning all our food into gas and pumping out every last barrel of oil in the NW Hemisphere. Point!! Digging up ANWR is the worst thing we can do, only 90 days worth of oil there (18 months but who's counting?) How sad is it that Teddy Roosevelt, a Republican set aside that land 100 years ago and his party now wants to despoil it. Switchgrass, biofuels, yadda, yadda, yadda. GOP Three never mentioned wind power, the fastest growing energy sector in Iowa. POINT!

Scoring: Heath 4, Braley 3, Gluba 2.5 (for rhetoric), Dickinson 2 (What are we going to eat, Rick?)

Okay. 12:45. Time for bed. Part II tomorrow.

Florida Becomes Unisurable

Are the Florida Keys the canary in the coal mine for the densely populated Gulf Coast?

As Hurricanes Loom, Many in Florida Keys Flee, by Laura Meyers, Panet Ark, 5/5/2006

KEY WEST, Florida - Spiralling living costs, lingering trauma from past evacuations and fear that one day million-dollar homes could be reduced to rubble or again flooded are driving people out of the vulnerable Florida Keys as another hurricane season looms.

Home prices in the entire Florida Keys average US$846,000, and in Key West, the main city, US$935,000, according to Coldwell Banker Schmitt Real Estate.

The head-turning price of real estate, and limited land for development, also is putting a squeeze on renters as apartments and mom-and-pop motels are converted into condominiums and sold off as second and third homes to wealthy retirees.

"We're gun-shy about going through another hurricane. We gave up on buying a home here in Key West," said Dorothy McCoy, a daycare provider who with her painter husband Denis recently left the Keys.

Keys homeowners also suffer Florida's highest insurance premiums. Citizens Property Insurance, the state-run insurer of last resort, proposed a base windstorm rate of US$20.91 per US$1,000 of insured home value for this year.

Furious Keys officials threatened to sue the state, and a grass-roots organisation, Fair Insurance Rates in Monroe, or FIRM, met with Governor Jeb Bush, brother of US President George W. Bush, in April to seek support.

Florida insurance regulators rejected the rate filing on Monday and Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty froze Keys' windstorm rates at the 2005 level of US$20.58 per US$1,000, still the state's highest and two to three times as high as the rates in other hurricane-hit counties.

Key West resident David Lane and his wife Pam recently listed their historic 186-square-metre (2,000-sq-ft) home at US$1.5 million and plan to head to Asheville, North Carolina. Their windstorm insurance premium: US$12,700.

Many residents feel the same way, and the result is a slow exodus from paradise.

The population of Monroe County -- the entire Florida Keys -- dropped 2.16 percent to 76,329 in the year to July 2005. In the last five years, the county's population has shrunk 4.1 percent at a time when most areas in Florida are growing rapidly, according to a US Census report in March.

"These are people who've lived here 20 to 25 years," said John Strong, owner of Pak Mail, a packing and crating franchise. "They're going to Arizona, North Carolina and Central America, seeking no hurricanes."

The problem is acute for teachers, nurses and police officers. An increasing number of Monroe County sheriff's employees commute from Miami. Sheriff Rick Roth is adding 18 bunks at a detention centre which could be used by the commuters in an emergency.

A recent Monroe County School District poll found that 7 percent of families with school-aged children planned to leave when the school year ends in May.

"We can't get nurses, we can't get doctors," said John Dolan-Heitlinger, an advocate for affordable housing for working professionals.

On Big Pine Key, resident Pam Henry said she is struggling to pay US$16,000 a year in property taxes and home insurance, and is moving to central Florida.

"The hurricanes put the icing on the cake," Henry said.

And if that weren't bad enough, this has been one of the dryest winters on record in Florida and officials are fighting some nasty brushfires.

Chamberlain Bush Churchill and Gore

Sounds like a white shoe legal firm.

Due to a lack of any recent fiction works which have captured my interest I've been wending my way through some history books lately. From William Manchester's great Churchill biography, The Last Lion; Alone 1932-1940 comes this passage on p. 470

The present is never tidy, or certain, or reasonable, and those who try to make it so, once it has become the past, succeed only in making it seem implausible. Among the perceptive observations and shrewd conclusions of the Churchills and Sargents were clutters of other reports and forecasts, completely at odds with them. All of it, the prescient and the cockeyed, always arrives in a promiscuous rush, and most men in power, sorting through it, belive what they want to belive, accepting whatever justifies their policies and convictions while taking out insurance, whenever possible against the possibility that the truth may lie in their wastebaskets.

Neville Chamberlain required a very large wastebasket...

It is merely coincidence that just a couple of weeks ago I referenced a post by Billmon which deconstructed the argument of those few remaining in the Administration's Amen Corner that punting or playing for time on the issue of Iranian nuclear research would be equivalent to Chamberlains's doe-eyed sellout of the Czechs to der Furher. We all know that George Bush requires a very large wastebasket as well. But, the above passage and, well the entire first five hundred pages or so of Alone are a treatise on two themes.

One, that no matter what evidence to the contrary, most people in uncertain times will continue to believe that the good times will go on right up until the moment where the good times literally die in flames before their eyes. Would that our generation had a Churchill; an elder statesman, currently in disgrace for poor judgement, who would nevertheless continue to eloquently condemn the current government's folly and sound the alarm for action.

I look now... no I issue a call to Al Gore to step into the role of Churchill. I will leave it to the reader to decide if this is a sign of my (and no few others') desperation or if this is another case history's ability to rhyme. Nonetheless, mark my words, he once derided as Ozone Man will yet have a part to play in history's great drama whether he will it or not.

Two, that the Bush Administration does not hold the all-time record for folly, stupidity and obstinate obedience to cherished -- and tragically wrong -- world views. Yet.

America has had its share of dismal presidential failures; men whose lack of courage and perverse vision of how the world works resulted in pain, desperation and death for thousands: Buchanan, Andrew Johnson, Hoover. But these men live on in infamy almost solely in American minds and in darn few of those. However, mention the name Neville Chamberlain to almost any reasonably educated person in the world and you will instantly receive a look of recognition. Chamberlain's name is synonymous with idiocy and selling upwards of 30 million people down the road to hell in the name of political expediency and faith-based reasoning.

We can only hope that for future generations, the name of Bush remains a slur that is recognizable chiefly to Americans as a member of a sadly lengthy list of electoral mistakes; of disasters narrowly avoided or eventually overcome at great cost mostly to ourselves. But he is making his break for the Big Time -- surely his name will ring through the ages in Iraq and Afghanistan. Now, as he gins up a crisis in Iran and closes his eyes to the state of the worlds energy markets and climate he stands on the cusp of overtaking the seemingly invincible Chamberlain for the title of The Worst Idiot In History.

Al Gore may not be the Churchill figure (okay, Last Jedi, if you insist). But we desperately need SOMEONE to fill that role, to speak out with bona fide courage from a position of authority and put themselves in the wings awaiting Bush's evenutal fall. Perhaps, to be a Churchillian figure one must first be in the wilderness, which is why I logically gravitate to Gore as opposed to say, Russ Feingold.

But need him or her we do. Churchill was not able to prevent Chamberlains's folly, but without him the world probably have entered a long and dark age. We have a choice to make in November of this year that may yet keep the name of Bush a (mostly) American slur. Let us hope that we make the right choice so that our apparent lack of (rhymes with) Churchill does not plunge us into a long, dark age.

Memo To Karen Hughes

Karen Hughes' job in the administration is to burnish the U.S. image abroad, particularly in the Muslim world. A reasonable person would therefore think that pretty high up on the old To Do List would be say... arranging for the foundational writings of American political thought and history to be translated into Arabic, right?

Apparently not, because a year into Ms. Hughes' efforts it is up to a bunch of bleeding heart, America hating, academic elite, liburuls to see to this seemingly fundamental task.

The classics of American thought and history have been little translated into Arabic. Worse, even when they have been translated, they have appeared in small editions and fairly quickly go out of print.. Worse still, the distribution system for Arabic books is poor, and there are few public libraries, so that many books that have been published in the past are no longer available to most readers. We have therefore begun a project to translate important books by great Americans and about America into Arabic, and to subsidize their publication so that they can be bought inexpensively.

We intend to have all the founding fathers translated -- —Madison, Franklin, Washington, Paine, and so on. We would also like to see works that treat issues in democracy and multi-culturalism, as well as engaging histories of the United States. We cannot find in OCLC, an electronic catalogue of over 40 million books held in participating libraries, any Arabic translation of the major speeches and letters of Martin Luther King or of the works of Susan B. Anthony. Eventually it would be nice to see in Arabic a good solid book about, e.g., the history of the American Jewish community, and other important minority groups about which most [sic] Arab readers would find it difficult to get solid knowledge from the sources now available to them.

The Bush Administration: Fractally fucked up.