Never Enough Silver Linings Department

With the revelation that our gas money has been used to fund terrorist acts against ourselves, many Americans are starting to look at last at the issues that environmental issues couldn't touch before. True, the energy crisis in California earlier this year helped press the issue. But even then, all the solutions that had been offered were solutions we have been offered before--nuclear power, increased domestic oil production, and conservation at home. None of these solutions encouraged fundamental and permanent changes to the way we view energy; once power was readily available again, the changes reverted. Witness the gas-guzzling of SUVs, largely eroding away any gas savings of the previous twenty years' worth of improved gas mileage.

But this time, we have San Francisco and Seattle moving into providing alternative energy sources--such as wind power and solar energy--for their customers. We have gas/electric hybrid cars with incredible gas mileage, and I'm sure these hybrid cars will become more popular and more feature-filled as time goes on. We have fuel cells that can convert gasoline or hydrogen directly into electric power and which are far more efficient than combustion, and car companies are finally starting to look into fuel cells as a bridge between gas-powered and electric-powered cars. And thanks to vast improvements in materials, we now have flywheels capable of storing an immense amount of energy in a compact space, which should also help the transition from gas to electricity.

So while the stormclouds of war are quite frightening and potentially destructive, the silver lining is that we may end our dependence on foreign oil and improve our relationship with the environment in one fell swoop.

Never Enough Wiretaps Department

Great news! The feds will be wiretapping phone lines for only FOUR YEARS! Just what our Executive Branch needs, a good earful of exactly how banal, stupid, vain, and plain pitiful we Americans really can be when not occupied with a Great Purpose.

Just to be safe, from this point onwards, four years straight, I shall begin and end any phone call with a rousing rendition of "Shut Your Fucking Face Uncle Fucker". You can't be too cautious.

Never Enough Credit Department

Many of the ideas in the below entry come from the excellent Newsweek cover article from October 15, 2001 called "The Politics Of Rage: Why Do They Hate Us?" by Fareed Zakaria.

Never Enough Saudi Malarkey Department

When the Arabs first attempted reform, it was under the flag of Nasser and his grand ideas of a pan-Arab modernity, strongly independent from West and East alike, strong and self-assured. This vision did not have terrorism in it, not even as they fought off the Israelis. Nasser was the architect for an Arab worldview with all the plusses of modern civilization.

There are many reasons why this gilded vision for all Arabs failed. But I dare posit that the most influential of these reasons, the core of their failure, was an inability on the part of the governments to accept the sacrifices required to become a modern country.

As Gorbachev found out firsthand, the road to reform may lead to a reformer's own removal from the steering wheel, not just the replacement of the maps of policy. Rich, successful, happy countries require openness of its society in order to cultivate the best ideas, internally as well as externally. Such openness requires a press that is capable of expressing disapproval for the regime. It requires an acceptance of protestors, the willingness to allow ideas unpopular with the government. In short, one has to be able to take criticism.

Iran, a society used to freedom of speech and press, became so disgusted at the the hypocrisy of their Shah that they rejected the Western world that accepted the Shah and made his reign possible. The revolution, while having a strong anti-American flavor, was only superficially about the West. More importantly, it was about achieving the common Iranian's dream of having a representative society. The Ayatollahs claimed this could only be achieved through a purity of Islam alien to Sunni or Shi'ite thought, and a flood of young men followed this pure vision until the Ayatollahs could seize control of the country through ownership of the country's resources. Now many of those young men are struggling to undo the effects of their earlier zeal by trying to open the society, an effort fought viciously by the still-powerful Ayatollahs.

All Islamic countries would benefit from Iran's example. But especially in Arab countries where Sheikhs and military dictators hold the reigns, it would seem that the powerful fear dissent, perhaps realizing it would mean the end of their power. In the same breath they admit their contempt for the very Westernization they claim they enjoy. There is no half-way point; by closing off their societies they only create a gap between government and people--people such as Osama bin Laden, who, despite his money, was no Shiekh's son and eager to demonstrate it by criticizing the realm. His subsequent exile from Saudia Arabia turned him into a terrorist kingpin.

If Arabs had governments that accepted criticism, this country wouldn't have become a target of repressed frustrations. It's time for the Saudis, and for all other repressive governments in the Middle East, to own up to their failures.

Never Enough Paranoia Debunking Department

Here is a great article on why Anthrax is an extremely lousy biological weapon--and that hysteria is the only thing resulting from the reports of anthrax patients.

Never Enough Bogus Conspiracy Theories Department

Current working thesis: CNN, pretending to be CIA, managed to get a bin Laden underling to fake orders for hijacking planes.

What was that Malcolm X said about chickens?

Never Enough Perspective Department

From Seattle Indymedia - webcast news comes some wise words during our time of tragedy:

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Let us not forget that a "massive response" will kill people, and if the pattern of past U.S. actions holds, it will kill innocents. Innocent people, just like the ones in the towers in New York and the ones on the airplanes that were hijacked. To borrow from President Bush, "mother and fathers, friends and neighbors" will surely die in a massive response. If we are truly going to claim to be decent people, our tears must flow not only for those of our own country. People are people, and grief that is limited to those within a specific political boundary denies the humanity of others.

Blind fury will only continue the circle that made yesterday's horrible tragedy happen. Let us break the circle.