This planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy.
And
then, one day, nearly two thousand years after one man had been nailed
to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a
change...
Arthur Dent is out
of his bathrobe, in love, and wondering why the dolphins said So Long
and Thanks for All the Fish. Was the earth really demolished? Why did
all the dolphins disappear? What is God's final message to His
creatures? Arthur Dent, Ford Prefect, and the new voivoid gang are off
(by commercial airline) on a wacked-out quest to answer these truly
unimportant questions.
How could the earth be totally demolished? There's an
old saying in the 1960's anti-war movement: "A nuclear bomb can really ruin your
day." It's now looking more and more probable that we will see the use of
nuclear weapons against Iran this year. The White House and the DOD wanted the nuclear bunker buster (NBB) come
hell or high water. When I said DOD, I mean Donald Rumsfeld and the
civilian executive appointees. If we accept much of the Sy Hersh
article, then the actual uniform-wearing soldiers and generals at the
DOD are opposed to developing and using NBBs and prefer conventional
bunker busters (CBB). It appears that the generals understand, all to
well, the NBB whirlwind that we will reap for ourselves and our
children.
But, no NBBs is only part of the story. The generals have signed up for
the notion that a nuclear capable Iran, or even just the potential to
complete a nuclear weapons program, is TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY
UNACCECPTABLE. They have signed up to the inevitability of military
action, unless there is a complete capitulation by Iran on their nukes.
However, they do not want to use NBBs or any kind of nukes when the
time comes. The time may be very soon. What would happen if NBBs were used and the nuclear bunker buster turned out to be a bust? The Union of Concerned Scientists explains why a nuclear bunker-buster strike on Iran's underground bunkers would be ineffective and deadly.
The point is that even if a 100% guaranteed kill NBB
existed, and the fallout could be minimized and contained to a limited
area, it is absolutely batshit crazy to use one. Once the US starts
nuking people the rest of the world is going to nuke up as fast as
possible. Once that genie is out of the bottle it's only a matter of
time before we get a dose of our own medicine.
Yes, 'n' how many times must the cannon balls fly Before they're forever banned?
The US military is puzzled about the outcry over the use of white phosphorus
at Fallujah. After all, a 500-pound bomb is also destructive. My guess?
You can't go to war against Saddam on the grounds that he has
stockpiles of chemical weapons, and then turn around and use incendiary
bombs of a sort that much of the world regards as a form of chemical
weapon. It is the hypocrisy factor. Not to mention that the
international community is trying to get such weapons banned.
. . . Yes, 'n' how many ears must one man have Before he can hear people cry?
How many years can a mountain exist Before it's washed to the sea?
Bush's approval ratings are in free-fall!
He is down to a 34 percent approval rating. Only Nixon in the last days
of Watergate was doing worse. Seriously, these
numbers are cause for concern. At some point, the executive will stop being able to govern.
Bush has been a disastrous president, but a country without any
executive at all can be in real trouble (ask the Iraqis).
Yes, 'n' how many years can some people exist Before they're allowed to be free? . . .
The US has detained around 83,000 persons
during the four years of the "war on terror," most of them in Iraq.
Some 14,500 remain in detention there. Many detainees are not actually
guilty of anything, but have difficulty obtaining their release once
taken into custody. There have been many instances of torture or at
least of cruel and unusual punishment while these persons were in US
custody.
The answer, my friend, is blowin' in the wind . . .
All those who have the courage to speak out their minds and to be true
to themselves, must be commended. The sum total of all and each of
these points of light can finally bring a new day into our present of
obscurity, fear, mass killings, and utter disrespect for human rights
and the rule of law. There are voices in this time and let there be more, hammer of justice, bell of freedom, and songs about love...
Truth forever on the scaffold, Wrong forever on the throne,— Yet that scaffold sways the future, and, behind the dim unknown, Standeth God within the shadow, keeping watch above his own.
That could be the meaning of Easter for me and you.
by Douglas Adams
Arthur Dent is out
of his bathrobe, in love, and 
