Periodic Interest - A Blog, by Thomas H Spitters

An Occasionally Updated Blog
Periodic Interest, by Thomas H. Spitters
To Internauts, Web Surfers, Journalists, Commentators and

Bloggers Everywhere
Contents
July 14 - An anniversary of sorts - Ten Days Ago...
14
Terezin
14
Egypt, again taking another administrative turn.
15
Some comments are that "It Could Be Worse." - 2009 New York
Times M...
15
Keynsians, Hearken!
16
... and yet, today in South Africa
18
Perhaps The Most Important Thing to Remember about This ...
19
You Can Find This in "The Wall Street Journal" (Fedor, ...)
19
Deutsche fussball
20
... And the Premier League
20
August in Belgium?
20
Letters: Iraq Represents a U.S. Achievement | Hoover Institution
20
Japanese Motorcyclist Killed at Race in Italy - CBS News
21
South Bay prostitution ring shut down, police say - San Jose
Mercur...
21
AS CORRECTED: An Inauspicious Anniversary (New York

Times - 11 Sep...
21
Former Prime Minister (Great Britain) - September 2010
22
... another friend of the Kennedys.
23
More Taliban Influences. "Just what could it be this time?"
23
How to agree with 'liberal' economy and its proponents.
24
Another "personality" to learn about and follow (at your own

risk.)
24
In Retrospect, by Robert S. McNamara - a belated review.
25
Either, or.
26
FW: Yahoo! News Story - Tim Kawakami: Troy Smith has

earned QB role...
27
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty - Litvinenko intrigues...
27
From the 1987 New York Times ...
27
Another, belated review of "America and the World," by ...
28
The Moscow Show Trials (Khamovniki District Court) - another

attempt.
29
another book review ... (2009)
31
"Rapprochement" - U.S. and P.R.C.
32
Search on ...
33
In Defense of Barry Bonds.
33
About Tiger Woods... (no argument.)
35
abbas milani and the commonwealth club.
36
Fukushima, Japan (and environs)
37
Lybia
37
Anna Politkovskaya (anniversary.)
37
... the end of public finance and the last "financier" ...
37
News from the Sports Courtroom (maybe about your own case
...)
38
a philosophy of terror (and cultural revolution ... ?)
39
Ballesteros.
41
cardinal woityla - pope jean paul ii
41
hello. good teleology?
41
Arab Spring.
41
Memorial Day Foreign Policy ...
42
Schwartzel a mystery despite Masters win - Washington Times
42
'No Proof' Khodorkovsky Judge Pressured | News | The

Moscow Times
42
China's Management Revolution - "Spirit, Land, Energy." - by

Charle...
43
arab spring - 2011.
44
Political Life of Tony Blair
44
Obama the budget "doctor."
44
Are things changing? Yes? (after a "wall street journal"

editorial.)
44
David Servan Schreiber | David Servan-Schreiber, who wrote

about ca...
46
Tseng Becomes Youngest Female Golfer to Win Four Majors

With LPGA V...
46
Economic "Karate" Test - Did I Pass?
46
Not forgotten ... (September 11, 2001)
47
Estimated Winnings (1962) ...
47
in the pursuit of software "heaven," and other adventures ...
47
ATP Tour
48
another leading role for europe.
48
Occupy Walls Street ...
49
Vive U.N.E.S.C.O.!?
50
Steven P. Jobs (1955 - 2011)
50
Four Days in July.
51
open letter to unesco
51
How Is The Yuan Doing (even in China Proper)?
52
1970's music resurgence.
53
occupy what, where, how, why, when? (Click here for original
post.)
54
The Quiet Vietnamese - Loren Jenkins
55
... Past tales of 'cloak and dagger.'
55
In Memoriam
55
Human Tragedy, Sadness and Infamy (... to this day.) Why This
Anni...
56
Experimentation here? What Was The Control? (from

theworld.org!)
56
Everyone Should Get A Book This Holiday Season 2011.
56
Another "In Memoriam."
57
Definitely Not "Professional" Protestors - An Authentic

Impression
58
Perhaps not indefensible monetary policy, and the results of

much h...
59
Who is for whom ... ?
60
... [Hidden] Dragon (informally.)
60
... as if (a twenty - foot tall) Lenin - Book Review.
61
Anita Hill (speaks again.)
62
Glenn: February 20, 1962
63
L'anti - anti mmoire
63
Un ami, Fouad.
64
... another book review (click here.)
64
Tom Lehrer aside... (click here, too.)
65
Why don't you just stick to "Turandot," the food and drink, and
so on?
65
What the U.S. Can Learn from China, by Ann Lee - Book
Review.
67
Modern Day Hiroshima? ... and the 'Shinto - priest.'
68
OR, EN PROVINCE (AU DELA DE PARIS...)
68
A gauche, gaucher, ...
69
It is still in the air in places, ...
71
[De l'histoire d'Ypres - ] je me souviens.
71
Une vue (au propos) de ce jour.
71
(an admirable time ...) ... without swearing allegiance.
72
After Hearing about The Romney Economic Policy.
72
Yes, We All "Surf," And So On (T.V. Channels, The Web, ... .)
74
The Sorcerer's Apprentice.
75
Support the "Magnitsky Bill" and others.
76
2012 Movies - Oliver Stone And Tax Policy (... and maybe even
the o...
76
In This Interconnected World (belated book review.)
78
Linked to Jackson - Vanik ...
79
... from an Ohio newspaper (Canton.)
80
Larry King NOW
80
What for and in what way (could you have done this)!?
81
"The United States and China" at the Olympics.
82
'Objectivism' and the Republicans.
84
... another command performance (trumpeter and story teller as

well.)
85
Good English.
85
In Silent Memoriam.
86
Democracy and the "rule of law."
86
With the Obama Speech - 6 September 2012
87
Review - New Book by Bruce Bartlett - "The Benfit And The

Burden."
90
Russia and the W.T.O., etc. ...
91
In Memoriam (again) - Anna Politkovskaya 2006
93
La guerre de 1812 200 ans.
93
http://law.scu.edu/blog/hightech/archive.cfm
94
... from the beyond (in 2012.)
94
October 1962 - October 2012: Anniversary of Us All on The

Brink
95
They Changed the World.
96
97
... upon a time, though more than once.
98
Someone might mention ... gambling (taking chances) in the

public ...
98
Presently, Any Way They Can.
100
December 7.
101
In Newtown, Connecticut - Not Just Another Crime.
102
Another review of 'Charlie Is My Darling' - Ireland in 1965.
103
P.B.S. Special (rerun) of Late, And The Buddhas of Bamiyan.
105
Informally and Possibly ... - The Fiscal Cliff 2012 - 2013.
106
In Memoriam.
106
the new socialist regime and the french republic.
107
"Safe Haven."
108
American "Soccer" - Not Just for Juveniles Anymore.
109
Exodus (by Leon Uris, 1958.)
110
Inspiring to A Generation of Musicians - Van Cliburn
110
Vladimir Bukovsky. Happy Belated Birthday.
111
Blaine Harden - "Escape from Camp 14".
111
belated book review on an edition from someone we all knew.
113
Margaret Thatcher (obituary): from "The Economist."
114
fnf - A belated Book Review (Vonnegut's)
115
("Tian An") - Spring - Fall 1989
116
John Hersey - "Hiroshima."
116
Estimated Prophet (2013.)
117
Memorial Day, 2013.
120
Russia sends arms to Syria. - 2013.
121
Saint Exupry, E. Chadeau (Perrin, 2000.)
122
U.S. / P.R.C. Meeting in Los Angeles - June 2013 - Unbearable

Light...
123
NSA supposed / alleged snooping on everybody in the country

(heaven...
124
... another coup.
125
Incomprhensible: les maquis contre les tanks en Syrie.
126
Histoire de nouveau de Bohme (ds 2003.) - Tartuffe en

dbarras - ...
127
Le nouveau roi de Belgique.
128
"Bad" storm on T'ai wan (almost right in T'ai bei City.)
129
Smolensk, Russia (Yesterday.)
130
Remembrance (in an inauspicious year) - Hiroshima.
132
This Bloody Strife - "Let Me Tell You, ... ."
132
A Great Problem - Solver from U.K. - See His Office Site on

Middle ...
133
The Old "Follow Me."
134
iPod, iPad, iPad mini, iPhone, iTunes, iApps, iCloud ... .
135
Shang hai - symbol of success of the 'three represents' - belated 135

b...
Remembering the Washington, D.C., Naval Yard Incident of
September ...
138
Les relations extrieures la tl, ... .
138
More on The NSU Trial in Germany.
139
10
Again - Memories of October 1962.
140
Anna Politkovskaya.
140
In Reaction to The Puppetry: They Wanted The U.S. of A.
141
Monsoon / Cyclone Season Again.
141
Another Way to Look at China's Growth Besides Just from

"Retail."
142
A New Book from Mr. Alan Greenspan - A Continued Dialogue

with Youn...
144
Benjamin Bernanke's Federal Reserve: 2005 - 2013.
145
1 : Universal Compassion.
147
Mortar Shelling A Damascus Mission.
149
More Promises for Tourism - Iran.
149
Pictures Sometimes Do Speak Worlds about Things (Passed).
151
Avoiding Dialectic Revisionism - David Cameron in P.R.C. December...
151
By Bill O'Reilly (Henry Holt & Company, 2013:) - Book Review.
152
Enough Already? Yoda Needs a Job.
153
"China Jade" ... "China Moon". Without Being "Scooby Doo",

This I...
154
Release of Mikhail Khodorkovsky (Russia.)
154
Pour saluer presqu'une fin a l'an 2013 - et une passation aux

nouve...
155
Wishing You A Speedy Recovery ... .
156
Remember places like Detroit and Birmingham, but help Syrian

and Le...
156
Ariel Sharon (Bulldozer) - That We Knew Him Better.
157
Stalin's Curse by Robert Gellately (2013, Knopf Publishers.)
158
New Book: "Duty" by Robert M. Gates.
159
Fifty Years Ago - At The Edward Sullivan Theater: "The

Beatles!"
161
Periodic Interest: Fifty Years Ago - At The Edward Sullivan

Theater...
162
SOCHI 2014.
162
Battleground in Kyiv, Ukraine. Comments Invited.
163
Belated Book Review (Investments.)
164
With Respect to A Number of Places at this Point (Not Just

Ukraine).
165
( ).
167
Book Review: (The Secrets of) ECONOMIC INDICATORS

(choose some her...
169
U.S. and Ukraine - Crimea (don't worry.)
171
Belated Movie Review: 2006 "Fearless" with Jet Li, ... .
173
Belated book review - something from 2013 to gift yourself with

(an...
174
(Again) Belated Movie Review - "Elysium".
177
No Sense of Urgency, Please (South China Sea -- 2014.)
177
Putin - ordered Troop Withdrawal from Eastern Ukraine?
178
"I prefer [read 'fall all over myself on'] facebook" and Other
Nons...
179
Intelligence Made Entrepreneurs Survey
180
A look back at CBS News' reporting at Tiananmen Square
180
Another Nuclear Book by Joseph Cirincione (2013.)
181
Mama, what is "sun on snow"?
182
I do not really understand (U.S.) taxes. On John Koskinen's

Commit...
184
185
11
"Dumbbell Training" by Allen Hedrick
185
Sur "Attali sur Marx" -- un sommaire de son discours en 2006.
186
A Good Book of Letters.
187
45th Anniversary of Apollo Eleven.
189
2014 FIFA World Result.
189
What Goes Around Comes Around -- Economics Text Review.
190
(1998). -- Without Sympathy.
192
Nothing Will Grow There. WW I Anniversary - The Somme and

Verdun.
193
book review -- to do (for everybody.)
194
Periodic Interest: Perhaps The Most Important Thing to

Remember abo...
195
Periodic Interest: Modern Day Hiroshima? ... and the 'Shinto prie...
195
Another Belated Review: Bio of Robert Oppenheimer (Knopf,

2005)
195
Belated book review (again) -- Andrew and Gordievsky, 1990.
196
No Need to Really Read This Entry - Ther're Plenty of Them Out 198
Ther...
12
Hong Kong, P.R.C.
199
Encore depuis le sorcier de Baghdad -- et o le conflit soit

mortel...
201
Nature / diable - l'abme du catastrophe (Chine).
201
Revival of the Irish on the Observable Absurdity and Chaos of It

Al...
202
Smoke A Little Dope? -- Say WHAT? -- The Recipe of

Bolsheviks of Old.
202
Berlin, 2014.
203
Armistice Day -- Again, Not Far Away (Far from Me).
204
Blog mini - entry : Progress of Hong Kong Protests -- Mid Novemb...
205
An Excellent Portrayal of "No Happy Reward" (If This Review Is

Not ...
206
Something I do not get (current consensus on U.S. Immigration

Policy).
207
An Exercise in the Painful for PRC Authorities and Worse in Its

Pen...
209
Yes, While Finally Learning Eckho Movskii Is Just Radio -"Hard...
210
A Dismal Showing for Defense in the Day; and Really Disaster

(Pouf!...
212
Chairman Camp's Tax Reform Plan and its Impact on the

Economy
213
More Discussion about Cybersecurity.
213
With the Cacaphony of Health News Lately -- Remember!
214
... Fritter and Waste the Hours in An Offhand Way ... .
216
Pas tous les mmes (choses). Place de la Rpublique. Elle est

juste.
216
Periodic Interest: In Memoriam.
218
13
July 14 - An anniversary of sorts - Ten Days

Ago...
Sunday, July 25, 2010
... Have read and heard about the news of the latest celebration of French
"independence" from the feudal or royal age, and have heard of the grand parades and
so forth: "A bas Louis XVI," etc., but you and I both know that cake was possible in that
time as the harvests of that time were good, and there were some bad ones, too; but the
granaries were full in most places. The crown of France had spent its capital and other
funds on the grandeur of the Regency two or three generations before and the state
could no longer support itself. In the history of ideas, Robespierre and Danton nor are nor
were at the time propitious ideologues, even given the critiques of modern day
iconoclasts, though they did have great influence and this probably due to moneyed
revolutionary interests emanating from abroad. The royals were mostly informed of the
impending revolts, and this has been a subject in the literature for a long time, as they
even in many cases welcomed and profited from the revolutionary ideas and regarded
them as refreshing because they were taxed so heavily by the state. Some of the details
are apocryphal and therefore must be treated 'avec un grain de sel,' and the actions of
many revolutionaries in the Tuileries against the king's guards were horrendous and
extremely cruel (they had an army and the guards could not surrender under orders, and
so forth.) The celebrants of the 14 July festival are therefore again taken to be rapacious
and jaded against what was a benevolent monarchy under which there were many
freedoms for the time, just not financial freedoms which infuriated everyone in the end
and the city of Paris became a powder keg for insurrection against bloodlines first, and
then the crown.
My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Terezin
Monday, July 26, 2010
From "Radio Free Europe:" 'A recent Prague Spring concert honored musicians and
artists in the Terezin concentration camp who died in the Holocaust. Terezin Music
Foundation founder Mark Ludwig pays special homage to composer Gideon Klein, who
died aged 26...' It is captivating to try to find out or in some way have an image of what
went on in the work camps of WWII Central Europe. Terezin itself was apparently a type
of dressed - up or hotel version of said camps and was visited and approved of by
officials from Geneva several times during the German occupation of Czechoslovakia.
Any material you find on it is worth reading as the Terezin camp was run in fashion
always to be ready with a new coat of paint here and there and even new bunks for the
Hebrew and other inmates upon the impending visitation of Geneva and other officials to
confirm that there were no exterminations there. It was a small and well - run prison camp
where a higher percentage of the Holocaust inmates survived. My older blog (Thomas
Spitters.)
14
Egypt, again taking another administrative turn.

Hosni Mubarak and Anwar Sadat FROM
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: This
editorial by Fouad Ajami (The Foreigner's
Gift, 2007) clearly and distinctly explains
the place of Egypt in the modern world and
its veteran leadership as they enter the
arena of political maturity and face the
dangers of anarchy in the 'near abroad' the world of islamic influence, and the 'far
abroad' - the western world as led by the
United States. Mr. Ajami writes here in
appropriately incriminating prose on the subject of Ayman al - Zawahiri of Al - Q'aeda
who was an Egyptian terrorist and then was involved in the assassination of Anwar Sadat
during a 1981 parade ceremony. Under Sadat, Israel had completed talks with Egypt to
allow international recognition of Israel. To see how important this was, take a look at the
Hamas charter. Zawahiri had other colleagues who were involved in the 1993 New York
World Trade Center terrorist blast including another Egyptian, Omar Rahman.
It is noticeable by the editorial that the Egyptian regime is the origin of at least some
violence on our Homeland and in conspiratorial ways. On the other hand, Hosni Mubarak,
the current Egyptian head of state, has effectively done away at home with the types of
terrorist shenanigans that dominate the headlines in other international regions. This
bitter truth, that many arab terrorists come from different backgrounds in western friendly countries such as Egypt is something in need of a remedy that will last like the
current regime has. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Some comments are that "It Could Be Worse." 2009 New York Times M...
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Also - Click President Signing Unemployement Act - 2010 as well for more ...
The above link is a 2009 interview site where the U.S. president sat down with a
magazine editor and went over some items not only affecting our country, but other
administrations as well that look to the O'Bama administration as an example, especially
those in the western hemisphere. This is the first I had heard that the president's mom
had a cancer attack, then she apparently had stroke and upon that fell and broke her hip.
This would be a sorrowful thing for anyone, and this happened during the presidential
campaign which must have been doubly disconcerting for the to - be president - elect and
it shows his leadership skills to be able to speak about this openly, and to talk about it
within the overall framework of medical care in the U.S.
It seems to me that with respect to this article that someone make a determination as I
have that public finance began the financial crisis and (through Fannie and Freddie, and
maybe even other entities of the same nature) with their collapse led to further problems
15
that eventually touched upon the private sector and snowballed further. The president in
his interview appears not to know this and despite the conversation, the interviewer
appears lost on it as well, even despite some discussion of the now passing financial
rules in Congress and the Volcker - influenced regulations relating to macroeconomic
financial safety and soundness. Here also seems to be some cloudiness on the subject of
the role of the U.S. Treasury now that the scandals have been remedied and how the
moneys that funded the failures are to be repaid. There is, however, some discussion of
the technology and other crucial sectors driving paper profits and these parts of
commerce, at least in the future, according to the interview, will not have the same
primary role as revenue and income drivers in the economy as they did before.
The interview includes a discussion of the president's overall views on the economy and
his perceptions about workers and their choices and goals, for example, of the workforce
toward greater vocational fulfilment, greater employment, and better lives for workers.
There is a surprising omission of any discussion of the basic relationships between the
means of production and labor in the talk illustrated in this article, and in fact it appears
that the president has decided, maybe accurately, the economy of the U.S. must at this
point, and for very healthy reasons, become at least in part a labor economy among
others. By this he must believe in anti - inflationary measures and the general provisions
of labor economics with the all encompassing statistics they have and so forth. There
was a significant discussion on the subject of health care and this article notes that ninety
percent of health care costs are attributed to chronically ill patients in clinics and hospitals
- and with this in mind, what one can do with health care costs - with the emphasis on the
cost structure of delivering health care when the fixed costs are so high. One back - of the - envelope solution has been to "socialize" health care, but given the structure of
insurance and other vehicles that cover health care in the U.S. and they way they have
been for years, it does appear, for further discussion yet, that health care is already
socialized. This lawyer - president appears to want to depend upon quantitative methods
for his executive powers and their implementation, and it is in any event very interesting
to have read through this year - old magazine piece from May 2009 to find many of the
same issues as looked -at still up - to - date. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Keynsians, Hearken!
The above link is to an article that speaks about the effectiveness of the U.S. president's
2009 spending package that by some recent reports has added over two million new jobs
(is that net or just a regular number?) The content of the article examines, in theory pretty
much only, the validity of the recent spending package, and there is some ground to be
contested for the Keynsians, i.e., Romer, Summers, et. al, insofar as theorists vary on
how effective government stimulus spending is at any one time, and this goes back to the
Okun period in the 1960's when economic indicators started to become more true to life
and "accurate" with respect to economic phenomenon and the information derived
thereby using telecommunications and computing power. Keep in mind that Keynsians do
believe economics is full of numbers and you need some sort of quantitative analysis to
make economic decisions (Keynes read statistics in the paper pretty much always, or
obtained them over the telephone in working his economic and portfolio majic at
Cambridge when he was alive.) The fact is statistics do work, but they can be flawed,
such as in the 2008 presidential stimulus package whence there was additional
government spending, but investment was going abroad in one way or another, and the
spending had little effect - there was a recession anyway.
16
The article does accurately propose that deficit reduction and cutting taxes, and cutting
interest rates, and some other things would do well to get the U.S. economy booming
again like a big band. The problem has been for years that the twin deficits are structural,
and this is in time of war so the federal government needs to pay for the conflicts
somehow and we are all deeply in debt which means we are taking away from tomorrow
(sui generis) when interest rates will be adversely affected by the increase in debt today.
The problem with interest rates and the dollar continue and if the president does what
others have done before him, raising taxes, all this will mean is the commensurate
spending that will result will only really cancel some of the deleterious economic effects
remaining from the 2009 recession. Policy makers talk about now "cutting" the deficits,
and that would be first a positive thing for our consumer economy and then might attract
some capital back into the country. How this is to be done remains a huge question as
Keynsians want to project an image the economy is doing better and then capital will
follow; the monetarists' quip in this case might be that spending and tax reductions are
not the 200% solution, but are better than projecting our economic troubles everywhere
through taxing and spending behaviours. The monetarists are in a bind as they have no
real voice in the federal administration right now despite some prospective redemption in
thier policy ideas.
Neither tax and spend, nor manipulating monetary economic items is the answer here as
both these principles work most adequately under different regimes in relative peace
time. There are wars going on and our country (and its armed forces) is / are the
champion(s) of liberty, honour, patriotic and civic duty in those conflicts; things we all
believe in as U.S. citizens and citizens to - be. Warrring parties often have their own ways
of resolving payments and items due in the conflicts: Before modern finance was
discovered, moneys to pay for soldiery and armaments came mostly from the countries'
treasuries, which is less so in modern times. States have given to taking out loans from
the citizenry to pay for conflicts, especially the current conflicts in the Middle East. People
like me do not believe government policies are the reasons for either our current
economic difficulties or their solutions. Without getting into what one might think of James
Earl Carter's "Conspicuous Consumption" speech during the latter part of his presidency
means for us today; everyone knows some belt - tightening is in order for everyone within
our shores. You also might do well to try to buy a few treasuries through the local mutual
fund broker. This will in the individual case do virtually, if not absolutely, nothing, but you
will thereby be in step with the problems the president has: a. Simple people have
believed for years that belligerents become wealthy and this is the reason for countries
going to war (war is actually extremely expensive in any age, and quickly drains the
treasury of any region,) b. There is an ever - burgeoning debt mound in the federal
government due just to deficit operations and spending; c. The effect of any, even
extremely powerful monetary / fiscal policy decision will be marginal / has been marginal
at best; d. Our region currently suffers from now historically very high unemployment on
average; e. The twin deficits must be reduced - something past administrations have
demonstrated as "possible" but not probable; f. To the extent deficits are cut, there are
more poor tradeoffs between taxes and interest rates, for example, and other factors; g.
Any efforts at federal austerity will principally choke the national and regional economies
that are used to federal funding; h. and on and on... There is an entire body of work that
goes into every economic policy decision, and the president, whoever he is, makes very
few mistakes despite finger - pointing and partisanship, etc., especially with people like
Paul Volcker in his corner. The unfortunate thing here is that the Volcker people
themselves, whatever their views are, have never been the purveyors of good tidings,
really, and fall more or less within the Keynsian framework that calls for a kind of modern
17
liberalistic approach to things.

Nonetheless, pay attention to what the economic bills the president is signing, and they
could pull off some austerity measure while raising taxes, or something. Maybe a new
labour bill could do it, though the business climate in the States now is as if we have had
a labour regime for twenty years and the 1990's and early 00's have been cancelled out.
My solution would be to do what has been done in countries like Japan - hold down
interest rates and muddle through, and call elections when things really do not work out.
All this, though we do not want our model to be Japan (and it isn't at this point,) do we, as
that region has been long suffering economically for years. People like me do believe in
austerity measures and at the same time, and despite the increased expense of the wars,
do not believe in rationing or quotas. The idea is to stay away from that type of business
climate where everyone is trying to get their hands on gold, silk, booze and chocolate, for
example. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
... and yet, today in South Africa

Sunday, August 01, 2010
F.W. de Klerk & Nelson Mandela - May
1990 (courtesy U.K. Guardian)
Not only is the country of South Africa
important in the scheme of the human
rights issues in mind with everyone today,
but turning the recent history of that country
over and over brings to mind some certainly
unresolved items of which the following: a.
The South African transition to majority rule
has gone quite smoothly compared, for
example, to what is happening in Zimbabwe or even Mozambique; b. In what ways does
the new regime there continue to defeat the argument of the Afrikaans assuming for so
long the "white man's burden," and then relinquishing it to the blacks. Due to these two
items and more, and their international political and cultural influences, is South Africa a
safe place today where one might travel and even stay for a while or emigrate? People
like me have a hard time posing this question as the only ideas we have about Africa are
from literary dogma and the press.
It is also interesting to note that the Afrikaans continue to have a role in South African
society, even though many of the native peoples just wanted them out. There are and
have been things wrong with colonialism for a long time, and this is why it is not any
longer practised by anyone. Some western powers still have control of island nations and
so forth, but the actual colonial period entered into its sunset when water transport
became motorized and when some other things happened (like WWI.) One might note
here the Afrikaans, again, were not colonial really in that they believed in the eventuality
of the blacks ruling their own territories without the kind of oriental chaos they had
experienced when settling that land. It becomes clear upon any study of Africa the blacks
knew of other lands, not mystical to them, but as those of subjugators; and they only
really had an interest in maintaining the status quo of a very organic society that dated
back many years. The institutional introduction of Occidental institutions and polity at the
time of the colonial empires was a huge shock to the native South African population and
they staged a long - standing revolt. That westerners were the first to really settle in Africa
engendered future contemptibility and when the communists began propagandizing the
18
native peoples there during the period after WWII, the political climate was rife with
vulnerabilities that were exacerbated and exist to this day. Part of the credence of the
ANC and its merits was the future promise to make the country productive and to
preserve its institutions that were not overwhelmingly racist. This led to the beginning of
better prospects for African nations as far as foreign aid and international legitimacy were
concerned among other things. All this due to the relationships between personalities like
F. W. de Klerk and Nelson Mandela; see your Cambridge history. My older blog (Thomas
Spitters.)
Perhaps The Most Important Thing to Remember

about This ...
Saturday, August 07, 2010
... is Hiroshima was the first.
Hiroshima - August 6, 2010 - morning. My
older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
You Can Find This in "The Wall Street Journal"

(Fedor, ...)
Monday, August 09, 2010
An economic policy that seems to be working, at least with regard to expectations the
U.S. economy will recover sooner rather than later, was spelled out in the Federal
Reserve Chairman's testimony before Congress about three weeks ago. Regardless of
all the statistics and formulas, theorising and prognostications, the 2010 financial reform
bill will asssure some things in the future: That the abuses of private bankers do not end
up being paid for by the state, and through other rules that they not be allowed to string
their financial wagons together (another abuse as shown by the 2008 crisis.) Other
provsions of the new rules call for federal oversight and approval of some aspects of daily
banking operations, but these items should not take away from the ordinarily streamlined
running of the financial system, given its reliance on powerful information systems.
There are indications as well in the overall economy, apart from the financial sector,
including expectations for continued price stability and indicators as provided from
analysis of treasury rates that the Federal Reserve Chairman deserves credit for, insofar
as these measures are prominent in recovery conditions. Not the least to mention is
consumers will not any longer, at least not for the foreseeable future, be able to pay off
the mortgage with gains, and policies will principally discourage the type of highly leveraged mortgage underwriting characterised by the last housing and related real
estate finance boom. Economic values as they are preached now might entirely have
19
gone back to the virtues of saving and socking away cash apart from fancy investment
vehicles as promoted through the local money store. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Deutsche fussball
Thursday, August 12, 2010
... And the Premier League

Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Tottenham's Stadium Pitch (courtesy desso.com) My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
August in Belgium?
Louvain is where many books were burned by an advancing army some almost hundred
years ago. Books of the day then are / were like the computers of today in a way: single
storehouses of literature, lists and informations of any kind in compact form, and many
were extremely carefully published, even pamphlets of the day. Destruction of spirit in the
old days meant at least in part the destruction of literature, prose, poetry, current events
news, criticism and analysis, whatever. At least look at these pictures of Leuven which
are very simple, but confirm that the town would not recover as intended from the
destruction of the Great War, from virually any perspective, in those August days. Leuven
is in Belgium, and it is a small town today, insignificant in the scheme of high - technology
information processing and the great scale of today as well as the other activities of the
world, and let its story be a lesson to us all who harbor thoughts of harm and destruction
in view of prejudices, an appetite for conflict, even brutality. Voyons. My older blog
(Thomas Spitters.)
Letters: Iraq Represents a U.S. Achievement |

Hoover Institution
Thursday, September 02, 2010
Letters: Iraq Represents a U.S. Achievement Hoover Institution My older blog (Thomas
Spitters.)
20
Japanese Motorcyclist Killed at Race in Italy CBS News

Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Japanese Motorcyclist Killed at Race in Italy - CBS News: "after" My older blog (Thomas
Spitters.)
South Bay prostitution ring shut down, police say

- San Jose Mercur...
Saturday, September 11, 2010
South Bay prostitution ring shut down, police say - San Jose Mercury News
Why is prostitution wrong? ... Morally and legally wrong? Some people do believe this
sort of behaviour is alright and needs to be legal, just like the "fun" of taking drugs should
be legal. The basic principle of such arguments is a kind of relativism where most people
just have their own moralistic ideas that are self - referential, and are free to create
catastrophes and disasters out of others who are essentially vulnerable and without
resources, and whom society considers unfit to work or contribute otherwise.
The overall difficulty of such behaviour is there is a demand for it as far as "helping" keep
a family or relationship together or "using" such persons to keep a life intact, under the
guise of illegal and / or immoral behaviour, however justified. Society's institutions,
despite the myth to the contrary, have never been held together, nor really helped by this
sort of perfidity and illegality. Such behaviour is counter productive and is also disastrous
for the women and children who are compelled to enter into these activities that are
destructive to everyone, including the social fabric of society in our country. Basic writings
on psychology, such as Civilisation And Its Discontents (S. Freud,) speak to the overall
uselessness and wastefulness of these behaviours, especially in the tally of lives cast
into a social abyss, and despite the common belief among some that they are
constructive and useful, and that they have their place: Everything gets "messed up"
when you begin believing drugs and prostitution need to be legal and considered an
ordinary and moral woof and wissom in the workings of our modern world. My older blog
(Thomas Spitters.)
AS CORRECTED: An Inauspicious Anniversary

(New York Times - 11 Sep...
21
Former Prime Minister (Great Britain) September 2010

Monday, September 20, 2010
RESPONSE TO FORMER PRIME MINISTER BLAIR'S LAST COLUMN IN THE WALL
STREET JOURNAL (INFORMALLY.)
That the latest financial crisis has called for people like the former British Prime Minister
to comment that the mortgage - backed and other asset - backed products that were
being sold were too complex and too difficult to track through the financial system we
have does not speak to the merits of the invention and market in financial and other
products that promise to improve the quality of life, and that people, investors, want in the
first place. The problem the products were too complex, as proposed by Mr. Blair,
indicates the investing public, otherwise rule - abiding and sophisticated, is ignorant, and
that he has called for additional regulation on such matters re - enforces the idea that
many leaders, of great amplitude themselves, do not understand Wall Street. It is
perhaps one fault of our lawmakers they themselves did not make attempts to
understand the mortgage crisis and have fallen back on rule - making: The derivatives
market in the financial centers can be difficult to understand for some people, especially
those having to deal with somewhat illiquid assets like housing, and other factors such as
interest rates.
Blair also devotes considerable currency in his latest column to the subject of Iraq and
Afghanistan, and gives an interesting post - soviet analysis of the Middle East with
respect to these two countries. He gives no analysis nor does he clearly state how much
in conflict certain factional areas of the Middle East are at cultural and other loggerheads
with western countries at this point in time. There is valid discussion of Mr. Blair's long standing point that terrorism is a provocation and can drive armed conflict as it has in the
above two countries, and any victory in the war on terror has its price, it is above all
evident, though Mr. Blair does avoid discussion of the expenses of the military
deployments, etc., in Iraq and Afghanistan to date. There is, however, in the article a very
cogent discussion of the merits of western values that is valid for every one of us, either
in learning about them as a foreign person, or upholding them as a citizen of one western
country or another. It is a danger that the imams are pursuing greater Islamic orthodoxy,
sometimes in the face of public opinion in their own countries, and the hazards of this are
discussed with respect to modernity and the current climate of world society, not just
western culture. That Mr. Blair has either had governments, or had influence, in the
administrations of three U.S. presidents indicates the obvious power of the labour party in
England at one time, much as perhaps was at one time the influence of the British
conservatives in the America during the late 1950's and early 1960's.
Islamic orthodoxy needs be discouraged, as needs be the voracious and insatiable

appetite of some Middle East nations on the nuclear weapons and proliferation issues:
22
The imams have Israel, other European and Middle Eastern countries and the Americas,
not to mention other countries in the southern hemisphere as openly sworn or
uncommitted opposition to theocracy of any kind, and the admonishment against
theocracy in his article is followed by some words on "soft power." Mr. Blair does propose
that western democracy is a little complacent with respect to international conflict at this
point, and this is probably true with regard to the nine grueling years of war some peoples
have had to deal with. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
... another friend of the Kennedys.

More Taliban Influences. "Just what could it be

this time?"
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Country of Afghanistan (2010) L.A. Times
article. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
23
How to agree with 'liberal' economy and its

proponents.
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Robert Reich this week (Work of Nations, et seq.) and just within the last couple of days
has mentioned a thing or two in response to an effort to increase the retirement age in
France and the suggestion by some the same thing needs to happen in the U.S. In a
classic example of an economist who thinks of everything, he recommended the income
ceiling on the FICA and OASDI should be raised. Instead of the cynical view that
government coffers are never full and always need more revenues to support an
increasingly aging population, especially that taking advantage of social security benefits,
and thereby calling for the hike in the official Social Security retirement age; Mr. Reich
proposes another revenue raiser that would further stratify income by, again, taxing the
rich just make the system more progressive and continue taxing the income and wealth
made through wages, for example.
Raising the Social Security tax ceiling is a nice idea, but in fact will raise so little revenue
due to the greater and greater minority of highly compensated (HCI) wage earners
having less and less contribution to the tax base and thereby, again, to the overall
revenues to the Treasury. A better analysis and recommendation might be, and people
like me do not have all the details, to do what policymakers did for a while in Ireland:
lower the overall business tax baseline and by this stratify the tax revenues of the
country. In Ireland, at least for a while, this resulted in greater tax revenue collections and
state and industry and commerce remained happy with the results. The situation in
France is difficult because the electorate is very opinionated against the bureaucracy and
subject to ownership of its position as victim thereof: People like me understand the
increase in the retirement age in France as a sign the economy is getting better, at least
somewhat lately, and that fortunately people are living longer. This given even the long
and lazy work days sometimes the French have, not to mention the partying and wine
drinking that souses everyone when theres a good harvest or good holidays, of which
there are quite a few. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Another "personality" to learn about and follow (at

your own risk.)
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Yesterday, I heard a very interesting interview that originally took place in 2009 in a
theatre in New York with John Stewart (The Daily Show:) This person, who espouses
every liberal view and who sees the humour in that, has an excellent television show that
is worth watching if you are the same type of person he is Mr. Stewart is probably a
really nice guy to have a beer with, and it shows in his humour, in his style of speech, and
everyone should try to catch his show more often before tuning into Leno or Letterman.
He has from what I can see very funny and interesting guests, and his reporting
television style with Colbert and the other members of the team is nice to watch. Steven
Colbert is actually serious about what he does, and this is what makes the show so off
the wall sometimes. Thats the way it seems, any way. The entire crew on this show is a
bunch of nice guys from New York, and probably in several other cities at one time or
another, and theyre nice to watch. This is not a review as I have not watched televsion
consistently since I was a child, and do not even know media trends, and do know in any
event that if you enjoy slapstick for young people, this is what it is. Everyone knows you
24
take your chances with comedy shows, and for some people John Stewarts and Steven
Colberts might be a good match for you. Happy television watching, and dont forget
the radio, too. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
In Retrospect, by Robert S. McNamara - a

belated review.
Monday, October 25, 2010
By proxy: Occasionally, books get another surge or popularity apart from the first printing
and go to a second edition. This is a book that easily deserves a second printing, if
indeed it has not had one yet: The reasons are clear, and one obvious one is the U.S.
government, when McNamara was secretary of defense leading up to the escalated
military expeditions to southeast Asia, did rely on a kind of war of words and of numbers
against the Viet Cong and what remained of the Viet Minh from colonial times. The world
of computerized strategy had been introduced from business into the way government
worked and the wars we fought. Everyone, including the French, probably, was using
some sort of computer to study and determine everything from interpersonal to regional
and global conflicts. That is not a mystery today.
What does remain a mystery for most Americans concerned by developments in South
and southeast Asia during the 1950s through the end of the Viet conflict in the early
1970s is how could we have devastated the communist and socialist enemy so
thoroughly and then been declared losers, and resoundingly. Some of this in one way or
another has to do with the fact that many and much of the fighting in the Viet war was
South of a demilitarized zone (17th parallel above Hue City) where Viet Cong incursions
made more and more headway as time went on. Bombing Hanoi might have been
effective, but it was ignored by an American public focusing on the pitched armed
struggle in the South that was portrayed in everyones living room at night. There were
also the American press, various popular socialist revolutionaries and their student
followers everywhere, who gave in psychologically to flourishing, but probably fairly
isolated, if not very misinterpreted and overstated, aspects of the Viet conflict. The flip
side of giving into the image of the Viet Cong and its chief general Vo Nguyen Giap
(which is what the well known flower power movement did and the press appears to
have done) as a superior fighting force was the belief that southeast Asia was in a series
of domino states that would cascade into communism should Saigon City fall to the
North. There is also the serious criticism of the U.S. that Westmoreland, Taylor, and
McNamara were at cross purposes; a hint of this might also have made for poor morale
in the field and thus the war unwinnable.
Not only has the domino theory been disputed and disproven but the flower power
movement has also been declared to have been counterproductive, and even disavowed
by some or declared just to have been a mistake of hubris and plain ignorance. It was
morally wrong to try to persuade people that things like the scent of flowers would draw
the enemy to a more peaceful demeanor (trees might have been better, but trees take
longer to grow and require more husbandry than flowers.) That the domino effect would
draw the world into a communist abyss has been equally disparaged in later years. The
domino effect was the domestic solution to the flower children and its cautionary
advocates have survived the Viet and Cold War and other conflicts whereas most flower
children everywhere are at most tepid on either front. With respect to the current military
conflicts and the overall effects of the conflicts in southeast Asia, one can draw actually
25
glean very few similarities in how they are / were resolved: The Viet conflict, and its
ancillary actions were resolved in a political environment designed to disparage a
popularly elected president, and were resolved in reaction to an official call for drafting
more people into the military when an elite and volunteer armed forces were on the
immediate administrative horizon. None of those circumstances prevails today, for the
most part, and history itself will really judge for better or worse the U.S. reaction to global
terrorist threats, as recognised first by the war on terror under Clinton and then under
Bush and Obama.
Either, or.
Tuesday, November 09, 2010
Tyranny and anti tyranny.
In the story of the Michael Khodorkovsky trial, and that of Platon Lebedev, it is important
given Mr. Khodorkovskys talk at Khamovnichesky Court, Moscow; on November 2, 2010,
that in Russia the goals of the new generation of business people who have built up the
country again are not necessarily congruent with those of the centrist and now dominant
officials in the realm. The business people who ran Yukos and its related businesses, and
they made a tidy sum at it, worked privately to promote economic activities and the
development of that society, especially in the Far East. The disagreement between the
judiciary and Mr. Khodorkovsky with Mr. Lebedev is the state considered much of what
Mr. Khodorkovsky was doing to be its business, including the spending of petro
currency it intended to use in the treasury, but that was going to build up one or another
region in the country.
Mr. Khodorkovsky is apparently accused of manipulating people, money and the system,
all of which were in flux in Russia during the time of Yukos, and developing his own
economic and political fiefdom. That some good came of the economic and oil booms in
Russia is inarguable, and one cannot argue as to the benefits of the ends. Mr.
Khodorkovsky is dealing singly with issues that befall developing sectors in developing
economies everywhere: Growth can be unmanageable, and while Mr. Khodorkovsky was
an excellent boss in view of this, the Russian government is arguing he clearly was not.
The trial itself has been, from what I have followed, instance after instance of finger
pointing and name calling, and no one has been able to speak freely about what the
operations of the business in this anti trust case were really like, or other pertinent
issues. The court sessions become a profile and precedent of poor interpretation of facts
on the one hand and legalistic and oppressive regulation on the other, both parties
suffering this and other difficulties in a problem circumstance for everyone.
In his speech in this court case on November 2, the defendant used the past imperfect
tense many times. It is important to understand this as an appeal to the court to apply the
same standard of justice to the operations of the state in this process, in its inventories,
checklists, and internal debates, etc., that it has applied to statutes applied against Mr.
Khodorkovsky and Mr. Lebedev in penalty or penalties against them and any other
accused. The Russian system of justice, probably with its tendency to nod to the
prosecuting attorney and the judge in fierce enforcement of many statutes, might entirely
not have heard this plaintive appeal. That this is the tradition is highly unfortunate, and
one this case challenges the system to begin to reverse. This is perhaps why the
defendants have attempted to highlight the historical context of the trial. It is unfortunate
this tradition dates to the Okrana (sp?) and the courts of pre revolutionary times, up
through Beria and so forth, and why many Russians in this case themselves have cause,
26
especially in view of a prosecutorial decision in this case, to again view their patrimony as
unfortunate, and a gain for the state at the expense of, again, common people or those
who represented them or stood in their shoes to help their cause. My older blog (Thomas
Spitters.)
FW: Yahoo! News Story - Tim Kawakami: Troy

Smith has earned QB role...
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Tim Kawakami: Troy Smith has earned QB role with 49ers - Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_localsfo/20101115/ts_yblog_localsfo/49ers-game
-changer-troy-smith-does-what-alex-smith-never-did
============================================================
Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/ My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty - Litvinenko

intrigues...
http://www.rferl.org/
New evidence about the Litvinenko [sic] intrigues in the U.K. have to do with state
sanctioning of his apparent poisoning. The state official who gave an evidential response
to questions about Mr. Litvinenko's fate indicated the documentary evidence tracing the
material that poisoned him was a fabrication. That any such evidence has appeared in
public is a provocation to anyone who is a party to this set of events, including the
general public that must make up its mind as to the authenticity of representations and
counter - allegations. Mr. Litvinenko needs to have lived a long time, and he and people
like him pre - deceased their lifespan due to nefarious and unthinkable events. This is the
true provocation and crime in this matter, regardless of the origin of circumstances and
events leading to his death. The security services' reputation in Russia is being called to
task by journalists and other public personalities, and needs to become more forceful and
proactive in its participation in related investigative affairs. My older blog (Thomas
Spitters.)
From the 1987 New York Times ...

Also from The Cato Institute. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
27
Another, belated review of "America and the

World," by ...
Monday, December 06, 2010
Zbigniew Brzezinski and Brent Scowcroft:
This political book, written with David Ignatius examines current affairs and gives a new
detailed synopsis of the role of the U.S. in the world, primarily from the time of the
Marshall Plan through the Cold War and related nuclear threats, up to the fall of the
former soviet union and then through 9 / 11 and beyond. The text presents the idea that
modern life, especially that in western society is in a new form of complexity not even
seen since the fully bureaucratic days of Byzantium, for example. The book begins with
its proposals about historical events and their significance to us at this point (now 2008,)
and then moves on to examine various questions, such as the Israelis and Palestinians
and their state of affairs vis a vis the prosecution of the Iraq war. With respect to
Israel, there are great influences calling for a resolution of the conflict with the
Palestinians, even at great sacrifice to the Jews, and this is in part what here is
interpreted more and more as a status quo to begin resolving this and other Middle East
issues. In fact, to abandon the ideals of an Israeli homeland at this point in time would be
to equally abandon important U.S. state policies and roles in associations like the G 20,
N.A.T.O., our positions on nuclear non proliferation and Eastern Europe, in favour of the
polity of states like Iran who essentially exploit anti Israeli groups like Hezbollah and
Hamas. Some of the text is dedicated to illustrating the last part of the Bush
Administration and efforts to resolve the conflicts of Hamas, Beirut, and the role of Syria
against the Jews, though this effort was shown as, and in fact was not overridingly
successful.
The Taliban are perceived in the theme of this examination of historical events through
Brzezinski and Scowcroft as a significant threat to U.S. national security, and as the
memorable opponents of the soviets in Afghanistan as well. One is also reminded the
Pakistanis and the Taliban were trained by western military people, again against the
soviets and the situation as it is today with the Taliban is extremely rancorous with
respect to western governments.
With respect to economics, though mostly politics in the Far East, the authors illustrate
principally the rising power, economic and political, financial and so on, of the P.R.C. in
terms of the enlightened self interest not only of its Asian neighbors, but of western
officialdom as well. The rivalry between the P.R.C. and its Asian contemporaries with the
west is nonetheless portrayed as ruthless in economic terms. The issues of Tibet and Tai
wan, and South Korea are easily interpreted as very tense situations with P.R.C., a
communist party based government still dealing with the legacy of Tian An Men and
Deng Xiao Ping; and the recognitions of the legitimacy of smaller Asian associations such
as A.S.E.A.N. Special mention is made of North Korea and the need for its own
adherence to nuclear anti proliferation rules and other regional security issues including
the naval incidents of late.
Special mention is also made in large part of Russia and its current leadership after the
very significant Gorbachev and Yeltsin years: Apart from the conundrum surrounding the
mutual political and administrative status of Dmitri Medvedev and Vladimir Putin, there
seem to be four major issues with Russia, and all are unsolvable: Nuclear non
proliferation, N.A.T.O. and the former soviet and COMECON (and Warsaw Pact) states,
the vagaries of the petrol business, and relations with P.R.C. With respect to Eastern
Europe, still, Western Europe is illustrated as at times a fitful ally and then again as a
close political and administrative partner that is attempting on the state level to rise above
28
issues of nationalism in its institutions. It is here where the authors bring in their
partitioned time lines on American politics and the world, dating back to the age of John
Quincy Adams, then forward to the Wilson presidency, and then post 9 / 11 events.
Brzezinski notes at this point the older European community was much more cohesive on
a regional level given the two devastating world wars and the Cold War during the 20th
century, and needs at present better political coordination. With respect to World Wars I
and II, N.A.T.O. is still an issue unto itself that affects the sovereignty of most Europeans,
regardless of nationality or where they reside in the region.
To begin the conclusion of the text, the authors enter into a discussion about the
importance of human dignity and human rights, and its influence on their ideas about
doctrinaire enlightened or guileful realism in affairs. There is also some discussion of a
new world order in which cultural identities have primacy, hearkening to the world of 20th
century Wilsonian political ideas. The new administration in Washington, D.C., while it
promised a number of important things, especially about changes in government, is seen
currently as bogged down in its own efforts, and with respect to foreign policy there has
been progress and reform in the integration of departments and agencies as far as
communications and functioning are concerned. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
The Moscow Show Trials (Khamovniki District

Court) - another attempt.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
HOWEVER BELATEDLY.
Open Letter to the Moscow Khamovniki District Court:
There must be some discussion on the outcome of the

Yukos chief executives trial in Moscow that is soon to be
decided, especially since it affects so many of the
Khodorkovsky family and friends everywhere, and
people like me do not want in the least to override the
judicial powers of the Russian state, nor the invisible
hand type commerce that Yukos apparently afforded to
its employees and their families, and efforts of that
business to change the status quo in the hydrocarbons
markets in view of O.P.E.C., and so forth. What is
apparent from reading about these matters, currently
being decided in a contest at Khamovnichesky (sp?) / Khamovniki District Court, is that it
is clear in a way that the Prosecutors office represents one side of the Yeltsin legacy,
and the defendants apparently another. People like me know the significance of the
Yeltsin years is extremely powerful in its symbolism and subordinates that of the October
revolution of 1917 and its aftermath in many ways, though the actual observable truth of
this is subject to interpretation, and one is not at present in a place to definitively opine on
these items. With respect to this and the hope and uplifting denouement of the Yeltsin
years, I refer you to, for example, the autobiographical portrait of George Shultz; or the co
written tome by Bush and Scowcroft in its portrayal of same, or any similar text on the
era. Yeltsin does deserve great credit, and enshrinement, for his economic reforms and
this will become apparent more and more as the years pass. Also, one can not question,
in any way whatsoever the Kremlins power to adjudicate, without competitive dramatics,
29
matters such as those being decided in the Yukos executives case.

It is possible that if Mikhail Khodorkovsky can be accused of anything, it is for not
remembering his upbringing under the Yeltsin regime. Most Russians can be said to be
embittered, or at least not so invigorated by the memory of this time in their history,
though there are cogent and complex reasons why Boris Yeltsin as head of state made
choices and promoted economic and commercial policies that were intended to benefit
everyone; every Russian person. This should not be forgotten in these court proceedings,
neither by the prosecutor, nor by the defendants and their attorney(s.) People like me
who understand a little about business know the Yukos business affairs were conducted
by executives, well meaning, and very well advised, and they performed their duties to
stakeholders in excellent fashion, probably even with respect to taxation compliance and
other regulatory measures though that might not be the determination of the courts.
In my reading about this case, it is important to understand the successes of many
businesses are a mystery to most people, and that of Yukos was no exception to this
axiom. The success and overall assurances provided by government regulators and how
they facilitate a healthy commercial environment is also something few people
understand, either. With this in mind, and as the judicial opinions are expressed in the
outcome of the statutory charges currently being tried, and where the laws are clear and
well defined, and where this adjudication does have application to Russian society as a
whole, including the perspective of the world to paraphrase the great sociologist
Fernand Braudel, the direction Russian commerce will take for the future, and the status
of the defendants in this case as prophets (who will be regarded as real or false,
depending on whos whom, and whats what) and the power of the legacy of previous
times in the history of your country and its meaning at present and obvious present legal
and other conditioning, and popular acclaim of these juridical matters in your capitol; the
responsibilities of the parties to this trial are significant and quite serious. These and
other legal and economic processes and principles will be changed and otherwise
affected by this judicial turning point. It is important that you know outsiders to Russia
understand this.
While Mr. Khodorkovsky can be accused of forgetting his upbringing, the parties
represented by the prosecution against him can in parallel be admonished for bringing a
halt to a very large and constructive business concern in Russia, as illustrated in press
reports and other open sources, that provided and promised a decent living and hope for
a bright future for many Yukos employees, their families and considerable value,
monetary and organisational, bestowed upon Russian society as the result of the
innovations and initiatives of the defendants. It is entirely possible, and given my own
impression of the way in which market economics is interpreted and practiced in Russia,
the countrys chief administrators, at the time Yukos activities were suspended or
abrogated, did not themselves understand precisely the value of what good Yukos meant
to many people, and the mysteries of its successes. It is perhaps in the remnants of
dialectic reasoning that remain in the consciousness of many people in your country that
did call for an investigation of the way things happened or were done, and then further
dicing up of what was found that makes one possible outcome of these proceedings to be
so unpalatable. What has apparently happened is the focus of the trial has not been on
the business for lack of understanding of those operations, but on the defendants only. In
my studies at university I have often encountered insoluble problems, of ethics, for
example, and could not revert to a solution which muddied the waters further as there are
even natural rules and guidelines against this. The prosecution in this case has
apparently chosen to delve into and question matters of private business, the methods of
which were in exegesis at the time of Yukos, and that have been rendered
incomprehensible to observers and jurists alike with the efforts to dissect them at trial.
Both the jurists and attorneys need to comprehend what the legacy of Boris Yeltsin
30
represents to those outside your country, and what great values and integrity he instituted
in his time, in effort and in deed; at least in what concerns his own administrative efforts.
That is what really is being contested here, and this is an interpretation, and it is a
political / administrative view. No one during the time of the 1990s to today, a great time
of business innovation and invention everywhere, and especially so in Russia, can be
blamed for being ambitious and, again, inventive as the Yukos executives had been. Any
decision of the courts that finally decides this case should account or compensate for
this, and that Russian society has run through a crucible of economic events need not be
on the heads of those Yukos people who apparently and sincerely wished for the better
of the Russian economy and country. Good day.
Sincerely,
THS My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
another book review ... (2009)

Saturday, January 15, 2011
CALL ME TED, BY TED TURNER.
This very eventful text, which is couched in ordinary language, is a classic portrait of a
hands on business person who came of age during the 1980s, and who apparently
eschewed the grandstanding of some of his colleagues and only lately did publish his
remarkable story: Born in Ohio to very enterprising parents, probably as people needed
to be at the time, Ted Turner attended school in Tennessee and served in the Coast
Guard. He took over his Dads billboard advertising business in his 20s after a bitter
business battle with a then corporate raider. He worked diligently in the billboards
business and built it up to where he was bidding and bargaining for radio stations,
classically dependent upon the advertising business, and then to television stations; all
this just bit by bit, staring in the early 1960s. The distinguishing point of his crowning
achievement, CNN, was he was already quite well to do in the television broadcasting
business when cable television came around and he had decided to wager upon it. The
risks with CNN were quite serious and when one thinks of such a network as it was or is,
one thinks of glitzy steel and glass high rise structures in a concrete jungle, but the
founding building was in a brickwork structure in Atlanta, Georgia.
CNN went through various iterations depending upon the trends in the media from
Cable News Network, to CCN2, to others including ESPN and its related programming.
Unlike some of the staid productions from Hollywood and what appears to be the
established image of network television, the CNN networks had a wild ride from the
beginning. Despite that many television viewers still preferred the networks when cable
came along, CNN and Turner Broadcasting offered and delivered extremely entertaining
programming and informative news and with a pay per view accent on everything,
practically from the beginning. Mr. Turner was also responsible for many pay view
athletic contests and their quality broadcasts and the creation and materialising of HBO,
as well as popularizing satellite T.V. He was sued several times by hickety pickety
television personalities and production companies who felt he was treading on their
network television territories, including major networks. He made a serious and era
changing bid to purchase CBS, and at the time continued to add to his already
exhaustible corporate film and video production libraries. Unmistakably, the apogee of
CNN in the old television format without integration of the internet for the public was the
coverage of the first Gulf War: Policy makers and commentators alike, when asked
about the progress of the war as prosecuted, simply referred everyone to the CNN
coverage of the conflict. Now television is almost completely internet savvy and centers
31
around the world wide web with integrated satellite know - how.
Turner was / is also an avid sailboat helmsman, and continued his sailing hobby
throughout his career; participating in and winning major sailing races. He also, and
through the eyeglass (hourglass) of success, has become a generous philanthropist and
funded many United Nations programs. He has five children.
What is so distinguishing about the text is the biographer (about himself) does not
attempt to appear flawless, nor does he attempt as many have in their own way at
righteous indignation at the vicissitudes of life. The humanness and dignity with which he
treated people during his rise to become a household term are remarkable, too, and
remarkable as well is his technical comprehension of the business of advertising and
working stellarly in the media business where new technologies have been de jure for
some time. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
"Rapprochement" - U.S. and P.R.C.

Sunday, January 30, 2011
The admission of the Chinese President a few days ago that human rights in P.R.C. need
to be more closely looked at is a sign of hope that capitalism with Chinese
characteristics has an official aim, at least in part in its attempts at attaining primacy in
world society, of giving lip service to such issues and their importance within the P.R.C.
and its international position as well. The intent of the statement on human rights by
Chinese officials to pay more attention to human rights might just be to assuage the egos
of western officials who see many faults in the Chinese regime, as well as its competitive
successes as facilitated by opprobrium of anyone within its territory espousing western
ideas and political doctrines, or other counter revolutionary principles. It is entirely
possible an additional legacy of Mao has been to keep the country on a commercial
footing with military discipline and military sanctions that the great helmsman believed
would realize the dreams of many Chinese cadres to demand and command more
respect in the world and at home. The Asiatic approach to capitalism that calls for many
constraints on the lives of workers and industrial managers, and this without necessarily
rewarding everyone for their work as they would be rewarded in the West, is a matter that
remains to be resolved, in its justification and implementation within China itself. Coolie
and other types of labor have always been relatively cheap in P.R.C. and previously in
imperial China, and this has long been perceived as perilous to western business, and
even more so now that Chinese goods are produced at a discount to production in
alternative areas and apparently with the same quality as they might be, for example, in
U.K., or even other Asian countries.
The human rights issue has in all appearances found linkage with commercial and
business issues, as Chinese officials mentioned human rights in a dialogue with U.S.
officials, including the U.S. President, connected to trade and technology issues, that
without a doubt included renewed discussion of intellectual property. Unrelated to the
human rights discussion as viewed by the press, was probably some discussion around
abating software piracy in China where most of the software from western countries,
including that of large and important software developers, is illegally copied. The tone of
the human rights announcement also makes obvious the compromises P.R.C. has made
in furthering its economic interests and the necessarily public sturm und drang of
Chinese international relations with the West and the compromises it has for both East
and West. It becomes clear that P.R.C., as it produces many discounted goods sold in
other countries throughout the world, in fact as the largest Asian economic Tiger, does
have the perception still that its exports have not made as many consumers as
dependent upon Chinese goods as it would wish. The Great Helmsman would view this
32
as unfortunate as discounted Chinese products truly have saturated international

markets, and P.R.C. is a large emitter of carbon and hydrocarbon gases along with its
industrial might for consumer goods production. The statement about human rights as
linked to commercial talks with the U.S. might be an indirect admission the aim of the
P.R.C. to get a grip on the western consumer has not worked so well, and that some
giving in has to take place in order to prime up additional demand for Chinese goods
one of the apparent promises of the P.R.C. form of capitalism.
Search on ...
Latest events in:
Egypt.
Tunisia. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
In Defense of Barry Bonds.

Saturday, February 19, 2011
While every time there is a National League home run champion there are disputes on
the subject of his worthwhileness and worthiness, the fractious debate as to Mr. Barry
Bonds and his claim to home run king status is completely unreasonable in the sense of
Thomas Paine and his fellows; and that there is an actual trial in process examining Mr.
Bonds methods indicates the indecisiveness of professional baseball oversight about
what and how it administers the modern game. This and despite that Mr. Bonds has
vicious detractors who have worked for years to upset his goals of becoming not only a
home run hitter, but a great fielder and slugger, and other things, including a good
family person, at the same time. Probably in the late 1990s, and privately, one of his
career opponents projected that Bonds had a chance to hit more home runs than Babe
Ruth or Henry Aaron, and more simply that he would probably surpass the achievements
and records of Maris, Musial, Mays, McGuire, Sosa, Griffey, and other, less visible and
less capable players. That he did this, substantively and for the most part without
completely disabling himself has some, if not all his opponents and detractors extremely
upset and has drawn his entire livelihood into public gossip arenas and into a very tabloid
court battle or battles that will drain his fortunes, in many ways meritoriously earned and
gained on the baseball sports fields. In addition, and at this time in the story of American
sports, there are reasons why the home run king needs be from a place like San
Francisco instead of from New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, or Oakland, or any other city
one can spell. I leave it to you, the reader of this editorial, to determine these reasons for
yourself.
That Mr. Bonds did things to improve his performance is evident, as all home run hitters
do and have done, though that he did things completely in awareness and with intent,
and outside the bounds of his professional baseball player status is exactly what should
be in dispute; not that he took pills or vitamins, what have you. Most power hitter
players do things to increase their chances of contacting the ball, no matter what, as it
travels from the pitchers hand (left or right) over the plate. Indeed, it is not a secret that
Mr. Bonds is a talented person who could, among other successful things, read the
pitcher in any particular count or at bat, and this added to his chances, along with his
33
physical conditioning methods, of contacting the ball as it was thrown for him (to try) to hit
under various conditions and circumstances. The decisive charges that his physical
training and related staff were conniving and corrupt should be re examined and thrown
out: The real issue is how Mr. Bonds lorded it over other power hitters for years, and what
he did for the game of baseball a. To increase interest and attendance at baseball
events, especially in away situations, b. How he increased the profile of other hitters,
and offense in the National League game in general, by creating controversy on the
subject of baseball offense and outfield hitting and other things, stealing, base running,
the pitchers role in the late innings, and other things that capture the attention of fans at
decisive times during a contest; c. How, by the competitive reputation of Mr. Bonds, other
players in contact with him and with whom he was and became acquainted, and same
with respect to the media and the press, others benefitted during the time Mr. Bonds
pursued his path to baseball greatness. For these and other reasons, there is clearly no
cogent, nor is there any even magical principle that indicates Mr. Bonds should suffer
penalties for the good works he did and the message he proposed about the game of
(and profession of) baseball that it takes a measure of luck and extremely hard work,
even for people as talented and gifted as he is or was during his career, even in the
Pittsburgh days and other doldrums. People like me knew baseball people like Mr. Bonds
in college, and even knew of him in high school, and there is without a doubt in our minds
the common - senseness, reasonableness, and charitableness of this person and there
are any number of instances one can cite from his life to date that bring this out. To
systematically and officially insinuate that he is or was a corrupt person indeed reflects
upon the ambiguous, nebulous, and backbiting approach to the game of his accusers and
others prosecuting, charging, and yelling, gesticulating and shouting and staring him
down.
In professional baseball today, and in all professional sports, there are guidelines that
provide a best guess as to what one needs to do to take advantage of ones strong points
(doing what one does well,) and building and maintaining talents, whether they be in
defense or offense, or both. This is part of the holiness, what have you, of the sport of
professional baseball in America, and without the professionalism we have today in the
sport, American athletes would most completely be likely to play baseball no better than
the French, or the Yugoslavians, for that matter; and there are such players they just do
not play that well as they are not as talented as the American boys are. This is just a fact.
The, again, detractors of Mr. Bonds, in fact, do take the attitude and performance of a
French baseball player, or the like, and ascribe to Mr. Bonds not the reputation he
deserves, but the status of a malicious and scheming, ambitious overachiever who
cheated his way through his career. If you desire these equalized ideas and standards
and their proponents and professional staff, there are baseball leagues and
organisations, and games for you everywhere outside the U.S., probably even in Europe
where the game is played professionally, but to the eyes of the practised spectator, very
badly. This is what the judicial proceedings about Mr. Bonds home runs appear to be
concerned with stopping people from actually exercising their rights as professionals
and becoming the talents they deserve to be; and this by stripping them of their toolset of
refined and successful methods, processes and the like that promise the fulfillment of
their talents, possibilities and potentialities.
Some time ago, I did see a San Francisco Giants baseball game against the New York
Mets. I do not attend public events every day as these are costly and there is a handy
adage they are available and viewable through local television, for the most part. I did
see Mr. Bonds and his team make complete baseball fools out of the New York team in a
single show in which he hit two home runs. It is a lifes experience to watch him hit,
especially at home where he plays for every fan, from people in the baseline boxes to
those fans in the third deck and at home even. I have also seen Mr. Bonds hit on
34
television, and if one knows even a little about baseball, it is thrilling to watch him at the
plate, and playing defense as well. In addition to his hitting skills, he has an arm like Willie
Mays and I have seen him throw people out at base like Mr. Mays did. It is obvious, from
anyones knowledge of him personally or professionally, that he loves baseball and to
believe his approach, again, to this profession was or is corrupt is a sin of commission,
and again, indicates the overall salaciousness of fans and others who pretend and
pretended to follow his career with interest in order to disparage him with the detailed and
defamatory gossip that has led to these trials. I do also think of his parents and this
parent / child, and other family relationships and associations that detractors have
worked to render valueless by these public trials as well. Good day.
About Tiger Woods... (no argument.)

Sunday, March 13, 2011
Without mentioning all the penance this celebrity /
personality has had to pay for his personal life being
dragged through the proverbial mud, not to mention the
trials and tribulations, and atmosphere of scandal this has
all created around his family and friends, maybe note the
following: When guys like Rodney Dangerfield (dec.,)
Chevy Chase, Leslie Nielsen (dec.,) and Keith Richards,
and Alice Cooper even, are allowed to play golf and joke
about its antics and embarrassments, seriously done or
not, and having to do not with anything related to golf, this
remarkable athlete should be allowed to continue his
career as much unscathed as possible. If anything, the
difficulties Woods has had with respect to his personal life
do show that the playing at golf that people do is really a
hobby for most people (even professionals,) and is
therefore subject to the insinuations and
intrusions into the game of powerful
jackasses.
People like me do try to play golf, and are
enamoured of some of the things
professional golfers do on the courses,
including competitors like Tom Watson,
Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Greg Norman,
Ernie Els, and so on. The number of actual
championship golfers is innumerable and
the games professionals are everywhere,
and to stop the attention on everyone to
focus on tabloid antics as carried out on Mr.
Woods, and as he apparently carried them
out as well is a shame. Mr. Woods is
notable for all aspects of the game of golf,
but especially is known for his aggressive
work in the tee box and to a great extent his
putting as well. The audiences at tournaments and the public should dedicate more of
their attention to the care and concern of professional golf(ers) in playing competitively,
and improving / refining the game, and entirely instead of zeroing in on personal
35
dilemmas, faults and personal failings; be they those of the players or those in the
gallery. Let them play.
abbas milani and the commonwealth club.

Sir:
Just within the past few days, I have heard a talk with
the Commonwealth Club as given by Professor Abbas
Milani of Stanford in view of his new book about the
Middle East and more specifically the case of Iran at
present. Dr. Milani has asked the question by his new
writings and in his talk on how or what did someone in
our system do so that in fact we now have extreme
worries about nuclear proliferation and terror as related
to Iran at present. In the time of communism, Milani
proposes, the place of the Shah, and in fact what
directed his fall from grace and eventual demise, were
the forces of fundamentalist religion, namely Islam as
embodied in Islamic political clerics who primarily had
ties to the soviets.
Today, much of the political / administrative activity in
the Middle East is ascribed to oil pricing policies, and efforts at democratisation in Iran
eventually have become known more popularly as islamo fascism despite the long
time efforts of the soviets and their contribution to the expansion of socialist and
communist influences. In retrospect, the political upheaval around the Shah was caused
not by rightist tendencies, but by the reaction to the Shahs efforts to try to live with the
religious left and centrist political figures of the day. The case of Bin Laden in
Afghanistan, formerly in places like Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Sudan, as a former U.S.
ally against communism and presently a saboteur against the U.S. in its approach to the
clerics in Iran, presents the impossibility of using a secular approach for the most part to
Middle Eastern culture, even governance, and this as shown by the political missteps of
the Iranian regime before the 1979 revolution.
There has been literature published to the effect that, in Pahlavis words (to paraphrase
here,) most Iranians and Arabs were ignorant of the Shahs motives and policies, even
internally, and most people in the region never comprehended these and never made the
effort to do so, or even to plainly understand what he attempted to do for his people.
Hopes for actual democracy have been dashed for years by the use of Pahlavi as a
scape goat in his secular promises, and the false promises of the current clerical, even
teleological regime. It is possible there is another perfect storm brewing politically in Iran
again after that in 1979 comprised by the dormant Middle East policies of Jimmy Carter,
British policies as well, the fitful political attitudes of Iranian people along with the
promises of the clerics around Khomeini and Khomeini himself. All this seems
additionally to be tied to petrol politics and the price of oil: An unusual way to try to
determine or work for democratisation and civic and political freedoms anywhere.
THS
36
Fukushima, Japan (and environs)

Thursday, March 31, 2011
Fukushima, Japan Stories of Fukushima...
Lybia
Anna Politkovskaya (anniversary.)

Saturday, April 16, 2011
Anna Politkovskaya - Link to NPR program (Saturday morning, April 16, 2011.)
Link to NYT articles (Saturday morning.)
Photoportrait. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
... the end of public finance and the last

"financier" ...
Theodore Dreiser, in a long ago written novel, took the themes of finance as they were
known in the day and turned them into a portrayal of the soft underbelly of some in the
finance world, what with its supposed mutual back slapping, treachery, drinking and
drugging and other trafficking and vice. Dreisers portrayal of the Financier was one of
immoral and unduly influenced corruption, and again, vice and other wrongs of the
finance world in the day. By this portrayal his readers were shown everywhere that
37
money is evil and should be treated as such. The fact is, there were corruptible
influences everywhere in Dreisers time, not just in some persons intrigues and ill
gotten gains. Fast forward to the modern public financial processes in Washington, D.C.,
where somewhat the same attitude about the accumulation of cash to spend prevails it
is in fact an accurate assessment of public Congressional and Senatorial appropriations
in the U.S. that are made without the proper revenue base do reflect these types of
beliefs, and apparently that when one has money that has not been spent, the
accumulation or saving of same is immoral and corrupt, reflecting the overall idea that
money is really to spend.
The plan of the Republican Paul Ryan to erase over six trillion dollars from the federal
deficit over a decade includes privatising some social welfare programs, and cutting
others, including Medicare and Medicaid. It also includes reducing federal corporate tax
rates. These are the two principal traits of this plan which is quite simple, especially since
the Ryan plan does not really touch Social Security. Medicare and Medicaid, under Mr.
Ryans plan, would apparently be privatised, which would save approximately three
trillion 2011 U.S. dollars. When one thinks about the corporate tax relief (savings of about
another three trillion,) this policy would have the effect of creating, or freeing up almost
seven trillion 2011 dollars (U.S.) of income and value based upon fiscal relief. This is a
very enticing policy, as is the privatisation of Medicare and related programs through
private insurance based concerns. Cutting government spending is hard to do, and the
insurance programs would present a sea change for private carriers as the health
insurance business in the U.S. would be responsible for virtually everyone seeking
medical care - the young, and especially the aged. That many older and elderly people
are to be included in insurance pools along Mr. Ryans ideas, would affect the costs of
maintaining the health insurance / health care systems we have and would also affect
premiums, based upon private insurance criteria instead of federal entitlement criteria.
There can not really be any more accounting nor financial tweaking of the Social Security
system, as Mr. Ryans plan undoubtedly indicates, and an actually quite efficient pay
as you go private health insurance system (one much more dear monetarily than the
federal system at this point,) is not in the offing as an alternative to federal health
programs. As well, the corporate tax reduction does not promise any economic identities
beyond the simple possibility under improved economic climes of creating new value and
income (some.) Then, even as Mr. Ryans plan, or a similar plan, fulfills its promise, there
would also be a propensity on the federal level, again, to spend the benefits of the tax
relief, privatisations, and other efficiencies created by his plan, thus engendering an even
greater deficit, and more confusion and chaos in the politics around the common sense of
public policy and these matters. Ryans plan to bring more discipline to public finance,
due to opposition to it, and the pronouncements of its detractors, comprises a
constructive and challenging solution for the interim, and for the reduction over ten years
in the federal deficit, and this due to a presumed vacuousness of legislators in attempts
to get behind it, promote it and have the discipline, again, to legislate and stand behind it
administratively over the long term. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
News from the Sports Courtroom (maybe about

your own case ...)
Sunday, April 24, 2011
S.F. Baseball Hero
38
a philosophy of terror (and cultural revolution ...

?)
Saturday, May 07, 2011
This past week, the leader of Al Q'aida as
Osama (Oussama, etc.) bin Laden, was
executed by American commandos who were
able to find his hiding place near a major
Pakistani military base and academy. Many
questions arise as to the way in which Mr. bin
Laden was able to stay in his current
surroundings for so long, apparently more
than a year before his death, amidst so many
of his adversaries occupying the neighboring
Islamabad base. There does not seem to be
a ready explanation, although it is possible he
was good at the kind of cloak and dagger,
and other mysteries of character some
people have to avoid captivity and execution,
at least for as long as he did. That this man is
dead is no tragedy for the great powers and for the rest of the world that fears
international terror and mayhem. Bin Laden was an unrepentant and uncontrolled animal
who sought the destruction probably of most things Western and those in particular that
pained his eyes or his whim about western culture and its attempts to absorb and
reconcile the long - standing tendencies and abuses of oriental culture that are so rife,
but that are so little spoken, much less written about, even in this time of prolific press
reports and the clamoring for transparency of political ideas be they of the majority or the
opposition in many systems. That bin Laden was a Saudi Arabian citizen, and that he met
his end as he did obviously gives great pain to his following, but it might also be painful
for spectators and onlookers to see how the sword of Damocles fell on this person, and
probably definitively as well on his terrorist organisation: There are paradoxes to the
death of any major terrorist - criminal (i.e., Abu Nidal,) and the overall philosophy of death
around Al Q'aida, and if they have not already been defined in talks with, for instance,
Fouad Ajami and Abbas Milani, they need to be examined before the public eye and
disseminated as simply as possible in order that there be no resurgence of this culture or
philosophy of terror, violence and death as originating in the Afghani countryside during
soviet times. There is a political argument, tangibly marxist, that the Taliban were left to
be victimised by everybody once the soviets left Afghanistan and their American security
forces allies had left the country as well. It was probably that after the reign of Babrak
Karmel ended, that many Afghanis, in fact many people in the region overall did believe
the Americans would start arriving in their C - 5A transports with money and gifts for the
Taliban (every single one) once the soviets had left in 1979. Unfortunately, this view
proved to be on the level of fantasy as the Americans wanted the Taliban to try to build
up their own country in their own way, and as most countries had done since the
beginning of the industrial revolution in the late 1800's. Also unfortunately, the Taliban
apparently believed their allying with the American security forces during the conflict with
the soviets would provoke or invite this promise from either the Carter or subsequent
Reagan administrations. When these dreams for them went unfulfilled, they used their
turncoat behaviour over time as a type of blackmail, not that they were in the least guided
by Islamic ideas and theology, but the Taliban and some of the mujadheen and other
39
islamists figured they could extort political currency by using bin Laden's treasury (and
other moneys of other less wealth people) to become like a super - charged Hezbollah.
The Taliban has had their own kind of Islam that is quite orthodox and includes anyone
as their enemy, not just as targeting Israel and the Hebrew tribes, but anyone who
engaged them in any sort of confrontation, apparently even adversarial verbal exchanges
or simple arguments. Bin Laden's method was to use what is essentially believed to be
family wealth to raise an army and the funds to corrupt and destroy through terror as
many of his western adversaries as possible, regardless of their mutual alliances or
confluence of goals in reviewing the situation of islamists in the world, and regardless of
their accommodation(s) to him, or any convergence of ideas they shared or would share.
It is well - known that Saudi people are wonderful people. In many ways, the Saudis have
been better to Americans than, for example, other countries of the Western Hemisphere,
without naming in particular any citizens in our diverse global village. It was surprising for
the author of this blog to find that most of the 9 / 11 bombers were Saudi as the widely
held expectation and perception at the time of 9 / 11 was the perpetrators of the airline
crashes in in the Eastern U.S. were arabic palestinians as radical islamists. Many of the
Saudis are devout islamists themselves and would never raise a hand against anyone as
it is written in their scriptures that such actions are unlawful according to Mohammed and
invite severe punishment(s.) The Saudis are by and large very educated and cultured
people, and they are sophisticated enough to know what is going on in the world,
especially those running their country. The present author, with this in mind, presents the
point of view, to islamists as radicals and reformers alike, that there was born midway in
the last century a generation in most Arab countries that came of age belying the
reputations and moral high ground of their parents - they stood as if on the shoulders of
their own giants at a very young and intrinsically wealthy age, and it is obvious their
parents did not believe this to be a redeeming or constructive thing to do. They sought to
preserve their children as a result and sent them to the best schools to get the best
training in order that they succeed on their merits as earned. Bin Laden and his
colleagues, despite their great sums were with these young people who were crippled
and stifled into being terrorists among others by the discipline and tasks and duties of
being subject to the vagaries of radicals in school, the will of their responsible parent for a
structured life in view of radical sympathies, and so forth, and what (at least in part)
Francis Fukuyama put on the cover of his first well - known book "The End of History" as
handed down to them by their elders. This is only part of the story as many of the
adverbial characterisations and reasons even, the "why's," and so forth, are lost even to
those of bin Laden's followers who were good diarists. A simple explanation of what this
evil is or was about is in the critically acclaimed and controversial poetry of Baudelaire
and Mallarme, writers that bin Laden read or undoubtedly knew of through his studies.
There is an alternative and contributory explanation to these views that hinges on the role
of Middle Eastern culture as dominated and governed by orthodox Mohammedan beliefs
and the like, but this is beyond the scope of simple blog entries at this point. People like
me do not feel sorry that he is gone; no one like me who has family and friends who are
in the world and threatened by blindly terrorist acts against the great powers aimed at
crippling and even destroying our culture as we know it and us, ourselves, in addition to
that has any remorse about what happened at that Islamabad base last weekend. It will
be perhaps trying in the short run for U.S. / Pakistani relations that their domestic
airspace and other civic attributes were used in an act of war to which the populace might
not have been entirely committed, though more Pakistanis stood to die in the terror wars
without this happening, with everybody taking their risks as they did, even our enemies.
There is a simple story about Mohammed moving a mountain that everyone reading in
English needs to review, not as a story of scripture, but as a story about how the radicals
in the Middle East might now perceive their place among others at this point. It is a
40
dangerous thought to wonder how these radicals, islamists, and fascists or marxist, or in
between, might attempt to impress this tale on us now their great teacher and leader's life
has ended. THS My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Ballesteros.
Photo.
Bio.
More about Seve Ballesteros. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
cardinal woityla - pope jean paul ii

Photo. Bio. More about Jean - Paul II and his
sainthood .... My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
hello. good teleology?

"End of The World." My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Arab Spring.
Sunday, May 29, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/21/opinion/l21mideast.html?_r=1&scp=7&sq=arab%20s
pring%20obama%20speech&st=cse
More later. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
41
Memorial Day Foreign Policy ...

Monday, May 30, 2011
Schwartzel a mystery despite Masters win Washington Times

Thursday, June 16, 2011
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/jun/12/tricky-name-steady-game/ My older
blog (Thomas Spitters.)
'No Proof' Khodorkovsky Judge Pressured |

News | The Moscow Times
http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/artic
le/no-proof-khodorkovsky-judge-press
ured/438798.html
42
China's Management Revolution - "Spirit, Land,

Energy." - by Charle...
This text, while it proposes many ideas about how the P.R.C. has succeeded
economically over the past thirty years, presumably by studying and adapting western
methods to its own ends, does fall short of illustrating substantially any justification about
how the free market can be reconciled with a state - run culture and country run by party
rules. It also proposes China was substantially unscathed by the latest financial crises;
something probably meant to be read by people who are uninformed. The book begins by
questioning, in view of the monolithic success of P.R.C. and its command / free market
model economy with communism in its foundation and background, what the survivability
of the "American" model laissez - faire capitalism in a political environment of liberal
democracy could be in view of the newer influences of economic disciplines and public,
and political (civic and civil) restrictions such as are now prevalent in P.R.C. The
background of the current economic climes in P.R.C. is illustrated as having its origin in
the time of Deng Xiao - ping ("three times up an down") whence the western leaning of
many elements in the system of the P.R.C., and principally the return of Hong Kong to
China in 1997. Deng was made famous, among other things, by stating "I do not care
about the color of the cat, as long as he catches mice!" This imparts the value in current
Chinese culture that using utilitarian methods to accomplish commercial goals is a major
solution to accomplishments in worldwide competition. The text goes through the various
corporate reforms under Deng, including the creation of Special Economic Zones, State
and Collectively Owned Enterprises (SOE's and COE's,) and Township and Village
Enterprises (TVE's) among others. Said corporate entities were created in order: i. To
increase worker productivity, and ii. To attract foreign direct investment, the money of
which, incidentally, is probably completely gone at this point. The book also illustrates
typical hyper - successful Chinese entrepreneurs within China: Ye Mao zhong, Jian Xi
pei, Guo Zhen xi, Zhang Yong, Yuan Ya fei, Feng Jun, Luyang Jiang, Zhong Qing hou,
Zhou Hong ji, Zhang Lau and others. These are exclusive of Chinese outside China like
the very well - to - do Steven Chen, Jerry Yang, and Andrea Jung (all the business
people the author cites are men,) and no mention is made of the overseas Chinese being
much more successful financially than their mainland counterparts. The overall
successes economically and socially, and the influence of Chinese society (again) are
illustrated as the result of and "environment of evolutionary adaptedness" (Deng) as
exemplified in the Bei jing Olympics in 2008 and the latest economics statistics. The
business methods in P.R.C. are also presented in the text as currently distancing
themselves from strictly utilitarian values to turn their attention to social and commercial /
economic inequality, widespread poor business practices, corruption, pollution (especially
of the mainland aquifers) and other difficulties that high - level management has currently
pledged itself to remedy. The following topics are examined as well and a chapter is
dedicated to each: a. "Spirit" - the knowledge of the Ancients and popular culture as
applied to current society; b. "Land" - the Chinese approach to territorial geopolitics as
administered by the party leadership and the military; c. "Energy" - as illustrated from the
hegemonic Mercantilist tradition and capitalism as the game of commercial activities
including party leadership, alertness, opportunism, and application of ancient ideas
(Daoism, Confucianism, Legalism, and doctrines of Sun Tzu and the like.) Chinese
management is illustrated in the end as being autocratic with many redeeming features,
of which the characteristics of adaptation, reciprocity, consensus, ... The author goes so
far as to cite and compare Chinese methods with the theories and practices of Frederick
43
Taylor's management style, and the same with those of Alfred Chandler, Ronald Coase
and Oliver Williamson as a continuum of ideas leading to Chinese principles at present.
Only a few paragraphs are committed to this conclusive prose and the validity of this type
of continuity is doubtful and in the reviewer's opinion the current Chinese methods are
industrial and technological, scientific and cultural, even agricultural in nature, in the
older, twentieth - century sense, without consideration to or any focus on the actual
benefit of such business methods and activities in a world of more advanced doctrines
and principles, that is the present basis for their corporate forms of business. THS My
arab spring - 2011.

http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch
?query= arab+spring My older blog
(Thomas Spitters.)
Political Life of Tony Blair

Obama the budget "doctor."

Sir:
Your plans for the budget might indeed get through Congress later in the year, but the
federal government and the country need more money. Everyone knows this, and no
amount of legislation nor debate can obscure this difficulty.
Are things changing? Yes? (after a "wall street

journal" editorial.)
The current democratic administration, insofar as the elections next year are capturing
public attention at this point, has billed itself as one of thriving on change and the
aspirations of the American public as a new kind of Americanism. Unfortunately, the
president and his administration have as well incorporated into their presidency a deeply
44
unpopular set of economic circumstances, and a set of unpopular and even more costly
wars far away from home. These challenges in view of next year's contests do not reflect
any of the policies around change of any of the previous most successful presidencies in
recent memory, those of Reagan and Clinton. Mr. Obama as President of what is
currently the unrivaled world power in the U.S., in his assuming the presidency, sought to
change many executive policies, including carrying out what was said to be a re distribution of any creation of economic or other values in commercial activities, and a re
- casting of our political and military reach to a more defensive posture abroad. It is
difficult to see how the President will be able to prevail in an election year when these two
major themes of his time in office so far have met with limited success and are regarded
by many as having been too "forward - looking" perhaps, too ambitious, and poor in their
effort and execution. Such priorities in view of many voters have to be re - evaluated as
to whether or not they actually fit into the portrait of what it is to be American and for what
reason, including what the limits of these plans were and how they have darkened the
political skies at home and, again, abroad. Instead of promoting a more affirmative and
proud set of plans for his presidency, especially away from our shores, the President
chose to rule in a kind of retreat from issues; something that does not fit with the
American image or conduct in view of past defiance and taking challenges to the world,
especially in times of economic stress and military conflict. Ronald Reagan rallied the
country during his administration in pointing to the fractious and economically chaotic
times of the 1970's and restored the place of our state to primacy on the basis of fewer
taxes and a dissemination of American values everywhere. In many areas of endeavour,
technical people have the overall reputation of being dour and contrarian, cynical and
skeptical of everything, and the current President in the carrying - out of his election plans
as pledged can be assessed as inherently and obviously so, especially about the present
and future of our country, the U.S. This is perhaps because, at least in practice, the
President has seized upon a relativistic and compromising set of ideas and rationales to
promote his policies as having been and being successful as they are actually not so something that takes away from the type of defiance and pride in view of the world's
challenges that we as a nation - state need at this point. That the values of freedom and
liberty are being put down in a number of states where they have recently arisen
indicates the current presidency might not consider some of the people involved to be
capable or responsible enough to have political freedoms and that they would otherwise
regress again into tyrannies within their borders once the challenges of upheaval are
over, even in the event the forces of freedom prevail there. For a president who is
assisted by Mr. Biden and a number of others in Congress who are experienced in
events and attitudes of foreign rulers abroad, this administration has not carried the day
in its opportunities in the conflicts for freedom in the international world, and it does seem
that officials under our chief executive either have the switch 'on' or 'off' in their
perceptions about military issues overseas and in principle have the attitude that
American is guilty of things in somewhat taking on the view of the central Islamic world. It
seems the President's officials even want to scapegoat America in view of those who
believe the 'Arab Spring,' for example, is an exercise in Zionism in their ideas not to assist
in the rebellions against despotism in the Middle East, and in view of sporadic military
resistance of the tyrannies to protests and rebellions that is apparently seen as
dangerous to us. The values of liberty, the uniqueness of the freedoms of our system,
individualism and American specialness that have characterised and prevailed in
previous times of challenge and conflict, especially during the 1980's, are lost on the
current leadership that has a considerably shrunken world view of our country with an
emphasis apparently on the creation of byzantine federal programs. Domestic and
international realities, in the kind of inward, and stagnant vision the leadership has and
that of American culpability, as sold through media image - making, the literature and
45
through other channels, do not reflect the hopeful message and new starting points
politically the president promised during the last election contest. It is entirely possible
those marxists versed in the strengths of Chinese communism and Mao Tse toung
thought, during the 1960's and 1970's, for instance, projected the same self - appointed
image for American politics today in seeing a future of essentially caretaking and
ineffectual western political regimes in view of the future upheavals in the world at this
time, be they economic, ideological or military. It is apparently clear to the citizens of
embattled cities, townships and regions, especially within the territories of the Middle
East that the hopeful strategy of America has been flawed by an increasingly negative set
of views and judgments about payoffs and benefits, revenues and costs, and other
utilitarian measures with respect to what was set down by our forefathers in former times.
That the preeminent world power in the U.S. has a leadership with these set of beliefs
around calculation of political events and the risks of failure as it apparently has is a
collective and several administrative and egregious wrong and needs immediate attention
and redressment. It is also clear the questions around America's "peak" have been asked
at Harvard and by its people for a long time, maybe (as a kind of hedge) for a hundred
years, and the danger we face today is that such elitist and detached thinking, however
dangerous and against the fiber of our state, might be wishful. This needs be examined in
the next elections, and in all events resolved by voters in 2012. My older blog (Thomas
Spitters.)
David Servan Schreiber | David ServanSchreiber, who wrote about ca...

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/jul/27/local/la-me-david-servan-schreiber-2
0110726 My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Tseng Becomes Youngest Female Golfer to Win

Four Majors With LPGA V...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-26/tseng-wins-lpga-championship-become
s-youngest-to-secure-four-major-titles.html My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Economic "Karate" Test - Did I Pass?

Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Are Our Assets Safe (in P.R.C.)?
Bringing Our Two Countries Closer ...
... With Mutual Self - Assurance.
Some people might mention the Vice - President's voyage in P.R.C. is the result of efforts
to clean up a real mess, or at least to do some "dusting off" of issues. Such trips as
admininstrative and economic outreach only serve to outline the economic connivances
of some of our eastern trading partners, not to mention the politics of it. My older blog
(Thomas Spitters.)
46
Not forgotten ... (September 11, 2001)

Though many years have passed since that fateful day for many of our countrymen in
New York, and since the War on Terror began (now called the "Long War,") and the
heavy expense our country has made to stop terrorism in all its forms, the realities of
September 11, 2001 are still fresh in people's minds. A generation of youth in our country
has been brought along in a social environment of anger and fear, anxiety and frustration
at the workings of the world in which "suicide" bombings and related acts are
commonplace. Though as well there was much fanfare at this anniversary, and much
was made of visual and sound impressions on the audience of the afflicted and onlookers
as well, the dead can not see nor hear, nor experience in any way the honourable
commemoration of these tragedies, both individual and collective. That the great
recession is related to this, and in the country many people finances are short, only adds
to the acrimony and self - doubt in looking back and remembering this particular day. Link
- recordings of September 11, 2001 happenings. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Estimated Winnings (1962) ...

... and today (football.) My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
in the pursuit of software "heaven," and other

adventures ...
Paul Allen's New Autobiography: If the beginning of a very large software company can
be encapsulated in a reasonably lengthy book, Mr. Allen has done it. While it is obvious
Mr. Allen is a great story - teller, and quite self - effacing with respect to himself in this
text, it does somewhat appear his writing style is similar to that of Bill Gates' from other
texts (you name the titles.) Despite this likeness of writing style, Mr. Allen takes the
approach in his text that technical software knowledge and related business are what
made Microsoft the company it is today instead of the way Mr. Gates portrays Microsoft
as being pulled together and as having executives who were artful deal - makers, much
as other small computer companies have been in the beginning since anyone can
remember. Most notable in the early - going of the plot of this text are Messrs. Allen and
Gates as gifted school mates and their friendship that carried through to the college years
when they made their plans for a business together. Both apparently were skilled
programmers and knew as well about computer hardware in the day. Mr. Allen describes
several seminal events in the growth of Microsoft as having depended upon engineers
and other people in the provinces, including in locations like Albuquerque, New Mexico
and various places in Washington state. Not only were Mr. Allen's stories about New
Mexico interesting to read about, but as well were the arrangements Microsoft made
early on with NCR and DEC - two viable computer companies at the time in a fiercely
competitive market. That Microsoft had some practice before licensing its software for the
P.C. in 1981 was due to these types of arrangements in the world of (competitive)
hardware at that time. People like Messrs. Allen and Gates became extremely well known about the time people like me graduated from high - school studies, and at the
47
time, due to computers and the increasing dominance of technology, more and more
students dropped traditional studies to attend technology institutes and schools (probably
chiefly as the result of the images of executives from Microsoft, and Apple, Sun and some
other companies.) Around this, the dissemination of the invention of the GUI was
extremely important for the computer world and made computing "easy" enough for most
people to try to have a personal computer or computers. Mr. Allen also speaks in his text
about Moore's Law, which originally proposed the speed of processors would double
about every year; and then was changed to every two years - this brings to mind how
memorably slow the old 4k and up computers were, and how many of them had their own
systems, the fragmentation of operating systems and so forth, that made computers
talking to each other very difficult. The adventure that Microsoft represented at this point
was to standardize personal computer software, and later networking software, etc., and
other applications in order that everyone from technical people and administrators to end
- users could start talking the same tech. - language, regardless of the basis for the
operating systems and applications, routines and so on. Mr. Allen is unabashed in
speaking about his personal life and belief system as integrated into things like modern
computing, quantum physics, microworlds, biology and futurology. He also hints at why
he purchased sports teams and their venues, and is still in that business. Mostly people
like me know he wants to bring an industrial - strength message to anyone who hears
about Microsoft that technology is imperfect, but it is a great equalizer, a great way to
improve productivity, educate people, and allow many tech. - oriented people to have
better lives. It appears the intention of the founders of his computer company had this in
mind even when they began their adventures writing and trying to find the right code way
back when. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
ATP Tour
Thursday, October 13, 2011
The "La Liga," Fussball Bund, nor the Premier Leage is it, but tennis in this tour can be
fun to spectate and the television coverage is good, too. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
another leading role for europe.

http://www.europeanleadershipnetwork.org/werner-hoyer-speech_161.html
http://www.un.org/en/conf/npt/2010/statements/pdf/germany_en.pdf Please pardon the
brevity of this entry if things like weapons proliferation and global warming, etc., and other
salient issues of the day are cause for greater discusssion - you can always leave
comments of any length upon reading through this short editorial... . Anyone knows, that
is anyone who listens to news or reads the paper, has access to information where the
European Union is calling upon Germany to pivot on the resolution of the Greek and
other economic crises there, inasmuch as the German people have more economic and
financial clout today (in this world of crisis) than they have had in some time. There are
some reasons for this, not to assert any inappropriate traits in the German people, but, for
example, that German reunification for Europe was probably the greatest and most
beneficial event for all of Europe in a long, long time. This happening and its ramifications
created considerable value for the European continent, and inasmuch as many people in
Europe at this point believe they contributed to this, they now wish to harvest what they
believe they have sown. There are reasons to believe, other than the assertions of those
with a present will to power, that Berlin stood desparately on her own against the
48
communists for a long time, and the current fiscal and monetary well - being of the
German economy is due in fact to this unique, separate, and enteprise - oriented
resourcefulness as represented by Berlin (possibly one day in the future the new "capitol"
of Europe, cultural and otherwise.) That Berliners and those in other parts of Germany,
and this is an oversimplification of course, have resolved the vicious political syndromes
of the Cold War, and have for the long - term worked to assure the continuity of their own
society, and this in a world of political and economic integration, illicits no rationale calling
for Germans to bankroll the European crises at this point. There are precedents for this,
of political and administrative self - interest trumping overall European interests in the
past, and same for officials at the time within their regions and territories, voicing attitudes
against turning their national treasuries upside down to compensate the profligacy of the
d a y .
D i s c u s s .
A l s o :
http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/o/occupy_wall_street/in
dex.html and http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/wall-street-protestcontinues-for-third-day/2011/09/19/gIQAKqbffK_gallery.html#photo= 1
Occupy Walls Street ...

While again many Americans are voting with their feet and joining in a haranguing of the
New York financial capitol as well as regional financial centers, any observer needs to
know the reaction to what is publicized as a Wall Street cabal and conspiracy is nothing
more than a routine response to a significant panic that could further worsen conditions
for turning the economy around and creating new commercial and industrial value and
innovation. During the 1990's, when the individual investor became a securities market
driver (see Death of the Banker, Chernow,) more and more emphasis has been placed
on things like shareholder activism, capitalist agnosticism and throwing the baby out with
the bath water when the subject of investment valuation is discussed. SEC Chairman
Levitt's speech entitled "The Numbers Game," from years ago, outlines the accounting
and other practices some enterprises used to freshen their accounting data and
reporting. At the time it was given, the idea of more transparency had been cast by the
wayside due to short - term profitability concerns of many companies as related to
financial trading environments and equity share values. Chairman Levitt's idea was to
stop the shenanigans accounting - wise and get back to some fundamentals in the
mission of corporate finance such as assuring continuity of business(es) under the
corporate umbrella and doing away with some questionable accounting tactics in addition
to making the statements of dismal businesses representationally faithful so that
something could be done about their related financial condition, even by regulators and
overseeing authorities. On a national radio programme yesterday, I did listen to an
interpretation of the above with respect to what is now called (by O.W.S. personalities) a
"sell out" of the individual investor, or small guy in a conspiracy among the members of
the banking establishment. Blaming the established banking institutions and regulators,
officials and law makers does not examine the scope of what people believed they were
doing when money was "easy," and the only worry people really had, very many people
in America, was their tax burden. These individual investors, and investors in various
pension vehicles and other investments must not have fathomed (in fact, had not read
the small print) about risks, particularly market risk, in implementing what turned out to be
faulty asset allocations strategies, overleveraged investments and for what were for some
a number of pyramid and ponzi schemes. Despite the evident market risk and other,
more specific risks having to do with the types of investments some purchased or
49
constructed, individual investors decided to demand more abnormal returns (those that
are, simply, above average returns,) in a kind of herd that included millions of people who
apparently, again, understood the benefits of market increases, but not the risk of what
might happen if the market were to fall and the resulting risks of loss (and other things at
stake, such as their mortgage, credit worthiness, and the like.) If there was one inkling in
the minds of these millions of individual investors of the downside of any of the funds or
assets they put at risk, it was the "government" would take responsibility for their losses
through its various humongous financial departments such as the SIPC and FDIC, NASD
(quasi - bureaucratic) and so forth. Individuals are angry because they know they have
been reckless and are not due anything from anyone for their losses - this is the
remorseful thing, actually - and that is there were some crooks such as the Enron people,
Madoff and his people, and the rogue and insider traders (Gupta and Rajaratnam) of late
who have scandalised many, honest and hard - working bankers and other financial
parties to the establishment. It does seem nonetheless the marches are a reaction to an
unheard demand that someone individually take responsibility for investor losses,
acknowledge the whole thing has been a mistake, and pay everyone back. Nothing like
this has ever happened about a panic even as serious as the one at this time, and
certainly not after the most famous 1929 crash, nor the 1987 panic. The marches and
O.W.S. demonstrations indicate a kind of hysterics and anti - everything attitude and
fervor and ensure an attack on the integrity of the financial system, and investors' rights
before those who administrate their accounts. The entire O.W.S. movement could in fact
result in investors rights and activism becoming more restricted, curtailed and cordoned
as the result of the current national pandemonium organised by what appears to be
professional protesters and demonstrators. There is an answer to the logical bottom - line
question if it is, probably as it should be, away from "what happened," and more like
"Where did the investment (premiums) go?" The funds that went into the market at high
valuations, including the real estate markets, for assets that were purchased,
constructed, devised, etc., even in speculating in those assets have been devalued
themselves, some money has been spent, invested and even speculated again; some
has been expatriated, and some is still there. There are many permutations to this as well
about where the money went, and when huge losses are incurred by anyone, everything
just gets wrapped up on the balance sheets of some large corporate entity, one or more.
The annoying and more serious things are that people are now teetering financially and
are harried by life's expenses and the system has no resolution for that at the moment,
and despite the blaming behaviour of the O.W.S. movement that has really only
distracted and annoyed the people, parties and bureaus capable of resolving the
problems of the crisis are immovable as more difficulties are presented in once
depressing, once again optimistic news.
Vive U.N.E.S.C.O.!?
New York Times Article. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Steven P. Jobs (1955 - 2011)

Thursday, November 03, 2011
Media Photo. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
50
Four Days in July.

Saturday, November 05, 2011
open letter to unesco

A L'UNESCO: Chere Monsieur, Chre Madame: Ds les actualits sur une rception par
UNESCO de l'autorit palestinienne, je suis agac, par exemple, par l'usage du franais
par les terroristes y prsents en profrant des paroles sur une rsistance contre l'agenda
des Occidentaux prsents. En plus, la cause des palestiniens ne fait gure un appel
qu'aux nations non - alignes l'usage des bureaux UNESCO. Ceci soit depuis
longtemps connu, et aussi dont les actions anti - Europens des pays non - aligns,
surtout eux l'intention anti - Franais, et d'auprs mon point de vue priv tout fait
contre les bons intentions politiques et administratives d'autres pays, les EE.UU. inclus.
Au moment o j'tais Paris pour mes tudes (annes 1980,) et depuis, j'ai rencontr un
nombre de palestiniens qui partagent l'attitude illgal chercher des conflits contre
l'Isral et par contre promouvoir un dominance et influence arabes et de leur livre, le
Quran, dans le monde. Desormais l'poque de mes tudes en France, si je me rappelle
bien, l'UNESCO ait t vandalise (en attentat) au moins en partie par les palestiniens et
ft ferme pour un temps. Pourquoi donc cette admission aux bureaux de l'ONU? Les
ides promouvoir (encore) et raliser ce "laisser - entrer" sont bases sure des
principes trompeuses d'une mtaphysique dpasse de la deuxime guerre mondiale
contre la croyance hbraque et le christianisme. Etape par tape, la mtaphysique de la
lutte contre l'Isral et son peuple, au cours du XXme sicle, ait gagn une primaut sur
la scne mondiale sur une grande chelle plus d'une seule fois, et au rsultat d'un cot
de millions de vies, de gaspillage et dstruction inoues. Qu'est - ce que nous
demandons ici, part d'une tat d'esprit pareillement cibl sur un raisonnement de la
russite des dgts du sicle pass servant au prologue des conflits venir. Sinon des
conflits, peut - tre un rsurgence des esprits et attitudes contre - touts ce que
reprsentent l'Ouest et sa politique de base de la libert, galit, fraternit, et surtout
contre les israliens qui seraient rduits encore aux htes d'un pays quasi - Libanais. A
cause en direct de ce processus, et ici donne la France, pays Europen des rfugis,
on peut prvoir des situations telles que Sangatte, au nord du pays aux annes 2000; et
ceci pour des milliers de raisons, desquelles une pour chaque individu. Au niveau
personnel, je suis encore choqu par la manque et abandon du porte - parole Europen
et Franais sur le sujet de l'attitude encore militante des palestiniens, et l'ensemble des
pays non - aligns contre une propre gestion et influence partages par tous contre la
violence et terrorisme y encaisses. Bien vous, THS Californie, EE.UU.
51
How Is The Yuan Doing (even in China Proper)?

Sunday, November 20, 2011
There is no specific identity that shows the Renminbi is undervalued, but there are signs
of this, including that the economic leadership of that country, especially the central bank,
has worked to keep GNP growth ahead of inflation. That economically healthy countries
do this is a sign of good business and serves as a powerful attraction for investment
moneys, tourism, trade and internal commerce. The last time, for instance, many of the
older, established western countries enjoyed this type of commercial growth was long
ago, and the effect was simply blamed on the idea that these countries had colonies,
slaves, and so forth. The fact is that western countries woke up to different issues about
100 or so years ago, and realized that economic statistics and figures, even
unemployment statistics are of secondary importance to other socio - economic issues,
like productivity, capital flows, the number of cars on the road, alcohol statistics, the
problem with crime, and so forth. P.R.C. in toto has not begun to deal with these issues
on a public policy level, especially given the high rate of suicides among the populace,
the place of women and children in that society, and so forth.
So what arithmetic or geometric identity will tell whether or not the P.R.C. currency is
undervalued? There isn't one, but there was some time ago, a similar problem with the
Japanese Yen having a low value against the dollar (say during the 1960's - 70's.) I have
not checked the latest value of the Yen since it reached around 100 to the U.S. Dollar
some time ago (another overvalued currency.) The solution to the Yen value at the time
was a transitional mechanism, much is like what the Chinese have agreed to at this point,
but that mechanism is old and subject to subtrefuge as the Yen mechanism was.
One alternative to the current standard that measures the Renminbi instead of using the
U.S. Dollar is to peg the Chinese currency to gold, but at that juncture the Chinese will try
to buy all the gold they can with their Dollar reserves and that's not good, either. Another
alternative would be to slap the P.R.C. with trade sanctions until it allows its supported
currency to float freely. This would interfere with attempts by domestic Chinese policy
makers to improve the lot of their people while they are in a position to do so. The
question is, do we as holders of U.S. Dollars and Dollar assets, care about our Chinese
neighbors enough to want to let them build their country at significant expense to us. This
brings up an entire series of questions, including things like technology and human
resources "transfers" to P.R.C. that are actually government and corporate gifts to satisfy
unhappy people in their leadership (people like me some times use the term 'spoiled' to
describe this sort of character.) Further, in addition to the merchandise that is produced in
China and that we spend so much money on, how can we quantify the disinvestment and
'brain drain,' and technology exports, some of them clandestine and carried out by
cheaters in the system? Policy - makers everywhere who hold U.S. Dollars can not
quantify these and other factors that will contribute to a real valuation of the Renminbi.
People like me know that it is indeed difficult to revalue a currency that is sponsored or
supported by major bank operations, and not just those of the Bank of China (and I
mention this without reference to any specific, sovereign nation or financial institution,)
and that same of a state - controlled, essentially non - market economy that has grown
very large and powerful. Without mentioning the nature of the dangers of non - market
systems to capitalism and so forth, it is obvious that China produces many goods without
respect to purchasing power parity and other factors within the country of China and
maybe even within Asia as a region. This is what is so dangerous, when the leadership of
52
a sovereign nation represses things like needs and wants of its people, even major needs
and wants such as happiness, freedoms, success and so forth; about command
economies which P.R.C. in fact still is at this point. The reasons why are complicated,
especially the long - term consequences for trade and capital flows, but people like me
again do believe this current course of events could provoke a crisis, and in order to
avoid a crisis, P.R.C. should be called upon to re - value its domestic currency, and the
order of business is that eventually the role of the state in business, if it is as China
declares it to be - an agent to assure economic and investment success - will eventually
become less conniving and of secondary importance to the real creation of value and
wealth in P.R.C. itself. There is by analysis in China today a kind of 'will - to - power'
economically and politically in the world, and in other domains such as science and
culture, and it is important to mention there is nothing that will assure the growth of any
intrinsic value of that country apart from its historical role and reputation, even within
Asia, given the machinations of its policy makers today and how that translates into an
artificially low value for its trading currency. Investment possibilities, in fact investment
yields, and other measures of business success in other parts of the world and the
history of same; and their continued success have made the Chinese kind of angry and
envious at foreigners, and this despite some very meritorious things the Chinese people
represent.
This said, the Renminbi is without question undervalued, but by how much? The fact is,
everyone, including the man in the street has their own ideas, but in fact people like me
know China has used its debtor accounts and other accounts to influence purchasing
power parity, interest rates, and investment yields everywhere it sells products, some of
which are very good. That this should stop is a question that the P.R.C. leadership sees
as debatable, including the effect all this has had on its currency that is as much as 60 %
undervalued given various factors, and maybe more. Simple quantitative analysis of
Dollar reserves, current account balances, capital flows, interest rates, and other
numerous private information might yield a similar answer, but remember as well that
psychological factors and other influences in the currency markets might call for a further
devaluation of the Renminbi, and this remains to be seen. Despite what any reader of this
article might believe, what is written here is not specifically a response to U.S.
international Dollar values are, because I do not know them at this point. This writing is,
however, a response to Chinese economics, apparently as developed in Shang hai years
ago and then distributed everywhere (same, for instance, as the 'Hundred Flowers' under
Mao, but with practices that have been more dominant and more successful despite
questions about their legitimacy as have come out in arguments about currency values,)
and on and on. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
1970's music resurgence.

First of all, people like me know nothing about music. Then when one turns on the radio,
it is easy to distinguish, at least at my age, the differences between 'Led Zeppelin' and
'The Beatles,' or 'The Eagles,' and so forth. It might be all these bands are supposed to
sound the same, but they do not, and there is now apparently more 'Led Zeppelin' on the
airwaves these days, a very misunderstood band from the 1970's mostly, that has many
listeners among some who valued that musical group's unorthodox image and
outstanding sound, lyrics, and so forth; everything anyone talked about at the time that
was good musically, they had, maybe more than 'The Beatles.' In any event, with time
some of that band's lyrics and music seemed scripted, as some critics might have said at
53
the time - something to do with the age of the

players or how long the group had been around as
well as their imagery. 'Led Zeppelin' as a group
was / is terrifically underrated and has occult
status among some, probably against the wishes
of the band members. Their recordings are
wonderful to hear on the marketed radio programs,
but people like me do not really want to feel like a
youngster anymore; enough, already, and this
despite the great sound the group makes,
especially with the strings. On the other hand, it is
nice the group's music has lasted as long as it has.
I wonder if it would have been different had they
started as a blues or jazz band; would their sound
still be around?
Media photo. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
occupy what, where, how, why, when? (Click

here for original post.)
There is some cognitive dissonance I seem to have when reading this material: Since
when does education connect directly with success in the food chain (or guaranteed
success in anything)? While I have always believed people are who they are, and those
who pursue an education, particularly graduate programs have a different approach to life
apart from "job, transport home, sleep," for instance. They have their own reasons for
going to college and so forth.
When I was a student, again for example, no one told me or anyone I know there were
any guarantees in the modern world about winning in life through learning in the post secondary establishment. Most of the people I went to school with at college, even with
advanced degrees are educated workers; they are not super - high - earners or educated
intellectuals. This is the case with most educational institutions, even the very good ones,
I do believe.
There's no fallacy in the role of post - secondary educational schemes as we know them,
no fraud, and thus is presented one of the major problems you bring up in your writing no guarantees invites any excuse to politicize academic achievement and any and all
lack of motivation to achieve intellectually, or to in fact learn what in some pursuits is vital
material at the exclusion of 'diversifying' a learning experience at college and thereafter.
What's the point: As far as I know, college at this time is really for most people not an
experience of intellectualism and higher learning. It is apparently when people find out if
they have enough of "what it takes," or whether they have "got it," nowadays, regardless
of what is gained on an intellectual level. This is (subject to interpretation) an unfortunate
circumstance, but has been prevalent for me as a trait in academic institutions since
schools have openly been run as very large organisations and the people in them as
simple elements thereof, and the related role of administration in student / faculty life has
54
had an impact upon people's conduct that is in many cases detrimental to intellectual
pursuits, too.
The above, among other issues, has been publicly examined by people like William
Bennett [sic] who ran the federal education department for some time and who attempted
to first make the public more aware of these difficulties and then try to effectuate some
change in the role of education in our society. His efforts by some were viewed as too
difficult in their scope and scale and evaluated as even based upon backward ideas.
People like me do believe that the value of higher education, especially in the arts and
sciences and related academic and professional achievements, has been adulterated by
increasing dependence upon technology and computers (this is probably subject to
interpretation as well.) There are entire businesses devoted to selling methods and
practices to reward incapable people due to non - academic considerations and other
"success" factors. Why is this, it's just that the educational practices de jure sometimes
call for this. You hit a real nerve here, and anything subjectively submitted here gives
reasons for serious analysis of systemic failures in students' and later professionals'
inability to learn or to demonstrate their higher learning. Please pardon typographical
errors here.
The Quiet Vietnamese - Loren Jenkins

"Read this!" - The Quiet Vietnamese - Loren Jenkins My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
... Past tales of 'cloak and dagger.'

Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedki. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
In Memoriam
Monday, November 28, 2011
Many people of American origin are aggrieved at the
passing of Alekseev as well. I do remember watching
his Olympic competitions as a young person and the
guy was a perfect combination of technique and
muscle strength and a perfect example of the scientific
approach to athletic training as entertained by soviet
trainers at the time (1970's or so.) The remarkable
thing about his lifting was indeed the technique and he
had the most deft clean, and probably dead lift as well,
of many weightlifters at the time.
Alekseev, as I read about him, also raised things like
strawberries at his dacha, and had a truly gentle image
among Americans despite his athletic explosiveness
that endeared him to people everywhere. People such
as the 1970's Russian and other Eastern Block
55
athletes, as they became known in the West, showed a human side to the soviets, and at
least in part were responsible for mood around 'glasnost' and so forth that came later.
They were Peacemakers inside the controlled and channeled forces that ruled Olympic
and other international games at the time. People like me, again, are very sorry he is
gone, and I did not even know he was ill. God bless you for this sympathetic and
outstanding column on his life and legacy. More people need to read about this. My older
Human Tragedy, Sadness and Infamy (... to this

day.) Why This Anni...
Friday, December 16, 2011
Media Photograph
Experimentation here? What Was The Control?

(from theworld.org!)
Media Photo
Everyone Should Get A Book This Holiday

Season 2011.
Media Photo
56
Another "In Memoriam."

Media photo No one I know at this point really knew
who this person was despite his popularity as a
gifted writer and statesman. At least they did not
know of his death after a very productive,
controversial and full and fitful life. To those who
were even a little aware of the end of the political
threat that marxism posed to the world, and to the
control of society by armed dictature, the presidency
of Havel in Czech Republic was more significant than
western influences in Hungary or the long - standing
overtures of Yugoslavia to western Europe and the
States. By western influences, people like me mean
not only anti - establishment influences in the central
and eastern European societies, but the loosening of
control by then repressive regimes, efforts at
privatisation of business and commerce, and the
amnesties of known anti - regime activists and unknown anti - communists alike. Havel
was an iconic personality with his arts background and mastery of the Czech voice for
political and societal reform at the end of the Cold War. He was also probably for anyone
a tremendous person to meet. Any looking into the conditions he lived under during his
adulthood will confirm this. The world has truly lost a great personality and iconic
character in view of freedom and social justice in the face of the bureaucratic and
byzantium nightmare of communist influences and their regimes and the will to power of
their leaders, officials, agents and secret agents everywhere. See the "Economist" article
below.
Vclav Havel, playwright and president

Dec 16th 2011
EARLY in 1989, your correspondent, newly arrived in communist Czechoslovakia,
passed an empty building in the Podoli district of Prague. Someone had written in the
grime inside the window: "Svoboda Havlovi"[Freedom for Havel]. It was an interesting
moment. The jailed playwright (as we used to call him) was behind bars for hooliganism
following an opposition demonstration. The authorities could jail individuals. But they had
lost the will, or the capability, to police the inside of shop windows.
57
See the full article

http://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2011/12/v%C3%A1clav-havelmemoriam
Visithttp://www.economist.comfor more global news, views, and analysis from The
Economist.
Also: http://www.rferl.org/section/rferl_remembers_vaclav_havel/2068.html
Definitely Not "Professional" Protestors - An

Authentic Impression
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Media Photo
The nature of the protests in Moscow at this point, and in the foreign capitols is
impressive as many Russians are seen to be apolitical, and however reluctantly,
followers of the leaders of the current regime. The reasons for this are that Russia itself
does appear to still be dealing with breaking from its leftist orientation during the 1900's,
and the current regime does promise better economic and business development for the
country as a way of dealing with this. These are just two simple reasons (promises) that
allow for the populace to usher in the Putin regime in 2012. That even small protests
have taken place, and in cities abroad, indicates the overall scepticism of Russians about
'Team Putin,' as well as the renewed emphasis in government apparently on the military
and security services. The reaction of the crowds in Moscow and abroad are classic with
respect to the apparent resented and reviled alchemy of the state to exercise dominion
over its populace at home and abroad and its political promises among other things.
That there is question as to the legitimacy of results of recent elections gives rise to
ordinary curiosity about related details and the methods of the various parties who
benefited from the outcome of the elections. Usually, even in political regimes that are
quite large, there is some acquiescence as to official looking into the election problems,
and then some certification of results either way. The protests do not appear thus to have
enough of an impact to warrant this, even to test the proposition of improprieties, and this
is probably the result of the spontaneity of the gatherings and some lack of organisation
and influence over the regime that ignores them apart from security issues. It is
unfortunate the crowds are pointing out the unfulfilled promises of the post - Soviet era,
and it is as well unfortunate there appears to be no direction in Russia today along the
lines of more liberal reforms: The regime continues to favour a public emphasis on
heavily profitable commercial activities, business influences as beholden to the state, and
public policy, even confiscatory and intrusive as it can be, probably just as arbitrary as it
was before the Yeltsin era. All these points bring up more politics and some of these are
points of contention that will never be resolved, and because, and again anew, the
regime has found fertile and profitable ground in fixed ideas and a preoccupation with
constitutional decisiveness and a strict rule of law, centrism, the regional power and even
arbitrary edicts of Moscow and its workings over all of the country.
One is far from the dictature of the proletariat here, it does seem, and there is
nonetheless a 'United Russia' party line that dispenses with the efforts at forming a
government of consensus or some coalition of parties and interests without regard to
58
efforts to further centralise rule and pre - determine regional politics as secondary to
those in Moscow. This is a kind of tradition in politics and administration in Russia and is
important insofar as constitutional and other powers and rights of the people are
concerned - especially insofar as it is allowed through public debate and resolution
through the coming elections.
Perhaps not indefensible monetary policy, and

the results of much h...
Media Photo The "Operation Twist" policy
of the U.S. Federal Reserve at this point
might just be a palliative against the greater
problems presented by long - term deficits
and the Great Recession overall, but it
surely might serve as an example about
what to do for future remedies to U.S.
economics issues in the future: Decreasing
long - term yields of Treasury bonds
reduces and / or manages the idea of
inflationary influences, including
expectations on the future business and commercial climate of the U.S. nationally and
with respect to the overall impact of U.S. business on the world economy. Not only does
the dampening of long - term yields reduce the influence of inflation, which might or might
not lessen itself due to this policy, but the expectations about future bond yields can have
an effect on asset prices, national business growth and its parameters, and things like
future hiring and productivity among other vital indicators and elements of the economy.
How did the Federal Reserve come up with such an idea? It has in fact probably carrying
out this "Twist" policy for years without the economic and statistical precision the Fed is
using at this point as a fine - tuning measure to monetary policy. The recent actions as
carried out by the "Twist" might also have a desired effect on the value of the dollar,
lending more stability to this currency while others continue to claw and scrape away at it
(Renminbi, Euro, Yen, and even the peso.) The current monetary policy designed to do a
number of things to ameliorate economic conditions for all Americans shows the
imaginative qualities of the Fed Chairman, Ben Bernanke and his chief economists and
staff, in that it relieves somewhat the short - term stresses on the national economy in
many areas, especially with respect to growth prospects and industrial operations as
linked to economic indicators. That does not go to say health care, retail, construction,
insurance and securities, aerospace, and other sectors are ignored in the Fed's current
efforts to foster growth; these industries are relatively autonomous and do well depending
upon overall and other business conditions. What this does mean is America might not
fall into the same economic projects that other developed economies did in past years,
chiefly during the 1980's and 1990's, where attempts at growth overall, again, were
financed, and this led to other difficulties when business conditions did not improve.
Investors and market makers now have choices as to the way to steer their economic
concerns with more precision, and this might allow the U.S. economy to begin emerging
again from the slack it has experienced of late. THS My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
59
Who is for whom ... ?

Media Photo
... [Hidden] Dragon (informally.)

Without respect to a single statistic, it is important to have the idea, if you are an informed
person, that the development and proliferation of massively destructive arms is
dangerous. Dangerous not only as far as the intended use of the weaponry and its
proliferation (again,) but to the makers of such arms and the danger of retaliation. It is
clear, in the nuclear arms developments in countries like Iran, the purpose of such things
is primarily twofold: a. Such things serve to signify and determine the arrival and
importance of nation - states like Iran on the international stage, and b. As a retaliatory
threat against any attack on any area of Iranian influence in the Middle East.
No one has doubted for a long time that Iran is an important country and that even in the
time of its recent revolution, as a country, it influenced politics and ideas in many areas,
especially Islamic ideas, that have provoked major and salient debates and discussions
for a long time, both among national leaders and men in the street. That Iran wishes, and
this apparently, to assert its nuclear power and by that nuclear threat(s,) not only in the
Middle East, but in prepondering fashion, as a bargaining chip to invite and extract tribute
from other nations in its immediate vicinity and beyond does indeed lack some sense in
what it might otherwise do to make friends and influence people. Many people, and this
due to what came out in the debates among the so - called great powers in the 1980's, do
understand the visceral fear Eastern culture has about western ideas and society
approaching and then invading its regions, among other things. The argument of Iran in
its tacit avoidance of speaking about this gives cause for suspicion about its motives in
developing a massively destructive arms complex. The same is true of other states who
are developing nuclear weapons as well.
The visceral fear about societal and cultural influences invading and corrupting Islamic
culture are indicative of pre - nuclear age nationalism as applied to the modern world and
its present and potential security risks without respect to not only what is (the
international status quo, to use old language,) but what might be. A reasonable person,
when examining things like the financial expense and energy, and other outputs
necessary to the inputs of a nuclear arms complex, and the proportions of effort in a
country such as Iran as used to develop such a complex and its capabilities resulting
from deployment of such arms, probably will not agree that this state should have them.
60
This level of analysis comes from a strict examination of the scope of developing and
deploying such arms, maintaining them and so forth; and this against NPT and other
rules that are widely accepted by the great powers. In fact, the strident call for such
nuclear attributes in that country appear to be out - of - balance with any analysis of the
allocation of its national assets, investments, income and / or capital.
Why is this so apparent? While people like me do not read nor watch Arabic or Farci
broadcasts, nor do we read publications in these languages, the thing is there is a
common and known premise upon which Iran carries out its policies as evidenced by
news reports, mostly trusted in free countries, that country is doing the bidding of others
who are fed up with western ideas about society and specifically about government
(bicameral legislature, separation of powers, rule of law (constitutional, civil, and others,)
equality and rights, freedom of travel and expression, and the list goes on,) and the
approach of the great powers to a little country called Israel. This begs the question "How
can an Islamist have any regard for Israel with its reform - minded and cosmopolitan
people and ideas?" This question, and its variants and derivatives is an old, nationalist type question that invites direct slurs and epithets on the part of people who are not
prejudiced among their own, but they are thereby highly nationalist and belligerent, and
the smaller the better the country with fewer people, the easier the target for this mindset
- and this has been true on the part of Middle East neighbors for years. The implications
of this question by association to Israel can be scaled upward to apply to more populous
and important places, even entire regions whose applecarts are for the upset by Iranian
nuclear, and other political ambitions. With respect to this, and with respect to Iranian
influences and politics now in evidence everywhere, the post - nationalist question might
be proposed as "What can we do [together] to make a new approach to nuclear
proliferation in view of these nationalist ideas?"
That this could be accomplished, just proposing a new approach to nuclear arms in the
Middle East and elsewhere with some acknowledgement of the belligerence that goes
along with some forms of nationalism, might itself be a way to invite a response to end
the currents of what people like me know to be overt racism in the area as a tabled or
distinctly different avenue of discussion apart from the current linkage racism and
nationalism have there. This, combined with a discussion about the visceral fears of
being struck from outside, would serve to de - escalate at least some of the tensions that
caused, for example, the 2006 war, continuing problems in Lebanon, and the useless
formation of paramilitary brigades and other activities counter to peace in the area.
... as if (a twenty - foot tall) Lenin - Book Review.

Sunday, February 05, 2012
On Conspirator (Rappaport, Basic Books, 2010.) There are many good books, including
this one, published about Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin,) and his spouse who survived
him by years (Nadezhda Konstantinova Krupskaya,) though most of them examine his
entire life starting with childhood through his passing in after the Russian Civil War. This
text by Helen Rappaport gives a portraiture of only his pre - revolutionary resume as a
brother of Aleksandr who conspired against the Tsar and was executed, up through his re
- entering Russia as allowed by the Germans to pass through Switzerland and other
territories. Almost in parallel with the death of Aleksandr was Lenin's time as a student at
university in Kazan and where he was involved in student demonstrations that got him
61
expelled from law school. The deaths of Aleksandr, his father and sister, all happening
within a short time of each other, and with his exodus from university, Lenin started to
travel abroad. It is important to note the text illustrates prominently his provincial location
within old Russia at this point (1888 or so) and his life of intrigue and growing influence
that began in rural Russia, his ideas about travel abroad and its educational qualities, his
meetings with Swiss communists, and other pursuits including his study of Karl Marx in
exile that captivated generations of Russians. Saint Petersburg was a likely hotbed of
leftist ideas against the Romanovs, not only due to the location of the opportunistic
opposition within Russia, but the town was quite easily reachable in Russia from most
European capitols. Of these, and outside his time in Siberia, Lenin resided or visited
virtually all the important ones, especially Prague, London, Paris, Berlin, Geneva,
Krakow, Brussels, and of these, he naturally liked Geneva where the communists abroad
were led at the time by Georgi Plekhanov, another name to remember. Lenin's greatest
achievement apart from the leader of the worldwide communist movement, in life and in
his passing, was the overall successful publication of underground literature, including
the newspaper Iskra, or "The Spark," which made the authorities of the time very wary as
the Okhrana deliberately intercepted this publication in the mails several times. Lenin
worked feverishly on all publishing projects, much like some people work feverishly on
the same sorts of material today. He might have lived longer had he been more patient
with himself, though no one like me really shares that opinion. The drama of this time that
Ms. Rappaport illustrates very well is the political gamesmanship of the communists as
led by Lenin abroad and then at home that concentrated on literary propaganda, spying,
organised criminal activities, and other communist party actions of the day that resulted in
the ouster of the Tsar and his family, popular dissension against the Russian royals, and
the vengeance against them that resulted in their deaths after a new government had
come to power. Not all of this is examined comprehensively, nor is the actual importance
of the war in revolutionary times; and the book ends with the story of the Lenin train
leaving from Switzerland with its destination as the Russian capitol, a trip that took place
within the sinister framework of the conquered German territory at the time. This book
seemed important to me as it illustrated the frenetic character of the communist
leadership in pre - revolutionary days, the overall purpose of communism on a multi national scale as a foundation for political success, and as a movement affected by and
perhaps determinative of the chaos in Eastern Europe early in the 20th century. THS My
Anita Hill (speaks again.)

Media Photo
Ms. Hill was originally put under the national spotlight during the Justice Thomas
confirmation hearings. While Justice Thomas has proven to be in the public eye quite a
good justice, Ms. Hill has chosen to have a profile that is less public than she might
otherwise have while taking academic jobs in U.S. Eastern schools. I listened to a replay
in California today of her recent public interview meeting with Robert Reich of the
University of California and author of many books and articles geared to readers in the
business world. Ms. Hill has many revolutionary ideas despite her apparently more
moderate background, training, and education. She expressed in the interview, among
other points, her ideas about equality and gender, and other rights issues with a kind of
"go out and get it" philosophy. One should try to listen to these types of interviews as they
give a perspective on the wisdom of our system in giving everyone a voice after some
62
ups and downs, again for everybody. Ms. Hill and

Justice Thomas, in the view of people like me, were
some time ago locked into a vicious mutual
antagonism probably due the mistakes and
missteps of other people around them who were
climbing a career ladder, arrivistes, yahoos, and so
forth. That the Thomas hearings were as they were
created issues for everyone in the related
communities that make one want to question the
morality of public hearings and the power of same
to wreak havoc, probably just due to public curiosity
and the need for a story, in the lives of those
attending to them. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Glenn: February 20, 1962

Monday, February 20, 2012
... and his precursor, Alan Shephard (May 5, 1961.) Please pardon the links, and no
matter your expertise, do NOT do this at home. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
L'anti - anti mmoire

Media Photo
Une Rencontre - Milan Kundera.
Ce livre de Milan Kundera, un auteur aussi
lettr que tous les auteurs dans la
littrature d'aujourd - hui, mme plus,
exprime pour la plupart les rencontres
envers les anes de Kundera et ses amis
intellectuels; ceux - ci tant de tous les
coins du monde et de tous les formations et
influences. Aussi pour la plupart ils taient
des hommes influents dans l'art et la
littrature, quelques d'entre eux frent ses
aiux intellectuels, et la majorit encore
taient vivants au moment o Kundera les aient connus. Au cours de ce mmoire en
forme de roman, on aurait tenu sance avec Francis Bacon, Samuel Beckett, Picasso,
Bergsson, Valry, Dostoevsky, Cline, Biensczyk (un autre influent Tchque,) Anatole
France, Rabelais, Beethoven, Carlos Fuentes, Xenakis, Brton, Csaire (du Hati,) Vera
Linhartova, Oscar Milosz, Ernest Breleur, Janacek, Schenberg, et Max Brod, Philip
Roth, et Malaparte, parmi d'autres romanciers, ecrivains, artistes, exils, musiciens et
encore des grands personnages du prsent et d'antan. Les thmes sur l'cran de ce
texte mettent un appui sur l'art abstrait, quoqu'il soit le genre, critique, existentiel,
romantique, raliste, et encore, abstrait; tous intgrs l'histoire de ce mmoire intgral
qui rappelle au lecteur les ralits et les rveries, la mmoire et les oublis de ces
63
personnalits Tchques, Allemands, Franais, Canadiens, Anglais, Russes, et autres

localits ayant fit face aux non - conformistes et legs des radicaux de Mai 1968 et ses
consquences: Ceci tant le thme sur tous les ides courantes de ce texte - et les
vnements Prague, Paris, et partout. Beaucoup de ce texte fut consacr a la mortalit
de ces personnages au moment de leurs vies et la conduite de leurs vies et
responsabilits en connaissance des effets de la guerre, surtout celles de la deuxime
guerre et la guerre froide. La vie illustre et les funrailles d'Anatole France ont mis en
relief les dtails saisissants des histoires des personnes faisant partie et soutenues lors
ces paragraphes rappellant des oublis et crits sur les exils, les listes noires, les
condamns resortissants de l'Europe de l'Est et ailleurs en Amrique et au Canada.
L'histoire illustrait galement ct des migrs les amis de Kundera qui ont rest avec
l'ide l'esprit que les exils dans leurs propres pays et rgions n'y revenaient pas ds la
fin du communisme. Les raisons pour avoir vit une piste de retour dans leur pays
aprs la fin de la guerre froide, sont laisses au lecteur, mais l'exemple de, et
perceptions sur la vie de Malaparte nous donnent des aperus nous - mmes sur le sujet
de l'exode partir des pays de l'Europe de l'Est et autres ou l'on trouvsse il y a une fois
des communismes. Dans le texte, autant de dtails mettent en relief ces ides sans leur
discuter directement en relief et aussi entre les lignes. Ce texte, sommaire de "rencontre"
entre lecteur et auteur et ses personnages, soit donc un volume pour la lecture et de
nouveau pour la re - lecture.
Un ami, Fouad.
Cadeau. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
... another book review (click here.)

Media Photo In Judging Edward Teller, by
Istvan Hargittai, another Hungarian from a
subsequent generation who met Teller, the
story of the life of this prominent nuclear
engineer / scientist is told from start to finish
using an excellent narrative style and
attention to the details of Teller's life that
keep the pages turning. The story begins
with the birth of Teller in Hungary on
January 15, 1908, his early life and early
scientific training in Hungary. Then his
continued training in Germany and later,
study in American academia, and of course
his role in the development of nuclear
weapons. Teller is associated with four other
Hungarian scientists of his age who made
outstanding contributions to their own fields - Leo Szilard, Theodore Von Karman, John
Von Neuman, and Eugene Wigner [and Edward Teller.] All the people Teller knew were
international people and his story as developmental of a great mind is compelling and is
told substantively while evading overriding but salient topics such as the nazification of
64
Central Europe during his youth, the bitter battles of World Wars I and II, and other
conflicts that obviously battered European society and caused many to emigrate outside
the continent permanently after WWI, for example. That this story leaves out people like
Andrew Grove of Intel, another of Teller's young colleagues is a kind of snub, unless
these people were indeed very unaware of each other which is unlikely.
The text examines anew the development of the hydrogen bomb in a way any reader can
comprehend and largely avoids political considerations, but does illustrate the importantly
damaging spying the soviets did on the U.S. nuclear program. It is in all respects a moral
triumph and a practical one that Teller's hydrogen bomb was never used, but that it has
carried much weight as a talisman of superiority for the U.S., and rightly so, in any talks
about arms that took place between the Americans and U.S.S.R. / R.F. up to this day. For
another review, click here. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Tom Lehrer aside... (click here, too.)

Media Photo
Why don't you just stick to "Turandot," the food

and drink, and so on?
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Media Photo With all that is being taught about the P.R.C. lately in schools, and with the
books that have appeared about its style of capitalism as state - sponsored with heavy
emphasis placed upon labour productivity and discipline, we as Americans and
westerners might take a different approach to P.R.C. and its current role in the world,
even as the second most powerful world economy, and without respect to revisionism.
Once one reads about the "Great Leap Forward," "Hundred Flowers," "Cultural
Revolution," "Gang of Four," and even stories about the beginning of the last century in
places like Bei jing and Shang hai and the role of these and other places, including Nan
jing, up through and including the Chinese revolution that ended with the founding of the
P.R.C. in 1949; it is impossible to skip over the way this nation treats its own people and
the way it presents them to the public here in the West. We could take a lesson from the
former soviets on how to deal with our own commercial and business self - interest and
the Chinese in reminding them of some of their bureaucratic shortcomings resulting in
lives pilloried and wasted, many of them in building the society in China today as
restrictive and productive as it apparently is as compared to the western world.
65
It might be possible, and this without professing a moral

higher ground, with regard to the P.R.C.'s current market
power and growing military and public financial interests
and insinuations, to appreciate the culture of P.R.C. (not
T'ai wan) as having led up to this for a long time, even
from before pre - revolutionary days. One comparison one
might make between mainland China of old and today
starts with the T'ai pings who can be likened to
communist conservatives who showed a kind of
Christianism in their belief system, however distorted that
vision of Christ was. The Chinese communists of today
with their apparent assimilation of western methods and
commercial ideas and practices appear as somewhat
palatable followers of western methods, and agnostic at
the most (again seemingly) with respect to their attitudes
about western people that actually range from extreme xenophobia to ordinary
Orientalism. This is similar to the use of western ideas used by the T'ai pings to try to
take over the country during the mid - 1800's, provoking a bloody civil war that threw a
good part of the provinces and Bei jing back politically and commercially quite a ways,
given the status of Hong Kong, Shang hai and other places, including the capitol after the
civil war there had ended.
Media Photo It is entirely possible the primacy, however implied by commercial statistics
and business methods and rules to date as developed by the Chinese for their own
purposes, of the P.R.C. at this point should be called upon to fall back on its laurels of
Oriental culture, arts and hospitality, including the overall national emphasis on social
interactions and festivities and holidays. What might prompt this? When was the last time
you valued a product as "Made in China" for anything other than its strictly financial
economy? Without respect to public finances that are needed by its satellites in Asia and
the role P.R.C. currently plays in public finance, that country should continue to try
defying its role in the world as a rich copy cat, for example, among others, but at the
same time need accept that its style of economy pretends to and bears and depends
upon being a witness to the detriment of the Occidental powers. This is in the doctrine of
its core ideology and the pronouncements of the country's founders, not so long passed,
in Mao T'se toung and Zhou En lai, and others sacrificed on the internal hecatomb of that
country starting with its, again internal uprisings at the end of the Qing dynasty. In
exemplary mainland Chinese fashion, the current leadership has made all attempts to get
away from this through doubling and redoubling financial and commercial efforts as
managed, and as expanding the political and military outreach of the country in a kind of
indirect belligerency against all its liberals. With respect to the legacy of the past, the
political role of P.R.C. and its satellites at this point needs be re - examined with respect
to the overall legitimacy of its demanding role in world affairs (as the "Crouching Tiger, ...
.") My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
66
What the U.S. Can Learn from China, by Ann Lee

- Book Review.
Media Photo Ms. Lee, who is a gifted
college professor, chose 2012 for the
publication of this text that might have been
more timely two or so years ago, despite a
cogent assessment of current economic
conditions in P.R.C. as greatly improved
and characterised by multiple commercial
successes, especially in view of the
economic health of China as illustrated in
2008 going forward. Ms. Lee first speaks in
this book about her many contacts in
P.R.C., and through her experiences in
academia and other pursuits, including her career in securities trading, that America
develop more trust, integrity, better emphasis on education, re - write some of its more
outlandish laws, re - build its infrastructure, focus on competitiveness - all this in realizing
her future potential. Further, Ms. Lee indicates China now has more of everything than
most any world power at this point - more college grads, more billionaires, automobiles,
and companies, in addition to its expanding G.D.P. that currently is at 8.225 trillion U.S.
dollars. China is nonetheless still an emerging market country, and a source of cheap
labour where people are flocking to the cities and where agriculture, the heart of the
Cultural Revolution some time ago, has given way to other business activities. Ms. Lee
notes the dictates of the grossly - indebted western powers to the emerging markets have
mostly been destructive due to things like an Oriental high regard for education and its
emphasis on Confucian thought. The western powers themselves apparently have
financial troubles at this point due to immoral business practices, wealth inequalities, and
inappropriate emphasis away from things like proper education / pedagogy and fair pay
for a day's work. There are no guarantees in the world of democracy, but America has a
long - standing waning of people participating in democracy itself through exercising their
right to vote, and a waning itself of values on education and equalities. The U.S.,
apparently to Ms. Lee with respect to China is more like a plutocracy and / or an Alice in
Wonderland. As a response to the lack of success of the Cultural Revolution, the
leadership in China has classically re - interpreted its lessons to place its legacy today on
uniting the party to serve the Chinese people. This has the effect of making Chinese
leaders more proactive and a view in the Orient of democracy as a tainted system at
present. "Capitalism with Chinese Characteristics" in this text is a form of that system as
helped by the state in calling for labour's drive to succeed and watching over the state
and the enterprise, where decisions are centrally controlled and the people have a
comprehensive business strategy including central planning. The closest thing to the Five
- year Plan in China in the U.S. is apparently named as the federal budget process, and
this process apparently suffers from, as do some other areas of the U.S. economy
according to Ms. Lee, "short - termism," or myopia - the hedge funds that ballooned
during the 2000's and then later had difficulties staying afloat are used to illustrate this.
Operating a business in the P.R.C. is referred to in the text as "Swimming with the
Sharks," given the overall enormous success of the innovative enterprise zones and state
- owned enterprises, that she incidentally suggests might be a good recipe for the U.S.
Other difficulties are suggested concerning the American economy, including the
67
manipulative villains who run some financial centers, lobbies and so forth. The
commercial approach of China to Africa and Latin America is discussed as a successful
"win - win" model of business development. In this narrative, only Israel, U.K. and
Canada are supposed to be friends with the U.S., not too rosy a picture. The U.S. on the
other hand is supposed to have excellent societal traits such as its sales people, a strong
dollar, evident public cynicism, and the glamour of the media. Ms. Lee suggests goals
currently being pursued in P.R.C. in the area of macroeconomics including eradicating
hunger, increasing the wages of the working class, and avoiding tragedies such as that
currently in the Sudan. She calls upon the growth models as preached by Soros, Rogoff,
Summers, and Zoellick; including the consideration of a single global currency, and more
effective use of S.D.R.'s. She also acknowledges China's sketchy human rights record
and Nobel Prize winner Liu Xiao bo, ominous military developments in both the U.S. and
China, and other politics of ascendancy. The text goes on to caution the reader about
stagnation in China despite a bright and just future. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Modern Day Hiroshima? ... and the 'Shinto priest.'

Thursday, April 26, 2012
Original March 2011 story in the international news.
... of someone who lived through Hiroshima.
Media Photo.
OR, EN PROVINCE (AU DELA DE PARIS...)

Photo Media Cliquez - ici pour l'article TF3.
A VOUS DEMANDER PARDON SANS

TOUS LES LETTRES, BATONS, ET
CHIFFRES PROPRES AU CLAVIER
FRANCAIS: LE MOT DESCARTES SOIT DEPUIS LONGTEMPS UN MOT CLEF POUR
TOUS LES GENTS DE LOCCIDENT, MEME AU NIVEAU DE SES IDEES ETANT
EXPRIMEES DANS LES TEXTES PHILOSOPHIQUES DE NOS JOURS. IL EST
POSSIBLE QUE LE RUMEUR SUR LES VAMPIRES SINTERESSANT DE LOBJET DU
68
CRANE DE DESCARTES EXISTE DEPUIS LONGTEMPS AUSSI. AU MOMENT DE

MON ENFANCE, ON MA DEMANDE PERSONELLEMENT SI JE VOULAIS VOIR
GRATUITEMENT AVEC UN LAISSER PASSER CE CRANE FORMIDABLE,
DORENAVANT PLACE DANS LA BIBLIOTHEQUE NATIONALE. POUR LE PREMIER,
JADMIRAIS CE GENT, MAIS JE NAVAIS PAS ENVIE SPECIALEMENT DE
CONTEMPLER LA TAILLE DE SA TETE, PAR EXEMPLE. DEUXIEMENT, JE ME
CROYAIS AUSSI A LA MORBIDITE DEJA ETANT DONNE LE PROPOS. PLUS LOIN,
JAVAIS VU DES PORTRAITS DES ETUDES DES CRANES HUMAINS, ET UNE
SEULE CURIOSITE SUR CE POINT, ET JE ME CROYAIS EXPULSE DE TOUS.
LES RUMEURS SONT APPARAMMENT DANS LE DOMAINE DE LA POSSIBILITE
DES LORS LE PROPOS DE REMUER DE NOUVEAU CE CRANE FAMEUX DEPUIS
LA BIBLIOTHEQUE NATIONALE, JUSQUE DANS LA MUSEE DE LHOMME
ENTRE CRO MAGNON ET UN FOOTBALLEUR, JUSQUEN PROVINCE (POINT
DORIGINE?) JAI PRIS MON LAISSER PASSER ET JE LAI GARDE DANS LAS
POCHE PENDANT DEUX JOURS SANS VOULOIR DEPLACER, MANIER,
ENDOMMAGER CE CRANE NI AVEC MA PRESENCE, NI AU NIVEAU DE CE QUON
PEUT IMAGINER. MALHEUREUSEMENT, CET AIEUL NEST PAS PARMI NOUS
POUR PRONONCER SES SOUHAITS LA DESSUS (ENDROIT DE DOMICILE,) ET
AU LIEU DE CONSIDERER LA VALEUR DE LA TRADITION EN LE GARDANT DANS
PARIS, ON PLUTOT SAISIT SON OMBRE POUR LE CONTRAINDRE EN PROVINCE.
CETTE PREOCCUPATION AVEC LENDROIT A VOIR DESCARTES A PART DU
CENTRE DE PARIS DOIT ETRE CONSIDEREE DE NOUVEAU UN DISCOURS EN
DESSUS DE TOUT DE CELUI VERSANT LARGENT DE LA PATRIE FRANCAISE A
NOUSE ENTENDRE PARLER, LUI AUSSI. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
A gauche, gaucher, ...

That the French have recently provoked a new socialist rally in Europe by their most
recent election is not surprising, especially given the propensity for the French people
against austerity and other restrictive measures in their history. Originally, the French
Revolution of 1789 itself might be construed at least in part a reaction to a kind of belt tightening of its kind in the day. The new socialist banner in the form of the French tricolor
flying over the Elysee these days has one hearkening to the days, obviously, of the
Mitterand regime of 1980's - 1990's character; a government at the time in tepid
acceptance of the Stalinist past of Eastern Europe, and hedging its bets against anyone
who might emerge victorious in the Cold War at the time (concluded probably officially in
1991, though marxism is apparently still officially, again, alive and well in a number of fine
and notable nation - states at this point in 2012.) The occasional resurgence of socialist
politics in France, a la Martine Aubry, can not be interpreted literally as an overall
acceptance of marxism in its various forms, but more a reaction to the politics of Charles
de Gaulle that sought, despite the practical difficulty of this, to assert the identity and
influence of the French everywhere and in as many societal domains as possible in order
to separate the identification of France from that of a wine and cheese society. De Gaulle
did chase the grail of national identity in his own country, first through his military career
and a number of wars, of which the terrible fights in places like Indochina and Algeria,
away from colonial convenience and exploitation into the more modern world of industrial
- strength international politics and administration.
Many of his countrymen in de Gaulle's time felt a great sacrifice for colonial ties and their
efforts at socio - economic development of the colonies. This de Gaulle also attempted to
69
deal with by dissolving administrative ties and domains in many places that resulted in
the French colonies and national territory shrinking significantly from status as the second
world colonial power behind U.K. to perhaps the tenth. People resented this, and as such
this policy created many acute dramas in the politics of de Gaulle and his followers. That
the general passed from complications of angina late in life and that his departure from
life was entirely natural was the envy of many French who worked in the colonies and
believed in a far - reaching and influential France. De Gaulle knew and knows in his
entombment the influence of France is no less, and perhaps greater than in the days of
the larger colonial territories and the debate on maintaining and keeping them or allowing
them independence according to his belief was resolved in that even disaffected and far flung places would keep their French identity, and they have done so to a great extent.
The socialists who have come to power in that country in the latest presidential elections
are not gaullists, even in the least, though they do believe in enhancing French influences
in the world via different channels and different media, especially in the Southern
Hemisphere, the Pacific Islands, and in the world at large that needs to develop a new
appetite for French culture and institutions. The socialists in Europe do believe in the
superiority of urban life and while centric ideas are important and have a place, it is also
important to know this is on the level of popular taste, not popular practice or any realm of
possibility for most people. French cities are like any big cities that have a heterogenious
population and many indigenous people seek out more frugal ways to live when the
country is under socialist influence, somewhat due to leftist backlashes but due also to
real considerations about where the Paris - Bourse and the real estate markets are going
in that country right now. Under Mitterand, these two important sectors of the French
economy were decimated, and the national treasury took on ways to build up the scale of
government and implement works projects, even needlessly replacing pavestones,
signposts and so forth. Francois Hollande and his government are a derivative of this as
the country has all the edifices it needs and a currently a tangled bureaucracy at the
occasion of his inauguration a few days ago, for the most part. What can the French do to
avoid an exodus of capital and intangibles in view of Hollande's inheritance of the
Mitterand regime and methods, and practices as off - the - shelf?
There is probably not very much that can be done first to assuage the French voting
public who were irate enough with conservative measures to give the Hollandes a small
majority mandate, and then to address the myriad of problems around public and
international finances affecting the country at this point. All this, though the socialists did
comprise new methods to keep people at work and active, and additional benefits of
equalizing opportunities and socio - economic statures of everyone in the nation and
everywhere the French internationally are evindent as well. The difficulty of this, as a
legacy of first, again, the reluctance to continue with conservative policies, and then
building the French image and commercial success anew will probably be much more
expensive than anyone can imagine at this point into the future. The profile of the country
at this point might be more similar in character to an Argentina, or Portugal, for instance,
with incipient and multiple systemic flaws in the weave of its political and administrative
landscape. France might even have difficulty selling tourism and its own cooking as
places like New York, Brazilia, and Toronto have appeal for people with more gainful and
promising adventures for travelers right now.
Imitating the soviets and the form of socialism the country suffered through during the
1980's while blaming circumstances on the parties to the Cold War, the new French
president Hollande probably has to speak with a thicker, more urbane, national accent;
will have to materialize to an extent the requirement to stop the presses on his
70
associates' economic and administrative aspirations, and the French might as well have
to re - calibrate their societal efforts in different territories to allow the domestic
government to continue with its convenience policies. This might in turn provoke some
regret on the part of French voters against Sarkozy who pledged austerity and other
economic measures not based upon a national decline, but issues in need of immediate
remedy and immediate priority on the front - end. Socialism according to the Hollande
government might just include a minimalist approach to overall policy as a saving
measure despite the large political and societal landscape his administration has to
cover, and despite the complexities of the country's international place. Then, some sort
of "radiant future," or success campaign(s) including public finance might help the
economy in its turbidity. This will take time as the world economy has to recover and the
new leadership obviously will have its adventures and meddling to continue the intrigue.
It is still in the air in places, ...

... and the ground, the streams and rivers, in all you see in places like Prague, Silesia,
Lublin, ... (click here.) My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
[De l'histoire d'Ypres - ] je me souviens.

Media Image
Une vue (au propos) de ce jour.

Web Photo My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
71
(an admirable time ...) ... without swearing

allegiance.
Sunday, June 03, 2012
Media Photo
Media Photo
THS
After Hearing about The Romney Economic

Policy.
Sunday, June 03, 2012
Media Photo Mr. Glen Hubbard, obviously a Ph.D., was on the television today at CNN in
the role of Mr. Romneys chief economic advisor or spokesman at this point. Several
salient issues arose during his talk with the blogger / commentator Mr. Zakaria including
the deficit and insurance woes that have been badgering candidates for a long time,
including Mr. Obama, the current U.S. president. Mr. Hubbard, in speaking about the
budget issues delivered an excellent essay on the difficulties of carrying on as the society
72
with the most civic, political and other freedoms

anywhere, and his presentation appeared to be a kind
of you dont get something for nothing type trial
balloon. Sometimes indeed in the process of electing
officials, the voters can be handed, and for various
reasons, nothing for something, in which case there is
much negative clamouring and scandal. It does appear
from his spokesman the Romney campaign wants to
work out its promises to the American people without
being unrealistic. These were some of the issues Mr.
Hubbard fielded this morning, and without claiming to
analyze whatsoever the process of lightening the
budget load, his explanation turned on revenue
collection or spending reductions. Depending upon
what the people want, the candidate appears to be
listening to how people want to approach austerity
measures: Through cutbacks, budget controls, constraints, and the like, or new
revenue, and / or revenue collection. The actual plan might be a combination of both,
which would do something to eliminate widespread use of loopholes and weak points in
both budgeting and tax policy. The substance of the interview consisted of Mr. Hubbard
presenting this, but not necessarily presenting anything beyond overall policy definitions,
and the viewer was left with likes or dislikes as the case might be, along with policy and
party choice as well.
There is another issue, and that is unless any budgetary policy or tax policy is successful,
mostly as a surprise or some overriding spontaneity, what will the U.S. populace do given
the risk to public finances upon even at first the examination of policies as successes or
failures? Theres no answer to this, and while in the olden days, one Republican
president instituted wage and price controls to accomplish monetary and fiscal goals
alike, and this under a policy that was publicly unfavourable, it does appear such unusual
approaches to the budget and trade, and the federal revenue issue, need be considered.
The wage and price controls were a palliative, but woke up a lot of people to attention
about where the public finances of the U.S. were headed at the time. By this writing, the
author can not mention the advantage of budgetary controls over tax reform, nor vice
versa, though these are not exclusive and maybe some policy maker could determine
some arithmetic identity without the present and ubiquitous gallows humour on these
topics, and that would give any federal administration some hope of having an actual
fiscal / monetary goal to accomplish apart from the abysmal picture some economists
paint of public affairs and money these days. That any such goal would be attainable in
terms of federal finances will remain to be seen, and there are many pessimists about the
current, related metrics as recorded, not to mention the prospective ones. Austerity
measures were mentioned in the talk on television today, and all forbid the U.S. having a
reaction to austerity policies, either formally at election time or in the street, if they are
indeed needed at this time.
Another topic at the talk with Fareed Zakaria was national health insurance and the
compulsory provisions of this policy concerning coverage, and for which the president is
being sued by the Catholic Church given certain provisions. People like me know that the
actual insurance problem as it is approached by policy makers is quite intractable as
there is only so much insurance that can go around. People believe that their insurance is
a kind of financial instrument at times and treat health insurance exploitatively as such on
many occasions, and this is a sin. Health insurance has to be paid for, unfortunately for
everyone, and this financial issue and the role of health care in the U.S. economy really
make such issues the subject of extreme opinions and educated and technical debates
73
and discussions alike. The idea of the Massachusetts health care system was discussed
as portable to the entire country, and Mr. Hubbard suggested it is not indeed the
demographics (an important health care parameter, even determinative of actuarial and
other aspects of insurance plans) of a state like Massachusetts are obviously dissimilar to
those of West Virginia or Florida; and one can not bolt a standard from a Massachusetts
public health plan onto California or Idaho, either. This is what makes solutions to such
issues incredibly difficult and the subject of adversities, including economic and social
ones, business and cultural, etc. One idea that has not been greatly discussed, at least
not publicly, is a national public health system as an auxiliary to private care with pay as
you go and / or insurance coverage itself with a deductible or co payment. Such a
system could be self financing and profitable for the government and would stratify,
equalize and reduce the financial burden of any federal system. MediCare for older U.S.
citizens is an example of such a system as weighted towards federal oversight, though
any new system might be a health care / maintenance auxiliary to private insurance
concerns. By this writing, the author is surprised this was not discussed with regard to
either the Massachusetts plan or the required health insurance as currently promoted by
the president. Without sounding litigious, Catholics because they have values accruing to
very technical issues about womens rights, womens right to choose and decide, and
abortion itself, and other issues that would be addressed by an umbrella federal health
plan, do have, and I mention informally here, an argument with the law. Catholic bishops
and perhaps even the pope would do well to provide some decisive guidance here, and
as of yet I have heard none. Also, and as an endnote, neither Zakaria nor Hubbard
brought up any economics argument or policy about what to do with trade. This probably
means both parties are in agreement about some policy as already implemented and will
not contest each other on these grounds so far (maybe both main presidential candidates
admire and accept the current status quo on trade and will just discuss this secondarily in
any debate.) The trade issue as examined by anyone at this point has to do with long
term labour productivity and benefits and the level they are at today. Developed and
developing economies that apparently have more productive labour forces also have less
history in them on contests for higher wages and management changes in the modern
sense. This is why the so called productivity statistics could be questioned other
countries are less in touch with modernity than the U.S. is at this point (hush,) and any
focusing on the labour market only in economic policies in Western economies causes
things like prices, interest rates, bank and other rates, including growth rates and
productivity measures themselves to first gather and then integrate improper bias that
skews and could ruin business this would be uncalled for under the circumstances.
Please pardon typhographical errors. THS
Yes, We All "Surf," And So On (T.V. Channels,

The Web, ... .)
Monday, June 18, 2012
Media Photo
Stiftung Topographie des Terrors -- Topography of Terror Foundation,
Niederkirchnerstrae, 810963 Berlin, Germany My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
74
The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Tuesday, June 19, 2012
Media Photo While the current approach to
political relations with Russia at Cabo San
Lucas as described by American
Ambassador Michael McFaul is
appropriately "businesslike," and cordial; it
is important to observe, or re discover
one overall issue that presents itself with
any assertive if not aggressive Russian
regime at this point. There is a huge
overhang in Russian society to date of the
class of 1937, as this legacy, political,
administrative, cultural and scientific does determine and visibly affect the modern polity
of the Russian Federation in many ways, internal and external (see article from The
Economist magazine,) especially with respect to the utility of and gainful aims of a now
understated leftist / authoritarian Russian regime at this point. In typical fashion, and
without regard to the seriousness of it, the Russian regime itself has gratuitously
accepted and begun to abuse its status as a WTO (nothing to do with Warsaw, for
example,) member at this time. One might find numerous examples of late of the Russian
Federation scoring in international trade as the result of its newly won trade status,
hardly a reason or reasons to have others take notice of this harmonious trade
organization. The article from The Economist also suggests Russian candidacy for the
O.E.C.D., and this seems likely only in the event there are many again Russian
sympathisers within that Western cooperation and development organization at this point
as well. There have indeed been for years, and as such a consideration as far as Russia
is concerned only calls for further confusion about global economic issues and the
emphasis in Eastern Europe on heavy industrial economics and its supposedly enticing
appetite for financial windfalls and profiteering (even in the distant past under the
soviets.) The magazine article cited here also appropriately calls for a stoppage of the
arms business going on with Syria in view of the war there, something the Russians have
been notorious over their relations with the Middle East for years starting in the 1960s
and no one is likely to bully them out of it anytime soon.
That all of this should add up to more cessions to the Russian Federation does not really
add up at all, despite the efforts of some to balance the arguments and discussion about
what needs to happen with Russia and trade, politics, human rights and so on. Human
rights remains an opaque and unresolved issue in that country and a subject of hot
75
contention and debate among commentators everywhere people are allowed to have free
discussion; including in places like Seattle, the source of the Jackson Vanik legislation
from years ago that in its own understated way maintains linkage between civil, political,
civic, human, administrative and other freedoms in Russia with its international status and
recognition by the great powers. The questions about ushering in a new foreign policy on
Russia (in repealing by the one, Jackson Vanik and other measures) and allowing it to
continue its leviathan centrist ways along Hegelian lines, essentially without respect from
its administration as to its own internal debates, even as they are proposed in places like
Cabo do indicate a kind of economic playing with fire the great powers are doing at
present in view of the overall inadmissible tone of that federations leadership at this
point. This is indeed observable in the meetings between heads of state at the latest
G20, especially in what concerns its puffing itself up economically and its adversarial
posture to even its near neighbors in Eastern Europe, not to mention its supposed
overseas trading and administrative partners including now the U.S., U.K., France and
others.
See also, "New York Times" article.
Support the "Magnitsky Bill" and others.

Saturday, June 30, 2012
Media Photo My older blog (Thomas
Spitters.)
2012 Movies - Oliver Stone And Tax Policy (...

and maybe even the o...
Wednesday, July 04, 2012
Media Photo That I know people like me have never really seen an Oliver Stone movie in
the right light (if we have seen one,) mostly because we were too young to comprehend
the kind of metaphysics and mysticism that goes into even the most mundane of Stones
ideas as realized through film, but why make another film about characters as influenced
by the counterculture with again a message about right wing conspiracies, the
government, the university system, pot and relationships, the black market for drugs, all
of which are ideas used by Mr. Stone to stir our attention to his cosmopolite and quite
detailed and complicated view of things? Mr. Stone, and to his credit, was born into a
background in which he resisted the temptations of the vices and other wrongs he
illustrates in his productions, even the moral and other character defects of the related
roles in the scripts he imbeds on film you do need to be a clean person these days to
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succeed in the entertainment or media industries. As

well that Mr. Stone fought in a bitter military conflict, and
probably blindly as many men did at the time, that was
at least in part dedicated to eradicate the illegal streets
drugs market as we knew it during the 1960s and
thereafter; a conflict the U.S. officially abandoned, also
adds to his illustration of the colorful and sordid as an
authority on these who maintains in fact a critical and
necessary distance from societal problems and
vulnerabilities, and as such one might observe a
contrasting reality between the character of an artist and
the media he produces. This trait or set of traits might
also be entirely necessary in the oversimplified yet
Hegelian world in which he finds himself, and similarly
that of his characters, bright and educated and at the
same time illicit as many of them are: But why make a
film about pot?
To know the answer to this question for Mr. Stone, as probably no one does, has to do
again with the iconic mysticism of many of his productions and the very salient and high
profile themes he decides to address in his movies and interviews, etc., probably even in
his relationships with his acting and other film crews. To illustrate this, try to picture Mr.
Stone as a director of a Barney The Purple Dinosaur media production, or a Clifford
the dog feature. This is impossible and improbable and might even be the subject of
humor at his table when he and his major motion picture people talk about it. The themes
he examines, even in the sort of action / drama / mystery films he directs, are even more
glaring than the stifling red lights at busy traffic stops during the height of rush hour, or
even more attention getting than having someone shouting in ones ear(s.) The issues
of Mr. Stones productions are also problematical and propose in many instances an
incomplete story to his viewers; all of this done with a goal of stirring the moviegoers
minds out of any torpor or boredom (doldrums) that adds up to modern malaise. The
scope of many of his themes is so important with respect to American society and its
issues at this point that one can hardly overlook the object lessons and teaching element
in his films, at least insofar as how the movies are viewed today. It is also something to
be wary of and for example to look at a second time in the directors overall efforts at
political and cultural persuasion and in the high impact of much of what he presents that
trumps even existential themes themselves sometimes. That he has chosen to examine
dramatically the culture of a simple street drug, as pervasive and insidious as it is, mirrors
probably much again the ethical and practical morality he learned as a young person, at
Eastern colleges, in national service and then in film school. His relationship to the work
of his mentor, Martin Scorsese, with respect to his continued filmography does indeed
show a mirroring of attitudinal, moral, intellectual and other influences upon the man that
contrast with who he actually is in his films. This might be why he has succeeded for so
many years in Hollywood as a town full of pitfalls, and as a place probably worse than
any capitol as far as sink or swim is concerned.
It does not really matter in and of itself that Mr. Stone has made a movie again about
educated people who out of Adlerian and other difficulties do odd things, even blatantly
illegal things. His films going back some ways are probably full of such characters and
their illustrated roles. What does matter is the overall weight of Mr. Stones ideas that call
for an examination of conscience through his telling of stories in film. Though I have
never really seen his work, maybe only part of one of his war movies, the overall
questions provoked by his work and the inclusiveness with which he creates his things for
people to experience are remarkably noteworthy. Maybe all young people need to see at
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least part of this new movie, Savages (book by Don Winslow,) as directed by Mr. Stone,
that apparently examines the party atmosphere of pot, not from a cult point of view but
from its utilitarian and economic consequences; and this might change a popular attitude
(or two) about it. This writing is neither a movie review as admittedly I have not seen
Savages, and nor is it a review of Mr. Stones directing abilities or acumen for better or
otherwise. These few paragraphs do however propose the meritorious courage of a
Hollywood person examining social and societal forces that are age old. Remember
finally that the streets drugs trade is a trade interdicted by state authorities (on every
level,) and as the subject of this film should also be looked at in terms of its message and
the government expenditures (funded by taxes) in eradicating pot and its related markets.
Mr. Stone might have a phrase or two in his film production here referring to this without
allusion for one to the idea that the state has an attitude itself of persecution with respect
to streets drugs and their markets.
In This Interconnected World (belated book

review.)
Saturday, July 14, 2012
Media Photo The Geopolitics of Emotion,
(Dominique Mosi, 2008, Doubleday.)
In this long essay that ends with a chapter
on futurology, the author makes an attempt
to replace the old paradigm of simple
political nationalism with one that is
psychologically based upon political
confidence, identity and emotions (primarily
fear, hope and humiliation among those.) In
this increasingly interconnected world, the
three emotions providing a sketch of the collective conscious and unconscious outside
the ordinary mapping of economic and other resources. This level of analysis of current
events and trends in its subjective orientation might help the reader to recognize different
patterns of change in the world outside the everyday models we all read, watch and hear
about. The primary examination in the text is that of the weight of Occidental Europe and
American on other states, primarily in the areas of politics, economics, administration and
business; and the concerns of other states over other places including Latin America,
Russia, Turkey and Ukraine. This theme of overall anxiety about what is going to happen
with these territories and others in view of a rise in political and economic power on the
Asian continent, of which principally Singapore the P.R.C., and the antithetical political /
economic climate in the Southern Hemisphere now mostly in abject poverty, comprise a
good part of the authors writing that makes up the book. Some discussion is made of
Germany and its new role in world affairs after reunification, though the author pays more
than lip service to Central Europe that has become again a territory with an increasing
global stature, and with the agreement of many nations. That the author is a child of a
Holocaust survivor and devotes some attention to this and similar happenings is a talking
point as well. These overall themes are cause for political discussion everywhere and
they set up the rest of the issues examined in the book around a background of
international concern and anxiety over what are now some apparently average
educated, yet growing and more and more influential ideological radicals.
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The book faithfully describes the great improvements and increasing might and hopeful
circumstances of Asian countries after a long reorganization and many fits and starts:
There are apparently several commercial centers on the Asian continent outside Shang
hai, that are comprised of, again, Singapore, Mumbai, Dubai, and others. The realization
of their fortunes in the kind of real estate projects in these places give hope to those in
poverty in these places that are similarly and unfortunately also targets for terrorism. All
this development, even in Japan where the country itself is quite Europeanized (though at
this point downhearted,) has resulted in less antagonism toward Europe and America;
and as a result of all this and despite world terrorist groups, the world is a less dangerous
place in many respects at present. China and India, as a consequence of their
reorganization and modernization policies have many demographic issues and difficulties
to deal with now and into the future.
There are observably within the authors scope in this text conditions for despair in places
like Arabia and Africa where terrorism, cited often as Al Qaeda terrorism, attempts to
deal with ideological conflicts with the European continent and America, and threats of a
decline of Islam and Arabic influences everywhere. Quite observable again in this mesh
of issues is that of Israel, as from fitful to increasingly vulnerable in view of increasing
frustrations in the Arab world about the existence and continuance of that country despite
the promises of its neighbors. Additional frustration and anger over Israel is caused
among the Arabic people on the subject of the long past fate of the Ottomans, and even
the toppling of Mossadegh (1953) in Iran that provoke even more detailed discussion and
contention, that are relied upon and that might at this time be better relegated to various
histories and chronicles. It is clear to some the Islamists in Arabia would prefer an Islamic
and not a Christianized Europe (cited here is Globalized Islam, a recent report by Olivier
Roy.) This is frightening to some given for instance the Muslim attitude towards women
and womens rights and autonomy. The dogma of Islamist terrorism as espoused by Al
Qaeda, despite its proponents being so well educated and as appealing to the
intelligentsia in many places, finds a home more likely with the extremely poor and
dispossessed in places who are searching for ways to humiliate the West and its
countrymen. The links between terrorism and Islam, violence and Al Qaeda, must be
separated from each other at the source and in the eyes of the public in order to do away
with the Arab emotions that aid and abet terrorism, notably the anger, fear, boredom,
apathy, depression and aggression that pervade Islam. Breaking this / these link(s) would
provide a way to change the Arab Islamic culture of humiliation, as the author says,
away from the dogmatic and rhetorical diatribes against Occidental interests and their
people, and against the kind of volitional and gratuitous violence in the news everyday as
originating in Arab capitols. Again, the book ends with an essay about the future and
geopolitics that is as well worth reading as the rest of the text.
Linked to Jackson - Vanik ...

... another trade bill (read on) with ...
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... from an Ohio newspaper (Canton.)

Commemorating 1987 for some. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Larry King NOW

Media Photo During the early 1990's, a
good friend of mine at the time suggested I
listen locally to a national radio station at
the six o'clock hour (commute time) - the
"Larry King Live" radio show as it was
apparently known then. I was in school and
subscribed to a local paper for news and
knew of the show, but never really became
a fan until Mr. King's show rose in the
television rankings. At the time I was
introduced to the radio broadcast, the show was actually on televison twice at night, but I
did not have cable and was watching a Los Angeles network television talk show at the
time as sponsored by Paramount (at the time excellent programming as well.) People like
me know everybody has watched and talked about "Larry King Live" over the years and
the guy has millions of fans: So why not an internet television show at this point for the
biggest cable talk show personality at this point (and possibly the biggest talk show
personality ever, even as compared to network talk show personalities past and present.)
See Larry King's internet talk show, "Larry King Now" on Ora.tv, another innovation from
the genius, or at least the legend of radio / television talk. It does appear you need to
have the bandwidth to watch the show - and have a high - speed connection if you plan
to take in this program.
Also, see HULU and Jimmy Kimmel with Larry King. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
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What for and in what way (could you have done

this)!?
Media image
That the recent movie theater
assassinations in Aurora, Colorado, have
captured most of the attention of people
who watch television and read the news, maybe even more than news of the Afghanistan
war, does indicate that the media is still highly influential in bringing stories to the
attention of the greater public, those of importance and moral consequences, and even
those that are not. It is not necessarily important that the Aurora gun rampage suspect,
a well educated restaurant worker who had been seeing a psychiatrist, angrily exploded
as some people have been known to do in focused yet uncontrollable fashion - not
necessarily important outside of this behaviour reflecting individual and even collective
psychoses, even violent culpability in the kind of over - reasoning that is apparently in the
suspect's manifesto that seems indifferent to man's fate. It is, however, of great or greater
concern as to the way in which this person took out his apparent and in all evidence,
violently motivated anger in a plot against people whom he might have momentarily
disliked, but who were however complete and innocent strangers to him. The way in
which his dwelling was booby trapped in complex fashion also indicates a very
sophisticated cornering of investigators and other authorities into taking precautions
about his person and related behavior that are troublesome and disconcerting, and
shocking to the degree these devices were intended to harm anyone unaware. People
like me (and me) are not experts in how the mind works; far from it. Though it is important
to determine for oneself, the reader(s) of this writing, if any, some view on why a person
who by indication, and by his own manifesto, including the body armor, intended to
assassinate when he did.
The issue of gun violence in the Aurora theater events is similar to the recent
assassinations of over sixty people (children, mostly) in Norway in a similarly shocking
rampage. Most people like me are at a loss and would be unscrupulous to venture a
guess even as to simple motivations in such things, though with some of the evidence as
seen on programs by television viewers it does appear again the assassin was reacting
to something that made him angry against people, even angry against himself. Some in
the popular press and public have ventured to guess that the U.S. now needs more gun
laws, and quite to the contrary, there are probably a good number of gun laws, federal
and state, and we do not really need more. I have never been to a gun show, though I
have looked at a sport shooting range and have looked at firearms for sale in sporting
goods stores (from as far away as possible and without real interest,) and know this is
probably not characterized by any affinity, or repressed need for guns. I just do not like
them, and like most such people it is extremely difficult to understand gun violence and
related confrontations other than as a kind of hell. It is probably true that once automatic
and other weapons such as those used in the Aurora and Oslo incidents are banned, if
indeed a law is passed to ban such arms and effectively enforced including by obedient
gun owners, said arms will then continue to be easily available, despite all illegality,
through the gray and black markets for weapons; and the authorities will be at a loss to
control the use of such weapons through counteractive firepower for another set of
constitutional reasons. What, one must ask, is a decent solution to this dilemma?
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Many such events such as those around gun violence we hear about every day are
random events and are intentionally perpetrated by people in contravention of the rights
of others, who are willing to use force to prove their point, especially those who have
used small arms in the commission of crime. The police are good students in the
detection and prevention, and deterrence of such crimes as they are planned or as they
are about to occur, many times with the help of the citizenry. About this, there is not a
doubt, and it is less doubtful the crimes such as the recent Colorado theater shootings
and the Oslo shootings are extraordinary in their plotting and execution, and as well
reasons why the perpetrators deserve an examination as to their faculties, then possibly
a reasonable trial within the rights of defendants, and a determination of a fair decision or
decisions by the courts related to their alleged crimes. Some times gun and other
violence is impossible to stop, and this is what is so powerful and anarchic about some
constitutional rights in our country in the event the rights are blatantly and obtusely, and
violently abused. More gun laws and stricter ones possibly and probably would only
confuse the issue of the inappropriate and illegal use of amendment rights and would
only serve (as in a kind of bad apple policy) to greatly restrict and curtail the liberties of
many for the sake of a sole intent of preventing the deranged attacks and violence of a
very few people. In fact, violence of the kind on touchy ground such as the right to bear
arms openly obscures the guns rights issue and serves the policies of anarchists and
phalangists and other political ideologues to use the systemic remedies built into our
polity to more or less legally twist itself into a pretzel. This is obviously not the goal of gun
control, and there needs be restrictions of an additional kind on violent perpetrators; but
its catching them before they act using the system of crime detection that apparently
failed here, and even more that the Colorado suspect succeeded in his diabolical plan
while using methods and tools that were again, flagrantly against immutable laws, and
those of human society; even those of nature.
For an excellent related discussion on gun control, see some of today's and especially
the July 20th edition of Inside Washington.
praesto et persto (revision here.) My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
"The United States and China" at the Olympics.

Media Photo There are many additional facets to look at in the U.S. / P.R.C. political
relationship at this point and this calls for a possible re - examination of the stereotypical
Olympic athlete, in all evidence talented but clueless, who might test his / her physical
and mental toughness at places like Long Beach, CA, before reporting for international
competition every four years. The thing that is odd is this duel will continue in another two
years, primarily as a pre - cursor to the next Olympics events, at the World
Championships wherever they will be held - competitivity and bragging rights again about
things like sports medicine, training methods, practice techniques and the like.
Media Photo
That the P.R.C. has overridingly made the choice to emphasize anew itself in the
international political arena via the Olympic medal vanguard is odd and embarrassing for
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a nation - state that can not tie its shoelaces with

simple things like an actual and real social safety net,
human rights, nepotism, and other obvious defects
including the single - party political system it operates
under that stems from a severe reaction to the
aloofness and carelessness of royal and imperial rule
that came to an end in the early 20th century. The
current Chinese regime ends up looking politically more
like that imperial regime of old in the way it establishes
society's priorities, structures its accession and polity in
the areas of administration and governance in the
overall and again, overrriding will to power that any
sociologist or anthropologist will caution against in its
many forms as established and institutionalized by the
CPC through its by - line of "spirit, land, energy." The
happenstance of the stilted and conjured, and
otherwise celebrated, Olympic achievements and
accolades, and this without examining every statistic, of
the P.R.C. at this point capture a place in history certainly,
though the importance of this is to make one wary of the
application of the ways one makes championship athletics
happen: The implications of the showing of Olympic
commercial spots on NBC at these 2012 events as
featuring a past soviet - bloc gymnast, and the actual story
of Ms. Nadia Comenici are compelling and an object
lesson in what can drive national policy on the subject of
athletics and international achievements and awards to the
extent they are completely devalued by the constant
banging away at young people about how there is a
requirement to have medal status or other high
international recognition. Such a politicization of athletic
achievement detracts from the simple and non professional, and honestly - competition driven status in international athletic venues
at this point.
When we were kids, and as we read the
local newspaper and talked with our
buddies about what goes on in Russia, and
what went on in places like East Germany,
Romania, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and
so on, and even given the paucity of the
news about the soviet bloc at the time,
young people in the States knew how the
ambitions of the communists and non aligned countries had politicized much of the international scale and scope we learned
about without respect to occasional, actual news that came through about it. The realized
vaulting ambitions of the P.R.C. policy - makers about their place in international athletics
is a softer version, and therefore more palatable for some right now, of the social
engineering of the soviets that has gone to the dust bin. It is incredulous how this is
allowed to supplant the honest efforts of athletes in other countries such as U.K.,
Germany, England, France, and even the Russian Federation right now, and the
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assertions of P.R.C. on the athletic stage in

many ways at this point are dependent
upon un - civil ideas and practices that are
undue and inappropriate given the
peaceful, forthright and unified attitude of
many of the athletic teams at the 2012
games this year. Media images. Please
pardon typographical errors here.
'Objectivism' and the Republicans.

Media Photo One would do well during this
election not to try to figure out 'Objectivism,'
but to read an essay or two on it before
casting one's vote in Novemeber (election
day is less than 90 days away, mind you.)
That supporters have more or less
characterised Mr. Ryan, the Republican
Party candidate for American vice president, as a kind of objectivist, and the
Democrats might in turn portray him as
insincere, even a clown, will make for a
good race indeed.
While I have never really read about
objectivism, nor anything dogmatic on the
subject, it does appear the Republican
approach has some appeal before the
Democratic Party's approach of providing
wishful comments about the international
business climate, the polity and gridlock in
Washington, D.C. due to overall budget and
other glaring problems and issues, even
pep - talking voters over the commmercial
airwaves while mentioning "built to last,"
and other such fanciful characterisations, it does seem that despite a deficit in the polls,
the Republicans might give the liberal American party (Democrats) a run for their moneys
and maybe for other things by election day. Any disparity from the sameness of the
candidates and their persuasiveness to many people based upon likes and dislikes, even
personal, non - political ones, will have to do with the politics of "life as a process" as
emphasised by Democrats here that have us missing the boat and a dollar short in many
cases right now, and the "let's get off our duffs" ideas of the Republicans.
Media Photo Whereas the Democrats, through the Obama / Biden ticket have a kind of
will - to - power that is palpable in their silky, urbane public language, the Republicans
are rolling up their sleeves in places like Wisconsin and Virginia. People do know the
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Democrats are the party that relies on Huxley - type ideas, including that of appealing to
town and even town outside U.S. borders in all its, again urbane citizenry, bustling
populace and grit that is so appealing through the commercial media. The Republicans
right now appear to be relying less on the cultural and financial heat of the megalopolis
and instead, while not abandoning urbanity for the sake of the provinces, appeal to
Americans who want to get things done on their way to restoring their fortunes, maybe
quietly at the exclusion of the kind of bombast that is featured in political discussion of
late to draw attention to meeting even very small political and administrative / economic
goals.
That Mitt Romney has enlisted the efforts of Paul Ryan from Wisconsin on his hopeful
electoral journey and given at this time the attitude of the Republicans in acknowledging
deficitary, defense, trade, currency valuation, and other political / economic issues
including just abortion and taxes, and other public policy difficulties subject to the
American agenda, and the response by the media and the public so far does show
America needs a chief executive who might just speak in a more grounded way about
issues and his own political agenda than in the compliments, platitudes and
blandishments that have characterised the present administration. My older blog
(Thomas Spitters.)
... another command performance (trumpeter and

story teller as well.)
Media Photo
Lincoln Center Jazz. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Good English.
Media Photo
Christopher Patten's Talk about ...

(Guardian, U.K., 2004)
Brief Bio - Patten
Read His Book (2012)
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In Silent Memoriam.
Media Photo
Democracy and the "rule of law."

While it is indeed possible that the state - building as the U.S. has been doing in various
parts of the world to date is based on democracy and the rule of law, it might be
reasonable to mention at this point the "rule of law" language could be overdone just a bit
by policy makers. Here's why: In the utilitarian world, that is, the world espoused with
utopian goals along the lines of what we know essentially to be modern or neo liberalism even along hegelian lines, the rule of law is reduced to and atomized into the
norms we all learn as individuals in school and in our experience in society on the one
hand. On the other hand, the rule of law as a principle that is elevated to overriding deity
status for those who believe there is the law and only the law as enforcing the edicts of
the international state and its rules and norms as pushed out to media, other states and
their statesmen, and other, interested parties. This again, is a strictly liberal view and one
of systemic totemism, and the author here contrasts the global utilitarianism behind this
principle with the overall conservative belief in the functions of the state in our own village
as rule - maker and rule - enforcer among other things - bicameral legislature, a judiciary
based upon principles such as the Bill of Rights and human rights, and a chief executive
that is elected (for starters.)
I might be citing some high - school history book without really knowing it here, but the
normativeness and the relativeness that are sometimes bred into the state as adopting
above all the principle of the rule of law do engender meta - juridical functions in society
and in the state in which judicial officials can abuse the overall legal considerations those of business, culture, the arts, economics and finance, science and so on, even
sports and entertainment - between society and the state as built - up that discourage
proper legal procedure and action in what we see as appropriate within our scope of
people living in a free society. The unbounded legalism of the former soviet union is one
such example of improper administration as brought about by the institution of utilitarian
socialist superstructures, especially the judicial. There are other, less obvious examples
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and though the principle of upholding the morals and norms of society has great merit,
the concentration of any state administration on legal(istic) principles and practices
throws it out of balance; sort of like when Beria was at the head of the party in one way or
another in soviet times.
Many of the difficulties in the open conflict in Afghanistan at this time call for diffusing the
apparent and glaring administrative / political issues that prevent the government there
from gaining more legitimacy among its people. There are issues as well like making sure
the police are properly trained to handle terrorist situations, and diffusing again the
influence of the Taliban in many places. There is also the international relationship with
Pakistan and Afghanistan that has U.S. politicians worried about the stability of both
countries. Efforts so far have been to try to win hearts and minds with U.S. personnel
taking the lead, though terrorism continues to be a fearful danger to everyone there and
in neighboring states right now. The Taliban as well continues to engage in violence while
summarily avoiding truces and alliances with the Afghani government or provincial
governments under Kabul, much less do the Taliban take part in peaceful fine - tuning as
it should be at this point. All of this might be avoided in some way or another through the
recognition of some traits in Afghan society by its leaders and some cession on the topic
of territoriality and provincial groups (not the Taliban here) to Kabul might be in order.
The nightly news features Western - style photo opportunities for Afghani leaders,
something that might be irksome to their sometimes ultra - liberal citizenry in some
places, and the influences of the Western powers in the present administration there are
palpable and might be annoying as popularized as well - this attempt to bring some
decent organisation to the chaos in the country that has reigned for so long, even from
before the soviet invasion in the 1970's, is highly commendable, though to some Afghanis
the values and culture(s) of the country's society might obviously conflict with the type of
legalism introduced into their system by the presumably foreign allies under our latest
polity. Another difficulty is the U.S. policy - makers up to this point have only too well
understood the issues of the Middle East and Central Asia as they have been there for a
long time, and through the lens of the policy - making of our own governments, the
Afghanis are only too quick to point out the fissures and faults. This has resulted
apparently in an over - reliance on security forces and legal proceedings that are not
equipped nor prepared on a domestic front to support the level of criminal activities that
take place there, including the terrorism. Another sub - plot in the story of the "Frog and
the Scorpion," and / or the social and societal pains of state - building in foreign places
where some of the citizens might not actually be interested in the "Federalist Papers" or
Western norms and rules, and not out of simple ethno - centrism or cultural refutation. My
With the Obama Speech - 6 September 2012

The 2012 Political Contest -- Opinion. It is perhaps entirely true the speakers from the
U.S.'s major liberal party have a smoother and more easy going style in their public
appearances and talks, save for one or two extremely strident leftists who appeared at
the Democratic party convention podium within the last few days. The U.S. Democratic
party at this point, as many liberal parties do, has portrayed itself as the pragmatic and
businesslike political voice at this point. This is no different from the message as given by
any liberal party in any fair election in the free world; there's nothing wrong with it, it's just
the same old line, I might respectfully propose here, that liberal parties in the Western
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world have been talking since time immemorial. With respect to this, and with respect to
the current economic / commercial / business climate in the U.S. and its international
position with respect to same, there are many within our shores who do believe the
federal government should remain as it stands, with its current role in many of the lives of
the U.S. populace as guide and guarantor. There is nothing wrong with this thinking,
especially given the overflow of issues the Democrats are covering in this election maybe to guide the voting attitude and attention of the populace, but more probably just
to promote the agenda of their party that makes the federal administration in many cases
everyone's biggest customer - from taxes, to services, and even to the goods we buy at
the local store or online. There is an argument somewhere in the literature that if your
populace is bored and apathetic, and if there are seemingly unbearable social and other
problems afoot, that liberal governments are indeed a way of muddling through these
issues. In other words, if you are battered and have little faith in yourself as an American
at this point, and you are relinquishing your strengths for the most part to make a life for
yourself and your family, sometimes in some countries right now an evident and obvious
political trend, then vote Democratic in the November general election. There is a
contrarian and again, controversial attitude for the voter as presented in a challenging
way by the Republicans at this point, and this has to do with an overall avoidance
involved with the paternalism (in fact, very tightly knit and even abusive paternalism on
the part of a federal or even state administration) as briefly illustrated in the preceding
paragraph: The major campaign difference at this point depends upon the Republican
contrasting the Democrats as those soliciting the business of big government, with more
revenues to the public sector through taxes and debt proceeds, primarily; to the basic
Republican ideas of getting going on solving the problems of the day through debate and
consensus, and without the totem of public enterprise that is worshipped by many
liberals. The conservative party in America does as an entirety probably believe such
attribution to the federal administration, that of social and societal benefits and
guarantees in increasingly risky public finance schemes (as things have to be paid for,) is
unnecessary insofar as private and regional interests can more narrowly define and solve
the issues and problems of the day instead of the kind of centrist fortification the
Democrats believe in themselves. The speakers of the day at the latest party convention
in North Carolina extoll the virtues of big government and encourage everyone listening
and watching to value big government projects and financing, and why not? The fact
remains that history is full of examples in which funding for public projects was made by
nation states and their process of approval through bicameral legislature and checks and
balances, and this even though the projects were extremely costly and later bankrupted
the governments completely. The 'pragmatic' liberals at this point in America might nod to
themselves that we are already in an unrecoverable situation with respect to finances and
compare and contrast other regions, for example, that are supposed to be worse, and
that their "liberal" governments have seen them through. This is really untrue, as America
still has a very high standard of living far above most of its international neighbors, and
for the time being, and the U.S. can withstand currently its big government expenses:
Right now, but maybe not much longer given the somewhat gloomy international recipe
many economies have going forward into the future at this point. Even the greatly
dependable economic producers of late, China and the 'Four Tigers' (Japan, South
Korea, Singapore, Taiwan, ) and many other world regional economies predictably face
the doldrums in the new media and other current business and commercial forecasts.
This might in part be due to internal uncertainties in different regions, uncertainties about
state and regional leadership and the like, but it has put a damper on the U.S. future in its
role as international economic / political, etc., leader and powerhouse. This limitation is
worrisome and especially given the tone of the speakers at the Democratic convention,
promises an eventual selling of the proverbial seed corn that has our federal government
88
watching over us and providing a safety net and other offices for people to turn to. Even
for the most dour and pessimistic of voters, probably among whom I do count myself,
who will cast their votes in November, it becomes clear after a quick study of the
promises made within the last few days, that our federal administration can only do so
much to guarantee the quality of our lives, and this no matter how many tax and other
dollars are spent on the subject. This is an ordinary case of diminishing returns to the
kind of federal policies we have had in the last few years or so, not including the wars,
and while only the general election will prove whether or not people need it stopped, the
treatment of the federal and state treasuries as a policy in the collection and expenditures
process in which they have been treated of late is extremely dangerous to the political
process in the capitol, and even more dangerous in the burdens it presents to the
ordinary U.S. citizen, no matter the imputed or promised benefits. The great idealist and
thinker Max Weber, in his writings, did cite a principle in which political representatives
and administrators, especially the leading ones, had a main obligation to digest and solve
issues and problems in ways understandable to the common people and the voting
public. This is perhaps one of the strong points of our democracy as our leadership, with
its checks and balances, has almost always obliged itself to do. The way public finances
have been ignored by the current administration and its related policies in its doings have
never been altogether clear and in this way present a prospective danger to the
relationship between the voter / taxpayer and the federal administration in the U.S. No
one seems to have pointed this glaring issue in and of itself to the public and this is
because the identities of the problem are everyone's purview. The tree of public finances
appears to have been shaken too much at this point by the current leadership and this
has proven dangerous - a. To the young and able people in this country who want to
pursue high - quality education; b. The ability of wage earners to provide for their families
financially, primarily due to federal tax and other burdens; c. The lack of perceived
benefits in pursuing administrative careers does alienate and turn away capable people;
d. At a time of heavy spending among what appear to be cliquish and closely - knit
federal departments and programs, the voter / citizen / wage earner is being asked and
compelled to sacrifice things financially and even morally at the hands of people who are
feeble as administrators, who have their pet projects, and who solely engage in self interested rhetoric; the list goes on. In some ways, the social commentators and thinkers
of long ago, and the modern economists with their various models that are admired alike,
in their various analyses and conclusions about our status as a nation in choosing a new
leader, albeit still formidable and influential in the world overall, would propose serious
remedial and needed renewed and fresh efforts to approach the loose ends created by
rhetoric and profuse and what some term irresponsible federal spending and its
pauperizing effects. We can continue the current policies of revenue collection and
allocated program spending as they are apparent to most voters, and foreseeably face
the economics and political situation of governments like Spain or Georgia, for example.
Thus, the call for change and the like among Republican and Democratic candidates is
highly appropriate right now: There will be much thoughtful and rhetorical currency spent
on this and related issues as well during the debates and even after election day as these
same, basic issues carry much hidden weight and are gravely in need of attention, and
have been so since some time in the past. Created with Microsoft OneNote 2010
One place for all your notes and information My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
89
Review - New Book by Bruce Bartlett - "The

Benfit And The Burden."
Friday, September 07, 2012
Review - New Book by Bruce Bartlett
Friday, September 07, 2012
Media Photo This austere book is one that
I would like to have published about tax
reform myself apart from the Hall /
Rabushka literature on the flat tax that has
appeared every so often. The book begins
with a brief illustration of what federal and
state taxes are about in the U.S., and the
tradition of taxes in this country as started
in the old world, what progressive taxes are
and how citizens are taxed in other
countries in comparison to ours. The tables
throughout the text are extremely helpful in
understanding the journalistic illustrations in
this book that can be quite involved and
detailed, even burdensome without the
tables.
Most of the book itself is a primer on how to

analyze tax policy, be it
within the U.S. or Europe or other countries with different systems of
taxation. Even the character of income issue in our own tax code, an issue
of some sophistication and ongoing debate, is illustrated for the reader.
This text, primarily written for the concerned citizen who believes not only
in federal spending reforms, but in reforms in the system of federal revenue
collection, provides a slate of the different aspects of tax reform, both
historied and recent, and the different types of taxes our leaders have
considered over time with the idea of reforming the U.S. tax collection
system. Content runs the gamut from court cases and "what is income," to
systemic / historical changes, to the various radical reform proposals that
have been publicly and privately presented by politicians over time. The
appendices are worth reading through as well, and the overriding purpose of
the book to make our tax system and the prospect of tax reform more
understandable and transparent to the ordinary taxpayer (in view of
editorials, opinions, legislation, court cases and the like) is accomplished
while delivering content as well for those technically educated about taxes,
related policies, government resource allocation, the decision - making
process in the capitol and so on. Everyone interested in social reform, the
social sciences, law and regulation, decision - making and the polity should
read this book. In short, a great text if you file a tax return and are
interested in modernizing the collections process through the U.S. Treasury
90
and your state treasury.
The book in part seems to have been inspired, as shown in chapter 5 and
chapter 9, among others, by the impact of the Bush era tax cuts and cites
Bush officials on the effect of the cuts that in their identities have to do
with the current twin deficits and their magnitude and impact upon current
and future revenue collection / tax policies. While the Bush administration
encouraged policies to increase home - ownership and investment gains, and
these goals were substantively and wholly accomplished to the extent
possible, and with the help of tax relief and tax reform, the current polity
complains these were too expensive for anyone's taste and have weakened
government finances for the time being. When one examines the scope and
purpose of the Bush tax cuts and reforms, it is important to note that
during those years choices were given to people about what to do with their
capital and wages, and given the human condition some, in fact a good part
of the gains people experienced in property and other assets in addition to their
increased wages, options and pension and other plans, were the result of a good amount
individual speculation and utilitarian waste, even to the extent of investors and
homeowners cutting and running when asset prices dipped in the late 2000's. This in all
evidence was a choice of many asset - holders who were making leaps and bounds
financially, at least at first, but who took risks and denigrated particular types of assets
and / or the taxes on their gains when they were not as expected individually. This is an
implication in this text of the new search for tax reform and other, popular trends that
commentators and voters, citizens and wage - earners alike are talking about. Thus, the
publication of such a provocative text in an election year will enhance the overall reform
discussion should any candidate read it and choose to speak about his related views.
Since the funding of federal programs like MediCare and Social Security now depend to a
great extent on future improvements to the tax system and the time is again now for the
parties to play their hands on the subject, such literature is propitious and timely, and
deserves at least leadership among academics and federal officials in this discussion.
Russia and the W.T.O., etc. ...

Wednesday, September 19, 2012
On Popular Criticism of Russia And The Russians Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Media Photo With the expulsion of Mr. Gennady Gudkov from the Russian legislature,
indicating a new repression in Russia against dissent, among other things, including the
call for a removal of a policy of linkage (by the U.S. government) with things like trade,
emigration and human rights, the accession of Russia to new economic and political
heights, including the status of Russia in the W.T.O. at this time begs the question about
the acceptance of economies into that organisation actually based upon their
commitment to free trade or indeed some acceptable hybrid thereof. That the Russian
administration could slap U.S. businesses due to the provisions of the Jackson - Vanik
amendment of 1974 and its current applications does scare people interested in issues
like human rights, adherence to a western democratic rule of law, civic rights, anti terrorism, and better terms of trade between countries like the U.S. and Russia, and for
reasons that interest the business people in both territories. Accession to the W.T.O. has
91
called for Russia to emphasize its finances and potential to carry more weight in the
world of free trade, strictly and specifically a utilitarian economics approach, and this
while Jackson - Vanik is an administrative bill that is used to mirror international Russian
policies and the human side of international business with Eastern Europe. This makes
for very little convergence of strict ideas in the meeting of business people and
economists who would like to see it kicked out of the way, and humanists who see the
value of protecting human and civil rights and practices as primary to a healthy society
and healthy business and commerce. That the current Russian administration might just
be seen abroad, at least among many in the West, as one of provincial officialdom that
little understands the importance of the more refined ideas around human rights and
domestic dissent and their related effects upon commerce and world opinion, does not
disparage the current Russian regime from asserting itself into various associations given
its self - interested qualities and new - found economic weight in the world. Part of this
positioning apparently has been to diffuse the stark memories everyone has of
communism and its effect on the country and the consciousness of the people today that
remains mostly centrist and one as well that leaves the debate about administration and
economies, public and foreign relations, to the elites, much as during Tsarist and later
soviet times. The current Russian leadership as obscure in its origins does call for
intriguing and introspective interpretations as to the motives of the government there in
promoting such people, especially with respect to the current president who apparently
really started in the old K.G.B. in East Germany during a time in which many believed,
and not just inside Russia itself, that the U.S.S.R. could win the Cold War - and thus the
many communist sympathisers of the day and not just in Eastern Europe. One should
note people have popped up in places everywhere who have owned property in Russia
for many years, and who knew and know the Putins and Medvedevs, again starting from
the old days. One liberal rationale from utilitarians everywhere is East Germany and
Poland, at the time of Mr. Putin's work there, probably could have used help from anyone,
though many do believe despite this that communism was no help in any way whatsoever
with its promise to organise and move society forward, even from the beginning. Mr.
Putin appears to represent the crowd as inspired by soviet times who voluntarily ran
places like DRG and Poland, North Korea, and even Cambodia and Viet Nam, in an
oppressive and strict fashion to reinforce the doctrines of communism against the free
world. The legacy of this, given the junking of communism and its apparatus, has been
for silent machinations with respect to free trade (cf. conduct of Warsaw Treaty countries
and their overall influences and world connections,) and demands upon the international
community for legitimacy along official lines. This is the international house the Russian
leaders are building at this point, while using their connections and political weight among
non - aligned nations and NGO's that emphasise and promote issues at this time more or
less as they always have done, under the indirect sponsorship of Eastern European
regimes, and with socialistic / communistic tendencies. On one level of analysis, it is not
difficult to see how and why the Russian administration is throwing its weight around on
the international stage lately with respect to trade and other issues, including repression
and human rights: The country, no longer communist, has always had a strong central
government as located in Saint - Petersburg and then Moscow, and again, society as
greatly influenced by the church has allowed the political elites to rule. This makes for a
different kind of management of social and political, business and legal issues, etc., and
as such the byzantine heritage encompassed in Moscow is easily and evidently upheld.
This should be looked into by more journalists and interested parties who are curious
themselves enough to try to determine the continued role of the emphasis of Moscow in
the identity of Russia, versus the major cities and areas of the provinces where vestiges
of the old regime apparently remain, and as well where the church is more powerful. The
current Russian regime has made attempts, despite slapping people on issues, in its
92
image in some respects to detract from the authoritarianism of the communist regime as
centered in Moscow. This is no reason to be persuaded the polity in Russia should be
authenticated more in the West, especially due to continued abuses, though it does
appear Russia's leadership is taking its own, practical approach to additionally
modernising and bringing up the country from within and creating better ties with the
outside. It will be curious to see if this can continue without additional power - shuffling
and grabbing there that is age - old and that could more sully the impressions people
have in learning about it from the exterior, or visiting there at this time. more. My older
In Memoriam (again) - Anna Politkovskaya 2006

Media Photo
Also: http://rferl.org
La guerre de 1812 200 ans.

Friday, October 12, 2012
Photo Mdia Il est possible avec un regard
dans le pass aux 200 ans percevoir
l'intention et le but du rgime napolonien
termin surtout dans les batailles aprs sa
campagne en Russie de 1812. Les
lumires de l'poque de l'empire termin en
1812 et encore en 1813 furent d'un type
remarquable dont l'exportation de la France
de sa religion catholique aux territoires
l'extrieur, le code napolonien,
dissmination de la culture et pense
franaises l'tranger aux U.S.A. jusqu'en
Asie, l'emphase napolonien sur la voix du peuple en vue de l'empire et le pouvoir
militaire une base de l'arme et ceci en dpit des forces navales franais presque aussi
important que celles des Britanniques. Les mthodes utilises par Napolon faire
raliser ses efforts militaires furent beaucoup plus humaines que les autres d'antan. Les
fautes de sa culture militaire qui surgissaient la fin ont inclus l'assaut feu sur les
champs des batailles o les grandes carrs de personnel affrontent directement les
batteries de l'ennemi en la cassure soudaine et dfinitive de la ligne ou des fronts de
beaucoup des opposants, et mme la prsence de Napolon sur le champ de bataille ft
en mme temps presque toujours le sceau de la victoire pour la France. Ses ennemis
Waterloo l'ont tromp en l'invitant l'assaut devant les artilleurs anglais suivi par la
cavalerie qui ont coup la voie franais drouter les anglais pendant le jour, et
paralllement confondre les troupes franais suivant une piste des renforts et
l'encerclement ventuel des Britanniques. Une critique sur Napolon qui voit le jour
mme au prsent tait qu'il toujours cherchait rsoudre les conflits par la bataille et
encourageait le pouvoir militaire de l'arme, non l'ignorance de la mer mais tant donn
la terre avait beaucoup plus de richesses offrir part des conflits de mer. Le stratge
93
franais de cette priode, en partie discut par

Talleyrand probablement, comprit la conqute des
territoires europens autant que possible, mme
ceux de l'Europe de l'Est, avant de tourner les obus
vers les opposants sur la mer dont les anglais se
prsentssent les plus forts.
A cet gard, Trafalgar eut probablement eu lieu trop

tt pour le gout des grants franais; et ceci en 1805
tait une clef la dfaite des franais en Russie et
Waterloo en 1812. Presqu'au point de Trafalgar, les
franais ont eu plus des grands navires de guerre
avec plus de canons que ceux des Britanniques - et
selon leur faon a rpondre ce difficult les anglais
on pris des navires de guerre franais et leur ont
dtourn sur la amiraut qui les ont btis. Ds la perte de beaucoup de ces navires, et la
concentration sur la conqute arme, les mthodes des franais et leurs intentions dans
la marine furent rvles, et leur forces navales ne sauraient jamais rtablis. Le rle de
l'arme de l'Italie, l'Espagne, et les forces expditionnaires ont renforc les dits de la
Confdration du Rhin tabli par le Premier Consul et ses compatriotes du mois de
Brumaire. La relation administration - militaire de l'empire ft souligne par le pouvoir et
la politique complexes et super - rationnels que comprenait la ralisation des plans
grant l'empire la fois.
La victoire des Britanniques sur la marine franais en 1805, et plus tard Waterloo sous
les allis en 1812 scellait le rle de l'ascendance du contrle de la mer des Britanniques
pour autant d'annes dsormais la chute de l'empire franais. En tout aussi, des tas de
principes sur l'artillerie de guerre, les rles dpasss de certains types de personnel
militaire commencer avec la cavalerie ont t formul au cours des guerres 1799 1814 prsumes provoques par Napolon, mais ayant pris place dans un monde o le
corps militaire choisit tre attaqu d'un ct ou rallier l'offensif au premier de l'autre.
http://law.scu.edu/blog/hightech/archive.cfm
http://law.scu.edu/blog/hightech/archive.cfm My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
... from the beyond (in 2012.)

The hand of Mao Zedong
Other links (sarcasm) to the same documentary:
http://depaulinternational.wordpress.com/2012/09/17/free-screening-of-documentary-filmthe-revolutionary/
94
Vive la revolution (just forget the Shining Path for a

moment.)
Media Photo
October 1962 - October 2012: Anniversary of Us

All on The Brink
Media Photo
It is difficult for anyone living at this time, probably apart from a minority of experts, to
determine when the height of the Cold war was and how that can be represented by
events. Certainly a milestone in the overall outcome of that very long conflict for the
Western powers was the resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis begun publicly in October
1962 and resolved through the excellent administration of the Kennedy presidency less
than two weeks later. There are any number of books and articles available that have
appeared and re - appear from time to time about what happened to successfully resolve
that crisis, not only for the U.S. as strategic guarantor for the free world, but for everyone
for whom this series of events, generally or in great detail, has any memory of those
thirteen days. An excellent recapitulation of the Cuban Missile Crises, again, can be seen
through January 2013 at the National Archives. See also the Press Releases for this
event and the site for the O'Brien Gallery housing it. Even the simplest viewer of these
evidential documentaries as shown at the Archives will know, and this despite popular
acclaim in some respects, the crisis in Cuba at the time was no game. It is perhaps a
tribute to the successes of the sea blockade and other presidential orders of that time,
that one might have used gamesmanship as the soviets apparently did in attempts to put
extreme political and other pressure on the U.S. president and to outmaneuver him; this
only resulted in an increasingly dissatsifying outcome on their end as in a number of
other forceful contests. New York Times article (related.) My older blog (Thomas
Spitters.)
95
They Changed the World.

Media Photo
Maybe some time look up something about
the people in the picture above, as for the
most part in their political careers, they
believed in the greater power of good for
everyone in America, and worked to their
last days for this purpose. The ideas they
had were just to make things better for
Americans so we could get more done and
have more productive, fulfilling lives. Many
political and other organisations today are founded on these values, and especially on
the ones that America is a special place that should not be sullied by petty agendas and
"liars, fornicators, and backstabbers." These people saw the terrain of their own country,
with criticisms against it as not having a greater moral fibre, nor a common nor well founded culture, as content to concentrate on populism and the media; and as a place
ruled only by the wealthy, as one with great potentialities for everyone and a political ideological elegance surpassed by none. Now that they are all gone, and anew, social
commentary has turned to self - criticism and doubt again, soul searching, and to an
extent with our place in the unipolar world as grasping at straws at what to do about
everybody's problems where these three seemed to have the solutions all worked out
before in life. It was perhaps against these folk that Americans internationally had gotten
the reputation for some time as just being simple people, even those from the city, who
were just "experts" in one narrow thing or another and who could be used time and again
to solve problems and difficulties. Maybe the only strike against any of these people or
their colleagues, and dear ones, was they sacrificed everything for the good of their
national public, even for those who were their adversaries in the political debates of the
day. In this way, we hardly knew them, or if we knew them it was only through the papers
and the television. Sometimes the sacrifices and deeds with merit that people do are
called into question, especially in retrospect and by those willing to find fault in those
pursuing the greater good and other perfections. That the lives talked about on this page
are not more celebrated due to the kind of doubting the public engages in today in the
name of modernism and skepticism should be examined as well... Not that we need
worship our public servants as idols in the Old Testament, but that their lives, and even
their faith or faiths be given a more neutral hearing or judgment, and that the constructive
and again purposeful and productive things they did be more in relief against foibles and
missteps. That this column is set down in this way does not call for permissively
dismissing the wrongs and the elbowing and even the pranks known to them as public
servants, though how they upheld the state needs more attention and the successes
accrued to it as the result should be better illustrated as well. THS
96
2
Media Image What if we had a system that placed all winners and leaders as people
who had mostly come in second place? After all, there are very successful sports teams
and players who are moneyed and who are known better for placing more than the
occasional infrequent title won by others. Politics in the U.S., however, only deals with
money in part, and success in any administration here is not solely dependent upon
wealth; probably a good thing as otherwise we'd have kings and queens instead of
national elections. Most people know that despite the consistency of some second place
finishers, our nation, like many free nations in any election chooses its leaders based
upon the plebiscite in which (barring the revolutionary ideas and rules controlling votes
through the electoral college that occasionally have reversed popular votes in the past)
the person receiving the most votes becomes chief of state. In other words, no one really
remembers who finished second in many U.S. national elections, despite the importance
of this for the administrative process. The power of the presidential election as we know it
is one candidate can win the office of chief of state without (1) having raised the most
campaign money, and (2) appealing and pandering to special interests and power
interests within our region. It is true that the Republicans toward the end of the campaign
this year had raised more money, and that Obama as victor of the presidential campaign
contest in all appearances was re - elected without having become beholden to industrial
interests, Hollywood, financial and commercial interests and the general business
community that has sat the sidelines in the post election talks about what we have to
expect going forward for the next four years. The thing that clinched the election for the
president was indeed his good showing in the second and third debates, and his
campaign rhetoric in the last days before election day; and his being supported by the
Clintons who still carry the mantle of an outstanding Democratic presidency during the
1990's from at least the standpoint of macroeconomic growth. Even the Carter policies of
the 1970's have found a home in the Obama presidency in the way of policies of 'priming
the pump' to bring back jobs, the level of federal spending, foreign policy and other areas
that matter to all of us. Ohio, Michigan Wisconsin, and then Pennsylvania, Even
Nevada mattered yesterday as I heard a local news show on the U.S. West Coast
broadcast a piece on the importance of Nevada and its four cities (where most people in
the state reside,) of which Reno and Las Vegas, and the broadcast was considerably and
interestingly detailed. The U.S. Democrats, apparently in this election contest, had their
own super - statistician, maybe even a virtual one, parsing, slicing and dicing those
numbers with respect to undecided, uncommitted, and other voters in select areas. This
undoubtedly contributed to their campaign efforts and paid electoral dividends in the end.
Remember that Mr. Romney, though everyone might not remember him forever, waged a
fierce campaign, and he was classically and characteristically Republican in his showing
in all three debates and his approach to people in the campaign arena. The Democratic
party is the party of urbanity, sophistication, pro - choice, , and people watching our
country at this point have to come to terms with the issue about whether the Obama
administration will become now more aggressive with respect to its public policy agenda
in additionally affirming its identity and greater influence on the world stage. People like
me seriously doubt that the Obamas can now be accused of populism or using the office
of the presidency for liberal or more progressive social agendas as the talk in most areas
analysing the current president's policies is quite moderate in nature, and the country's
conservatives are more powerful now than they were in the 2008 presidential election,
having made the national election a closer contest this year. The chief executive now
also has to answer apparently to a Republican - controlled Congress and to his
97
conservative constituents as well if he is to chalk up additional political wins to his

scorecard, and in his victory speeches he has pledged to reach out to everyone to make
the political process work better under his supervision. That Mr. Romney as a Republican
candidate suffered for being identified as powered by moneyed interests who are out - of
- touch was an old party line that has been around for at least a few elections and one
that some conservative candidates have refuted on their way to national wins. We as a
country are apparently also benefiting from more liberal policies as the recent
employment figures indicate and economic predictions for the immediate future are much
better, issues around the "China Challenge" appear to be within the realm of being
resolved some time soon, we have a vice - president who is influential and moderately
conservative despite his party affiliation, and the high - profile government departments
have also found reprise and renewal with the gifts that have been earned in the latest
national election itself. Despite that a good number of people do not necessarily like the
classic political patterns characterised by the Democrats at this point, and indeed more
voters this year expressed a desire for dealing directly with the twin deficits and the size
of government, this president and his high officials do have a chance to reify certain
opportunities including further resolving difficulties in the Middle East, petrol politics,
financial and fiscal reform, further progress in addressing the chaos of foreign policy,
defense preparedness, national security, immigration (as pledged), to name a few, and
more. The national papers in the next few days should examine all these and some
others that were in the headlines during the campaign and that need to be summarized
and talked about. This president as re - elected has established his own identity and that
of his liberal constituents upon the institution of the office of our American chief executive,
and the tone of it is optimistic and hopeful to mention the least. People like me wonder
what Tony Blair would have to say about this. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
... upon a time, though more than once.

Follow this link: Eastern Europe in The Twentieth Century - a perspective and record of
today. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Someone might mention ... gambling (taking

chances) in the public ...
Friday, November 30, 2012
Media Photo It does seem with the latest
news that while many taxpayers would like
to "revolt" against the current U.S. tax
regime, and that current public finances can
not keep up with spending, that no one will
in all probability lose an eye or a tooth over
the current debate about the 'fiscal cliff' that
could bring our administration to a
screeching halt. People with ordinary sense do know that stopping a federal government
anywhere is a dangerous thing for its populace, but due to the current jostling and
elbowing in Washington, D.C., and the coming recess for the holidays, the cries of
various legislators and officials, and of the journalists who follow them, might become
even more shrill after returning from the break if legislators can not come up with a bill in
98
the meantime. Remember the House and Senate have seemingly had a hard time even
agreeing to present conditions for the 2012 Farm Bill, actually quite an important bill, but
one that has many accomodations and provisions to promote modern and efficient
agriculture in America at this point.
The issue with the 'fiscal cliff' is there are apparently many wise people who believe such
a difficulty should be solved with an official 'tax reform' bill that would re - work some
provisions of current law and while editing that, add some new ones. This is a recipe for
more gridlock and the wrong approach as the current tax laws do not allow for either the
executive or legislative, the two parties concerned here with the 'fiscal cliff,' to do proper
arithmetic about what efforts will be employed to manipulate federal expenditures,
revenue collection, and so forth; so it is palatable for a restless taxpaying populace who
want to see a resolution to the problem, but who apparently do not see as well the kind of
radical change that is needed, not just in spending cuts or revenue collection, but
perhaps even in the way the federal government in our country administers the tax
system.
The main theme proposed by the President does appear to be revenue collection and
reducing deductions, and this is an important and appropriate approach given the level of
current federal outlays that finance federal programs, the wars, trade and commerce and
so on. Revenue collection with a ten thousand page (or more) set of tax laws in the
entirety is not easy, especially insofar as loopholes open and close in this text, and
because the current text allows fewer and fewer such loopholes for the taxpayer, yes, but
for the federal government as well given the principle of revenue neutrality, progressive
character in view of deductions, and other things like taxpayer advocacy, credits,
arithmetic limitations and so on. So how does the President allow for a new and
innovative plan that closes the trillions of dollars in deficit spending that arise in the
current administration? The answer used to be that we could allow for greater scope in
Treasury and Federal Reserve operations with respect to the national debt, but this
seems not to be feasible any longer as to pursue such an avenue right now would
adversely affect U.S. Treasury debt ratings. Funds to the states could also be cut off, but
no one really knows anyone in favour of that at this point. What would you do?
In viewing the problem, one might just mention that the U.S. is going or recently has
traversed a time of very serious and hellish wars, more serious for the federal
government than the wars between Athens and Sparta, or the wars against the Persians
in antiquity were for their overseers. With this as background for any sort of fiscal reform,
and the effects and fiscal and economic baggage of the Great Recession, what is the
sense in even attempting to resolve the fiscal crisis? Note in any event that something
has to be done to reform the federal tax structure (revenue collection) and outlays
(federal spending,) and no one has had any ideas on this for many years that are new,
primarily because officials in our nation's capital have clung to a model of public finance
that is kind of moderate and that fails with respect to, i.e., the expenditures of a ten - year
(or more) war, the gray - market economy in which there are no taxes, nor sales nor
income taxes for example; and that the value added, income and gains, etc., to the
wealth in our economy right now is a catastrophe with respect to the recent recession.
The reasons for this are palpable in any federal revenue collection illustration, many of
which were quite rosy and optimistic looking forward, up until the recently recent past.
The fact is, personal income taxes will have to increase, and they might have to increase
greatly before eventually being reduced again, and this is especially true as the business
tax rates are high enough and the Treasury only derives so much revenue from business,
usually relatively predictable based upon fiscal filings, and with little potential for an
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increase in revenue collection, even if the executive branch compels the House and
Senate to "set and forget" with new, increased business tax rates - such a thing would be
anti - growth and anti - enterprising, too.
The increase in personal income taxes, people like me used to believe, should come
from the elimination of certain deductions and what those should be has been a subject
of debate for years. Increasing the rates will not comprise the mysterious and magical
alchemy that will relieve the system of its deficit burden and much less of its spending
and other deficit tendencies. Right now, it does seem that any legislation could increase
progressive federal rates and would at least suspend certain deductions for a period of
time. The Great Recession as its circumstances have proven, proposes no windfall with
respect to federal coffers and taxes, even with respect to a needed increase in rates.
Remember that the federal government has become much more expensive and has as
well become more a partner in building people's lives. While I know little about the
country personally, a model like that of Sweden for an at least temporarialy reformed U.S.
tax regime and additonal revenue collection might solve the problems of the revenue side
of federal operations, and with the idea in mind that the wars and the recession have
been expensive and while the federal government has thereby worked to muddle through
with its social programs that have changed lives, even saved lives. Now is the time to
recognize such a thing and to allow the heartiest we have to address these individual
issues. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Presently, Any Way They Can.

Media Photo Effects of Extreme Right in
Germany.
The recent story of Beate Zschpe that has

been brought to light in Germany highlights
the additional modern problems and
difficulties affecting ordinary and everyday
citizens there. There is a an attitude
pervasive among extreme right - wing activists and their associates in FRG at this point
that calls for anti - foreign politics and administration and a message of preserving what
the rightists there see as the national heritage or national trust. Much has been made of
this in the national political debate there and media discussions as well, enough to invite
the ban of the major extreme right - wing party, the NPD.
The origin of the case of Ms. Zschpe and her cohorts has been traced to a part of the
country with a particularly dark past given what happened there during WWII against the
Allies. Anti - foreign and other extreme - right feelings are still harboured in places in
Germany, but this is even more true in larger areas in the former East Germany. This
presents a problem of public safety and other difficulties for authorities to deal with
serious and capital crimes as discussed in this current case, and in some cases as here,
the perpetrators did not appear to have sympathies among the police, though the police
were at a loss to deal with the actual criminal elements they found and then therefore to
try constructively to investigate and then to make arrests.
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The reasons for the neo - nazi surge and resurgence in places like the former East
Germany has to do with the legacy of the past, probably going back a hundred years,
where the promise of a 'radiant future' enticed the populace of the area first into the
political persuasions of one group, then another, then with the oppression of the former
soviet regime followed by the economic depression there associated with the collapse of
the soviets and the arrival of free - enterprise and more permissions and freedoms
concerning political ideas. In many cases, the German authorities during the 1980's
forward had methods to deal with the threat of the extreme right and its violent and
criminal elements, and only occasionally at the time did anyone outside isolated
observances of instances of neo - nazi events or crimes know there was cause for
concern about such matters. The issue of the doings of Ms. Zschpe and her associates
has called for a re - evaluation of the local authorities there and their effectiveness in
dealing with the conspiratorial and collusive, and violent crimes of such persons. See
below for German press coverage links.
http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/german-chief-prosecutors-talks-to-spiegelabout-impending-nsu-trial-a-868133.html
http://www.zeit.de/politik/deutschland/2012-04/nsu-zschaepe
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005199
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005224 My older blog (Thomas

Spitters.)
December 7.
Media Photo
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In Newtown, Connecticut - Not Just Another

Crime.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Media Photo That the U.S. president has
himself formally announced within the past
few days a demand for the U.S. federal
legislature to propose new guidelines for
the control on the issue of firearms,
specifically small arms and assault
weapons, by the middle of January 2013
indicates that the executive branch at least
has eyes and ears focused on tragedies
such as that at Columbine High School,
Virginia Tech, and now that of a few days ago at a Newtown, Connecticut elementary
school. The attitude (now that this business has to stop) of most federal officials to date
about the banning or control of different types of firearms to date has seemed to be one
of deferral of any definitive, collective (even familial among the bureaucrats we all know,)
or more well mediated and well advised rules and guidelines around small arms and
their sale and use, probably due to the clash of public influences over gun control dating
back many years. The issue against new and further controls, whatever their overall
guidelines and / or provisions might be, must have to do with the ease with which gun
rules overall anywhere are circumvented and violated; something that needs to be
acknowledged and with the federal community identifying related systemic
responsibilities, indeed an impossible task, for the overall lack of efficacy of present gun
rules with respect to violent crime. This is called for even though at this modern time in
American history, violent crime is down and / or trending down in many places. Given the
U.S. presidents insistence that gun control laws be revised given this latest violent
tragedy, a further difficulty in passing and implementing, even enlisting help in the writing
of such laws and their various regulations and guidelines in view of current resolutions
are the right of adults in America to bear arms and related freedoms that are among the
fundamental principles of our republic, and in the view of many, among the documented
principles that have made America a great country. Certain types of firearms that are sold
person to person, either across a gun counter or at shows or other markets, and of
which there are an overwhelming number of different types, do indeed need to be better
controlled as these arms are made for sporting uses, pretty much only, but have
proliferated greatly, and are in fact intentionally used in armed and violent crimes.
Examining this in any new set of rules should probably be chapter one in any application
of the federal legislature in a law sent for passage and executive approval. With this in
mind, one would do well to contact local Congressional representatives in any area of the
country with opinions, stories, missive and the like, as apparently everyone in the federal
legislature, Congressmen and Senators alike, will be voting on the new gun control rules
after rules are drafted for approval by same. With well reasoned legislation in view of
the more modern societal imperatives that call for such reform, gruesome, violent, and
uncontrolled, horrendous tragedies such as those in Newtown recently will be further
avoided, especially considering any provisions in the new law(s) calling for certification of
the owners of firearms outside those in public safety, the militia, and other law
enforcement and military, that have their own approval methods for those actually
physically handling firearms of different kinds. The victims of violent tragedies, such as
those at Sandy Hook elementary school a few days ago, no longer have a voice to
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express outrage over what happened to them, much less can they pronounce the primal
scream that such violence and outrage against them invites while touching upon the
horror of the mortal offenses committed on them. There are many details to continue to
examine, including issues like the mental condition and character of the single
perpetrator of the school shooting, what drugs he was taking and their related effects and
side effects, and the slippery slope that led to his explosively violent and definitive and
extremely malevolent act on innocents who were blind to his own, possibly self - loathing
and uncontrollably ill willed actions in their midst. Any rules that arise as the result of
this and similar previous tragedies, and there have been too many, should address not
just simply a principled assault weapons ban, but proceed further into the culture of the
offensive use of firearms, of whatever type, versus those used by responsible adults as a
deterrent or for sporting purposes, especially considering the topic of small arms. Counter
to this, again, is the background of sporting and other types of gun enthusiasts who are
responsible gun owners and users, and who would possibly be severely impacted by
additional controls on their hobbies and pursuits that would technically place them in the
same arena legally as those uncontrollably violent, sometimes traumatized, or psychotic
or psychopathic perpetrators who have grossly abused their rights to use a firearm, and
through wrongful and lethal use of a gun, deliberately (and the language is non
technical here) destroyed the rights and lives of others in the process. Any future gun
rules given the tragedies of which we are now anew and well aware need to reach down
to the individual user, any culture or sub culture in the world of firearms, and to
American society as a whole as far as the systemic legal awareness of this issue and any
relatted public awareness is concerned. For excellent commentary / editorial, see also:
CNN Situation Room December 22, 2012; Wolf Blitzers Blog. My older blog (Thomas
Spitters.)
Another review of 'Charlie Is My Darling' - Ireland

in 1965.
While the television special on the Rolling Stones in Ireland (Belfast and Dublin tour in
1965 Charlie Is My Darling) has appeared a number of times on television lately when
I have turned on the set, the footage as edited, produced and presented about the music
of these five, very talented people (Mick Jagger, Brian Jones, Charlie Watts, Ron Wood,
and Bill Wyman,) who waited significantly behind The Beatles to arrive on the music
scene in America, shows all the musical and iconic power of the captivating stuff they
produced when they were young and playing smaller venues. These five young people,
when they started out were completely healthy, and were very solid people built up to
stand the test of time in the tenacious and tough world of what was then the modern
media and the world of music; and this in view of a much tougher media climate today. In
the rough world where this musical group was built, the musicians that made up the
Rolling Stones were unlikely to ever have had problems, past, present and future, and
in fact, even those among their detractors would be hard pressed to propose whenever
these people had any trouble whatsoever; people refrain even from wondering about it
due to the stature of the group and what they represent as greater personal, even
revolutionary, freedoms for their audiences, including the rights of women who apparently
swarmed around them at their events and in life as well. Never a problem, and despite
the idea as proposed at the time that the Stones had little better possibility given The
Beatles act than being a broken record in England and Belgium, they excelled in their
performances and caught the attention of listeners in America and Europe everywhere,
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and probably even in places where their music was taboo, like the Far East or South
America, etc. What went into the level of success of The Rolling Stones might have to
do with the social upheavals and chaos of their early years on, and somehow this rock
groups handling of its issues: It is possible, if not probable all the main characters in a
sketch of this group, especially after the unfortunate passing of Brian Jones as replaced
by Ron Wood, understood in depth and were informed of the issues of the day including
even things like abortion and taxes. Unlike The Beatles, the Stones probably read the
papers and /or listened to events over the radio and watched them on television. They
have had an image as businesslike and responsible radicals if anything, whereas The
Beatles were always diving into deep water with the latest artistic, societal, social, moral
and ethical, and other avant garde themes, including world popular movements and
politics. The Beatles and other musical groups of the day quite often took on large
themes and questions beyond the scope of popular music that dulled their lyrics and in
the end might have caused their album sales to fall, and the group itself then lost its
cohesion, artistically and legally. On the other hand, there is an invaluable picture of The
Rolling Stones in the mind of every one of their generation of taking on the challenges of
youth along with its strengths and dilemmas, answering to society for the kinds of
upsetting new thinking that marks their age, the arrival of show business in every room of
ones house and the related influences of the mass media, publicity, radically changing
modern tastes and the finances related to this. The Rolling Stones were perhaps better
at the recipes of music in the media cookbook than other groups, especially with the
range of themes in their music that could make a deep impression on admirers of folk
music, to classical and blues or harder rock lovers whereas The Beatles, who were as
well very good at music and possibly better on their instruments, maybe just liked the
warm fuzzies in their own act, for example, and pursued that to its end. The recent
Stones special in its tone reminds one of some of the older footage of Bob Dylan and
his entourage, though where Dylan sang to his audiences, the Stones spoke and speak
to them, and this perhaps as well has been what is so risky for them and their fans, and
what has made the group, again, so entirely successful. One might also remember the
Stones were and are an outstanding live act. With all this going for them, it is still quite
difficult to define the band as either part of the entertainment establishment these days,
as might have been their goal at one time, or as one group still on a tear for their fans in
places. All in all, seeing this footage about these boys from more years ago than many
people would like to count back was a little strange in the presentation of images and
recordings the footage and related pieces played in their 1965 Ireland tour show again
the mass upheaval in society and the turning of its elders toward young people who were
in their own way still too young to shoulder the responsibilities and worries of the world,
especially in Europe (first) and America (second) and the musical pieces in this feature
bring that out completely. It can be difficult to see a feature such as that on their 1965
Ireland tour, and listening to the music, without being really musical must be for some of
their fans at least a little haunting and powerfully and humanly reaching to everyone at
the same time. Otherwise, one might mention the guys in this film just looked hazed at
the time. Many of their musical pieces are happy and uplifting, even jazzy nonetheless.
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P.B.S. Special (rerun) of Late, And The Buddhas

of Bamiyan.
Tuesday, January 08, 2013
Media Image At least part of the reason for the military conflict in Afghanistan is the
archeological terrorism that took place there at Bamiyan some time ago, on or about
2001. The holy talisman from the large, 175 foot tall relic destroyed by the Taliban has
been recovered and the site is being rebuilt, though this rebuilding will probably take
some time given the conditions under which restoration is taking place. P.B.S. has
recently re run a special on Buddhism that I viewed on my computer and the content of
that television program as spoken about by a number of featured experts explains
primarily that Buddhism itself is a respectable world religion at this point and gives some
points about why and what for. While one need not pay attention to the primordial
Buddhist creation stories in this show that one might cite as even more symbolic than
Western ones, it does seem important the number of followers this belief system has in
important parts of the world at this point, especially in South and Eastern Asia for a long
time where there are many people who are devout practitioners of it. People like me are
surprised about how much of this religion has been revealed by this simple television
feature program, and without considering myself even a novice at looking into these
things, and without a fundamental knowledge of its geography, four truths, five desires,
the symbolism of its scriptures as related to the royals, warriors, servants, and
untouchables; and its emotions in greed, anger, and ignorance and their opposites
among other symbols, there does seem to be something to it with respect to the culture
and humanity that are integral in Eastern culture. When looking at this program and the
popularity of Buddhist ideas, even in the West at this time, it is easy to find why many
people became angry when the Bamiyan relics were attacked and a war ensued. The
program itself, sponsored by numerous associations including the Asia Society of New
York, does explain in understandable fashion the merits of this religion without having to
meet the Dalai Lama, for example (people like me, without having met his holiness, do
believe the Dalai Lamas meeting the President was a good idea and I have a picture of
their meeting together on my computer somewhere.) As well, the show I saw as
published by P.B.S. carries forward the work of what many scholars in the last century,
including Henri Maspero, were silently working on over the years. There are rumors the
Buddhist faith in a modern context does rely on indeed dangerous Marxist ideas and
practices, and this might have an element of truth to it, and is something that might be
relatively easy to investigate and evaluate by anyone for themselves. Travel to places like
Buddhist shrines in South Asia and other locations has become more easy these days
and travelers who have been at the shrines in their holy places can probably reasonably
talk on this without disclosing anything thats extremely charged. I have not been there, to
those places, yet have read Maspero who allows for the influences of Eastern culture
everywhere with the kind of inclusiveness that is reasonable appropriate for some of the
ideas in these places that can even seem a little out of place for Westerners out of their
own surrounding. The thing many Buddhist ideas appear to focus on with respect to what
is presented in this public television special, and this special was not perfect as to go into
a thorough explanation of what much of it is about would take hours at least, and then
one would have to follow up with ones own homework including validating and verifying
through study the representations made by experts (i.e., Ms. Jane Hirshfield, W.S.
Merwin; Mark Epstein, M.D., His Holiness The Dalai Lama, D. Max Moerman, Robert
Tenzin Thurman, Mettaya Sukayaputta, Salyenda Kundar Partek, Kevin Trainor, Tranh
Xuan Thuanh, Rakesh Pandi, Bakopuri Shainkapur, and Bhaddamanika, .) All this just
105
makes for getting into lots of things that could carry one away, though the show does
deliver the message that Buddhism is an important religion and is worth some familiarity
by everyone concerned with issues of knowing about the world and belief systems
outside Western Christianity with which Eastern religions coincidentally have many
parallels. It does appear part of the explanation for this religion is its interpretation, in fact
as many do, of realities and universalities that are present in every culture. Buddhism is a
caring and peaceful set of ideas that can be easily practiced, but is difficult in all events to
be a good practitioner or an expert in it (as some are) due to its sometimes severe
dogma and discipline. The emphasis on the nearest celestial body to the earth (the
Moon) is obviously in its importance vital and unique to this religion that centers a good
amount of content on the Moon itself and its features and details. While these ideas have
moral and spiritual imperatives and practices that are very humanistic and attractive
ideologically part of what many people are about these days the ideas themselves are
very respectable in that they allow one to live ones life while pursuing ones own goals;
and even though a Buddhist master might pick one out of a crowd or some event, one is
not compelled nor forcibly asked to pass through Buddhism and its teachings in addition
to Western ideals. This proposed a challenge to anyone who sees a temple related to
these ideas and, or meets a follower of the Buddha; and these are everyday occurrences.
There are issues with Eastern religions in and of themselves as they do not in principle,
while holding out gestures of acceptance, allow for the teachings of Saint Paul, and
things like de Chardin are probably out as well, and others. There are probably other
obvious points of contention between common sense ideas from South Asia or China
themselves that can be respectably and reasonably discussed between individuals this
might make for good, peaceable conversation in this increasingly global neighborhood we
are all in at this point. Remember when you begin with it this year, if ever, upon reading
this column that another lunar new year is now just a few days away. My older blog
(Thomas Spitters.)
Informally and Possibly ... - The Fiscal Cliff 2012 2013.

Media Photo
In Memoriam.
Media Image
Click here for a related story. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
106
the new socialist regime and the french republic.

Thursday, February 07, 2013
Media Photo The recent regime change in
France amid renewed socialist fervor in that
country, mostly due to the same economic
and political conditions that brought
Francois Mitterand to office in that country
some years ago, poses a threat to political
realities everywhere given the, again
newfound, positivism in French politics
these days. Socialism in France has a
different flavor than that fostered by the
soviet communists in the old days:
Whereas the soviets relied primarily on
principles close to strict Marxism, French socialism is an effort in theory to build, or re
build a utopia using the principles of liberalism that appear to its own socialists to be the
best means to accomplish this end. Remember France has a quite popular anti
conservative and anti royalist tradition that is bounded by ordinary civilized politics and
administration including frequent instances of civil disobedience, activism, and
administrative rabble rousing and stirring the pot. What does this mean? The first thing
to remember is the French socialists, not their communist party that no longer really
exists; but their socialists believed in more sterilized and scientific approaches to ousting
conservatives than the sort of bank robbing and gun slinging many soviet communists
favored even in more modern times. This had American administrations believing for a
long time that it was possible to live with a strongly socialist French president Mitterrand,
though it is well known Mitterrand so loathed the right he was willing to embrace the
right in the USSR at the time more than the Americans, though this ideal fizzled with the
end of the soviet system in 1991 or so. The socialists in France have already proven to
be more glamorous than their conservative predecessors as subsequent to their troop
reductions in the Afghanistan war they have far flung operations in Mali in the conflicts
there at this point. Mitterrand concentrated on Tchad for a while and New Caledonia as
well as places to send troops to fight. The French socialists regimes almost rely as
heavily on the military for security and self - assurance than their soviet analogs had
107
done in the day given the emphasis in soviet times on the intrigues and unwinding plots
and plans of the state organs. The French federal constitution allows for more political
and civic freedoms for its citizens than the old soviet one did, and thus the willful
demonstrations of security forces and the military are less stark under French socialism
than in the former soviet times. The reasons for this are palpable and evident to anyone
who has visited the French capitol where any number of ethnicities have their territories
and social cliques, and where there are many conflicted interests as a result, not to
mention the ordinary operations of the police bureaus and Interior Ministry personnel.
What do socialist French regimes, as that of Francois Hollande that follows the regime of
Nicolas Sarkozy, invite and engender besides a varietal form of liberal regime in Western
Europe? It is difficult to speculate, though every Marxist for years has pointed to the leftist
regimes in France, and their capitalist compatible form of socialism despite the open
admiration of some officials there for the soviets, as a successful form of liberalism in
which the state provides a social net, education, military readiness, a well trained police
force, rule of law administration, and other principles un characteristic of typical socialist
regimes. These principles nonetheless apply to those within the party, as the French
socialists appear to depend upon widespread party support for success in elections and
do not necessarily reach across party lines for votes, nor for moral nor financial support.
Informally mentioning the closely knit socialist elite in France as a candidate for the actual
mantle of worldwide Marxism after the end of the USSR is a possibility, and with an
internal French will to a utopic view of a liberal regime, again, instead of one that
emphasizes the cult of personality and secrecy, and machinations of the organs under
what was soviet Russia and its satellites. This is no apology for either soviet regimes, nor
at all for the utopic socialists in France and elsewhere (including in places like P.R.C.,
Southeast Asia, South America, the Middle East and Africa, .) It is a writing
purposefully and briefly proposed to bring issue awareness to a new type of leftist politics
that muddies the political / economic waters that were cleared by the end of the cold war
and the abandoning of communism. Remember one attraction of this is upon the end of
the USSR, considerable numbers of communists and leftists, some of whom were very
accomplished people under the old regime, were cast out and they have been waiting in
the wings for their fortunes to rise again through a resurgence of any liberal regimes in
Europe or anywhere. Such individuals and their associates and families have eked out a
bitter existence for years since the early 1990s despite their respectability under the
leftist values of old. A question proposed by this writing as well is what should be done
with these parties who were cast aside and who have found a resurgence in new liberal
regimes in Europe and elsewhere. How should they be treated, and should they be
legitimized anew by their values as subscribed by regimes such as the current one in
France and the important place of that now leftist country in the community of nations,
and in the world opinion that is formed commonly starting in the villages and hamlets
yearning for a better life everywhere. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
"Safe Haven."
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Media Photo This new film starring (Nicolas Sparks written) Julianne Hough and Josh
Duhamel has a strange European flavor brought about by its being set in a part of the
U.S. where many foreigners vacation, for starters, and then where many of the local
people by this media production are at a loss to determine why while getting going and
getting on with their lives. The film is about relationships and any viewer needs to know
that while it has been critically panned, there are indeed some reasons for it leaving other
such films, even those like "Ordinary People," "Terms of Endearment," or a little like
108
"Cape Fear," or any number of other, similar productions in their proper places as
Hollywood productions (maybe except for "Cape Fear,") that were somewhat unsung and
in all very good. The plot as it starts tugs at the heartstrings showing a gruesome scene
of abuse and violence and the flight of a victim from justice. With this in mind, the
production proceeds in very charming fashion to depict the victim in this film to be one of
accidental and moral high ground, and with good features in a world that is quite
unhandsome.
No Steve McQueen here, or Robert De Niro, or any of the players that would just draw
people. Now people like me know Hough and Duhamel are serious about their work and
have acted in movies about the Carolinas area before, at least Duhamel has. If you can
get through the initial scene, much can be said about this production and its approach to
showing the ordinary and simple, strongly rooted care and concern people have for each
other. Old - fashioned romance is out of the question, as that does not really exist
anymore for the players here, nor would it help given the circumstances. But the setting
of the film in a temperate climate, cinematography, the character dialogues, gestures and
consideration scripted into the this show the straightness and practicality of family
relationships despite what are threats that catch up in dramatic fashion. The plot is also
about the trades and the restaurant business, and involves a dragnet and occasional
violent confrontations by the antagonist, an obsessed and alienated (and stupidly violent)
vigilante whose character style is so far out in left field that this is undoubtedly what the
critics seized upon in putting a damper on this film. As usual, the good guys are
supposed to "win," though this is hardly clear as this happens, but lives are destroyed
that are outside the social net and again, care and concern and action and sanctions that
would ordinarily govern. What's the point of such productions? The audience in this case
needs to sit back in the comfort of the screening chair and at least try to take seriously
the chaos, vicissitudes and occasional criminal confrontations that make up the features
of the film not to mention the intermittent scenes for the concerned couple and their
families: A dramatic portrayal and illustration, again, of complex and unpredictable issues
that despite excellent acting do not make for magazine covers. Nonetheless worth seeing
for the matinee crowd at least. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
American "Soccer" - Not Just for Juveniles

Anymore.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Media Photo
Story: U.S. International Football Selection

- 2013.
109
Exodus (by Leon Uris, 1958.)

This eminent text has to do originally with the refugee
status of many Hebrew people everywhere after the end
of the world war more than fifty years ago. Many were in
sordid and sub standard conditions even for the
poorest of the poor in the day due to their having been
first pursued by the Axis powers that then sought to
eliminate them completely. The victorious Allies at the
time as supervised by the Americans were given the
dubious task of resettling these people wherever they
could find a home and doubtless due to the 1917 Balfour
Declaration, many of them preferred Palestine but could
not or did not make it there. In 1945, when the world war
ended, Hebrew people from everywhere, especially in
what were the final battlegrounds from the war, made
their way to Palestine the best they could, often traveling
by train and then by boat, both modes of transportation
that at the time had become rickety and risky for passengers given the battleground
militarys having taken most working infrastructure equipment for itself at the time and
thus having left only some working transport for civilians there in Europe and neighboring
territories. Media Image The text in any event gives rich encapsulations for the reader of
deportations, conditions in the camps, methods used by the Nazis to eliminate the Jews,
the situation in the Warsaw Ghetto and related uprising, the situation of Jews in Russia,
and that in the other major camps in Southern Poland and Germany, Czechoslovakia and
elsewhere at the time. The text uses these details as a backdrop for personal stories of
many different personalities, all fictitious, and their lives as they unfold after the Allied
victory. The plot even goes into the first Arab Israeli war in 1947, and examines the
plight of Palestinian Jews making the attempt to emigrate to Israel at the time as well.
Exodus, the title of the book, is taken from a passenger ship with 300 Jewish children at
the time making its way from Cyprus to Israel. A highly recommended read for anyone.
Inspiring to A Generation of Musicians - Van

Cliburn
Monday, March 04, 2013
Click here for news of his passing.
Media Photo My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
110
Vladimir Bukovsky. Happy Belated Birthday.

Media Photo See Also 2012 Birthday By - line from U.K. Guardian - click here. My older
Blaine Harden - "Escape from Camp 14".

Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Media Photo This hard hitting text,
actually written like a novel, despite its
being a non fiction piece, tells the story of
unimaginable repression and gratuitous
violence inside the North Korean
corrections system, more or less as a
throwback to the old days of the completely
dehumanized communist prison system in
the former U.S.S.R. That the North Koreans
have chosen since some time ago, even at
the collapse of communist forces
everywhere, to emulate if not duplicate the soviet work camp system in all its horrific
aspects and detail does seem unhinged. The present North Korean leadership somehow
still refuses to acknowledge such camps exist, or even there might be a chance of them
and by this relies on the theory of the big lie, itself as dependent upon greater fools. It is
possible that the Kim Jong Eun regime continues to deny the existence of these
debased, undignified and repressive (again) camps because U.S. and other allies
imaging of the camp areas might be sketchy and though while indicating the presence of
work zones and industrial and agricultural concerns in places like the Camp 14, there is
no incontrovertible and completely certain official state opinion anywhere as to the
establishment and maintenance of these institutions in the North. Also, as had been the
case with Chin Dong hyuk as an escapee from the DPRK repressive corrections
system, escapes and then defections are rare and while there are defections and the like
to South Korea, Japan, etc., every day, South Korean towns themselves do not allow for
111
the continued presence of many of the few escapees and the reasons for this are evident
and include dirty work as performed by the state services from DPRK to the North. That
Chin Dong hyuk was born in one of the infamous DPRK prison camps in an area
around the Taedong river, and that he grew up in that system, having been considered a
criminal from birth by DPRK state policy, and that his only avenue for survival at different
points in his living within that repressive camp system included wrongdoings that were
frequent, immoral and criminal; tells the reader that there is more to the communist /
socialist model of prison corrections today than detention and incarceration. It does and
did include personally injuring and destroying ones fellow inmates to the extent possible,
even oneself under the circumstances: a. Wrongs and various types of individual
destruction and bad behavior are encouraged within that system despite the official rules
of the system and its sentencing guidelines not allowing for these things including various
types of trafficking and contraband trade; b. With the image of corrections in most
Western nation states as one of rewarding exemplary and notably well socialized
behavior as is0 in the evidence, the DPRK prison system in its nefarious glory
encourages problem behaviors that circumvent the proper and normal standards of civil
and ordinary conduct and social interaction; c. From this story and its contents that start
with the narrators childhood and continue to the present day, one can tell that things like
education, hard work and industriousness and other positive traits, are completely
discouraged; d. Crimes by prisoners against each other, from the most petty to the most
egregious capital crimes, are not exclusive of wrongs against the prisoners by camp
authorities given who they are and their work ethic, cancelling much of the humane and
humanitarian approach to detention in DPRK as preached by its leadership; e. It is
entirely possible the flogging and torturing of prisoners at the same time, and by camp
trustees and other state personnel, and the crimes against prisoners, that no NGO, nor
association nor collection of people will ever be able to address these endemic issues
addressing what should be done with people, and the DPRK system even with its habit of
frequent sabre - rattling and its relations with P.R.C.; f. It is surprising, in fact a complete
surprise, that DPRK detention and incarceration methods and facilities, degenerate as
they are, have not found a home and are not constantly subject to public scrutiny and
resultant misinformation due to pressure from various watchers and the reaction to
them by DPRK; g. There are too many examples at present of the obduracy and
degeneracy of DPRK prison camps, as documented, for world public opinion not to allow
for and adverse judgment of these institutions, and subjecting them to examination and
their conditions and people, including inmates, an evaluation of methods and practices in
North Asia, if adjudicated, will probably be ignored by DPRK and its friends; h. There are
any number of inhuman conditions that can be cited concerning the conduct and just
observation of North Korean society and its camp system, and the material in this text
that calls for a resolution of these things is predicated upon international conflict on many
fronts; . The details as described above provide an extremely stark and sinister
backdrop to most of the Chin story before his arrival in South Korea and then America.
The tortures and abuses suffered by Chin and his co heroes at present, some of whom
have passed before their time as the result of abuses within DPRK camps, are deeply
scarred and deeply personal at the same time. In a way, while stories by other dissenters
include much functional material that is persuasive but cannot really portray personal
feelings and the overall humanity of politically motivated sentencing in places like North
Asia, the Chin story is one of very balanced informational details and a depiction at the
same time of a very young person who has been compelled to survive to travel West and
tell about an entire history, but who, through the unbearable shocks and vicissitudes of
prison camp life has been led to believe by his camp handlers in an very penetrable way
that shame and guilt, degeneracy, thoughts of self destruction and other negative
influences are constructive in daily life. Russian Marxists (actually former Marxists)
112
perfected this and other things long ago in the workings of the day in their GULAG
system and this cause in producing people has been taken up in the camp system in
DPRK as well. The justification for such things, including the Marxian idea about utopia
that displaced such ideas in Russia from Western Europe in 1917 / 18 21, does smack
of flim flammery and calls for the kind of state oppression within the state as one finds
in DPRK at present. These are political statements that only border on what appears to
be the purpose of the Chin story, which is in one small way to check the grim and
ghoulish forces that rule there at this time. New York Times - Book Review Penguin
Edition My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
belated book review on an edition from someone

we all knew.
Media Photo Gnter Grass The Tin Drum. This novel
that reads like a fantastic voyage through life in Germany
from the 1930s through the end of the War and
reconstruction in Western Europe, could be a straight
biography of a person who spent his life in various
hospitals and asylums, though a number of the details of
the story (the standard edition is over five hundred
pages) are so out of the ordinary as to call for a
fictive and colourful version of a story of a single
protagonist Oskar Matzerath. Oskar, in his childhood,
acquired a drum that he replaces with larger and larger
versions of the same drum at different points in his life.
The adventures he traverses replacing the drum
sometimes are interesting, sometimes humourous and
can be even haunting. The symbolism of the drum is lost
on simple readers like me, though the same symbolism
might apply to the drum in Grass story of Matzerath as bells pealing in other novels, or
the Te Deum in Shakespeare, or even the stars of David required to be worn by Jews
during the Holocaust. It is perhaps left to each individual reader, the again separate and
individual significance of the key image of the novel, Oskars drum, that is the subject of
various threads through twentieth century German history, antics, again adventures,
humour, resentment from others and the like. The novel takes place mostly in Poland,
though there is train travel everywhere in Europe the Poles and Germans in the day
found themselves. The book begins with Oskars childhood, his relationship with his
parents parent, his parents, and others that paints a portrait of ordinary life in pre War
Central Europe. The images of his family are captivating indeed as the customs and
mories, and the family centrism of the old world that have been lost are brought out in
great relief. This is followed by a traversing of the 1933 anti Jewish laws in Germany
and Austria and this period of pogroms in those territories and in Poland as well. All this
time, and partially due to Oskars relationship with his drum and other circumstances,
Oskar tells his story from the point of view of a mental patient; nonetheless one who is
allowed to circulate, see family and friends, have relationships, and whereas his stays in
the world with people are temporary if not ephemeral, his relationship to the hospital on
most occasions is largely the same. The text is also full of stories about what goes on in
mental hospital psych. units, and there is an entire spate of these anecdotes where
Oskar does manage each time, as in his lifes adventures outside an institution, to
113
emerge more or less unscathed with his drum under his arm. Just before 1940, the
Germans attack Poland and Oskar is in a number of battle scenes where his town is
destructively attacked by blitzkrieging Wehrmacht and other German military units,
resulting in the death and devastation of many of his friends. There is also the issue in
Poland of the Russian army in the partition of the country by the Axis powers and Russia
at the time. Apparently, the Russian army meted out equal devastation as the Germans.
This, along with other images of the war and the operations of concentration camps, the
battle scenes, atrocities and the like, has the makings of a long, extremely destructive,
interminably bloody nightmare. The War ends and Oskar takes up different jobs and the
like in attempts to continue his life in the post Axis era with his drum under his arm.
People do express curiosity at the adult Oskar and his drum, and responses to his
interlocutors range from his declaring himself a musician to none of your business
type declarations given the pestering questions of officious characters. From the detailed
illustration at the beginning of the plot of his family and friends and younger life, through
the brutal nightmare of the nazi era, to the post War era that takes up the latter part of
Book Two and Book Three, Oskar maintains his drum playing and his life in and out of
hospitals. He pursues different jobs and has some measure of success with a number of
endeavours; all the time maintaining principal focus on his instrument. The thematics of
his family relationships and details, and the grotesque and violent images of the
Holocaust carry through and influence the latter part of the plot where Germany recovers
from the devastation of WWII to become economically and politically formidable again in
a free world where fascism is on the dustbin of history. Oskar winds his way through
various adventures that are colored by the destruction of the war and the ostracism of the
Central European powers, including some of the influential figures of the time as hailing
from his native Poland. The emotional and psychological images due to this throughout
the text are important to read through, and are fantastic and unreal in the respect that
Oskar has no point of reference for his notions as narrated as they are, and his mind
meanders through various themes and related and unrelated images showing the great
art and authenticity of Grass prose and his use of Oskar as a mouthpiece for these
meaningful themes and images, dreams and experiences themselves in view of 20th
century military conflict, and with the eventuality of the end of the 1939 1945 War. An
excellent read for anyone honestly concerned by these issues. Oskar toward the end of
the plot participates in various travels, relationships, and has influences that eventually
render him histrionic, i.e., whereas he comes to fear a ubiquitous Black Witch, and
provokes various incidents of which declaring himself Jesus before police authorities
during some of his travels. Overall, this book and its author post mortem, are an excellent
profile of the magical and metaphysical that surround those individuals and groups of
people affected, damaged and cast out as the result of the inanity and brutality of 20th
century conflict. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Margaret Thatcher (obituary): from "The

Economist."
Monday, April 15, 2013
Media Photo
Obituary of Lady Thatcher from "The Economist." My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
114
fnf - A belated Book Review (Vonnegut's)

Friday, April 19, 2013
Media Photo Almost every book by this
author is the great American novel during
the time he was alive up to around the time
of his passing with a book of writings in
2005 or so. Slaughterhouse Five, a mult faceted story that refers to the author's
capture at a major and conclusive WWII
battle in Belgium, by the Germans, and
whereby he is taken to prison behind
enemy lines to pine away while awaiting his
fate. The author was required to inhabit as
a POW an enemy prison a slaughter house
and thus some of the imagery evocative of
more sophisticated and zany thematics and
turns of this fantastic story relating outer
space voyages to the war, to a mental
ward, and to things again like a plane crash
and an auto accident - just one completely
outlandish turn of events after another.
What is the point of literature like this (?),
and in reading such things, one is
compelled to allow for the primal scream of
enemy imprisonment and the thoughts of
freedom along with the mortal threats of POW life, and the dream - like existence in the
novel of Billy Pilgrim and his interactions with an unpredictable and fragmented
surroundings at times. This is a must read, probably along with Cat's Cradle and one or
two other Vonnegut novels that show the great virtuosity of this writer in his interpretation
of what are mysteries for many of us, and what is lost to attention and what we believe
we see in the interstices that comprise these puzzles sometimes. Kurt Vonnegut himself
might have had some divine tool, a gift, a blessing, that made for his humor as drafted
onto the page; and that has us at least make a smile upon even hearing his name or
reading of, even moreso directly, what his pen put on paper and then in print.
Part of what he examines in "fnf" people like me know is the Jewish question that other
writers have
Media Photo penned volumes of investigative and disclosing literature about, though the
humor and zaniness, again, of his illustration of this topic is evident in the text. People like
me know Itzak Rabin himself might have read this text, and Jewish leaders like Rabin,
while in attempts to place the Holocaust, the Wehrmacht in its different forms, and WWII
as an entirety with respect to the Hebrew race into historical yet memorable context
suffered and passed from this life due to repeated prejudice and violence against him
personally and as the result of acts of completely humorless if not entirely sad and angry
people. I know as well from having read newspaper articles about the 1990's Yugoslavian
conflict, however passed over themselves by policy makers who added to that sinister
war at the time, and others indeed, that the methods of the Nazis against the Hebrew
race regrettably have survived and have been unfortunately brought to light again in the
world of terrorism and other battlegrounds. The bombing within the past week of the
Boston foot race as an attack at a milestone event shows the general cruelty and anti Periodic Interest, by Thomas H. Spitters
115
everything approach of terroristic perpetrators who have duplicated the terror used
against the Hebrew people and who might be, as related to their knowledge of Nazi
practices, totally radicalized. Rabin had solutions for dealing with the effects of the kind of
animalistic behavior as shown through numerous sources in Boston, and people like me
know his death is related to the assassin maybe first befriending him in order to be able
to recognize him target - wise after his plot had begun. These circumstances were part
and parcel of things to come and the severe radicalization against Americans we are
experiencing today. What happened regrettably and sorrowfully with Itzak Rabin and in
Boston only have secondary importance at this point as to blaming and culpability by
attribution, and more important with respect to these and similar happenings are how the
perpetrators became radicalized and as anti - everything as they are, and how they were
allowed / are allowed to continue their destructive and violently animalistic activities. This
is a question proposed without provision for those rationalizing what again happened or
will continue as terrorism remains in the collective mind and detracts from constructive
activities and the progression of what we know as life at home. My older blog (Thomas
Spitters.)
("Tian An") - Spring - Fall 1989

Media Photo
Links:
1999 Article on Tian An Men Square
incidents - Time.com, by Wang Dan
More on Tian An Men, 2009 Article on Tian
An Men, 2012 Article - Tian An Men My
John Hersey - "Hiroshima."

Hyperlink to book review / summary: Click
here. Link to obituary (1993): Click here.
Media Photo
116
Estimated Prophet (2013.)

Thursday, May 23, 2013
Media Photo Informally: It is entirely
possible the latest rebound in the stock
market was foreseen by the leaders of most
Western Countries since some time ago,
maybe since some years ago when the
politics of people like the U.S. President
Obama allowed for an increase in our
domestic economic growth indicators,
including relative GDP growth, and others.
It might even be possible there is a
newspaper or magazine article out there
from Time Magazine, for example, an ordinary
news publication not Financial Times, or The
Economist, nor any of the high flying, heavyweight
publications, but just something like Time that if
you read or followed such a publication, the current
economic climes in the U.S. and its neighbors and in
Europe would not be a mystery, at least in terms of
growth rates and growth, however limited for the time
being, in the U.S. stock market, interest rates and the
related decrease in U.S. Treasury yields. Forget
taxes and the cost of labor, for instance, in the U.S.
at this point: If you are running a business and even
a very small business, the current signal sent by the
stock market given the timing of the rebound in
stocks today, is absolutely to hang in there even
despite there being fewer manufacturing jobs in the
U.S. today than before. There is a common economic
identity that manufacturing jobs in any particular country, no matter the commercial
activity, do at least somewhat pave the road to wealth, help to balance the current
account, drive growth rates and equities in the region and keep bond rates low in addition
to keeping inflation and currency values within optimal expectations and the like. It is
important to note the soviets realized this in the 1970s, given one or two bad
assumptions, and did in fact start to seek better business and economic ties with the
West, especially the U.S. with respect to grain and other importations to allow economic
comparative advantage to work to their benefit. The incorrect assumptions they made,
among other things, were among their ability to take things out of western economies
who supplied them at the time (including knowledgeable people, some capital and other
trial balloons at the time) with the idea eventually of having some influence in import
export markets and being able to dictate to Western suppliers. What they did not really
count on, and did not know at the time was with the proper processes said imports were
not needed, and with the importation of any goods from Western countries at the time
they began to corrupt their home economies with the introduction of hard currency into
affairs at home. Another example of this type of effect has been the acceptance of foreign
aid over time by African countries and the way in which they have doled out even
earmarked funds to the consternation of their own people and the aggrandizement of
their leaders personal lives though today the nature of foreign currency in African
countries is the same, more or less probably, there have been steps to deal with a. The
117
open largesse of pedlars of foreign aid including the Russians and Chinese, and b. The
actual use of the funds sent to Africa as currency values and amounts have become less
tolerant of the way in which funds were spent in the day. Media Photo These examples
aside and given the possibilities of the record numbers in the U.S. stock market that
make most business people rest easier during their sleeping hours, at least those in
Western countries, it is entirely possible that interest rates will remain low and inflation
will remain low for some time. The explanation for this might just be, and this in view of
the commercials and television programs touting U.S. beer manufacturers that are more
and more profitable these days, that U.S. equities and corporate debt have been bid up
over time, and this might make sense to some, as a proxy for stability and dependability
ordinarily found in Treasuries. One might, indeed, take an asset position in U.S.
Treasuries or U.S. currency over one including the Thai bhat given the comparative story
behind those two investment choices, and even with the knowledge that U.S. government
securities are better managed. Then one can by extension understand the U.S. economy
as a service based economy even, as a relatively safe haven including U.S. Treasuries
and then U.S. corporate debt, then U.S. equities given the tolerance primarily for market
risk by your own relatively large investment moneys pool wherever that might originate
from, and then various U.S. government and corporate, even small business and private
equities positions given the basic asset allocation rules and the risks involved. This would
really only work until your investor neighbors found out as it is a bid strategy aimed
eventually at profit taking, essentially a trading strategy, even with respect to
government securities it is also a poor strategy as good investors know most trading,
even by computers in arbitrage situations and the like and despite the sometimes big
numbers involved and the speed with which trades are executed these days, is a waste.
One redeeming feature to this bid strategy is it takes place outside the strictly speculative
IPO and other auctions markets, its inconspicuous and relates to normal trading
operations even in government securities outside what new offerings will do, and it
might tend to assuage market volatility and other disruptive and wasteful effects that hold
back prices for everyone. The kind of bid up strategy that might appear to be driving
U.S. equities and related securities at this point is highly constructive for stakeholder
economies while factoring in the role of things like offshore manufacturing and the price
of oil. How this is done specifically should be left to quants who are good at real time
computing power and data analysis, including that especially of the effect of economic
indicators and trading information and its proxies. One might propose here in any event
the U.S. is fortunate to have leadership under President Obama who appears to
understand things like macroeconomics, competitive advantage, securities in the stock
market and the role of government securities, different types of risk, resolving the issue of
valuation of the Ren min bi and the role of P.R.C. in the currency markets, and other
things enough to know how even to counsel the Federal Reserve Chairman a little at
this point. The U.S. President is like a lot of lawyers in America at this point who do not
necessarily know where every nickel and dime they own is or ought to be, but who
comprehend and use their knowledge of finances public and private. Some of them
understand it quite well and he does appear to (ssshhh!) The secrets to this no longer
include things like options or leverage, once in the past hot buttons among others, nor
does the Presidents strategy have anything to do with pounding down currencies and
accounts and / nor goods values and commodities prices, for instance. Ones local
university economist could easily venture the basics of the economics policy of the U.S.
President, which does include tax and spend (a given) though it is much more intricate
and formulated than just that. That he grew up abroad for some time probably allows for
the way the U.S. President has chosen to resolve domestic and related economics
dilemmas for the time being; and that might be for some time to come, and this shows as
well he has his own quite effective so far apparently, of turnaround economics right now,
118
probably invented at some place like MIT or Harvard (or even Berkeley or UCLA) by very
gifted and hard working people.
In the news this morning again are the stories about U.S. beer manufacturers and their
great tasting brews that outdo others, though seriously one should heed the stories
around the state of business and commerce in places like Japan and China. In Japan
despite Fukishima and some other recent bad news that should not affect their economy
overall, there is little obvious explanation for the declines as publicized of late other than
the Japanese obviously making attempts to manage the value of their domestic currency,
and related items that drive Japanese exports. There are probably other factors that are
driving the news from Japan at this point, though this is lost in the opaqueness of the
policies of the securities houses that make up and influence investment policy there. In
P.R.C., a growing economy with many paradoxes including that Chinese capitalists are
apparently as aggressive and hard charging as their former communist counterparts
years ago (see the history of the Cultural Revolution, the politics of Zhou En lai right
down through those of Hua Guo feng, Jiang Zemin, and Xi Jin ping, ,) business
people appear to have seen the limitations of their own growth models. In view yet of
P.R.C.s economic growth and growth predictions for the next few years, and given the
role of competing interests, especially regional ones, it should become clear to
consumers everywhere that Chinese retail products continue to be of exceptional quality
and continue to be saleable and the domestic economy in P.R.C. especially and probably
that in the Southern part of the country, will begin its role as more important policy wise
in addition to values around the export of products from everywhere in China. The actual
value of these products, as they become more normalized and the Chinese begin to
spend their currency reserves on (even yet politically motivated) different types of
projects, national and international with respect to business and commerce, and as the
P.R.C. economy continues to grow and predictably, should the current regime there
continue to seek international legitimacy, it will probably have to become more
cooperative with international rules and guidelines that reduce economic fluff and puffing
in order to begin to authenticate the routine practices of its enterprises as people like me
know them to be. Same is true with respect to many P.R.C. regional trading partners
including Russia proper. The success of this interpretation of Obamanomics and the
like, does depend upon things like the long term value of the dollar and other western
currencies including the Pound and the Euro, inflation in major western countries, the
interpretation of administrative and trade account statistics everywhere, and even things
like the U.S. Budget debate. The current news about U.S. equities and other securities,
and even commodities prices at this point, does indicate our leader, and the leaders of
the G20 have taken this and other items into consideration in their latest talks and will
continue managing in good continuation the forest for the trees and not the weeds that
will be well for us here in America as well something we can all put our hopes into not
with our cross to bear or with the promise of a radiant future as some might say at this
point, but with some confidence and ability to take economic and business risks with the
idea of greater values and payoffs in the future. See also: When Money Runs Out, by
Stephen King; testimonial record by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Benjamin Bernanke
before the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives on economic outlook and
monetary policy - May 22, 2013. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
119
Memorial Day, 2013.

Media Photo
Memorial Day - "New York Times", and

U.S. News .
Media Photo
Media Photo My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
120
Russia sends arms to Syria. - 2013.

Media Photo The idea of arms sales to
Middle Eastern states by Russian arms
producers has been around for a long time.
It probably pre dates the Israli
Palestinian conflict and the Middle East
wars related to that as fought with U.S.S.R.
military might / armor against Western
military armor. The recent problem with this
is the Russians as usual appear to play a
kind of spoiler in promoting what people in
Eastern Europe who have a voice that's
more important now in the scheme of things see as peacekeeping in the Middle East and
an effort to preserve the status quo. Russian arms sales to Syria, if they are of the same
nature as in the past here, send a message to Western states that the supply of arms
does not mean, for Russia and maybe to itself only, outright belligerency, and Russian
actions here are a way to influence more than the politics in the region that those just in
Syria. The Russians themselves might present the arms sales as a kind of olive branch
and an offer no one can refuse: Modern anti air warfare defenses in Syria might
challenge the necessity of air surveillance over that territory and maybe some other
military measures that would otherwise encourage the Al Assad regime to give into the
provincial insurrection and rebellion / revolution. No one knows what those are really
without inside details as to what is being discussed in Western capitols in order to
support the anti Bashar Al - Assad insurgents. The considerations of many of the
simple political articles and stories on this that appear in the media are so complex today
that one can not point to any particular reason, and that is singly, for an acceptance of
Russian arms to Syria on the one hand and any cession of the Assad regime on the
other. Remember that while such exchanges with Syria and Eastern Europe are
supposedly peaceful in nature, air defenses as sold to Syria might prevent proper military
measures given the fighting to block or curtail campaigns of the regime against people
regardless of how it treats opposing military or paramilitary groups aligned against the
status quo there. The considerations, including the timing of the proposed arms sales that
is terrible for Western powers, on both sides could be now worked on by powerfully
programmed super technology super thinking machines that can consider things from
a simple dataset input as a narrative, that are indeed complex about this conflict given
the circumstances of Iran and other Middle East regional powers at this point having
caused hiccups everywhere attempts have been made to confirm the revolution for the
freedom fighters. This is an oversimplification, but Syria apparently has a quite robust
supply of armaments for motorized blitz type terror on the revolutionary fighters
whereas the anti government forces have had essentially makeshift armaments and
only variegated small arms since the beginning of this conflict. To even turn over the leaf
on supplying the revolutionaries from Western arsenals is extremely touchy, again given
regional military and diplomatic considerations despite Russias actions. It is also
important to consider the role of the U.S. State Department and its Secretary in this
chaotic conflict, and the formation of its Secretary who is calling for an end to the conflict
through peaceful means while knowing himself that the introduction of new Russian arms
(a popular interpretation) will provoke the Assad regime to really pound the rebels while
making attempts to influence world opinion that will keep Assad in the clear until his
mission of quelling any revolution is complete. It might help one to understand the rebels
121
are not secure without air support, and the sale of anti air armaments in what appears
0to be in quantity to the Syrian administration at this point will cause the physical security
and condition of the rebels there to be less effective, aggressive, and achieving of their
popular goal of taking power away from a shifty, cruel ruler.
Read Additional Article here from U.K. papers, and click here for another online column.
Saint Exupry, E. Chadeau (Perrin, 2000.)

Media Photo Au tardif, je dois constater
que parmi les livres que jai vu sur Saint
Exupry travers les ans, jaime beaucoup
ce livre. Il est possible aussi que je viens
doublier dans quelque sorte ce que javais
lu sur Antoine , et nayant pas t
capable aujourdhui runir mes penses
l dessus, je tombe sur ceci. Enfin, ce
livre portrait de ce grand homme, ne soit
pas trop detaill ni trop bref ; et ayant t
crit dans un franais lettr et correcte,
lhistoire soit au moins captivant aux
lecteurs curieux de ce pionnier de laire et
aventurier dans la vie. Vous noteriez aussi
cette histoire sagit du domaine parisien
tandis que Saint Exupry passait des
parties significatives de sa vie Paris, mais ce quil faisait de valeur, son humanisme, le
courage de conduire les avions partout en le monde, et ainsi de suite, ft bien au dl de
lle de France. Ses voyages au but de servir dans lArme de lair et les lignes ariennes
lont trouv Alger, Tunis, Amrique du Sud, les les, Gibraltar, Maroc, Cap Juby, Dakar,
Casablanca et dautres endroits sur la liste des localits dont nous nous revons tous
dans le domaine de laviation et des possibilits infinies. Saint Exupry assistait aux
cours du Lyce Saint Louis pour sa formation dans le quartier latin de Paris, et il
sattendait son sortie de sa formation scolaire en ddiant en plus sa vie familiale.
Devenir pilote lors son entre dans le service tait pour les gents une chose pour les
dous, et tait de toute faon naturel pour ce jeune homme en 1921. Il dbuta son
service sur la piste dofficier daviation, dont le mtier principal ft crivain (plus tard.)
Pendant les annes 1920, il forma une alliance avec Mlle Louise de Vilmorin et
composait des carnets, romans, rcits et autres crits inachevs lpoque. En 1926, il
tait pilote dans les lignes ariennes et faisait des voyages partout o il y avait les
compagnies ariennes franaises (Europe, Moyen Orient, Amrique du Sud, .) Ds
1924, il publia Laviateur . En janvier 1931, il publia Vol de nuit , un livre qui
prouvait la puissance et caractre lettr de sa prose. A la mme anne, il recontra
Consuelo Suncin de Sandoval, sa future pouse, et on a t mari au 11 avril 1931.
Vol de nuit le remonta son succs de 1929 (au moment dtre Buenos Aires) en
ldition du roman Courrier du Sud sous les presses de la Nouvelle Revue Franaise
de Paris. A ce point, Saint Exupry est devenue de plus en plus fameux et par 1934
avec sa femme il est au cercle de vedettes et de surdous dans la socit en son pays la
France. En 1935, Il sest engag en tant que pilote Air France. En 1936 37 il ft en
Espagne et New York aux EE.UU., et assistait aux colloques dans les mdias New
122
York et Paris. Il publia Terre des hommes plus tard un trs grand livre selon les
critiques littraires et qui tait discut partout jusquen les annes 1980. Au dbut de la
guerre, il rejoint lArme de lAir, mais ne partageait pas la politique de Gaulle. La
politique de Gaulle sur la voie dune France en grandes lignes, indpendant
dassociations internationales, puissant dans toutes les affaires, avec encore beaucoup
de territoires coloniaux, et dautres attributs, tait pour Saint Exupry un peu fou tant
donn les vnements de lEtat Franais et le gouvernement Vichy pendant la grande
guerre. Antoine tait Paris au dbut du conflit, et commentait lors de lAnschluss
quil tait toujours contre la guerre (et ceci nest pas entirement clair en lisant ses crits
lpoque) et ft dparti pour la campagne avec sa femme aux nouvelles des offensifs
Allemands en France et plus tard en 1940 New York. En 1943, il publia son livre le plus
populaire avec les jeunes, Le petit prince , et sintroduit Alger et Tunis. Son avion
disparait lors dun trajet en Afrique du nord le 31 juillet 1944. Ce livre soit un portrait
assez dtaill de ce personnage de trs haute qualit, rudit, talent, dans un dtail trs
satisfaisante mme pour les lecteurs qui connaissent mieux Saint Exupry travers sa
littrature lpoque du XXme sicle.
Cliquez ici pour la site Saint Exupry. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
U.S. / P.R.C. Meeting in Los Angeles - June 2013

- Unbearable Light...
Wednesday, June 05, 2013
Media Photo - "This man can think," or at
least it appears so. With respect to the two
- day meeting in Southern California this
week between the U.S. President, Obama
and Xi Jin ping, and while the most
important post in P.R.C. is not that of its
own president who's meeting with the
Americans this week; it is undoubted that
some major topics will be addressed,
including those of the national security of
both countries with respect to technology
infrastructure, human rights, territory rights
in the Pacific Ocean, Southeast Asia, international economics including Yuan currency
values and trade, foreign direct investment (maybe by another name here), nuclear
proliferation and security, and a myriad of other topics will probably be mentioned. There
are probably more salient and extremely important topics to both these leaders
personally than can be looked at during their two days together in June this year, and
even through further contact during a summit scheduled for July 2013 than will be
addressed. It is also foreseeable their talks will generate mountains of work, including
paperwork, projects, tasks, new jobs, new money, new promises and obligations for both
and the like, to keep a good number of people puzzling and very busy about what is said
in the next couple of days by the two principals involved and their intent in, again,
scheduling this meeting in the first place. Rancho Mirage is also a kind of golf country,
and if Xi Jin ping does not play golf, he needs be introduced to it here in this hotbed of
the sport of all places. The U.S. President might not overlook this, and people like me
would consider it a major gaffe to not allow Mr. Xi at least a try at putting on a practice
green, if not walking a course. Mr. Xi might indeed play golf as well, in which case that
123
universe is open to both these executive leaders.

If there is any question about the possibility of the U.S. President consorting with
communists and the like, it is probably clear from the venue chosen here that he does
not, nor does he really harbor socialist views that might stem from his undergraduate
studies and legal training and so forth; and even though Boston these days is a very
liberal place and has been for some time. Probably only, the U.S. President under the
circumstances, and especially given the presence of the Chinese community in Southern
California, is sympathetic to many dilemmas these people face in their long journey to
assert themselves credibly, even despite political and cultural baggage and in view of
hearing out his Vice - President on the subject - though this is not a big picture
consideration with respect to current events and might make its way into the language of
something said here about the socio - economic situation or human rights situations in
both countries. With that, and as if such meetings are not complicated enough and
difficult to carry on and talk about later given what is mentioned there and related
implications and interpretations, one might see the following readings: CNBC article; New
York Times article; Brookings Blog; Heritage Blog, Sina.com writing; CSIS; Reuters, ABC
- all worthy and more of reading about this meeting. One might even search on the
internet for latest news, and check the AP and other wires, and C - SPAN, C.N.N. and
Bloomberg - this meeting, by its format and venue, even in what considers issues of form
only, is quite important and people need pay attention to announcements about it and
what will happen in July at the next one. In the midst of this latest difficulty the U.S.
administration faces over use of the Treasury against political enemies, the fallout over
the deaths of Ambassador Stevens and his colleagues in Libya, and some other things,
this event well invites the lightness and overall tone of international friendship between
U.S. and P.R.C. at this point in the political and diplomatic game, and on a quite grand
and elegant scale here. Think as well that Southern California is used by the Eastern
establishment for that these days, and one has to know the world has changed from the
past Western establishment mood about P.R.C. that it glaringly harbored years ago. My
NSA supposed / alleged snooping on everybody

in the country (heaven...
Media Photo STOP MESSING WITH THE
TELEPHONE? While I do not really know,
as such things as the latest news about
N.S.A. metadata and PRISM activities
could just be a test of secrecy and
discussing the rightness or wrongness of
this is moot. Also, and with respect to any
visceral reaction by anyone who talks over
the phone, most people who have a
telephone or a cellphone handset know the
telephone company has the ability look at anyones telecommunications profile and call
records at any time. Such details are internal to telecommunications carriers and serve
as a reference for things like demographics and marketing studies, system stress studies,
customer service activities and the like. For people like me, for the U.S. President even to
have made this part of his agenda is not likely he has to be too busy with other things.
124
Though snooping and mining into voluminous and numerous calling and other records
with varying degrees of granularity and specificity is absolutely insidious in its intent and
effect as far as civic, political, administrative, and other rights are concerned here in the
U.S., it is undoubted that this makes any difference, even one iota of a smidgen of care,
for most people as telecommunications customers. It will be interesting if, or whether or
not, our chief executive is found ever to be involved in such forms of monitoring of
peoples behavior, but this is not likely: Our president is a law professor at the nations
best law school, big on issues like asserting and preserving individual and constitutional,
and human rights, and that he is concerned with and orders and / or participates in the
actual, purposeful and direct monitoring and recording of us talking over the phone is
entirely doubtful to me. That he ever gave direct permission for these sorts of things is
doubtful as well, and the activities by N.S.A. under scrutiny at this point are to individuals
such as myself a redundancy of ordinary corporate activities under different motivations
and purposes (see above), perhaps, though centered on information gathering and
analysis that happens in any event due to things like systemic structure of our information
systems, the nature and capabilities of high level computing power, and solving the
difficulties and other issues presented by communications today and the systems that
host and operate them. See CBS News online coverage of this (click here.) My older blog
(Thomas Spitters.)
... another coup.

Friday, July 05, 2013
Media Photo Despite what appears to be
the installation of a new government in
Egypt this past week, and change is
supposed to be good these days, it is sad
that the principles of an administration
under the rule of civic, political and other
rights, the rule of law and right to property
are lost on the current power polity in that
country in view of the kind of militarism with
theocracy on its face that have presented
themselves to the eyes of the world at
present. It is difficult to mention here what
the hope of the Morsi regime actually has been in view of the gridlock he found himself in
once appointed to office. Political infighting had his political agenda to bring constitutional
principles in practice to his region visibly stymied and in gridlock for some time, enough
time for his political and other opponents to gather strength and stir polemics against him.
People like me know that Morsi wished to, among other things, build upon the idea of
resolving the Palestinian and other anti Israel questions within his country in view of a
proverbial getting on with it, and it is obvious that in the type of revolutions he provoked
that political forces in opposition to him were just as, if not even more powerful in their
ability to have the populace rise up and in their capacity and ability to stir controversy
within the country in giving him the boot, and then in replying to a call created by a power
vacuum in seizing the political and administrative dais. That the Morsis of the world in
Arabia are more Western in their world view and political orientation is dangerous to
powerful Arab interests, including those of petrol politics applying to the strategic control
of various waterways and so forth, and who and how access to those things is paid for
through Egyptian coffers. Aspirants under these conditions want to have control over
state coffers and the ability to tax the value of the patrimoine thats in any way involved
125
in the global money tree. This not only included petrol politics, but tourism, education,
various areas of international and even regional commerce and their economic elements
as first monitored and then controlled by the state. The idea that the U.S. Republican
regime had under the president Reagan, that even the Carter regime in the late 1970s
shared was one of equalizing and helping to better organize Arab states without co
opting them at the same time. The Arabs in typical fashion took this as a severe offense:
At the time this was part and parcel of the war in Lebanon and today has resulted in
widespread unrest in places in Arabia where politics are in flux, especially in North Africa
where there is a history of power struggles and administrative, ministerial and
bureaucratic jostling and infighting that is apparently the nature of the game at this point,
just as it has been for years, often with those in the military wielding power in the end.
This has been the legacy of the abandonment by the Egyptian regime of the state level
fight to eliminate Isral and subsequent violent death of Anwar Sadat who championed
this controversial strategy on the part of Islamic regimes. Other politics, including those of
hydrocarbons, have played a role in this spending of political currency through
increasingly encouraging power grabbing in a country that is weak constitutionally and
over armed, and subject again and again to the fact that everyone who is anyone in the
Arab world has connections to the fiercely anti everything Hezbollah, the activism of
which starts in the violent capitols of the Middle East, Beirut, Baghdad, and Kabul, and
now Damascus and Cairo. The influence of the old guard of the Hezbollah as a critically
and powerfully divisive political force is not to be underestimated, nor is the power of
same to secretly enlist everywhere those with sympathies lying in orthodox Islam and its
current place in the world as promoting violence and terroristic tendencies and acts
against the kind of pretentious elitism that is approved of and promoted in places like Iran
at this point. Forget that such places are geographical at this point and delve for yourself
simply into the ideas that the leadership in such countries wishes its territory to represent
a nihilistic and destructive idea or set of ideas without regard to territory. Such is an
obvious and evident detail as to the intent of those seizing power in Egypt at this point as
influenced by divine clerics in the Middle East and elsewhere in the kind of ruthless and
destructive us and them endgame that is influenced by public Islamic dogma at this
point. This begs the question about there being even a slight hope that Morsi and his
people remaining alive at this point into the future. Trial announcements and so forth emit
for people like me the overall public cynicism and tyrannical attitude of the leaders of the
present Egypt coup in the face of reasonableness, skepticism and the more complicated
character of what democracy can be, even in the beginning, and its call for people to
actually use their heads under the present political conditions in the region.
Controversial "New York Times" article. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Incomprhensible: les maquis contre les tanks en

Syrie.
Voyez, si l'on veut, en - dessous, les articles et images sur la tyrannie, la racaille inoue,
... .
Technique des maquis - ela on fait contre la tyrannie (Photo Mdia) El - Assad aime
son peuple et sa patrie, que (Photo Mdia)
126
Cliquez ici pour actualits "Le monde."

Cliquez ici pour actualits (galement
importantes) Yahoo.
Histoire de nouveau de Bohme (ds 2003.) Tartuffe en dbarras - ...

Photo Mdia Toujours, ayant remport ce livre depuis
les rayons dans la localit, la fois se trouvant dans
les environs de Milan Kundera, nous nous enfonons
dans les dtails abstraits surtout des arts touchants
tous les aspects de nos vies de tous les jours.
Typiquement, au dbut de son roman, on se souvient
des paroles entre le compositeur Schnberg et un
journaliste il y a beaucoup dannes qui faisait
prononcer une question devant lartiste sur la
possibilit des forces cratrices dans lartiste ayant t
teints par le processus de lmigration pendant ce
temps aux EE.UU. Ceci illustre les qualits et
complexits de lcrit littraire de Kundera en franais
et provoque son analyse encore du sicle saignant du
XXme la Guerre dEspagne en 1936, les deux
Grandes Guerres, linvasion Hongrois en 1956, la
raction des Yougoslaves en 1948 contre Staline et les rsultats de leffondrement
communiste en 1989 91. Le communisme en effet dans quelques esprits ft un
mouvement contre les personnalits fascistes du sicle et leurs amis. Avec ce
fondement, le roman LIgnorance commence son droulement avec Irena, praguoise
(Prague, peut tre une ville inconnue ou en cachette, guettant, sadique, gnante,
typiquement communiste et pas usuel selon lOccident), qui allait migrer en France
Paris (tellement un rve en vue de toutes ses difficults et obstacles de son existence.)
Le communisme tait anathme lmigration volontaire, et cela parmi dautres thmes
du droulement romancier de Kundera sont trouvs dans tous ses textes. Le mari
dIrena, Martin, est mort ; elle a denfants, ses habitudes et comportements, le bon
humeur, mais ne sarrange gure Prague. Ds 1989 Roissy, elle rencontre Josef en
scurit. Un homme convenable nanmoins une faon de vivre et situation
souponneuses. Une fois avec Gustaf, nous subissons non aux images de Le Clzio
typiques, mais pratiques et vrais la vie selon Irena, une femme mre et chou pour son
rencontre, un agent de laroport de Paris. Il soit la fois goste, indiscret, capable
daventures, bohme comme elle, libertin, solitaire, quoiquinsolite. A partir de son mari
Martin, et lagent de scurit Josef, elle suivit dautres voies avec leurs propres histoires
provoquant des rappels et souvenirs des tanks russes Prague en 1968. Au court, et
selon Kundera de lintrieur de lEurope de lEst, le communisme surtout ft un gros
127
gaspillage du temps, de lnergie et matriel et ressources, derrire dans la brume des

mmoires des peuples, au pass (ici employant les mots Kundera), invitant en plein
ennui la nause et lirritation des peuples, surtout des Tchques dans leurs efforts
compltement oublier les Russes et la Russie. La vie sous le communisme tait au
dessus de tout impossible pour les filles et les femmes, toujours vivants les vies trs peu
assures et dont les raisons ne sont jamais admises ni mentionnes. Irena, aprs Josef
trouve Gustaf, soi mme une vie trs peu assure, disant peu de paroles sauf les mots
clefs et importants, et il a lembarras devant les grands yeux dIrena tout le temps ils sont
ensembles. La bote de Gustaf est Prague et laventure sensuit pendant les efforts
tenants dIrena migrer en France Paris. Elle suivit une fois ses compatriotes en hiver
en sjour la montagne et tombe malheureusement et par hasard gele, aboutissant
lhpital o lon a d couper une oreille. Les femmes, toujours hros chez Kundera, de
remords subissent habituellement ces choses dans ses textes. De faon typique,
encore chez Kundera, un lien biographique sapparat dans les interstices du texte celle
de Jonas Hallgrimsson, un personnage Islandais ; et aprs trop consenti pour sortir de
son pays apparemment, elle revoit Josef qui ne se souvient gure delle. Irena apprend
de la mort de la femme de Josef sans notion ni matrielle ni temporelle ; ce qui prsenta
des problmes la mmoire de la vie de cette femme malgr la fin de certaines
difficults pour Josef. Josef soi mme est ensuite le sauveur dIrena qui subit des
difficults elle mme ds le dcs de Martin. Tout revient la musique de Schnberg,
une commmoration significative et permise en public de lcroulement du communisme.
Le couple fait une fte avec une bouteille du vin bordelais, et lalcool est devenu un
thme de leurs relations en mme temps que la vie somnolent des rves confus de la fin
de lstpolitik. Une fois leurs relations rompues, une fois Josef est le revenu dmontrer
et mettre en relief lde de lamour au dessus de tout, nanmoins le rle y trouv de
lalcool. Le valse final du roman se trouve lors une narration dun coup sexuel pour le
couple ; banal et naturel, dans la chambre de Gustaf o le lendemain il labandonne de
faon typique pour un homme de son ge elle continua le sommeil dans son lit au
moment de son dpart pour lavion Roissy aroport. Quil filait lavion et quelle
dormait paralllement dans son lit, dans sa chambre, indique une faon de vivre Paris.
Vous savez ce que cest? My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Le nouveau roi de Belgique.

Media Photo It is not often that one sees a
coronation different in character (though
similar in spirit, even in view of a language
barrier) than the U.K. royal investitures, but
the new Belgian king Philips coronation
this past week was quite understated and
modest, and featured an excellent cast of
international actors and their laudatory
words, including especially those of Albert
II, the outgoing (retiring) Belgian monarch
who quite nicely stated his expectation for
the good conduct of the monarchy for the long term, provided it featured people like the
incoming royal couple. Belgian royalty does not have it easy as it rules in a country where
the warring states in Europe in the past century found lots of loopholes and fought bitter,
pitched battles there. It is also true with respect to this, and again, not easy for any
Belgian to stomach, much less the royalty there, that everyone came to the help of the
128
country in time of conflict. This is quite a

good example of the rear view mirror view
on things that many political pundits
express, and the background and actual,
non revisionist story of how Belgium was
overrun in two wars is quite complex (See
above all The Fateful Alliance by George
Kennan.) The coronation story was not
overwhelmingly noticed even by the
French, but you might see the articles
below for more precious and immediate details than I am able to give here: - Reuters (via
Yahoo!). - Yahoo! (Reuters). - UPI. - Reuters U.K. - Chinese News. Media photo My
"Bad" storm on T'ai wan (almost right in T'ai bei

City.)
Media Photo The thing about typhoons is
they're apparently the scariest, noisiest, most
destructive weather patterns around. We
don't really worry about them in the U.S.
because we do not really have them here.
See satellite photos on the web and the
following stories (that are important in terms
of the great damage recorded, but in America
that are on the inside pages of the paper,)
that are not really headlines in the U.S.: BBC News. - U.S.A. Today. - Deutshe Welle.
- Voice of America / Asia, and - Bloomberg
News.
Spitters.)
129
Smolensk, Russia (Yesterday.)

Media Photo On a hiking trail in Northern
California some time ago, I did meet while
she herself was hiking for some exercise, a
German lady with whom I began speaking
about what wonderful things were
happening in FRG - capitol moving to Berlin
after reunification, economic reclamation
and stabilization, etc., of the former
communist areas and their influences, and
the like. In what she told me, in fact that this
had been foreseen for years by the
intelligentsia in Germany, and that the
world had made that country wait in
catching up to any relief of the memories
from two world wars in addition to the role
of Eastern Germany in the Cold War and
more. There was a topic that came up and
inadvertently one of us mentioned the
dismal conditions and privations of the
Eastern Front in WWII and how many
German boys had essentially gone through
their training and then been cast into that
abyss from which they did not return. Many
of them. In fact, if my reading on the subject serves me correctly, assignment to the
Eastern Front, even if one were a ranking officer was a death knell for many young
Germans at the time. See linked articles below.
In his "Lettre un ami allemand," the great critical thinker at the time, Albert Camus,
opened the destructive and cataclysmic topic that is touched upon above as a question.
In fact, what was the mindset that drove the German soldier, in fact the man in the street
in places like Munich and Bonn, and other places in Central Europe, to give power to the
attitude that the only solution to communist and leftist influences in Europe, Jewish
question aside, was conquest and subjugation. This has been a topic examined, in the
way the German military is understood to have worked and acted, as a kind of collective
psychosis - "understanding" the German leadership a the time and so forth - though this
does not, in fact it barely fills the vessel of knowledge and other facts and details to know
and comprehend the enormity and importance of the European influence at the time and
who had or has the most important role in it. The question asked by Camus in his essay
that is critical to anyone examining the topic of the WWII Eastern Front, and that might
have application even today insofar as historical examination of the time is concerned,
was in what way did the German leadership at the time not believe and thereby take up
arms against the communists / Marxists in Eastern Europe, that there was no single,
peaceful solution to letting that geographical area and its peoples continue what
reportedly and observably had been and promised to be a mistaken experiment in
politics, administration, social policy and ethics, etc., by many people worse in their edicts
and totalitarian practices than any hitlerian model.
There is no doubt that many admirable communist military personnel from the U.S.S.R.,
130
themselves good and ethical people, brave and valiant, went West to fight the Germans
and themselves and did not return - again the number of mortalities exceeds the ability of
one person to count them, though on a different scale, the number of German deaths
informs; and their work to respect, recuperate and put their dead to rest; the international
community of the greater wounds suffered by FRG in Eastern Europe and that society's
continued efforts to address the implications of the related military conflict in public
discussion over the years. In the overall examination of areas like the Eastern Front, in
the thought of it all the way through to battle planning and execution on both sides, one
"understands" the mystery about why the German leadership at the time placed such
great emphasis, even political quackery, on what it believed to be the responsibilities of
the time. Though many observers of what happened in Eastern Europe in the 20th
century, and scholars, etc., do look at how and why the way Germany addressed this as
an entirety from a moral and psychological standpoint, and from the standpoint again that
German leadership was deeply flawed, there are probably a set of more thoughtful
reasons that are the answer to the unknowns provoked by moral, ethical and other issues
and explanations about it. Due to the overall interest in things like the Germans
recovering their war dead, and how the soviets worked to discourage this, even to deface
the idea of it because they at the same time gravely feared and loathed any respect
German had nor has in the world; and the former soviets as well, there begins a process
to answer the mystery and questions about the times in which Germans gave their lives
in places like the Eastern Front. This not because they did so willingly and with politically
- charged ideas, but because and out of a sense of obligation, perhaps even overriding
economic, social and financial obligations as offered and predicted by the immediate
future at the time. The soviets were equally zealous and messianic, if not more so, and
there were greatly more of them.
The soviet cemeteries that I have seen in Eastern Europe are quite plain with headstones
and
monuments, and other markings of the past conflicts there and the related mortalities.
From the images of the new German cemeteries and the looks of them, the German ones
are even more inauspicious and understated. For at least some individuals, people need
to continue to know what happened in places like Smolensk and related and similar
places of the time, and not only the political and other ramifications of this, and of the
value of respecting and recovering the human element that might one day be relegated
or forgotten, and the meaning and responsibilities that go with this equally passing. In
view of what happened at the Eastern Front at the time, part of the sinister and criminal
vice of the soviets, was to disallow and to deface and erase even the thought of Germans
having any connection to communist soil. That this has been redressed now shows at
least at this time, and as the result of things like the effectiveness of Perestroika, renewed
and popularly discussed and understood efforts of everyone to comprehend the places of
Europe and Eastern Europe and their influences in the world in order to avoid the loss of
life in the future that took place there. Regrets for any typographical or stylistic errors in
this writing.
"History" channel internet article.
Article from "Der Spiegel" online.
Online article from "RIA Novosti." My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
131
Remembrance (in an inauspicious year) Hiroshima.

Wednesday, August 07, 2013
Media Images.
Links to articles:
USA Today. CBS News. Voice of America.
Christian Science Monitor. Washington
Post. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
This Bloody Strife - "Let Me Tell You, ... ."

Media Photo
It is quite beyond this columnist why, apart
from very odd political reasons of which a
need for reasonable explanation, the
unpopular and now widely covered bloody
mess in Syria even continues at this point.
It is possible as indicated by the Russians
declaring this mess to be their business as
well, that the regime in Syria fears passing
into history, either as the result of the
current guerilla - rebel uprising or another explosive and elite revolt, as an effeminized
system of government after the death of the elder Assad in Syria and the accession to
power of the current Assad. This fear is part and parcel of any conflict, armed or with
simple verbal exchanges, in which attention is directed at Hezbollah as a participant and
dates to the channeled and isolated violent ideas of the Abu Nidals of some years ago
and the violent chaos they advocated in spirit and practice. I do not know specifically the
Arabic terms for "ready, aim, ... ," and like many reasonable persons have no interest in
them, and the current Assad regime has incurred additional moral and other debts of a
sinister character by inviting Hezbollah and its sponsors from the East into this
unviewable and violent home fracas. Even the network news coverage of the conflict is
physically sickening, though also see press reports, of which: Lebanese press, "Wall
Street Journal", P.B.S. "News Hour", U.K. Economics Publication, U.S., Virginia
132
newspaper, ... (there is an outstanding C.B.S.

television report from August 17 on this topic as
well): All as perpetrated by those espousing in
name, and tacitly and directly ignoring the
culture and teachings of the prophets of Islam.
Media Photo While assuming the leaders of this
madness to be educated and thinking people in
their public statements and discussion, what is
one to do and with whom here? That Yitzak
Rabin and his own were still alive begs this
question and some resolution to this political and
societal disintegration in the Northern Middle
East. That the impossible violence and chaos
there is completely internal and has summoned
external armies to settle accounts in calling for
the destruction of the rebels with overwhelming
force invites and engenders even judgmental curiosity about the Syrian government's
legitimacy as ruling in that country, and any related constitutional integrity as to even
remotely legitimate or justifiable actions in escalating the repressive violence. All this in
opposition to the quite enlightened and braver parties of the "Arab Spring" having
proposed a modern challenge to the Syrian status quo of old. "Entendu, que les gents
comprennent le ruban noir du massacre." My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
A Great Problem - Solver from U.K. - See His

Office Site on Middle ...
Thursday, August 29, 2013
Media Photo
What has Tony Blair been doing lately? (Click Here for an editorial.)
What is Blair doing in 2013 this summer? (Again, click here for articles and his office site.)
133
The Old "Follow Me."

This gets a little old, not to mention just the overall toll of the wars in the Middle East, but
with respect to prospective ones, including a possible introduction to additional conflicts
by the proposed air and other coordinated strikes the U.S. president is trying to persuade
the U.S. public and legislature about at this point. In spirit, and in seeing the cataclysmic
gassing of al Assads people by their own, internally trusted regime, is an abomination.
Most people are able to agree on that. Al Assad will, win, lose or draw, in this current
situation, cite extenuating and special circumstances relating to the status of those
gassed and killed, or those gassed and injured, with a dismissal that characterizes the
completely callous and unoriginally diabolical mentality as shown by the leaders of soviet
client and former soviet client countries. Years ago, under the Hussein regime in Iraq,
there was a huge to do about the gassing and other violent things done to the Kurds in
Northern Iraq. Hussein at the time simply indicated to a disbelieving and humane, and
otherwise well thinking Western public that the Kurds were unwanted and needed to be
eliminated due to their rabble rousing and trouble making on the Iraqis. This writer
predicts al Assad will use much the same rationale, that the people are unwanted and
are hooligans and really nobody who knows his details really cares, and he needs to by
this answer to a world judicial court for war crimes; the difficulty will be in enforcing
international law and actually bringing al Assad into court session, presumably in
Brussels or in the Hague.
People like me are wholeheartedly in the camps of the current Secretary of State (John
Kerry) and the U.S. president Obama when they call for military retaliation against the
Syrian regime for the crime of using wide area weapons, nerve agents and gasses that
are carried by the wind and that cover more of an expanse under the circumstances than
for instance a bombing would, against his own populace. This is not just because a report
or two got out of Syria this had happened and people have to mention themselves in one
camp or another, but simply because, and this despite the risks the regime has taken that
have jeopardized its stability and further favorability to the West in westernizing and
reforming its institutions; gassing people is wrong. Innocents by this meet their ends and
others at least come very close to passing in very isolated, controlled and gruesome
ways from this life, which had for them great value and great potential, especially among
the young, and at least the morality of the destruction of gassing agents and nerve
agents, etc., and the sinister and overall criminal minds by their deployment against ones
proper citizens, makes the act of using such agents inadmissible and criminal in act,
intent, and in the planning and stated or unstated purpose of such attacks against, again,
innocents for the most part. Despite the overall repressiveness of regimes like the one in
Syria, and the connection of that regime to former communist principal(s) who are arms
dealers and economic and commercial suppliers (sometimes gratis) of goods and other
material for domestic consumption by the countrys elites and for war, its people should
be allowed to live their lives to the fullest, and this given what is called for morally and
normally within Syrian society. What has the U.S. president asking our legislature and
others for support in an attack against these perpetrations is his, again overall and
entirely correct, principal or self governing rule or rules about the sanctity of human life;
something extremely valuable taught in every college at Harvard and instilled in the gifted
people who attend there. That academic experience having been only the beginning for
many such people leads for many of them to further complexity and complications as to
what should be done in circumstances such as are now in Syria with the regime caught in
self destructive mode and turning on its people.
What is to be done? By this writing, and because there is no consensus imperative, the
134
Russian regime itself is readying or at this time shipping supplies and war machinery;
arms and so forth, to Syria to deter and possibly abate a U.S. military strike before it
might even be arranged, the facts here beg the question What are you doing? Such an
interlocution should be allowed with the Russians compelled to answer as to what their
intentions are in supplying arms, anti missile and anti aircraft, anti personnel and
anti rebel devices and equipment in the scope of an outdated and obsolete purpose of
constant efforts to secure the near abroad and so forth, and I paraphrase here. Such
thinking, with the mobility of armies and air forces, and other factors is completely,
obviously archaic and un called for at this time, though these arms dealers, reason that
in the deployment of their war apparatus they will probably handle forty percent of the
issues against Western powers and influences they need to, and there will be so much
conventional destruction that Westerners will tire of the conflict and pick up and go home:
An example of pre WWII political thinking that needlessly and eventually caused so much
damage. This is what has the State Secretary and U.S. president so involved in
promoting their plans to protect and preserve whats left of our allies in the places
involved and their peoples, if not a good amount of the infrastructure in the country and
other valuable attributes it has despite its not being, for example, a place like Israel, a
modern functional country. Lebanon is probably a more functional place than Syria at this
point and our U.S. president does not want to be chief executive as well of the Middle
East. Absolutely not, and the talk of it, even anything provoking such impressions and
thinking about things this way is nonsense and hogwash. My older blog (Thomas
Spitters.)
iPod, iPad, iPad mini, iPhone, iTunes, iApps,

iCloud ... .
I do really like the iPod:
The 'iPod Image."
Reviews for the iPod. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Shang hai - symbol of success of the 'three

represents' - belated b...
The Man Who Changed China: The Life and Legacy of Jiang Zemin, by Robert Lawrence
Kuhn, Crown Books 2004.
Media Photo By the Three Represents, now in the lexicon of Chinese political thought
and part of what the P.R.C. constitution preaches at this point, Jiang Zemin, leader of
China during much of the Clinton and Bush years in the U.S., provided for P.R.C. pride
and Chinese patriotism in his wording of a renewed emphasis on Marxist Leninist
thought, the dogma of Mao Zedong, and additionally Deng Xiao ping political / economic
theory. While the rise of Shang hai as a provincial and commercial capitol in the P.R.C.
was important for that country and coincided with the rise of Mr. Jiang (a former mayor of
the city of Shang hai) who became the president of the P.R.C. These primary principles
of political and ideological theory as espoused by Mr. Jiang in practice dealt with agenda
items like modernizing the military on the mainland, modernizing political and
135
administrative services processes and practices in

P.R.C., and an effort to fight corruption in upholding
age old values of the rule of law and a spirit of
virtue that have a long history in Asia under a
Confucian tradition and other traditions on the
mainland that recall the great historical legacy and
rear view the administration has had after the events
of Tian An men in 1989 when Mr. Jiang was a
general secretary. Also included in any
implementation of Mr. Jiangs primary political theory
were efforts to reform state owned enterprises
(SOEs), and revamp the P.R.C. financial sector and
rural economy, and the overall increasingly
successful effort in itself of the Chinese asserting
themselves in the world.
The commercial and business economy of the
P.R.C. as of 1989 was still a planned economy, though the agenda items of Mr. Jiang
obviously, with their rightist tendencies that had become more admissible at the time,
facilitated more market based activities in the country and in areas of P.R.C. influence
politically and economically. This Mr. Jiang called advancing through the times, and I
believe my quotes are not out of context here, in validation of the socialist market
economy on the mainland, domestic and international, in a kind of capitalism with
Chinese characteristics. Mr. Jiang, as a trained social scientist and natural scientist
made all personal and professional efforts to revitalize the country primarily through
simple re emphasis and validation, again, of science and education, and this without
interfering with the overall workings of the countrys establishment, especially the
scientific one there. This was accomplished somewhat by sending young Chinese
scientists to the U.S. to pursue college and university educations (in 2002 over 60,000
students of whom more than 50,000 returned home at the end of their educational terms).
Mr. Jiang, despite being a scientist and engineering type, among the elite in his own
state, in his public emphasis upon bringing up the country using his own methods, called
for, validated and greatly lauded achievements among the greater populace in carrying
out his principles and their practices.
The time of Mr. Jiang as president of P.R.C. saw pretty much the end of state means of
production and dictatorship of the proletariat as well, though not primarily so, the each
according to his ability and each according to his need type civic governance so ridden
with vice and corruption as it had been for years on the mainland, and ridden as well with
other discouraging tendencies emphasizing the class struggle. These new principles in
practice also meant the end of the overall leviathan power of industrial development and
a new primacy recognizing the information age. In this, Mr. Jiang demonstrated
missionary and fanatical zeal, especially concerning the outdated workings of the
communist party and how masses of people were treated by the system on the mainland.
These extremely successful efforts, probably the result of many other reforms besides
the three basic principles above, and much more administrative and other work than
meets the eye here, are reified in what many see today, citizens and tourists alike in
P.R.C., as the achievements of the rebuilding, renewal and modernization of the city of
Shang hai without interference or any cancelling out of influences of places in P.R.C. like
Nan jing, Hong Kong, Guan dong, Bei jing and so forth.
It is also very important to know that the Three Represents comprise not just old and
simple ideas as dressed up for modernity. These principles are communist ideas made to
address new concerns of Marxist Leninist ideology in advancing the productivity, status
and dynamism and building up of a material civilization of this managed economy (no
136
longer referred to, for example, as a non market economy). The obverse of the Cultural
Revolution, intended at the time to discourage intellectuals, these three new edicts call
upon innovators, entrepreneurs, and intellectuals now in the vanguard of a new society
as primary sources for building up the country. The text goes into considerable detail
about how the implementation of these principles worked and much of the language
behind them, especially the new de emphasis of the party role vis a vis the masses
(primarily industrial workers and farmers), that encompasses the party and the populace
on all levels. Much of this new doctrine was criticized in P.R.C. from the left as ideological
pollution, and as a result was only really established as Mr. Jiang recently left office. The
movement itself is encapsulated in five primary public speeches by Mr. Jiang during the
time 1978 2001 that illustrated the objectives of controlled political reform while
preventing dissension and disagreement, repression and so on, especially again after
Tian An men. Reforms were founded on a basis of enlisting socio economic stability
among the populace and for example, discouraging anti capitalist (read anti U.S.)
attitudes, the greatest good for the greatest number, and a vision of success for all
stakeholders these factors all despite the absence of democracy. Considering the
international publics view of the success of newly redeveloped Shang hai and related
places, the achievements of the 2008 Olympics, successes in the war against terrorism,
and acceptance worldwide of the new dogma; the efforts at reform have been even more
successful with the countrys communist party that while it now cannot control everything
allows some small non communist political activities and party organisations,
cooperation of non communists and NGOs with the party, and the new rise of the
C.P.C. as a model guarantor of the states integrity, leadership strength and other
attributes, Chinese nationalism, and new Marxist thought of which former soviet
influences and followings. The three principles are said to have modernized the party,
economics of the country, while retaining the traditional communist goals, structures and
social rules that have been in place for more than a generation.
This was brought about by an emphasis upon youth and renewal, and new colleagial and
consensus building administrative guidelines. Those carrying out these efforts have
presumably been part of the inner party of educated, talented, and sophisticated,
dedicated elite acting against corruption and with a transitory character according to the
modern realities of communism. With the legacy of Deng Xiao ping theory it has been
very difficult to assure or re establish social stability after the events of 1989, though Mr.
Jiang is said to have provided the country with consistent reform efforts featuring his
executive, engineering and leadership qualities: For Mr. Jiang, if you will, a sort of
combination or cross between Beethoven and Shakespeare. Things might nonetheless
have been like the old Phoenix Cardinals playing the Houston Oilers in the day, but this
series of coup reforms by Mr. Jiang was quite successful and extremely popular at the
same time as based on intellectual and patriotic ideas and the power of same in efforts
as well to dispel income disparities, master world macro economics and inflation and
fight corruption, over taxation and unemployment. The language used in the book
mirrors the language about economics in the Western press and speaks authoritatively
thereby, and by this calling for the old adage trust but find fairness in it. The text
proceeds to illustrate how the new principles and processes worked, and goes on and on
about much of it while richly illustrating the story of Mr. Jiang including a good section of
chapters on early life and political formation. And thats not all.
2013 Blog Article - Wall Street Journal.
re - edited 09/28/2013. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
137
Remembering the Washington, D.C., Naval Yard

Incident of September ...
Photo Gallery (Aftermath) - Washington Post.
Blog Article - New York Times. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Les relations extrieures la tl, ... .

Lettre publique destine la droite en
France Cher Monsieur ou Madame Reprsentant
de lU.M.P. :
Photo Mdia A loccasion de regarder le
PBS aux EE.UU. aujourdhui pendant
lheure de lmission Charlie Rose ,
programme tlvis dinterview et des
vnements courants prsent, jai bien vu
votre ministre [franais] des affaires trangres, Laurent Fabius, ancien pilote davion de
chasse, en parlant avec M. Charlie Rose sur le sujet de la politique de la crise au Moyen
Orient et surtout au sujet des circonstances pour les rebelles et les challenges sur le
gouvernement syrien en faisant face a. la politique et les conflits de guerre civile, b.
lemploi du gaz [] sur le point des missiles envoyes aux faubourgs de Damas, et c. au
dialogue international sur les liens entre ltat des affaires actuellement en Syrie, la
politique trangre de la Russie et les efforts nuclaires dIran, Syrie et leurs voisins dans
la rgion.
La parole de M. Fabius tait formidable et est suivre peut tre pour les raisons
suivantes : M. Fabius dans son fondement et formation voit bien les perus et attitudes,
ambitions et la volont de larabe sous Islam ce qui est une pointe de repre pour la
politique socialiste influente dans votre rgion. Egalement, il cautionne fortement un
jugement sur la politique syrienne en tant quencore soumettant aux souhaits Russes,
Iraniens, et autres en place au dbat aux Nations Unies, mme de la Chine, les pays de
lAfrique et autres tats non aligns lassemble de lO.N.U. M. Fabius fortement et de
plusieurs cts ait mentionn son rle dans la conduite et la volume du dbat, et le rle
en mme temps du gouvernement en France en offrant des avis faciliter une solution
ces problmes extrmement complexes une fois examins les courants de lhistoire
quoique rcente [en] la Syrie, et du printemps arabe . Son point de vue, bien entendu
dans le raisonnement des socialistes dans votre pays, est exprim dans une parole qui
souffre dun analyse de base sous - dtaill aussi bien dune hauteur qui ait montr de
nouveau les dtails de la pense vivement exprime de son ancien chef Franois
Mitterrand qui n'ignorait souvent que lInternationale dans ses pratiques et penses.
Celles - ci pourraient tre comprises autant perspicaces par les socialistes en France que
dangereuses par les adhrents aux autres coins de la politique en le pays dans le sens
que M. Mitterrand ft pendant lpoque trs arrogant en son pouvoir exerc au niveau de
ces grandes lignes, une fois donn la politique du ptrole, des terroristes dans la rgion
et partout, des ides globales de lIslam et autres coins idologiques et dogmatiques sur
lchelle en raction la pense, moralit, mme la faon de vivre des franais et
138
franaises. Ici compris est le hasard du parler familier dans les interviews ltranger par
les hommes politiques socialistes de la France qui sont souvent coupables dutiliser la
presse et les mdias ltranger en tant que labo pour leurs ides faisant appel leur
point de vue mondiale. Laurent Fabius est un homme brave et formidable dans son
attitude pratique et son usage du langage de la politique, et mme encore en le cas quil
conduit son avion de chasse ; mais les ides dlicates et susceptibles, et sensibles de la
guerre en Syrie, celles des armes trs destructrices y utilises contre les rebelles et
maquis, et les courants idologiques dans le voisinage ne doivent pas tre sujets ni au
niveau de lexprimentation verbale ni aux regards en arrire vers les pouvoirs de
gauche du pass nayant pas t capable rsoudre ces difficults ni pour les franais ni
pour les autres. Les socialistes en France continuent chercher des richesses et
linfluence partout en commandant une sorte de dictature de la pense selon lancienne nouvelle politique de Mitterrand qui se soulve loccasion dun appel de la gauche en
France. La populace doit regarder sur ses caractres, et au dessus de tout de la
gauche ce sujet, dans les dbats politiques Paris et en province, et dans le pays
partout. Je vous prie de pardonner les fautes stylistiques et dorthographe ici et vous
souhaite tout le bien pour le prsent et le lavenir.
Avec mes meilleurs aveux,
THS Californie, EE.UU.
More on The NSU Trial in Germany.

Tuesday, October 08, 2013
That this particular legal proceeding is the most significant dealing with the far - right in
Germany in years, and has been cause for great concern within FRG itself, it is not a
huge subject of discussion nor real awareness outside that cultural and territorial
surrounding. The crimes allegedly associated with the NSU ("National Socialist
Underground") in their relative insignificance and in their overall morbidity are cause for
concern not just in Germany, but in any country or region where there are individuals who
are part of a system and who take advantage of this for their own ends or in order to
otherwise and inappropriately take part in the sinister and dark, immorally punishing and
even criminal world in order to bring attention to their personal politics. It is perhaps true,
and there might even be a history of the NSU and related parties, that politically oriented
people within a system like the democratic FRG, though they are not reasonably able to
have a majority voice as, i.e., the politics of the nazis are disproven everywhere, resort to
various tactics and vile and violent acts as the NSU apparently has. This is symptom of
the cultural psychosis of anyone or any group condoning the crime of assassination and
elimination of people as an allowable act under the circumstances the NSU might present
to anyone.
In knowing in any detail about the mission of the NSU, it might be difficult to consider
loving one's neighbor as oneself, inasmuch as one is not able even a little to trust one's
neighbor. In the free country of the FRG, an excellent place, even the state chancellor is
challenged when attempting to reply to questions and comments about the situation in
the former Eastern Germany and its effects on people today, more specifically in the area
of origin for the NSU that has been on the fringes socially, culturally, economically and in
many other ways since the downfall of communism in 1989 - 1990. The political
environment in the area of origin for the NSU is characteristically rife with ideas and
attitudes that leave people grasping at straws about their own lives and in all quite angry
139
and frustrated with things in the world, especially concerning influences that are non German or that are from the outside. Remember if one judges the NSU outside of this
particular proceeding that one can not just lay one's hands, proverbially, metaphorically
nor otherwise on such problems as a way of resolving them and their effects. The
circumstances of any showing of anti - Semitism or like idea today, in the world as we
now have it with the related extremely mortal conflicts behind us, are quite special and
individualized and despite the reality of this subculture of anger and awfully willful
violence, there is through the humaneness with which the defendant at trial is treated in
the Mnich Higher Regional Court and that city's Stadelheim prison a comprehension of
the conflict(s) people have experienced since the defeat of communism and official laying
- to - rest of many far right influences in Germany itself. The case of Germany with
respect to such issues is in itself extremely specific and special, and requires
considerable and reasonable study in order to have any level of understanding of it. A
good number of the answers to dilemmas proposed by the Bder Meinhof in days gone
by and the NSU today are the internal affairs of the country itself; to insist otherwise and
to broadly apply these are nonsense and in denial of the watchful and ordinary
conscience.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/10263998/German-neoNazi-trial-gives-insight-into-secret-life-of-Beate-Zschape.html - hyperlink to "Telegraph"
(U.K.) article, September 2013. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Again - Memories of October 1962.

Media Photo
Many people do remember this time in 1962 as one of mutual concern, not just among
those in the same town, but between the different members of the "global village," and
today even among those having read just historical accounts. See this link for subject
matter resources and previous blog entry from last year. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Anna Politkovskaya.
Media Photo
Google Search Resources: Click here.
Search engine resources - this blog. My
140
In Reaction to The Puppetry: They Wanted The

U.S. of A.
Resources from this blog: Click here.
Media Photo
Media Photo
Monsoon / Cyclone Season Again.

About cyclones from Japan meteorological
site - click here.
Latest cyclone news from Bloomberg.
"IRIN" news about cyclones.
About monsoons / cyclones - click here.
Media Photo
141
Another Way to Look at China's Growth Besides

Just from "Retail."
Media photo While it is obviously true P.R.C. produces a good amount of the worlds
manufactured goods, and a good percentage overall of those are produced not only in
P.R.C., but have a history of increasing importance in such places as Singapore, the
Pacific island countries, Australia, Japan, Tai wan, South Korea and the region of
Southeast Asia and South Asia the lot of them. But what makes P.R.C. so important in
its own right, with still its relatively low standard of living outside the urban centers after all
these years, as a producer and exporter of goods to the U.S. and Western Europe and
other presumably wealthy parts of the world? While P.R.C. holds maybe a little over a
trillion U.S. dollars in the bills, notes and bonds issued by the U.S., it also has a very
large population, now much over the billion threshold as reached some time ago. This
means P.R.C. indirectly has financed its economic scale and demographic scope through
making the decision some time ago to develop major business and commercial ties with
the U.S. the post Cold War unipolar superpower. Also, while for P.R.C. as a country
from the Third World bounding over into the First World to the extent it fulfills its political
and economic mission of transition from a country emphasizing industrialization and
renewed centrism overall, there are a small number of major inputs that contribute to the
future economic prospects of the country; not of the P.R.C. administration, but of the
economic activity in the country apart from government, including continuing to invest at
least some of its current account surplus (not all can do that), conducting more
reasonable and goal oriented what we would call open market operations, increasing
the scope of the social net at home, especially for aging workers; getting beyond the fluff
of places like Shang hai and Bei jing to manage better its intake of foreign direct
investment, and then under the guise of what it calls Chinese characteristics and a
newer doctrine of its administration under the Represents, carrying on the business of
actively managing its industrial and commercial base, and then economy overall without
the ordinary corruption and parasitism that characterizes some growing economies these
days.
P.R.C. might indeed show a much greater percentage G.N.P. growth than, mention
France at this point that might be one percent. The recent estimates of Chinese
economists about the sustained growth over eight or nine percent gross of that countrys
economy as a whole does take into account the reports and numbers that are submitted
to the center, though it does not quantify the actual numbers of what must be the shadow
economy in the country that might be yet another significant source of growth, however
illicit, to again enrich those who are merchandising unofficial stoves, televisions,
handbags, and other goods and contraband at this point. In the former soviet union, for
example, during glasnost , the shadow economy might have been as great as forty
percent of the Russian gross national product at that point, and this gives reason for
much of the exclusive and private wealth the oligarchs concentrated to themselves at the
time (Boris Yeltsin is criticized for having allowed this and even encouraged it though
future studies will probably show this vicious process was a Russian version of hastening
the arrival of capitalism in the country.) The grey economy in P.R.C. at this point might be
greater than that in Russia in gross terms because in China right now there are more
people who need things, especially the aging worker population, and who have ways of
raising the cash out of their lifes savings and so forth to put into the consumer economy
this is and has been a source of unofficial and substantive internal commercial growth
for their economy since the time of Deng Xiao ping, and the thinking behind it as it
142
touched upon the issues of young people there could have touched off some of the
issues of 1989 that resulted in the administrations reactionary measures at the time. Rest
assured that Chinas economy being the way it is, and with room to grow in the area of
consumer and durable goods, the grey economy has given the country a somewhat easy
and unofficial way to deliver on its economic promises internally over the years. Time will
tell if this and related activities actually enriches anyone and by whom it will be easy to
see who the responsible people are for it, be they resellers, middlemen, or some type of
oligarch as has arisen in their neighbor to the West.
While the Chinese over the years, not unlike the former U.S.S.R., have chased bad
investments in the name of entrepreneurship that sometimes have caused financial and
other reorganisations, it is possible that the current limits to growth as a macroeconomic
issue will call for less official trade inside the country due to slack in world consumerism
and in its financial markets as well. This will be a good thing for anyone who has a lousy
economy and whos lending things to finance growth, and it might be difficult for example,
for France in the next few years to have G.N.P. growth that even equals its inflation rate;
so France might want to return to the financial well in P.R.C. consistently as long as
China continues to purchase its bonds and export goods there. Remember that debt is
not property nor is it a proxy for property and those in the French patrimoine stand in
line as stakeholders in any problem with its bonds before the debtholders do. The rights
of debtors and bondholders when in dispute can get quite technical, though it is clear that
no matter how much of Frances debt bought by the Chinese, France will always be free
of any specious claims on its assets or national treasures due to the character of its own
open market operations and its international rights as a debtor. Outside the P.R.C.,
international trade rules, and this despite the slackening of some trade at this point in
recent reports, maintain the status quo as far as practices and the production of goods
and services in exchange for moneys are concerned. P.R.C. might be greatly concerned
by slackening trade as its a major producer of goods at this point, but trumpeting the day
to day problems of this is a way of calling undue attention to oneself, and while there
are ups and downs every day, one has to wonder at the same time what the daily figures
are highlighted for unless there are some practices driving the trade and commerce from
P.R.C. that are questionable. Ordinary economic systems, capitalism being one of them,
have very wisely built in features to absorb the everyday chaos of the marketplace and
those angered or upset by ordinary ups and downs might be judged to not being able to
see beyond their noses. These days, so many merchants and traders everywhere are
concerned with quick scoring due to an incorrect sensation thats how money is made
these days by a kind of high pressure cooker tactics based business climate. This is
only so true as ordinary people want a basic standard of living, to have a place on the
food chain and the like this is the same in every country with wise leaders or fools alike
at the helm. The current concerns about China as an economic engine thats slackening
are frightful to Chicken Little and because most of the world has market psychology
based trade these days (they count whats in their pocket books at the end of the day and
decide if theyve fared well or poorly, etc.,) its important that daily and monthly indicators
(markets and CPI aside, maybe) be given time to return to their general patterns.
Related Becker Posner Blog postings on the subject. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
143
A New Book from Mr. Alan Greenspan - A

Continued Dialogue with Youn...
Media photo In his latest text as published
for the commonweal (click here for "New
York Times" review,) Mr. Alan Greenspan,
former chairman of the Federal Reserve
System in the U.S., notably under the great
national economic boom that took place
during the years mostly of the Clinton
presidency, talks about his various points of
view on the new economy and his old
metier - forecasting. In a radio interview
published over PBS airwaves a few days
ago, he spoke about the major themes in his latest book including the "new" economy in
the U.S., the presently (from decades ago) applicable economic theories of Joseph
Schumpeter (with which the writer here does not overall agree as to their current popular
and trumpeted application to current U.S. and international economic climes,) and the
salient topics of things like the aging of the principal working population in the U.S. right
now and productivity of the workforce here. He also discussed somewhat and in quite
slow and clear language the issues of Medicare, unemployment and the federal budget.
With respect to this, it might be necessary to recall his previous work in a 2007
publication, The Age of Turbulence, of which the following:
a. His brief account of living in New York, his training and how he became involved in
policy - making, industry, and banking, etc., as an economist and consultant, and then as
an official.
b. The "New World" of economics and self - correcting character of the U.S. capitalist
system; the nature of the challenges of the nebulous character of world commerce and
economics today and its related changes vis - a - vis the past.
c. The end of the Cold War as a continuing salient issue in economics and its effects,
including the 1998 Russian financial crisis, the currency crises in Asia during the late
1990's, and the movement of the national economy in PRC from a non - market economy
to a managed one. One might also note the related effects of the end of the Cold War on
developing countries everywhere. One also needs remember with respect to these the
budgetary surplus in the U.S. at the time that was so un - characteristic of any federal
regime here in years (since 1969,) and that in 1998 petroleum sold at one time as low as
$ 11 per barrel. Note as well Wall Street considerations at that time, including the default
and failure of Long Term Capital Management.
d. The keystones of "Clintonomics" as emphasizing competitive markets and the rule of
law in addition to other themes including entrepreneurship and business optimism.
e. Recent history of the development and primacy of applied mathematics and statistics
to the social sciences and their related acceptance and greater use in the various
economics clubs of the world to which Mr. Greenspan belonged and belongs.
f. Continued importance, especially in view of concerns for global climate, of the study of
efficiency, technology, environment friendliness and labor issues in heavy industry.
g. Recent history of interest rates and FOMC conduct.
h. NAFTA and other trade agreements with near countries, and trade agreements and
the flux in economic and political relations with the great powers.
144
i. The arrival of the internet / world wide web and the invocation and an applicable
interpretation of Schumpter's theories of "creative destruction."
j. The stock market boom during the 1990's and into the 2000's.
k. The overall and pervading mood of uncertainty in the "New World Economy" at present
and dangers of inflation, the collapse of Social Security in the U.S., possibly the
dangerous collapse of the social net in the U.S. in the future as a result of gaffes by
officials, the promise of slower future economic growth and continued and more acute
and unnecessary legalism and litigiousness of American society.
l. Increasing dangers of increased populism in American politics and policy - making and
the dangers of current economic policies in inviting more deficit spending, inflation and
currency devaluation.
m. The renewed importance of international financial centers such as London and others,
and the necessity of nations to improve their employment situations and the country's
social net.
In the details and in your reading of the 2007 Greenspan text, there is yet another world
of topics, themes, items and issues to read of that affect your and everyone's finances
and standard of living, employment situation and other features of living in the U.S. and
what it means to be American. Mr. Greenspan probably reluctantly repeats some of this
message in his new book as in the last one his voice might not have been heard in
important spheres. The 2007 text as examining the topics above as well as other very
urgent and important ones affecting urban and country settings in the U.S. right now, in
background and actual perusal make excellent material for what must be his outstanding
new book. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Benjamin Bernanke's Federal Reserve: 2005 2013.

Media Photo Benjamin Bernanke, at the
time he inherited the job as Chairman of the
U.S. Federal Reserve had more challenges
ahead of him that any Fed. Chief in recent
memory. His predecessor, Mr. Alan
Greenspan, arrived at his Fed. Reserve
Chairman appointment with a stellar
resume from business and industry and
had followed an empirical path through the
economics and banking world to his job at
the U.S. Federal Reserve starting on or about 1987 and ending in 2005 (eighteen years.)
Bernanke was a change from Greenspan as a tough act to follow, and as the new Fed.
Chairman confirmed in 2005 had a career in academia that dealt with the same level of
statistical detail and analysis as his predecessor, though the emphasis of the Bernanke
Federal Reserve was necessarily anti inflation targets, troubled assets, interest rate
targets, Quantitative Easing, and easing monetary policy among other things that have
been his calling for the past seven or eight years. The Federal Reserve has many
schools of capitalist economics just in the air and around its various personalities and
public figures, of which a Keynsian framework that has had overall a great influence on
economic modernism and to which Ben Bernanke has made substantive and substantial
contributions including that of easy money and a methodological approach to and
145
adaptive use and interpretation of economic information and statistics. This has been
primarily due to Bernankes Chairmanship at the Fed calling for and integrating the
features of faster rates of market economics change into its models and processes in
view of simulating the overall surrounding economy as an modern and rapidly changing
entirety.
Ben Bernanke who is apparently being replaced by Janet Yellen (who is herself
apparently an inflation and quantitative hawk more in parallel with Greenspan than his
successor Bernanke,) conducted a simultaneous war on inflation, overall efforts at price
stability and crisis management given the effects of the internet bust and the housing
constructions and mortgages bust during the 2000s and more. He has been a consensus
Fed. Reserve Chairman using pragmatic business tools, gut instincts, the usual
computerized and arcane modeling in addition to the traditional economics models,
encouraging different voices and opinions among the members of the Board of the
Federal Reserve, and as a major emphasis of his tenure better and more
communication and transparency with respect to public availability of details, press, and
information about the Fed from the beginning of his appointment in 2005. While following
the policy path set in place by the current democratic administration in Washington, D.C.
during 2005 2013, the Fed. Chairman was well versed enough in economics and
business to know capitalism suffers more in its reputation from boom and bust cycles,
that cannot really be controlled by central banks and other factors that call the Fed. to act
in supporting business and commerce from the point of view of Washington, D.C., Wall
Street and Main Street. Recently, this institutional conduct has continued with the
adverse remembrances of the 1930s Great Depression, the lost years 1990s in
Japan as a policy backdrop, and the related climate of the credit markets during both
recent downturns and their effects that were so negative and uninviting to commerce,
business and industry. Despite some of the work Bernankes Fed. carried out to cure
some of the nations economic ills due to systemic weakness and delayed recovery, the
typical self regulating features of our economy, and the Chairmans control over rates
as well and probably due at least in part to the public trust and government insistence,
Bernanke was not fully vested in his work as Fed. Chairmnan at first due to public
criticism (even from Greenspan) and for some what was the integrations of labour
economics and statistics and the further integration of bright line employment and
inflation targets. During the crises of his Fed. Reserve term, the Fed.'s Mandate of
Employment and Inflation itself was almost as important as the general integrity of the
financial system as centered in New York City. Whenever a decision was made during
the Bernanke years, New York remained of important consideration, but places Like
London, Berlin and Saint Petersburg and their economic considerations were looked at
too in view of husbanding the U.S. public and private finances in the correct way and with
the highest integrity. Bernanke believed in adjustments versus taking an overall
(sometimes leviathan) problem solving approach.
For the Federal Reserve at present, computing power has been developed and related
real statistics and their processes of synthesis and interpretation that lead to internal
reporting and policy decisions and implementation since the 1960s and the technology
the Fed has is part and parcel of high tech development on the institutional level,
centrally and regionally among the countrys twelve reserve banks scattered around the
U.S. Bernanke followed a school of economic thought that includes strict governance with
goals of growth and anti inflation levels of unemployment. This type of economics is
characterized by the results of economic stimuli with adjustments that are frequently
called for to keep the U.S. economy growing if not functioning smoothly. This modern
Keynsian style oversight also integrates the proviso that deliberate stimulation of the
economy and its frequently called for adjustments can cause and result in as many
problems and difficulties it promises to cure. A book about the Bernanke Fed. by Ethan
146
Harris illustrates the synthesis approach after 2004 that prevailed to promote flexibility,
draw on an eclectic series of economic theories and a consensus approach to internal
discussions and decisions on monetary policy. This is a measure of the classical
approach to economics in which, i.e., unemployment identities in the social sciences
provide a set of traffic laws that show the potential and changes in demographics, for
example. There are numerous such identities in the economics of labor and many have
been used, the related analysis tools have names like NAIRU and Phillips Curve, all of
which when used properly and when producing proper effects add to individual and
business incomes, again as a rule. The book gives and illustrates a considerable
discussion between Keynsian and Classical influences in economic doctrine and policy at
the Fed. and that Bernanke came from academia into his job where mostly crises and the
Classical view (as working theory and its ramifications) provided most grist for the mill for
the FOMC and Chairman and Federal Reserve Board in addition to the regional
governors around the country. The text (Harris, 2007) delves into great detail as to
theoretical examination of both the Greenspan and Bernanke Fed regimes alike. Both are
considered successful for various reasons, but Greenspan primarily for traversing some
fifteen different crises and keeping the economy in the U.S. on a path of steady growth.
Bernanke is credited with maintaining liquidity in the Great Recession with inflation
targets, his policy use of labor economics, and his judicious and wise handling of various
lending facilities during his eight year tenure in holding inflation and prices stable and
steady in time of chaos, even panic, and alarm in the markets in economic terms. The
Harris text emphasizes the new rules of the macroeconomic game and Bernankes
survivability and adaptability in making several key decisions about policy that enabled
the U.S. economy to traverse the crises of 2007 08 and more. One also obtains from a
good reading of the book a good notion of ordinary Federal Open Market Committee
workings, especially the key indicators it might be using and about the meaning of its
various communications with investors, the public, officials and other parties and
stakeholders. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
1 : Universal Compassion.
Media Photo Belated Book Review:
Beyond Religion: Ethics for A Whole World
(2011, His Holiness The Dalai Lama:)
Written apparently mostly from his
residence in India at Dharamsala, and
supplanting but not superseding a previous
book, Ethics for The New Millennium (ca.
2004,) this classic and varietal Buddhist
text examines ethics from the authors
perspective in the more and more rapidly
changing world at this time, and change as
perceived in an increased awareness not only from the author, but from his followers and
others that things like preparation for change and its rewards take place over gradual and
painstaking efforts and dedicated time spent not in containing everyone. Without being
doctrinaire and pedantic, this text that addresses the kind of humanistic cosmology that is
characterized by Buddhism and its modern issues that address human rights, health, the
environment, politics, the sciences, ethics and morality of course, and individual conduct
in society among other things as the Dalai Lama fleshes out for us the ongoing debate
between religious and secular influences in our modern times.
147
The author speaks of attachment in the text that concerns the kind of identification,
psychological, religious, moral and political, etc., that people in the modern world must
have in order to be fully engaged in their lives among others. In short, the book makes
the point the world is a denser place and there are other people in it besides just the first
person singular for everyone: The text outlines the problems with what are today
inappropriate and aggressive, and over aggressive self assertion and self
importance as a way to overcome the everyday challenges, and even extraordinary
challenges we sometimes face in our somewhat different, then again parallel, paths
through life. The change, but in integrating it into a peaceful, secular framework as
presented in this writing. The main theme of the text is compassion in its essence as
accompanied and made of alleviating the suffering of others, and promoting the well
being of others. The foundations of the spirit of universal compassion are thus the pursuit
of a kind of collective or societal happiness and contentment of the family of civilizations
in view of and derivative of efforts to lessen and properly address the attention of the
world public on suffering in order to end the destructive forces that cause the negative
effects of suffering in its various milieus. The Dalai Lama speaks of karma under the
circumstances as having a relation to causality with respect to the multi faceted events
affecting in various degrees the lives of writing emphasizes themes such as selfless
individuation and altruism, service to others in the name of happiness and the pursuit of
happiness, social justice, political freedoms, passive resistance to aggression and
tyranny, selfless (again) righteousness, and more in a way that appeals to the majority of
ideas about humanism, freedom, justice, and morality, etc., in the mindset of anyone who
believes in self autonomy and morality, be it from any of the main cultural centers we all
know and read and see in the media every day. The author as well tells the reader in a
chapter on Discernment that the openness and dedication to success in ones life and
the lives of others in its effectiveness depends greatly on the sense of autonomy in
everyone, perhaps even appealing to the idea that such a quality is innate and is then
refined through lifes experiences without the real possibility of being taught from previous
times.
The outward compassion the Dalai Lama has in this text, a holy book for Buddhists, for
his fellow colleagues, associates, the extended human family; and the awe, respect, and
attachment not only to other people but to the environment and to nature is remarkable in
this writing and shows the indomitable attitude of the Buddhist faith against destruction,
negative influences in society and among the greater family of humans everywhere. In its
influence as a cosmology book, the text ranges in content and context, directly and
indirectly from topics like interpersonal relations and psychology, learning and morality,
the sciences including the authors knowledge of the neurosciences, the social sciences
including the more negative and utilitarian subject matter of economics, the development
of and role of religion in modern life including the importance of genetics and human and
biological possibilities and differentiation, languages and other arts, world and regional
politics, the history of India, and other quite important topics of discussion by everyone.
Overall, the type of universal compassion talked about in this text might not be at home,
for example, with those whose perspective dates no further back than the Middle Ages,
but the text might prove extremely valuable, again not only for Buddhists and the
followers of the Dalai Lama, but for anyone interested in the discussion of psychology,
religion, and life sciences and their roles vis a vis each other and more in the modern
era with its many influences and religions and secular mindsets alike. My older blog
(Thomas Spitters.)
148
Mortar Shelling A Damascus Mission.

Media Photo
Links to this story:

a. Reuters.
b. Xinhua.net.
c. News from the U.N.
d. Russian News (in English).
e. Fox News - Van Susteren. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
More Promises for Tourism - Iran.

Media Photo In looking at a recent map in the popular press about Iran, the image
showed six nuclear installations in various parts of that territory, the operations of which
are at stake in the latest multi - nation talks involving mostly the U.S., European
participants in the talks, and Iran, the home country allegedly now in violation of non proliferation rules about nuclear energy and how it has used this mode as a medium for
aggression, or for some other again allegedly belligerent purpose in the Middle East. It is
possible, and while the Iranians are really smart about this, there are many more nuclear
149
installations in Iran at this time than meet

the public eye about the current NPT and
related talks. I do not know if Iran is a
signatory of the international nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty, but assume this
country is not insofar as the terms of its
pledging to such an agreement would have
long since done away with the activity Iran
appears to engage in with respect to
processing plutonium and other belligerent
and offensive technical gestures in the areas of things like rocketry, Rouhani's
sophisticated wrangling administratively about such things, and other, lesser moral
infractions that are hurtful and angering to those countries with a defensive attitude and
policies on such things and an ideological umbrella to dispel any effort at legitimizing
political jostling with respect to nuclear power and its offensive capabilities that are a
simple extension from the technologies, materials, processes and other factors that make
for a successful and peaceful nuclear strategy.
It is not absolutely clear in my own view as the literature with respect to the NPT is
varying in its approach to this issue, while quite vast, and one is obviously not at liberty to
read all of it; probably a task for a very large team of people, even in places like Iran.
There is, however, one powerful overriding them that materializes on a high level when a
people even begins to desire nuclear power and then nuclear weapons, even if they are
so - called defensive weaponry along former - soviet style terms: When nuclear weapons
are on a country's political and scientific agenda, mutual assurance, a common - sense
and practical view with respect to either wide - area or massively destructive weaponry,
when forgotten as it apparently has been de - emphasized in the approach to Iran due to
issues involving places like Israel, for example, and other Mediterranean countries like
Turkey that could popularly be sympathetic to Iran, can become an overriding factor in
replying to the offenses of those who have nuclear power, but who are non - signatories
and who are non - compliant with NPT
Media Image provisions or even with fundamental nonnuclear provisions such as the
1960's ABM treaty (in spirit and by the letter of the law.) It shows from the talks involving
U.S. State Secretary Kerry that mutual assurance is a reality, but so far is largely not
addressed in meetings with Iran, and needs be addressed in scheduled meetings when
parties arrange for this again, presumably now in December 2013. With respect to Iran
and the dancing of politics around mutual assurance, it will be captivating and at least
interesting to see how and in what way that country certifies its nuclear inventory,
potentialities, policies for offensive or defensive weapons already in place or in
development, ... . The issue that remains a danger is anti - U.S. sentiment even among
the great powers now, not just the nuclear powers and proliferators, and the antipathy is
only palpable - so sophisticated and technical as not to be overt. This as well during any
future talks with Iran on the nuclear subject matter, needs to be addressed and remedied
and the type of cowing that Iran is subjecting its peaceful neighbors to at this point,
including Saudi Arabia and others, needs be looked at as well. It is possible that Iranian
nuclear policy right now is just as dangerous for Iranians as it might be for anyone
targeted by its arms outside that country. The news in December about such matters, if
publicized, might make Iran a peaceful country again and Iranians and Americans abroad
can get along again.
BBC Story. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
150
Pictures Sometimes Do Speak Worlds about

Things (Passed).
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Media Photo
Avoiding Dialectic Revisionism - David Cameron

in P.R.C. - December...
From China News
"China Dream" as related to this summit
and other politics.
With Li Ke Qian - Media Photo

AND => "Joe" - this is precious.
Media Photo
151
By Bill O'Reilly (Henry Holt & Company, 2013:) Book Review.

Media Photo In his well researched text
on the Christ story entitled Killing Jesus, Bill
OReilly takes a humanistic and multi
disciplinary approach to this story and its
details and plot, characters and principal
actors. His investigative work and story
telling re visit the integral parts of this
Christian legend, and pages are filled with a
rich and detailed portrayal of different
features of the New Testaments telling of
this remarkable life. Turning points and
main features of the book include a
depiction in detail, and this text of almost 250 pages is longer than any of the New
Testament gospels, of the ideas and different informative topics about this pivotal story in
Christianity and the Catholic faith, and even in Judaism for that matter - including the
virgin birth, the flight into Egypt, the scene with the Christ child in the Temple with his
elders, his meeting with and baptism story involving John the Baptist; the gathering of the
Apostles with Christ as their spiritual and ideological leader, the emphasis upon Jesus as
a humanistic and human character versus a literal miracle worker. The story also takes
into account the scenes between Christ and the Pharisees, money changers, and others
at or near the Jerusalem Temple, The Sermon on the Mount, the politics of the day as
ruled by the corrupt and overriding Roman regime involving various characters such as
Antipas, Pilate, and the Herod kings. The story OReilly re tells of the Passion and
Crucifixion essentially the stations of the cross, is a colourful and enticing narrative
including the legend of Christs tomb and the post mortem Pentecostal time when the
Lord appeared among his disciples and apostles. This invites us to investigate for
ourselves the personal meaning of this cosmological view of a charismatic and political
figure from the ancient world.
None of these sub plots are told or narrated as strictly from the standpoint of one, single
gospel of the Bibles New Testament, and OReilly allows for the rites, symbols, mysteries
and their meanings to flow through to the reader on ones own, personal level. These
details form the overall outstanding and highlighted thematics that give a very personal
impression for the reader of the mysteries of modern Christianity itself that allow for the
cohesion, flow and different assertions of ideas in the text. From these literary currents as
told through the authors magnifying and examining literary lens, it is clear from the text
that Christ was a complete natural, a greatly charismatic person regardless of whether or
152
not one regarded or regards him as a spirit or a human prophet. As a figure in the ancient
world, especially during the time of the Roman empire, and even today, he would have
eschewed not the overall role of spiritual leadership, but by his nature again would have
avoided the kind of window dressing and fluff that might accompany it. For this and other
reasons, and the text implies as much, the followers of the Christ, Prince of Peace,
Xavier, Son of God, the Nazarene, , while not very numerous in the origins of what
was at the time the new Catholic faith; the pattern of the fervor and contagion of the
Christ story starting in the old times could not have been otherwise up to today with its
massively populous following among people everywhere. This begs the question about
what the authors of this text, OReilly and Dugard, would have to write about, briefly or at
length, about the story of Saint Paul, for instance as it integrates into Catholicism from the
Christ story itself and again the meaning these narratives have in the modern Catholic
faith, in the doctrine and among the laiety. This review is after a reading and is not overall
an endorsement nor rebuke of the ideas, themes, and topics, etc., discussed by the
authors in the text. Overall an excellent book.
Enough Already? Yoda Needs a Job.

Either I did see an ages old special on
network television recently, or there is new
interest among various movie producers to
film another Star Wars prequel or sequel.
This would be greatly exciting, not
necessarily for the yuppie age Gene
Roddenbury (sp?) fans, but for example, for
my brothers' kids who do enjoy and have
like the past LucasFilm productions
featuring the famed conflict between the
space Empire and the Luke Skywalker crowd. I might be completely off base here, but it
could be one might re assemble the older cast, including R2, etc., Chewbakka (sp?),
Jabba the Hutt (sp?), the armies and bounty hunters, shadows and ghosts of Darth Vader
and the chief Emperor in some huge cataclysmic, highly memorable movie that would, as
Lucas notoriously does, have the forces of good getting all the women and limping across
the finish line. Forget Ivan Reitmann for a minute, and just image Yoda, image here, and
crowd entering into the space Valhalla after some very brilliant, well orchestrated, again
space rout of the bad guys. Remember the Yodas of the world never have a chance
against the lighting strike forces of evil as commanded by the Vaders and chief emperor
types through their ultra multi computerized spacecraft that turn out as cream puffs
when the real battling happens. This would be impressive for everybody in making a
statement through the media without any political or other worldly charged language or
imagery, not even the biblical proportions sometimes ascribed to such things (no Ben
Hur, or Ten Commandments promised land thematics or anything;) it would be great!
Get Lucas and his crowd again back to the core competency and highly idea oriented,
technical and intellectual work they have done for so long putting greatly hopeful
images and dialogue / discussion in the public forum. They could use Pixar again, too.
This would be a great exercise in success for the old film making team, including Lucas
himself, and more movie and media awards awaiting, and this without any controlled
substances or anything else just clean fun. Comments invited (especially from your
kids.) My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
153
"China Jade" ... "China Moon". Without Being

"Scooby Doo", This I...
China Media Photo
Here, here! - See "Yutu," the Jade Rabbit.
Yahoo! News Story.
Xinhua News Story.
Bloomberg.
China Daily Story.
Media Photo
Media Photo
Release of Mikhail Khodorkovsky (Russia.)

Media Photo With the nightmarish
beginnings of Mr. Khodorkovsky's judicial
case in Russia some time ago, through his
release yesterday, one now knows about
the magical, chaotic and whimsical tone of
administration in Russia at this point. In
fact, given the case of Mr. Khodorkovsky
and his judicial pummeling at court in
Russia and by the prison system there, one
again is averse to possibly paying attention
to the internal workings of the judiciary there aside from the simple application of the
newer purported freedoms, civic and political and otherwise, set down in that country's
constitution during the 1990's Yeltsin years. That various political and other freedoms
have been now instituted in Russia and its people have read the new rules, now that
there have been 20 years or more since the inauguration of such rights in that country, it
remains to be seen after this long time in what way the system involving the new rights
will work for free - thinking people and those who wish to become and remain politically
active, for instance as Kremlin outsiders.
While I am sure that people like Mr. Khodorkovsky themselves have tremendous respect
154
for the Kremlin, one reason why he appeared to allow the prosecutors to catch up to him
and then that he even appeared at trial, and this despite the dubious character of the
charges carried out against him, the idea that political activism and forces for liberal
change in Russia continue to be muted by the regime are evident in every news report
about the subject that has been published since some time ago. Along with this is a kind
of anti - Western tone that pervades many Russian establishments and institutions that
has an attitudinal bent warranting, i.e., some Adlerian psychological analysis and
evaluation. While this will never happen, obviously many people are happy the Russian
administration is able to deal with the politics of it and has allowed the release of Mr.
Khodorkovsky to authorities in Germany who helped free him. His family and admirers
are surely very happy with the German authorities and Chancellor Merkel for their help
and this might be grist for the mill of European politics that continues to appeal to Eastern
Europe, and there are editorials about this every day, to simmer down politically. The only
judicial case in Russia I am able to remember in recent times or going as far back as the
1980's, for example, that has the same profile is the Scharansky story that was so well publicized and covered in U.S. national papers for some time. Mr. Scharansky is
apparently alive and well somewhere, and still greatly influencing international policy
toward Russia and the former soviet union. Mr. Khodorkovsky, inasmuch as he has
vowed to stay away from politics, might continue at present as just quietly talking to
people about his circumstances and career that have been in primitive and repressive
circumstances, and as a commentary on his home country now might speak outside of
Russia on the whys and wherefores of his own path through business and administration
and his sentence, and in a place now where one finds the listening much more
accommodating in mind(s.)
Links:
RFERL Podcast. RFERL News Coverage of Mr. Khodorkovsky's Release. UK Guardian
World News. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Pour saluer presqu'une fin a l'an 2013 - et une

passation aux nouve...
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Exemple des croyances chinoises:
Comment laisser "Le Grand Timonier" et
ses enfants au moins de son comportement
et de son esprit, ceci dit par chacun(e)
selon leur propre niveau, aux annales de
l'histoire (pour commencer) -- (encore
opinion) article - et son image, impression,
ses papiers, articles, textes, ... et ses
photos iconographiques jusque dans les
rayons d'anciens personnages dont la voix
hante l'oreille des contemporains les plus
curieux et immondes venant des engins de
loin de chez eux - Cliquez une fois que
vous ayez compris, et nous soyons amis amicales (au moins pour le moment je vous le
promets). En court, oubliez tout cela pour le plaisir et le bien de tous maintenant, enfin
assez. Se rappelles, et il le faut, cette fois que je vous l'aie promis.
Media Photo Cette photo ne puisse, une fois y mise, sortir du dossier circulaire -- aussi,
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je vous l'assure encore depuis tous les bords de nos rencontres, communications,
dialogues, ... . My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Wishing You A Speedy Recovery ... .

Michael Schumacher Racing (Statistics.)
Media Photo
Remember places like Detroit and Birmingham,

but help Syrian and Le...
Thursday, January 02, 2014
Humble Hunger Relief Ambassador Media Photo
CNN Impact Feature Story and CNN Syrian refugee news.

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Ariel Sharon (Bulldozer) - That We Knew Him

Better.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Media Photo Pre - deceased by many public figures and activists in the world of Zionism,
including Itzak Rabin who portrayed for much of the world public the paradoxes of the
Middle East, Ariel Sharon saw in his vision for Israel and for the Hebrew people a clear
future in which the bothersome issues of the day, primarily in the region those of race,
politics, and ethnic heritage, whence all Israelis could call their country and overall
territories free and safe. His idea in general for such goals and any interim
accomplishments in that very difficult challenge as indirectly stated over time, itself
fraught with internecine strife, was reachable as much with force of arms as with flag waving and peace overtures and initiatives. This is perhaps an oversimplified statement
and offered in terms that are too strong for those who remember Sharon as a jovial,
strong willed, personable, and good - to - know type of public figure who would never
really raise a hand at anyone without reason, and only in self - defense. Even though in
the Middle East, especially with the conflicts of late involving Iraq and Afghanistan, at this
time there are students of history who have read and know of the role of many Hebrew
leaders vis - a - vis the British in colonial times and the wear and tear of that period in the
story of Israel; and how vitally important it has been until recently with respect to its
leadership. Sharon is portrayed in life and in his passing as a great warrior and one who
would never rush to judgment about the issues of the day on the Palestinians and Arabs
in Israel itself.
People who read of his life, given their ability to stomach the visceral and pitched battles,
literally and ideologically over the years, first between Israel and its territorial neighbors
and then more recently between Israel and a terrorism with a 'virtual' territory that is
characterized by an anytime / anywhere / any - who - type violence, might cite that the
sabre - rattling that Sharon infrequently engaged in over the years is and was irksome.
That there was someone in the Knesset as Mr. Sharon was is a great tribute to the
system in that country whereas politics and society might have given in long ago to the
vagaries and demands of fanatics without him and his colleagues. Public and political
figures like Sharon switched political affiliations and took a difficult line against
Palestinian ideological influences whereas many editorials have stated this worked to
damage politics in Israel and its value before stakeholders in the region and the world.
This on his broad shoulders and that of the Likud party and conservatives as currently led
by Benyamin Netanyahu have undoubtedly assured the clear sovereignty of Israelis in
their continued settlement of their homeland. As followers of the news in the Middle East
and of its different countries, and as listeners to policies as pronounced in the past, and
acted upon by Sharon and his associates, all of us need to learn to listen and listen
carefully to the reasons and rationale for the continuation of Israel as everyone's friend in
that region and as one, a people advocating for resolving dilemmas for the Palestinians
as well as its own. The withdrawal of Hebrews from some areas (in 2003?) by Sharon
when he was last in power is an indicator of this. One could go on and on about this and
related topics, and how this leads starting from the public bars, cafes, restaurants and
hotels; where people gather in Beirut, Lebanon in their daily lives and given the occasion,
to Jerusalem where everyone of us either brings to mind what they have seen in books
and articles or remember from their visit(s) there and how this all sums up to the ideas
and vision that the place, and all of Israel as it needs, settle into a territory finally of
'peace and light', not of the destructive kind or as the result of violence, but of one
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dissolution with the conflicts and primitiveness of the past including any violence between
Arabs and Israelis themselves.
People know the place does not have to become a party if past and present conflicts and
adversities are ever resolved, and this hopefully given the legacy, (again for some in the
passing) of Sharon and his friends and associates, though the Middle East needs at this
point to take some stock of any continuation of bloodletting and destruction, however
specific and specialized it might be today against the Hebrews as in the days of the
height of Al fatah and Abu Nidal. The passing of Ariel Sharon and the related dialogue in
every forum paying any attention gives the world a cue to begin seriously considering a
fulfillment of the need(s) for peace, and this is especially palpable in the reaction of
Israel's territorial near and far neighbors with respect to Sharon's public funeral. In
addition, that there are now again and again new momentarily lengthy phases of this
'peace and light' gives one reason to pause and reflect on the possibilities for an end to
the violence, and the potentialities as well for a release of all from the hatred and vicious
oppositions that drive the conflict(s) in the region. Public and popular acceptance of these
and related considerations would be great for business, culture, and the business of
government in the region for everyone, and then everyone would start forgetting what the
fighting is for right now. This is what might have said Sharon in one way or another, even
incidentally or as an aside to what he and his colleagues dealt with each and every day.
NYT Coverage (article.)
"The Ecnomist." - editorial My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Stalin's Curse by Robert Gellately (2013, Knopf

Publishers.)
Stalins Curse (Gellately, Robert, Knopf, 2013).
This really good text about the efforts of the U.S.S.R. in Eastern Europe over the crucial
decades Great Depression and WWII of the 20th century does begin as many
biographical texts do with a brief summation of Stalins young life, how he became a
communist and was influenced by Lenin, and by the mid 1920s was positioned and
then allowed control of the U.S.S.R. administration until 1953 when he died at more than
seventy years of age. Keep in mind as well, that while in many cases briefly, the
Bolsheviks themselves as they rose to power only made progress by small fits and starts,
and only when conditions in Russia were truly surreal were they allowed to stage their
coup and take over Russia at the end of WWI. This biographical text of Josef Stalin does
not deeply examine the Russian Civil War, nor does it deeply look at the path to power
the Bolsheviks took under Lenin: It really begins with the accession to power of Stalin and
the kind of revolutionary government, what was to become typical among communist
regimes, he promoted as heavily dependent upon the military, and heavily doctrinaire in
its practices in what concerned the carrying out of Marxist ideals that indeed included
elimination of any threats to his singular power and the primacy of socialism /
communism in the former Russian empire. Mostly, the level of analysis of this text
appears to be the dissuasion of Eastern Europe away from the West, including White
Russia and Ukraine at the end of WWII. As well, the illusions of the West to transform
Germany from a bitter, brutal and primitively defeated axis power into a European country
again, were dispelled by machinations involving the demands of communism in
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reparations, primarily as stated, for Red Army losses during the war, and this not only in
personnel, but in property and goods as the Wehrmacht had been as far East as the
outskirts of Moscow, and perhaps further East in the Southern part of the U.S.S.R. and
had done much damage to the soviets in the process before retreating. Due to adamant
demands from foreign minister Molotov and Stalin himself, Western powers were
compelled to allow for the expansion of soviet influences into Eastern Europe, and into
places like the Balkans, Central Europe and even places like Italy where communism
was to have its moments of prominence. Remember the Red Army was the first to
capture parts of the WWII German capitol, then the British and Americans, and as
occupiers placed themselves in no other position than to make demands upon the
Western Powers as far as regional politics and influence were concerned. The terror of
the 1930s and then WWII had taken a heavy toll on soviet society due to attrition among
the intelligentsia, including in the soviet military, and due to the number of war dead
including civilians. The text goes on to explain the power relationships among the great
powers of the day, chiefly Stalin, Churchill, and Roosevelt and then including U.S.
president Harry Truman after the passing of FDR. One might remark here that post
WWII Europe had been settled at Potsdam, FRG, outside Berlin and the agenda that
followed included the foreseeable increasing importance of Asia (mostly China and
Japan) and the nuclear arms race. Russia did not yet have a thermonuclear weapon and
as the U.S. developed one, the soviets followed with their own about a year later. There
were additional purges in the soviet union after WWII in the 1950s that provoked a re
affirmation of increasingly dogmatic Marxism in the country and in this way a kind of
ideological contest, as at least in part documented for example in the sixteen bound
volumes of Stalins writings, took place with PRC that led to an international party split.
Nonetheless, new communist regimes as directly sponsored by Moscow were enforced in
Poland and Czechoslovakia, and important ones arose in Bulgaria, Romania and
Hungary. Important and major communist influences on administrations were reified
elsewhere in Yugoslavia, Albania and Greece, and a party system as set up in Europe
overall continued the structure of soviet efforts in this way. These communist regimes of
the time were and should be viewed as dictatorships that were choices and deliberate
efforts of the Kremlin to shape the future of Europe, and this despite the again
foreseeable failures of the soviets in Yugoslavia and Germany.
There are other important details that make this work entirely worth a critical reading and
analysis by any interested reader, including some of the long held attitudes of the
Kremlin about Asia and the future of Stalinization everywhere, including obviously in
places like North Korea and Southeast Asia, Cuba and Latin America. Overall, the text
has many insights and includes narratives on many levels about the life of this notorious
and powerful 20th century political figure. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
New Book: "Duty" by Robert M. Gates.

Friday, February 07, 2014
Media Photo There are lots of books that have been published about the wars in
Afghanistan and Iraq, including those by Robert Woodward, Donald Rumsfeld, and
company, etc., though this one appears to be the most devoted to actually illustrating the
details of the time, and not the strictly autobiographical take on the times of those
conflicts to date some of the texts have. Robert Gates, as a kind of unsung personality
from the State of Texas, and from academia, who has held various underrated posts in
government under six presidents, and who might rival people like Clark Clifford and other
major personalities in how he has helped the various parties in leading the country in
recent history, has written here an exemplary text mostly about what it is to be
159
responsible executive - wise during times of

war and other conflict. In the modern,
sterilized - type of view that many have of
armed conflict and in principle with respect
to the 'cut and try' and 'simple' approach to
the recent wars, Mr. Gates portrays the
complexities and intricacies of these and
this with the overall influences of public
finances and the crises of 2007 - 2008,
including the overall lessening of the U.S.
war effort as an indirect result of the
financial crises of the time. The issues here as presented are heart - rending and Mr.
Gates at the executive level is highly partial and sympathetic even to the vagaries of the
common soldier and service person not just in the battle phalanx, but in supply and and
back office as well.
Evident from any reading of this text is the overall pessimism and downbeat criticisms of
the war and the effects it had on the offices of government executives conducting the war
at the time, including the generally dismal reports of late that have been offered by
military staff due to lack of support from the public and financial and other support in their
various departments. The battle ventures of the U.S. in Afghanistan and Iraq have
suffered from popular criticism and political backbiting, and other angles as being
Napoleonic in nature, and this text includes many arguments that refute this
characterization that is made from a comic - book - type of view on things like cultural
traditions in the Middle East and modern world society and the importance of the Middle
East in this and the conduct of military affairs there. The book discusses the threats of Al
- Q'aeda and other groups such as Hamas as well, including a related military history as
detailed starting in the Bush Administration's response to 9 / 11, and even the World
Trade Center bombing in 1993 as it was in the Clinton administration years. The text also
reviews the military approach to the capture of Sadaam Hussein, the pursuit of Al Q'aeda people and the responsible pursuit of these individuals and related matters,
including the overall reservedness and reluctance of the military to use greatly destructive
anti - personnel methods in prosecuting the wars. With this tone in mind in reading any
such text, and any writing by Robert Gates about Afghanistan and Iraq and related
conflicts and the U.S. military responses to them, the difficult politicking of the time in both
countries that really had been done on a shoestring, the high - minded dedication of U.S.
personnel from every government department and policy or project under Mr. Gates, the
author portrays the conflicts and ancillary military strikes and activities as completely and
persuasively necessary. The writing in its entirety transcends the traditional approach to
administration and the military of one based upon relationships and foreign policy ties of
the same nature, and is new in its approach to having considered the importance of the
sovereignty and role, and political impact of nationalism and its derivative influences in
the Middle East and related developments that caused deliberate U.S. actions there and
at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The paradoxes and ironies of this and other political and
military imperatives of the day chewed up lesser people than Mr. Gates and there is a
laundry list of them: All of whom did their supreme best and who performed as
commanded to do - all extremely commendable people who are to be rewarded for their
meritorious actions and herculean efforts in reply to the calling to battle and other
obligations of their profession of service to country, the U.S. and America, in view of the
torn and distorted fabric of the world of the Middle East that has been the story of this
place for a long time. Mr. Gates took on all this after being called to office again by
president Bush in the mid - 2000's as a person who could take the office of the Secretary
160
of Defense and related executive offices and turn them again into the dynamic, resilient,
formidable, and resoundingly and administratively useful offices they needed to be. Little
light is shed upon the seeming deficiencies of Mr. Gates official predecessors, and
judgment as to this either way is substantively left to the reader of this writing. Mr. Gates
had been comfortably, again, accumulating experience in the field of academia at the
time of his additional calling to office by the president, and had been selected probably
then due to his own self - governing insight, among other greatly ignored values and
merits, that the greatest "doves" in America anywhere on the globe are those in uniform
of the U.S. armed forces.
Given this axiomatic and very sophisticated, and then formalized view through his office,
and again on
Media Photo a shoestring, the war effort methodically gained efficacy and effectiveness
due to Gates' using the best personnel, including the input and views, good counsel and
persuasive actions and examples of people like Condoleezza Rice, Richard Cheney,
Michael Mullin, N.A.T.O. people, and so on. All this carried on, in fact, though not greatly
evident, despite there being a paucity of rewards for the administrative, political and other
principals involved. The look of the flyleaf and the title as illustrated on the cover illustrate
on the service the meaning patriotically of the efforts of all these people to facilitate and
assure international security and the abatement of any terrorism as it emanates from the
regions examined in the text. Any reading of content as further illustrated in the pages,
and page - by - page, word for word, this writing brings forward in captivating and
scrupulous detail all the issues and related values in play in any looking into the content
examined therein - and greatly dispels the concerns about the purposes of such subject
matter or matters as they are portrayed. Overall an outstanding read for anyone.
"New York Times" book review - click here. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Fifty Years Ago - At The Edward Sullivan

Theater: "The Beatles!"
"New York Times" article on the event there
- click here.
Media Photo
161
Remember there's an argument that while "The Beatles" were great, "The Stones" were
better, and younger at the time. Everyone likes them nonetheless; "Stones", too, maybe,
at this point as well. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Periodic Interest: Fifty Years Ago - At The

Edward Sullivan Theater...
Periodic Interest: Fifty Years Ago - At The Edward Sullivan Theater: ...: "New York Times"
article on the event there - click here . Media Photo Remember there's an arg... My older
SOCHI 2014.
Saturday, February 22, 2014
Media Photo As people like me actually
know very little about competition in winter
sports, and despite this, the 2014 Sochi,
Russia Winter Olympics have been
outstanding to watch on television, of which
the skiing, hockey (especially), cross country skiing, and even the curling. Have
been searching for an appropriate pictorial
for the young people competing in the
various events in Sochi, and one might
lookup the photoportraits on "Sporting
News" or Time.com for starters, and then
later at, i.e., the "Sports Illustrated" site that
has its annual swimsuit issue out now.
The thing that struck me about these 2014
winter Olympics as televised on N.B.C. has
been that portrayal of the contest times as
happening extremely quickly, especially for
the individual events like the Downhill and
Slalom races, the ski jumping, rink skating
and so forth. I am sure this was the result of
the goals of network coverage that called for everything to be timed to the millisecond.
With respect to the commentators, the N.B.C. Sports broadcasting crew remains the best
162
for such events and brings out the competitive and dedicated spirit of every contestant on
screen, especially again among those who are interviewed during and after matches.
People like me also greatly enjoyed watching the snowboarding as this is a sport that
appears not to be too well - defined, but that captures young peoples' attention and
interest among others in the featured sporting contests. This shows the contests are
much more equalized and the winning contestants more stratified than typically was the
case in the days of old. Last, but not least, were things like the speed skating and figure skating that for me have a more specific and specialized audience, maybe more among
actual skaters, that also proved to be well - worth seeing,
Media Photo and are apparently the calling for many superior contestants on a very high
competitive level. Overall, many of the happenings at this year's winter Olympics, and
obviously I did not catch everything despite watching lots of programming, both early and
late when the broadcasts were televised, I still have to mention here as probably being
the best winter games since Lake Placid, NY, in 1980. At least this is a little true for the
Norwegians, Canadians and Russians who came out with more gold medals than the
Americans who have the most medals overall to date in Sochi. The television coverage of
these games was quite good and everyone need have picked an event and to have made
an effort to tune in to their contests - I chose the hockey (USA men's and women's) this
year and the teams as they were did not disappoint. Those Canadiens, especially those
from Toronto, ... , are especially tough with their hockey, though people like me believe
some voodoo was involved in cutting off the U.S. hopes for the gold medals in this area
(no sour grapes here, however). Am as well not taken aback by the sports successes of
the Netherlands (22 medals,) and for instance, Japan (8,) that show how the contests at
the Olympics now are more equalized and stratified - that they make room for everyone
more than before at this point. Really a good games so far.
Winter Olympics 2014 site.
United States Olympic Committee site.
International Olympic Committee site. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Battleground in Kyiv, Ukraine. Comments Invited.

Article from Time.com - click here. My older
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Belated Book Review (Investments.)

Yet Another Belated Book Review: More Than You Know, by Michael J. Mauboussin
(2006. Columbia University Press.)
This text begins with a quote from Edward O. Wilson that talks about the fallibility and
inability to escape human nature that affects even the most staid and structured
everywhere, including money centers where strict regimen are the rule of the day. Prof.
Mauboussin in this text as well popularizes the idea of using mental models in the
investment process and talks briefly about his first learning of it and then teaching it to his
students, and continuing related work through the Santa Fe Institute. Mental models in
investing apparently have more to do with determining different factors for achieving
investment goals and then carrying them out versus going on a gut feeling or waiting for
the world (essentially other market participants,) to make a mistake or mistakes, and this
among other approaches as well.
The author does seriously tell the reader that each investor with a constructive strategy or
even an investment idea needs a philosophy that overrides and takes into account the
modern computer modeling approach to asset allocation, trading and so on. These
different philosophies today are all probablistic and consist primarily of traders or
gamblers, so called handicapping as a way to make a safe bet on stocks and other
securities, and what we know as the mundane practice of ordinary investing, actually the
opposite of gambling. The narrative explores the approaches of investment process
versus outcome in that processes are determined through applied and tested investment
theory and problem solving whereas outcomes are, again, derivative of gambling
behaviour more or less. The author argues in this world of short term investment
scoring that there is too much randomness and chaos without taking a longer term
perspective on stocks and other securities.
Investment philosophies are less important more recently as husbanding and growing
assets has less appeal these days than immediate shareholder returns, not as derived
from the trading behaviour of investors but of investment players, or money managers.
The text proposes such managers or players are not winners, and despite the apparent
brilliance of the players, a guiding philosophy outdoes this brilliance any day. In short, if
you do not have an investment philosophy as a guide, find one! Remember as well the
short term emphasis today in the financial markets is not upon an investment process
as structured and well defined and working, but it is the shorter and shorter term
outcomes that are dwelt upon.
For some, needless, to mention here the investment process that Prof. Mauboussin
defines for us in the text, and that is perhaps the most understandable for everyone is the
value strategy that identifies under priced securities. The author reminds us as well as
his readers that investment fundamentals should not be equated with expectations.
Investment processes that are good ones consider things like probabilities and payoffs
where the consensus securities price is powerful and maybe popular at the same time,
but might be wrong. Former U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin is quoted in the book
as one who advocated a structured analysis and solution to things like investment
process of which certain priorities including things like uncertainty, probablistic
considerations, deciding and acting on decisions when faced with asymmetry and
imperfect information, and rewards not just based on results but on the accomplishment
process as well.
Different points are illustrated in the text, including the sort of scouting investors need to
do when looking into different securities, creating an investment game plan, and that it
164
is very difficult to beat the market, especially when stocks are going up as the market has
actually few weaknesses. The author examines securities selection criteria along with
different measures of portfolio and asset performance for evaluating success in investing.
For simplicity, the text concentrates mostly on the universe of U.S. Stocks that have
several money and financial centers. The point is made the markets are ruled from
different financial centers in America, not just New York and Boston by those in the
investing profession that maximizes long term returns for third party stakeholders,
versus those in the investment business that maximize earnings for their banking firms.
The text goes on to illustrate various investment axioms, truisms, and other observable
principles about the markets, including things like hubris, risk assessment and risk
taking, winning and losing streaks, the element of the long term in accomplishing
investment goals, market psychology, the difficulties with consistently achieving higher
returns, basic investment rules, the role of technology in the securities markets, working
with others on your projects to have capital and other gains, and dealing with the overall
ups and downs of the markets, even in the long term. Overall an excellent read. My
With Respect to A Number of Places at this Point

(Not Just Ukraine).
Media Photo Why Nations Fail, by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson (2012,
Crown Books.)
In the event you are interested in such things and cannot read this text, at least read the
book preface that outlines the latest from Arab Spring, and Jasmine Revolution and
the like. The text itself is rich in the images of things like corruption and societal
backwardness, institutional and societal inertia and lack of ambition and ingenuity that
pervades the politics and administration today of different, in fact unequal and
dynamically conflicted states that are first embattled in different ways and then disowned
by the overriding international community. These same characteristics, the authors
propose, and other key ones appear again and again among states in the failure
endgame, though it does seem the patterns and permanence of some momentous and
more successful revolutions, and the models of 1688 England and 1789 France are often
used in the text, are also illustrated and the proposition of the failed state is not
necessarily an end to either the revolutions in various regions nor the direct result of
internecine strife such as that in Central Africa at this point. Though no particular mention
is made of it in this narrative, there are specific applications of the text at hand to Eastern
Europe and its economics and politics especially (1986 present.)
In illustrating a political thesis about a makeup of failed states that is introduced in its
details in greater detail throughout the text, the author begins with an illustration of cross
border societies, one violent and completely indigent, one more wealthy, that have
deep seated reasons, dating in fact to the Age of Discovery, for their greatly contrasting
socio economic environments. It does appear and with validity that is in the history
books, the authors have proposed that the politics of old, and going back many
generations to when the world itself began to be properly mapped and to the origins of
political spheres of influence, had more to do with a corporate partnership with various
crowns that greatly augmented political scope and power of the royalty to the benefit of
society, mostly to the bourgeoisie and the rich, but really to everyone. The relation of the
Conquistadors to the Spanish crown is presented as a case in point here, as are some of
165
the overseas ventures of the English in the early days, Napoleonic France in part, and
other more modern examples of empire (the soviets, in fact, might have used this older
model in their influence pedaling and propaganda efforts over the years). With this
model in mind, and that monetary wealth had depended upon growth models of the time,
and that those growth models have changed to include more and more intangibles, such
wealth had often been the result of society's policies and the edicts of the various crowns.
To the extent people themselves had not been able to participate in this process, even in
the economic models of today that are the engines of growth and prosperity, first little
inequalities presented themselves, not really defined nor distinct; but these became
rapidly greater and greater and more marked in places like the UK and the Americas and
Canada, in places like Australia and New Zealand, China, Japan, and Singapore. Said
disparities become even more obvious in the examination of the Pacific island countries,
Sub Saharan Africa, places in South and Southeast Asia, and other places that are
immediately more heart rending in the media today Afghanistan and the Middle East
overall as well.
One might explain the general drudgery and poor circumstances of some of these
territories through an age old thesis of those countries of the tropics of Capricorn and
Cancer and the corresponding and intrinsic wealth of places in the Americas, for
instance: A kind of tropical disease where the hot countries, given their location as
well on the globe, do not do as well economically as those in the Northern climates.
There are cultural hypotheses that apply and are affected by the contrasting evidence of
inequalities between various places, even across delineated borders and rivers like the
Rio Grande in the US / Mexico. Additionally, there are ideas as to failures of various
governance through lack of proper succession of the leadership over time, ineffability and
willful ignorance of the imperatives of proper business and commerce in places;
communism, of course; and as a real outlier, rule of the populace by what are essentially
an ascendance of a group or groups of ignorant poor given various conflicts and the
scarcity of good leadership in some systems. These actual circumstances in some places
render proper economic considerations that ordinarily enrich a country completely moot,
and this where governing authorities and other stakeholders are in search of payoffs only
at the exclusion of citizens' rights, a prospering home rule with reasonable or better living
standards, or any common sense measures of socio economic success or
accomplishment as we ordinarily know them. Today, North Korea might be cited as an
obvious and impossible example of this.
The authors propose models to remedy this and these are varied, but mostly depend
upon paying attention to the benefits and obligations of Western economics and capital
formation, even to the extent of failed regimes making an effort about having profitable
private business and institutions as well as leading indicators. This presents prosperity
not as a completely wasteful and dirty undertaking as Marx proposed it is at least for the
most part, but as a choice in which governance and the institutions of society function
with a political imperative or imperatives that promote reasonable and steady, sustainable
economic growth even today, again with the green or multi feature approach with
environmental considerations and other trends of the day. The thesis of the text goes
beyond this, and is for every economist, professional or amateur, or anyone who follows
current events and knows of systemic and political attrition as provoked by socio
economic failure, to read through and respond, and not to what is a provocation, but to an
avoidance of economic plagues and the kind of serfdom that is an issue at present not
only for the worker and working professionals all over, but in consideration of different,
various and marked economic successes and failures as illustrated that await every
nation state whose chiefs are uninformed on such matters. Though the text presents
(and this runs on) the idea as well that economic and political, etc., histories are
166
extremely important in the failure analysis at hand, and the cause and effect
administration of some regimes past and present, that without some analysis of
difficulties examined therein using the methods presented again therein, or at least some
method that one might agree upon, we are all due only the limited and arithmetically
marginal prosperity and growth, if any, in our economic, monetary and other incomes,
productivity, capital growth and other benefits of Western economics, as a result of
lacking in our ability to adapt to new levels of analysis and conclusion in looking at
modern economics as they are; and then acting upon this for the benefit (and
corresponding calling to everyone to contribute to society) that accrues to each and every
one of us. The disconcerting thing about such an idea is it purports to represent a kind of
end of capital as Francis Fukuyama presented the idea in his popular books and talks
some time ago as the end of history: Perspective itself and extremely heavy rumination
that portends only a brand new beginning, albeit maybe even a Ricardian one.
Recent Article on Eastern Europe by Condoleezza Rice - "Washington Post".
See also various presentations this past week from CPAC. My older blog (Thomas
Spitters.)
( ).
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
My Teacher Alexis Rygaloff.
Some time ago, as I had studied about PRC for some time
before really even trying at Mandarin and then even taking a
class at it, I met with Alexis Rygaloff on a winter morning during
a time at which China had, and this through the papers, started
having a more important industrial base that produced more
quality products, though this had nothing to do with our talk at
the time. We neither met as colleagues as Rygaloff was much
older and an experienced teacher at the time, but insofar as I
had dropped in on his class several times and was learning, we
both expressed an interest in this process given my situation at
the time. It had been a custom at the time for many instructors
when meeting with students to actually say very little, and I
have no idea how such mentoring sessions take place today
nor the protocols involved, nor what people really say to each
other, but we did have some exchange of political language
and some dialogue about his very interesting and informative mandarin grammar book.
His point to me was that he worked hard at his articles and books originally, and as a
result had plenty of moneys and some creature comforts, indeed more than the average
senior instructor at the time; I could have his tobacco if I believed I needed that, his jacket
to keep warm in the weather, access to the books in his library as all these were
considered replaceable and fungible and he wanted to encourage me in my studies to the
extent possible while persuading me his system of economic provision, academics, and
other statuses would be of great help to me in continuance of any pursuit of the subject
matter at hand. The way in which this was presented was greatly sophisticated and not
without the proviso that I do work and according to accepted methods, etc. I was
reminded during this quite important conversation that many of his colleagues, if not he
himself had been at Cambridge in U.K., and extremely liked and admired the situation
there and this for me proposed the danger of being blind to some circumstances and
issues as many of them are: Mr. Rygaloff, while a gifted teacher and so forth, probably
was indeed hardly aware of the economic terms, actual economics / commerce /
167
business reasons about how he had his position and salary, of how he was able to afford
his travels and worldly goods, and despite his outstanding grammar publication that I
read through several times for its overall simplicity and heavy impact on Western
speakers of mandarin (as an official language in PRC only, might I add here), the way he
could maintain his teaching without much effort, maintain a following quite easily and so
forth, again. When this topic entered my mind, in our brief meeting together early that
winter afternoon, I raised my voice in mentioning my impression of this and how it was
inappropriate and irresponsible for he and his colleagues to have accepted things on a
political basis only, and then to have more or less lain in wait for 'tourists' such as myself
to arrive while making all attempts to learn, and with all our efforts gleaning maybe about
as much mandarin language and culture as was in the cuticle of his left hand small
finger. This is not an understatement, nor is nor was in our conversation the tone of
forgetting about themes such as the hundred flowers, Great Leap Forward, and other
ideas presumably designed in Moscow (1958 1971) that cast so many lives at least
adrift if not into an abyss, of which an objection to his lessons I raised at the time. The
reply was more or less, what I have is yours as well. To this day, I consider this sort of
assertion by anyone as that of a confused and unfortunate party under the circumstances
who held very tight, in fact after at one time probably having met people in the Kremlin if
not Khruschchev, Brezhnev, Andropov, and Tchernenko themselves so many of them
travel to Russia in the course of their careers even today to these sorts of things very
unsure and unclear, and again about what things like property rights, other rights, and
everything from personal autonomy of the reasonable and prudent person to territorial
sovereignty actually are. Given the great losses they suffered at the time in the old
countries, in fact with the open refusal of a part of the young intelligenstia to follow these
socialistic ideas and principles, eventually were mostly due to these very well trained
and smart people having spent academic and other currency, all socially oriented, toward
persuading the youth at the time and giving the overall impression that capital production
and Western economics and systemic institutions such as common law, supply and
demand including laissez - faire, Christianism and other 'isms' of the great Western
powers, the establishment of the family and institution of marriage, commercial
enterprise, multi party politics and all this comprised the exploitative evil that caused
systemic problems everywhere, and that essentially capitalism and its character are
responsible for the world's ills and had been for a long time. The dismissive attitude that
J.P. and everyone in the educational system where I attended college of the crimes of
Stalin, Mao, and lesser autocrats in my view, and with respect to what Rygaloff would
mention even today, gave direct cause for this insofar as survival of any elite or
governance in the near abroad of Eastern Europe, Eurasia and Asia (including especially
East Asia). Evidence of this had been a small, well funded and extremely unpopular
status of the communists' political parties for years in European and Western countries.
The influence of Josef Stalin in his day on our instructors like Rygaloff, that of Mao
Zedong, and of those who held these monumental figures as a model, for a long time has
been that of the exercise of raw power politically, however stilted, biased and misguided
oriented to the benefit of quite narrow and drunken elites who had seized governments
and worked to preserve a systemic tone that had to do with making the world new again
and casting aside much of what makes the character of thinking and being of most all
people, regardless of whether they are intellectually aware of themselves, in the name of
social progress. As much I have been able to tell people like Rygaloff eventually passed
trying to resolve these sorts of dilemmas brought about by bloody leaders in those
places.
The point of this is recently I attended an event where mandarin is all the rage and
remembered Rygaloff's book on grammar that proposes most if not all people in PRC get
168
along with about fifty phrases, the rest of the language is built on those fundamental
sentential images. Mandarin overall is a language with lots of range and difficult to handle
in the minutae that people like him studied, and this probably because many Chinese
speakers have no idea grammatically of this important idea about the narrowness of their
spoken word. Most people for their use of language are stuck in their proper castes in
these regimes where party ties and the governance itself in many respects depends upon
many mysteries in the workings of the ruling elite. People in this environment are raised
to live with this, and the interpretation of Western systems as crazy, elitist, exploitative
and so on, as part of the controls on the politics of the things where they carry on their
lives everyday which smacks of a kind of guiding and ruling principle of parasitism by
one's elite on the rest of society along with the purposeful demonizing of any regional
exterior. This overall trust as established by the ruling party, and the kind of cultural
monopoly it has with respect to the populace in places like PRC, leaves little room for
personal freedoms, much less for the free flows of capital, goods and services, making
for magical and mysterious, and though recently extremely well managed, effects on
society that are of marginal benefit only to the common sense individual in those
countries. Mandarin itself is a language that has great imagery and descriptive qualities
including actually great linguistic range, and while its influence at least gets necessary
attention from more and more people, needs be regarded with the present fervor about it
not as a key to life as some would have it, but ascribed the proper requirements and
character of something indeed as increasingly expensive and magical culturally along a
learning path: That would render it ancillary or secondary to the purposes for which it is
sometimes used, for example, to make one understand and use communist dialectics, or
to have one reason in the West that commonly voting socialist or communist is valuable
for one and for others, or other such critical themes within the purposes themselves of
those attending social and / or professional events with such ideas as an avocation, or
that are used again for instance along with civil rights (in this to the neglect of civil
obligations themselves) in the banter and casual dialogue of the collectivity given the
occasion. As much in part, along with the lessons of political survival in view of
monumental political adversaries and their vassals and various pawns, this instructor
indirectly imparted in his provincial, almost Romanian, yet extremely serious and
meticulous approach to the language and culture. Enough, already.
Media Photo
Book Review: (The Secrets of) ECONOMIC

INDICATORS (choose some her...
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Media Image This not - so - brief text on economic indicators by the great economics
scribe Bernard Baumol has much to do without any triangulation whatsoever, or that
might be hinted at here, with what people know to be the debate between the poets and
the quants, though it avoids the bitter tone of some debating the empirical schools, those
of liberal and other economists and what comprises good policy, good forecasting and so
forth - obviously other issues for even more books. In short, the argument presented here
boils down to a number of charts or statistics poets and quants themselves two parties try
to agree on, though same never seem to agree which can make for everything from
pleasant banter to angry debate, shouting matches and so forth between advocates of
these two "schools". There is no wonder, and this given my own propensity to
concentrate on narrative while numbers count (no pun intended here, they do), Baumol
169
takes a longer approach to the shorthand and high - level

semiotics and signaling of discrete economic statistics
over what might seem to be a stream of words that would
make even an excellent memory bend towards greater
advocacy to figures, numbers, charts, graphs, and other
media with, again, short and illustrative and highly
semantic criteria with lots of room for discussion as to
weight and importance and priority, if not the actual basis
and computational arithmetic, calculus and differential
math used in presenting these, too. While the text, which
illustrates dozens and dozens of indicators (you choose)
carries on a very cogent and well - delivered and defined
discussion of the subject matter at hand, the debate
between technical and fundamental approaches to
financial and other economics is authenticated by
illustrative prose and the weight of the statistics
themselves as portrayed and even further if you again choose one and decide to follow it
through various publications: There's no verbosity here about the prime rate and related
interest rates here, nor P / E ratios, nor uptick nor downtick - type illustrations - the
indicators in the narrative here are like bells that chime in the discourse of seasoned
investors, students, professional economists and the like, so careful as well about what
you might discover here. It is not that it's all been "done" before, but different numbers
have prominence at different times, and the world and the time that it depends upon at
this point are computerized as well, at least the one many of us know at this point and the
technologies that generate these figures are snappy - quick as well.
So what difference does another book by anyone make on the subject of leading and
other indicators make at this point? Well, if it is just another book about economics and
finance, macro - or micro - , let it be this one. The text here integrates, in its reading and
illustrations, in the choices it presents according to economic axioms and patters, groups
and hierarchies of data, information and reporting, many principles and points not only of
the makings of different measures, but of the overall and actual meaning to those who
have subject matter expertise and background in the materials at hand here. Certainly,
Dr. Baumol does and one reading this book ought to in fact respond to the sort of pent up quest for indicators and their different meanings that the author addresses here by
actually, and this especially if one is not familiar with the numbers and stats as presented,
putting together or experimenting, and this the text might have been written for, with the
correlations and reverse correlations of different figures the book introduces. As an
example, the C.P.I. might have something to do with capital flows directly, and with things
like interest rates; though it actually might be found to have little related to the magnitude
of national accounts and so forth, or commercial real estate numbers. Overall an
exemplary book about economics and one that every student of the subject should read
through if not own outright. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
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U.S. and Ukraine - Crimea (don't worry.)

Thursday, April 03, 2014
Media Photo A short column might suffice
for many people who know that Western
Ukraine is mysterious enough without the
Russians organizing a snap referendum on
joining their federation, then amassing
military units to enforce the election terms
at border and other areas as they
apparently have been doing lately. Our own
reasons for Secretary of State Kerry trying
to meet (and apparently hopelessly) with
Sergei Lavrov, Russian foreign minister, have to do with the way in which the U.S.
encourages any number of trends, ideas, principles, and other framework to allow for
action in statehood affairs concerning the type of, again, Western federalism that has
proved so successful and vital in places like Europe proper and North America. The logic
to this is complicated however rooted in the traditions of the power of non - Marxist and
other centrist and non - centrist views and their role in free - thinking and other
administrations that apply the rule of law, the structure of political, civil, and human rights
and other applications of the kind of universalities, in a way very simple once illustrated
properly, that appear to be lacking in Ukraine at this time; at least in the part now rapidly
annexed by the Putin government as represented by Lavrov in many cases before the
U.S. and U.N. It is probable that Putin speaks English and likes places like McDonald's,
and maybe even the Yankees, and Carnegie Hall, the Florida Coast - all pretty close and
accessible to Russia at this point; he might even like watching the Red Sox this season
on his Russian satellite television network. What is therefore the sense and sanity, if
perceptible, within the framework of the snap Ukrainian referendum on statehood and
then the troop movements? It is almost certainly not due to electoral or post - electoral
opposition as those who had a stake in the referendum and lost at least are so
momentarily weak, and their political allies as well that these could barely and hardly
challenge the referendum - winning party or parties, themselves, and without really the
help of menacing Russian crack troops as the television portrays them in this barely warmer - than - late - winter March / April 2014. With respect to this and editorials: Maybe
see as well related articles in U.S. national papers via your Google searches; and even
South China Morning Post, ... . Concerning the image above, remember it could
represent a thousand or more people showing agreement or assent with a handshake,
and then ... , and this with specific respect to Kremlin intransigence, to use a term here,
and their own style of bamboozling and bulldozing. Remember as well the Russians in
power at this point, and those connected to them are wonderful people, fun and fun loving, caring and concerned for everyone they meet, good at parties.
Though there is reason for optimism here, a silver lining: There might now be some
Kremlin statement the troops will be removed as soon as possible as is indicated
sometimes, and apparently at least in part now with respect to the "Orange Revolution" of
late - that politics have come full - circle again in Eastern Europe with Ukraine and that
mystery of a place, Crimea, as a flagship example of the power of the Kremlin in first
allowing for the administrative flux since some time ago, and then reining in the people
whose chains they originally let out. In remembering the political relationship, though they
might have disliked each other personally, between Boris Yeltsin and his like to the Saint
Petersburg people, Putin and Medvedev, Lavrov, included, Yeltsin himself might have
171
had a word with his then underlings, maybe even in English as the Russians are good at
English and other languages, that predicated the current politics and political movements
and trends in Eastern Europe right now about Crimea and so forth upon things like
Russian constitutional, legislative and military reforms, lots of public jostling and meetings
including demonstrations and talking with foreigners including Putin's admonitions,
jeremiads, and diatribes about affairs. In the old days sometimes these sorts of things,
and this for the ears probably only, really short things were said about some very large
issues, today maybe of which the actual territorial bounds, some of which some Russians
regard to justify expansionism, for example, as actually the "cultural", societal or linguistic
boundaries of the country. In this way, places like Chicago or Bloomington might be part
of Russia, though naturally reasonable people know this to be impossible, and impossible
it is with respect to this attitude duplicative of stalinist verbiage of old that people there
really seem to admire despite its open brutality and blunt and brute force political and
militarily - oriented intent. Stalin was as expansionist as Hitler had been and chose a
psychological and cultural, political approach to this instead of trying to move people out
of the way in his aims by publicly and illegally shooting them. The paradox of this is
stalinism is supposed to be peaceful and as the religion of the time has its current
descendants in control of Eastern Ukraine and Crimea where not many people know
what is actually happening save for a few documentarists favorable to Kremlin aims.
This I propose that Moskva pulls the wool over everyone's eyes these days when it can,
and does so arrogantly and in person very nicely and politely with all the manners and
worldliness, sophistication that one would expect of Malenkov or Molotov, and disciples
so anointed including Andrei Gromyko's, even Yuri Andropov's and Konstantin
Tchernenko's descendants: These people proved publicly only somewhat effective on the
world stage in what concerns soviet political tour - de - force of the day after the 1960's
and then the Brezhnev years. The end of the cold war turned these people and their
colleagues into court jesters, but to meet them or be in contact with them was extremely
powerful and this with respect to their many - faceted political pursuits of which the
trending brushfires in places like Africa and South and maybe even Southeast Asia, The
Middle East, China, ... . The legacy of these individuals, themselves down in history in
their country at this point as heroes, tragically, has been the kind of troublemaking and
knit - picking on the U.S. and its allies that has taken place since (and this noticeably) the
change of the regimes in North Africa, notably that of Libya. This Russian statebuilding,
or referendum by the Russian Federation on Crimea represents on an incremental scale
the sort of thing the old Bolsheviks dreamed about in all events given the open and
wasteful spending by same of their political and other currencies and the dialectical
paradoxes of the kind of military boasting same had done and continue to do while
donned in administrative cloth. Sergei Lavrov used us, used public opinion about basic
sovereignty, misused it, and then betrayed his friends in the West to certify a regional
military bedrock the Russian Federation has now assimilated in the Crimean peninsula.
This is tragic and ominous, and it what happened under the Tsars and later under the old
Bolsheviks when people shook hands but there was no actual understanding of the
intentions of Moskva nor of its machinations and "smoke and mirrors." The same old
thing again - trying to make the West and its envoys and ambassadors look like
ineffectual fools, and they might have lately with the meeting in Europe between Kerry
and Lavrov who has all this military / KGB and cloak and dagger tradition behind him. All
Kerry has at hand in Eastern Europe is youthful intelligence and aspirations, hope for the
future, a spirit of freedom, democracy as it is known, the rule of law; principles that are
ethereal to those who have manipulated them there and another reason or reasons the
soviets were cast into oblivion by the Cold War. This insight is not really my own, and
despite the cloak and dagger, and the militants of old retaining the rights to enforce
172
referendum results, one would like to see what actually happens now and into the future
in places like Western Ukraine and the new border areas with its neighbor. This might
have been why everyone smiled and shook hands shortly ago in Paree. Though the
current situation is a tragedy with Russian troops imposing on another populace at this
point, such a presence is quite expensive politically and concerning the Russian treasury.
It is however given certain evens here, including the ongoing opposition publicly to the
snap referendum on Crimea, the Bolshevik will to power and its effects as demonstrated
by a renewed type of stalinism are greatly attenuated by the passage of time since his
death and other slack on the Russian Federation at this point making for less foreign kow
- towing to the Kremlin than otherwise might be the case, and probably as well to the
frustration of the reigning parties in Moskva and apparatchik and supporters at this time;
and, and, and. "Who, when". My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Belated Movie Review: 2006 "Fearless" with Jet

Li, ... .
Media image Happened to turn on the set
today and caught this film that is an
outstanding and very viewable
interpretation of a Chinese version of a
story that's half Alexander of Macedon and
half Ulysses. There are so many facets to
this production, the quite intense and
graphic fight scenes and others with their
special effects aside, that one would do
well to see it more than once. This
particular video is somewhat older, from
2006 or so, though I might do well to buy it,
not because people like me are interested
in karate nor the ornateness of some of the like films, but the plot here as it unfolds gives
overall an excellent impression to the viewer and listener of dialogue and themes of the
political environment of pre - revolutionary China (mention pre - 1911, or pre - 1905.)
China under the revolutionaries was such a violent place that it became undesirable to
live or tour there for years and only was it opened up after the Carter administration,
really, during and after 1979. The Chinese of today share many habits and pastimes with
their Western counterparts, especially with the guitar - playing and basketball hobbies of
many Americans. At least this was true with respect to young party members and young
Americans after the publication of the Shang hai communique.
"Fearless" is the type of movie that leaves the viewer with the impression that the martial
arts in China, as boxing and other fighting contests in the West, have a primacy dating to
a long time ago, and this despite the evidence the 1949 revolution and the Mao times that
were conducted as to purge as much about ancient culture as could be. This long
heritage of these arts, and the considerable acting and fighting arts capabilities of Mr. Li
and his character adversaries take the aura of martial arts films to a new level that merits
direct legacy from the Lee films of the 1970's and the like. The thing about such films
today, and of the same thematic complexities as the Lee films, is they have more stark,
impressionable, and even shocking imagery than the Lee films that put down the
pavestones for the current media. This 2006 production deserves a repeated audience
173
and discussion as to the actual redeeming value of martial arts training and how such
things are portrayed for the public (not, for instance, that every one has to be on the order
of the epic "Crouching Tiger, ... ) about the cultural and societal terrain of the last years of
the Qing dynasty that proved in spirit, and in retrospect, to have finally favored civic and
political freedoms and a constitution, bicameral rule, and this along with many other
features of administration in to the modern world; though without a doubt the adaptability
and hopes about this of the populace to promised reforms was abated by what many
figures of the times proposed as the unlikelihood of the Nationalists and the proximity at
the same time to Lenin's kingdom over the Western lands. Sun Yat - sen, who was a
great force for unity, died in the process of bringing actual home rule to the masses, and
this is addressed partially in the film with various and sundry tragedy that trim possibilities
again and again for the main character(s.)
Master Hou in the story undergoes impossible fighting contests and ordeals and
leverages everything to gain the right of passage as the fighting champion of Tian jin at
his Wu shu methods and style, and at the eventuality and completion of this project that
takes on a life of its own, throws off the glorious yet burdensome title of "best in Tian jin",
and by some personal tragedies involved, takes to the country to recover from his battles
and the social forces that made these contests so forcefully and brutally contested. The
Buddhist tone and older cultural beliefs of the social environment in the aftermath of his
title - seeking are palpable in his removal to a place in the countryside where he is found
and nurtured by those in the hills along his path. Much of the actually and extremely
valuable parts of the film take place after his return to Tian jin from the hills. A must - see
for those into martial arts productions, and again and again. My older blog (Thomas
Spitters.)
Belated book review - something from 2013 to gift

yourself with (an...
Media Photo THE GREAT
DEFORMATION: "The Corruption of
Capitalism in America", 2013, by David A.
Stockman.
Having read Mr. Stockman's 1980's book
about federal administration, the budget,
the Reagan years, and public financial
policies as published some time ago, when
I first saw this text on the shelf of a local
bookstore given the volume of the thing and
the importance of the topic to every follower
of economics and politics current events, I
resolved to try to find out about its content
through other means. I sought out articles
in reviews, and in the popular business
press and in speaking with people whom I
know at least watch the national evening
news and maybe even occasionally some
of the other "Meet The Press," "This Week,"
"Washington Journal" - type programs. I then did see a copy of the text at local library
174
and despite again its formidable size, made an attempt at checking out at least the quite
informative introductory pages of which the following: No matter one's efforts to learn
about what is written in some books, from Dickens to Halberstam and then David
Stockman, it is very difficult, in fact one might even have to be the author himself, to
actually know all the implications and ins and outs of what is presented in any sizeable
and detailed book. While the latest Stockman book is mostly about public finances, it is
about many things everyone needs read of, and people like me are surprised his works
do not sell better than they do, nor why same are not more sought out at least through
the library. In order to locate his first book as published, as I had wanted same in
hardback, and I had to go to a paperback clearninghouse -- the hardbacks had
apparently all been valueably purchased and were on people's shelves, probably
especially mostly in the New England area and in Southern California. One cannot know
the viscera of the content in such texts, nor of his first book, the Triumph of Politics, nor
really of that of his second reviewed here and people like me do hope Mr. Stockman is
speaking to some gifted people about his ideas somewhere, and often as the text itself is
full of object lessons and of greatly interesting and profound insights into why the latest
"Great Depression 2.0", and previous panics and recessions that are within memory.
This author, and with the greatest of humility, projects modestly a fiscal dilemma faced by
our country, that the U.S., that will provoke within a few years an un - covered national
debt of over $ 20 trillion (tt - my notation), due primarily to the largesse of the current
political regime, and this due to the fault of no one in particular, with respect to the
recently negative economic shock or shocks that called for the great bailouts of TBTF
("too big to fail") enterprises in America including Goldman Sachs, Long Term Capital
Management, AIG, General Motors (and other auto makers,) the demise of Lehman
Brothers, and of other big business entities that only add to the author's image of the
American welfare state, and this now no longer in the offing, specifically due to the
monetizing of deficits and economic downturns. In addition to the overwhelming and
actual business debts in the direct form of liabilities, there is an ever - increasing and
accumulating consumer debt in the U.S. that during 2007 might have been six or seven
times that of the Troubled Asset Recovery Program and its related funds implemented to
alleviate the 2008 crises.
Stockman validly estimates, and this in a text published last year (2013,) that U.S. public
and private debt at the end of 2008 had been at $ 22 tt, which has many economics and
business market experts still asking about that time as a panic (?) or a depression (?). He
describes as well in the book a financial disaster 'contagion' as provoked by the AIG
bailout madness from the failure of that company's C.D.S. and related hybrid and
derivative investments on its own corporate accounts. Similar enterprises with the same
financial concerns included at the time Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, SOCIETE
GENERALE, Deutsche Bank, BankAmerica / Merrill Lynch; and London, U..K.'s stodgy
Barclays (incidentally that wound up the Lehmann Brothers business after that bank
collapsed). Stockman criticizes throwing and slinging federal moneys (perhaps good
money after bad) at a "discombobulated" panic at the time, and this especially palpable in
the affairs of the U.S. Treasury as superintended by Hank Paulson and the image he
portrayed as a free mareketeer who engaged in the re - organization of the entities at
hand, and who'd failed and demanded a kind of opaque and insulated, and even "bogus"
reboot of these businesses. The author proposed the problem began during the time
when the deficits first started to be monetized, maybe during the early seventies, as
followed then by the declaration and subsequent policies of the U. S. Federal Reserve to
influence or make an "objective" of some properties and orders of magnitude in the New
York stock market given the sort of leverage used there and the related debt as investors
know it. The illustrations of these are fascinating and dramatic while at the same time
telling a story apart from individual vagaries like clothing and eating or coffee house
175
habits, automobile styles and the like. The Federal Reserve Chairman Greenspan at the
time allowed for a "put option" on the stock market as indicated by the new and overall re
- framing of relations between the Federal Reserve and Wall Street starting in the 1990's
- 2000's -- the U.S. New York stock market and its machinations and U.S. Federal
Reserve's friendliness with same somehow were taken by business and other leaders as
necessary since the repeal of Glass - Steagall and the changes in tone of dealing with
public finances and the stock market that took place at the time. From 2002 - 2007, credit
market debt in America grew by $ 18 tt (from about $ 3.5 trillion to over $ 20 tt). This is a
main premise of the book, and a factual representation meant to have the reader pay
attention and note better the other and very many financial and monetary details of this
text that do no less than take the proverbial stuffing out of any curiosity involved in
assessing what happened on or about 2008 with the crisis and again with T.A.R.P.
The text applies basic economic theory to a further examination of the effects of cronyism
and business and commerce including the 2008 "Blackberry Panic", the new
Keynesianism, misapplication of economic theories and rules especially with respect to
the Taylor Rule and the Laffer Curve, the federal budget and spending in the face of all
this, the myths of supply - side economics with respect to Keynesianism, the way in which
deficits balloon including the expectation apparently of many of a "fiscal free lunch," how
to "grow your way out" of recession and much more. The book also offers short economic
history lessons that are riveting, going back to the 1929 crash, the 1932 recovery, WWII,
the Eisenhower years and numerous instances of public finance policies and their effects
more recently of which those from the early 1970's when the U.S. annulled Bretton
Woods policies, up through the Carter and Reagan years, then the war years under
George H.W. Bush and others. The recent wars and economic volatility and crises have
been extremely expensive concerning currency values and the federal budget, though
the text neither specifically cites the scale of the effects of
Media Photo these, nor their financial scope. The author does cite as the result of this
and more that the deficits have been monetized, and while for these there is some
Keynesian explanation and resulting policies though the difficulties of federal public
finances multiply conundrum upon conundrum and thus the 2008 crises the country is
now putting behind it. Further, and as a result of the character of the recent downturn,
recovery and long - term macro - economic growth rates are in question as to whether
the recovery can actually be trusted. This text gifts the reader with many such
considerations and illustrates one set of circumstances after the other, conundrums and
dilemmas one, again, after another: Read word - for - word and to lose heart here is to
lose faith in oneself. The story overall is of greed, windfalls (occasional), riches in bailouts
and receiverships, again a Keynesian recovery for breadwinners, crony capitalists in the
areas of fiscal policy, energy, medicine and health care, central banking, the global
financial network(s), and a tower of deficits; all leading eventually to a showdown
between the state that sees ahead a severe economic wreck against those who would
empty the Treasury. Some radical reforms are proposed at the end of the book as
analysis and conclusion on this chaos as portrayed is in order. Pressure for, and the
voice for reform are in the tone of the book throughout, and the author states a need for
reform starting with a balanced budget rule (that of old, still), and some other suggestions
and even some on tax reform. Overall a read for the economist or businessperson who
"needs to know" and who might be either in the top one percent financially, or in the
remaining ninety - nine. There's something for everyone to latch onto policy - wise here,
and well worth reading in search of same if that is what the reader sets himself or herself
to. The historical economics is so well - illustrated in this writing that Stockman deserves
awards for his linking together of things over generations and party and policy lines.
Another review (not read by me).
176
"Huffington Post" editorial.
(Again) Belated Movie Review - "Elysium".

This production is probably best seen on a big - screen, and not because it is a violent
movie
Media Photo (though not with the same bloody scenes in some recent productions as
ends in themselves) with a theme overall that might be considered vigilante, but due to
the kind of epic scale of the thing without its really trying to be so. This is a feature film,
extremely well - done, that again shows the clash of the forces of evil and good, and not
just saints and sinners involved here in a plot you must pay attention to that is a rocky
ride through everything from urban firefighting for guerillas and spies to very elegant
space flight to a formidable castle in the sky. I can not give away the plot, and while many
people have already seen this movie, it shows a pitched and hotly contested battle not
between the empire and Luke Skywalker types, but an environment where the existence
of technologies and the spirits of this brutally and mortally work by nature against the
code between everyone as a member of the human family. Really something here that
will hold you in your seat, good acting and with very real special effects. Overall and in
detail an outstanding Hollywood film for young people. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
No Sense of Urgency, Please (South China Sea - 2014.)

Media Image Link to article found on "Google."
The South China sea in the northern area, that
which is in dispute between China and Viet Nam,
has a crossing of claimed borderlines that allow for
both territories to claim rights there, though China
with it greater political power is treating the issue
for its own purposes in letting the Viets remonstrate
and while doing what it has done within the last few
days: First planning to and then locating a seabed
oil derrick within the territories the Viets have
claimed for themselves. Given its economic
agenda and the way business in Asia and China is
managed today, the Chinese regime wishes to
assert policital and military power over the Viets, a
seemingly smaller, weaker neighbor. These two
countries last took on the territorial rights and borders issue formally in a 1979 war
between the two.
The egregious thought of impeding or seizing land by nearby political neighbors has long
177
been resolved, even for belligerents, by the drawing

of borders, and sometimes regional or organizational,
over land, though with the ocean this is much more
difficult, especially when political or ideological
adversaries are involved as adjoining territories or
near neighbors. Some water rights and their use on
land have been points of contention everywhere for
years as in a way, water is moneys in the bank in
some places in the world, and those with such rights,
regional, national, of the prefecture, province or state,
right on down to the county and municipality, are
better of than the have - nots; and much better in the
case of land - water rights.
In the ocean, water territorial rights are diffuse and
nebulous as the oceans of the world and the seas
related to them are quite large and all incidents therein are largely subject to self regulation more or less, not necessarily the regards of those experts in delineating
borders and settling those disputes including those of the 200 mile territorial waters limit
set down years ago. To those individuals in countries in dialogue with each other over
such disputes, these do not appear solvable in the traditional sense where linear borders
are used to reckon with assertions as to the wills of various conflicting parties. The
Chinese have obviously provoked the Viets into first debating the recent violation(s) of
sovereignty, then without asking committed at least a public relations problem for
themselves via placing a large oil rig near the coast of Viet Nam, but far enough from
shore to temper the angry reaction from anyone monitoring practical violations of Viet
sovereignty to want to talk about it save for in an international court. In refusing the Viet
overtures to submit the matter to international scrutiny and have some permanent
determination thereby, the Chinese being very much like themselves, have refused the
territorial resolution process and have started their drilling, probably damaging
permanently what must be a spotless power politics record as of late [maybe until 2007
or so, actually]. What to do? Comments invited.
Media Image
Putin - ordered Troop Withdrawal from Eastern

Ukraine?
BBC Article Today.
Bloomberg Article.
BBC Article.
Media Image
178
Media Image
"I prefer [read 'fall all over myself on'] facebook"

and Other Nons...
Media Photo On network television, and
from some New York, NY station
apparently, some IT media expert tried to
go on the air yesterday, again, to explain
what a lousy company (and again, this
happens periodically, and typically a foreign
or foreign influenced journalist gets on the
air for such things) Yahoo! is supposed to
be. The fellow went on and on about it and
that financial results and so forth are
supposedly not up to it and that Marissa Mayer might not really be doing her job. The
same people used to hit on Susan Decker when she was a Yahoo! corporate officer and
the like. It just gets to be annoying and enough, already, for the time being. Anyone who
knows about the web knows that Yahoo! is a great company, and they have terrific stuff,
they just are occasionally a little slow to listen to things like rumors and gossip on a high
level, and should not be disparaged for this by omniscient television people. Media
Image
This might be why Jerry Yang left the company some time ago, and its because the
company might lose a penny in earnings and then three or more former soviet journalists
(many are indeed IT experts) pop up in the media where they have been following
Yahoo!, and possibly some related business entities, through local Silicon Valley papers
since the dark ages; they fly to NY or San Francisco routinely with bad news in their
179
briefs, and using either various connections

or bluster, they bully their way onto studio
sets to hammer the people they dont really
like: another example of what viewers call
vibe thats actually hype (informally here,
and tongue in cheek, much of it.) This
kind of thing should stop and Ms. Mayer
and her management team should be
allowed, and their staff and business
partners, etc., should be allowed to conduct
business without the kind of hype and
hammering they appear to be taking and
have taken in the media, and for obvious
reasons. Please go elsewhere and maybe
back to Kazakhstan or something to
complain about technology companies,
former soviet television journalists, and
those so influenced, for instance. In the
meantime, Yahoo!, have a great day.
Additionally, Yahoo! is for young people as
well, so old pessimists, and difficult people
stay home. There are any number of
reasons to express a favourable view here
of this business, but this is not an
endorsement either way, it's just a great
internet company, great web services, ... .
By the way, Yahoo! reports first, and sometimes they get to quite important things in the
popular news first, the U.S. beat Turkey in a soccer match (again, yesterday?) Media
Photo

Intelligence Made Entrepreneurs Survey: Intelligence Made online survey entrepreneur
venture solutions make creating online surveys easy. Learn more about Research Suite
and get a free account today. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
A look back at CBS News' reporting at

Tiananmen Square
180
Another Nuclear Book by Joseph Cirincione

(2013.)
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Media Photo Nuclear Nightmares:
Securing the WorldBefore It Is Too Late, by
Joseph Cirincione (2013, Columbia
University Press.)
Most of what we know about the
consequences of nuclear arms has to do
with the end of WWII and the defeat of
Japan. Most everyone agrees the nuclear
arms used on Japan were extremely
devastating. What has not been resolved
and again not resolved by this text, which
incidentally makes a valuable attempt to
have any reader of even a paragraph
therein to consider this, is the intrinsic value
and therefore the merits and / or
disadvantages of nuclear arms, their
development and maintenance, and then
the specter of their use and the resulting
physics and other consequences thereby.
The text does remind the reader time and
again of the finances of such weapons as
cold and calculating, and as cold and
calculating as the predilictions, formal and
otherwise, of the effects of an armed
nuclear exchange on the world populace.
There are other texts that are more stark in their portrayal of this and the risks and even
strict utilitarian cataclysm and waste resulting from the blasts and fallout and later events
as well, but the book here has the reader in its grip from beginning to end, and for those
not necessarily aware of the hair trigger dangers of armaments strategy, even more so
due to the detailed narrative and prose as to the overall dangers and financial and
societal costs of such things. In reading this text, however, people like me get the idea
that nuclear arms are cheap, actually, and they dismiss and eliminate much of the
consideration of life and property, etc., no matter for whom, of the subject matter of same,
or the whereupon such weapons are trained.
Media Photo All readers, and maybe all people, need be made aware of the overall
issues examined by this text and that there is hope that one day nuclear weapons will no
longer be a danger to anyone: The text gives a quite captivating presentation of the
history of these armaments and the effects they would have if used, and the litany of talks
related to them, including the 1972 ABM Treaty, the START talks including the New
START treaty advocated by both Russian and U.S. administrations. The text mostly
appears in all events to have to do with armaments security and the dangers of things
like stray fissile material(s), false alarms and other incidents that are shocking in their
impact for the reader, and that represent examples of a most salient problem in the
maintenance of nuclear armaments stockpiles today. That the book is composed and
written in straight prose is a relief for the reader whereas the world of rockets, bombs,
missiles and so forth might be impacted by acronyms, hard hitting language, technical
181
and other considerations that might make it difficult for anyone to write of at present. This
book is aimed at the commonweal and succeeds in bringing again a utilitarian message
to the reader as to the consequences of further developing and maintaining nuclear
weapons stockpiles, and the consequences of this now and for the future. My older blog
(Thomas Spitters.)
Mama, what is "sun on snow"?

While General Wojciech Jaruzelski had a name that is difficult to spell for many
Westerners (some used the spelling "Wotjech" and variants of it, for example), the
passing of this public figure, pivotal and silently dramatic in the outcomes of the Cold
War, not just in Eastern Europe and the Near Abroad for the former soviet states, but
overall in the perceptions as to the purposes, intentions and workings of the various
services and organs originating in Moscow going back some years until the beginning of
the end of the Cold War that some date to Khrushchev and his regime. It is difficult, for
example, to vouch for the thesis that the Cold War began its slide into historical
relegation during the 1960's and with respect to this the reading here refers to lots of
texts speaking, for example, to the spirit of the biography / novel on Nikita Krushchev
(entitled Krushchev Remembers) published some time ago and those in the same spirit.
There are many such books and with the ascendency of actual anti - communist and anti
- marxist ideas and attitudes as documented in much of the political literature of the time
and subsequent to then, a long list of which are available and the texts themselves
shelved at many local libraries. This "slide", some have proposed, also depends upon
political and administrative interpretations of the Brezhnev period that succeeded the
Khrushchev times, and that is subject to primarily perspectives that are at opposite ends:
For some, the Brezhnev times themselves were essentially the apogee of soviet
communism internally as marked by world influences and soviet political power as
demonstrated by the international and locked ties to Moscow of most regimes in the Near
Abroad, a policy goal since Lenin times apparently, and then the dominion, however
unspoken, of the soviets, at least on political and ideological grounds, over the non aligned countries and their somewhat less significant and concerted marxist and
communist allies. Examples of these are numerous from those times, and at the breakup
of the soviets, these territories and various states were a huge concern as far as political
and administrative stability and sustainability were concerned. Today, many of these
regimes still emulate the soviet "style" of politics and policy, the editor here proposes, at
least nominally in an indirect identification with anti - everything radicals, of which
numerous groups formed by hooligans and including, for example, some groups within
and subgroups of Hamas, the former PFLP, terrorist groups in North Africa and Saharan
and Sub - Saharan Africa, and from other areas such as Philippines and other obscure
Asia - Pacific territories, and others.
Enter the place of Poland in this former multi - regional scheme (remark that communist
and marxist influences under the soviet regime often were regional considerations only
as then the soviet regime did not wish its KGB propaganda and other activism to become
known, really, and thus the regional approach) that avoided for a time the type of power
politics espoused by Lenin and Stalin in their times, and that eschewed confrontation with
the West, especially over things like the Warsaw Treaty Organization and Berlin status for
a long time, in keeping and managing soviet international politics in the details of political
coverage without the proverbial Stalinist sweeps of the hand. Wojciech Jaruzelski himself
was at the same time subject to the backhanded tyranny of the Stalinists and those who
182
remember his life during the time of his status as Polish head of state also remember the
silent waiting his people did for years under the memory of not one but two partitions of
the country in the last century. These partitions not only engendered Polish internal
instability and chaos that made military controls necessary for state order for a long time,
and forcibly under a communist regime, but nullified any voice of Poland in its approach
to non - soviet clients: The Polish people were often, almost always considered
communists, and some strictly so, by just about every Western person; and were
considered, and to the one probably by each and every member of the Moscow Politburo
not to mention party members and other soviets themselves, as dissenters from the true
path that led to stateless and utopic society as was set down by Lenin and Stalin in their
writings as the goal for all, not just the Russians and their satellites. It was this status of
the nation of Poland and its people, individually and collectively, that was so dangerous
for everyone involved and self - destruction and bilking the system in such places was
and proved to be tragically endemic during the soviet regime. With this proposal to the
reader as an incomplete mindset as to the embodiment of the Jaruzelski politics as part
of the "Ostpolitik" of the post - WWII times first under "K." and then under "B."
The overall political and military power of the soviets during these times was oft
demonstrated in the status and administration of the Eastern European regimes, and an
overall slide is detectable after 1964 when "K." was hounded by his own people from
power, and this followed by the overall economically and politically healthy "B." regime
that technically politically represented political and military stagnation for the soviets, in
the end represented by failures in places like Afghanistan and political disasters in places
like Morocco and South Africa, even in the Middle East where soviet sponsored terrorists
were active, but much of their activities never made the papers. This is a story that is
sinister and not without its major intrigues, but that is not worth reading, and rather James
Michener's novel / political and cultural analysis along fictional lines, entitled Poland is a
good place to start to properly take stock of what Poland was to be in the modern and
postmodern world. Though the obituary on Jaruzelski in the recent "Economist" (click
here) is cogent and an excellent report overall, it does not do justice to the administrative
balancing act the general's regime did over the years that silently made additional and
more and more powerful (in the face of Moscow's extremely powerful military impositions
and marxist political might from every angle and exported as well to every single corner
of society and real estate in Poland itself, especially,) what were first quiet quasi Western groups and their leaders as jailed and silenced, and then a faint light of
resolution during the Brezhnev regime that led to "Solidarnosc"; and then followed by its
leadership's revolutionary and countervailing ideas and political forces, all done on a
shoestring, to first export and gain political currency about the actual situation in Poland
and then gaining increased Western sponsorship, notably by the Reagans and Bushes,
and even from the Swiss to have their own autonomy and authentic political voice and
administration far and away separated from the dictatorship and despotism of the soviets.
This took years, and it is evident from any low - level reading about the life of Jaruzelski,
and it must be said in his memory in view of his first repeated political and other threats
from the soviets from all sides, and then subsequent prosecution and jailing by soviet
authorities, that this political figure helped in the very necessary eventuality of regime
change in his country to a more normal country; Jean - Paul II (as a Cardinal) openly
allowed for discussion of this and it is in any reading about the period, and this in and of
itself and related discussions of the evils of soviet marxist ideology, Leninism and
Stalinism, etc., etc., and the efforts at open, oppressive and medieval subjugation of
Poland in the conflicted ideological and other chaos of the twentieth century. In fact, the
soviets used the general Jaruzelski as a silent and enigmatic figure, himself privately
chained to the political line of the Moscow Politburo and a thing completely undesireable
183
for a thinking Polish person, even those outside its leadership, to promote the somewhat
desired in some places and acquired reputation of the communists at the time to grasp
the politics of a nation and undermine it. This is / was what is so entirely dangerous and
mortal to democratic regimes and remains on the face of, but poorly internalized by free
regimes everywhere due the its either / or, determinative, and again entirely mortal
norms, the founding and continuation of many new democratic regimes themselves; and
with the grandsons of these soviet conservatives, remains an extreme practical danger
today. Jaruzelski in spirit battled this during the time of his rule and as much needs be
mentioned about this and the psychology of Eastern European and other leadership who
know and knew of the GULAG, SLON, and so on. The reality of these are so stark, and in
and of themselves so completely strange and apart from civilization as many know it
needs be at the least, toxic and poisonous and unendingly painful, and a reason the
oppressors of the day preoccupied themselves with this, that in his later books,
Alexander Solzhenitsyn himself allowed these oppressive and atrocious institutions to
recede to faded and background images only given the harm and universal types of
destruction they caused. Something needs be mentioned about this, maybe by a group
led by the great physician / psychiatrist at the CATO Institute, Vlad Bukovskii, and same
need be called upon to re - assess and re - evaluate what the dangers for places like
Poland were during the times discussed here actually were and how their leaders
transcended, eventually and in death, the wall of the political, administrative, and marxist
ideological prison into which they were cast due to the perceptions of Lenin on things like
what hell was for people and wanting to materialize this for his / their adversaries and
enemies. If not a societal and physically oppressive hell as imposed, then a
psychological, systemically inextricable one. Please pardon typographical errors in this
draft editorial. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
I do not really understand (U.S.) taxes. On John

Koskinen's Commit...
While people like me are concerned with tax regimes and have made attempts first hand and through other people to publish on the subject, there is more grist for the mill in
news and television coverage this past week about the IRS targeting of members of
conservative groups, including ordinary GOP members and members of its offshoots, of
which constituents of the Tea Party organization. Without further ado, and outside the
issue their members wherever these might be serving as targets of IRS tax investigations
and harassment, the members of these groups and the messages of the groups
themselves, deemed however controversial and damaging to the country by other
controversial groups with leftist tendencies, if not at least more liberal groups and
individuals not aware of the leftist tendencies they represent in the fitful and conflicted
dialogue with Tea Party and GOP and other conservatives and their representatives,
notably those who'll "give or take" most things starting with the abortion argument, taxes
and the like, and these issues have been along the same lines since the founding fathers
or at least since the creation of the current federal tax regime some time ago, mention in
the early 1900's.
To mention the coverage, even the news highlights of the IRS Commissioner's testimony
(along with his "look at me, trust me" appearance and wistful mood in his speech before
Congress) and interrogatory before Congress, again this past week, it is possible to
interpret the talks from the IRS side as to provoke every misunderstanding due to the
184
overall secrecy and confidential nature of much of what the IRS deals with on every
administrative and field level office and every day. This is what makes such acts as
published in the papers and on TV as completely incomprehensible from the
administrative standpoint, further confusing and apparently even magical in nature and
more and more difficult and angering to view and read about, and much more so if one is
a congressperson or staffer trying to understand. As an example of the type of
provocation these talks represent, a single computer during the year 2011, first
apparently corrupted and then inoperable, is at length an issue in these talks preliminary
to proceedings presumably aimed at confirming taxpayer harassment and targeting by
the IRS as a service and as ordered apparently at a high level. The pervasive nature of
what apparently has happened with respect to some people is frightening and so shaking
for some that people in these hearings are not talking straight, and this has apparently
made the alleged offenders more arrogant and irritating in their words and demeanor,
and as such viewers like me do know there is a danger at this point to mentioning one
single employee and a related end - user IS that failed as responsible singly and only as
culpable in this burgeoning and increasingly volatile political fracas about what the IRS
actually does. Help. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)

Intelligence Made Entrepreneurs Survey: intelligence made online survey entrepreneur
venture solutions make creating online surveys easy. Learn more about Research Suite
and get a free account today. Respond to a survey as well! My older blog (Thomas
Spitters.)
"Dumbbell Training" by Allen Hedrick

More often in the past, but recently as well, I have picked
up some dumbbells for exercise, and while
Mr. Hedrick basic statistics show that as one ages that
strength training typically enhances your health if not
prolongs your life. Apart from this, athletic training with
dumbbells can be fun, in addition to being on the same
level as NCAA, Olympic, and other championship people
in training : You can use the same method as used by
professional athletes and Olympians for strength and
endurance training for your own body with this text. An
excellent deal for $ 20 U.S. that illustrates much of the
technical about weights exercise within the binding of a
short and very well - put - together text on weight training.
The book for the larger part covers individual dumbbells
exercises that range from those for cross - country and
other athletes that have more slow and deliberate,
repetitive motion over their foot races, to more powerful and explosive routines that allow
for better performance, the goal of all physical exercise, in sports calling for those
attributes. Weight training for swimmers is even touched upon here, and resistance
training is the norm here while some tailored exercises that focus more on different
activities by the athlete are in the text as well that's made up mostly of exercise routines
185
like a smorgasbord or Chinese menu of exercises. In a former life as a competitor, people

like me used athletic facilities while carrying on weight strength training, people like me
used an interval exercise routine or routines, and this text seems like an extension of that
everyone needs know of at this point. Before that I used a training text itself with sporting
exercises (Csanadi - 1954). The routines in this text are not for the faint of heart, and
make sure you are cleared by your physician before beginning your routine here -certainly the book will recommend that for everyone.
The training routines in the text have break times that I do not really "get" though that is
understandable as after the quite intensive sets the author prescribes, maybe such rests
are necessary. At one time I am supposed to have carried on a "six minute" workout, and
when something new came along that had higher training impact it was nice to try,
though most of these were fads. There are probably as many fads in the sports and
exercise training world as there are weight - loss diets from So Cal and the like,
Hollywood, etc., where one might tend to lose oneself and eventually forget about the
training -- this is wrong as well. The text here is outstanding in that it speaks mostly to
those who're not playing right now and want to engage in some exercise while readying
themselves for a future contest or contests. Great! My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Sur "Attali sur Marx" -- un sommaire de son

discours en 2006.
Media Image SOMMAIRE EN BREF -CONFERENCE SUR MARX OCTOBRE 2006
JACQUES ATTALI (IMPRIME PAR EDITIONS PLEINS
FEUX , 2006)
Au moment o lon parle de Karl Marx ce point,
malgr le discours de M. Attali en 2006, une date
rcente, on ne puisse gure parler que de son legs
quoique pratique quoiquintellectuel et dont lopinion
dautant de marxistes soit galement que lintrt des
crits de Marx dpasse celui de tous les romans du
monde. Le mouvement mondial du marxisme soit en
effet une politique internationale caractrise par une
humanit trs personnelle dans lengagement de la
thorie communiste / socialiste. Dans les dernires
annes de sa vie, Marx avait tel inquitude au sujet de
lusage de ses thories et dans lesquelles on ait fait tel
confiance lpoque. La potence des thories de Marx avait pour un temps une
bienveillante domicile en France en cause de quelques faiblesses dans le systme
denseignement dont on na pas considr de tous les propres cts. Le statut de la
religion auprs du Marxisme considrait lchelle du monde laquelle nous nous
trouvons, et son influence parme les personnes fascinantes dont Mao Tse toung et son
Le petit livre rouge donnant une collection de locutions fascinantes.
N dans la Rhnanie allemande, et crant une thorie politique et conomique de
lutopie, une fois construites et ventuellement effondre et discrdites, les ides de
Marx ont caractrise des barbaries, etc., du XIXme sicle, qui ont bloqu une bonne
mondialisation et une russite ventuelle et encore la bonne mondialisation dans le
XXme sicle. Toutefois, il y a des liens en commun entre lhistoire personnelle de Marx
186
et le trajet de cette politique quil inventait dont le destin extrme et le rapport

administratif eux mmes de ses thories. Marx naquit en 1818, et ft lev dans
labsence de la religion et au moment donn dans sa jeunesse tombait facilement sous
linfluence hgelienne. Son pre tait avocat, et il suit donc son pre dans ses tudes de
droit premirement Bonn et plus tard Berlin lge de 18 ans. Hegel pour Karl Marx
reprsentait une philosophie allemande, rudite dans les ides, sagissant de la libert
sociale contre la monarchie ; et un esprit de sige du monde contre Hegel. Dans ses
tudes paralllement, il frquentait Engels, un personnage de famille dindustriels.
Depuis un bureau de droit Trves, son pre paya les tudes de droit de Marx et
assurait sa voie envers lobtention du diplme en mme temps. Marx renonce lide de
devenir professeur de droit la fin de ses tudes, et grce au modle de sa philosophie
exprimt le propos de devenir le plus grand homme dides allemandes au XIXme
sicle ceci ft pendant le temps o il rencontrt Engels pour la premire fois et son
pre est mort lpoque aussi. En ce temps, il relit la philosophie et lit tous les
conomistes du jour qui auraient pes sur ses thories : Celles ci, dune grande partie
bases sur une ralit conomique et politique que cultivent la socit. A la fois, il
rencontre aussi Jenny , sa femme, et avec qui il fait un voyage des noces. Il est
possible, tant donn aussi le trajet de la vie de Marx et les rflexions sur ses penses
dont certains citations, que le bien de ses thories indiquait en mme temps une haine
de soi. Pareillement, il hat les systmes de croyances religieuses, et en commenant
publier ses articles, sembla aimer Hegel et son existentialisme.
Il sest dcid rester en Allemagne, mais en tait chass avec sa famille d aux
activits de son Ligue Communiste ; et donc se trouvrent Bruxelles lge de 29 ans
o il embauche son appel la politique mondiale de ses thories, etc. Aussi pendant ce
temps, il perd dans la pauvret trois de ses six enfants, et la suite dmnageait
Londres o il refuse de travailler. Il tait finalement devenu correspondant pour un grand
journal new yorkais, le New York Daily Tribune et ft publi frquemment dans ses
crits en continuant crire ses tomes et ayant en ce temps un enfant avec une bonne
qui nettoya la pice de la famille. En ce temps aussi, il travailla dans les syndicats et
publia son Le Capital en 1867 au moment o il concentrait encore sur le Socialiste
Internationale . Bismarck en ce temps avait fait des liens aux communistes / socialistes
pour runir lAllemagne administratif et politique, et Marx ft devenu, partir de 1871, le
cause clbre et patron majeur du communisme / socialisme mondial.
La suite de ces mouvements politiques et conomiques, surtout au niveau des
compromis allemands dans la politique qui taient pour Marx des coups russites,
engendrait pour le Marxisme une piste et sillons sur sillons de barbaries idologiques et
pratiques qui saignaient lhistoire des tats ayant accept le communisme / socialisme.
Le Commune de Paris, et la suite dvnements Marxistes ds 1871 ont fait preuve de
quelques de ses ides dans les ombres : la pauprisation, celles des grandes entreprises
mondiales et le pouvoir industriel partout, et une baisse dans le taux de profit pour
lindustrie dans le monde dvelopp. Dautres points, dont la dictature du proltariat de
Marx, servit pour quelques de se dbarrasser du monde du capital en vue dune
conomie de libert selon lui. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
A Good Book of Letters.

Media Image The Letters of Arthur J. Schlesinger, Jr. (First Edition, Random House,
2013.) Occasionally a book comes along that is in a different format formally than most
others and readers, especially those in the area of current events and history will like the
recent compilation of Arthur J. Schlesingers letters and related commentary that reads
187
like the Whos Who of the liberal party in the U.S.

in addition to offering events and editorials,
personal and public, in the recent history of that
party, and for the reading public at this point. The
authors, themselves named Schlesinger, went
searching for things in the New York Public Library
and found approximately 35 , 000 letters and
materials including notes, essays, other personal
papers and the like. There are apparently
thousands of other letters of Schlesinger outside
the New York Public library in peoples files and
elsewhere which testify to the prolific character of
this liberal and presidential adviser and confidant.
The Whos Who of liberal society in the States for
some time after WWII did come from the Ivy
League, notably Harvard and the related crowd that
due to the confluence of events and success factors at the time, politically,
administratively and economically, etc., these historical figures, larger than life as they
were in their academic achievements and more so in what they accomplished once given
the reins of power, call for and are portrayed in a very high impact prose in the letters
as shown and in the corresponding editorials and opinions associated with the letters.
None of Schlesingers notes to anyone, and he had many high powered, very
accomplished friends and fellow advisors and officials and other associates; proved to
be more than a few pages. The text also has a formal picture or two with him at his
typewriter that appeared to start out as a Remington manual machine as was often the
case in the days for journalists, and then that developed into the apparently more modern
one as time passed. The entirety of the text shows probably several hundred of his best
correspondence to the Kennedys, Dean Acheson, Harry Truman, Averill Harriman, and
the list goes on and on of major people in the day. Mr. Schlesinger died in 2007 and was
still writing at the time. Throughout the text, the prose he set down is thrilling to read and
the book a page turner the letters themselves have a hopeful mood and attitude, and
his coverage of peoples lives in these indicates the early emphasis of U.S. politics as it
developed after WWII, again, as increasingly oriented, however silently, to foreign policy;
and for instance to the fate of places like Israel, Berlin, Taiwan, and others. Naturally,
liberal people are more oriented to things like foreign policy and world society, and
especially during the 1950s onward, and even up to today, U.S. influence, political power
and even outright controlling of circumstances, and conditions outside the country is the
banter of the day in these circles. Same had been true of the leftist / communist capitals
since some time ago, and this brought out the hefty anti communism even of the most
liberal U.S. high officialdom at the time. As much is evident the perception that
communism, and this even more so during the Kennedy polity, and its dangers, realized
and materialized for free and democratic countries the kind of backward form of
oppression that it was known for in the States while at some times in its detail giving
cause for the uninformed to suspend belief. It is obvious as well from the text that Mr.
Schlesinger knew lives of well educated, humble and very capable people were spent
on this, if not set completely adrift for the duration given what happened in the day,
especially for example to those who were knowledgeable and action, reform, and anti
communist oriented, but who were cut to the quick by the communist device of calling
the opposition, even the left opposition behind the Iron Curtain incapable and too
lightweight. The telling drinking bouts of the then soviet leadership at the time are
evidence of this though the author does not speak of these.
The text is written in its commentary and editorials on the correspondence therein by two
188
very cogent and inspiring people themselves in the way they chose the notes and
presented them with comments and richly referenced as well, might I add. The
journalistic style of the book is intimate in every way as the author knew the subject
matter growing up as even, and this is my guess, these so called journalists knew at
their adolescent years they would make history, that they were different and more
capable and genial and can do than their contemporaries as a result of this, they
were journalists, but might have completely avoided the daily television news and daily
papers (this is just a guess, but the nature and detail of the letters in the text lends
credence to it). Directly and indirectly as well, the book is a history of the liberal polity in
the States starting in the 1950s right up to today in great part. Really a great read. My
45th Anniversary of Apollo Eleven.

"Click here" My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
2014 FIFA World Result.

My unofficial attentive viewing of the recent
World Cup final featuring Germany and
Argentina began in the 30th minute with the
offside Argentinian goal (Argentina was
offside at several crucial times at the final)
at the Rio de Janeiro Maracana stadium
venue. At the 35th minute, Cristoph Kramer
(23) was off the pitch (substitution was
Andre Schrrle (9)) with an apparent injury
that followed some brutal play in which
Germanys Schweinsteiner (29thminute)
received a yellow. This brutal play against
the Germans was again followed by a
Howedes yellow, and in the 35thminute as
well, Messi went for goal with his left. Then
in the 36th minute, Thomas Mller went for
the Argentinian goal with his right. At the
38th minute, it was Messi again on goal
with a crucial German clearance out to the
pitchs right midfield from the German goal
area. At the 44thminute, it was again Mller
on goal with his left. In the 45th minute
(approximately 45 : 20 and 45 : 40), Germany had corner kicks of which an outstanding
header by Howedes (Kroos) that only found the middle of the right hand post of the
Argentinian frame; and the first half then ended even 0 0. Media Image
The Argentinians then substituted Sergio Aguero (20) for Ezequiel Lavezzi (22), and
within seconds were offside again in front of the German goal on the right. At the end of
the 46th minute, Messi made another left footed attempt on the German goal, and the
Germans replied in the 54th minute with a left footed attempt again by Thomas Mller
on the Argentinian goal. This was followed by a decisive save / clearance by Neuer at the
189
opposite end and in the 59th minute Germany had a header on goal (Klose), and again in
the 61st minute, zil of Germany made his goal attempt of the match followed by another
in the 70thagainst the Argentines by Howedes. In the 74th minute, Messi of the
Argentines tried again against Neuer with his left; still no good for the Argentines. In the
76th minute, the Argentines substituted Rodrigo Palacio (18) for Gonzalo Higuian (9).
Neuer made another decisive save in the 77th, followed in the opposite end by a
clearance near the Argentine goal, and at the 81st minute, Kroos made another creative
goal attempt of the match against the Argentines (right foot). At the 85th minute,
Argentina made their final substitute with Enzo Perez (8) out and Fernando Gago (5) in,
and Germany at the 87thminute brought on Gtze (19) in exchange for Miroslave Klose
(11,) followed by a Gtze right footed attempt on the Argentine goal. Regulation time
ended at the 93rdminute on or about another German attempt on the opposing goal
(Mller). One interpretation indicates Argentina at this point were tired and increasingly
shaky. At the end of the first extra time, Argentinas Palacio (18) was at the German goal
again, and the first extra time ended at the 95thminute. At the second extra time, and
featuring throughout very physical play with a number of clashes marked a crucial serious
foul called on Schweinsteiger (by Aguero), play could have gone either way save for the
exhaustion of the Argentinians. This was definitively marked by Thomas Mllers
receiving the ball on the left side within range of the Argentinian goal and making for the
end line, beating his defender with a center to Gtze who took the ball off his ribs, playing
to his left and putting the ball in the air well by the Argentinian keeper : At about the 112th
minute, Germany 1 : Argentina 0. The logic of the German defense from this time carried
to the end of the match, even with a midfield foul on Messi toward the end (121st minute.)
Germany substituted Per Mertesacker (17) for Mesut zil (8,) Messis free kick sailed,
and extra time ended at or about the 125th minute with the final tally again at Germany 1
: Argentina 0.
Please note the best accounts in English are from the UK papers, but USA Today had
good coverage from the U.S., and there are numerous other sites with minute by
minute coverage. The network broadcast I viewed, and needless to mention this was a
terrific match, featured a lag in the clock, so you might assume my times are entirely
incorrect plus or minus maybe four minutes either way. Also, as of today, July 18, the
great German national team captain Philipp Lahm after ten years with his Media Image
national team is retired from football. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
What Goes Around Comes Around -- Economics

Text Review.
von Mises Human Action, by Ldwig von Mises (Yale, 1949.) Book Review. From the
sheer weight of the book here, and the fine print, it is evident and obvious this is a
magnum opus by a premier, flagship economist of the post war Austrian School in his
thesis replying to all others. While von Mises is entirely credible today, even after his
passing some time ago, and this in view of the results of lacunae in other schools,
notable among them the theorists, pundits and even practitioners who just talk about
what goes on in money centers. In view of his marked omission in the text of many
marquis administrative topics including things like national banking and other items
examined first in the book, these are described as the well known relationship in
economic terms between Peter and Paul. Such books as von Mises thesis here, as
they are construed from the title of the text or the volume of text, issues of language,
terminology and the like are sometimes described as someones theory of everything:
190
Human Action is by no means the hitchhikers guide to

the galaxy as many economics texts as well might be
said to be, and it stands in wonderful parallels in the
States to the great text on the subject by Paul
Samuelson that first appeared during the 1960s and
wonderfully termed itself, Economics. The Samuelson
book despite its age as well still explains for everyone
the principles of modern economics in plain and
simple English, and the concepts themselves are
extremely powerful and override much of what we
know to be sociology and psychology and other
among the social sciences then and now. The contrast
between the thesis of von Mises of the 1950s and
Samuelson of the 1960s to today has to do with
Samuelsons Hobbesian and overall technical and
quantitative approach to the subject whereas von
Mises theoretical computations have to do with commercial and money motivated
intricacies. Economics for von Mises was the toil of a liberal psychologist in the
experimental sciences (in fact, the terms here describe what today would be a kind of
quackery but at the time were very seriously done and had great weight, for example,
with the planners of the Great Society and so forth) in the areas of natural and
behavioral research, and in the un scientific realm of literary psychology (telling people
what you knew as much as to not have them upset at what you say and how you say it).
Economy or economics for von Mises was a behavior, as no doubt he believed money is
a huge influencer of economics and business behavior or action. A second principle that
runs between the lines throughout the book after being openly discussed early in the text
is an acknowledgement that inequality and inequalities everywhere call for interpersonal
interaction and social and societal cooperation it is difficult given his belief in the heavy
influences of capital and this latter observation as well, to tell if von Mises actually
allowed for a socio economic status quo or if he was constantly striving to find a way for
this experimental science to break through the barriers of behavior as defined, economic
behavior specifically, to have people find new innovative and inventive ground in many
new ways. It is evident von Mises knew that a penny saved is a penny earned and the
like, and perhaps at the exclusion of other opportunities in life and in business / finance
and economics, and with the emphasis in his book on prices and things like exchange
rates and interest, it might be said he was not miserly but might have been against
spending greatly on things; and his levels of analysis indicate he had a liking for most
people, especially the worker and consumer, the family man and homemaker. To
mention the spirit of von Mises as today quite happy with the federalist state of his native
Europe the relative economic stability and avoidance of poverty, the social stability as
well, indicate the text was read there in a meaningful way without its being a cookbook for
things as some economics text are. Overall an excellent read. My older blog (Thomas
Spitters.)
191
(1998). -- Without Sympathy.

Xiu Xiu The Sent down Girl (1998) -- More "Hong
Kong" Cinema?
In Mandarin / English subtitles: Every once in a while
one sees a film like this that jars a few memories, of
which those on the Cultural Revolution as seen by PRC
leadership maybe thirty five years later and with a ten
year past remembrance of Tian An. The Cultural
Revolution in PRC and other Mao times showed the
leadership goals and style of The Great Helmsman who
given what his internal policies were, what with his re
education programs and the like in the mainland
countryside, had probably had it with people long before
he assumed any political leadership whatsoever in his
country. One of the greatest Media Image influences of
the reign of Chairman Mao had to do with sending any
number of young people into the far mainland provinces
from Bei jing and other, major PRC towns, even from provincial capitols; again to the far
reaches of the countryside to carry out the edicts of revolutionary communist orthodoxy,
ideological and practical communist reformation and re - education, proper work, auto
criticism and the like. It is entirely possible the Chinese form of communism at this point
in time, as personified in PRC party leadership at the time (Zhu Rong ji, Li Peng, ),
and with the sort of typically despotic and thereby exemplary internal, sometimes violent,
purges in the upper levels of its administration and intelligentsia, held that most forms of
constructive utility as seen in ordinary economic terms, especially concerning individual
people, were completely against the political goals of their revolutionary politics and
Chinese communism; and further and bitterly against the perpetual revolution as
producing what were supposed to be better communists and better people overall.
This outstanding 1998 Hollywood style Chinese film depicts the young life of Xiu xiu
(Lu lu,) from Cheng du, a very large city that has a history as a capitol since medieval
times, who is sent to the far provinces in the tide of internal exiles of the Cultural
Revolution in the custody of Wen xiu (Lopsang) who husbands her through many trials,
but cannot prevent the eventualities the young one faces as an urban city person who is
sent to live in the far country and other provincial places, essentially on a cot in a tent.
The character played by Wen xiu is remarkable in that many such people, probably
indeed, had at least met the old Bolsheviks, even Chairman Mao himself, and many knew
him personally, and believed in Marxism Leninism and its Chinese variant with all
themselves. Such people were many as Mao in his campaigns was accessible to people,
and these politics as appealing to all Chinese were part of what enabled the communists
to seize control of the country, presumably over foreign parties and their interests, in
1949. The story is now familiar and old to many people, and to anyone among the many
who've traveled to PRC since it officially opened for tourism in the 1970s. The film has
the hard hitting proportions of a Greek tragedy, and though people like me have not any
idea how it did at home, it illustrates the self destruction of the Cultural Revolution and
the back handed, if not mortal ways in which the Chinese administration treated people
(while depending greatly upon PLA and other military resources), insiders and especially
provincial outsiders more severely, all at the same time as building and re enforcing
party and other political affiliations. This is part of the paradox of some orthodox Marxist
192
systems and is illuminated best, perhaps in the recalling of Caligula type themes and
images that pervade this film, however tepid these are and apparently fundamentally
gifted and enlightened the characters appear as depicted. As the film progresses, the
scenes become progressively more poignant as Wen xiu at one point travels ten li to
gather fresh water for Xius bath. There is also a scene at a country medical clinic, if it
can be called that, where Xiu is destroyed and Wen reacts in recognition of negligent
treatment and so forth by attacking her assailants; these scenes are difficult to watch with
respect to cinematic milieu and the atavistic character of those characters in contrast and
opposition to Xiu and Wen. It is surprising the censors under Deng Xiao ping allowed
the publication of this film as it is controversial and undermining in many ways to
communism and Marxist ideas, apart from just the message it carries of the huge slap to
Chinese society during the years of the Cultural Revolution and even for many years
thereafter. It is possible that due to the Asian financial crisis at the time and what
happened with the Yuan and other currencies, the leadership of the PRC was forced to
recognize, as to their merits the Paramount Leader and his associates at the time did, the
limits and critically damaging and many, many incalculably destructive influences the
Cultural Revolution and other very elaborate internal aims of the PRC at the time had on
peoples lives everywhere; especially on those Chinese who were around, knew of it and
even read up on it at the time while overseas. Everyone needs view this piece or at least
get to know its story or one like it. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Nothing Will Grow There. WW I Anniversary The Somme and Verdun.

Media Image
Media Image
Late brief from an allied newspaper.
193
book review -- to do (for everybody.)

Another in The Facets of Jobs And Friends
-- CREATIVITY, by Edwin Catmull
(Random House, 2014.)
Many books are published about
technology every day, general and
technical, on new and legacy Media Image
technologies alike. The story of Pixar
Animation above all, regardless of its
affiliation to show business and other well known and well - connected people, needs be considered as that of a classically super successful growth company that Steven Jobs, Ed Catmull, and others husbanded
through all the possible permutations of organizational life according to their own edicts,
and with the dynamism that in the day, along with company goals, held businesses
together despite the many competitive and economic forces, including non - market
overtones and influences sometimes, that would have such businesses fly apart from
their own internal energies as generated by the inventive, innovative, and continuously
creative tone that pervades the company culture and its story amid other, more
ephemeral start - up adventures. From the way Mr. Catmull introduces his company, it is
difficult to determine from a reading of the text whether or not the original business was
the purview of Mr. George Lucas (Hollywood and Napa,) or Steven Jobs (Silicon Valley).
People like me know from the way the story of this wonderful company is begun in the
text, that LucasFilm for various and original reasons in the old days needed a fresh
production company, and Steven Jobs was in control if not in personal possession along
with his associates of the required software and hardware "stuff" to accede to the great
demands of Lucas animated production ideas and projects. The overall special character
of Pixar over time has changed in scope as the market power of the business has
changed, at people like Catmull and his buddies are in some respects just supposed to
be cartoon guys, though this view only burnishes in a simplified way the technical and
even greater imaginative character of these people along the trajectory of their business
from a narrowly functional animation company to a megastudio and blockbuster standard
for media through Hollywood at this point.
Pixar produced a number of giftedly animated "Toy Story" and other productions of
equally, and quite hard - hitting impact for movie audiences and young people above all.
Some of the themes as presented in the Pixar films, such as those in the relation
between Cowboy and Buzz Lightyear in "Toy Story" or even the depiction of Hopper in "A
Bug's Life", and there are many more such examples, that evoke the virtues and vagaries
of human character along with various background. This is perhaps an important part of
Pixar's films as intoned by Mr. Catmull and Mr. Jobs that approaches things like finances
and even software functionality as a set aside given the aims of film projects themselves
to have themselves a highly memorable character along with educating and entertaining,
and other imperative items, at the same time. One opens this text, simply and directly
presented as it is, to find first a story of a typical media start - up, and then one presided
by both individually cultivated genius and the same of worldly industrial strength, that has
become a proverbial "Star of India" in its animated productions in Los Angeles, past,
present and possibly and probably future given the way Hollywood has captured and
openly employs Pixar's company and employee culture. This read is greatly captivating
and hopeful from beginning to end, and depicts a business in which the overall goals and
hard work of those in charge have made themselves and everyone around them more
194
than just elite and extremely successful. The text is also not lost on business and
management processes as so enumerated for the reader or for anyone looking into this
and related stories. It is possible that Steven Jobs, Mr. Catmull and so forth, had believed
the powers ruling business leadership and innovation, etc., originally had a kind of
cookbook, and this outside the Socratic and other imperatives that run through this
narrative. It is also possible these people, and just by their nature, captured at least some
of that cookbook in their methods and practices. As much is on every in this outstanding
and compelling story of this media company that has captured the physics of human
imagination in many ways.
Periodic Interest: Perhaps The Most Important

Thing to Remember abo...
Periodic Interest: Perhaps The Most Important Thing to Remember about...: ... is
Hiroshima was the first. Hiroshima - August 6, 2010 - morning. My older blog (Thomas
Spitters.)
Periodic Interest: Modern Day Hiroshima? ... and

the 'Shinto - prie...
Periodic Interest: Modern Day Hiroshima? ... and the 'Shinto - priest...: Original March
2011 story in the international news. ... of someone who lived through Hiroshima. Media
Photo. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Another Belated Review: Bio of Robert

Oppenheimer (Knopf, 2005)
AMERICAN PROMETHEUS (2005,) by Kai Bird and Martin Sherwin.
This monumental and greatly detailed text about a titan of nuclear science Media Image
in the day, and as to one whose life was as varied and colorful as that of a scientist could
be, whose life again had been a blessing and a curse but that nonetheless fit the bill of
anyone who modeled and romanticized popular science; depicts the human side of a
once deified public figure who was at once an unassuming scientist and at the same time
an extraordinary and political and organizational charmer. J. R. Oppenheimer was a
gifted son of a gifted businessman with strong ties to the old countries of Europe,
especially pre world war Germany. Though JRO was born in New York and raised in its
Upper West Side, his father had emigrated from the Frankfurt area of FRG and his
mothers family was from Maryland. JRO was raised in New York and shone in the
195
scientific area and in mathematics as a

young person. His parents were able to
cultivate his genius by sending him to study
at various technical centers including those
in U.K. and in Germany on and off again
until late in the 1930s.
Throughout most of JROs adult life there
were two major themes that included
nuclear science and communism. He and
his generation of scientists are responsible
for the birth of the nuclear arms race as
many of us know it today. His trials about
communism also fulfill our image and how
many remember the 1950s U.S. anti liberal movement. The nuclear bombing of Japan,
and his judicial trial during 1953 54 brought public attention, sometimes greatly negative
in nature, into the personal realm for him, things that would disrupt the life of any
responsible and bright character as he was, attributes and foibles at the same time.
Science at the time of Oppenheimer was a practical and political jungle full of mythical
beasts, imaginary and real, benign and greatly threatening. It is strange the public figure
of the day most responsible for popularizing nuclear science and the related dilemmas of
the arms race was subject to, and this in the U.S., the ominous forces of society gossip
and social pressures among his friends and colleagues that led to the end of his career
as a scientist, essentially when he lost his security clearance in the 1950s.
Perhaps more to blame here than his 1954 bureaucratic trials was the overall
deterioration of U.S. / soviet politics at the time: this agonized and humiliated many, and
provoked the castigation and ruin of a number of public figures vulnerable to such things.
For many as well, the attack on liberalism at the time comprised an attack on Americas
values, and this presumed assault exposed the bureaucracy at the time as more and
more paternalistic and condemning of the character and personalities of some. For many
of those examined and even subject to trial proceedings, their brilliance, stoicism, and
personal self assurance and integrity led frequently to bewildering and defeating,
magically destructive antagonisms, first from officialdom and then from everybody. This is
/ was perhaps due, and this on most pages of this definitive and again detailed text, to
JROs personal life informing his scientific studies, achievements, and overall scientific
work before his audiences, and those who watched and monitored the Oppenheimers
closely. An outstanding book. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Belated book review (again) -- Andrew and

Gordievsky, 1990.
Media Photo Belated Book Review -- text by Andrew and Gordievsky, 1990.
This non - fiction historical / political KGB spy bureau story has to do with the workings of
the international espionage and other Cold War games mostly between the bureaus in
U.K. and the K.G.B. as based then in Moscow, U.S.S.R. from about the time of the soviet
civil war to the 1980's. The beginning of the text gives a brief summary of security
services under the Tsar that their own terror(s), deportations, exiles, and the like. As the
K.G.B., the Tsarist espionage bureaus were oriented to foreign operations and
196
intelligence. The Tsarist spies at the

revolution were followed by the Chekists
who, with a utopic vision as their license,
worked hard to confiscate property, conduct
foreign and domestic spying, resolve the
loose ends from the civil war, battle
capitalists and their secret services, find
wreckers and traitors, etc., and so on. By
the end of 1920, the Chekist Feliks
Dzerzhinsky promised the soviet leadership
the Cheka was in control of all aspects of life in U.S.S.R., and Cheka in 1922 was
subsumed into the GRU that later was incorporated into the Internal Affairs Commission.
The GRU became a soviet federal agency with the formation of the soviet union. The text
goes into the various personalities and cast of characters respectfully portrayed therein,
but nonetheless in illustrating the dangerous traits of soviet espionage over the years.
Soviet institutions such as the Comintern and others are shown in the book as
established to further first Cheka, ... , and then K.G.B. aims. Western surveillance of
these is also discussed, and the crossing as well that went from one side to the other
over the years, however infrequently and the resulting political developments. The Stalin
years were portrayed as particularly mortal concerning soviet spy successes,
gangsterism, even setbacks with respect to world events and the communist spy heads
at the time -- Yagoda, Yezhov, Beria, ... . Through all this, and possibly and probably into
the Khrushchev and Brezhnev times, soviet spying traditionally was done with military
goals in mind.
After allowing the reader some formation into soviet spying organizations, the authors
proceed to tell how the communists in Eastern Europe on the state level proceeded over
time to expand and empower their range and operation locations through administrative
penetration and political and other influences. This included groups assigned to Poland
and Eastern Europe, Western European targets, and this in America (Northern and in
Latin areas), Africa, South and Southeast Asia, the far East, the island nations, and so
on. As the organizational networks were built and were successful apparently, and
continued to grow, more people, departments and directorates were added in Moscow
and in the various operational fields. The text examines many cases of spying activity in
which there were clearly soviet successes including from the founding of the K.G.B
through the years of the Great Depression and WWII with the allies, and later against
adversaries. The effectiveness, for example of the soviets in defensive - type spying and
in the area of ciphers is illustrated as remarkable given what people were working, and
had to work with in the day. It is important to note the most effective spying by the K.G.B.
in its time, domestic and especially abroad had to do with people who were lax with
security, whose guard was down, and who frequented Moscow and the other U.S.S.R.
capitols.
After the defeat of the Nazis, the Cold War themes of penetration and influence were
used in obtaining things like military and spy / intelligence secrets, of which the apparent
and frequent duplication of U.S. and U.K. military and nuclear projects during the 1950's
and thereafter. Destalinization of the U.S.S.R. at the time nor abated nor accelerated this
process. The text goes on to discuss 1956 Hungary, Yugoslavia's Tito, Cuban missile
crisis, 1968 Prague, and other soviet policy failures as additional extraordinary cases. As
approaches to Cold War conflict became more and more standardized internationally,
soviet spying activity included sponsorship of political / administrative groups and
alliances with groups and administrations outside the mainstream and with those having
little international administrative participation. This might be said to be one of the multi national competencies of the K.G.B. at the time that contrasted with the mishandling of
197
Berlin and Warsaw and appurtenant issues. The achievements, and the losses acutely as
well added to East - West rivalries that began crumbling the U.S.S.R. after its
unsuccessful incursion into Afghanistan starting in 1979. The 1980's including the
Gorbachev years are comprised by a laundry list of events, favorable and unfavorable to
the K.G.B., that subtracted from its reputation abroad given the winding - up of the Cold
War, that in all events had Russian spy jobs at a premium at home. A long read that
depicts soviet adventurism on every page just about, with a good index and summary
organizational and other tables. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
No Need to Really Read This Entry - Ther're

Plenty of Them Out Ther...
Sunday, September 21, 2014
Recently, and because I have seen more and more
people in robes and so forth, even Caucasian and
Media Image more Western people, I picked up a book
on Buddhism that happened to be about the austere and
strict form of that religious practice, read "Southern"
Buddhism, versus the more popular "Mahanayan" faith
that's in places that really interest more people about it
and so forth. Sort of like picking up a missal from the
Orthodox Catholic faith when you just want to watch the
"700 Club" once in a while on the tube. The text I picked
up in paperback and read through was originally, not the
one I own, but in the beginning and in 1896 no less,
published as a comprehensive study that probably made
its author completely mortal by the date of its publication.
The text is very detailed and talks greatly about the
merits, the strict ones, of this massively - scaled and
intelligent faith; though it is difficult at times, and the text is in plain English, to distinguish
the tone and intentions of the teachings of the "Great Teacher" as he is portrayed. The
closest I really came to Nirvana or any fulfillment with this text, as in fact such things lead
sometimes to a sort of similar resolution to things, if not to a kind of Nirvana itself
immediately or eventually, was akin to my once having been in the presence of a famous
economist who I know mistook me not for a student of sorts of his, but for a laundry or
other delivery person. The value of such texts is they make one reflect on such events
and therefore the tone of the book becomes the more serious and worth contemplation
apart from the de - reflective and gross things the "dhamma" can lead to at times, maybe
even in a minority of cases. There are many Buddhists who are extremely achieving and
fine people, but for example, I would not really trust the idea of giving one, and this not
just because Buddhism is from where it's from, rocket launch codes or nuclear secrets -Buddhism is not really a faith in which those types of things are appropriately secure. If
you cannot tell this, maybe move somewhere where there are lots of Buddhists, great
people that they are.
There are some actually great principles of the Buddhist faith that hearken to an agrarian
and earthy existence starting some time ago and that are completely compatible with this
yet today in places, and with urban and bustling settings of the metropolis and so forth as
well. I know less and less actually about the desirable things of it now I have read more
about the austere, priestly version of the faith and realize that in no way do people join
198
this faith without seriously thoughtful commitment, and one might believe that those born
into it are accursed and disadvantaged though they are not. The richness of mind of
many Buddhists, their patience and conservatism in many ways, their dedication to
contemplation and prayer beats the islamo - believers in all their own varieties hands and
pencils down every time. Though many will disagree, and this is by all means a
provocation to the reader here and one's own construct of the role of such things in their
popular interpretation: I submit to you after having read about him in the Theravada
tradition, that the Buddha as we knew him in his various incarnations and personae, and
in his current incarnation if I am not wrong as from Dharamsala, India; that Buddha as our
friend from the East was not and is not a Christ symbol. Perhaps the correct solution
about what he represents to us, and literally and metaphorically, other than being in the
role of a great spiritual leader and Teacher lies in some innovative psychological and
philosophical approach to the faith that needs to be new in 2014, or as renewed and re hashed in 20l4 (let us here choose gestalt or depth psychology as that is safe away from
useless, specious and burdensome dialogues and analysis, or even the philosophical
approach of deconstructive character without and devoid of spirit:) The representation of
the Buddha today, and with minimal study one might agree, has really very little to do
with the symbolism of the Christian New Testament and the life nor the symbolism of the
Christ and his followers; and has much more to do with the great following of the ancient
Hebrew leader Moses has in the appropriate books of the Christian Old Testament and
Old Testaments themselves everywhere. This fits quite nicely with what I have read
heretofore, including the eternal suffering that Buddhism internalizes, the delivery it
promises from the conflicts, curses and vagaries of existence, and the promise of
tomorrow it has for so many people who lead an existence much like that of the biblical
Abraham, or similar individuals as illustrated in the Bible books where Moses appears or
is mentioned. Buddha, dear, comments invited, especially given your lessons on the
emphasis of life on compassion and its promise for individual and collective salvation.
Remember as well your extremely powerful symbolism and cultural facets, and the way
of the righteous you follow. Have a great day. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Hong Kong, P.R.C.

Presently in Hong Kong, PRC.
Media Photo
Though there have been no recent
anniversaries, not of the 1950's Central and
Eastern Europe national unrest, nor of the
1968 political and societal protests in
places like Czechoslovakia and France,
and in the U.S. against the war in
Southeast Asia, though maybe of the end
of the Tian An Men movement in 1989; the
protest in Hong Kong at this point though not covered at length in the Western press,
might be as formidable as any of the former ones that espoused and personified in their
leadership a greater and greater annoyance with respect to nationalism and politics
sponsored frequently within the borders of where the unrest takes or took place. The
protests in Hong Kong have been going on since some days ago, and the major U.S.
news services might just have picked up the story this morning for the weekend news.
For various and sundry technical reasons, many of the citizens of Hong Kong would like
to have "the United States of America" as Jim Lehrer so judiciously and artfully
199
mentioned the attitude of the Tian An movement during 1989 at the time on his news
hour. Hong Kong has a municipal or civic governance review that is coming up in an
election where only CPC / Bei jing - approved candidates will be allowed to submit their
candidacy to a vote. The conflict here is the same as the again age - old scuffle between
town and country everywhere, or as has been the case in communist regimes, the
provinces out of alignment with the Center, and local and national Chinese authorities
have futilely demanded for the protesters to disperse, of which no great giving in of the
populace at this point. Police have appeared briefly on television spraying protestors
presumably with pepper spray while attempting to land a number of same in detention, or
while attempting to yank light - gauge steel fencing out of the hands of protesters trying to
gain ground.
The cast of characters in the Chinese administration is authoritarian with respect to the
protests and hardly comical, and the protesters have leaders like Leung Kwok - hung (a
fierce, pro - democracy activist) and Cardinal Joseph Zen (former Catholic bishop of
Hong Kong). Leung has approved of the protestors staying in place with the attitude of
civil disobedience, and Zen advocates people returning to their normal lives after leaving
the scene of the demonstrations, indicating that taking a position adversarial to the
Chinese government is futile given the impossibility of dialogue with Chinese leaders.
The idea of the protesters is to deaden business activity in town, and thus their positions
in the Hong Kong financial district. The protest apparently had been triggered by the
format of some elections in town, but cap off some long standing anti - Bei jing sentiment
there as well. Hong Kong is a special area of P.R.C. that has kept its character as a
Western and fiercely entrepreneurial, free business area since its handover to P.R.C.
from UK in 1997. It does appear that young people in the region dislike the loyalties of
some in local administration to power - grabbing associated with the Chinese capitol, and
the local government right now in town is apparently very unpopular due to this and
distrust of the capitol in Hong Kong and other places in China. The protesters, in
comprising their "Occupy Central" movement threaten the commerce and business in the
financial district of Hong Kong, and have united religious leaders, student and university
leaders and high - profile professionals in their efforts. These public personalities have
assured at least for the time being that the sit - in will continue and this insisting on
restricting business and commercial activities and access to same by the presences of
the protestors in centrally located places downtown -- the expectation is this will force Bei
jing leaders and local leaders who are on the Bei jing tether to first discuss and then
negotiate democratic reform and a continuance of Hong Kong in its productive and
businesslike, entrepreneurial ways of old.
There have been rallies against the movement Occupy Central, and not everyone around
is in the pitched demonstrations against Bei jing governance and rule - making. The idea
as indicated by concerned CPC parties is that Hong Kong will lose its reputation as a
safe and tidy, and business - oriented mecca for professional people given the effects,
short - and long - term of the demonstrations. Characteristically and officially, the
demonstrators are marginalized by government polls that detail not everyone is in favor
of keeping Hong Kong as it is, and that many of the people who've read or heard of the
protests do not understand the town's special economic and business status before the
communist regime. Upon some reading on the subject of possible electoral action and
reform by Bei jing and the screening out of pro - reform candidates, the requirements for
candidates as fulfilled to stand for election do appear a little cheesy, and some CPC
officials blame the US and UK for influencing the opposition demonstrations and protests.
The use of physical force by local security agencies and apparently the local army are
worrisome and make the situation akin to the Bei jing administration offering the Hong
200
Kong people something they might not, nor should not refuse. Though the Chinese
administration has denied that only its own candidates have been approved (strictly
speaking) for the ballot contest to come that will elect representatives from town, the
process of candidate submissions does appear to follow that particular line, but then one
returns to the letter of criteria for the [presumably pro - capitol] candidates who will be
appointed to run, and then be nominated in the election. Around and around it goes as
the Chinese administration appears to be playing quite a bit of defense in its public
relations and maybe even in minimizing media coverage of these very serious and
meaningful demonstrations and protests there.
SEARCH PROTEST AND DEMONSTRATION EVENT COVERAGE ON :
A. WWW.CNN.COM
B. WWW.WSJ.COM
C. WWW.REUTERS.COM
D. WWW.USATODAY.COM
Encore depuis le sorcier de Baghdad -- et o le

conflit soit mortel...
REPORTAGES (ANGLO.)
Story -- Irbil, Northern Iraq (October 2014.)
ABC News -- Kurdistan.
ABC News -- Irbil, Etc., Story Grid. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Nature / diable - l'abme du catastrophe (Chine).

Ssme -- nouvelles - YUNNAN, Chine.
Rportage de loin, mais sympathique - "Le temps".
Dtails vido depuis "YouTube".
Charit - Croix Rouge - dons et contributions ... .
201
Revival of the Irish on the Observable Absurdity

and Chaos of It Al...
Media Image
The exemplary Samuel Beckett (anew) by
actor Lisa Dwan. My older blog (Thomas
Spitters.)
Smoke A Little Dope? -- Say WHAT? -- The

Recipe of Bolsheviks of Old.
AS LONG AS SOMEONE HAS
MENTIONED (IN CALIFORNIA) LEARN
TO SMOKE A
Media Image LITTLE DOPE, (look at
these characters).
With the winding down of the wars as

formerly prosecuted in the Middle East
(principally in Afghanistan and Iraq),
presumably as well the so called war on
drugs is being relaxed for the time being
and thus a principal conflict as carried on
by the U.S. Military and somewhat by
coalition partners for more than thirteen
years so far, and to every pessimist and
naysayer, seems to have been without the
kind of social and economic utility that one
expects from traditional boots on the
ground - type warfare since even the time
of Clausewicz. It is important to note the
current military and paramilitary conflicts in
Northern Iraq and Syria, again involving
tribal warfare and that of warlords, probably
will not taper off for a while, whether or not the US continues or avows the causes of
people like the Kurds and so forth. Since some time ago, and even before the Iran / Iraq
war of some time ago, the Kurds were fighting the occupiers of their territories,
presumably Kurdistan, and those occupiers were the same groups now involved in the
strife in that area again. The Kurds are a minority in a Northern Middle East territory that
202
were a bother and therefore marked for extinction by neighbors, of which the Iraqi
Hussein regime during the late 1970's and early to mid 1980's. No one wants to
remember the essentially peaceful Kurds having to take up arms to defend their homes
against invaders and / or flee their homeland by way of any means possible, including by
the airlines to parts unknown where they assimilated and disappeared into crowded
populaces, as did the culture of Kurdistan they carried with them, and most of home was
forgotten by those refugees who actually managed to escape the forces invading at
home. The attitude of the invaders and the Syrians, etc., opposing the Kurds and rebels
in those areas to day is they are good for nothing and need make way for the
postmodern and hegelian (even those who read Engels) everyman from the delineated
areas and their corresponding military forces, many of whom worship the former soviet
military model and some of its views and practices still pervasive in Russian Federation
society at this time still. This includes perhaps an unofficial phalanx of ruling society
featuring urbane types, a political party structure that imitates immovable royalty and
some other things Lenin and Leon Trotsky would be proud of today.
October is a terrific month for conflict, of which the resolution of the sudden chaos and
abandon of the Russian Revolution (1917), and that of the very long Chinese Communist
Revolution that ended in 1949. It is also the month of the famous Yom Kippur War, the
Battle of Trafalgar, the beginning of the Long March of the Chinese Revolution, that of the
Battle of Passchendaele, the First Battle of Ypres, and ironically that of the Treaty of
Westphalia that ended the Thirty Years War in 1648. The list goes on of notable things
without there being a laundry list of disaster after disaster. That the Middle East wars are
winding down, as are the legacy of 2000 2008 statecraft and the democratic Cold War
legacy as former communist states withdraw into themselves as led into it by the Russian
leadership, and the tampering as well with the war on drugs are anything but peaceful
portents: People just continue to get more and more wound at the prospect of facing
opposing leadership as they get older given the Cold War and other conflicts showed the
deficiencies of the forgetfulness and continuous renewal of things as represented by the
international left, including an elitist permissiveness for things like trafficking of various
sorts. That the left today even in the US is preoccupied with curing social ills and
socioeconomic inequities, it is perhaps a paradox the left started these sorts of things in
their modern form and in concentrating on these issues with public and solicitous private
campaigns, it glorifies and highlights these sorts of things that are at best perfidious,
lousy intrigue and extremely hazardous, and destructive at their most benign. Comments
invited. My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
Berlin, 2014.
Twenty - five years ago, almost to this day,
the Berlin Wall as constructed in the early
1960's and fortified many times thereafter
was rendered moot as symbol of soviet /
Marxist dominion in Western Europe and
dismantled, though not overnight: As a
finality that rings in the ears of every soviet
person attentive in the day, sections of the
wall were taken down and taken away by
people with ordinary sledgehammers,
jackhammers, and then with cranes and
203
other machines to clear the way for the 40,000 or so refugees from the east that would
come over to West Germany in the first month after the wall fell, and then more after that.
The initial responses of the East German authorities at the time first to the burgeoning
demonstrations and then to the dismantling of that physical barrier between East and
West are well documented and most people by now have seen at least some of them on
the television and heard of the great big party at the dismantling of the Berlin Wall was at
the time. Today, and chiefly the area of the Potsdamer Platz, Checkpoint Charlie and
associated bridge and other places so dramatically portrayed in the media in the past are
simply memories that are kept in small museums at different points along the former path
of the wall. On this day, as one awaits the official anniversary of the dismantling of the
wall, in Berlin, the former location of the wall and its path through that town is marked by
approximately seven thousand lit balloons that will be released upward into the sky upon
official commemoration.
The monetary costs of re - unification, unforeseeably, have been quite high and many
parts of East
Germany, especially in Saxony and Thuringia, are permanently economically depressed
and no rent can even be made from the land there, apparently. The burden however, of
the challenges that capitalism and freedom suggest and then propose to society, as
promised originally in the regimes of Bush, Helmut Kohl, and Gorbachev, have allowed
for a brighter future for Central Europe as it is now less of a political pawn to the soviets
as then constantly uprooted and even poisoned, and allowed as well for Western Europe
is a departure of the politics of buffer states and again a greater socio - economic
promise for all. This has not been nor will it be without its issues as the guarantees of free
society to all, everywhere, and not just at this point as commemorated in Central Europe,
at first incipient in places and then more prominent are not reified without the efforts of all
contributing people on every rung of the social ladder. It is seemingly greatly easier to
change the actions of a person with rewarding incentives, and as is the case with Berlin,
much more difficult and as has been done here, to change the mindset of centralizing
and enriching the paternalistic state, for one, into an attitude of one and all as to the
greater potentialities presented by definition in the economic activity of capital and the
overall benefits of this to everyone; even to those on the coattails of those who originally
allowed for and then have made possible the Berlin of today.
New York Times Article - November 7, 2014.
One Berlin Refugee Center.
One Berlin Wall commemorative museum.
Armistice Day -- Again, Not Far Away (Far from

Me).
Media Image Media Image
New York Times Article - previous.
Wall Street Journal Article.
World War I - imagery in stills.
FlandersHouse - New York.
Recent blog entry - ... .
204
Blog mini - entry : Progress of Hong Kong

Protests -- Mid - Novemb...
Select coverage (please read):
Yahoo! News - recent.
Article and another article from Guardian,
U.K.
Recently from C.N.N. -- and more from
C.N.N.
See here! People of our mind subject to insidious ignominy of their authorities now day
and night (pictures below).
Media Image
205
Media Image
An Excellent Portrayal of "No Happy Reward" (If

This Review Is Not ...
THE INNOVATORS, by Walter Isaacson
(2014, Simon & Schuster)
Media Image
INFORMALLY: Though this text is an excellent
one and one that makes the attempt, it is
impossible to capture the spirit of what one
might call the character and genius (read
geniuses) of what has come to be known as
Silicon Valley, CA. There is an entire set of
circumstances and confluence of events and
other factors that led, and has and had led to
every single inch of technological discovery
over the years, and in reading this valuable
book one gathers the sense of this and the criticality and
indeed the overall gravity and seriousness of modern
consumer and other technological discovery and
implementation. All this despite the apparent clowning
and colorful carrying on (read again, irreverence) of
different personalities at various places including at
Apple, Pixar, ORACLE and others. Walter Isaacson, in
this well prepared and researched text does make an
outstanding effort to capture in a comprehensible image,
with all the implications of that, the history of the
different figures that are memorable and worth
commemorating about the place.
Though there are literally dozens upon dozens of people

who contributed to what the author of this text proposes
as a chain or cascading and crowding of brilliant people
206
oriented toward technological innovation and invention, themselves, their families, their
honorable associates, and their extended families and friends, all sometimes even
inching their way through things, individually or in groups, or making leaps and bounds as
has been done over the years with IC's and the like, each of the major people one might
propose by this narrative has been and is simply larger than life and in all evidence and
obviously of greater mind and spirit, sometimes than is imaginable by the line and rank
and file. For some this book is like a who's who or even a dogged and informative
summary only of what could have started out as a ten thousand page text. For others,
the story is simple enough and captures the tone and aura of the place or places that are
Silicon Valley, indeed quite nicely, and as yet leaving much of the technical and
complicated jargon, the acronyms, even the buzz words of the day out of the writing in
order to adequately portray these uncommon and very capable business and technology
leaders as they need to appear. Despite the dozens and dozens of people mentioned
here, all noteworthy, and not just the prize winners, the following really stand out for the
time being, and you might beg to differ, of which comments and other words invited:
Hopper, von Neumann, Terman, Shockley, the Intel founders, the ARPA and related
projects, the Hayes modem, the Apple Company, Inc., founders; the Microsoft founders
and their team(s,) and many, many others, and certainly including those over the years
who have notably left the door open to all whereas in such places often the connotation
of such things is the exit door remains always open as derivative of this in most cases.
Media Image
Isaacson gives very adequate and detailed explanations and narratives, again, of how
the innovators here recall their work and the cut and try methods and processes used
in addition to the breakthroughs of equal, or lesser import that included not only variations
and improvements to technologies but to the cost structure of delivering these at a
reasonable price to business and consumer end users. In the end, and even for most
people who know of and who have read this text, there might be one or two, maybe
more, businesses that stand out as excellent in the technology hotbed itself, and for me
this is companies like Varian, VersaTec, Cray, and then Pixar Studios, even ORACLE
and Lockheed as well among the all in all. An excellent read even for the "just curious",
and worth the price in time and place of reading to any level of detail. Great! My older
Something I do not get (current consensus on

U.S. Immigration Policy).
After hearing the speech by the U.S. president yesterday, it is important for people like
me, for example, to not be so concerned as to "blow a gasket" as a good friend and
attorney mentions when things like this come up for people. Now that the U.S.
immigration issues along with its customs and homeland security bureau issues have
really come of age, probably more for kids than for adults given the rights of newborn of
foreign parents, for example, within the borders of the U.S. right now, or what the
president wants to make them, there is a difficulty staring us all down, and that is a full fledge immigration issues crisis. This might be brought upon the country by, again, more
and more so - called immigrants arriving in jet flights to places like Seattle and Los
Angeles, or Atlanta, New York, or any major coastal area airport and then mainly just
sitting - in at the air facilities either waiting for transport to a new assumed domicile or
waiting for other things such as detention by U.S. immigration authorities -- distasteful
207
and insufferable for some, but for others a no - brainer solution to their own issues as
immigrants everywhere. These sorts of shenanigans are unavoidable given the talk as
broadcast yesterday as well as the oft - spoken phrase of responsible parties under the
circumstances at times : "It would happen anyway", and its variants. What happened to
the sage proverbs and courage, fortitude and morale fibre concerning the destruction of
the world and related political self - destruction of some of its peoples and the U.S. "It
didn't happen here" in the spoken words of our leaders who had, in days not so far in the
past, guaranteed a safe homeland that discouraged hooligans and the acting out of
various groups and individuals who from the get - go with feet in the airframe bound for
the U.S. already demand entitlements in intractable ways included the cursing out of
those of us who've lived here long enough to know not to curse and swear at others, not
as a moral or ethical rule primarily, but that it smacks of the wholly irrational and
unreasonable and is by far and away alienating for the literate and educated among the
many honest and forthright,
Media Image common - sense people who abound here to begin with. Why, given the
complications of the world at this point, be in the business of canning that and selling it to
those who might scrape together half and loan the other half of the cost for it, if that; and
of course there will always be some who can loan the entire cost of anything and same
will have to loan moneys to complete the angry tasks of learning and internalizing
American ways.
In the law, and I mention this as a person who is not a jurist, there are some things that
allow for various interpretations of statute including various semantic devices the U.S.
president as a law professor and his colleagues and associates, themselves as jurists
and well - educated legal people who have been honorably placed at their posts through
elections and appointment confirmations, ... , are familiar with and are apparently using to
avoid the immigration crucible that more than ever will impact American homes in the
future, and everyone's. The sort of crucible the U.S. presidential policies right now in a
simple way are attempting to avoid will cheapen the U.S. / American commonweal and
will give cause for those informed and provoking such a thing to question, even from the
great heights of their proud towers, the value of life itself, and not just for the unborn, but
for babies all the way up through the stages of growth and maturity to adults and the
elderly. The U.S. presidential policies have seen such a crisis looming since the idea of
the war on terror began, even the idea of population control under Roe vs. Wade
presented themselves in private and scientific journals our current leaders now read: That
was a long time ago, mind you. Our democratic leadership attempts to address, and
somewhat successfully to date, the macabre and sinister, creepy issues of immigration
as they unfold in the modern world to hold the "door open" for at least a while until the
commonweal is satisfied for a while with current status quo and ratings are up, and then
in all appearances the door is slammed shut with those hairy consequences as well. This
simple politic has to stop as practiced by the current administration and that of most of
the 1990's insofar as our people are motivated one way or the other to face a very
complicated immigration problem set and to decide upon necessary restrictions, and not
the uncalled for "mass" changes and psychology, very weighty might I add here, this
features today. How can this be done? It can be done as simply and creatively as the
writing of policies that keep people cramming into airframes in flights to La Guardia, etc.,
and other major air hubs: Restrict air traffic and access to exit visas, and if one starts on
this today, the airline industry will suffer to cancel eventually a few flights only, and overall
profitability will ne'er really have been affected compared to the consequences of flying
those initial one - way tickets and those of other immigration schemes. The exit visa
issues require cross - border agreements and U.S. monitoring, undoubtedly, and this
might initially cause more gridlock in the capitol, but our representatives and the like, and
208
the U.S. chief executive, stand to realize eventually the immigration problem we currently
have is systemic and can be solved systemically. What is applicable to air traffic and
immigration might also and simply find application to ocean and land traffic, including foot
traffic as well for illegals and those in immigration, too. With this kind of "blanket" and
systemic solving of what one knows to be the actual societal feature in the U.S. as a
country to which one is able to immigrate easily, one can completely avoid, not postpone
but completely avoid the massed gatherings and foreign movements, the terrorist
movement as an undercurrent here, that are the curse of our current system of
immigration in America; and that incidentally have many prospective immigrants in their
football stadium gatherings calling for our deaths and for a supplanting of American
society and its future with one envisioned, i.e., by the Marxists of old (as reformed by the
end of the cold war, yet sadly still Marxist), some Islamo - political deity, or other power
lacking a real constitution and the like -- all sad and sorrowful avenues, yet ones people
outside our "village" wish for right now. There are indeed others, and legitimate people,
who make immigration attempts to enter U.S. territories, and honestly, besides terrorists
and hooligans, criminals and destructive radicals; and the thing is to find them in the
immigration crowd and allow their petitions, and to discourage the destructive, criminal
types from trafficking our borders. To wit, given the issues here around exit visas and the
like, there is trafficking in counterfeit travel documents and seals, etc., everywhere: The
thing to do about that is to centralize exit visa activities not in some bureau in town, but to
center them at air facilities, especially for those with one way or open ended tickets.
There are analog processes and rules for the same practices and other transport
channels. How about an executive order along these lines, and one that when well
thought out and composed might trump the impending crisis, and one that is earmarked
and predictable for "sooner or later". My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
An Exercise in the Painful for PRC Authorities

and Worse in Its Pen...
Media Photo IMAGES HERE, AND OTHER
CONTENT -- BETTER THAN I COULD
PRODUCE AND COMMENT ON MYSELF
: EDITORIALS, ETC., TODAY ARE THOSE
OF OTHERS.
The Height of Paranoia : Chinese

Leadership and More Hong Kong Arrests (not for doing this at home).
From the Internet Today (November 28, 2014): News aboutHong Kong Protests
November
bing.com/news
Hong Kong protest site in Mong Kok cleared
Market Watch 1 day ago
... baton as he confronts pro-democracy protesters at Mongkok shopping district in
HongKongNovember 26,2014. HONGKONGPolice cleared the most volatile -Making Sense Of Hong Kong Pro-Democracy Protests Analysis
Eurasia Review 2 days ago -- Hong Kong Protest Leaders Call for Rally at Government
209
Offices
Bloomberg 14 hours ago -- More news
about Hong Kong Protests November 2014
Stay up-to-date on this news topic
A Word from blogger Professor Alvin
Rabushka (click here) . Media Photo
Spitters.)
Yes, While Finally Learning Eckho Movskii Is

Just Radio -- "Hard...
Hard Choices, H. R. Clinton (2014, Simon
and Schuster) in more than 600 pages
including the index of the book, covers
much of the foreign policy of the Obama
administration, enough in its narrative and
illustration to crowd out some of the past
the former Secretarys famed career at Yale
and thereafter, and some other things she
might speak of in another book someday.
This political book, by a well known U.S.
official is for everyone interested in finding
out how an efficient and effective U.S. State Department is run based upon Obama
policies and the efforts of very capable people starting at the top. The text examines a
number of evident themes in current events today, including the status and development
of the Third World as some know it, the role of government in fighting corporatism without
being anti business, the continued important of the smart power of the U.S. State
Department in a radical if not ever changing political landscape, and its functioning in a
major way in a world where America is not overly liked nor overly admired. The
narrative also examines the themes of being a major executive person and a lady at that,
and Media Image handling personal and professional matters many times with
disagreeable (essentially) despots, family and personal life, overall career goals and the
way modern politics has a capacity to change not the DNA of our system, but at least
somewhat the role politics and policy play everywhere for the U.S., not just at home.
Choices themselves, be they on the executive level or deeply personal, above all do not
210
make themselves and in many cases and despite the urgency and imperatives of modern
life at the head of the masses, require a decisive and sharp administrative intellect for
anyone and in all events given the importance of the issues presented in the book,
extremely weighty and difficult in all their factors and facets, implications and meanings,
motivations and ideological and more foundations.
After an introduction, the author briefly explains the overall importance of her 2008
presidential campaign for everyone, not just for the status of achieving people
everywhere or as precedent for things to come, or in examining various protocols or other
details one might remember. Maybe the most difficult job the author of this esteemed
autobiography had at the time, even before her State Department appointment was the
tearless and joyless concession to the man who became the 44th U.S. president.
Thereafter, another gut wrenching challenge had to be met on whether or not the
author would serve as the 67th U.S. Secretary of State (2009 2013) in an administration
having many people contributing to the Clinton 2008 primary election defeats. The text
also speaks of Secretary Clintons reliance on the expertise of Richard Holbrooke (d.
2010), Robert Gates, Senator George Mitchell and others for expertise and good
counsel, taking the edge off things some etimes and other times adding what luck was
possible under the circumstances. The text goes into detail and explains in cogent
language the two major foreign policies of the Obama administration affecting the U.S.
internationally at this point outside the Western hemisphere and apart from Europe the
pivot with respect to P.R.C. and the Asian continent in general and the reset in politics
and policy with the Russian Federation that calls for an avoidance of clashes, starting
with public language, of the defenses of both U.S. and Russia. The text does not offer
any significant narrative on why the Russian Federations leadership does not like the
reset, though this might be because this would fill an entire volume given it calls upon
the responsibilities of the Russians internationally, something that might be difficult to
accept for the brusque and brazen image they portray to all. Part V of the text is a heart
rending and complicated narrative pursuit of recalling and examining policies toward
Africa, the Middle East and the arab spring especially in Egypt and Libya. The book also
has a number of photos that are greatly captivating of which the very photogenic Clinton
family; and associates and friends. There are sections on the recent polices concerning
Iran and Syria, though there does not appear to be in the text an overriding attention to
the seemingly independent and divisive ground or grass roots politics and policy in these
countries against Israel, and even against the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.
The book ends in Part VI and an epilogue that are less labor intensive in their reading
compared to Part V that at its worst illustrates the paradoxes and grand ironies of the
areas of concern. The final chapters of the narrative examine resolvable and consensus
issues like world climate change and energy and how this is linked to jobs, productivity
and full employment (all this without proposing an economics growth model.) Other final
topics include policy toward Haiti and its recent earthquake, human rights especially in
Eastern Europe and P.R.C. and other places as well including Southeast Asia. There is
even a very readable chapter on diplomacy in the age of (information) technology.
Overall a very informative read on current events, extremely well written and a page
turner at the same time. Howd she do it? My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
211
A Dismal Showing for Defense in the Day; and

Really Disaster (Pouf!...
While the author here has tried for two or
so days to capture, in fact after having been
to Hawai'i, the spirit of the destructive
effects and remembrance thereof of the
attack on Pearl Harbor, Oahu on December
7, 1941, I cannot, really. As a person from
the U.S. and having been to that place, on
most days a wonderful place, sunny and
with highlights for sightseers and tourists
these days, the harbor itself does not
appear to have changed much even from
pre - War days, much less from when air
traffic started over to Honolulu in earnest
and then in other places in Hawai'i. Links of
very passable editorials appear below, of which from an edition of a U.S. national paper.
Every American should salute at the thought of it, and that it appears apart from some
military personnel and their families in years like 2014 and a camaraderie from some
tourists, the portrayal of the Arizona Memorial and others on December 7 might have
been one of wanting to relegate the overall importance of what happened there versus
stirring the heart and mind against the power of rapacious tyranny of the time. Our
military defenses have been fighting two wars for more than a decade, extremely
expensive in both monetary and psychological / emotional currencies and other
intangibles. This needs make us remember the meaning of what aggression and
destruction there was at Pearl Harbor so long ago and the sacrifices of the War in the
Pacific that ended the threat of the Axis powers at the time. This
Media Image perhaps means more today than ever as the comparisons of the ranting of
the despots and capital criminals of the day who ran countries and who went to defeat
are no legend, nor are they fairy tales, nor anyone's fantasy about how to or the way to
win at conflicts. There are things today that have not been resolved and that will never
be, even as the result of the very peaceable resolution to Japanese surrender aboard the
Missouri; and as much is in every story and every even detailed mosaic one assembles
about WWII and the Pacific and Axis belligerents. One cannot deny the unbiased pride of
those who fought for peace -- as much should be accorded them in looking at the subject
of Pearl Harbor and its analogs. It is regrettable that brother and friend were pitched
against brother and friend, and families clashed over alliances and ideologies not to
mention international borders and then on battlegrounds, land, sea and air. As much a
symbol of this is in that fateful (at one time) harbor for those interested and motivated
enough to go and visit now, and even more through the years, and at present for the
dissuasion of others against despotic tyranny, militarism, and bloody clashes wherever
they are in the vein of military aggression and destruction at the whim of fascists who
would have "empire".
NY Times articles -- "Unsung Heroes", Pearl Harbor movie - 2014, news coverage, Pearl
Harbor remembrance 2014.
Coverage of Arizona Memorial Ceremony - December 7, 2014. My older blog (Thomas
212
Spitters.)
Chairman Camp's Tax Reform Plan and its

Impact on the Economy
Chairman Camp's Tax Reform Plan and its Impact on the Economy
As might have been discussed more, publicly and privately, in the event David Camp (R Michigan) stayed in Congress. A good read in view of the apparent coming revisions by
the U.S. conservative party. Great! My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
More Discussion about Cybersecurity.

It is possible and probable that snooping,
phishing, spoofing, and other forms of
hacking will just become more de rigueur
since this major hacking, again, of the giant
SONY's computing / data facilities and
some other observations that have made
their way into the public eye, even more so
now than before : That people do these things as there is no virtue in them really, save
for instance for oversight and rule - making and enforcing purposes, when they have the
ability and time available (for everyone in fact) to proceed in these activities, sometimes
for the purposes of one's own amusement. How could this be -- breaking and entering a
house might now be the same as simply "hacking" another's computer. Why? The house
in question, and it might be your house, is so full of computing appliances, controls and
other devices that change your living environment and then that report to a data center,
for example, that almost everybody's home is a danger point if one worries about
controlling access to data on any level.
Certainly security, and internet and computer security are important for everyone
including especially property owners; and even including those who rent their homes,
workplaces, vehicles and so on. What is the to - do really if data and information
products, and the information in them is properly designed and used in this information
commons that we all have as part of the totality of the internet? There should not be, save
for the internet has become a haven for things that are not just simple and innocent M2M
electronics and communication : This internet of things is a place of the drudgery of
proper computer operations, applications and systems; and data gathering and storage typical technological scope here, though also, and in greater part, the "Internet of Things"
is a place of electronic hazard, chaos and even mayhem that causes in many ways
corporations and society to be shaken badly when things are not and do not go right. The
SONY hacking situation is one such
annoying and disconcerting example of this sort of thing and the thing that has people
angered is the actual hackers will never be caught and they use rogue situations and
computing power to allow for such things, very negative and destructive in the least. The
213
disconcerting and unsettling, angry thing about this is it's more and more frequent, and
occasionally a large - scale business is affected by this sort of thing and the silent alarms
connected to the internet of things call out and officials and the like just scratch their
heads, waiting for IDS reports and the like, probably. The process of countermanding
such things is prohibitive as we are all still learning about this type of technology and its
use and only "experts" really understand the accents and inflections of the science of
computer intrusion and hacking and they pay themselves pretty well by the various
events same create and cause havoc and annoyance with under the circumstances.
There is currently some discussion among the leaders in the IS community about
changing the structure and infrastructure of telecommunications and wired and wireless
technology that makes it so easy for some individual or individuals to wreak havoc on
everyone, essentially first as a scare tactic and then to really hold us all hostage, perhaps
through some integration of hacking efforts to utilities and other activities, in the end in
scandals and crimes that will corrupt even best efforts to use the web properly and in the
way free people want it to work. Something must be done with how computers and
machines and the like communicate and talk to each other -- and without suggesting an
overall change that might make everyone angry due primarily to the work involved and
the expenses as well : Hacking defenses can be built in to devices and so forth that are
telltale of where the attacks are from and that these details are not made available to
more people is additionally disconcerting and in some respects a public safety issue as
much as when some party in the old days would use the neighbors' telephone to gab
about you and your long vacation and so on. Remember as well the ERM and smaller
risk frameworks we are all in that have us calculating chances of adverse events upon
leaving for work each day, or even stepping out of doors when it's misty or foggy, or in
warmer weather even. The effects of the recent hack on SONY are over - burdensome
psychologically and without a doubt due to this have destroyed at least a few private
executives, the individuals on their coattails, their overseers, and other stakeholders such
as those charged with a watchful eye to such things and their oversight and the way they
activate their defenses to protect first a business and then all of us from the annoyance of
lost, corrupted, stolen, deleted and destroyed data and so on. We now need among
corporate America and its regulators and other stakeholders concerning these sorts of
things, a kind of computing "Elvis", or "Spiderman", or similar iconic ideal and deterrent
that will just tell the offenders to cram it systemically then next time anyone tries such a
thing. In you all our hopes rest, what with all the education and other activities that will
lead to this, again, ideal out there and the feasibility of it. By this column and its writing to
- day, I do solemnly and solely at first, and without dismissing the kind of objectivism that
might be necessary here, propose these fighting words against hackers and their ilk.
"Okay"? My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
With the Cacaphony of Health News Lately -Remember!

Media Image In the Spirit of Christiaan Barnard.
From one and only one thorough reading of Dr. Barnards last book as published in 2001,
it does appear that there is credence of sorts to current admonitions about different
health issues and his medical purview which was the human heart during the time he was
alive. It does appear by many measures, starting with transgenerational mass media like
the Beatles (and their analogs) and the effects all their lives had on all our hearts, to
214
more specific and individualized traits that each of

us has, and Christiaan Barnard, in any review of his
notes, saw not the catastrophe of human foibles
leading to health issues, but the potentialities of
taking the bad with the good, and hopefully for the
good to prevail, especially concerning things like
habit forming substances and various behaviours
around these and their derivatives that could be
changed and then ones individual health re
acquired. One example of this is about smoking, in
which Barnard chides the reader not about
inundating oneself in tobacco and smoke, but
suggests a number of time honored palliatives
and old wives cures before suggesting seriously
that one just stop.
It might have been one of Barnards great and
highly valuable observations that much around the
health condition of any individual has to do directly with
conditioning of various sorts that is really beyond the
ordinary powers of the regular person to determine and
to resolve apart from what one has the time to glean
through the media itself, regular channels and the like.
In fact, the human health condition, and especially on
the atomized individual level, is so complex and
complicated that all Barnard could hope to do in
attempting to reach most people would obviously be
suggesting not actual medicines, drugs, compounds
and so forth, but rules for personal use and behavior
that honored the ethics of Aesclepius in helping his
audience in their various health foibles and presumably
poor habits with suggestions, if not strong ones at
times, for changes or re enforcing different behaviors,
it is possible the condition therefore of the health of
each of us is not a closed system of inputs and outputs, processing of things and other
predetermined processes, but a state of affairs that for each of us largely depends upon
our habits and resolve to keep up the good ones and dispense with the bad.
This calls for some moral and other uses of human judgment, other reasons for which
Barnard finally published a book for the masses and health issues that takes from many,
humanistic disciplines, and addresses human health issues, many of them apart from
ordinary genetic and Media Image other pre dispositions, actually from a game
changer standpoint where if one has the resolve, one is always in a position not
necessarily of direct choice but of volition about health issues and resolving them to
ameliorate ones state or condition before ones physician or nurse practitioner. It is a real
leap to suggest that many, many health issues are resolved not by medicine itself, but by
preventive behaviours, but this is apparently in fact what Barnard held as true in his 2001
text without going into it all. Many even simple diseases or symptoms, while we are led
down a garden path by things sometimes including not paying attention to symptoms,
when they are telltale do warrant a medical visit and then simple changes in habit and
behavior. Eating ones vegetables is one such game changing factor, both literally and
metaphorically as far as un tidy behaviors are concerned, and for each of us as
individuals, of which the following obvious examples : Drinking and drugging, smoking,
self imposed stress (taking on too much at hand) or pressure and its derivative, anger
215
in all its forms; eating fatty foods; negative or destructive preoccupations or thinking, often
as engendered by mass media; trying to do too much with too little time; avoiding the
chance to relax and the peaceful, bucolic interludes we all need in place of jerky and
other activities of industrial strength noise and chaos that one makes the norm for
cheap thrills sometimes; avoiding exercise and so on. With the New Year just around the
corner, is this not something to take to heart or keep in mind? Before doing anything
about this, take a good look at oneself and remember that along with seeming choices
there is strength of resolve and its power is in our ability to choose, yes, but to stick with
things. Great! My older blog (Thomas Spitters.)
... Fritter and Waste the Hours in An Offhand

Way ... .
Media Image Far from me to cite Roger
Waters or whoever came up with the by line here : Russia is angry about finances,
its leaders are angry at these things
including at their oil prices and how that
affects national policy in Eastern Euroe,
and Tom Petrie has gone on the air telling
everyone the petrol - behemoth Saudis
have different aims than just minting cash
with what they produce in announcing
policy changes themselves today that don't really work out for Moscow right now but for
others; somehow this has to affect the Russians who even under communism just did /
do things for moneys as much as possible, almost strictly under the circumstances. Their
getting into a currency value peeing contest with other currencies that compete for value
in every way, not to mention newer and newer ways every day, and on the part of the
Russian leadership who's really upset, again, about oil prices, again, and that their
"monopolistic" policies however well - oiled domestically that are not marching on in the
overall oil markets gives cause to their seemingly angrier and angrier moods. What to
do? The Russian leadership undoubtedly has a solution to this and this included in their
open market actions during the last week, though this prolongs the peeing contest and
constitutes an appeal to all for mercy on the ruble that might not appeal itself to much
more than former soviet satellites and political clients for the time being. You have to love
the drama of this. What is the market bid price of a ruble today, by the way? My older
Pas tous les mmes (choses). Place de la

Rpublique. Elle est juste.
Wednesday, January 14, 2015
Ds l'occasion de cette tragdie massacre au centre d'une ville "du monde" de Paris, qui
comprenne tous les avantages, la vertu, tout le bien - tre, tout le caractre, et les autres
donnes d'un endroit au sommet de l'Occident au niveau de la civilization franaise et
ses influences, on n'est gure bahi trouver la porte parole des administrations
europennes en parallle et en meme temps aussi sympathique et "ber" - doue
216
l'occasion des rponses publiques et

prives ces actes mortelles. Aussi la
rponse des forces de scurit soit
suprieure, cohrente et passionne la
fois dans le pays, et agglomeration cible en
ce demarche usuel pour terroristes sous
l'influence de l'intolrance, le racisme et
une marque des fascismes ce point sans
regard sur la valeur de la vie humaine en la
collectivit, et encore moins en voyant les mrites de l'existence de l'individu. Que les
terrorists au niveau de l'esprit et leurs mobiles auraient t capturs en cet vnement
est possiblement encore un regret des franais une fois donn leur raisonnable examen
et synthse de tels checs provoqus par
Image Mdia opposants violents ds que les terroristes connaissent un systme en
dehors de ceci d'eux - mmes qui remporte la magie textuelle (biblique selon la leur) la
vie et socit moderne qui en ralit n'est ni trop ni moins reconnaissant la science, la
technologie, et le droit de la nature qui gouverne la vie actuelle; et ceci aussi au niveau
des gents trs jeunes voyant ce spectacle dchirant et mortel de leurs voisins un moment
naf, et maintenant des turies, et plus loin dans les annes. C'est un gros embarras et
soustraie une grande partie, pour le moment, du mystre de Paris qui est fortun pour
beaucoup, et pour les europens au sens plus large dans la promesse depuis toujours
sans garanties des grandes villes de leur propres pays. Voyez des articles, ditoriaux,
etc., des gents plus talentes l'crit de tels choses partir de journaux, bulletins, et
ainsi de suite. Ici, essayez bien lire et de comprendre ce qui est avec attention illustr
et actuellement jour l - bas, et ne perdons pas l'esprance pour la paix, lumire, ... .
Vido - CNN (anglais)
Articles - Figaro, Le Temps
Manchester Guardian and more.
New York Times, and more.
Porte - parole du prsident de la Rpublique Franaise (anglais).
Le canard enchan.
Voyez aussi "Google" News.
Gauck's speech.
217

In fact, for most people, and one did not have to know him, MLK was just a very nice,
serious guy who, probably no matter how whites, nor anyone who disliked him, and no
matter how intensely they believed themselves against him, resolute and all, he could
make you stop and think about his issues and join in his marches. In my view, things
really started getting better for the SCLC and his Ebenezer Baptist Church and other
groups when his events and marches made national news with the authorities involved
and all. One today might even accuse MLK of being somewhat conservative on some
issues as he not only was in the company of LBJ, yes, and remember as well a number
of the MLK events, including the Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, march that made
national news (in 1965?) received financial, moral and as time went on more public
support from the Rockefeller family and the corresponding New York Commission on
Human Rights at the time. MLK with family and associates met the Rockefellers officially
at their Fifth Avenue home (a condominium / duplex unit) in the mid - 1960's as well.
There was much more to this person that did not necessarily meet the eye as he had ties
to a Gandhi society and the peace movement, and to others, very influential, who
believed in his ideas and marches and the like. The thing that struck me as remarkable
learning about him in gradeschool was this person who was supposed to be
"underground" and the like, and there were many like him at the time, was wise and
educated beyond the years of many. He went about things systemically and he knew
what he did and was doing well despite the message of naysayers and destructive
parties who were around or who lay in wait and in opposition -- all contrary to change and
contrary to the facts of life as we all grew up to know them. We all gravely miss such
people, the ways they give and gave hope, esteem and the prodigious things they do and
did, the way at the time they held the fabric of society together. My older blog (Thomas
Spitters.)
218
219
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An Occasionally Updated Blog

Periodic Interest, by Thomas H. Spitters

To Internauts, Web Surfers, Journalists, Commentators and

Egypt, again taking another administrative turn.

... and yet, today in South Africa

Perhaps The Most Important Thing to Remember about This ...

... And the Premier League

Letters: Iraq Represents a U.S. Achievement | Hoover Institution

Japanese Motorcyclist Killed at Race in Italy - CBS News

AS CORRECTED: An Inauspicious Anniversary (New York

Former Prime Minister (Great Britain) - September 2010

... another friend of the Kennedys.

More Taliban Influences. "Just what could it be this time?"

How to agree with 'liberal' economy and its proponents.

Another "personality" to learn about and follow (at your own

In Retrospect, by Robert S. McNamara - a belated review.

FW: Yahoo! News Story - Tim Kawakami: Troy Smith has

Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty - Litvinenko intrigues...

From the 1987 New York Times ...

Another, belated review of "America and the World," by ...

The Moscow Show Trials (Khamovniki District Court) - another

another book review ... (2009)

"Rapprochement" - U.S. and P.R.C.

In Defense of Barry Bonds.

About Tiger Woods... (no argument.)

abbas milani and the commonwealth club.

Fukushima, Japan (and environs)

Anna Politkovskaya (anniversary.)

a philosophy of terror (and cultural revolution ... ?)

cardinal woityla - pope jean paul ii

hello. good teleology?

Memorial Day Foreign Policy ...

Schwartzel a mystery despite Masters win - Washington Times

'No Proof' Khodorkovsky Judge Pressured | News | The

China's Management Revolution - "Spirit, Land, Energy." - by

arab spring - 2011.

Political Life of Tony Blair

Obama the budget "doctor."

Are things changing? Yes? (after a "wall street journal"

David Servan Schreiber | David Servan-Schreiber, who wrote

Tseng Becomes Youngest Female Golfer to Win Four Majors

Economic "Karate" Test - Did I Pass?

Not forgotten ... (September 11, 2001)

Estimated Winnings (1962) ...

in the pursuit of software "heaven," and other adventures ...

another leading role for europe.

Occupy Walls Street ...

Steven P. Jobs (1955 - 2011)

Four Days in July.

open letter to unesco

How Is The Yuan Doing (even in China Proper)?

1970's music resurgence.

The Quiet Vietnamese - Loren Jenkins

... Past tales of 'cloak and dagger.'

Experimentation here? What Was The Control? (from

Everyone Should Get A Book This Holiday Season 2011.

Another "In Memoriam."

Definitely Not "Professional" Protestors - An Authentic

Perhaps not indefensible monetary policy, and the results of

Who is for whom ... ?

... [Hidden] Dragon (informally.)

... as if (a twenty - foot tall) Lenin - Book Review.

Anita Hill (speaks again.)

Glenn: February 20, 1962