Runcible Blog

Since most media outlets have decided to charge into war with the administration, there are some important stories that are largely unheard. For instance, there's the story of the U.S. spying on UN delegates in order to drum up support for a new resolution to justify the war (even though the new resolution doesn't authorize war). This story has been overlooked since there may be some question as to the validity of the leaked memo. However, the memo hasn't been refuted either.

While most news organizations were extensively covering the arrest of Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, I didn't hear a peep about the rumors that he may have been captured months ago and is just now being revealed to the public. The linked story makes a lot of sense from an intelligence stand point, and I'd like to see more journalists follow up on the lead.

Finally, there's the story of Hussein Kamel, the highest ranking Iraqi officer to defect. He's been cited by the administration as the most reliable source of information regarding Iraq's weapons program. What we didn't know until now is that he told UNSCOM inspectors and CIA agents in interviews that Iraq had destroyed all of its WMD after the Gulf War. The inspectors kept the truth under the lid because they didn't want to let Saddam know what they knew. Unfortunately, the American public didn't know about it either.

Hopefully the media will start being a little more responsible, unbiased, and truthful about this immoral, illegal war, but that's wishful thinking.

A few days ago, Bush had an informal meeting with a faithful constituent from Alabama. Here are some startling quotes:

Bush talked about his struggle to persuade that bunch in New York -- the United Nations -- to act against Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

"I don't know what they're going to do, he said. But I can tell you this: I know what I'm going to do, and Saddam Hussein is going to be disarmed. I told them they could be the League of Nations or the United Nations. That's up to them and the history books ."

I came from Texas, and I'll go back to Texas. And in Midland, Texas, when I grew up, there were more signs saying Get us out of the UN' than there were saying God Bless America.' And there were plenty of God Bless America' signs.

I bet there were more STOP signs than "Get us out of the UN" signs, but I suppose that won't sway the good ol' boy from Midland Texas (who attended the prestigious Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts and graduated from Yale. Where is Yale again? Oh, that's right -- not Texas) from dismantling the UN in his grab for power.

"I feel the comfort and the power of knowing that literally millions of Americans I'm never going to meet ... say my name to the Almighty every day and ask him to help me, he said. My friend, Jiang Zemin in China, has about a billion and a half folks, and I don't think he can say that. And my friend, Vladimir Putin, I like him, but he can't say that.

This guy thinks he's doing God's work. Does anyone else find that prospect disconcerting? Are we going to see an Executive Order declaring Bush infallible? I shudder at the thought of a Bush re-election...

I jammed with Nathan from Winchester yesterday. I mostly played his cello -- the first time I've played a cello. It's weird since the thing is tuned in 5th's rather than 4th's, but it's quite a cool instrument. I don't know; the stuff we usually play (the stuff he likes to play) is in odd time-signatures and is atonal.

Then, we went to see Joe Maneri, Matt Maneri, and I think Matt Moran (not sure) play at the Zeitgeist art gallery in Cambridge. Well, that music is weird -- atonal, no particular key or time signature, no repetition or mimicry. It wasn't easy for me to appreciate that kind of music. To me, it seems like music for music's sake. It's very very serious music and except for a few moments, I didn't particularly feel any emotion while listening, unless confusion counts. Although I can appreciate the difficulty of playing such a rigid, restricted (but somehow free) type of music, I don't think it's a good idea to take music so seriously. I think there are extremes in music seriousness, with maybe Parliament/Funkadelic on the music-for-fun extreme and atonal stuff on the other extreme. Maybe it would be better to stay somewhere in between those extremes.

Even though I mostly couldn't get into the music, I couldn't criticize Joe. He's seems like a great guy -- a short and stout man in his 70's with a long white beard. He's playing the music that he hears in his head despite the people who don't appreciate the microtonal squeaks and moans, and for that I have to give him credit. He told me he doesn't play for himself and would stop playing if he didn't have an audience. I thought that was a noble sentiment.