DeRosaWorld

His Master's Voice

"Members of the Rockefeller family are calling on Exxon Mobil Corp to make corporate governance changes and adopt a renewable fuels strategy to help address the soaring cost of energy. 

John D. Rockefeller founded the Standard Oil Co in 1870, which was a precursor to Exxon Mobil. Exxon Mobil is the world's largest publicly traded oil company based on market capitalization, and is a favorite target of consumer advocate groups and politicians unhappy with record prices for oil and gas and its effects on the environment.

Fifteen descendants of the oil baron are involved in four shareholder resolutions seeking changes at Exxon, including dividing the CEO and chairmanship positions.

They also seek to establish a task force study of the consequences of global warning on poor economies, called on Exxon to reduce greenhouse gas emission at its own operations and adopt a renewable energy policy.

Exxon is "profiting in the short term from investments and decisions made many years ago by focusing on the narrow path that ignores the rapidly shifting energy landscape around the world, including developing nations," said Neva Rockefeller Goodwin, great granddaughter of John D. Rockefeller."

Okay, now I'm really scared. These spooky motherfuckers never show their asses in public, so if they are concerned about global warming and polar bears, maybe something will get done. I think even Jr. listens when a Rockefeller talks to him.

A Good Thing IKE Was Answering The Phone At 3am

When the history is written of the men from the Pentagon in the late 1940's and 1950's, the death of the American Dream will be revealed.

"President Dwight D. Eisenhower overruled some of his military commanders in the summer of 1958, ordering them not to use nuclear weapons against China if communist forces blockaded the Taiwan Strait, according to declassified Air Force documents.

Eisenhower "made it clear that the Chinese would be given a warning with conventional explosives before he would authorize dropping of the deadlier ordnance" on Chinese territories, according to the documents made public by George Washington University's National Security Archive.

The president had the support of a congressional resolution to use force in defense of Taiwan. His decision not to use nuclear weapons still left them available if needed for subsequent attacks, according to the newly released narrative by a contemporary Air Force historian, Bernard C. Nalty.

Disclosure of the top-secret document was one in a collection obtained by a freedom-of-information lawsuit filed by the Archive after more than a decade of requests that the documents be declassified, said William Burr of the Archive.

As the crisis grew, according to the papers, five B-47 bombers on Guam went on alert in mid-August to conduct nuclear raids against Chinese airfields.

The idea of using nuclear weapons to prevent the Chinese from using ships and aircraft to isolate Nationalist-held islands in the strait was accepted by Eisenhower's Cabinet — except for Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, who was away on vacation.

The chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, Air Force Gen. Nathan F. Twining, had explained at a Cabinet meeting that U.S. planes would drop 10-to-15 kiloton nuclear bombs in the vicinity of Amoy, a coastal city on the Taiwan strait now called Xiamen.

The idea was that the Chinese would have to lift their blockade. Otherwise the United States would proceed to attack Chinese airfields.

But Eisenhower ruled out the initial use of nuclear weapons, concluding the fallout would cause civilian casualties in China and on Taiwan, risking nuclear escalation."

A Gang of Serial Killers Drowning Young Men?

"Could a national gang of killers that leaves smiley-face calling cards be getting away with murdering dozens of male college students by making all the deaths look like accidents?

That’s what two retired New York police detectives think, after spending their own money to link as many as 40 drowning deaths of otherwise healthy young men, many of them athletes.

“This is a nationwide organization that revels in killing young men," Prof. D. Lee Gilbertson of St. Cloud State University said in a report filed Tuesday for TODAY by NBC’s Lee Cowan...

...Most of what the detectives are calling murders occurred in the Midwest during the winter months. Almost all involved popular athletes with good grades. Most had been drinking before they disappeared and their bodies subsequently found in near-frozen bodies of water.

The link they think they’ve found is a smiley-face symbol drawn near where many of the drowning victims’ bodies have been discovered.'"

WTF?

This is scarier than Barack Obama. Hillary Clinton or John McCain becoming President.

We not only have a serial killer, we see that on TV each night, but we have a whole fucking gang of serial killers going around the country drowning young guys.

This story will surely push the Presidential race off the headlines.

Can The President or Vice President Remind Me Why We Are In Iraq?

"Dozens of fighters ambushed a U.S. patrol in Baghdad's main Shiite militia stronghold Tuesday, firing rocket-propelled grenades and machine gun bursts as the American push into Sadr City increasingly faces pockets of close urban combat.

U.S. forces struck back with 200-pound guided rockets that devastated at least three buildings in the densely packed district that serves as the Baghdad base for the powerful Mahdi Army militia.

The U.S. military said 28 militiamen were killed as the U.S. patrol pulled back. Local hospital officials said dozens of civilians were killed or wounded.

Such street battles — in tight confines and amid frightened civilians — are increasingly becoming a hallmark of the drive into Sadr City and recall the type of head-on clashes last seen in large numbers during last year's U.S. troop buildup in Baghdad and surrounding areas.

U.S. troops often have fought intense gunbattles as they cleared neighborhoods in Baghdad and former Sunni insurgent havens such as Anbar and Diyala provinces. But roadside bombings and rocket or mortar volleys against bases have been the more frequent mode of attack in recent years."

Maybe it's time for the military draft to be reinstalled in America and let our young citizens and their parents start taking some responsibility for our actions or finally hold our leaders responsible.

Oh, For Christ's Sake

"Rudy Giuliani should not have received Holy Communion during the pope's visit because the former presidential candidate supports abortion rights, New York Cardinal Edward Egan said Monday.

Egan says he had "an understanding" with Giuliani that he is not to receive the Eucharist. The Catholic Church teaches "that abortion is a grave offense against the will of God," Egan said.

The cardinal said Monday that Giuliani broke that understanding when he received the Eucharist during Pope Benedict XVI's visit earlier this month. He received Communion during the April 19 service from one of the many clergymen who offered the sacrament.

Egan says he will be seeking a meeting with Giuliani "to insist that he abide by our understanding."

Giuliani's spokeswoman, Sunny Mindel, said Monday that he is willing to meet with the cardinal but added that his faith "is a deeply personal matter and should remain confidential."

Egan's statement does not address the fact that Giuliani is on his third marriage. Catholics who divorce and remarry without getting an annulment from the church cannot receive Communion."

Far be it from me to come to the defense of America's Former Mayor, but the current Pope and the current Cardinal covered for their priests when they were sticking their thumbs up children's asses.

The hypocrisy is sickening.

Veterans Affairs Groups Go To Court

"An average of 18 military veterans kill themselves each day, and five of them are under VA care when they commit suicide, according to a December e-mail between top VA officials that was filed as part of the federal lawsuit.

"That failure to provide care is manifesting itself in an epidemic of suicides," the veterans groups wrote in court papers filed Thursday.

A study released this week by the RAND Corp. estimates that 300,000 U.S. troops — about 20 percent of those deployed — are suffering from depression or post-traumatic stress from serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We find that the VA has simply not devoted enough resources," said Gordon Erspamer, the lawyer representing the veterans groups. "They don't have enough psychiatrists."

The lawsuit also alleges that the VA takes too long to pay disability claims and that its internal appellate process unconstitutionally denies veterans their right to take their complaints to court."

The adults in the Republican Party are not taking responsibility for their actions. You would think taking care of Veterans would be a top neo-con priority, but not in Bush, Jr.'s America. Add this issue to the legacy.

SUSPENSE: a state or condition of mental uncertainty or excitement, as in awaiting a decision or outcome, usually accompanied by a degree of apprehension or anxiety.

As hot air leaks out of Senator Obama's Presidential campaign balloon, this news must hurt like hell.

"One thing many people haven't noticed about Hillary Clinton's 55 percent to 45 percent victory over Barack Obama in the Pennsylvania primary is that it put her ahead of Obama in the popular vote. Her 214,000-vote margin in the Keystone State means that she has won the votes, in primaries and caucuses, of 15,112,000 Americans, compared to 14,993,000 for Obama.

If you add in the votes, as estimated by the folks at realclearpolitics.com, in the Iowa, Nevada, Washington and Maine caucuses, where state Democratic parties did not count the number of caucus-attenders, Clinton still has a lead of 12,000 votes.

Moreover, she may be able to maintain that lead, despite an expected Obama victory in North Carolina on May 6, by rolling up big popular vote margins in West Virginia on May 13, Kentucky on May 20 and Puerto Rico on June 1. So it's likely that Clinton will be able to argue that undecided super-delegates should heed the will of the people.

Obama supporters can counter that claim with arguments of their own. Their candidate is ahead and will remain ahead in delegates chosen in caucuses and primaries. Michigan, where Obama was not on the ballot, and Florida have been disqualified by the Democratic National Committee for voting too early. Counting popular votes unduly discounts the results from caucuses, in which many fewer people participate than in primaries. And the Democratic Party can't afford to alienate the young and black voters who enthusiastically back Obama."

These  numbers will either be argued over vehemently in the progressive blogosphere or, more likely, ignored.

I just love American Presidential politics.

Sunday Morning Music

I Don't Know How To Love Him from the film version of Jesus Christ Superstar.

Saturday Musings

- After almost 8 years of squatting in the White House, President Bush, Jr. finally has an economic plan. In order to stop another American revolution, he is going to send regular folks a check to buy gasoline.

- Some car manufacturers are making theft-proof gas cap doors, anticipating Americans stealing from each other. When all we have to do is elect Hillary Clinton President. I remember paying 89 cents a gallon at one point during Bill Clinton's Administration.

- So, Pennsylvania... It took a while to see because there was a lull in primaries, but Senator Obama's campaign came to a crashing halt. Now all Hillary has to do is win a few more and get to the convention. Obama has no support left among the Democratic Party power brokers. So Bill Clinton and Ed Rendell and Wes Clark and Gerry Ferraro and the like are going to be working the coat rooms and hallways. You gotta love American politics. I can smell the whiskey and cigar smoke.

- As for the Philadelphia debate on ABC leading into the PA primary. Senator Clinton swats media "gotcha" questions like flies. If the Senator from Illinois can't handle a hostile Press, then he needs to concede the nomination to someone who can.

- As for Obama's big moment in front of General Petraeus...there wasn't one.

- Okay, on to the Republican. John McCain is visiting impoverished regions and bringing nothing but a photo-op. The Press loves him though!

- Out here in California, rumors abound of Governor Schwarzenegger switching Party affiliation...He may become Green!

- Pipelines and US Soldiers got blown up in Iraq this week.

- Afghanistan is so fucked up the media doesn't know how to report on it. So they don't.

- John Adams is dead. After two Yale death scenes Abigail (Laura Linney) and John Adams (Paul Giamatti) passed once again into history on HBO's miniseries John Adams. I enjoyed the show mainly for the time it took to debate the issues surrounding independence in America and the Revolution. I also admired their lack of hero worship and how they portrayed American Presidential politics being corrupt from the first three Presidents on. It helped me put the election of 2000 into perspective.

- Now it's time to get the real dirt. I picked up Gore Vidal's Inventing a Nation: Washington, Adams, Jefferson. America's Suetonius ought to fill in the blanks nicely.

- And the hand wringing and research is over. I put my money down on Babylon 5: The Complete Series. I read every comparison I could find, I asked my geek friends and sci-fi fans...It was either B5 or Deep Space Nine. Harlan Ellison won the day.

- On that same multiple-versions-insanely-opinionated-fans vein, I listened to Jesus Christ Superstar (The Original Studio Recording) this week again after about 30 years. Overall, it got on my nerves before the end, but Heaven On Their Minds, Everything's Alright, I Don't Know How To Love Him and Superstar brought back memories of my Catholic Grade School days and the debate between the lay teachers and the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart over this music being sinful or respectful. Respectful won the day and we were played the music in our classrooms as if it were a Church sponsored event and a victory for Vatican II.

- The weekend is here. It is a perfect Southern California day. I just launched the results of four months worth of hard work. I have a new bottle of Campari and a box of Stella D'Oro assorted cookies. Life is sweet.

McCain To Youngstown: Drop Dead

"Government can't create good and lasting jobs outside of government," he told the crowd. "It can't pay lost wages. It can't dig coal from the earth. It can't buy you a house or send all your kids to college. It can't do your work for you. And you've never asked it to."

Senator John McCain is on his Time For Action tour. Visiting poor people and telling them to go fuck themselves. "You voted for Reagan and Bush, Jr. I'm older and dumber than both of them."

His advice to the jobless in Youngstown was to sell their belongings on eBay to buy gas and food. Now that is an economic plan. The Media applauded. Most in the crowd did not.

Here is Bruce Springsteen performing Youngstown.