John Masefield and Progress

The following poem by John Masefield, once upon a time Britain's poet laureate, seems for me to catch the paradox of so-called progress in the miodern world. This a world that since World War I has almost a single tone -- that of irony. What will the keynote be for the 21st Century?

Cargoes

QUINQUIREME of Nineveh from distant Ophir,
Rowing home to haven in sunny Palestine,
With a cargo of ivory,
And apes and peacocks,
Sandalwood, cedarwood, and sweet white wine.

Stately Spanish galleon coming from the Isthmus,
Dipping through the Tropics by the palm-green shores,
With a cargo of diamonds,
Emeralds, amythysts,
Topazes, and cinnamon, and gold moidores.

Dirty British coaster with a salt-caked smoke stack,
Butting through the Channel in the mad March days,
With a cargo of Tyne coal,
Road-rails, pig-lead,
Firewood, iron-ware, and cheap tin trays.

Immigration Reform

I don't know what so many Americans seem to have against immigrants, but I for one cannot abide this know-nothing nativism that much of the "older generation" is indulging in. I am frankly sickened at the self-righteousness of those who, themselves obviously descended from relatively recent immigrants, posture and preen, scorning the aspirations of our unfortunate neighbors to the South of the Rio Grande River aas somehow less deserving of teh American Dream than their own forbears from the Mezzogiorno, the Backa Banat, Silesia or the Ukraine.
ICE raids a Georgia chicken processing plant, and the Latino workforce is dispersed, presumably deported. (See the story at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10461104) In order to replace these workers, the company embarks on an intensive recruiting program, including “hiring” inmates of the Georgia penal system. Ultimately, to fill the ranks the company goes to the Hmong community of Minnesota, a number of whom uproot themselves to migrate to an isolated part of Georgia, where Asian food is virtually unknown. Meanwhile, the Hmong communities in Minnesota and California are disrupted.
There are those who rail against Latin American workers, comparing them with their own ancestors who immigrated “legally” through Ellis Island. For these critics, the notional issue is the illegality of the migration, not the desirability of the immigrant himself. Yet, consider the state of American immigration policy at the moment, Iraqis acting as translators and guides to American occupational troops in Iraq, whose lives and whose families’ lives are at acute risk, are denied any opportunity to take sanctuary in the very country for which they are fighting. It is notable that the Hmong, were used (exploited?) by the CIA during the Vietnam War to stage raids against the NVA, were granted refugee status in 1979. (How many were executed by the North Vietnamese before they were given sanctuary.) The fact of the matter is that America has become a whole lot more hostile to immigration in the last twenty-five years. Fear of “The Other” has overcome the open arms of Lady Liberty.
I know a lot of Latino immigrants, legal and illegal, and 99% of them are the hardest working people on the planet -- particularly doing jobs that you and I and Tom Tancredo will no longer do. Let 'em in, the more the merrier. After all, we're all immigrants -- that is, unless we're native Americans.

The Fort Dix Six

Credit it perhaps to seven years of lies and half-truths from this White House and a DOJ presided over by Pastor Ashcroft and Fredo Ganzales, but I think there is less than meets the eye in the recent "exposure"of the plot to kill hundreds of soldiers and create chaos at Fort Dix by a group of non-Arab "jihadists." The NYT today carries a story (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/10/nyregion/10informer.html) that to me implies that this may be another case of FBI entrapment of a group of naive, shiftless young men looking for a bit of excitement. According to the NYT, the CI (confidential informant) who infiltrated the group not only suggested Fort Dix as the target, but also told the group that he would obtain the RPG's that were central to the supposed deadliness of the plot.

Frankly, I've gotten to the point where I no longer believe anything "these people" say. And I find that a very sad state of affairs.

Am I the naive one?

Money and Family

My friend Phil made me think of this. I had always felt that my family had all the money needed to live "the good life," and I harbored resentments that certain things that I got into my head were necessary for my own happiness were denied to me, ostensibly through lack of money.

Therefore, it was one of the biggest shocks of my life to learn, on the death of my father (at age 50), that this titan of Wall Street legal practice wasn't earning the princely sums that I had imagined. Indeed, his partner's share was quite modest, at least to my way of thinking.

That had a profound effect on me, but it was not to launch me on a chase of the almighty dollar. I guess I saw that, although he and his family never lacked for material well-being, at the end he found fulfillment in his life through service. And this was interesting because he was not a religious man, nor even very spiritual, to the extent that I understood that concept at the time.

While I followed a very different path from my father, I hope I have absorbed a little of the spirit of service that he has come to embody for me.

Wolfie's Secret Memo

For those of you who missed it, here's the "secret" memo that appeared in Foreign Policy Magazine:
MEMORANDUM:
TO: World Bank Staff
FROM: Paul Wolfowitz, President of the World Bank
RE: Insider trading in “Paul Wolfowitz resignation” contracts
Dear Staff:

As long as I remain Bank President, I intend to continue enforcing my signature anti-corruption initiative at the world’s most important international development agency. My past life as Deputy Secretary of Defense under Donald Rumsfeld has taught me the importance of carrying out a plan with unwavering certainty.

In that regard, I am writing to you with a stern warning. It has come to my attention that many of you are turning your internet browsers to TradeSports.com, where there is an active market in “Paul Wolfowitz resignation” contracts for 2007. (For those of you who don’t know, this is a website where you can take bets on a variety of political events.)

I hope you understand that any attempt by World Bank Staff to buy or sell these contracts will be considered insider trading in clear violation of my anti-corruption guidelines. Your knowledge of normal World Bank personnel procedures gives you a clear information advantage in predicting whether I will be forced to resign. You must not abuse it. Please note: the Bank’s prohibition on insider trading applies not only to immediate family but also to significant others (e.g., girlfriends).

Some of you have already queried my office about whether it would still be insider trading if, when you buy “Paul Wolfowitz resignation” contracts (betting that I will leave before 2008), you also sell short “Alberto Gonzalez resignation” contracts. (This is a bet that my friend, the U.S. Attorney General, will hang on through end 2007.) My emphatic answer is no! Long Wolfowitz, short Gonzalez is only a “relative value play” that hedges out the value of loyalty to President Bush. You would still be guilty of insider trading on your Bank-specific knowledge. (And who says I don’t know enough about finance for this job!)

I hope that by now, most of you have accepted my sincere apology for the unusual pay and promotion package given two years ago to your colleague, Ms. Shaha Riza. That is, when I arrived here from my position helping to plan and manage the Iraq war for the Bush administration. I have acknowledged my mistakes (at my present job, that is), and asked for your understanding. As staff, you understand how difficult it can be to navigate the Bank’s complex rules and procedures. Please do NOT regard my small slip as providing moral cover for poor developing-country client states that are not able to meet the good governance conditions we ask before disbursing aid.

I trust you have not been unduly influenced by the recent letter calling for my immediate resignation, signed by forty-two former World Bank managing directors, senior vice-presidents, vice-presidents, and directors. You and I can surely see through this thinly-veiled attempt to manipulate the value of “Paul Wolfowitz resignation” claims. I want to assure you that the World Bank Internal Investigations Unit will look into this matter. If any of the letter’s signatories are found guilty of price manipulation, they will be dealt with harshly. Let’s not forget who is paying their pensions …

Some of you may wonder how I can remain at the Bank when so many staff are openly seeking my dismissal. (Thank goodness most of you have tired of wearing those silly blue protest ribbons.) And what about the claim that my deputy, New Zealander Graeme Wheeler, told me I should resign at a supposedly-closed senior staff meeting last week?

Let me fill you in on the facts of life. Ever since the World Bank was founded shortly after World War II, the President of the United States has always hand-picked the President of the World Bank. That’s life; stop whining. We Americans may hold only 16 percent of the shares at the World Bank, but we insist on keeping its presidency as our birthright. So what if there might be better qualified candidates from the developing world or Asia? I am tired of hearing people say that South African finance minister Trevor Manuel would be far more effective in my job than I am. (Trevor is a good guy, but dream on. He has neither the right passport nor the right friends.)

Speaking of which: Some of you may also wonder whether World Bank staff, directors, or presidents are permitted to buy “George W. Bush Impeachment” contracts, which are also presently listed on TradeSports.com. Tricky question, but the bottom line is that your employment generally precludes political activity of this type. You will be relieved to know, however, that I have already instructed the Bank legal staff to allow exceptions to the insider trading rules for anyone who can demonstrate a truly compelling need to hedge against a change at the White House.

Thank you for your kind attention, and I appreciate your continuing to focus on your important work in relieving poverty during this unfortunate episode.

Goodling Goodies

From the National Journal, May 7:

"Psst! Sources tell us that none other than Monica Goodling, former aide to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, was responsible for draping over the ample bosoms of the Art Deco statues in the Justice Department's Great Hall during the reign of the prim John Ashcroft. The coverings were removed, accompanied by a sigh from an appreciative public, in 2005 ..."

Thanks be to God!

Tom Paine

From his first Crisis Paper:

These are the times that try men's souls: The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.

Powell and Tenet

Speaking of Powell, I have been thinking lately of the comparison of the General's role in the run-up to Iraq with that of Tenet. And also comparing CP to Cyrus Vance. Vance, when faced with a decision he thought was a disaster -- namely, Jimmy Carter's decision to send the Delta Force to Iran to rescue the Embassy hostages -- quietly resigned. CP, ever the good soldier, did not seem to be able to see this as the honorable course.

Meanwhile, Lonesome George Tenet flails around to try to salvage a place in history by rewriting it. I can never forget the picture of Tenet forced to sit at Powell's shoulder throughout his shameful performance at the Security Council.

At least GWB displayed some candor in thumbing his nose at history's judgment for the benefit of Bob Woodward. Reminds me of Keynes' comment that "in the long run, we are all dead."

More Gonzales

More thoughts. I didn't hear James Comey's testimony, but from reports he pretty much destroys Gonzales' protests that the DOJ is truly doing "justice." Indeed, this executive department in many other less "democratic" countries would be named the Mionistry of the Interior, with a rather sinister mission. It sometimes seems to be following a fascist course -- torture, eavesdropping, etc.

Heard on NPR this morning that Colin Powell refused to deal with Gonzales when the latter was in the WH. He detailed Richard Armitage to that unpleasant task. He allegedly found Fredo to be totally incompetent.

Gonzales

Is the DOJ setting up a defense to Monica Goodling testifying beforre Congress?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/02/AR2007050201569.html?hpid=topnews