The Daily Brief

This from GWU’s National Security Archive:

Davis, CA, 23 December 2004 – University of California,
Davis professor Larry Berman today filed
suit against the CIA under the Freedom of Information
Act, in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California,
seeking release of historic President’s Daily Briefs given to
President Johnson during the Vietnam War.

Represented by the law firm of Davis Wright Tremaine and by the
National Security Archive of George Washington University, Vietnam
expert Berman is challenging the CIA’s
"blanket policy" of refusing to release
any PDBs, even historic or innocuous ones that risk no damage
to national security.

"The 9/11 Commission had to fight tooth and nail to get
excerpts from PDBs about the threat from bin Ladin," commented
Professor Berman, the author of three books on the Vietnam War.
"But ten PDBs
from the Johnson era came out before the CIA imposed
its stonewall policy. Together, these releases prove that the
PDBs should be reviewed and declassified like any other records,
not set aside in a permanently closed vault."

I believe Prof. Berman will prevail. But is this lawsuit really necessary? Certainly, the CIA needs to maintain security. And a blanket ban prevents screw-ups. But a more liberal policy with respect to historical documents is in order.

David Holcberg at the Ayn Rand Institute has an opinion of the recent disaster that may shock some:

As the death toll mounts in the areas hit by Sunday’s tsunami in southern Asia, private organizations and individuals are scrambling to send out money and goods to help the victims. Such help may be entirely proper, especially considering that most of those affected by this tragedy are suffering through no fault of their own.

The United States government, however, should not give any money to help the tsunami victims. Why? Because the money is not the government’s to give.

Every cent the government spends comes from taxation. Every dollar the government hands out as foreign aid has to be extorted from an American taxpayer first. Year after year, for decades, the government has forced American taxpayers to provide foreign aid to every type of natural or man-made disaster on the face of the earth: from the Marshall Plan to reconstruct a war-ravaged Europe to the $15 billion recently promised to fight AIDS in Africa to the countless amounts spent to help the victims of earthquakes, fires and floods–from South America to Asia. Even the enemies of the United States were given money extorted from American taxpayers: from the billions given away by Clinton to help the starving North Koreans to the billions given away by Bush to help the blood-thirsty Palestinians under Arafat’s murderous regime.

The question no one asks about our politicians’ “generosity” towards the world’s needy is: By what right? By what right do they take our hard-earned money and give it away?

The reason politicians can get away with doling out money that they have no right to and that does not belong to them is that they have the morality of altruism on their side. According to altruism–the morality that most Americans accept and that politicians exploit for all it’s worth–those who have more have the moral obligation to help those who have less. This is why Americans–the wealthiest people on earth–are expected to sacrifice (voluntarily or by force) the wealth they have earned to provide for the needs of those who did not earn it. It is Americans’ acceptance of altruism that renders them morally impotent to protest against the confiscation and distribution of their wealth. It is past time to question–and to reject–such a vicious morality that demands that we sacrifice our values instead of holding on to them.

Next time a politician gives away money taken from you to show what a good, compassionate altruist he is, ask yourself: By what right?

He’s right to a point. Here in the US, we have a tradition of private giving which outstrips other nations of the world. Further, you can be sure that any money directed through government channels will experience a high degree of waste, and likely some substantial corruption.

On the other hand, the maintenance of infrastructure is a classic, if arguable, function of government. $350 million dollars is really a trifle, relative to either the size of the US economy, or the size of the need in the effected area. Further, the militaries of the world, specifically the US military, is in a unique position to provide desperately needed assistance. There simply exists no faster way to get things like helicopters and desalinization equipment to the area.

If you don’t care to give cash (or even if you do), Chief Wiggles invites you to help him fill a FedEx plane for the tsunami victims.

Relatively, not that bad, according to the Disaster Center:

Of course, it is highly debatable how “natural” the famines in the Soviet Union, Bangladesh and Ethiopa were.

Steve Park supplies this first-hand account of the rescue/cleanup work after the tsunamis on Phuket:

We stopped at a hastily arranged rescue center along the side of the road. Across the road were hundreds of bodies lined up, most left in the sun because all the trees are gone and they only had one awning to erect to provide a little shade. The sight and stench were horrible.

We put big gobs of Vicks VapoRub up our nostrils and started helping bag the bodies. But the pick-up trucks kept coming, bringing more bodies faster than we could wrap them in plastic and bed sheets (there were no proper body bags).

Later in the morning, some Thai rescue teams arrived and took over our work. By early afternoon, more awnings arrived and some body bags arrived. We then walked back towards the hills, behind the large naval boat that was washed over a kilometer from the beach.

We found several bodies in the debris back on the hill. Later, walking back towards the beach, the smell of decaying bodies buried under the rubble was everywhere. But there is so much debris, that heavy equipment will be needed to remove it. One rescue team from Taiwan was digging through rubble by hand and recovered one body. At one point, people started screaming and yelling, “the water is coming.”

The death toll now stands at over 150,000.

Big Band leader Artie Shaw has past away at 94. While I’m confident far fewer people will be as affected by his passing as that of Reggie White, It is highly arguable which of the two had more impact on the world in which we live.

If you are unfamiliar with his entrancing clarinet work, and brilliant arrangements, you’ll get a chance to hear his Nightmare on the movie The Aviator. Who knows, perhaps you’ll go on to other Shaw classics, or even move beyond, to the likes of Rich, Carmichael, Coltrane, or Paul? What a wonderful thing that would be.

I am currently watching The Hallelujah Kids on the Discovery-Times Screening Room. It concerns a father and his 19 year-old son, both evangelical ministers, and a 10 year-old son, who is about to become ordained. Personally, I have serious reservations about the idea of a 10 year-old proselytizing.

The father talks of a 10 year-old in the neighborhood of the brick-and-mortar church they are settling in to; he shot his father dead. I would also have a problem in trying that boy as an adult. The father claims that, if the Devil can occupy the soul of that child, why can’t God occupy the soul of his. The whole idea violates the concept of the innocence of childhood.

While one of my local PBS stations is airing a Globe Trekker episode, 😛 the others are showing; 1) Great Performances, featuring Eric Clapton, Carlos Santana, Robert Cray, B.B. King, Vince Gil, and others. 2) Nova – Fireworks. 3) And Nova – Great Escape. I’ve chosen the latter. I hope the rest replay soon.

The current death toll from Indian Ocean tsunamis is estimated above 100,000. As usual, the United States leads the world international aid.. But, as we have seen, our reputation is on the ropes. Further, few economies in the civilized world, outside of Australia (riding China’s coattails) and the emerging economies of Asia and eastern Europe, match ours. It is especially important for we Americans to give generously to the private relief NGO’s operating in the effected region.

“Not only does God play dice, sometimes he throws them where they cannot be seen.” — Steven Hawking.

This just in from Bloomberg:

“The reason it’s so low is there’s not much insured,” said Robert Hartwig, an economist with the Insurance Information Institute in New York. “A wave like this coming ashore in Florida would have produced economic losses dwarfing those of the hurricanes — tens and tens of billions of dollars.”

Yesterday’s magnitude 9.0 quake and the ensuing tidal waves killed at least 19,000 people, mainly in areas with little insured property. Hurricanes in the U.S. this caused at least $27 billion in insured damages. Most of the quake claims will be borne by European and Asian insurers, Hartwig said.

I could have told you this when this tragedy first struck. The resorts and millionaire retreats will all be insured, and if their coverage falls short, just as with disasters here in the US, they will be the ones most skillful at glomming on to relief funds. The poorest people, who in this part of the world are unlikely to have their property ownership document, and much less likely, insured. will be the ones who suffer the most.

All efforts should be made to assure that relief goes first to those in the greatest need.

Currently, I have been reviewing my use of commas. As my personal style tends more to the literary or scholarly, rather than journalistic, I tend to use a lot of commas. Well, Miles Maguire, formerly of the Washington Times, and now at UW Oshkosh, hosts a site called The Comma Project.

All-Star defensive end and Baptist minister Reggie White has died at 43 of a massive heart attack. I will have to fact-check myself on this, but it seems to me White had a history of heart problems related to steroid use.

Glenn Reynolds has yet to blog on this. But I expect him to have much to say about the former Vol.

Update: As yet, I can’t find anything about steroids or heart problems with relation to White. If any of you have any leads, please pass them on.

Update 2: Well, it seems that Glenn was more brief than I predicted. I’d like to add, in reference to my tentative assertion concerning White and steroids: This was not an attempt to demonize a man who, in most aspects of his life, was an admirable personality, and a fine role model. Further, I have no agenda of general prohibition of adult steroid use. Although I do believe that, in this day and age, it is incredibly stupid. However, when White made his rise to stardom, we didn’t know nearly as much about their adverse effects as we do today.

Update 3: Reader Ronnie reports that the cause of death is now believed to be respiratory arrest due to sleep apnea (something I live in fear of). My other sources tell me the medical examiners are still unsure.

Updatee 4: Here’s something from CNN on White’s health problems:

White revealed Wednesday that his health problems last year were more serious than people were led to believe.

Not only did White endure a displaced disc in his lower back — which led to his brief retirement in April — and a case of pneumonia, but he said he also suffered from low white blood cell counts and contracted a rare lung disease called sarcoidosis.

And still he had 11 sacks and earned his record 12th consecutive Pro Bowl berth in 1997.

“The one thing I didn’t do about any of it last year is complain,” White said. “So, it’s good to feel well.”

Doctors don’t know what causes sarcoidosis, which affected White’s breathing and stamina. The illness can cause accumulation of inflammatory cells, called granulomas, nearly everywhere in the body. Though not curable, it can be treated with drugs. About half the people who come down with it eventually recover fully or have only minor lasting effects.

It usually affects young, healthy people between the ages of 20 and 50. Between 40 and 60 people out of every 100,000 contract the disease, and it generally is more severe among blacks.

“I had lumps on my lungs that were causing me to get tired,” said White, whose weight dipped from 305 to 290 when he contracted pneumonia.

White said recent X-rays showed the lumps are gone.

“I’ve been blessed,” he said.

That report was from way back in 1998. This goes to illustrate the difficulty in turning faded memories into reportable facts, and at the same time, monitoring yourself, so as not to fall into idle conjecture. It’s that much harder when no-one is paying you to burn shoe leather. Those of us with day jobs, and no trust fund, must rely upon our networks to flesh-out a story.

If anyone has further information, please feel free to post it, or email me.

Update 5: It seems that steroids are the prefered treatment for scarcoidosis. And, as for just how well known the side effects of steroids are:

AS also affect the cardiovascular system and the serum lipid profile. Relatively few studies have been done to investigate the effect of anabolic steroids on the cardiovascular system. No longitudinal studies have been conducted on the effect of anabolic steroids on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.

At this point, although White’s documented problems were not not with his heart, but other thorasic organs, and any steroid use was in treatment, rather than cause of, I hold that my initial statement, couched as I made it, was not without merit. An autopsy is scheduled. When the results are known, some further work might be in order. As for tonight, I believe we can put this story to bed.

Update 6: It appears that the preliminary autopsy results agree with where I left this last night: a heart attack as complication from respiratory problems. But we may not know the whole story for months.

An 8.9 earthquake has struck off the NW coast of Sumatra. Tsunamis have killed over 6000 and counting in nations surrounding the Bay of Bengal. Developing.

Update: This report I’ve just received says our base on Diego Garcia came out “unscathed”. No word on how the Brits fared. The Intenational Red Cross is putting the current death toll at over 23,000, with “tens of thousands” more still unaccounted for.