Truth Dowsing

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

2011-12-12T13:16:00.006-05:00

My 3D-model and graphic posted on Wikipedia over two years ago and now being published and broadcast all around the world are generally not being credited. I am especially unhappy with AFP news agency (Agence France-Presse) which is giving credit to everyone else besides "Truthdowser". The Daily Telegraph has managed to do so, why can't AFP?

Will the Real Truthdowser Please Stand Up

2010-03-12T09:43:00.003-05:00

Just a note to point out that the "Truthdowser" of Wikipedia is a lot more objective than the "Truthdowser" of this blog.

Why? Because to quote Wikipedia:

"Neutral point of view (NPOV) is a fundamental Wikimedia principle and a cornerstone of Wikipedia."

Regrets that the blog has gone silent so long. I've needed a break and have been working on other things. Also the Obama "Hope" meme got me to calm down some... for a while anyway.

Now, back to other objective, and not so objective pursuits...

Best Regards, Truthdowser, Third rock from the sun (Sol), Orion Spur of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Dispassionate objectivity is itself a passion. ~ Abraham Maslow

Who Owns America?

2008-03-16T21:01:00.005-04:00

One quote sums up what has been happening to our Democracy... and I borrow it from "Atrios" of the website/blog "Eschaton".

"Conservative" Neocon enablers, who like to accuse reasonable Americans of being some sort of radical socialists, please pay attention...

"profits are (being) privatized and losses are (being) socialized"

Atrios uses this to describe how the American taxpayers are now bailing-out greedy private speculators who are in trouble and are also helping to bring down our economy. In this example; Bear Sterns.

History is not going to be kind to how utterly stupid we have been.

Eschaton article

screaming evidence the plutocracy controls everything...(...or at least tries to. )

2008-02-20T13:56:00.010-05:00

Fellow Americans: do you still think we live in a free country? Get real.

BBC News "International Whistle-blower website blocked in the United States"

"Bank Julius Bär secures a permanent injunction against the domain registrar for Wikileaks, making the website unavailable." -- Wikinews, February 18

Harvard Law School's David Ardia has stated that the shutdown represents "prior restraint in the most extreme fashion".
References
Wikileaks.org

Wikipedia entry on Wikileaks

Julius Baer Group, Zurich Switzerland (the plaintiff against the Whistle-blower site)

"Is our children learning... geography?"

2007-12-30T13:38:00.000-05:00

I did a screen capture this morning of Wolf Blitzer's "Late Edition" while Wolf was interviewing Maj. Gen. Waheed Arshad. His CNN graphic places Pakistan on the African continent! No wonder U.S. foreign policy is such a mess.

("Rarely is the question asked, is our children learning?" --Pres. George W. Bush, Jan. 11, 2000)

"Humour Intelligence" Required

2007-01-13T12:53:00.000-05:00

You've probably heard about the importance of "Emotional Intelligence".... well, today I'm presuming to add the significance of something I'm calling "Humour Intelligence". (A quick "googling" didn't bring up that phrase.)

From the article in Wikipedia on Humour... "It has been postulated that the laughter/feel-good element of humour is a biological function that helps one deal with the new, expanded point of view."

....and then an insightful quote found at the website of George Monbiot, the author for whom right-wing fomenters apparently revived the "Librul Moonbat" epithet...

"Tell people something they know already and
they will thank you for it...
Tell them something new and they will hate you for it."

My theory is that those who follow "conservative", authoritarian, mean, war-mongering types have low "humour intelligences", and so when told of something new, they hate you for it. This makes them blind to the appeal of "new" ideas like progressive humanism for instance, instead behaving nastily in reaction.

So I propose rather than sending the kiddies to Sunday-school, that they attend classes in Humour-Intelligence. Among many aspects of this program one could imagine, it must of course be reinforced with strict performance requirements and frequent testing.

We could call it "Left's Kid Pushed Ahead".
(Just don't ask me to support funding for it...)

Nod to Marc Maron (of Air America Radio) (870 AM locally) for inspiration, like his "Guerilla Standup Videos" although these don't reveal his political brilliance so much. (scroll down to video clips.)

Gerald Bracey on "No Child Left Behind" via the Huffington Post.

(Christmas/Winter Solstice/Yule humor card artwork by Yours Truly)

Congratulations America!

2006-11-08T16:04:00.000-05:00

Seems there has been something of an awakening today. It's been a hellish six years. NOW CAN WE GET ON WITH STUFF, please?
Best, Truthdowser (NASA photo of STS-66, tweaked by me.)

Does Hypocrisy really mean nothing to the Armageddonists?

2006-11-04T01:37:00.000-05:00

I've been blogging practically all day about this huge NEA-head, Ted Haggard scandal, but elsewhere, since I long ago became resigned that the people I was trying to reach with this blog actually go out of their way to avoid it. Since I have been so into this story, I figure that my own old Blogger presence needs a refresh. I started this little map-based illustration project over a year ago. (continued below)Something creeped me out about the geographical relationship that the New Life Church has with the United States Air Force Academy. (You may recall there was a bit of scandal there with oppressive Christian evangelizing on campus.) Today because of this Haggard scandal (and some of the specific details, can I discuss the salacious details?) make this view seem even creepier.

Ted Haggard has been leading not just his megachurch flock, but some 30-million (that's right) evangelicals as head of the NEA (National Evangelical Association). Worse is that in a sort of tag-team with Uber Evangelical Dr James ("take your boy in the shower") Dobson, have been doing weekly teleconferences with none other than George Walker Bush at PNAC HQ, 1600 PA Ave. Could this have ANYTHING to do with the New Crusades against their counter-part Armageddonists the Jihadists? (And is anyone else creeped out by the [ironically gorgeous] F-16 killing-machine monumentalised in front of the campus church?)

Anyway, to make the image I started with NASA WorldWind (which is like Google Earth only copyright-free), and this is looking directly West toward the Colorado Rockies. The USAF-Academy property is highlighted, but the main campus (including the c.1959 Walter Netsch designed Cadet Chapel) is just above the "Air Force" text.

Indebted Today to Another Conservative! (John Dean: On Authoritarianism)

2006-07-11T20:17:00.000-04:00

Even though it may not be readily apparent on this blog, I've been working towards resolving this general "Dowsing Assignment" since day one. I've toyed with ideas in my head but John Dean, (Goldwater conservative), has gone and done a lot of work for me today. I think this is stuff is SO IMPORTANT...in worldwide affairs, not just in current U.S. politics. And wouldn't you know it, I'm lauding big-time-right-wingers here again on the "Dowsing" channel. "Stay tuned" for more on this...

UPDATE: 9/19/06 Current conditions in US point to nine "mobilizing passions" of fascism
Some of the research on destructive forms of authoritarianism
Dean interviewed with Keith Obermann Video, yesterday 7/10/06
Dean's Essay (published yesterday 7/10/06)
Dean's new book (published July 11, 2006) and #1 at Amazon.com today!
Take the original 1946 "F-Scale" test yourself... right now!

Happy Flag Day

2006-06-14T11:26:00.000-04:00

This is a photo I took last year at a parade in Portland. ...a fine demonstration methinks that a lot of what is considered "patriotism" is more accurately mere jingoism. This in-part inspiring my post to my city's paper today about one of our senators and this heinous flag desecration amendment which is YET AGAIN taking up the time of the do-nothing Congress, and is darn near in danger of passing.

Why isn't "Corporate Personhood" in the common discourse?

2006-05-28T11:12:00.000-04:00

If it isn't already clear to you, I have news for you. We don't live in a Democracy. It's becoming clearer to me today why. "The existence of corporate civil rights is the driving force behind the erosion of individual and community rights, the destruction of our democracy and of our planet."* (I can say this no better.) What is at the heart of a moment we laud in American history at Boston harbor in 1773? What was Senator John Sherman of Ohio dealing with in 1880?

The criminal abuse that is Corporatocracy, my friends, that's what. What to do about it? Well, first the truth has to get out there. It has to be understood by many more people why something that happened in 1886 is central to this mess. The national consciousness has to make a sea-change, and now. People have to take it on themselves to resist the on-going interests of the investment classes dumbing us all down.
*from POCLAD letter/press-release asking MoveOn.org to consider reframing actions around individual and community rights.

Two Words to Describe the Age of GWB

2006-05-08T17:29:00.000-04:00

With my anti Iraq invasion activism since early 2003, I've been trying to understand the astounding loyalty of the population to the cabal that took over Washington D.C. I've been thinking of creating an entry addressing this, as I come to understand it better. Well, I'm still working on it! For now here are two words (plugged into Google) that might just do a lot of my work for me. Click on this search to see what it brings up: religiosity authoritarianism It's a good start methinks. (Despite today's poll showing a new low for Bush's approval, many of us are still frustrated and amazed that 1 in 3 people are still on board. Yes there is work to do. Is it possible?)

Your Chunk of CEO Pay - Calculator!

2006-04-28T11:01:00.000-04:00

Educational? Masochistic fun? Way to stoke even more righteous indignation? You decide. "Try out the CEO pay calculator. The results will shock you!" (Go to the link, see the "blue man" on the right of the page? Click your mouse in the little box, type in your hourly or annual income, click in the appropriate circle, then click on "Find Out".) Ouch! The guy pulls in my annual income in less than 8 hours, (which includes his afternoon at the golf course.) Envy? Nah, I'm just not that into golf.

Truth Seekers Triple Play

2006-03-21T19:19:00.000-05:00

Kevin Phillips, was a senior strategist for Richard Nixon's 1968 presidential bid, and rose to prominence on the heels of Nixon's political triumphs. In 1969, Phillips book "The Emerging Republican Majority" was hailed as a visionary work of political analysis. He also wrote the 2004 bestseller, "American Dynasty", which I believe is a must-read. His latest, just published book is "American Theocracy", and looks like it could be an even more important book than those previous two. (Listen to him interviewed and read the entire 4th chapter of "American Theocracy" here.) Also see Phillips website(s) and ...

Claude Allen Update

2006-03-10T21:06:00.000-05:00

This is bizarre. A few posts ago I wondered why Claude Allen resigned suddenly. Well it turns out that this top Bush aide was arrested yesterday in a shop-lifting scheme that's been going on since at least October. Atrios at Eschaton has the scoop.

WAIT! There's a Case Against Impeachment

2006-03-08T10:45:00.000-05:00

My favorite, the one that made me LOL, was: "If Dick Cheney becomes President he's likely to shoot a lot more people."
see the cartoon by Ward Sutton

What George Clooney was Saying

2006-03-07T14:06:00.000-05:00

I'm posting here, (at the end of this post, below my comments,) the best part of George Clooney's Academy Award acceptance speech, (for Best Supporting Actor, in Syriana.)

(First, background needed...) Dowser Sez: The right wing radio propagandists, their sycophant devotees, and television evangelists love to blame everything on "liberal Hollywood". They also slam liberal and progressive people, said essentially to be led by Hollywood. A Hollywood that is said to be "OUT OF TOUCH with the American people", which supposedly force feeds them liberal, commie, (read atheist), pinko, fag, propaganda that will eventually bring on the downfall of American civilization, and perhaps even hasten Armageddon. In short: the work of SATAN.
Below is his response. I took a quick look for a link to an insightful article, but I'm surprised how many people don't seem to know what this is about and misrepresented Clooney's speech as being "self deprecating". Sad, since it is more in the vein of the speeches made that helped precipitate the end of the ugly McCarthy era....which was the subject of his movie "Good Night and Good Luck". He is also addressing the fascistic intimidation and interests of the right wing in this country today, and perhaps keeping in mind America's imperialist actions featured in his other movie, Syriana. (Aspects of the storyline of Syriana are similar to the theme of John Perkins best selling, controversial, autobiographical, "Confessions of an Economic Hit Man" which I am reading.) Oh, and the types that support the NeoCons also despise drawing attention to the issue of gay rights, which "Brokeback Mountain" does, (at least in part).

Clooney:
"And finally, I would say that, you know, we are a little bit out of touch in Hollywood every once in a while. I think it's probably a good thing. We're the ones who talk about AIDS when it was just being whispered, and we talked about civil rights when it wasn't really popular. And we, you know, we bring up subjects. This Academy, this group of people gave Hattie McDaniel an Oscar in 1939 when blacks were still sitting in the backs of theaters. I'm proud to be a part of this Academy. Proud to be part of this community, and proud to be out of touch."

Photo GNU-GPL'd by "BadDog" (And no I didn't create this post as a reason to post a pic of George Clooney on my blog! ...but it'll do.)

Is the Rush of Dissenting Conservatives On?

2006-02-22T21:52:00.000-05:00

Is this enought to give one hope? Will the American people wake up?

Paul Craig Roberts, (Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration,) in the Baltimore Chronicle: "At a time when America desperately needs the voices of educated people as a counterweight to the disinformation that emanates from the Bush administration and its supporters, economists have discredited themselves. "

Paul R. Pillar, (CIA National Intelligence Officer for the Near East and South Asia under the Bush Administration, considered the agency's lead analyst in counterterrorism,) in the current issue of Foreign Affairs: "The administration used intelligence not to inform decision-making, but to justify a decision already made. It went to war without requesting -- and evidently without being influenced by -- any strategic-level intelligence assessments on any aspect of Iraq."

addendum: 2/25/06
Bruce Bartlett , (domestic policy aide in the Reagan administration, deputy assistant secretary in the Treasury Department under the first Bush administration and senior fellow at the conservative think tank National Center for Policy Analysis,) in his new book: "IMPOSTOR - How George W. Bush Bankrupted America and Betrayed the Reagan Legacy", writes "...Bush has never really been one of them the way Ronald Reagan was. Bush is more like Richard Nixon -- a man who used the right to pursue his agenda, but was never really part of it. In short, he is an impostor, a pretend conservative."

This is My Sketch of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) riding a camel to Medina

2006-02-09T15:55:00.000-05:00

Er, No it isn't. ...Yes, it is my sketch, but it isn't the Prophet Muhammad, okay?

What's This About, Indeed.

2006-02-09T11:56:00.000-05:00

Escathon wonders why Bush aide Claude Allen resigns to "spend more time with his family". Hmmm. Let's go a-googling shall we? Wait, what's this? Thru Wikipedia: Allen tied with Baker & Botts, L.L.P. According to this interesting site, "political friendster," Baker & Botts looks mighty suspicious...deep in corrupt and bloody oil money maybe. Check it out. LINK: Political Friendster.com - Baker and Botts

UPDATE: Duh! Baker & Botts, (founded Houston, 1866, serving railroad magnates then), is James Baker's outfit. That's all we need to know folks. Enron, Carlye Group, Halliburton, Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, Azerbaijan, Zapata Petroleum,...Yup! Oil money laundering, war profiteering, murderous South American protection rackets, just the usual mobster stuff folks,...on a global scale that's all. (Hey, who you calling a conspiracy theorist?) There is also rampant speculation that Allen might be another closet White House homosexual, potentially more newsworthy than the Gannon/Guckert affair. Others think Bush's big embarrassment at CSK's funeral made him so red-faced he wanted to punish the nearest black person. (Condoeeza considers George her "husband" so that wouldn't happen.) Stay tuned.

Ms King More Inclusive than I Remembered

2006-02-08T10:53:00.000-05:00

Unlike famously bigoted homophobes like Million Man March Executive Director Rev. Willie Wilson, Coretta Scott King was quite outspoken on equality for the gay population. Soulforce has her eloquent speech: http://www.seympeace.org/CSKing.htm

Word has it that God is on Extended Vacation

2006-01-14T11:49:00.000-05:00

(Meanwhile, Chomsky does interview.)

Great blogs like AmericaBlog and others have at least several brilliant entries per day. I'm hoping for one a year, (...at this rate maybe one a lifetime?) I started my blog to share things that have been getting me wound up but that some folk on my email list aren't necessarily excited to get in their personal in-box... ...none the less I think these are things people in my circle and beyond will want to read about. Things I obviously feel a need to communicate.

So what will my next entry be about? I've considered all sort of things:...the weird and very ugly abusive relationship between religious followers and their ruling class leaders, a movement that seems to want to send this country back to pre-revolutionary times; ...then there are similar global catastrophes that have been driving me nuts; (I know, short trip...) like 30 years of General Motors making stupid decisions culminating in their recent stroke of brilliance, taking an old GM SUV and changing the styling of the nose to make it look like a Saab and cynically trying to foist it off on people by selling it as some kind of fancy Scandinavian technology. MORE LIES! WAKE UP AMERICAN SHEEPLE! (er...sorry...) Now, how many yuppies do you think would dump their Saabs to drive an old GM truck? DOH! (Not that old GM trucks don't have their place, like on the worksite...) I'm also perplexed why Subaru would cooperate with the General by taking their scrappy little Impreza and allowing a bogus Saab nose to be grafted on! That messes with the integrity of the Saab AND Subaru brands. And guess what?, GM is essentially canning this short-lived idiotic program. (I coulda saved them the trouble, ...ha!) I didn't realize until recently that they suffered a FOUR BILLION dollar loss last year...yikes!

Oh sorry, car talk boring you? Ok, this post is really leading up to a piece by Noam Chomsky that I wish everybody would read. (This guy doesn't seem like such a wacky and dangerous radical at all anymore!) Ok, maybe the title sounds it...but you gotta admit, it is provocative. So I'm taking the liberty to rename it: WHAT TO DO ABOUT THIS MESS, so as to not scare people off. Enjoy. (Oh, and as always, come back and check out all my nifty links I've culled for you in the side bar... ...the right margin of blog, with today's links spelled out below.)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
LINKS from entry above
-- Noam Chomsky: 'There Is No War On Terror' Interview by Geov Parrish, AlterNet 1/14/06
-- Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, a self-described former fundamentalist gives insight into the current political climate... on CounterPunch. (you have to scroll down a little bit)
-- AMERICAblog: the repeatedly (and currently ) news-making progressive blog. (by John Aravosis in D.C.)
-- "Blogs 101", get a good introductory feel for top Web logs and blogging here. (New York Times blog!)
-- InsideLine auto news: GM Cancels Saab 9-6X Program - Edmonds.com.
-- GM sees better '06, stock still falls - CNNMoney.com
-- GM Launches Saab 9-7x at Ten Fashion Show - JALOPNIK Loves Cars Auto Blog

Bush Rewrites History, Claims He Never Made Saddam-9/11 Link

2005-12-17T23:11:00.000-05:00

INCREDIBLE! Why has there been no Impeachment?...no wait, why aren't these people in JAIL?!
(Article on DailyKOS blog) ...and don't forget all the sound bites, the Meme* they created, every chance they could; Bush, Cheney and others: "9-11/Iraq", "9-11/Iraq", "9-11/Iraq", "9-11/Iraq", "9-11/Iraq", ...ad infinitum! So effective that at one point some 53 percent of Americans believed Saddam had been "personally involved" in 9/11!

*meme/memetic engineering - definition link updated 1/15/06

Ruining the Image of Cowboys?

2005-12-06T13:51:00.000-05:00

Following the lives of two Wyoming cowboys from 1963 to 1983, Brokeback Mountain, soon opening in cinemas across the country, is causing a stir.

Why? The main characters happen to be in love. This has gotten some righteously offended.

Wyoming playwright Sandy Dixon, quoted in the Casper Star Tribune says: "Don't try and take what we had, which was wonderful -- the cowboys that settled the state and made it what it was -- don't ruin that image just to sell a book."

What? The pure, family oriented cowboy legacy besmirched?! A popular Right wing talking point these days has been about leftist historical revisionism,...Doh!....this, while they perpetuate old myths, and simultaneously create new ones.

Doesn't the very term "cow boy" connote someone other than a patriarchal saint?
Boys? Well, boys will be boys won't they, wink wink.
Should they now be referred to as cowmen? How's that for historical revisionism?

Homosexuality within an essentially homophobic grouping? Whoa, that's new! (Not!)
To state flatly that there was never such a thing as a gay cowboy, should sound nonsensical to anyone who thinks and doesn't blind themselves to reality.

Okay, okay....no one should accept the gay cowboy concept without evidence? Well, look a little deeper. Queer Cowboys?

Next the Radical Homo Revisionists of History will be suggesting that there was gay love in something like ancient Greek military ranks, ...pish posh. -- Dowser
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-good commentary:
Brokeback Mountain, Matt Shepard, Gary & Me
-read the original short story in its entirety online:
by Annie Proulx, as published in the New Yorker magazine
...now here:
Brokeback Mountain
oops!that's gone now too. Guess they want you get the book
Brokeback Mountain: in anthology
-movie site: (excellent quality preview)
Brokeback Mountain the movie
- hillarious read - practical too! - by MSNBC.com:
The straight dude’s guide to ‘Brokeback’
Roger Ebert review in:
the Chicago Sun-Times
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Please feel free to read and leave COMMENTSat the link below each post.(Just choose "other" for non-Blogger members.) I just discovered that I had to change a setting to allow comments to be added. I guess this is because of the nasty problem of "comment spam" that has been swamping blogs.
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