Sunday, January 31, 2010

Apparently, Tony Blair Thinks He Has Some Credibility Left

In the run-up to Iraq War, then-British Prime Minister became known in certain circles as "Bush's Poodle", or "Phony Tony" because of his unequivocal support for the Bush(Cheney) administration's unilateral decision to violate international law and invade Iraq. Besides the Downing Street Minutes, there was the whole 'Dodgy Dossier' which even it's author states was wrong. What's more, Blair's recent refusal to apologize has hurt his party's chances in upcoming elections.
So now, with the US beefing up it's military presence in the Persian Gulf, Blair is claiming that's it's up to the world to halt Iran's nuclear program. Well, Mr. Poodle, I mean, Blair, the IAEA has yet to find that Iran is doing anything but building an nuclear reactor for anything other than peaceful purposes. So whom am I to trust? A proven liar with an agenda, or an independent international watchdog agency? If Phony Tony Baloney wants to squander what precious little political capital he has left on questionable intelligence, good luck with that. Just remember, one day when you cry 'wolf', a lot of people are just going to think poodle, and ignore you.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Christiansanity Is A Seriously Flawed Belief System

Interesting.
It seems that anti-abortion activists are angry with Scott Roeder's conviction for murder in the execution of Dr. George Tiller. Maybe it's the life sentence they don't like, perhaps they feel the death penalty is more in order, since their Bible demands "an eye for an eye". After all, Roeder freely admitted to assassinating Dr. Tiller, so there is no question of guilt.
Well, except the Christiansane feel that the cold blooded murder of an abortion provider is justified to protect the lives of little tiny babies. Following that same spurious logic, wouldn't it be perfectly alright to gun down The Rev. Donald Spitz? After all, he condones the murder of abortion doctors by the likes of Roeder and Paul Hill, so in order to prevent more assassinations, wouldn't his murder be justified?
Americans are free to cling to any whacked out belief system they wish, from Scientology to Evangelical Christiansanity, it's when you cross the line and force that belief system on to other people that you become a criminal. If you don't like abortions, don't get one. Work hard to allow our education system to promote sex education and birth control to prevent unwanted pregnancies. That seems like a sane response to the problem, but the problem is that not only are these people ignorant to all they do not read in the Bible, but they're Christiansane as well. They all possess the dead eyes of soulless zombies. And their belief system is based on a mythology better suited to less enlightened times, when an invisible guy in the sky was the answer to all of life's mysteries, and scientists were burned at the stake as witches.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

If Money Is Speech, Then Comment With Cash

Since money is speech as defined by a recent Supreme Court ruling.....
And taxation without representation is tyranny as defined by our Founding Fathers.....
If I am unable to have my fair representation in Congress due to my inability to match donations to political candidates owned by large multinational corporations whose concerns may run contrary to my own ideals.....
Why am I paying taxes?
By not paying taxes, I am saying that I no longer support the permanent national security state, which requires a perpetual enemy in order to justify it's existence. It believes that collateral damage is acceptable, I do not. It believes that those people who do not hold to the same belief system as it does deserve to die. I do not. It believes that my children, your children, and every other child with the exception of it's own must be sacrificed in order for it's continual existence. I do not.
The Corporatocratic Military State believes that money that could be spent on Universal health care for all it's citizens is better spent on munitions and armaments. I do not. It believes that money that could be spent on providing a decent education to all it's citizens is better spent on enriching a small percentage of it's citizens. I do not. It believes that money that could be spent helping out the less fortunate of it's citizens is better spent helping out the more fortunate citizens. I do not.
The Bankster and Corporate Criminal Police state would gladly exchange clean air and water for bigger profits, homes and families for bigger bonuses, and people's futures and livelihoods for a bigger market share. I would not, and I wouldn't entrust them to shepherd my future, or my children's future anymore than trust us. Innocent until proven guilty has changed into guilty until beaten by police officers. They have prepared for the worst because they know that the people won't stand for their nonsense forever. Or at least until they can no longer afford the soporific effects of cable television.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

World War Four, or The New Crusades?

When are we going to finally admit that the "war with al Qaeda", the "war on terror", or perhaps even better, the Global Struggle Against Violent Extremism is in fact, another World War? Or, more fittingly, it's the new Crusades?
When the US admitted that Blackwater security forces were operating in Pakistan (then backtracked and denied it), it was essentially announcing that the new Knights Templar were continuing their crusade to wipe Islam from the planet. Follow that up with the revelation of Biblical inscriptions on military rifles, and it would appear that the US has decided to declare war on Islam. Which is weird, since President Obama is a secret Muslim.
So on one side, we have religious extremism, hell bent on imposing their views on the rest of the world while committing genocide against those who don't share their belief system. And on the other, the same thing. But only one side has the support of the world's only remaining military super power. So which is more terrifying?

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Take The Democrats. Please.

Yesterday's special election in Massachusetts wasn't a referendum on President Obama, as much as right wing pundits would like you to believe, as much as it was the beginning of the end for the Democratic Party.
Like Kvatch, I believe that Scott Brown's win yesterday was good for the Democrats. They don't have to work towards passing any health care reform now, even with a majority in the House and the Senate because they don't know how to lead. Reading too much into yesterday's defeat, some of them are talking about extending the Bush tax cuts, once again showing the lack of disparity between the two parties. And Joe Lieberman thinks they should move more to the right.
In 2008, the Democratic Party ran on, and won the election on some fairly forward thinking ideas. Now, it turns out, they don't actually want to enact any of these ideas, because they're afraid of the opposition party, of which only 22% of Americans identify themselves with. So why are they pandering to twenty two percent of the population?
Ultimately, the election was a referendum on the stupidity of the average voter. Don't like the way Democrats are doing things? Vote for the Republican! Republicans run the country into the ground? Hmmm, who should I vote for now. It's no wonder the Teabaggers have gotten some traction. Sure they may be insane, but at least they're not the same old crap.

Monday, January 18, 2010

Small Change Is Better Than Nothin' At All

I'll admit it, I'm sick of politics. One side may claim moral superiority over the other, but the truth is, it's a just a game designed to distract us while the looters strip every last dime from as many people as they can. And I will gleefully admit bitter disappointment with the Obama administration for failing to pass on the change they promised in the last election. But that disappointment is all with myself, for being stupid enough to believe that any candidate is going to do anything that the corpocracy hasn't already pre-approved.
That's why I bring up this story. It seems that while President Obama was in Massachusetts stumping for a Democratic candidate their, he was openly heckled by a crowd member. It brought a smile to my face, because I can remember a time not too long ago when something like that would never have happened. A time when political rallies weren't so open, crowds were vetted better than a Republican vice-presidential candidate, and protesters were delegated to "free speech zones" where they could protest all they wanted....far, far away from anybody they might wish to protest against. So while it is a small change, it still represents some changes from the oppressive Cheney/Bush regime. So it doesn't matter that the people of Massachusetts have decided to elect as their senator some one who thinks anal rape is funny, those Massholes appear to have the collective intelligence as a crate of cantaloupe.

Friday, January 15, 2010

The Crippled Epistemology Of The American People

President Obama's appointee to the head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs advocates infiltrating 9/11 Truth groups. In a paper published in 2008, Cass Sunstein says that conspiracy theories arise not from irrationality or mental illness, but rather than a crippled epistemology in the form of a sharply limited number of news sources. Given that only five corporations control what the majority of Americans watch and read as news, doesn't that mean that all Americans suffer from this? And, since most people choose one or maybe two news sources, why isn't their judgment being called in to question?
Because the sources chosen by the majority of Americans do two things. They all sell the idea that any problem can be solved through the magick of market based capitalism. Even those problems, such as obesity, which are caused by capitalism. Secondly, they propagate a myth that our political system works, as long as you keep voting for the two major parties. Never mind that the stewardship of the Republican and Democratic parties have done nothing for anybody not connected monetarily to the corpocracy.
In 2008, Prof. Sunstein suggested infiltrating the 9/11 Truth movement in order to undermine it, enlisting nongovernmental officials to rebut the theories that run counter to the official government conspiracy theory. Given that many people still believe President Obama was born in Kenya, despite evidence to the contrary being provided, all I can say is, Good luck with that.

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Specious Reasoning In The New American Babylon

I find it interesting (and even a little bit racist) that Pat Robertson blames the earthquake in Haiti on a curse due to that country's 'pact with the devil'. The global warming climate change cult wonders if global warming had something to do with it. Next, Dick Cheney will blame the Obama administration's lack of desire to label WWIII as "the war on terror", while the Teabaggers will blame it on excessive taxes and intrusive government programs.
Me, I noticed this happened right after Sarah Palin began her position as a contributor to Fox News.........

Monday, January 11, 2010

Hooter Nation News Network

Journalistic integrity has been on life support for sometime now. The American Idiocracy's obsession with celebrity has so permeated our society that even a "serious" news site like The Huffington Post is skewered towards celebrity that I won't visit it any more. Except, of course, to see which starlet stripped for which magazine cover, in an obvious and desperate attempt at attention.
Fox News, since it's inception, has been devoid of anything remotely approaching journalistic integrity. Whether it still clings to it's "we distort/you decide", I don't know, but just when you think they could get more biased, they show us all how one sided they are: Fox News has hired Sarah Palin as a contributor to it's network. This comes as a shock to no one, I suppose. Palin will fit right in with all the other "anchorwoman" on Fox whose short skirts provide eye candy for crusty conservatives who are just one mouse click away from watching The Naked News anyway.
Is this where have ended up as a society? The only way a woman can be validated is if she's reasonably attractive, wears short skirts and tight sweaters? Some may call it empowerment, but has Fox hired Olympia Snowe as a contributor?
We are a nation of Hooters patrons. Obese and grubby men who drool at anything in a tight shirt like a bunch of hormone raging adolescents. Stripper poles have become standard boudoir accessories that even teenage girl role models have no problem posing on. And as the blood drains from the big head to the littler one, our ability to think clearly is clearly diminished. How else can you explain all those Palin fans?

Saturday, January 09, 2010

An Elephant Can Only Remember How To Get Peanuts

"We had no domestic attacks under Bush. We've had one under Obama."
-Rudy Giuliani, speaking on ABC's Good Morning America
Am amusing thing about a party that chose an elephant (which allegedly "never forgets") as it's symbol is the way they seem to have developed convenient amnesia in their on going jihad against President Obama. Dana Perino, one of former President Bush's press secretaries made the claim earlier this year, following the shootings at FT Hood "there were no terrorists attacks in America under President Bush". This gives credence to many of the conspiracy theorists that, indeed, 9/11 wasn't a terrorist attack, but merely a false flag attack, designed to engineer support for invasion of Middle Eastern countries that happened to have a lot of oil in them, or are strategically located for helping move energy resources to market where they can be used by giant corporations to increase their profit margins.
It's as if our leaders on the right seem to hope that the nation of television watchers, memories full of which episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond they have seen, don't have room to remember anything we haven't seen on television recently. Lately RNC Chairman Michael Steele released a book, in he refers to himself as chairman at least three times, which he claims was written before he became chairman.
Which brings us to Dick Cheney, you know, the guy who has been criticizing President Obama for calling the "war on terror" the "war with al Qaeda". Cheney seems to have forgotten that two of the alleged masterminds behind the underwear bomber were released from US custody in 2007. Cheney also forgets claims made by his administration that the war in Iraq has made the world safer. How convenient.

Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Flying Naked Is The Next Step In Airline Safety

The latest weapon in the Global struggle Against Violent extremism, the War on Terror, the War Against alQaeda, or whatever they're calling it this week, is the full body scanner. Many US airports are rushing to have these machines installed to calm passengers who might be dissuaded from air travel following the underwear bomber scare. Sure, these nifty numbers are intrusive, unduly expose passengers to radiation, and at $150,000 a pop, pretty darn expensive as well. And sure, a lot of politicians are making money touting them as the end all answer to the problem, however, even Ann Coulter admits they're useless in probing the anal cavity.(Don't ask about Ann's anal obsession, obviously it arises from hanging around the assholes on the Right) How convenient that Canada ordered their scanners months ago, and now have an excuse to install them in their airports.
The point is, we can install them all we want in airports here, unless they're in airports overseas, they can't really protect us from those people who want to harm us because we're free to send drones into their neighbor's wedding party. The upside ti installing them is Europe is that it would discourage those pesky Europeans from visiting here, spending their money and generally walking around like they own the place. (Only the Chinese can do that)And once more, Americans can isolate themselves, wrapped in the cocoon of knowledge that, Jersey Shore notwithstanding, we are the most awesomest country on the planet.

Monday, January 04, 2010

Shooting Yourself In The Foot To Spite Your Face

Hello, everybody, I have returned once again from the land of the television watcher, where fear and loathing are peddled and logic and intelligence are ignored. The most recent case in point is the Christmas Day plane bomber. Or should I say attempted plane bomber, since, like fellow shoe bomber Richard Reid, he wasn't actually successful, unless his goal was to frighten the bejeezus out of television watchers nation wide who immediately favored US intervention in Yemen.
Yemen? Really? I thought the suspect was from Nigeria and passed through Ghana, which is like a whole continent away from Yemen. To be sure, there are a lot of America hating people in Yemen, but is that a real reason to drop bombs on a bunch of people who could care less one way or the other? Because if they don't care, one way or the other now, once US bombs began ripping apart family members, they will care one way, and it's not the way we as US citizens would like them to care. Using the US military to intervene in a country that had nothing to do with the "terrorist" attack, while sounding vaguely Bush-like and familiar, makes about as much sense as swatting a fly with a battleship. It's very unwieldy, and will kill a lot more than the fly.
All this really does is illustrate how the corporatist agenda of Total Global Domination puts Americans at risk, and as long as we continue to cede power to them, we all are at risk.