Author: R J Adams

We all have those days when the fates seem determined to get the better of us. Today has been a little like that.

For me, there is nothing more frustrating than visiting a website only to wade through swathes of advertising, or pleas for “donations”, before the relevant information becomes apparent. Sometimes it doesn’t. Occasionally the offending material is so dense, I give up and go elsewhere.

It’s probably churlish of me. After all, we do have to eat occasionally, and advertising is an essential part of everyday life in these modern times.

Consequently, the last two days has seen RJ reviewing the business income and realizing the hours spent are not quite producing a necessary return. School starts in Illinois next week, so the part-time school bus driving helps out, but that’s really just a “get me out the house so I don’t take permanent root” hobby, and the writing has, at least, to pay for itself.

Reluctantly, “Sparrow Chat” and her sister site, “Even Little Sparrows”, have now resorted to commercialism. Yes, it’s sad but true; Google Ads have appeared in the sidebar.

They are low down. Working on the assumption that regular readers only peruse the latest article, they are placed well down on the sidebar where they’ll usually be invisible until halfway through the second posting. So visit often, and the chances are you’ll never have to see them.

Of course, this defeats the object somewhat – but, what the hell.

Once all the necessary HTML code and stuff was organized, and pasted into the relevant template, I sat back to view this modern day technological wonder. Advertisements that gel with the page content? How marvelous!

Unfortunately, technological it may be, but wonderful it most certainly was not. The last thing expected was a bevy of adverts for dubious chatrooms, and pest control companies, but that’s what magically appeared before my horrified stare.

Then it hit me. “Chat”, and “Sparrow”, an unfortunate combination resulting in pleas to “find your sexy-soulmate here” and “get rid of those pesky, unwanted, birds!”

Thankfully, Google do have a filter but it has to be primed one URL at a time, and needs time to take effect. Half-a-dozen of the most tenacious apparitions have been consigned to the trash can, and others will be kicked off as they appear. Meanwhile, please stay away from the soulmate vendors. Instead, continue to drop in and chat at “Sparrow Chat. You’re safe here.

And when you do, however tempting it may occasionally be, don’t shoot the sparrow.

Filed under: Modern miracles

Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute, George W Bush’s “War Czar”, said in a radio interview recently he considered reinstating the military draft was, “….an option on the table.”

It’s interesting to note that no-one, in government or elsewhere, has ever suggested creating the position of “Peace Czar”. Presumably, being at war is considered a more important issue than maintaining peace – even in peacetime.

Military draft is more than just “on the table.” It’s being poured over and debated, not as to its inhumanity and authoritarianism – young Americans wishing to fight have already joined up, the draft is just a basic enslavement of youth as cannon fodder – but for its viability so close to a presidential election.

It’s somewhat surprising Karl Rove has chosen this moment to desert a foundering ship. After all, “Bush’s Brain” is really needed to assess whether reintroducing the draft is a measure likely to throw away the next election, or indeed, if the next election is already lost and by pouring many thousands more inexperienced and ill-trained soldiers into Iraq it will actually have a beneficial effect in curbing the Iraqi resistance and maybe, just maybe, winning over those GOP voters presently deserting to the other side.

There are only two scenarios capable of reversing the fortunes of the GOP at this late stage. One, is a serious and successful terrorist attack within the US, and the other is a clear and obvious sign the Iraq war is won and over, once and for all. The former is beyond the scope of this administration to organize, at least, so far as one is presently able to judge, and equally there is no hope of drastically improving the lot of American forces in Iraq and hence achieving superiority sufficient to declare anything pre-election other than that interminable comment, “The next six months will be crucial.”

In fact, while most Americans are blissfully unaware of it, those forces “fighting for American freedom” in Iraq are, according to a recent Guardian report, just about finished. It’s debatable how much longer the US military can hold it together in Iraq. Morale is rock bottom. Troops are exhausted, mentally and physically, and they have lost faith in their purpose and in their leaders. The pot is overflowing with all the necessary ingredients of an ignominious defeat; something not just the GOP, but America itself, cannot ever envisage as a possibility.

Those in the corridors of power, pouring over that “table” in the White House, know that something drastic has to be done. From their political viewpoint, they may consider there is no choice.

Not all Americans, from either party, are against the draft. In Congress, two major proponents of the idea are both Democrats, Congressman Charles Rangel [D—NY] and Congressman John Murtha [D—PA]. Of course, both are well beyond draft age. That seems to be one major prerequisite for approving a military draft in America – not being younger than forty-two, or having kids aged between eighteen and forty-two. After all, shoveling away the dung is always a good idea so long as someone else is holding the shovel.

The Iraq war has been a travesty of lies since before it began five years ago. Bush’s appalling poll ratings are a measure of his deceit. The American people are slowly coming to realize less than 2% of those killing their sons and daughters in Iraq are al Qaeda terrorists. The sole reason for the war’s conception was corporate greed. If a military draft is introduced to boost the troop numbers in Iraq then many more of those sons and daughters will die to satiate that lust.

Since the zealous patriotism engendered by the events of 9/11 began to fade, US citizens have shown most prominence by their apathy and disinterest in the direction this nation is headed. It will be a measure of the American people how they react when their husbands and their children are ordered to fight and die for the wealthy and the powerful; those who would never soil their lily-white hands by holding the shovel.

Filed under: Freedom come, freedom go

The recent Democratic debate on gay and lesbian issues produced the usual responses one has come to expect from politicians of all factions. Most notable throughout the evening was the caginess, nefarious posturing, and refusal to commit, of all the political would-be’s. Credit, though, to the candidates who attended. Joe Biden couldn’t make it.

Shame.

But, he did manage to attend the Daily Show to promote his new book. Well done, Joe. This country really doesn’t need politicians like you.

A BBC report on the debate by Davis Willis concluded with the observation:

“….some gay leaders and activists feel the politicians are just looking to curry favor with the voters.”

What? Yer think so, David? D’yer really think so?

The topic of global warming and its catastrophic consequences on the human race have been debated for a number of years in scientific and political circles. Except, that is, for the US administration who refused to recognize there was a problem until just twelve months ago, and then left it to industry to make the necessary adjustments. Still, we who reside in this great country applaud President George W Bush for finally recognizing there might, just might, be a problem here. Meanwhile, in the manner of environmentally-green governments everywhere, Russia has realized the Arctic ice melt has opened the possibility for a new political struggle to secure the mineral wealth hidden deep beneath its surface and has already planted Russian flags on the seabed to establish its right of sovereignty. Canada, meanwhile, not to be outdone, is vociferous in its demands for sovereignty over much of the same area.

No doubt, it’s just a matter of time before other governments, eager to secure the emerging bounty, leap onto the bandwagon and assert their rights to this Arctic treasure, apparently all the while oblivious to the intense floods and fires that ravage the planet, the worst weather conditions ever recorded, the plight of millions forced from their homes in South-east Asia.

Are they blissfully unaware of the greed that created this problem in the first place? Do they believe it will go away of its own accord? Or, are they just so blinded by avarice, they are incapable of behaving rationally?

The American media is making much of newly-elected, French President Nicholas Sarkozy’s summer vacation (video – scroll down) in New Hampshire. Is this the first sign of a new entente cordial between France and the US? Will it mark a return to “French fries”, rather than those awful American “Freedom fries” we’ve been suffering for the past four years?

Actually, no.

American “French fries” are no different, and just as inedible, as the “Freedom fries” that replaced them in 2003. Changing a name, without altering the recipe, does little to assist the digestion. “French” or “Freedom”, American fries are still guaranteed to bring on the belly ache.

Vive la Maalox.

Filed under: All’s right with the world