Bush, *almost* top terror promoting US president of all time!?
Today saw some spooky things emerge on the political front. First off the Bush administration re-released their annual report on terrorism around the world. According to the original version, which a lot of Bush supporters held up as support for his methods, terrorism in 2003 was at a 34 year low. The new report (which apparently is still being revised and added to) shows a decline in deaths from 2002, but an increase in attacks, for a 21 year high. Basically, the numbers for 2003 doubled in the new version of the report. Given this new data (compiled by the president's own people and not some bunch of liberal whackos) I think it is safe to say that Bush is the second most competent president at promoting terrorism in recent history (apparently topped by Reagan 21 years ago?). The totals go as such: 208 attacks, 3,646 injured, and 625 killed globally. These figures apparently don't include the actions that Bush proclaims "the terrorists" are carrying out in Iraq. Speaking of Iraq, the terrorists are WAY BEHIND US forces for numbers of dead and wounded during the Iraq war. The administration is claiming computer errors as part of the reason for their mis-count. 3,646 is NOT a very big number for a computer, even a very old computer. Either the first numbers were fudged on purpose, or the people who compiled them are not very bright. I could probably do better with Open Office and back issues of the NY Times. Need I say more?
Here at home, another of the rights our troops are apparently fighting for was revoked. The Supreme Court ruled Monday that if a police officer asks for your name, you have to give it or go to jail. Apparently the police officer doesn't have to offer any explanation for his query. This ruling was in response to a Nevada rancher who refused to give his name when asked. So what I wonder is what happens if you lie? Is it okay for the officer to demand an identification card? If I can't show my registration-papers do I go to jail too? Maybe it would be safer to just implant an RF tag in everyone with their social security number encoded on it at birth. The technology seems to work well on fish.... Or we could just get a bar-code tattooed on our necks. Good grief, how far will we go to "protect freedom"?
In other depressing news.. apparently my grandfather is more or less a nihilist. And as they say in The Big Lebowski, "say what you want about the tennants of national socialism, at least its an ethos."