Daily Kos :: Diaries

Grim Thoughts About Iraq and the American Empire

by Pesto

Wed Jun 13, 2007 at 04:06:44 PM PDT

Long ago, when I was in high school, I heard the following story about how people in Scandinavia used to kill marauding wolves.

I have no idea if it's apocryphal or historically accurate -- but it's a disturbing metaphor for our nation's slide into self-destructive imperial warfare.

More below the fold.

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BREAKING -- NY Strike Settlement Within Reach

by Pesto

Thu Dec 22, 2005 at 08:21:08 AM PDT

The New York Times is reporting that TWU and MTA have reached an agreement to end the strike and possibly settle a tentative contract agreement:

After meeting with both sides through the night, state mediators have devised a preliminary framework for a settlement of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority contract dispute that would allow strikers to return to work later today, according to four people close to the negotiations.

[snip]

The agreement, they said, would give every side some of what it asked for.

It would allow Gov. George E. Pataki to save face because the final negotiations would not take place until the strikers return to work, the people said, and it would apparently allow the union's president, Roger Toussaint, to save face because, they believe, the authority's pension demands - which are at the crux of the deadlock - have been significantly scaled back.

Ironically, I was writing the rest of this diary while Greenhouse and Chan were writing this story for the NYT. I spent a long time on it, so I'm including it here, even if it's a lot less relevant now. Thanks for your indulgence...

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One Week Later: Katrina & Dr. King's Vision

by Pesto

Mon Sep 05, 2005 at 01:27:43 PM PDT

A week after the disaster, and the disaster goes on.

Tens of thousands of New Orleanians and Gulf Coast residents are living as refugees in temporary shelters - wondering where their loved ones are, imagining a future without the homes, schools, communities, jobs, and friends who were theirs a mere 10 days ago. Thousands of others fight off desperation and struggle to stay alive in what used to be their city, and is now a toxic lake with islands of rooftops and occasional dry blocks, littered with trash, ruined cars, dead bodies, and the detritus of their former lives.

The Bush Administration, having regained its senses, has redirected its focus from efforts to improve the lives of ordinary people - never its long suit - to its real expertise: creating good PR for W and acting like they're "in charge".