News Diary

Well, it looks as though Rice is making a public attempt to possibly consider approving maybe without stepping on any Israeli toes by mentioning that peace is a good thing, for who could possibly be against it and finally we now have a Palestinian who is [gasp!] serious about peace, but who knows, after all he is a Palestinian which means his peacefullness is just a temporary play, a clever PR game before trying the push Israel and its nuclear bombs into the sea.    Let's be clear - there is no leadership here, and there will be noone who holds Sharon accountable. 

But Thank God for this:            Sharon and Abbas declare end to four years of hostilities.  Abu Mazen, of course, is the one to thank.  The NYRB has some interesting things to say about him: 

Uncomfortable with how negotiations had proceeded up until the Camp David summit, Abu Mazen was adamantly opposed to the outbreak of violence that followed it. Violence long struck him as pointless and unsound, tantamount to using the weakest Palestinian weapon to assail Israel's strongest flank. Abu Mazen looked at violence in purely cost-benefit terms, and while the costs were high, benefits were few: Israelis closed ranks, the United States took sides, the international community turned its back, and the Palestinian Authority fell apart. Instead, he believes the goal ought to be to engage with various Israeli political groups, talk in a language that Washington understands, and rally the world to the Palestinians' cause. To that end, Palestinians must stabilize the situation, restore law and order, rein in all armed militias, build transparent, legitimate centralized institutions, and, above all, cease armed attacks against Israel. In his vision, means and ends mesh: if Palestinians make a fair case, they can get a fair hearing. Out of Palestinian restraint will come both stronger international support and greater receptivity by the Israeli public to logical demands.

Still, there is the fence which continues to be built.  Although I guess I'm impressed it did go to court.

Yes, I'm cynical, because the Palestinian street wants to see some real change - that settlements will stop.  Of course, so do many Jews.  Still, Kudos to Bush for offering $350 mil in aid to the Palestinians. 

As far as the budget goes, I'm all for more frugality.  Merging the 18 Community development programs into one might be sensible.  But cutting education programs  $528 million - well, that's not that much money, and it probably does a lot of good.   And the one good federal program with the Police,  community oriented policing, has been hard hit.  And don't get me started on clean air.  It seems that air is one of those things that... is a... public good?  I mean, we haven't yet figured out a way to privatize that, right?   Still parts of it are misleading. 

The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities says:  "It omits such things as the   cost of future funding for the war in    

Iraq

and the cost of the   President’s Social Security proposal.  The budget also includes a major new   tax cut that the Congressional Research Service has said eventually would cost   $300 billion to $500 billion over ten years, but the budget uses a timing   gimmick so that this tax cut would save money in the first five years and the   large long-term costs of the tax cut are thereby hidden from view.  The years   in which the tax cut would swell the deficit would be outside the   Administration’s “budget window.”

But take a look at the amount we spend on defense.  It makes me very sympathetic to those who hate taxes.  After all, we don't get a lot of bang for our buck.  Actually, we get a lot of bang for our buck - but that's all we get.  If we spent even forty billion merely on job creation programs, we could  instantaneously create a million jobs - which would, in turn, create even more jobs.

Where do I find love?  All i find is Sex?

A prayer:

Almighty Lord,
When the Bishop sends his canon pastor to the church,
may he be welcomed openly by my secretary and offered coffee,
the delicious sort, with cream and sugar, or with milk if we have no cream.
May we extablish protocol for the bishop's arrival,
and may he not be too upset by my disorganization.
And finally,
let my sins be shriven today,
so that I may eat wonderfully and fully before I give up
meat from mammals and dairy stuff, except eggs, however,
for Lent.
I beseech you, Lord Keep me on the straight path,
your will, however, be done even if that means
forgetting things and remembering others.
AMEN