Reed Writes

There is currently a massive re-iconification of Ronald Reagan in the USA, I’ve just come from San Diego where the mood is to rename the Coronado bridge after ole Ronnie.

I spoke with Americans who without knowing why, said they never felt better about being American than in his presidency, he spoke up for them to the likes of Ghadafi in language they understood.

Lunatic. Mad dog. Flake.  

That’s what he said, before ordering the bombing Libyan facilities which produced by some reports, aspirin. And killing civilians in the process.
In the afterstink of Yosemite-Sam bring-em-on Bush I suspect the Chicago political elite embodied in the Obama admin is looking for a Hearts and Minds path for the ME rather than continue to bomb the snot out of it, a change for which I applaud them.

But once again it’s not about democracy, tyrants or WMD, it’s the MIC in the drivers seat, as always.

In SD I also got some first-hand perspective on the logistics of  US military supply. Countless huge supply-ships and cargo-planes leaving ports 24/7 all around the world, loaded with everything you could imagine. All paid for on time by Uncle Sam in countless longstanding and very happy business-relationships.

But it has to be funded. Reagan’s rhetoric was a lot more compelling than his fiscal management: DebtbyPres

And lookit those Bushes!!

Give peace a chance, it’s nonsense. With a troubled economy and an increasingly isolationist US foreign policy, how could they address ME unrest today, which would make Iraq look like childs’ play?

I watch Libya with interest because in 1968 I was working in a hospital in Benghasi when Ghadafi’s coup was imminent. The British Embassy advised us to pack our bags and leave. During Ramadan, no less. Close to impossible to get anything done during daylight.

That’s when I started smoking. Everyone else did.
I was 25 years old, first overseas job and boy, did I get my eyes opened. All these pictures from today’s Arab world of cheering young women straddling the shoulders of young men, I didn’t see any of that.

Other than the ones in hospital I hardly saw any Libyan women at all. Have things changed THAT much?

Or is the western propaganda-mill at full-speed….?

Libya has been serially colonised and brutalised by Italy, Britain, USA. And of course itself.

In just one of these assaults: Mussolini was responsible for atrocities in Libya which included the deaths of 300,000 Libyans, many in his concentration-camps. Roughly one-third of its population.

Quite rightly, Libya has very poor opinion of those who committed the assaults and now want to steer its future.

Don’t expect “change” any time soon.

Please don’t hesitate to continue reading and responding to Reed Writes. 

The question came in my earlier meetings with Jim, why isn’t this man an emeritus figure in Canada’s revered intellectual elite, unavailable to ordinary folk?
Why is he hanging out with the likes of me?
The answer appeared as I got to know him. He was: let’s have dinner. He was: I’ll be in your neighbourhood on this day, why don’t we meet for lunch.
He was: let’s go for a drink.
He was: I have a book of yours to return.
He was: see you at the Plowing Match.
He was: rural, city, media. World.
He was: the intellectual and fully available everyman.

He is gone but will live on for me in the realm of thoughtful and respectful inquiry.
My deepest condolences to his loved ones.

What a difference you made, Mr. Reed.

It isn’t really new at all.

But – it does contain a new player and there’s now a Higher Committee that is reviewing the old rules, some of which will be changing very soon.

The new player’s name is Courage and his owner is the average man/woman in the Arab Street.

The Higher Committee is made up of a cross-section of the people from Tunisia to Egypt to Jordan and beyond. From poor to rich and inbetween.

As Leonard Cohen might put it – Democracy is Coming…to the Arab League.

So where is Israel in this new mix?

At the moment that country appears to be on the sidelines, waiting to see which team will win, not knowing exactly what to do.

The fear of course is that everyone already knows who the big loser is – the arrogant mobster who consistently rigged the bets and backed the cheaters – i.e. The United States. His toadies (like Mubarak of Egypt) are being fired as you read this and the future is unclear.

It’s for certain now, the Israeli team is no longer the heavy hitter, the U.S. is no longer calling the shots and the backroom boys like Mubarak and Company are out of the game entirely.

So where to go, what to do, who is at bat and who is in the field.

The reason that nobody can tell is because this is the 7th. inning stretch.

But here’s the commentator’s analysis: The inspiration for the current flood of change has been the steadfastness of the Palestinians. Despite embargoes, intimidation, assassination war and repression, the Palestinians are developing an economy.

Palestine is setting an example for the awakening Arab world, in spite of being blocked and hindered by the American surrogate.

This is the beginning of momentous change in the Arab world and both the U.S. and Israel have been placed on notice. So when the stretch is over, and the new rules are read out, these co-owners will have to choose.

The choice appears to be a stark one. Either Israel and the U.S.learn to play by the new rules, or both those players face a dismal future.

Hi all…

I thought I’d just post a line to update anyone who might be interested in what’s happening. (cancer on my mind).

Jim’s Cancer

4 months ago I was diagnosed with non-small-cell-carcinoma (lung cancer). As I write this I am in a bed at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto. Right off the top let me say this: “If I was a very strong supporter of our public health system in the past when I was just a visitor to hospitals, now that I am a patient, I’ve graduated to the VERY VERY strong supporter level.” There aren’t very many causes that I would unhesitatingly support but our national health system is right there in the top spot.

Harper’s Conservative Cancer

We can use the standard definition – “An abnormal growth, which may tend to proliferate and, in some cases, to spread.” The solution for this one is called “electoral surgery”.

Cancer of War

War Cancer has its roots in the minds of certain men, although a couple of women have developed a mild form the disease, including Lady Thatcher of Britain. The cancer cells of war are invariably found in the brain stems of unscrupulous leaders, whether demo or auto cratic.