South by Southwest

Liberalism waxed unbound regarding Republicans yesterday at The Reaction. Our little writers' group did not lack for opinions about party prospects for victory in November, the party convention, and about evening's featured speaker, its nominee for Vice-President, Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska. While I, too was preoccupied with Palin, my mind persisted in visualizing what was going on outside of the convention in the Minneapolis streets. That led to visualizing what a Palin presidency might look like. Today my post riffs off of what my co-bloggers contributed during yesterday's big bountiful liberal dialogue, carrying each idea to possibilities presented for the future with Sarah Palin as the POTUS.

Foresee a a fear mongering administration that politicizes, lies and obfuscates, covers up its ineptitude, coddles cronies, punishes domestic enemies, and breaks the law, all in the name of protecting America. Libby Spencer correctly predicted yesterday that, to quote:

It is not beyond the realm of possibility to visualize that a Vice-President Palin could be called upon to become the U.S. President. One in three Vice-Presidents have done so in the past. Palin's aggressive personality, Right Wing reactionary beliefs, unstable leadership style, and thin knowledge base would almost certainly guarantee permanent crisis mode for the country. To some it might feel like "the end times." Think about it. The Reaction's editor, Michael J.W. Stickings, revisiting Palin tonight after the speech -- and predictable pundit commentary -- asked,

The Supreme Court could decide in a close election, as they did in 2000. Theoretically, in a free and fair election, each vote cast counts just one. The Electoral College will decide the outcome of the election, however, based on which party's nominees win each state. But an election could be stolen, with voter intimidation, electronic voting problems, or unfair campaign advertising. Under certain circumstances Palin is not that far from the presidency. Neither daily tracking polls nor national popularity polls can predict with certainty that Obama and Biden will prevail. My co-blogger, Carl did an excellent electoral vote analysis about "How McCain could win," ending it with cautious optimism, however. To quote:

The United States of America is on the verge of becoming a theocracy. The current Bush administration is the model upon which the Republican base is building its case. Ever since the terrorist attacks of 9/11/01, Republicans have governed using the naturally resulting fears of citizens. And Governor Sarah Palin was chosen in order to solidify the continuation of right wing evangelical government, for the on-going benefit of the rich and powerful. Is it not hard to image "Commander in Chief" Palin, upon becoming President, developing the strategies for leading the mighty U.S. military and maintaining successful foreign relations around the world? Just look at this nominee and look at the last 8 years of our current president. You have all the information necessary. Nothing would change because Palin would be the next Bush. Capt. Fogg posted "Thy will be done" for The Reaction yesterday. To quote the opening and closing graphs:

Based on her past limited record, visualizing a Palin administration that deeply respects the Constitution, routinely protects civil liberties and adheres to the rule of law is difficult. Palin is currently being investigated for ethics violations, if the probe is allowed to go forward, which is doubtful. Palin's police were, allegedly, seen by her as tools to be used for personal purposes. And I venture to guess that a President Palin would view the Bible as trumping the Constitution in a close call. Quoting my own post at The Reaction yesterday, "Reflections On an Emerging Election Process,"

Visualizing Governor Sarah Palin as the President of the United States is important to a rational and realistic election process. One's imagination does not need to be stretched very much because the current events can yield good clues. My co-bloggers contributions reinforce the vision I have tried to present in the light of today. Think about ranks of police in riot gear, arresting journalists for conspiracy to riot. Think about the gap between rich and poor widening. Believe that drilling for oil in Alaska will bring down gasoline prices. Give up your belief in evolution. Be willing to let go of your woman's right to choose what happens to your own body. Understand that "reform" would be a cruel illusion. And be very aware that most voters cast their presidential votes using gut instinct. Obama, Biden, McCain and Palin should be vetted by visualizing voters. The four candidates have just two months to vie for the leadership of the free world. The outcome will be either a continuation of the current corporatocracy or a true change of direction.

View my current slide show about the Bush years -- "Millennium" -- at the bottom of this column.

(Cross-posted at The Reaction.)

My “creativity and dreaming” post today is at Making Good Mondays.

Technorati tags: news news and politics politics republicans palin bushevangelical2008 electionpalin speech

Knowing the difference between right and wrong . . . is at times a murky business. It is not always easy to see what is beneath the surface.

Fallout the so-called "war on terror" -- Telecommunications companies achieved immunity from lawsuits in the latest Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act revision. And insurance companies are exploiting terrorism fears as they set museum insurance rates. These items from my CQ Behind the Lines free e-mail newsletter, by David C. Morrison, of 8/15/08:

"This is so wrong," -- is the headline about this item from the NYT in, "Police State USA" at Yes, I take it personally. My blog friend, "betmo's" link* describes how a man got caught up in an immigration sweep, was shuttled from facility to facility, and then died due to failure to receive even minimal medical care. The map at this site is also very revealing. To quote:

Hate speech is flat wrong -- Conservatives have long called for the heads of prominent liberals. Looks like they got their wish. This story came from my friend Jon. It was posted by Steven D. at AlterNet, and titled, "The Tragic Arkansas Shooting and Conservative Hate Speech," taken from the Booman Tribune, August 14, 2008. To quote:

Stealing the words of another to use as one's own is wrong. Jody Rosen posted an article* "Dude, You Stole My Article" -- How I investigated a suspicious alt weekly -- at Slate Magazine on Aug. 6, 2008, about someone at a Texas newspaper, The Bulletin, who plagiarized an article about Jimmy Buffett.

What is wrong with this picture, if anything? This item* came from World Changing: "Virtual Transgender Suit, Avatar Termination and Other Online World Tales," by Regine Debatty, August 15, 2008. To quote:

The ability to become invisible likely would never be allowed by our government's security apparatus. Homeland Security, the Justice Department, the FBI, the National Security Agency and many other government entities all want their full range of rights to search for terrorists and other suspicious people. This intriguing little blurb* is from The Raw Story, "Invisibility Cloak Now Within Sight: Scientists," 8/11/08. To quote,

*Thanks for these links from "betmo," who writes life's journey.

View my current slide show about the Bush years -- "Millennium" -- at the bottom of this column.

(Cross-posted at The Reaction.)

My “creativity and dreaming” post today is at Making Good Mondays.

Technorati tags: news national intelligence ethics and morals domestic surveillance terrorism opinion

DEMOCRATIC PRIMARIES

Many women in the United States are facing the ending of a dream today. Those of us in that place are now relatively sure that next January there will not be an inauguration of the first female president in the nation's history. And in a way that awareness can be heartbreaking to longtime feminists. I count myself in that cohort, even though I began to be an Obama supporter a few weeks before our state's primary. It is not that I did not want a woman to be the nominee. I have deeply looked forward to that eventuality for decades. I just could not support the particular woman running in 2008, ending my dream for now.

Beginnings plus endings equal transitions. Sometimes these periods can be discomfiting psychological stages in which to be thrown, because we have so many associated emotions. We might feel sadness that something we valued has ended, anxiety about what is to come, anger that transition was forced upon us, or ambivalence because of unresolved mixed feelings. We might have changes in appetite, sleep patterns, increased hyper-vigilance or numbness, tears or other unusual behaviors. Not everyone sails easily through transition.

The Democratic party's primary season is ending in just a few days. As this very useful WaPo election season map clearly shows, Puerto Rico, Montana and South Dakota are holding the final three elections that should decide the nominee for POTUS. This begins the period when heretofore undeclared Super Delegates will announce their preferences, moving the party towards its desired unification in order to win the election in November. The problem is that Senator Clinton is yet unaware of this reality. She remains in denial and in transition. She appears to be having the most difficulty of any of us in letting go of her dream.

The presumptive nominees of both parties are already out of transition. Senators Barack Obama and John McCain have already begun the general election campaign to win the chance to be center-stage at the presidential inauguration.

And Barack Obama and his family have ended their membership in their church. Senator Obama and/or his wife and daughters all faced some of those uncomfortable transitional feelings after making this difficult decision. My hope is that relief will come, too.

NASA IN SPACE

NASA's Shuttle mission, STS-124, has begun its journey to the International Space Station, where the Japanese module Kibo, ("hope") will be installed. This mission marks the end of the major construction of habitable space on the ISS.

PERSONAL

One of our granddaughters ended her high school years yesterday with a grand graduation ceremony. And very soon she will begin preparations in earnest for starting college in the fall. She begins to make the transition from adolescent to adult, just like millions of happy "mortar board tossers" all over the country.

View my current slide show about the Bush years -- "Millennium" -- at the bottom of this column.

(Cross-posted at The Reaction.)

My “creativity and dreaming” post today is at Making Good Mondays.

Technorati tags: news news and politics politics psychology nasa graduation hillary clinton obama 2008 primaries

Southwest U.S. women makes national headlines occasionally. That has been the case with the "polygamist sect cases." On Monday, May 19, the parents of children taken into the custody of the State of Texas will begin to make their cases in a series of court hearings in five Tom Green County (San Angelo) court rooms, according to examiner.com. The parents of the 463 children in foster care will learn how they can regain custody of their children. There is still a great deal of missing information. Results of all the DNA testing, for example are still "two to four weeks away." The article further points out,

NASA officials to meet today in Houston -- Commander Peggy Whitson was a record-making NASA astronaut now rehabbing after months of weightlessness and a recent very rough Russian Suyoz landing. The flawed landing made by three astronauts last month in Russia has NASA worried. And they have to decide what to do in response to it today. There is to be a news conference no earlier than 3:00 PM Central time to announce next steps with NASA's STS-124 mission to the International Space Station. A mission launch date is expected. An exclusive story in the Orlando Sentinel discusses many of the change possibilities within what will be discussed. It will no-doubtedly be broadcast on NASA-TV. To quote from ITWire:

More on mothers and children -- And, of course, my two favorite BLUE bloggers have stayed on the job here in Texas. Bluebloggin's "bosskitty" posts thoroughly and thoughtfully on Appeasement; and also writes in an interesting and compassionate manner about tragedy in Burma and China (includes terrific photographs). In a much lighter vein Bluedaze, TXsharon, always does a roundup of the best blog posts from the Texas Progressive Alliance. Her most recent does not disappoint. To quote:

View my current slide show about the Bush years -- "Millennium" -- at the bottom of this column.

(Cross-posted at The Reaction.)

My “creativity and dreaming” post today is at Making Good Mondays.

Technorati tags: news texas women polygamist sect bloggers

The southwest region of the United States sometimes makes the national headlines, for good or for ill. Three events captured national attention this past week. A West Texas polygamist sect's compound was raided in order to protects its vulnerable women and children from sexual abuse. Hundreds of passenger flights in the region were canceled in order to do safety inspections on airplane electrical wiring. And NASA in Houston is transitioning their three-person crew aboard the International Space Station.

Texas polygamist sect story: Monday brings a Washington Post story of what will happen next in these troubling events regarding custody of the children, protection of spouses, etc. It will come under the auspices of the state courts, and even the governor could weigh in. To quote:

There is a new twist to the polygamist ranch story. Americans have been subsidizing the group with millions of their tax dollars, according to McClatchy. My Representative, Kay Granger, should probably urge an investigation, although what action might come out of it is unknown. To quote:

Is it yet safe to fly? Travelers in the Southwest and elsewhere were affected deeply by the FAA safety inspection problems presented to Southwest and American Airlines. There is plenty of blame to go around in both the FAA and the airline companies. "Safety problems in grounded jets known for years by FAA," was written by Bob Cox at McClatchy Newspapers, April 12, 2008. To quote:

NASA's Space Program is located in the Southwest region of the United States. Missions are controlled primarily out of the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas as well as number of facilities in Europe. The current mission is ISS Expedition 17, now transitioning a new crew to be aboard the Space Station. Two members of the new rookie crew and a visitor from South Korea arrived at the station on April 10. To quote from Space.com:

NASA has launched a beautiful new science web site: NASA SCIENCE . . . for the benefit of all. Researchers, educators, kids and citizen scientists are invited to delve into the sections on Earth, Heliophysics, Planets and Astrophysics. Full featured, it also includes an image of the day, spotlights one of the science missions, and focuses on "NASA Science and Kids."

View my current slide show about the Bush years -- "Millennium" -- at the bottom of this column.

(Cross-posted at The Reaction.)

My “creativity and dreaming” post today is at Making Good Mondays.

Technorati tags: news space nasa southwest travel texas polygamy airlines

Today's post wraps up my series on Mark Sageman's "Leaderless Jihad." Sageman, an ex CIA agent and forensic psychiatrist, has researched the radical groups of Islamist jihadis. He first published on the subject in 2004, with "Understanding Terror Networks." He presented his most recent theories in late 2007, in "Leaderless Jihad," which he discussed at the New America Foundation on 2/20/08. My first four posts about Sageman's work are linked below.*

At the end of his discussion Marc Sageman did a Q & A. Out of this and the earlier part of his talk, which I covered in the *previous posts, several significant ideas stuck with me. This youthful wave of jihad is about pride, about becoming "heroes for justice." According to Sageman, they will be defeated by drugs, sex, and rock and roll, just as other "cool" movements. We have overstated the threat using exaggerated scare tactics. Al Qaeda Central with 40-50 members, however still is very serious and Sageman reminded his audience that. "They still want to kill us."

*Posts in Series: First/Itro , Second/Threat Evolves, Third/Networks, Fourth/Global Islam.

Forum: Lucidity is another blog community where I often post. The topic "New Study on Muslim World," generated a number of very thoughtful comments about Sageman's studies and jihad in general. Of particular interest to me are those on how America must learn to "leave a smaller footprint." There are several anecdotes about American military leaders and soldiers who were particularly wise in their choices of action to diminish conflict.

View my current slide show about the Bush years -- "Millennium" -- at the bottom of this column.

(Cross-posted at The Reaction.)

My “creativity and dreaming” post today is at Making Good Mondays.

Technorati tags: news news and politics politics war foreign policy iraq afghanistan jihad terrorism

FISA Fights -- Given that U.S. Senators and House members are still in disagreement over how to refine the law on conducting foreign surveillance of "terrorist threats," I need to return to my series on global jihad. After a brief time-out for the Texas party primaries, I am continuing the process of analyzing the true nature of the threat. To do this I have turned to a new "guru" whose work seems believable and very significant to me:

A Discussion with Marc Sageman on Leaderless Jihad, was a program held at the New America Foundation on Feb. 20, 2008. {This link can provide full video or audio of the event. Here is the link to Sageman's 32 page power-point presentation; it includes his main lecture ideas.} To quote the synopsis:

Jihad and 21st Century Terrorism,

Today's post is the third in a series laying out the most important new ideas and ways of thinking I learned from Marc Sageman -- (see "32 page power-point," pdf link above). In previous posts I gave an overview of Dr. Sageman's exploration of the dynamics of radicalization, of how people eventually get on the path to political violence. He maintains that these are young men chasing thrills, fantasies of glory and the sense of belonging to an important group and cause. It is a bottom-up process involving four major factors: 1) There is a sense of moral outrage. 2) There is a specific interpretation of the meaning of the precipitating event or events. 3) It resonates with their own personal experience. 4) The mobilization takes place through networks.

Section 3 -- (pp. 23-30 pdf). "The Expatriate vs. Homegrown Trajectories and Mobilization Through Networks of People with Pre-existing Social Bonds or Operational Links." Further elaboration of Sageman's research on 4) above.

The mobilization takes place through networks: The First Wave, the original group, consisted of Osama bin Laden and Dr. al Zawahiri -- the "African Arabs" in Afghanistan and the border area of Pakistan. They were followed by the "Second Wave" of jihadis who took two very different paths into subsequent terror networks. The trajectories are described by Sageman as "Expatriates" and "Homegrown."

The Expatriate Trajectory: The network that eventually culminated in the attacks of 9/11/01 in the U.S. began the 1990's. They were mostly from the Middle East, upwardly and geographically mobile, the "best and brightest." They were raised in religious, caring and middle class families. "Global citizens," they spoke 3 or 4 languages and were skilled in IT. They were sent to the universities of the West, thus separated from their own cultures, leading to being lonely and homesick. Marginalized and excluded from the society of the West, though they adopted the Western lifestyle, they were without relief. So they sought friends, drifting to the mosques for companions, not religion. Eventually they moved in together, ate the same foods, and formed cliques.

The Homegrown Trajectory: In contrast the "homegrown" jihadis were 2nd or 3rd generation men raised and radicalized in Western host countries, but retaining their foreign ideology. They were secular and upwardly mobile, but experienced discrimination and exclusion from the societies in which they were raised. Dropping out of school, they turned to petty crime and drugs, forming gangs. Their collective identity was reactive and resentful. They eventually drifted into religion to escape that situation, according to Dr. Sageman's research findings.

Mobilization through Networks: (See pdf slides 25 through 30 for Sageman's fascinating pictorial representations of the global networks as they have evolved over time). The first of the Second Wave networks were face to face and included homegrown neighborhood gangs, both expatriate and homegrown student activities, and 12 radical study groups -- about half the sample. Then a gradual shift to online networks occurred, with no space or time limits. This has transformed the participation into an egalitarian threat that includes teenagers and women. Chat-rooms became important virtual "invisible hand" networks.

The group dynamics were increased commitment via interactivity: The groups acted as "echo chambers" encouraging mutual escalation. It was about "cause" and "comrades." They gradually slid into a violence dynamic of in-group love and out-group hate. Some of them later went to Iraq and blew themselves up. Dr. Sageman discussed the example of the Madrid group. Five of the 7 went to Madrid to be drug dealers who eventually were radicalized. They were secular at the time of the bombing. One felt John Travolta was his hero.

To be continued -- "The Evolution of Global Islamist Terror"

I close with some interesting links taken from a current pertinent section of my Congressional Quarterly Newsletter. (To sign up for CQ's free newsletters, click here: http://www.cq.com/corp/newsletters.do), "CQ Homeland Security:"

More on the Sageman story:

View my current slide show about the Bush years, "Millennium," at the bottom of this column.

(Cross-posted at The Reaction.)

My “creativity and dreaming” post today is at Making Good Mondays.

Technorati tags: news news and politics politics middle east iraq jihad marc sageman war on terror

Jihad and 21st Century Terrorism,
A Discussion with Marc Sageman on Leaderless Jihad, was a program held at the New America Foundation on Feb. 20, 2008. {This link can provide full video or audio of the event. Here is the link to Sageman's 32 page power-point presentation; it includes his main lecture ideas.} To quote the synopsis:

Today's post is the second in a series laying out the most important new ideas and ways of thinking I learned from Marc Sageman -- (see "32 page power-point," pdf link above):

Section 2: "The process became radicalization, mobilization and evolution of the threat over time." -- (pp. 16-22 pdf)

Dr. Sageman explored the dynamics of radicalization, of how people eventually get on the path to political violence. He maintains that these are young men chasing thrills, fantasies of glory and the sense of belonging to an important group and cause. It is a bottom-up process involving four major factors: 1) There is a sense of moral outrage. 2) There is a specific interpretation of the meaning of the precipitating event or events. 3) It resonates with their own personal experience. 4) The mobilization takes place through networks.

Further elaboration of 1) "moral outrage" -- This is anger about a major moral violation; it is not humiliation. It became global after the invasion of Iraq, when before it was confined to the local, involving local police activity. The invasion of Iraq began the activation of Muslim identity, and the local and global reinforce each other.

2) What is the interpretation? It is "war against Islam." It becomes anti-Americanism and anti-semitism. This does not come from the intellectuals or Islamic scholars; it involves the "sound bite" Islam. The radicals did not get into theological debates. There is a consistency with imbedded cultural beliefs that differ between the U.S. and old Europe. Europe projects various national "essences," French-ness, Italianate, etc., and Muslims feel left out. On the other hand, the U.S. myth is of a "melting pot." The American dream is of equal opportunity, and most Muslims believe this is true (Pew research cited by Sageman). Europe has practiced more economic exclusion of Muslim minorities. In addition there are religious differences within Islam. Moderates are more tolerant of religious fundamentalism; the radicals were dominated by Saudis' Salafi fundamentalism.

3) Dr. Sageman discussed a resonance with personal experiences among the radicalized men. Their own personal grievances were "root causes." There has also been a historical legacy with which they are familiar. Muslims in Europe are now in a third generation of unskilled laborers, re-builders of Europe. American Muslims are dominated by middle class professionals. The current average income for a family here is $70,000 annually. Muslims generally are employed in the U.S. opposite to the very high unemployment rate for Muslims in foreign nations. Political contributions include the more generous welfare policies in other developed countries, contributing to idleness and boredom, according to Sageman. There has been a failure of governments' repressive top-down polities, and a resultant Xenophobic backlash. Dr. Sageman reported that most European terrorist plots "were funded with welfare checks." And he cautioned against underestimating the power of high levels of boredom, contributing to the irresistability of violence. Closing with contrasting data about arrest rates in the U.S. vs Europe, Sageman was able to find 60 arrest records for terrorism related charges in the U.S., "mostly through entrapment through the Bureau," Sagemen said. In contrast there were 2,400 arrests in Europe, "with no entrapment." That is six times the arrest rate.

4) Joining jihad, forming networks of trust -- Two-thirds of the men linking into the terrorist networks were expatriates. And Dr. Sageman found that over 90% had some association with the phenomena of the diaspora -- 80% were 2nd and 3rd generation and young expatriates. There was a pre-existing friendship for 70% of the men joining; 20% involved kinship. Sageman characterized the groups as "spontaneous, sel-organized bunches of guys (networks of trust) from the bottom up. It was self-selection and mutual self-recruitment.

To be continued -- "The trajectories of the mobilization of expatriate and home-grown terrorists into networks."

I close with some interesting links taken from a current pertinent section of my Congressional Quarterly Newsletter. (To sign up for CQ's free newsletters, click here: http://www.cq.com/corp/newsletters.do), "CQ Homeland Security:"

More on the Sageman story:

View my current slide show about the Bush years, "Millennium," at the bottom of this column.

(Cross-posted at The Reaction.)

My “creativity and dreaming” post today is at Making Good Mondays.

Technorati tags: news news and politics politics middle east iraq jihad marc sageman war on terror

Those of us who will be casting votes for the next president, have a thing or two to learn. One of our best resources can be the foreign press. The rest of the world is observing our electoral processes with a great deal of interest, and very often with a helpful and relatively unbiased fresh view. This post presents a current sampling.

United Kingdom - BBC News features a special report, "Vote USA 2008." It is an "Election Issues Guide" that sets out leading candidate positions from a drop-down list on Iraq, Iran, National Security, Climate change, Health care, Illegal immigration, Abortion and the Economy. The various positions are given only for the Democrats' three "main candidates," Clinton, Obama and Edwards. However the section includes the five Republican views of those they consider to be the "main candidates," Giuliani, Huckabee, McCain, Romney and Thompson. It could be a very handy tool for those of us who are undecided and want to compare positions, rather than polls. Take a look; it is excellent.

China - Opinion Brendan John Worrell, originally from Australia, writes from chinadaily.com. 2007-12-17: "Which country scares you the most? There is no more important relationship that America has than our relationship with China." It is a bit of a fresh perspective, and seems very favorable towards John Edwards. The op-ed begins:

Worrell's op-ed closes with this:

The Financial Times of London had a very good editorial yesterday titled,"Why we must have faith in America’s voters." Senior editor at the Weekly Standard, Christopher Caldwell, wrote very insightfully about religion and politics in America. The writer's analysis brings a much needed outside view to us. To quote:

The International Herald Tribune is the international voice of the New York Times. Based in Paris, non-American readers comprise 2/3 of its readership. Their "U.S. Election 2008" sidebar section carries eight feature stories about all of the leading candidates. The main story focused on Bill Richardson's international experience as an envoy.

Dubai - Aljazeera's "Americas" story is pretty straightforward. The piece is about a recent NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll that Clinton and Giuliani are locked in a dead heat. To quote Aljazeera:

Ria Novosti, Russia -- An editorial written by a Russian about Time Magazine's choice of Vladimir Putin as its "person of the year," is not really about our upcoming elections. And yet it is, in a way. Just as the next president must deal with China in an effective manner, so must that person know how to deal with Russia. To quote RIA Novosti political analyst Boris Kaimakov:

Other countries can inform us about the election in several useful ways. Today I looked at a few possibilities. They stated who they think the leading candidates are. They let us know what scares them about the U.S. We learned some new information about our religiosity. We saw that foreign policy experience carries weight with them. We saw that Aljazeera can write straight news about U.S. politics. And we got a peek into what the Russians think about their "Man of the Year." Not bad for a morning's read.

View my current slide show about the Bush years, "Millennium," at the bottom of this column.

My links:

(Cross-posted at The Reaction.)

My “creativity and dreaming” post today at Making Good Mondays is about my holidays.

Technorati tags: news news and politics politics international 2008 election foreign press china russia religion united kingdom

Thanksgiving, aka "Turkey Day" to our (now adult) children, is tomorrow in the U.S. It is a big holiday for us, a day traditionally set aside for giving thanks for the year's blessings. It is also an opportunity to build compassion.

Technorati tags: thanksgiving news news and politics holidays

Cross posted today at Making Good Mondays.

Trying to understand how other people think is an ongoing challenge for us. It is a very big challenge when it comes to Iraq. We get confused and confounded by efforts to get inside other peoples' heads. Think how much effort goes into trying to motivate Iraqi's leaders to change their thinking. We often find it very hard to unravel the logic driving the conclusions to which other people come. Think how difficult it has been for Democrats to develop a strategy that will bring moderate Republicans into a vote to change the direction of the war in Iraq. We ask, "How can they think that way?" The first obvious fact is that we all think differently. Our perceptions of an identical reality will vary widely, person to person, group to group and culture to culture.

It is not as simple as mere "wrong" thinking, however. Last month I posted "Only a glimpse," opening with this idea:

The second obvious fact is that we all think with our brains. And individual brains vary widely. Shaped by nutrition and chemicals in the womb, stimulated at different levels during maturation, influenced by different environments and cultures, we emerge as totally different kinds of thinkers.

Groups naturally see each other as somehow different. We have different values, ideas, biases and cognitive styles. Middle Easterners are different from Westerners. Democrats and Republicans are different. Similarly, the military sees itself as different from civilians. As a civilian, I am trying to understand how it is that the military can "get it" so well in one case, and not in another, in the following two recent news stories.

The first, an exemplary example is from a recent story, headlined "Inside the brain of a soldier," is by Kristen Hall for the AP (9/19/07). As a retired psychotherapist, I understand how and why this is a good thing for the people to be subjected to it. It is a good way to advance the military's medical understanding and treatment of soldiers, and to safeguard all soldiers over time. We can applaud the commanders who choose to follow this protocol. To quote,

The second, is a questionable examp