"If the Palestinians would adopt the ways of Gandhi, I think they could, in fact, make enormous changes very, very quickly. I believe in the power of individuals demonstrating peacefully."

This is a quote from , probably the most hawkish member of the war mongering Bush administration. Hey Paul, how about we adopt the ways of Ghandi?

The story from which this quote derives is actually a positive development. It's about how Wolfowitz is bringing together Jeiwsh and Palestinian moderates in an unofficial drive for a two-state solution to end the conflict in the Middle East.

Personally I don't think a two-state solution is going to work. An effective nation of Palestine cannot be built out of two discontinuous units. There is no great love between the people of the West Bank who were part of Jordan before 1967 and the people of Gaza who were part of Egypt.

Instead of a two state solution, I think the warring parties ought to consider a three state solution. The major problem is that whatever plan you come up there are psychos on both sides who will accept nothing but a one state solution.

Posted by andrew at 12:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ok, so I wasn't chewing on foil, but I was licking it and I managed to do something I've never done before in my 33 years. I cut my lip of the edge of the foil. And it fucking hurt like hell.

Josh and I were walking down Lexington Avenue on the Upper East Side. We had just sat down at one of the many swanky, insanely overpriced cafes, where I had a bagel. It wasn't enough. I was really craving bagels for some reason, so we walked to a deli/grocer that had pumpernickel and got one (toasted with cream cheese, in case you were wondering.)

We weren't in a rush or anything, but I ate as we walked in the direction of the Met. The bagel was so loaded with cream cheese that when I was done, the foil that the bagel came wrapped in was covered in. So, like a good boy, I licked it clean. Except I cut my fucking lip so I'm never going to do that that. Fortunately it didn't bleed for too long, but it's really annoying, right near the corner of my upper lip. I'm a complete idiot.

Posted by andrew at 10:21 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I had a dream last night that I was back in Peace Corps. This time I was in Cameroon working in an orphanage for Jewish kids, which is strange, because I don't think there are any Jews in that part of Africa. My brother was there, working with the Peace Corps in the same orphanage. It was really odd. The group of kids of half divided between Africans and Europeans, but all spoke various African dialects.

During a break my brother and I left the orphange to go into town to get something to eat. The bus comes. It's painted red and it looks just like the buses in Samoa, built out of wood on the chassis of a huge Toyota truck. You have to pay as you get on, unlike Samoa where you pay when you get off. I try to drop the coins in the driver's hand, but they scatter all over the floor. The driver gets all pissed off while I try to explain to him that hands in Samoa are much bigger than the hands in Cameroon, so I misjudged my target. He laughs at me.

That's it. That's all I remember, except something vague about a performance of the dance contest winners before we left the orphange which wasn't very interesting or memorable. The dances were all some kind of drunken polka thing.

What the hell could this dream mean?

Posted by andrew at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I'm not saying they did or they didn't (but we all know they didn't). What I am saying is, "So what?"

I had this epiphany when I was at the holocaust museum in DC the other day. I was watching this movie about the history of anti-semitism. The movie was over the top, but it expressed the largely held universal misapprehension that the Jews killed Jesus and that this was largely responsible for the anti-semitism that has plagued my people for the last 2,000 years. Probably true.

However, I find this whole notion very odd because the Christian religion is based on the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. He had to die to expiate all of our sins, right? Therefore someone had to kill to him. Who cares if it was the Jews or the Romans or the Florida Marlins? If Christians really think it was the Jews who did the deed, then they should fucking love us because without us Jesus, the Jewish carpenter from Nazareth, would have died a natural death somewhere west of the Jordan River. And then where would you be?

Posted by andrew at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

I overheard this snippet of conversation when I was wandering around the World Trade Center site the other evening. You really have to admire the deft subtlety with which New Yorkers wield this fine language of ours.

Posted by andrew at 12:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

One of the great pleasures of being home in the USA is the incredible variety of foodstuffs available here. From produce to bread to beer. Most amazing for me is the cheese.

Sure, we had a fine selection of cheese from New Zealand available in Samoa. There was fresh mozerella, parmesan, all types of cheddar, even the occasional import from the States like Precious Romano. But it was nothing like what's available even in the smallest corner store here.

Havarti, Edam, Gouda, Cheddar, Jack, Goat (even something called "drunken goat, which I've seen around in many places in NYC, but never before in my life), Sheep, Manchego, and list goes on and on. Smoked this, Rosemary enrusted that. It's all so fucking delicious.

My favorite of all-time is Jarlsberg. It's simply delicious. From the time my dad introduced it to me when I was kid, I've always had a yen for it.

Say what you want about the Norwegians, but they make a damn fine cheese.

In case you were wondering:
Jarlsberg cheese is a Norwegian Emmentaler type cows milk cheese with large holes, a rich buttery texture and mild, sweet nutty flavor. It has a slightly lower fat content than Swiss cheese, and melts easily.

Posted by andrew at 12:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There's a code in the bible that predicts every major event in world histroy from Jesus to 9/11 and everything in between, or so says Michael Drosnin in The Bible Code.

The book has been around for years, it was even a New York Times bestseller, but I only heard about when my friend Josh handed it me yesterday. It's a quick read, full of charts that explain the code and not particularly well-written. It's interesting, but only if you're the type to laugh at end-of-the-world doomsayers and sky is falling paranoids.

Drosnin posits that existence of the code is the proof of some non-human super-intelligent being (aka God), but his assumptions are specious at best. Even the Israeli mathematician, Eliyahu Rips, who discovered the code, and whom Drosnin claims he worked very closely in producing the conclusions he divulges in the book, denies they ever worked together. Rips has said, "I do not support the book as it is or the conclusions it derives."

One of Drosnin's major thesis is that the assasination of Rabin signaled the beginning of the "End of Days" as discussed in the book of Daniel and Relavation.

What do you think? Do you think that the end of the world is upon us and it was all revealed beforehand in code buried deep in the deep that could only be extracted with the aid of powerful computer programs?

I'm skeptical.

Posted by andrew at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Sushi Rikyu has 5 rules for it's 19.95 all-you-can-stuff-down-your-fat-American-face deal:

Rule #1: You must eat everything including rice.
Rule #2: You cannot share sushi special with anyone.
Rule #3: You will be charged extra for any special rolls.
Rule #4: You will be charged regular price for leftover sushi or rolls.
Rule #5: There is a two-hour limit when the restaurant is busy.

When we tried to order the special, the waitress attempted to talk us out of it. She said that the sushi in the deal comes with a tremendous amount of rice and we might be better off orderng one of the other dinner specials, but I would not be denied. I had suffered a sushi-less existence for far too long and I was going to overindulge in a way that would make my countrymen proud. So much for rule one.

Rule two was no problem either, since my only dinner companion was Josh who also ordered "the deal". Rule three bothered me not in the least since the variety of sushi available on the standard menu was sufficient despite my desire for a "rainbow roll" or some other enormous American bastardization of the traditional Japanese cuisine. #4 bothered me because I thought it was petty, but #5, the Homer Simpson rule ("look at the remorseless eating machine"), wasn't an issue, because the restaurant was not busy and we hardly expected to be there an hour, let alone two.

We ordered what I thought was a modest amount of sushi, a few pieces of unagi, hamachi, ebi, tuna and a four rolls (eel & avocadoo, spicy tuna, smoked salmon, spicy california.) But the plate the waitress brought out was huge, because there was so much damn fucking rice. The tiny slivers of fish on the nigiri sushi was mounted on a busload of rice about twice the normal size. Undaunted, we dove in.

It was time for round two. We were rather stuffed so we ordered gingerly, well aware of the financial penalties as dictated in Rule #4. I did something stupid. I ordered something new, that I had never had before at a sushi restaurant. Squid.

I normally love calamari, fried, grilled, whatever, but I didn't like this sushi. It was inedible rubber. The squid so was chewy, I couldn't get my teeth through it. I finally gave up and stuffed it into a piece of napkin stolen from an adjacent table and stuck it into my jacket pocket for later disposal.

After than we were done. It was good sushi, not great. We definately felt like we had gotten our money's worth, at least of good quality japanese rice. Then the bill comes. Rule number 6, which I didn't list above, is that a 17.80% gratuity will be added to check when anyone in the party orders the "special". No big deal because I normally tip 20%, being a former waiter and all. But on this check, the restaurant had added the tax and then the tip. It was only 60 cents or so, but I was so fucking pissed off. That is an absolute no-no where I come from. Forntunately Josh was there to keep me from losing my mind and breaking everything in the restaurant. I just left and threw my masticated piece of squid in the nearest bin.

Posted by andrew at 10:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I arrived in New York City tonight for the first time since 1986.

I took the infamous Chinatown bus which, for a paltry 17.50, will take you from Chinatown in DC to the one in NY, with a few stops in between. It's a great deal because the tolls alone to get to the city will run you about 13 or 14 bucks. It's 6 bucks alone to go under the Lincoln Tunnel.

The bus dropped me off on the corner of 42nd Street and Broadway which is insane place to start a venture into the city, especially on a Saturday night when ziillions of tourists are zipping around Times Square. As I walking to get to a subway station, I was thinking what would happen if you took a Samoan out of a tiny village in kua and dropped him in the middle of Times Square. He'd probably have a coronary.

I found my subway (the C train) and made my way uptown to where my old friend Josh has been living for the last two years. The subway is astonishing clean. Much more so than I remember from my days of visiting the city as a child, when much of city was a complete dump. And the people are so well dressed with only the ocassional homeless person wandering through the car asking for money.

Of course, when I get to his apartment, one of these massive 20 story buildings on Central Park West, he's not home. I went to a diner down the street and had an egg cream, one of the most delicious drinks on the planet. An egg cream has no egg nor any cream. It's just seltzer, flavored syrup, usually chocolate, but sometimes vanilla, as my my case, and and milk.

About an hour later, I went back to Josh's place, and there he was. We went out to a place around the corner called "The Dive Bar" to watch the Yankee game. I was secretly supporting the Marlins, and when it because obvoious that Josh Beckett was pitching one of the great gems of World Series history, the crowd in the bar disappeared.

We wandered down Broadway towards Columbus Circle and then back up to 97th along Amerstam. It was great for me just to get out and people watch, and look at all the shops and restaurants, the variety of which truly boggles the mind.

I started to seriously think about finding a way to move here.

Posted by andrew at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

While my brother and I waited for our time slot to go up the Washington Monument, we visited the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

I knew it was going to be upseting. It's one of the most depressing places on the planet. At a certain point I just had to get out of there because I was almost overcome with emotion, but not before I saw the photographs of Roman Vishniac.

From 1933 to 1939, Vishniac produced a photographic expose of Jewish communities in Central and Western Europe. His naturalistic photos are a brilliant record of life in the ghettos of Europe.

Posted by andrew at 07:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I finally did something today I've tried to do every time I've been to DC, get up to the top of the Washington Monument. You need tickets to get inside. But the tickets are free, which is great. (Then again, almost everything in DC is free.) The problem is that you can only get tickets the day of, and they go quick because, well, it's popular. And for a good reason.

The view from the top is insane. It's over 500 feet up and you can see the entire district and deep into the neighboring states of Virginia and Maryland. Sadly, for security reasons, I suppose, the little windows that you can look out of from the top are locked shut (and not very clean). It doesn't make for very good photography. Still the landscape is tremendous.

This is a picture of my twin brother Brian who took the day off today to hang with me. Don't tell anyone.

Posted by andrew at 07:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There's an Italian Film Festival playing at the theater across the street from my brother's place. The festival is showing classics like Cinema Paradiso and Il Postino, but it's also got some current movies. Today I saw Sunday Lunch or Il Pranzo della Domenica

Here's the description:
This is the family portrait of an urban tribe of our times. The film begins with an accident that happens to Franco during her ritual Sunday lunch. The old lady slips in the kitchen and breaks here hip. She is taken to a hospital where she will have to spend a few months, looked after her by her daughters. The story recounts what happens to her and her family during this long convalescence. All the tangled knots in the emotional and sentimental relationships and sentimental relationships of her nearest and dearest are brought out into the open. Underlying tensions explode. (actually, wackiness ensues).

Sounds horrible, right? I don' know who wrote the text, but I don't think whoever did saw the movie. If I had to pay for it (the festival is free), there's no way in hell I would have gone after reading that. But the movie turned out to be brilliant, humorous and full of wickedly interesting characters.

The story is about an overbearing matriarch of an Italian family whose accident (broken femur, not hip, incidentally) is the catalyst for a series of vignettes about the troubled lives of her three daughters. The blonde daughter is married to nursery owner with bad ticker but a good heart (quelle le paradox). The redhead is married to a bleeding heart liberal who's unable to control his temper and keeps getting fired from jobs (remind you of someone?). The brunette daughter is married to a philandering lawyer (cliché, yes, but the guy is hilarious).

Try to see it anywhere you can.

Posted by andrew at 06:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

ALL PEACE CORPS ANNOUNCEMENT FROM DIRECTOR GADDI H. VASQUEZ

It is with mixed emotions that I am announcing to you that I have resigned as Director of the Peace Corps effective November 14, 2003. In my resignation letter to President George W. Bush, I wrote, " The Peace Corps is well positioned to expand and achieve even more in the 21st century. In my view, the Peace Corps remains one of the most viable means to train men and women in host countries and do so with effectiveness and positive outcomes of which we can be proud."

On February 15, 2002, I was privileged to assume the role of Peace Corps Director. The honor and opportunity to lead an agency with such a noble mission has been one of the great highlights of my professional life. During my time as Director, I have met hundreds of Peace Corps Volunteers who are engaged in remarkable work and are advancing the first and second goals of Peace Corps. I have traveled to 24 countries and all 11 recruiting offices and have enjoyed the opportunity to meet and work with exceptional staff who are performing a great service in support of the Volunteers' work. I have also had the opportunity to meet RPCVs in many states and appreciate their continuing commitment to advancing the third goal of the Peace Corps. I am confident that the Peace Corps is well positioned to achieve much in the 21st century.

Since I have become the Director, the Peace Corps has Established programs in nine countries and is poised to grow in the coming years. Much of what has been accomplished is due to the strong partnership between Peace Corps Washington and field staff in the United States and overseas. From recruiters to desk officers and from medical staff to safety and security personnel every man and woman I have met represent the finest of Peace Corps professionals. It has been my honor to serve with each of you.

I will always be grateful to President Bush for the high honor and confidence he had in nominating me to serve. Moreover, he has been a strong advocate and proponent of Peace Corps and his continued support throughout his Presidency has been extraordinary.

As I prepare to return to California, I will fondly remember the friendships and the support that so many of you have given to me since my first day at Peace Corps. I am proud of what has been accomplished and each of you has made a contribution to that effort. Together we have made a difference, achieved many objectives, and we have created new opportunities for all Americans to serve in the Peace Corps. I thank you for your dedicated service.

Posted by andrew at 11:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There are 7-11s all over the developing world, but none in Samoa, which is a tragedy. A slurpee on one of Samoa's insane heat-index days would be a god-send. Instead, I had to settle for a the occasional ice-cold niu (young coconut). Not a bad trade off.

Even though it was a chilly today, I couldn't resist stopping in the first 7-11 I came across. First I made a combo coke/cherry slurpee, but I threw it away when I saw that 7-11 now has vanilla syrup to add to Big Gulps and made a vanilla coke slurpee instead. It was great. I highly recommend it if there's a 7-11 in your area. If not, talofei.

Posted by andrew at 08:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Today I went to the National Museum of American History, part of the massive Smithsonian. This is where you'll find things like Archie Bunker's chair and Lincoln's top hat and other pieces of Americana.

The most interesting exhibit to me was the collection of photographs from long time White House photojournalist Diana Walker. There was a huge array photos from Ford to Clinton showing both the public and private life of the presidents.

Part of the collection included her two Canons and her Leica. God knows what she's doing without them while they are on display, but it was ery cool to she what she took all her incredible pictures with.

The thing that's interesting about Walker is that she didn't start serious photography until she was in her mid-30s. Times have changed since she first strapped on a camera, but maybe there's hope for me.

Posted by andrew at 07:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I went to the National Zoo this afternoon with the plan to see and photograph the giant pandas. But they didn't want to cooperate. They both were sleeping inside instead of frolicking in their enclosures like they are supposed to do when someone like me comes all the way up to zoo with the intention to see them frolicking in their enclosures. Oh, well. Next time.

So the best I could do was take a self-portrait of me with the statue of the panda out in the courtyard in front of the gift shop.

Posted by andrew at 07:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

And I thought I had bad breath

Posted by andrew at 07:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tonight's MNF game between the Chiefs and the Raiders is a classic lesson in why you should never stop watching an NFL game at halftime, no matter how horrible the first half is.

The first half was about as dull as you can get, ending in a 10-0 score in favor of the Chiefs. The Raiders couldn't do anything. Neither team could really. Gannon threw for less than 60 yards. Fortunately, he was injured in the last drive of the half and into the came infrequently used 3rd year backup QB, Marques Tuiasosopo. That's Samoan QB Marques Tuiasosopo, formerly of the University of Washington and the son of NFL great nose tackle Manu Tuiasosopo.

Marques shook off the cobwebs, threw for over 200 yards and brought the Raiders to the brink of victory. Down one touchdown and starting on their on 6 yard line with no timeouts and less than 2 minutes to play, Tuiasosopo drove the team down the field win pinpoint passes to Rice and Porter. The last play of the game was a bullet of a pass to Tim Brown who was stopped on the 1 yard line, just short of the endzone and a tying score. Heartbreaking!

It was a great second half, but an unfortunate result for the Raiders who now fall to 2-5 while the Chiefs march on undefeated. The worst part about the game is that the Raiders probably would have won if not for a fumbled punt that led directly to a towndown. The best part was the arrival of Tuiasosopo as the heir apparent to the Oakland QB job.

Hopefully the Raiders can regroup. At least they have Detroit to beat up on next week.

Posted by andrew at 11:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

No man is an island, but some are landlocked former Soviet republics

Posted by andrew at 09:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by andrew at 04:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Caly Aiken, the "American Idol", is singing the national anthem and the World Series is about to get underway, which is always an exciting prospect. As much as I and almost everyone else in the country (including FOX) would have liked to see the Cubs play the Red Sox, we're going to have to deal with the Yankees and the Marlins. At least there should be some good pitching and the match-up of the old guard Yanks (Wells, Clemens, Petitte & Mussina) against the young upstarts of the Marlins (Penny, Beckett, Redman & Pavano). The great thing about the Series is that you never know what is going to happen. And the games take place against the backdrop of baseball histroy spanning more than a hundred years into the past. The only bad thing about the Series is having to suffer that moron Tim McCarver. Between the mute Brett Boone and the asinine things that come out of McCarver's mouth, I think Joe Buck probably wants to off himself between innings.

I hope the Marlins win. I think we've had enough Yankee victories for one lifetime.

Posted by andrew at 07:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Yesterday, I had to go see a doctor for some standard Peace Corps close of service tests. Oh, what fun. The absolute best part was the Chlamydia test. I don't even know why Peace Corps requires this. Probably because the want they statistics.

If I had Chlamydia, the symptoms would be obvious, right? Apparently not. You can have it and not even know. According to my doctor, about 20% of the sexaully active adult population has it and don't even know. Hence the test.

The test is a swab which requires you to stick something like a q-tip, albeit a little smaller, inside your urethra. Didn't I say what fun this was? You have the choice of having the doctor do it for you or doing a self-swab. I chose the latter. No big deal, since I regularly stick large objects up my urethra. NOT!!

CHLAMYDIA

Caused by bacteria germs; the infection starts a few days to a few weeks after having sex with an infected person.

In men it causes a liquid (pus) to come out of the opening in the penis. It may also hurt to pee (urinate). The symptoms may be very strong or very mild and hardly noticeable.

Women usually have very mild or no symptoms, but if untreated it can progress into a more serious disease (P.I.D.) and cause her not to be able to have babies in the future.

These diseases can be completely cured by antibiotics if treated early.

Posted by andrew at 11:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBacks (1)

Here's a surefire way to give a Peace Corps volunteer a case of reverse culture shock. Remove a volunteer from his country, say, after a year or so at his site, and then drop him in the middle of any food court in the USA, like the one next to my brother's office on K Street in downtown DC.

In this food court you can get Chinese, Mexican, Cuban, Italian, Cajun, Philly Cheese Steaks, Sandwiches, Burgers & Dogs or Greek food. There are also two cafe/bakeries and a Starbucks's. I'm probably even missing something. I went with Cajun (Bourbon Chicken).

Choice in cusine is an almost overwhleming luxury. There are more restaurants within a 15 minute walk of my brother's house in Du Pont Circle than there are in the entire country of Samoa, probably ten times as many. Maybe more. Who knows. The only problem is, it's all so damn expensive.

Today I had lunch at Fuddrucker's. After eating what passes for a hamburger in Samoa (all apologies to the Steakhouse in Apia), eating the 2/3 lb Southwestern burger at Fuddrucker's was mind blowing. And it's not even the best burger in the country. I can't wait to get back to California to sink my teeth into Fatburger and In 'N Out. My arteries are hardening at the mere thought.

Posted by andrew at 07:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

"The Europeans killed 6 million Jews out of 12 million, but today the Jews rule the world by proxy. They get others to fight and die for them."

Mahathir Mohamad has really lost the plot. Yes, he actually said this quote above. Apparently he's trying to do as much damage as possible before he leaves office at the end of this month. Not a moment to soon, if you ask me.

It's amazing that I can find the time to update my website when I'm busy running the banks, controlling the media and, apparently, ruling the world by proxy.

Read the whole story here:

Posted by andrew at 12:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The White House, USA

GEORGE W. BUSH

ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS PRESIDENT:

I attacked and took over two countries.
I spent the U.S. surplus and bankrupted the US Treasury.
I shattered the record for the biggest annual deficit in history (not
easy!).
I set an economic record for the most personal bankruptcies filed in
any
12 month period.
I set all-time record for the biggest drop in the history of the stock
market.
I am the first president in decades to execute a federal prisoner.
I am the first president in US history to enter office with a criminal
record.
In my first year in office I set the all-time record for most days on
vacation by any president in US history (tough to beat my dad's, but I
did).
After taking the entire month of August off for vacation, I presided
over
the worst security failure in US history.
I set the record for most campaign fund raising trips by any president
in
US history.
In my first two years in office over 2 million Americans lost their
job.
I cut unemployment benefits for more out-of-work Americans than any
other
president in US history.
I set the all-time record for most real estate foreclosures in a
12-month
period.
I appointed more convicted criminals to administration positions than
any
president in US history.
I set the record for the fewest press conferences of any president,
since
the advent of TV.
I signed more laws and executive orders amending the Constitution than
any
other US president in history.
I presided over the biggest energy crises in US history and refused to
intervene when corruption was revealed.
I cut health care benefits for war veterans.
I set the all-time record for most people worldwide to simultaneously
take
to the streets to protest me (15 million people), shattering the record
for protest against any person in the history of mankind.
I dissolved more international treaties than any president in US
history.
I've made my presidency the most secretive and unaccountable of any in
US
history.
Members of my cabinet are the richest of any administration in US
history.
(The poorest multimillionaire Condoleeza Rice, has a Chevron oil tanker
named after her).
I am the first president in US history to have all 50 states of the
Union
simultaneously struggle against bankruptcy.
I presided over the biggest corporate stock market fraud in any market
in
any country in the history of the world.
I am the first president in US history to order a US attack and
military
occupation of a sovereign nation, and I did so against the will of the
United Nations and the vast majority of the international community.
I have created the largest government department bureaucracy in the
history of the United States, called the "Bureau of Homeland
Security"(only one letter away from BS).
I set the all-time record for biggest annual budget spending increases,
more than any other president in US history (Ronnie was tough to beat,
but
I did it!!).

I am the first president in US history to compel the United Nations
remove
the US from the Human Rights Commission.
I am the first president in US history to have the United Nations
remove
the US from the Elections Monitoring Board.
I removed more checks and balances, and have the least amount of
congressional oversight than any presidential administration in US
history.
I rendered the entire United Nations irrelevant.
I withdrew from the World Court of Law.
I refused to allow inspectors access to US prisoners of war and by
default
no longer abide by the Geneva Conventions.
I am the first president in US history to refuse United Nations
election
inspectors access during the 2002 US elections.
I am the all-time US (and world) record holder for most corporate
campaign
donations.
The biggest lifetime contributor to my campaign, who is also one of my
best friends, presided over one of the largest corporate bankruptcy
frauds
in world history (Kenneth Lay, former CEO of Enron Corporation).
I spent more money on polls and focus groups than any president in US
history.
I am the first president to run and hide when the US came under attack
(and then lied,saying the enemy had the code to Air Force 1)
I am the first US president to establish a secret shadow government.
I took the world's sympathy for the US after 9/11,and in less than a
year
made the US the most resented country in the world (possibly the
biggest
diplomatic failure in US and world history).
I am the first US president in history to have a majority of the people
of
Europe (71%) view my presidency as the biggest threat to world peace
and
stability.
I changed US policy to allow convicted criminals to be awarded
government
contracts.
I set the all-time record for the number of administration appointees
who
violated US law by not selling their huge investments in corporations
bidding for gov't contracts.
I have removed more freedoms and civil liberties for Americans than any
other president in US history.
In a little over two years I have created the most divided country in
decades, possibly the most divided that the US has been since the
Civil
War.
I entered office with the strongest economy in US history and in less
than
two years turned every single economic category heading straight down.

RECORDS AND REFERENCES:
I have at least one conviction for drunk driving in Maine (Texas
driving
record has been erased and is not available).
I was AWOL from the National Guard and deserted the military during
time
of war.
I refuse to take a drug test or even answer any questions about drug
use.
All records of my tenure as governor of Texas have been spirited away
to
my fathers library, sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.
All records of any SEC investigations into my insider trading or
bankrupt
companies are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.
All minutes of meetings of any public corporation for which I served on
the board are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public view.
Any records or minutes from meetings I (or my VP)attended regarding
public
energy policy are sealed in secrecy and unavailable for public review.

PERSONAL REFERENCES:

For personal references, please speak to my dad or Uncle James Baker
(They can be reached in their offices at the Carlyle Group where they
are
helping to divide up the spoils of the US-Iraq war and plan for the
next
one).

(Note: this information should be useful to voters in the 2004
election.
Circulate to as many citizens you think would be helped to be reminded
about his record.)

The White House, USA

GEORGE W. BUSH

Posted by andrew at 03:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

There are so many questions swirling around Chicago after last night's collapse against the Florida Marlins. Did this fan reach into to the field of play to interfere with Moises Alou? Did it change the result of the game? Is this just another manifestation of the "curse"? Are the Cubs going to choke again?

All these questions will disappear if the Cubs can win tonight and they have a good chance, playing at home with Kerry Wood on the mound. But if they lose, the questions will be debated for years and this guy will have to go into the witness protection program.

The reality is, the ball was in the stands and the guy had every right to go after it. At the time, the Cubs were up 3-0. It wasn't this guy who gave up the hits to the Marlins. It was Prior and Farnsworth. It wasn't this guy who didn't make a pitching change after Prior lost his shutout. It was Dusty Baker. It wasn't this guy who booted a routine double play ball. It was Alex Gonzalez. And it wasn't this guy who only put three runs on the board. It was the lousy Cubs.

I want the Cubs to win as much as anybody. I think the most exciting thing that could happen to baseball in decades would be a Cubs-Red Sox series. The next best would be Cubs-Yankees. Anything other than those two possibilities is frightening, not only for me and most of the fans in America, but also for FOX or whoever is broadcasting the games. Sorry Marlins, but no one outside of Florida wants to see you play another game.

(BTW - News organizations who are giving out information about this guy such as where he lives and works are going to sued unmercilessly, and rightly so)

Posted by andrew at 02:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

God bless America: a place for whackos

Posted by andrew at 09:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today was the first day in DC that my brother had to go to work and I didn't have anything to do. (yesterday was Columbus Day). So I let Brian take his time getting to work by offering to walk his dog, Maria.

Maria is a mix of Welsh Corgie and Aussie Shepherd. It's hard to believe she was in a shelter. She's so adorable. But that's where my brother found her. He adopted Maria from the Washington Animal Rescue League.

Now, Maria is something of a babe magnet. In fact, she has this incredible ability to make almost anyone who sees her smile. She's got these yoda-like ears that are so expressive and moves around with an incredible amount of infectious energy.

I didn't really have a plan when I left the house. It was a nice day so we just started walking. It was about 10:15 so there weren't many people around. We wandered down one of the many streets around Du Pont Circle that are littered with embassaies and economic missions. We went past Argentina, and Montenegro and Slovenia. It's amazing how much is going on here. Especially having just come from a place where very little is happening.

We headed downtown past dozens of restaurants that would make my former Peace Corps colleagues salivate. I stopped for a smoothie and Maria was so good despite not really enjoying being tied up alone. (It was a brief stop).

We continued on past Lafayette Park where Maria went after the squirrels (must be a threat to national security or something) and then to the White House where dozens of tourists were taking pics of the president's house. All the usual wackjobs were about. People protesting. People asleep in the park. People jogging. People waiting for the White House tour. Secret service agents.

I steered Maria on through the crowd, past the White House and down to the mall where we found a park bench bewteen the Capitol and the Washington Monument. I took some pictures and people watched until the rain started to fall.

I'm not a very patriotic person, compared, for example say, to a militia member from Montana. But it's hard to sit on a bench facing the Capitol and not feel some amount of pride in the USA. I've been to a number of capitol cities around the world and very few compare to Washington, D.C. for sheer magnificence. And this is just the Mall.

On the way back down the path towards the Washington Monument, Maria took a crap on the grass. I thoght she was all done because she had gone twice earlier up in Du Pont. I guess she was saving a little bit as a meesage to the folks in the DC. I think what she was trying to say was that she was apprehensive about out current foreign policy vis a vis Iraq and was concerned that while there didn't appear to be an exit strategy we already edging forward to take our "progressive" war to Iraq's uppity neighbors. On the other hand, she's very against the mullahs in Iran as they represent an anathema to women's rights. It was a very eloquent message.

When the rain started to come down steadily, we made for home as quickly as possible. Maria doesn't do well in the wet. So now she's passed out and I'm watching game 5 of the Yankees-Red Sox ALCS.

Posted by andrew at 12:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

My feet are killing me.

Part of the problem is that I've been walking all over the place in DC. But the real problem is that I've been wearing shoes every day for the last week after not wearing wearing them for all but 4 days in the last year while living in Samoa.

At the end of April, I rode my bike 180 kilometers around the island of Savai'i and, at the end of March, I wore shoes for the final two legs of a very short trathlon. Other than that, I wore sandals, flip-flops or went barefoot all the time, every day.

So now all the callouses I had built up over the past 30+ years of my life are gone and the tender skin in their place can't take even the most minor pounding and rubbing leaving me with blisters and bleeding abrasions.

I'm so pathetic. (Don't even get me started on socks)

Posted by andrew at 12:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I don't remeber this being such a problem when I left for Samoa in October of last year, but now you can't walk down the street (at least in DC) without seeing (and hearing) someone having a cell phone conversation with one of those ear pieces so it looks like they're talking to themselves.

Hopefully this behavior has reached a critical mass, but if it hasn't, I can imagine that this city is going to look like it's full of perambulating mental patients (or even more so than it already does). What an odd place to come back to.

Posted by andrew at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This is the title of story that appeared recently in Jane Magazine. It's about females and their safety in the Peace Corps.

"Before I left for the Peace Corps, I was enamored with my own benevolence," laughs Katy Backes, 25, who spent most of her life in northern Minnesota and North Dakota. "I thought I was really great for going." Three months into her assignment as a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) in Mozambique in 1999, reality set in. "Local men used to yell in Portuguese, 'White pussy, white pussy!'" she says. "The locals had a hard time understanding what a young foreign woman would be doing living alone. They know I got money somehow and they started to think that I was a prostitute. A lot of men on their way back from the bars would stop outside my house and holler, 'We know you want to come and party with us!'

You can read the entire article on PeaceCorpsOnline

>The GAO Report on Volunteer Safety and Security

There's another interesting story about volunteer safety that appeared in USA Today a few year's back:

Peace Corps security in question

The problem with articles like these is that they don't exactly tell the entire story. I'm certain these women quoted in the article didn't think they were joining Club Med. And anyway, most places PCVs live and work are far safer than the downtown area of many American cities.

Posted by andrew at 04:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

It was a beautiful day in the DC area. My brother Brian, his girlfriend J.J. and I went with a few of their friends to hike to a waterfall in the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. We probably were about 2 weeks early to see the full effect of the fall foliage change, but it was pretty amazing to see, nonetheless.

I was in the park before about 1 year and a half ago and hiked a small chunk of the Appalachian Trail. I'm fairly certain I never want to hike the entire trail, but I would like to walk a good part of it, maybe up in Maine during the fall. I'm sure it would be spectacular.

When I was in Samoa I read Bill Bryson's A Walk in the Woods, one of the funniest travel books I've ever read. If you ever want to read something about "The Trail", read this book. You won't regret it.

Posted by andrew at 03:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

W wants to double the size of the Peace Corps by increasing the number of PCVs in the field from 7,000 to 14,000. Sounds like a good idea, right? Well it might be if so many of the volunteers already in the field didn't have jobs of marginal success working with staffs and budgets that are stretched thin. Peace Corps does some great things, but one thing it doesn't do well is support it volunteers and make sure they are working and living succesfully.

Staffers in DC are struggling to find new countries to place PCVs. I heard Eritrea and Djobouti bandied about. I'm every country that currently does not have volunteers is in play and on the radar screen. So muh for the old line of the Peace Corps only going into countries where it has been invited. It's frightening.

Here's the transcript of from a discussion on CNN's Money Line:

Coming up next, our special report, "The Great American Giveaway -- tonight, the Peace Corps and American contribution to volunteerism all around the world and all that we receive in return. Casey Wian has the story.

Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DOBBS: Tonight, we continue our series of special reports, "The Great American Giveaway."

The Peace Corps has been helping poor countries around the world now for 40 years. At the same time, it's helped improve this country's image. That program has been so successful that President Bush now wants to double the number of volunteers.

Casey Wian has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The Peace Corps wasn't JFK's idea, but, more than anyone, he made it happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN F. KENNEDY, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It is a genuine effort by the people of the United States, particularly those who are young, to play their part in working for peace and improving the lives of all mankind.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIAN: While many nations have started similar programs, the Peace Corps remains the world's largest government-funded volunteer organization aiding developing nations; 170,000 Americans, from senators to TV stars, have served in 136 countries, building homes, improving agriculture, teaching English.

DAN FOOTE, FORMER PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER: It helps to overcome the perception in many places overseas that Americans are the richest, most spoiled, most selfish nation in the world.

WIAN: Peace Corps volunteers are often the first Americans people in developing nations meet.

GADDI VASQUEZ, DIRECTOR, PEACE CORPS: There are many leaders in countries today who sit as prime ministers, as vice presidents, as presidents, as ministers of various agencies and organizations who were thought and trained by Peace Corps volunteers during their childhood or during their youth.

WIAN: The Peace Corps has evolved beyond its college campus roots. Now 6 percent of its 7,000 volunteers are 50 or older.

JOSEPH SIEGLE, COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: The Peace Corps budget's about $300 million a year currently. And I think it probably has more bang for the buck in terms of improving the U.S. image than just about anything else that we're spending that amount on.

WIAN: President Bush wants to double the Peace Corps ranks to 14,000 volunteers and boost its budget to a half-billion dollars by 2007. That would be the fastest buildup since the program's start in 1961.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIAN: While the Peace Corps lobbies Congress for more money, there's no shortage of Americans willing to volunteer. The Peace Corps has a backlog of 200,000 people who have requested information. And applicants outnumber accepted volunteers by more than 2-1 -- Lou.

DOBBS: A remarkable success over four decades, the Peace Corps.