Matthew Yglesias: The Widening Reality-Based Community

The Widening Reality-Based Community

One of the odd advantages that George W. Bush's nonsensical manner of running the government has provided is that it opens his administration up to so many different lines of attack that it's very hard for the anti-Bush forces to form a coherent critique. You've got Jim Henley and Marshall Whittman who agree about approximately nothing, joined in their opposition to Bush. I don't agree with either of them about much, but I certainly agree about the opposition to Bush thing. But now that shrill, Bush-hating libertarian Gene Healy is suggesting "Reality-Based Community" T-shirts it appears that the anti-Bush coalition may at last, thanks to an anonymous White House advisor, have found a unifying theme. We are not merely the Ancient and Hermetic Order of the Shrill, which may turn off some of your more mild-mannered Bush opponents, we are, proud members of the Reality-Based Community. On the other side is, well, the other guys.

October 18, 2004 | Permalink

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Comments

But in a profound way they did create their own reality. There are the 1100 dead soldiers, the tens of thousands of dead Iraqi civilians, the many, MANY wounded on both sides...

Posted by: ScrewyRabbit | Oct 18, 2004 12:45:21 AM

I love the way the Bushists are just handing this to us... "You guys live in the world of REALITY!!!"

Posted by: grytpype | Oct 18, 2004 12:55:08 AM

I agree with your Foucaldian take on the administration, but they really fucked up if this "reality based" quote in the Suskind article is solid. I haven't read it, but as a DC regulatory lawyer, it sounds much like the arbitrary and capricious standard for judicial review of federal agency decisions. When you're failing the laugh test you know who've really fucked up.

Posted by: fnook | Oct 18, 2004 1:08:49 AM

"Reality based" - that's nice as a theme.

How does this work exactly? Forgive me, I'm new to this concept...

Posted by: Drew - Dallas, TX | Oct 18, 2004 1:43:56 AM

Well Drew, first you read Suskind's article in the NYT. Here's the relevant quote:

In the summer of 2002, after I had written an article in Esquire that the White House didn't like about Bush's former communications director, Karen Hughes, I had a meeting with a senior adviser to Bush. He expressed the White House's displeasure, and then he told me something that at the time I didn't fully comprehend - but which I now believe gets to the very heart of the Bush presidency.

The aide said that guys like me were "in what we call the reality-based community," which he defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. "That's not the way the world really works anymore," he continued. "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality - judiciously, as you will - we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors . . . and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do."

And after that sinks in, you start thinking about the relative fucked up-ness of Bush's faith-based foreign policy, and the equally fucked up-ness of his supporters blind faith in his mis-administration.

Posted by: ScrewyRabbit | Oct 18, 2004 2:07:47 AM

The quote is so good I fear it's too good to be true.

Posted by: Vance Maverick | Oct 18, 2004 2:13:54 AM

Sorry ScrewyRabbit, but I don't have a subscription or meaningless membership to the NYT site. So, with that in mind, why didn't you copy and paste the entire thing? I thought you were more concerned about how he looked on camera, or facing impromptu questions?

What foreign policy alternative are you aligning this to? I think that you need to loose the f-words and speak English - please.

Posted by: Drew - Dallas, TX | Oct 18, 2004 2:17:31 AM

Drew, it's a really long article, so forgive me while I don't copy and paste the entire thing. Plus that's probably in violation of some copyright law.

Honestly, I'm not one of those who cares what Bush looks like on TV. I care about the worst foreign policy disaster in our lifetimes.

Technically, the f-word is English, but I'll refrain for you sensitive types.

Posted by: ScrewyRabbit | Oct 18, 2004 2:26:05 AM

Thanks Screwster, but again, what policy would make sense in your mind?

Posted by: Drew - Dallas, TX | Oct 18, 2004 2:28:55 AM

Thanks for promoting the new theme- I may dislike Bush somewhat less than the next guy, but I'm not planning to vote for him either.

But this whole shrill thing was getting really annoying.

Posted by: Bob McGrew | Oct 18, 2004 2:48:45 AM

when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality - judiciously, as you will - we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors

Sounds a lot like:

philosophers have only interpreted the world; the point is to change it.

Posted by: JS | Oct 18, 2004 3:32:54 AM

The resident troll demonstrates the limits of the reality-based community by whining, no matter how much is explained, that he still doesn't understand.

In contrast, faith-based communities have no maintenance costs, just the initial sign-up fee.

Posted by: bad Jim | Oct 18, 2004 3:33:29 AM

For the time being, this is a web-safe link:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/17/magazine/17BUSH.html?ex=1255665600&en=890a96189e162076&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland

Matthew:

This is why we pay you the big bucks.

Posted by: Joseph Groton | Oct 18, 2004 4:22:19 AM

First a sceptic relation to science and its usefulness compared to, say, religion as a means of understanding the world, then doubts about the law and rights as absolute concepts, then the adoption of the thesis that reality is something man-made altogether.

Seems that behind the moniker "Compassionate Conservatism" hid the post-modern phalanx of the Republican party.

Posted by: G. Svenson | Oct 18, 2004 6:02:25 AM

what js said above. Triumph of the Will was about creating facts on the ground.

it's a question of hubris.

the invasion of iraq was supposed to create a new reality: pro-western gov't, a thankful iraqi populace, that would replace the bs that moved the country to attack.

the theft of the 2000 fl election was also an Act of Will.

Posted by: Troy | Oct 18, 2004 8:31:40 AM

>Sorry ScrewyRabbit, but I don't have a subscription or meaningless membership to the NYT site. So, with that in mind, why didn't you copy and paste the entire thing?

Um, so you are advocating that he commit copyright infringement?

Posted by: raj | Oct 18, 2004 9:07:12 AM

I have noticed:

Bushites are at war with Reality!
Bushites are at war with Truth!

Their entire platform of lies and distortions is a Weapon of Mass Deception.

Sane people life in reality and deal with Truth.

Bushites do not.
It isn't about partisanship, it is about sanity!

Posted by: Falafel Billy | Oct 18, 2004 9:30:00 AM

Living in small city, I drive and use my car's rear window for homemade bumper stickers that can change every few days.

Past favorites include:
"Re-defeat da
Presi-dunce"

and

GOP Sinners:
Rush Bennett O'Reilly
Drugs Gambling Sex

Now this "reality based community" has inspired a new one...
"Face Reality
Fire Bush"

Thank you anonymous high level White House administration source..

Posted by: daver9 | Oct 18, 2004 9:45:05 AM

Drew: In your 2:17AM post, you asked ScrewyRabbit to "loose the f-words...." That would mean you want him to use it more! Did you actually mean "lose," as in "Please stop using the f-word"?

Just for clarity, and you're not alone. I've noticed increasing use of "loose" when commenters mean "lose". Easy enough typo.

Posted by: jawbone | Oct 18, 2004 9:47:00 AM

It's not always easy, but I try to stay reality based myself. After reading the Susskind article, which seemed to be saying that instead of reality, Bush thinks he is being guided directly by God His Own Self, I asked some one who is more of a christian than I am to read it and comment. I'm not up on this stuff, but she commented that christians used to have a word for what Bush is claiming: Blasphemy--disrespect or irreverence toward something considered sacred or inviolable, esp. God.
Sounds like that about covers it to me.

Posted by: JuanBongo | Oct 18, 2004 9:52:23 AM

I've mentioned this in the past. This is what the late Herblock, in his book about Nixon, called "the multiple bad things advantage." Nixon haters hated SO MANY THINGS about Nixon that they came across as slavering, unreasoning beasts with motivated by an inexplicable animus.

That has been happening with George W. Bush. He is SUCH an utter disaster, with no positive accomplishments of any kind, that it's impossible for his opponents to focus on any one particular catastrophe. Thus, we tend to dissipate our justifiable anger by striking out in all directions at once. It's easy for the wingnuts to caricature us as irrationally angry liberals rather than have to deal with our actual criticisms.

But what can we do? Faced with so many horrible decisions and actions, we kind of have to attack on all fronts at once. George W. Bush is so incompetent, he is protected by his very inability to achieve anything.

Posted by: Tom Beck | Oct 18, 2004 10:00:09 AM

when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're
studying that reality - judiciously, as you will - we'll act again,
creating other new realities, which you can study too, and
that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors

Sounds a lot like:

philosophers have only interpreted the world; the point is to
change it.

Actually, it sounds a lot more like:

"How many fingers am I holding up, Winston?"

"Four"

"And if the Party says that it is not four but five -- then how many?"

"Four."

The word ended in a gasp of pain. The needle had shot up to fifty-five... (snip) ..."Sometimes, Winston, Sometimes they are five. Somtimes they are three. Sometimes they are all of them at once. You must try harder. It is not easy to become sane."

-- The prophet Orwell --

Posted by: kenlac | Oct 18, 2004 10:00:45 AM

Personally I hope that this quote helps in re-beating Bush, but professionally and academically I am compelled to point out that the theory espoused is neither new nor particularly radical. It is the standard fare at most highly-competitive organizations and is taught in business schools, the Marine Corps, and similar organizations.

And I also have to observe that in the business setting it is not necessarily wrong. Businesses larger than 20 employees are beset with people who sit around analyzing things and coming up with reasons why objective x can't be accomplished. Again, IN THE BUSINESS SETTING, objective x usually _can_ be accomplished if someone sufficiently motivated puts their mind to it - thus changing the "reality" of the situation.

Now, in the non-business world, where there are other actors just as motivated as our mythical finger-pointer, and they carry guns...

Cranky

Posted by: Cranky Observer | Oct 18, 2004 10:20:01 AM

"Thanks Screwster, but again, what policy would make sense in your mind?"

Well, Drew (BTW, are you the fat, fundamentalist Drew in Dallas who plays board games?), for starters, how about one informed by historical, political, and cultural reality instead of one pulled out of the president's a**? Any government that takes pride in ignoring reality when planning its policies has no business in power. Is that so hard to comprehend?

Posted by: jjcomet | Oct 18, 2004 10:27:50 AM

I'm a proud member of the fantasy-based community.

Posted by: George W. Bush | Oct 18, 2004 10:27:52 AM

How difficult is it to fake a login to the NY Times, anyway? They think I'm a 98-year-old Albanian woman who makes over $100K a year.

Posted by: M. | Oct 18, 2004 10:39:21 AM

And there's BugMeNot:

http://www.bugmenot.com/

I use the extension for FireFox. Just right click on the login entry.

Posted by: Daverz | Oct 18, 2004 11:09:10 AM

But if you read the fine print--Wittman's *reasons* for endorsing Kerry--it's not very heartening. Wittman's endorsement only heightens my fear that some neocon rats are deserting Bush's sinking ship and (pardon the mixed metaphors) see Kerry as a potential new host organism.

After all, in their origins neocons are just Cold War liberal hawks ("Scoop Jackson Democrats") who couldn't stomach McGovern. And as Irving Kristol pointed out in a recent article on "big government conservatism," many of them have their problems with the GOP.

The neocons certainly don't have any trouble working with Democrats when there's no alternative. If you recall, it hasn't been that long since the PNAC was attempting to act through the Clinton administration re Iraq, and Maudlin Allbright was referring to the messianic role of the U.S. as "the indispensible nation."

Posted by: Kevin Carson | Oct 18, 2004 11:10:15 AM

Sounds a lot like:

philosophers have only interpreted the world; the point is to change it.

Posted by: JS | October 18, 2004 03:32 AM

JS, you're missing an important difference. The point of interpreting the world is in order that it may be changed for the better. The philosophers who only interpreted and did not change may have been clever, but their cleverness went to no purpose.

But the barbarians who would change the world without first studying it are riding blind: they have no clue what the effect of their actions is going to be. This would be all very well for them if they were as omnipotent as they think they are; they could just act and act again, freely and without constraint.

But as this hubristic lot are finding out, they aren't gods, and they're aren't omnipotent. Reality is back, and this time it's pissed.

Posted by: derek | Oct 18, 2004 11:12:49 AM

Ain't that Drew a card, though? Meaningless registrations really bother him. The most unique of trolls.

I think that Cranky is right, and this is actually a Republican strength, especially in campaigning. It's a bit like Sharon's "facts on the ground" -- by taking action, the situation may get worse, but your opponents' proposals and objections will become irrelevant. "So what are you gonna do NOW, buddy?"

Too many Democrats come from administration and normalizing forms of social science, where you try to keep things under control and figure out the most likely outcomes, etc. Republicans are more likely to come from wildcat entrepreneurial backgrounds, some of them semi-criminal, and are better at figuring out new angles. So if a situation is changing or unstable, or if it has unrevealed potentials, Republicans are more likely to spot them and exploit them. The citation from Marx is exactly on the money.

However, most entrepreneurs fail and most advenbturists are defeated, and the Iraq venture did not go well even by the Bush administration's own (unprofessed, secret) standards. The entrepreneurial resposne in that case will be to up the ante -- institute a draft, invade Iran, and start putting pressure on the traitors in our midst -- e.g., me. (Is there anyone who believes that something like that won't happen if Bush is reelected).

So anyway, the "reality-based" slogan zings Bush and we should use it, not because it was originally wrong, but because the Iraq venture is in collapse phase. They gave it their best shot, but close only counts in horseshoes.

Posted by: Zizka | Oct 18, 2004 11:33:36 AM

The quote in Suskind also highlights the pitiful black/white mindset of the Bushites. As if there was only the alternative between never-ending abstracted "judicious study" and forceful, hubristic action. Another of the many false dichotomies they spew.

If someone is proposing jumping off the roof of a ten-story building, it doesn't require too much "study" to point out that evidence suggests that gravity will make you fall, and that a fall of ten stories tends to kill people, which isn't the goal we are seeking. And it will take more faith than Furious George has yet demonstrated for him to create a new reality in which that is irrelevant.

Belief that you can step off that roof and live could be interpreted by some as a supreme act of faith. Most of us would call it suicidal delusion. Either way, it's inappropriate as a basis for governing a country.

Posted by: biggerbox | Oct 18, 2004 12:00:33 PM

Needlenose.com has a choice Orwell quote comparisson to the 'Reality-based Community' quote:

http://www.needlenose.com/node/view/534?PHPSESSID=ae2b93b601232bdfb9157b6834e1228a

From 1984:

"You believe that reality is something objective, external, existing in its own right. You also believe that the nature of reality is self-evident. When you delude yourself into thinking that you see something, you assume that everyone else sees the same thing as you. But I tell you, Winston, that reality is not external. . . . Whatever the Party holds to be the truth, is truth. It is impossible to see reality except by looking through the eyes of the Party."

Posted by: Howard | Oct 18, 2004 12:05:05 PM

the last people i remember being on a mission from god were the Blues Brothers. and i would rather vote for John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd for President & VP, than Bush & Dick, even if John is dead.

Posted by: reinstein | Oct 18, 2004 12:06:26 PM

This "reality-based" quote reminds me of an Ari Fleischer statement shortly after the Afghanistan campaign. Some reporter tried to call him on a lie in the gaggle and he answered with a statement that was the functional equivalent of "the President is so popular, we can say whatever we want."

Luckily, W's not so popular anymore, but his true believers don't care about that, either...

Posted by: Swoosh | Oct 18, 2004 12:13:56 PM

Yes, I have read 1984 too. And I consider myself a reasonably rational, scientific, reality-based person.

But consider these thoughts: "No sir Mr. Ellison, IBM has the database market locked up. Your so-called 'Oracle' idea will never get anywhere". "No need to worry about the exact working of that contract Billy [Gates] - it isn't as if you could compete with IBM anyway". "Go ahead and kill that toy computer project - Ken Olson, President, Digital Equipment Corporation around 1975". "Why start a new long-distance company? No one can compete with AT&T". "Sorry Mr. Westinghouse - Edison has electricity sewed up with his DC systems. No need for your AC products". "Better just buckle down and accept the Czar's rule Vladimir".

And so on, probably back to Babelonian times and before. Determined people _can_ change the nature of reality in many spheres technical, economic, social, and political. To say otherwise is not itself in accordance with reality.

Cranky

Posted by: Cranky Observer | Oct 18, 2004 12:15:34 PM

Yes, Cranky, change can be accomplished. But you have to WORK for it, you have to PLAN for it.

You can't just go up against a giant, like say IBM, without a plan. This administration simply believes that if it says something that the rest of the world will neatly slot itself into that position.

It doesn't work like that. All your examples are times where a better product was introduced. How the hell can WE offer a better world if we refuse to take note of what's already out there?

Posted by: TK | Oct 18, 2004 12:35:42 PM

Determined people _can_ change the nature of reality in many spheres technical, economic, social, and political.

Venture capitalists still want to see you submit a business plan with market analysis before they'll give you any startup funding. There's a reason for this.

Bush is both lazy and has no interest in planning ahead. That would seem to mitigate against whatever advantages are to be had by "dreaming the big dream." That does line up well with the fact that Bush tends to enjoy acting with the trappings of an entrepeneur without ever having successfully started a viable business.

Posted by: Constantine | Oct 18, 2004 12:45:31 PM

To elaborate on TK's point--you cannot wake up from your wasted life at the age of 39, become a man of great political ambition, not become a man of great curiosity, complexity and effort, and hope to successfully lead such great change. All the examples in Cranky's list were people who worked very hard (no immense vacation, no scarily regular bedtimes), were very acquainted with the system as it was in reality, were very critical thinkers, and were thus very well equipped to see future possibilities and make them happen---not merely wish them into being. If you just wish them into being and then act like they're there, when they're not, you end up with a mess. Sound familiar?

Love the Tagline, Matt.

Posted by: Saheli | Oct 18, 2004 12:51:42 PM

My idea for a logo.

Posted by: salvage | Oct 18, 2004 12:58:14 PM

we need t-shirts! reality-based community!

Posted by: skippy | Oct 18, 2004 1:10:24 PM

Cranky, the relevant distinction is between necessary and sufficient conditions.

Posted by: tinman | Oct 18, 2004 1:15:51 PM

> All your examples are times where a
> better product was introduced.

TK,
Generally I agree with you (except for your contention that Leninism/Communism was "better" ;-) ). Please do note though that I mostly used examples of business/technology change because those come to mind more easily in the oughts, but that other examples of social and political change can be found.

But I think my main point survives both your critique and similar ones downthread: achieving something difficult and radical almost always requires the self-confidence and ignorance to ignore what others tell you and bull ahead anyway. If you succeed, you have changed reality (again, don't focus on just technology there).

Just for the record I agree that W is not the person to do this.

Cranky

Posted by: Cranky Observer | Oct 18, 2004 1:20:44 PM

"We are not merely the Ancient and Hermetic Order of the Shrill, which may turn off some of your more mild-mannered Bush opponents, we are, proud members of the Reality-Based Community."

What an irony that the sharpest, most prophetic piece of political reporting at the start of the G.W. Bush presidency was this famous one by the Onion.

"Venture capitalists still want to see you submit a business plan with market analysis before they'll give you any startup funding. There's a reason for this."

I've written several business plans, and reality was only tangentially involved. Writing a B-plan is one of the lowest hurdles your idea has to get over to get funding.

Posted by: Tom | Oct 18, 2004 1:23:55 PM

> I've written several business plans, and
> reality was only tangentially involved.
> Writing a B-plan is one of the lowest
> hurdles your idea has to get over to get
> funding.

I will also point out that since the venture (vulture) capital crowd got involved in the technology startup business there have been very few actual Bill Packards or Steve Wozniaks (literal garage-to-empire stories). Same type of issue in essence.

Cranky

Posted by: Cranky Observer | Oct 18, 2004 1:37:31 PM

I'll weigh in again in Cranky's support. The big successes are in unexpected areas where, in the absence of adequate information, you really aren't sure what's going to happen. All of the sure things in the well-understood reality zone are already exploited, and the profit margin is small.

The Marx citation is also apropos. Every reality has instabilities and latencies that are not evident. (Marx called them contradictions). Every seemingly stable situation is really changing. And finally, realities can often be changed by action.

I'm not defending Bush's various mistakes and blatant stupidities. But the citation we're talking about is not stupid.

One of the reasons why the Republicans have outcampaigned the Democrats for the last 20+ years is that they're more entrepreneurial and opportunistic. The Democrats' campaigns are always careful and sensible and grounded on the latest polls and the latest studies, but too cautious and not alert for the main chance. They never surprise anyone.

The exception is Clinton, and he did, in fact, have some of the sleazy, semi-criminal opportunism that serves the Republicans so well. Republicans hated Clinton's sleaziness because he was horning in on their monopoly.

Posted by: Zizka | Oct 18, 2004 1:44:41 PM

Can mine be an "altered-reality" t-shirt, preferably with a skeleton-and-roses?

Posted by: bob mcmanus | Oct 18, 2004 1:47:16 PM

In response to Cranky:
You make an observation that has some value but is incomplete. All good parents tell their kids: You can grow up to be the president/astronaut/doctor/basketball star. But all good parents also say: you have to work for it.

Here is a concrete example of faith getting ahead of work. Remember if you can the bursting of the computer/tech bubble in the late 1990s. Have you forgotten already the time when venture capitalists passed out millions to any geek with a vision and a laptop? Remember dot.com millionaires? Internet time? The "new" economy?

The world of investment provides many examples of investor faith temporarily triumphing over market realities. The Great Depression, the Dutch tulip mania in the 1630s, and so on. We are now caught up in a "political bubble" which I hope will burst on Nov. 2.

Posted by: quietcity | Oct 18, 2004 1:56:56 PM

"Q. What is reality?

"A. And we're not afraid of it, either!"

Posted by: rea | Oct 18, 2004 2:12:57 PM

How about "Lala landers" for the other side?

Posted by: Dilip Kamat | Oct 18, 2004 2:13:29 PM

RE: Cranky

I am not sure I understand your comments. There is no doubt that one can make a change in the the real world, you just shouldn't ignore reality and make all your decisions based on faith alone.

For me those quotes actually support the reality-based community perspective. It was a faith or belief that something couldn't be done that was detached from reality and proved to be wrong. Furthermore, to accomplish their goal they did have to face reality. For example, the PC wasn't built on faith alone, it was built with _a plan_ very much grounded in reality. They had to deal with where do we buy hard drives, memory, CPUs, etc, how do we manufacture it and how can we make it affordable. That's far different than invading Iraq because God told you to and not ever working out a plan to actually be successful. (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/10/17/215914/02)
Don't for a minute think that IBM ignored the realities of what it takes to build and sell a computer, telling all doubters to just believe that it can be done and it will.

Posted by: Get Real | Oct 18, 2004 2:15:50 PM

oops that dailykos link about Bush not having a plan should have been
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2004/10/17/215633/76

Posted by: Get Real | Oct 18, 2004 2:21:48 PM

faith without facts is fantasy

Posted by: J2 | Oct 18, 2004 2:32:43 PM

Speaking for myself, but probably also for Cranky, we are only defending the statement by the Bush aide. We are not defending the Bush administration or any of the extrapolations and reducios ad absurdum that various people have made from the aide's statement.

The aide was taking a venturesome activist point of view based on imperfect knowledge, as opposed to a normalizing fail-safe point of view based on the best knowledge immediately available.

Posted by: Zizka | Oct 18, 2004 2:47:24 PM

The notion that we should create radical change
with "outside the box" thinking -- i.e., ignoring
current reality -- should not be automatically condemned.

Such action should be judged using criteria such
as (a) What are the motives/objectives, (b) How
well have you planned (yes, this is important),
(c) What will be the cost/risk, (d) What are the
chances of success.

The neocons fail on these tests. The abstract
notion of creating new realities is not bad of itself.

(Of course, some will say that using the above
criteria means not ignoring current reality. At
that point we are arguing over semantics -- which
we are doing most of the time).

Posted by: JS | Oct 18, 2004 2:48:13 PM

t-shirts seem to have arrived

http://www.cafepress.com/2004primary/404640

Posted by: David | Oct 18, 2004 2:56:03 PM

Look, I am certainly not a philosopher, so I may have missed some of the fine points of this whole mess. But it seems pretty simple to me.

1. The U.S. is the world superpower.
2. Today’s reality is the status quo.
3. If you want to break free of the status quo, you must move forward.
4. When the world superpower makes a move, it changes not only our reality, but the world’s reality.

Now, weather you agree or disagree with the direction of the movement is irrelevant, when that move is made, your reality is changed.

Again, I am not a philosopher, so I am sure about 6 of you out there will correct my over simplistic take on the whole statement.

Posted by: Kevin | Oct 18, 2004 3:09:26 PM

Speaking for myself, but probably also for Cranky, we are only defending the statement by the Bush aide. We are not defending the Bush administration or any of the extrapolations and reducios ad absurdum that various people have made from the aide's statement.

Zizka,

Thank you - I do agree with that.

Such action should be judged using criteria such as (a) What are the motives/objectives, (b) How well have you planned (yes, this is important), (c) What will be the cost/risk, (d) What are the chances of success.
The neocons fail on these tests.

JS,

And I also agree with that! Thanks again.

Cranky

Posted by: Cranky Observer | Oct 18, 2004 3:14:46 PM

Indeed there are fundamental differences between conservatives and liberals; republicans & democrats. The coming election has made the expansive divide between the two greater than ever.

So, in the interest of understanding as much as I can about all side -- in the interest of making an informed decision -- I have opened myself up to the various outlets that intend to show each in its true light.

Finally, it is clear: Neither Bush nor Kerry is worthy of my vote. Sadly, there is no viable third party candidate to vote for either.

Bush loses because he is too much like the highschool football star; he is strong and resolved and ready to fight and win -- but also oafish and completely dependant upon the puppetmasters for guidance; his vision is clear, but self-serving. Bush is not evil nor is he a bad Americanl, rather he is illequipped to manage the tasks necessary to navigate a dangerous future.

On the other hand, Kerry is equally illequipped. John Kerry is the classic example of the Liberal Paradox; The ultra-have fighting for the cause of all have-nots. Kerry is campaigning on a platform of fluff. John Kerry understanding the plight of the common citizen is much like a blind man understanding the color blue - he has no frame of reference. Kerry exeplifies what I have come to understand by listening to Liberal radio (and on blogs just like this one):

1. Liberals love Americans, but hate America.
2. Liberals desire success, but resent the successful.
3. Liberals purport to expose facts about American politics; while they propagate opinion as fact in the absence of facts. (or when the facts controvert their agenda)
4. Liberals invite intelligent debate, but respond mostly with epithets and unsubstantiated personal attacks.
5. Liberals believe that inalienable human rights are worth fighting for – except when there has to be an actual fight.
6. Liberals demand high wages for menial jobs…then act surprised when American business can’t afford to do business in America.
7. Liberals appeal shamelessly to the plight of the middle class yet believe that it’s okay to tax their hard-earned dollars over and over and over again.
8. Liberals believe that voting one’s conscience is a fundamental right – as long as one’s conscience is voting for the Democrat; otherwise, the vote has been wasted. (Yes, they actually said that on Air America)
9. Liberals advocate a safe and secure America, as long as the borders remain open and law enforcement doesn’t get too involved.
10. Liberals, educated and astute, analyze current events and observe the world as it is… then pout and whine and complain and cry more than my 3 year-old daughter.

Look deep within yourself and answer this question: Does either candidate truly care about you?

Bush, Kerry... take your pick. It's a no win situation for us all.

Posted by: David Givot | Oct 18, 2004 4:04:29 PM

Since when do empires not face reality?

The longest-lasting empires in history were very good indeed at facing reality.

Anyone who reads Caesar knows how well he dealt with the reality on the ground in Gaul. If he hadn't known a great deal about the place he would never have conquered it. And if Caesar hadn't conquered Gaul the subsequent reality there would have been very different(no 234 different brands of cheese).

The current inhabitants of the White House are the victims of that fallacy that confuses the will to change reality with reality itself. This isn't merely gung-ho locker-room-at-the-half self-confidence. This is delusional. It is also the psychological basis for Fascism.

Posted by: Angry Blue Planet | Oct 18, 2004 4:11:44 PM

> shirts seem to have arrived
> h++p://www.cafepress.com

Hmmm - not quite what I had in mind. A yard sign would be nice too. Anyone found anything else yet?

Cranky

Posted by: Cranky Observer | Oct 18, 2004 4:23:07 PM

The fact that this is "valid" in business context does not diminish my view that it is a stupid statement. Many things said and held as gospel in business school and corporate boardrooms are absurd when considered in the light of logic. "Perception is reality" is one that springs to mind. Had a boss once who loved to hold forth on how "perception is reality" especially when his perception of my reality was way off base. Of course, perception is not reality. Reality is reality, but you'd have to join the "reality community" to know that.

Intelligent people test their perceptions of reality to ensure that they are not misperceptions of reality. Then there are folks like we have in the Whitehouse who have more faith in their perceptions than is warranted by their record. If the actions of the country "create" a new reality, one still lives in it -- as we are living in this little piece of hell W's constructed for us. I don't think being in the reality-based community means resisting innovation or change. I'd think understanding reality may be what inspires and fuels the innovation.

Certainly great thinkers and inventors have all spent a lot of time getting to know reality. Otherwise, why isn't someone making millions on their herd of unicorns. Just think what people would pay for a genuine unicorn horn lamp? Now don't go telling me that unicorns are not real -- I'm thinking outside the Box!!! Don't go "reality" on me.

Back in the good old days, if you said you didn't live in the reality based community, the men in white coats would come and take you to a community where you could be among your own kind. Nowdays we make you a CEO or, better yet, elect you president.

Posted by: erasmus | Oct 18, 2004 7:16:27 PM

Dear Mr. or Ms M. (at 10:39 a.m.)

That's the beauty of our approach. Now, you can be that "98-year-old Albanian women who makes over 100k a year". By the time these rationalists figure it out, POOF, you've gone and turned into a 9-year-old Hindu boy.

Posted by: Der Rovenmiester | Oct 18, 2004 7:18:05 PM

Salvage has designed a cool logo for the RBC.

Posted by: Robert McClelland | Oct 18, 2004 7:35:19 PM

Hey, don't forget my blog! I came up with "Proud Member of the Reality Based Community" without ever seeing it on anybody else's blog. Swear to rationality!

Posted by: mumon | Oct 18, 2004 8:20:01 PM

As the Irish say, "Brilliant." I add myself as a citizen of the reality-based community.

Posted by: Frank | Oct 18, 2004 8:26:13 PM

Okay here's the Tshirts and stuff:

All monies made will go to widowed orphans or orphaned widows, my accountant is working out the details.

Posted by: salvage | Oct 18, 2004 9:04:08 PM

God speaks through me.

He's pissed at you.

Give me a blowjob.

Posted by: Adam Stanhope | Oct 18, 2004 9:11:56 PM

What will happen to the Democratic Party if there is another terrorist attack on US soil? The answer is not far to seek. It will implode, disappear, go the way of the Whigs. Does anyone doubt that?

The instinct to survive trumps ideology. Listen, Democrats: guilt, cowardice and masochism do not amount to an adequate ideology for a free people.

Posted by: Joe Willingham | Oct 19, 2004 12:59:00 AM

What will happen to the Democratic Party if there is another terrorist attack on US soil? The answer is not far to seek. It will implode, disappear, go the way of the Whigs. Does anyone doubt that?

The instinct to survive trumps ideology. Listen, Democrats: guilt, cowardice and masochism do not amount to an adequate ideology for a free people.

Posted by: Joe Willingham | Oct 19, 2004 12:59:22 AM

Hmmm... reality vs faith, I think we've been through this one a few times. I guess every generation has to learn hard way.

I come down hard on the side of science and measurement and I have nothing but comtempt for faith based politics.

It's not enough to have good intentions, action must result in accomplishing objectives. For instance observe these two key failures of bushCo to achieve it's stated objectives.

IRAQ
-----
Stated Objective: reduce terrorism

Action: invade Iraq

Result: Increase in worldwide terrorism, discrediting of democracy, dicrediting of america, dicrediting of peaceful interventions via sanctions and UN forces, discrediting of UN, creation of america as enemy of mohammed, creation of muslims as enemy of america.

Reality explains:
Invading Iraq destroyed it's infrastructure, and america did not rebuild rapidly or move to empower the iraqi people. They now consider americans incompetent fools and feel obligated to support nationalist insurgents. The war serves as a wedge issue to drive muslims away from western thought and sensibilities and towards nationalism and a view of themselves as the chosen people fighting the forces of the devil.

TAX CUTs
-------
Stated Objective: reduce taxes and by inferrence raise the standard of living

Action: tax cuts financed with loans

Result: tax cuts actually increase taxation.

Reality explains: Every dollar in tax cuts will eventually be repaid with tax money. Thus taxes are not reduced, only deferred. After you factor in interest it is a tax increase.

Posted by: brad taylor | Oct 19, 2004 1:36:17 AM

I just finished reading Ron Suskind's "Without a Doubt" article from the Oct. 17 NY Times magazine edition.

While reading it, I could not help but think that I have seen George W. Bush before, or at least his faith-based leadership style,...at the Branch Davidian complex outside Waco and at the People's Temple in Guyana.

David Koresh. Jim Jones. George W. Bush. Faith-based, apocalyptic visionaries. Secretive cult leaders. Infallible to a fault where they deny they've ever made any mistakes. God and self-proclaimed messengers for God don't make mistakes. Stubborn. Willful. Incapable of handling anyone daring to disagree with them, to question them, and their apocalyptic vision for the world. Promisers of the promised land...if you will just sell your soul to them, or your property, or your children's future.

The only difference between the three of them that I can see is that Koresh and Jones only had several hundred to several thousand followers while George W. Bush, the self-anointed one, has millions of followers willing to fall on their sword for him...or drink some spiked Kool-Aid for him.

So, on November 2nd, drink the Kool-Aid for George W. Bush. Drink it. Get your children to drink the Kool-Aid with you. The religious insanity that led to the horror in Waco and in Guyana is what George W. Bush is advocating for America and the world. Armageddon. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Drink the Kool-Aid. Drink it. The Bush administration demands that you drink it.

But don't ask me to drink the Kool-Aid with you on November 2nd. I have my faith, but I belong to the "reality-based community." I will not drink the Kool-Aid for any religious kook like George W. Bush and his cult following. Hopefully, God-willing, enough "reality-based community" members will vote for John Kerry on November 2nd and choose against drinking the sweet, but very bitter-ending, Kool-Aid being sold out of the White House by George W. Bush. I have faith in reality, not in the religious "instincts" of George W. Bush. From what I have observed in his over 3 1/2 years of rule is...his religious "instincts" stink, like rotting, bloated flesh under a hot Guyana sun...or a hot Iraqi sun.

This is the real choice on November 2nd. Between reality and deranged religious fantasy. And it's your choice. Drink the Kool-Aid offered by George W. Bush and his religious minions or fling the Kool-Aid back into their smirking, self-righteous faces. Vote to retain the Kool-Aid in the White House for four more years or vote to remove the deadly Kool-Aid from our government and flush out the befouled White House with the sweet, crystal-clear waters of reality...and religion-free democracy. It's your choice.

I've already decided I can't, I won't, drink the Kool-Aid for George W. Bush on November 2nd.

Posted by: PaulTEXAS | Oct 19, 2004 2:20:45 AM

Great. Just when I'm finally admitting I'm joining the ranks of the shrill (in 8,000 words, no less), all the shrill people have packed up and left to form a new club.

<pout>

Posted by: fling93 | Oct 19, 2004 3:12:28 AM

Where has the moderate center gone? We need you now more than ever.

The Second Coming
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in the sands of the desert.

A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

W.B. Yeats

Posted by: RealityUnhinged | Oct 19, 2004 4:56:16 AM

Rove and the other ogres of the extreme right have got it correct: reality is mutable. The question is:

WHO are the ones to create the new reality of America in the 21st century?

If there is a God, then hopefully it won't be the bunch of cretinous thugs whose vision is that of a theocratic America mired in unending wars against other countries mired in a 1st century A.D. mindset.

Posted by: MastersOfTheUniverse | Oct 19, 2004 5:13:55 AM

Your comments are interesting, but, I think, a little flippant. As you say, there are multiple reasons to be opposed to Bush. You would think that, with as many reasons there are to oppose Bush, Kerry would be able to tap into a significant pool of supporters. Why hasn’t he? Because he is to worried about appearing to be out of the mainstream. He is not talking to that diverse group of people who oppose Bush for diverse reasons. He is not talking to them, because he knows they are tired of hearing it. Kerry knows that diverse group of people can look at Kerry and say, “Senator, why are you complaining about the way W is handling this issue? You either won’t address the issue yourself, or you have exactly the same position as Bush”.

I think the Reality-Based Community is just that, as opposed to the “other guys” who keep listening to the same duo-party line that comes out of Washington and is fed to us by the mass media on a daily basis. It is as if there are only two legitimate points of view in a country of 300 million people. We are not stupid. When will Washington and the media clue in to that fact?

Posted by: Mike F. | Oct 19, 2004 11:32:05 AM

Count me firmly in the "reality-based community" notwithstanding the fact that I am a Christian. One of my several concerns about the "faith-based" approach of the Bush administration is their perversion of Christianity for their own ends. W has hijacked the Christian faith in the service of his own ego-driven fantasies, just as Osama bin Laden has hijacked Islam.

To be a Christian implies patterning one's life after the example of Jesus Christ. The story of Jesus (without regard to whether he existed, historically) shows a man who refused to be king, who rode into town on a donkey, who washed the feet of strangers, who railed against the hypocrisy of religiousity, who drove the money changers from the temple...

Why am I not reminded of W?

Bush rarely attends actual religious services, a practice which in itself can lead to the confusion of one's own ego with the voice of God.

It appears, however, that both he and Cheney are members of the Methodist Church. In the face of that fact, some Methodists are circulating an online petition asserting that W and Dick are "undeniably guilty of at least four chargeable offenses for lay members as listed in 2702.3 of the 2000 Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church. These offenses are: crime, immorality, disobedience to the Order and Discipline of The UMC, and dissemination of doctrine contrary to the established standards of doctrine of The UMC."
http://www.petitiononline.com/tmrloc03/petition.html

The petition has 385 Methodist signatures at the time of this post. When it reaches 1000, its proponents plan to send it to the Methodist bishop and others, seeking to require W and Bush to repent or be removed from the church. The signatures and comments themselves make interesting reading.

Posted by: ColoradoRandy | Oct 19, 2004 6:21:22 PM

Why am I not reminded of W?

Bush rarely attends actual religious services, a practice which in itself can lead to the confusion of one's own ego with the voice of God.

Posted by: ColoradoRandy | Oct 19, 2004 6:21:50 PM

Right on! I'd like to pledge my membership to the Reality-Based Community and, if we're still coming up with names for the other side, I'd like to suggest The Wrong as a stark counterpoint to their stance that they are The Right and we The Left.

How I truly abhore that cheap semantic trick.

Posted by: Johnny Huh? | Oct 20, 2004 12:44:26 PM

Me and Ghandi think a little reality based reality would be a good thing.

Should I be a member of a community that would have me?

Posted by: Jaye | Oct 25, 2004 1:19:21 AM

Re: Your appeal. You will find Bush documents for free. Look this material

(The front cover of the pocket book)

FREEDOM IS POLITICALLY INCORRECT

However the ‘prevention science’ can implement within stipulated time:

Zero crime
Zero terrorism
Zero unemployment
Zero immigration
Zero drug pushers
Zero pollution
Free education
Free health insurance
Free election
Freedom of speech
Quadruple productivity
Double the earnings
Secured retirement
No military draft
All soldiers back home

Listing of new technologies by ‘prevention’ and ‘security’ professionals in the U.S. and abroad. The ‘prevention’ is a little known science in the U.S. The difference between ‘prevention’ and ‘security’ is that the HOMELAND SECURITY (DHS) is applying security after disaster occurs (e.g. 9/11), HOMELAND PREVENTION is preventing disasters from occurring. War of the future would be fought by placing deadly bacteria not by conventional or by nuclear weapon. It will be the LAST WAR. (Because, the development of a new deadly bacteria this translation was done in rush, the English might be not so good).

A group of international researchers is conducting R&D of ‘prevention devices’ and has written books, radio/TV programs (listed here), on the topic of ‘prevention science.’ The latest development is the ‘3W’ (World Warning Watchdog) – cell phone and satellite radio inside of a wristwatch. The’3W’ (with assistance of ‘VIC/BIOMETRIC MONITOR’ can locate 24/7 any person in any part of the world, then beams to the wristwatch a warning signals (even when the ‘3W’ is shut off). It protects a person from become a victim of crime or terrorism. Also, is sending signal if – burglar alarm goes off in your home or car, child abduction, helping police in looking for suspicious car, etc. On wristwatch screen the person can review the details, written messages, or satellite radio/TV guide. The pocket book (fits in a wallet) and with the ‘3W’ on your arm, it would create the National Defense Shield. (see ‘The List of Prevention Technology’).

Please advise by email, before you are mailed any letter to us ---

NEW SCIENCE INSTITUTE (NSI)
1630 Manning Ave. Reedley CA 93654
edwardr222004@yahoo.com

PREFACE

NO ATTACKS ON THE U.S. SOIL AFTER 9/11, WE ARE MORE SECURE. Not so. We are in bigger danger. Now the terrorists are coming from all over the world to kill Americans entrapped in Iraq. They not need to travel to the U.S., it is cheaper and faster. By invading Iraq we are encouraging terrorism. Beside, we are spending billions on homeland security to prevent attacks which not going to happen, as a result we are corroding our economy. In reality, the terrorists already won the war.

THE SELF-DESTRUCTION FACTOR become evident when the indicators reach the downfall level: hidden unemployment (firing workers then re-hiring for lower wages, part time jobs, lower startup wages, no equal pay for women); phantom economic growth (outsourcing, producing more but earning less, modern times slavery/illegal immigrants); the highest – fuel prices, corporate fraud, crime rate, war casualties; Stock Market decline, no free education and health insurance, halting the stem cell research, negligence (flue vaccination); back door draft by extending voluntary soldiers duty; class warfare – soldiers (working class) are dying in Iraq to make more money for the rich (ruling class); no freedom of the press (intensified censorship); more divided society in 2004 then before the great depression of 1929;

THERE IS NO FREE ELECTION IN THE U.S. Americans have the rights to VOTE, but they have no rights of ELECTING. The VOTING mean – place your ballot; ELECTION mean to choose between Mr. John Smith and Mr. John Brown. The U.S. citizens can only “choose” between Mr. John Smith and Mr. John Smith. The candidate is appointed before the ELECTION by the rich who have paid for the ELECTION campaign.

THE MODERN TECHNOLOGY TO THE RESCUE – the ESPC (Election Software for your PC). The citizen doesn’t need to go to polling place and cast the vote, or be exposed to election brainwashing by the “Ruling Class.” The ESPC is storing resumes of participating candidates. The citizen can, in peace, study the resumes and decide for whom to vote and ask directly questions, there will be no need for surveys and for debates. The ESPC would print the citizen’s ballot and send it to the polling place. In fact, this would be a vote by absentee. Such systems assures that everyone will vote. Also, you can recall immediately your legislator if the legislator does not follow on your ideas. At present such immediate recall is practically impossible. The slogans “freedom” “peace” “justice for all” “human rights” becoming abstracts, consequently 100 millions Americans didn’t vote in the past elections. In the near future there will be no ‘politicians’ but the ‘people’s messengers’ to the U.S. Congress.

LAWYERS MAFIA – 84% of all politicians are lawyers. They are the ‘U.S. Ruling Class’ which solicit crime by creating “soft laws” to protect job security of 32 million employees of the CPI (Crime Processing Industry) – that includes 1 million lawyers. The criminal is the most important “profit center” for the U.S. economy. The “Lawyers Mafia” is creating a new drug addicts, by don’t investigate school children and celebrities to find out where they are getting their drugs from. Without career criminals and child drug addicts the U.S. economy will collapse. Now 61% of the national budget is spend on crime and terrorism. The U.S. with 5% of the world population holds 34% of the world’s prisoners. Gun prohibition and applying ‘prevention science’ would reduce crime by 70%, as a result citizen’s earnings will about double.

FREEDOM is the law of nature’s name for the LAW OF JUNGLE otherwise known as THE FIGHT FOR SURVIVAL. In the “Jungle’s Language Dictionary” it means THE STRONGER WINS THE WEAKER LOOSE. The word ‘freedom’ has been translated to human language to be used in the Constitution, the election, and to take over other countries (“we are the good guys, trust us, we are bringing you freedom”). The Constitution has granted us “the rights to pursue happiness.” Why we need to ask anybody for permission to pursue happiness? If we win any of these “fights for survival,” the Mother Nature would promptly give us an award in the form of PERSONAL HAPPINESS. Therefore, what is so wonderful of having FREEDOM given to us by government? And, what the “freedom givers” actually are giving to us?

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9/11/04

Dear Debra Lavelle – U.S. Dept of Homeland Security (DHS) office of Tom Ridge, Washington DC 20528:
WHY don’t you use in Iraq the VIC/BIOMETRIC MONITORS to pinpoint insurgences hideouts? So, they can be captured before they strike (see ‘The List of Prevention Technology’). This could saved hundreds lives of soldiers who have needlessly died. Fighting a stateless war with invisible enemy creates a chaos, it cannot be won. The President on Aug.23/04 admitted His miscalculation, saying that “the war is not winnable” and “it was a catastrophic success.” Within last 2 years we have sent 38 letters and emails to the DHS submitting new anti-terrorism devices and systems. Finally, you have answered by your Aug.6/04 “form thank you note.” I am curious, are you going also “answer” our remaining 37 letters? Your explanation – “Due to increased security procedures for incoming mail, we have only recently received your letter.” I understand your concern any letter could contain CBV/Anthrax. But, HOW would you know without opening the envelopes, which letter might contain urgent tips on terrorists? The SWS (Sound Waves Separators) remotely, instantly analyze sealed envelopes. WHY don’t you use the SWS?

Historically all major wars in the world have been lost because of one miscalculation by the leader.
The war with terrorism is not just another “street fight.” The final confrontation of Christianity (1 billion believers) and Islam (1 billion believers) has just begun. There can only be one winner. The Al-Qaeda plan “SIGNAL-BB/BARBECUE” is the perfect weapon, it would scare anyone to come to Iraq for any reason, especially the allies. The nuclear and conventional weapons are relics of the past. The U.S. security and military, technologically, are outdated – there are literally the same, as before 9/11/01.

I’m representing a group of international scientists developing prevention systems (known as ‘prevention science’). If our letter would have been opened 2 years ago (the ‘list of new prevention technologies’ was included), by now, the terrorism will be paralyzed and the American forces will be back in home.

We are sending a copy of this letter to the media and U.S. Congress. However, the media and politicians are not responsive to average citizen. For every 1,000 letters we are sending, we are receiving three “confirmation notes” but no answer. We are looking for indication if these answers are correct:
(1) WHY the DHS doesn’t review new prevention technologies submitted to you by individual innovators?
It seems, you are only reading letters from those who have paid millions of dollars to the lobbyists for “opening door” to the DHS. This single act of “pay before we look” have excluded the average American
from participating in fighting terrorism and crippled the security industry. The terrorists would be always one step ahead of the U.S., e.g. the July 2004 announcement of development of a vaccination against Anthrax. Terrorist’s answer would be – mixing Anthrax with CBV which makes the vaccination non-effective. (By the way, this gave us the inspiration for the movie “THE END OF THE LAST EMPIRE”).
(2) WHY these “color alerts”? (It was children’s game played by Boy Scouts). The DHS is helping terrorists to keep the U.S. in constant terror by creating paranoia and panic. That what terrorism is all about it. I have learned from the experts all the “terrorist’s tricks” and how to prevent them, being a cryptographer on Soviet submarine (eavesdropping post). I have defected after discovered ‘the PRG elimination method’ allowing Soviets kept whole world in terror; they called it “THE CODE-COLD WAR.”
(3) WHY the “Russian 9/11” (BESLAN 9/04/04 massacre of children) happened? Because, the democratic Russia dismantled the Soviet’s “hard-line” prevention systems. If the prevention science was implemented, BESLAN as well as the U.S. 9/11 would not have happened. Shouldn’t the U.S. and Russia join together? The Russian’s “iron fist” approach and American ingenuity – that is “what the doctor ordered.” THE LATEST (9/10/04) – Russian President start the revival of communism (Stalin 10/1917 plan).
(4) WHY the DHS is conducting promotional campaigns? – about 300 Congressional hearings, “color alerts,” media interviews, etc. The DHS is showing terrorists how the security devices work, where they are located and where the U.S. security forces are hiding to catch “unsuspected” terrorists. But, in fact, the surveillance is simple – become invisible, mute, and act stupid, eyes and ears that is all you need.
(5) WHY don’t you produce HOMELAND SECURITY films? – Movies are the fastest way to teach people throughout the world under what circumstances terrorists will attack and how to prevent such attacks.
It is also a deterrent, because terrorists wouldn’t know if the prevention devices you are showing at the movies have been installed or not, and if the devices already pinpointed the terrorist’s hideouts or not.
(6) WHY the President reinstated draft? – extending of voluntary soldiers duty is a draft (back door draft).
(7) WHY the world doesn’t like America? – They refuse to go down with us because we are losing the war.

Sincerely
Dr. Edward Romanoff
edwardr222004@yahoo.com
New Science Institute (NSI) 1630 Manning Ave. Reedley CA 93654.
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THE LIST OF PREVENTION TECHNOLOGY. Are you surprise that the terrorists becoming more sophisticated? They are probing the glob looking for the newest mass destruction weapons as well as for prevention systems. The ignorance of the DHS and our press is legendary. They don’t even know that such systems do exist. As a survey – please ask them if they know what is:
(1) VIC/PASSWORD (Verification/Identification Code) – used for ACS (Access Control System), it remotely positively verifies and identifies, that a person is who the person claims to be. At this moment, it is the world’s only unbreakable code, guaranteeing 100% security and privacy, it makes identity theft and terrorist communication improbable. The VIC is in fact ID. Code, e.g. 4972. However, 4972 is good for one transaction only. Each transaction has a different password, e.g.: 4972, 713, 805432, 66491, etc. The user does not need to memorize these different passwords, because the user is given a patented cryptographic formula (a common word) which would create different codes as required. In other verification systems (fingerprints, PIN, voiceprints, etc.) the transmitted data can be easily intercepted by wiretapping. With VIC wiretapping is of no use because no consequential data is transmitted.
(2) VIC/BIOMETRIC MONITOR (Human Body Motions Recorder) – tracks 24/7 the whereabouts of wanted criminals, terrorists and drug pushers. The monitors can be attached (without being notice) to existing surveillance cameras, automobiles, or directly from a satellite. Once the image of the wanted individual is captured by the VIC/BIOMETRIC, his/her whereabouts can be pinpointed in any place in the world at any time. Also observes suspicious individuals entering neighborhoods (detect unusual behavior of a person). The monitor watch anybody who comes close to a building or a person crossing the U.S. border.
(3) VIC/PAPER SCANNER – records the paper’s molecular infrastructure. It prevents counterfeiting of currency and paper documents (certificates, passports, etc.), tracks down funds (follow the money trail).
(4) SA/SCAN ANALYZER – remotely search shipping containers for the tools of terrorism. It can guard 15,000 U.S. factories producing dangerous chemicals and producing bacteriological weapons. These facilities now have only basic security and are easily accessible to terrorists (CBS ‘60 MINUTES’ 6/13/04).
(5) STOP TERRORISM – independent Palestine and Israel and limit the power of royals in Saudi-Arabia.
(6) TEWF (Targeted Electric Water Fusion) – it is the only known system removing instantly lead from the water and destroying all deadly bacteria. TEWF is located at home; water filtration plant is not necessary.
(7) TEWF PORTABLE UNIT (hand carried) – soldiers can use contaminated water taken from lakes, swamps, ponds, etc. This portable unit will at the spot produce pure drinking water.
(8) PMDA/PORTABLE MEDICAL DIAGNOSTIC ANALYZER – check quickly person’s health (blood, urine, saliva, heart, etc.) any time at home or on battlefields. There would be no longer a need to go for a general checkup. The PMDA is connected to the doctor’s computer. The results can be received immediately.
(9) ESPC/ELECTION SOFTWARE FOR YOUR PC – the citizen do not need to go to polling place and cast the vote, or be exposed to election brainwashing by the “ruling class.” The ESPC is storing resumes of participating candidates. You can, in peace, study the resumes and decide for whom to vote. The ESPC would print the citizen’s ballot and send it to the polling place (vote by absentee). Such system assures that everyone will vote. You can recall immediately your legislator if the legislator does not follow your ideas. At present such immediate recall is practically impossible. The slogans “freedom” “peace” “justice for all” “human rights” becoming abstracts, consequently 100 million Americans didn’t vote in the last elections. ESPC is the introduction of democracy and a free election to America.
(10) AIOC/ALL-IN-ONE-CARD – credit, debit, passport, ID., driver license, health record, etc. Travelers will not need to be fingerprinted, not need visa, or wait in lines at airports, there will be no need for ‘air marshals.’ In hotels it can be used to access rooms, elevators and car parking. Keyed in by phone or through ATM. When the card is stolen and someone else attempts to use it, the transaction will be rejected. Lost cards need not be reported. Banks customers should be issued a few cards; so, if one is lost, just use another card. Also, banks can offer for opening of a new account a free VIC software for the customer’s PC. It will stop spammers, identity thieves, viruses and “phishing” (bank account rip-offs).
(11) NPC/NO PLASTIC CARDS SYSTEM – just tell the cashier what is your VIC password (or write down on piece of paper) to receive credit or cash. If anyone overheard your conversation and remembers your password, it cannot be used. The VIC password is good for one transaction only.
(12) VIC/CELL PHONE WITH SCRAMBLER – the basic tool for intelligence. Eavesdropping wouldn’t be able to detect the conversation; the phone appears as if it is out of order. When taken apart, there is no scrambler inside. Establishing of “world spy network” would take weeks, not years, as the CIA estimate.
(13) CBV (Camouflage for Bacteria & Virus – it looks and taste like sugar) – mixed with any substance is masking the bacteria. However, the ‘DECIPHER/b2’ is able to detect the presence of the CBV.
(14) CORADIC SLEEPING GAS – is odorless and instantly puts a person to sleep (especially effective to liberate hostages). It can be remotely scattered by “silent grenades.”
(15) TR/CHIP – placed in the cell phone, translates instantly any language without human assistance.
(16) SWS (SOUND WAVES SEPERATORS) – remotely analyzes chemical structure of sealed packages.
(17) VIC/ANDROID (replacing cheap labor) – quadruple workers productivity, therefore stop immigration.
(18) REDEEMAT – in home converts garbage to raw materials. The pure environment become reality.
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THE BRIEFS OF SYNOPSES FOR BOOKS, MOVIES, RADIO/TV AND VIDEOS; Topic – ‘prevention science.’
The Videos could be an educational aide to demonstrate prevention devices and new methods of mass extermination. The scripts are based on – scientific data, media reports and on cooperation by foreign intelligence operatives. To avoid creating of paranoia and panic, we call such new form of entertainment REALISTIC FICTION. The list of the briefs:
(1) THE END OF THE LAST EMPIRE (fiction) – Based on CBS ’60 MINUTES’ (8/08/04) and Michael Moore’s documentary ‘FAHRENHEIT 9/11,’ Ralph Nader’s ‘THE GOOD FIGHT,’ D. Horowitz’s ‘FIGHT BACK WITH DAVID HOROWITZ’ and The National Memorial Institute For Prevention of Terrorism www.mipt.org
The First Scene – FBI headquarters (after 9/11); the agents persuading Arabic languages translators to slowdown and look overworked; so, the FBI gets more money from the government, and the agents get bigger salaries. The essential intelligence has not been translated, as a result the unprepared U.S. invaded Iraq, let Ben Laden go underground, and let Saddam Hussein prepare the post-war insurgency. Then, the President proclaimed (8/23/04) that he has miscalculated the war and that the war with terrorism is not winnable. All this has triggered the “domino effect” leading to the end of America.
The Last Scene – the whole population of the U.S. is exterminated by CBV bacteria (placed by old man driving old pickup truck). CBV is decomposing the human body leaving only a skeleton. Herds of buffalo and domestic animals roam deserted streets of cities littered with skeletons and empty cars. The new pioneers arrive and head WEST in horse driven wagons (no gas) to colonize a new country – the USA.
(2) THE PREVENTOR (TV sitcom) – a private detective (the American inspector Clouseau of the “Pink Panther” fame) using prevention devices to investigate crimes which have not been committed yet. The criminal is captured a moment before committing the crime. It is an antipode of present TV police stories.
(3) LAWYERS MAFIA (documentary) – 84% of all politicians are lawyers. They are ‘The U.S. Ruling Class’ which solicit crime by creating “soft laws” to protect job security of 32 million employees of the Crime Processing Industry (that includes 1 million lawyers). The criminal is the most important “profit center” for the U.S. economy. The “Lawyers Mafia” is creating a new drug addicts, by don’t investigate school children to find out where they are getting their drugs from. Without career criminals and child drug addicts the U.S. economy will collapse. Now 61% of the national budget is spend on crime and terrorism. The U.S. with 5% of the world population holds 34% of the world’s prisoners. The gun prohibition and applying ‘prevention science’ would reduce crime by 70%, as a result citizen’s earnings will about double.
(4) GUIDE ON HOW TO BECOME POOR (comedy) – the formation of AXINCOMETAX coalition. Now it costs $1.00 to collect $1.00 in personal income tax; the government is not getting a penny (the U.S. Treasury report of 7/21/02). If this continue, the average citizen becomes progressively poorer and the rich becomes richer (through the tax cuts). It is an antipode of the books “How To Become Rich.”
(5) THE ULTIMATE “CATCH 22” (drama) – the war was miscalculated because the negligence in studying ’psychological profile’ of terrorists. The U.S. withdraws or not, the terrorists will keep killing Americans.
(6) THE SLUMBERS (fiction) – CORADIC gas can put into coma for 30 days the whole population of a city or country (e.g. the insurgents hiding in mosques). Then, the insurgents are transported (as they sleep) to remote place in the world where they form their own country, but they cannot leave this new country.
(7) THE TERRORISTS ARE COMING (fiction) – inspired by the old movie ‘THE RUSSIANS ARE COMING.’
(8) RESURRECTION OF OCTOBER 27 (mystery) – the code “iron fist” was induced on Oct./27/1917 by Joseph Stalin in case that the communism would collapse. A few days after BESLAN, the present Russian President has activated this code. The plan is to bring back communism within 12 months.
(9) THE LEGACY (documentary) – the reason for ‘Iraq war’ was the ‘desert storm war’ whereas our President let Saddam Hussein go free, then, help him to massacred the Shiites (it is treason & war crime).
(10) SUICIDES RACE (video game) – The U.S. is committing mass suicide by having the necessary modern weapons but don’t use on terrorism. Insurgents have martyrs. Who is going to win this race?
(11) SIGNAL-BB/BARBECUE (fiction) – Al-Qaeda plan to BEHEADING, then BARBECUE the heads on public square, then placing BECTERIA (CBV) in the U.S. It is the most effective “modern” weapon.
(12) PREVENTABLE NATURAL DISASTERS (documentary) – hurricane casualties are caused by the politicians, because the builder’s lobbyists weakening the building codes.
(13) WALL OF SILANCE (TV show) – contestants writing letters to DHS and media, with ideas how to fight terrorism. Routinely there is no response. Prizes for those who get response, or for workable good ideas.
(14) THE FIRST TRILLIONAIRE (TV show) – proposed sequel for Donald Trump ‘APPRIENTENCE.’ The contestants introducing prevention technologies to corporations and qualified individuals.
(15) THE DEADLY CONFUSION (Radio/TV Talk Show) – answering questions; on HOW to implement prevention science to eliminate: crime, unemployment, terrorism and introduce free health and retirement insurance and free education; WHY the ‘9/11 COMMISSION’ (7/23/04) recommended the old anti-terrorism methods (no word about the modern technology); and WHY they recommended the “Intelligence Tsar;” WHAT is the real reason for the war; WHY the new election system (ESPC) is necessary.
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THIS HASN’T BEEN ANSWERED BY THE POLITICIANS:
1) Nuclear weapon is no longer practical and is easily detectable before launching – so the terrorists choose to stop developing such weapons, but the politicians seems to didn’t know about this fact.
2) “Intend” is an excuse for occupying any country – the Soviets have invaded many countries by claiming that these countries have intention to attack the Soviet Union.
3) “It is a wrong war at wrong place in the wrong time” – if this is correct, that mean, we are lying to our soldiers and allies about these facts, as we did in Vietnam.
4) Computerized intelligence – cannot replaced the old fashion ‘human spies.’ Before the war we have only three such spies in Iraq and Afghanistan.
5) The 9/11 was preventable – by having “human spies” and by implementing prevention technologies.
6) “The world become more danger place” – the invasion of Iraq have wakeup the “sleeping monster” convincing terrorists that the time has arrived to destroy the western civilization.
7) Placing strategically bacteria is the weapon of the future (this is not a “bacteriological war” but “extermination tool”) – it would cost only a few thousand dollars to kill 280 million Americans.
8) Why rush to war – negotiations, sanctions, prevention technology would make the war not necessary.
9) Election in Iraq will give more power to terrorism – instead, withdraw our troupes, give every Iraqi weapon and let them fight their own civil war. In fact the terrorists will eliminated themselves. American type of democracy doesn’t work for everybody.
10) The President is keep changing the war plans – so, accordingly the people support is “Flip-Flopping.”
11) Homeland Security (DHS) – is using outdated security systems. Without a quick upgrading, giving more money to the DHS is a waste of the taxpayers money.
12) Training Iraqi army and police – should be done in other country. It will be faster, safer and cheaper.
13) “I have a plan” – it is a childish statement. Tell us what is your “plan” if you want to be elected.
14) Full employment is a simple task – stop immigration and deport 6 million illegal immigrants.
15) Liquidation of the National Deficit – by eliminating the personal income tax which doesn’t bring any money to the U.S. Treasury, because it cost $1.00 to collect $1.00 of personal income tax.
16) No stem cell research no abortion – by the law of nature and by the Bible, there is no child until the child is born. Fetus is part of women body the same as appendix, it is not yet independent organism. If the woman think that it effects her mental or physical health, the fetus must be