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(Monthly Archives) October 2004

Why I Don’t Care About "The Sopranos"

Why is it that I cannot care less about “The Sopranos”.

It’s simple. I grew up in a country (then communist Bulgaria) ruled by “Soprano” characters. When I say “ruled”, I mean “RULED”. There, they were not “outlaws”. They were THE law itself.

We had this saying: “No person can be intelligent, communist, and honest – at the same time.”

The principal “outlaw” character in a totalitarian society is not the banal non-political criminal. People like me, my family, and some (not all) of my friends felt “outlawed.” The “Soprano” and “Godfather” types were political, business, military, and law enforcement leaders of that country of mine – at that time (see note at the end about today’s Bulgaria).

I proudly felt an “outlaw” exactly when I was trying to be as normal (moral and honest) as I could.

That’s something most Americans understandably cannot grasp.

I share the fascination most Americans have for the “outlaw” character in general. I totally understand why especially artists are drawn to the “outlaw” character – creativity and crime both seen as fearless transcendence of established order, etc.

But I definitely cannot get the “mafioso” types – those organized, family loving, money driven, churchgoing criminals – as cultural icons.

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Note (updated Nov’2008):

Today’s Bulgaria is a European Union member (although still considered the most corrupted member country), a NATO member, and US ally in Iraq.

Related video (added Feb’2009):

October 28, 2004 personal
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Bush Cousins Launch Pro-Kerry Web Site…

“…to help America heal from the sickness it has suffered since George Bush was appointed president in 2000.”

Read full story…

Here is the web site: Bush Relatives for Kerry

October 26, 2004 politics Comments (0)

The Tricky and Not So Funny Business of Listening to God

Oh I love when this happens – two religious nuts arguing about what exactly God told them. George Bush was looking at a war without any casualties – says Pat Robertson.

So sure of correctly understanding his “Higher Father”, younger George did not even bother to consult with those that really did manage to win wars with no or little casualties – his own father and Bill Clinton.

“I mean, the Lord told me it was going to be A, a disaster, and B, messy,” Robertson said (on CNN’s “Paula Zahn Now”)… “I warned him about casualties.”

Enters Kerry… asking Bush: “Is Pat Robertson telling the truth when he said you didn’t think there’d be any casualties, or is Pat Robertson lying?”

I respond: neither of them is lying. They are just listening to what God is telling them – in any given moment – once a week, I guess. Churchgoers call this “integrity”. Would’ve been funny… if it wasn’t tragic.

October 21, 2004 politics
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So Much for Flip-flopping: Excerpts from John Kerry’s Speach on Iraq Before the War – October 9, 2002

“In giving the President this authority, I expect him to fulfill the commitments he has made to the American people in recent days–to work with the United Nations Security Council to adopt a new resolution setting out tough and immediate inspection requirements, and to act with our allies at our side if we have to disarm Saddam Hussein by force. If he fails to do so, I will be among the first to speak out.

If we do wind up going to war with Iraq, it is imperative that we do so with others in the international community, unless there is a showing of a grave, imminent–and I emphasize “imminent”–threat to this country which requires the President to respond in a way that protects our immediate national security needs.

Prime Minister Tony Blair has recognized a similar need to distinguish how we approach this. He has said that he believes we should move in concert with allies, and he has promised his own party that he will not do so otherwise. The administration may not be in the habit of building coalitions, but that is what they need to do. And it is what can be done. If we go it alone without reason, we risk inflaming an entire region, breeding a new generation of terrorists, a new cadre of anti-American zealots, and we will be less secure, not more secure, at the end of the day, even with Saddam Hussein disarmed.

Let there be no doubt or confusion about where we stand on this. I will support a multilateral effort to disarm him by force, if we ever exhaust those other options, as the President has promised, but I will not support a unilateral U.S. war against Iraq unless that threat is imminent and the multilateral effort has not proven possible under any circumstances.”

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“The threat we face today with Iraq does not meet that test yet. I emphasize “yet.” … it is not imminent, and no one in the CIA, no intelligence briefing we have had suggests it is imminent.”

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“The international community’s support will be critical because we will not be able to rebuild Iraq singlehandedly. We will lack the credibility and the expertise and the capacity.”

October 20, 2004 politics Comments (0)