Greetings from
The Publisher . . .
There's Hope on the Horizon;
We Just Need to get Smarter — and Ethical
Greetings & Happy New Year! It's 2005, which is especially hard for me to believe because it was 1985 when the first issue of The Light Connection ( TLC ) appeared. It's been great meeting so many wonderful people over the years. Thank you to the many people who have “owned” different pieces and sections of TLC and helped us move from being an idea to a hard copy each month.
The world's much different than when I started this. The times ahead of us look credible, in several ways. It's incredible in the sense of unbelievable, when it comes to how the Administration explains itself and the war, but there are other changes on the horizon that are incredible in the sense of astonishing and/or hopeful.
In Europe , especially Britain , Norway and Germany , for instance, governments there are helping fund two renewable energy solutions. One is off-shore windfarms, similar to what we find near Palm Springs .
The other developing technology receiving the support of these European governments is wave-powered electrical generators. Estimates are that the US is at least five years behind them.
The popularity of the Toyota 's gas-electric hybrid, Prius, has induced rivals General Motors and Daimler Chrysler to team up to produce their own hybrid car. Consumer support of the Prius brought them around. There's a waiting list for the Prius.
Funding and philosophy has been holding up stem-cell research. The limited, contaminated lines available for research that receive Federal support in the US have been expanded by California . The jumpstart from California offers new hope for medical breakthroughs. The potential for political intervention, however, is stopping new graduates from entering the field. They don't want their careers interrupted by politics.
Imagine the hope of that field. One day each child could have their own cells saved from their umbilical cord, stored and available if needed. Those cells could be used to grow a new arm, leg, liver or kidney.
The potential for both altering our physical universe and moving toward sustainable energy is amazing to ponder.
Computer technology is changing us. Massachusetts now requires gun dealers to use an electronic instant-check system complete with a fingerprint scanner for gun purchases. The system gives instant updates on arrest warrants, restraining orders and convictions. It links fingerprints taken at gun stores with police departments.
The dealers say it is cheaper and easier to use than filling out the forms, no new information required and no waiting period to make the sale. They like it.
Immediately after the system was put in place, police saw that a local woman had obtained a restraining order against her husband, who owned guns. The police stopped by and collected all 13 guns at a time they called the most dangerous for a batterer. Anyone who thinks this system will miss real criminals has never watched the reality-based shows about stupid criminals.
What's next is getting voting machines to tabulate accurately. Two voting machine company employees in two different counties in Ohio have now resigned saying there were too many irregularities with the machines to consider the count valid. To keep up on Ohio visit http://freepress.org.
Moving away from technology, things don't look equally incredible, just in the other sense of the word.
It appears that what's keeping us from the world we want is that people aren't growing and adapting very quickly. A lot of our interactions aren't far removed from cave etiquette. Adding some people skills and cooperation to replace in-your-face and it's-all-about me would help. Beneath that, of course, is gaining a better sense of ourselves and having our own sense of ethics. Replacing ethics with a whatever-we-can-get-away-with attitude and not embracing the spirit of the law gave us Election 2004.
I think what bothers me the most is summed up in the headline I saw in December in the Washington Post : “An Intelligence Gap Hinders U.S. in Iraq .” While it wasn't exactly what I thought it meant, I have to wonder if a double meaning was intended.
December was full of examples of how we are just not being very smart.
Want to win the hearts of the people? Don't torture them. “New FBI Files Describe Abuse of Iraq Inmates,” said the NY Times . Other stories have revealed the consistent mistreatment of prisoners in Iraq , Afghanistan and Guantanamo , and the Bush Administration's knowledge of it.
The American Civil Liberties Union and other human rights groups have sued the government to obtain the documents that reveal what now looks like government policy. Is this who we are? Is this all right with us/US?
“Army Historian Cites Lack of Postwar Plan” was somewhat humorous because of the statement of Gen. Tommy Franks, who “led the war planning in 2002 and 2003.” Franks contradicts historian Major Isaiah Wilson in his recent book that there was a postwar plan, writing: Occupation problems “commanded hours and days of discussion and debate among CENTCOM planners and Washington officials.”
Imagine, hours and days. It took me hours and a couple of days to write this.
Franks, along with Bremer and Tenent, were three of the main reasons we went to war when and how we did. All received the Presidential Medal of Freedom award for it.
Just missing out were the Marx Brothers for their administration of Freedonia.
What the “Intelligence Gap” referred to above was the problem we are having infiltrating enemy camps and getting information about terrorists. If the Iraqi people—with the exception of the terrorists—want us there, how is that possible? If true, we must also conclude that torture doesn't provide any useful information.
What the “Intelligence Gap” should refer to is the fact that we just aren't being very smart. If possible, forget for a minute the inhumanity of systematic torture and the fact that this war and the way it is conducted is not allowed by the Constitution or Bill of Rights that these people are sworn to uphold. Focus for a moment on how smart what we are doing is. Compare the US to China , the Communist demon from the Far East with which war was inevitable and where life (and labor) is cheap.
The US has had the experience of Vietnam and saw the Russians give up the fight and withdraw from Afghanistan after ten years of war. Using the tool we have been using—war—the nation with the largest military budget in the world cannot control one small county—or worse, the small portion of that population that are terrorists.
We haven't learned that if something isn't working, try something different.
The Chinese are. Once upon a time goods marked “Made in Japan ” were a joke. But trade and the balance of payments flowed in their favor and Japanese products eventually became some of the most respected in the world.
The Chinese have landed. With Christmas shopping fresh in mind we should know this. Without a shot they could control and change us quicker than any terrorist could.
“Foreigners put up 90% of the $2 billion required every day to make sure Uncle Sam's checks don't bounce,” says the Washington Times . The Iraq and Afghanistan wars have cost $220 billion so far. Both us and US are overwhelmed with debt.
The biggest foreign shareholders— China , Japan and Saudi Arabia —have more to gain by investing in the Euro. If that happens, the Administration will definitely have focused on the battle ( Iraq ) while losing the (economic) war.
Now they seem to think moving Social Security money into the stock market will help. The shift is well-marketed as a new freedom and I'm sure they've spent hours and days on this one too, but it's just not very smart to gamble with your retirement money.
What's next? We have an incredible intelligence gap to address. Here's to a re-embracing of the principles in and spirit of our Constitution, and smarter and more ethical participations. Let's reconnect us with US .
Here's to a great new year,
Steve Hays
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