Wednesday, May 05, 2004

Posted here Wednesday, May 05, 2004 at 5:38:45 PM     Here is an important piece of logic. (the numbers are not precise, but you get the sense).   The median income has increased 20% in real dollars since 1990.   The income of the top one percent has gone up 500% in this period.   The cost of a house has gone up 300%.   Note that means that for the median family the cost of the house is up, or 15 times as much as their income has gone up. But for the top 1% the cost of a house has fallen almost in half!! ********

Posted here Wednesday, May 05, 2004 at 8:11:23 AM     The weekend was spent on personal business. Sorry for the delay. The weekend, in so far as it was concerned with the US and its footprint in Iraq, was horrible. I am sure most of us feel deeply dirtied by this regime, unthinking, unstrategic, unable to understand symbol, feeling, empathy, compassion, and reduces leadership to up and down the chain, no cross conversations, no learning, self absorbed and self righteous.I am beginning to think that we may be at the end of the presidential logic and need to turn to a parliamentary system and an enhanced public ethic. The tendency of the President to become emerial is too strong an inducement. Blair is bad enough, but not enarly as inaccessible, as he has to face parliament nearly every working day. I note in the announcements  about the prison one good thought. Miller was brought in from Guantanamo Bay a month ago to take over the U.S. detention and interrogation operation in Iraq after a report found serious abuses had occurred last year at Abu Ghraib, where Saddam Hussein once had thousands tortured. "I will personally guarantee that this will not happen again in any of the operations we have for detention and intelligence gathering," Miller said after showing reporters round the jail. He said we would ask the Red Cross if it would set up a permanent presence at Abu Ghraib to monitor activities there. http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&;c=StoryFT&cid=1083180292616 But hey, why not close it? Now, a problem is, Miller, coming from Guantanamo, may not have been a good choice. But what is most on my mind is, how deep will this cut? The world has been moved by this. Will the US, its government, its citizens? I am not wise enough in the dynamics of media and public mood to know. ********