So many times were told that America is a great country because of our liberties, one of which is our freedom of thought. We can think any idea to be true, no matter how insane it may be. We are able to think that President Obama, for instance, was born in Kenya, and his mother merely had his birth announcements placed in Hawaiian newspapers because she knew someday that he'd be elected president, where he could foist his radical secret Muslim socialist oligarchic agenda on an unsuspecting people. You can think President Obama's speech to school children will brainwash them to socialism, and hell, CNN will give you all the air time you want because these views are important, and worthy of being aired on national television.
You can believe a lot of things, and have the freedom to express your faith in anything, Elvis, Jesus, Mohammed, the Flying Spaghetti Monster, or the ability of free markets to lift all boats, and that's okay. You can believe Sarah Palin is a maverick qualified to be president because she quit her job half way through her term, gays and lesbians being married will some how destroy your marriage, or that swine flu will be really, really bad this year because the fear mongering media keeps telling you it will.
No, there are two things that you can't think. One, is that Republicans are assholes. Let me see, Newt Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly, John McCain, Michelle Bachman, Sean Hannity, Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, Sarah Palin, Ann Coulter, John Sanford, stop me when I get to one that hasn't displayed assholish behavior on a regular basis.
The second terrible thought is that the previous administration allowed 9/11 to happen to further their agenda. Let me see, Dick Cheney, former CEO of Halliburton, who had to have his Halliburton stock pried from his cold, stiff, and half dead fingers allowing the worst terrorist attack on American soil to happen which benefited, uh, Halliburton, and people are shocked? The truth is that with the fall of communism at the start of the nineties, the defense contractors (like Halliburton) needed a justification for the half a trillion dollar annual defense budget of the United States. They needed a new perpetual enemy and a new Pearl Harbor. And, most importantly, they needed a way to keep the masses in fear so they could continue to loot the country for their own benefit without anybody paying too much attention. So excuse me for thinking that 9/11 was an inside job, and I'll excuse you for thinking that a bunch of cave dwellers half way across the globe had the intelligence and foresight to be able to penetrate our defense systems, force NORAD fighter jets to stand down, and fly over the most secure airspace on the planet with impunity. And in that same extent, perhaps we should look more into Van Jones' beliefs as well, since his beliefs are personal, and in no way interfere with his position as "Green Jobs" adviser to the Obama administration.
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Friday, September 04, 2009
If You Only Get Upset When De Black Folk Do It, Then You Are Definitely A Racist
Our democracy is a farce, a charade put on to keep each side bickering with each other while those in Congress we elect to serve us rush out billion dollar bail outs for bankster cronies as millions of people are dying for better health care reform.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you one Dan Broun, an alarmist with in the Republican party, which, ever since Obama became president, alarmist and Republican has become a redundancy.
Rep. Broun, from Georgia, who came to prominence last year when he suggested the Army ban sales of controversial reading material such as Playboy, fears the Democrats are creating a totalitarian state. Funny, but that's what many on the left felt about the Bush administration. Broun cites Obama's call last year during his campaign for a a civilian national security force as the first step in the takeover of the government. However, when the Bush administration created the Civilian Defense Force two years ago, Broun must have been too busy researching his positions on adult themed publications he was looking to ban for sale to our troops to notice that, indeed, we were moving towards a totalitarian state. Nor did Broun make a fuss about Cheney using Blackwater Security as his own private security force.
Broun also cites a ban on gun ownership as one of the things Obama has to bring about the Democrats totalitarian state. Wait a minute! Do you mean we can't own guns? When did this happen? Broun didn't squeak when Homeland Security banned shampoo, perfume and bottled water on flights as potential weapons, perhaps he prefer that smelly people with dirty hair deserve to be thirsty, I don't know, but when the government can deny you these simple items, can totalitarianism be far behind?
Finally, Broun cited President Obama's control of the media as another step towards totalitarianism. This is, of course, the same "liberal" corporate media that in 2002 essentially became an arm of the Bush administration's propaganda campaign for an illegal invasion of a country that never posed a threat to this country at all, the same media that from September of 2001 to August 2005 never dared to speak, print or publish the slightest negativity about President Bush, now he thinks somehow Obama has control of it? Or, do the corporations that control our media also control the person in the Oval Office, be they Republican or Democrat?
I think that Rep. Broun had no problem with the US becoming a totalitarian state, as long as it was run by a rich white Republican good ol' boy from TexaConnecticut, but now that it's in the hands of an urbane, well spoken Nigrah from Chy-cago, well now it's time to pine tar up the Ol' Rugged Cross boys, we got us a sacred ritual to perform.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you one Dan Broun, an alarmist with in the Republican party, which, ever since Obama became president, alarmist and Republican has become a redundancy.
Rep. Broun, from Georgia, who came to prominence last year when he suggested the Army ban sales of controversial reading material such as Playboy, fears the Democrats are creating a totalitarian state. Funny, but that's what many on the left felt about the Bush administration. Broun cites Obama's call last year during his campaign for a a civilian national security force as the first step in the takeover of the government. However, when the Bush administration created the Civilian Defense Force two years ago, Broun must have been too busy researching his positions on adult themed publications he was looking to ban for sale to our troops to notice that, indeed, we were moving towards a totalitarian state. Nor did Broun make a fuss about Cheney using Blackwater Security as his own private security force.
Broun also cites a ban on gun ownership as one of the things Obama has to bring about the Democrats totalitarian state. Wait a minute! Do you mean we can't own guns? When did this happen? Broun didn't squeak when Homeland Security banned shampoo, perfume and bottled water on flights as potential weapons, perhaps he prefer that smelly people with dirty hair deserve to be thirsty, I don't know, but when the government can deny you these simple items, can totalitarianism be far behind?
Finally, Broun cited President Obama's control of the media as another step towards totalitarianism. This is, of course, the same "liberal" corporate media that in 2002 essentially became an arm of the Bush administration's propaganda campaign for an illegal invasion of a country that never posed a threat to this country at all, the same media that from September of 2001 to August 2005 never dared to speak, print or publish the slightest negativity about President Bush, now he thinks somehow Obama has control of it? Or, do the corporations that control our media also control the person in the Oval Office, be they Republican or Democrat?
I think that Rep. Broun had no problem with the US becoming a totalitarian state, as long as it was run by a rich white Republican good ol' boy from TexaConnecticut, but now that it's in the hands of an urbane, well spoken Nigrah from Chy-cago, well now it's time to pine tar up the Ol' Rugged Cross boys, we got us a sacred ritual to perform.
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Big Brother Barry
Some people say, because of President Obama's tumbling approval ratings that he may well be a one-term president. But I wouldn't count on that. Why? Because the opposition is stupid. Not just plain stupid, not fucking stupid, no, they are borderline retarded. With my apologies to those retarded people, of course.
And just how retarded are these folks? Just enough to make Trig Palin seem more of an underacheiver than a Down's Syndrome afflicted child. It seems that some parents oppose a speech Obama intends on giving to students Tuesday. Why? Is it because it's full of cuss words and graphic depictions of sexual congress between two adult people? Is it because they fear Obama's ability to hypmotize people with his speech? Maybe.Is it because the message work hard and stay in school are too controversial for these folks? No, as I said before, they're beyond fucking stupid almost to the point of retardation. It's because they fear that said speech is part of Obama's indoctrination of their children into some sort of socialist Islamic oligarchy. Where would these people be without corporate media fearmongering?
Now, even though I voted for Barry, I certainly am no big fan of his. But I am still able to recognize retardation when I see it. Of course these kids are being indoctrinated, they're going to a public school for Christ's sake. If you don't want them indoctrinated in the corpocracy, homeschool the little bastards.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Only A Pawn In Their Game
“If we’re able to stop Obama on this, it will be his Waterloo. It will break him.”Sen. Jim De Mint (R) SC
This is what the health care debate in this country is about. With 47 million uninsured people in this country, the GOP is willing to let them twist in the wind to prove that they still haven't gotten over losing the last election. Their solution to the problem? "Don't get sick" says the man able to afford the doctor shop to fill his OxyContin addiction, or find a doctor willing to put his name on your Viagra prescription. There's the core of compassionate conservatism-protecting unborn babies, until they get born, contract a disease, then you're on your fucking own buddy, I've got a sport utility behemoth to keep filled with gas and an energy inefficient McMansion to heat.
The truth is we have the finest health care system in the world, if you can afford it, but if you can't, oh well, the government has more important things to spend
As an example of how screwed the system is: the company I have been working for the last years at was recently sold. The new owners are bringing in a different insurance carrier. Having been lucky (or healthy) enough to not see a doctor for the last three years, do you think I would get a rebate from the old carrier, since I never used them these last few years? Worse than that, a number of people who work for us are older than me, and have had a number of health issues. Their information is being passed along to the new carrier. How many of them will have to worry about claims being rejected because of pre-existing conditions?
The truth is, a lot of things in this country are already socialized: our defense, our police, and our fire departments. We do this because they make society better as a whole. Yet you'll never hear anybody complaining about having to pay money for those people who are careless with inflammable materials, or have too much stuff tempting criminals to rob them. But when it comes to health and well being of our own fellow Americans, suddenly patriotism goes out the window, and you're on your own now buddy.
Our politicians (who, need I remind you, have their health care taken care of for life) are playing a game. One side, too pussified and invertebrate to do what's right, are holding out for a bipartisan approach. And the other side just wants to stick it to the guy who stuck it to their mavericks (remember them? The one maverick who was going to reach across the aisle, and the other one who couldn't stick out her job? How are they workin' out for ya?) to prove a point. And in the middle, suffering while they play, are millions of Americans, who are nothing but pawns to the political elite.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Religion Is The Work Of The Devil
Face it, Americans keep getting stupider every day. Many different reasons are given for the source of this problem: teacher's unions, Fox News, "reality" television, global warming climate change, or too much emphasis on sports. However, the true culprit for the stupidefication of America is religion.
Consider this: Florida students were sent home from school for wearing tee shirts emblazoned with the message Islam is of the Devil. There's true Christianazi tolerance for ya. The shirts were produced by a local church called the Dove World Outreach Center. The pastor, Terry Jones (no, not that one) says that the "message is more important than education".
Well, it certainly can't be Jesus' message, because Islam was founded well after the death of Jesus, so then whose message is it? My guess would be with one Pastor Jones, who for whatever reason, decided that children need to be indoctrinated to his vile and contemptible ideas more than they need to learn how to spell, add, read or identify Palestine on a world map (It's right there, underneath Israel). It's easy to understand why Pastor Jones feels his message is more important than learnin'- once people learn they become able to think for themselves and therefore become less likely to toss their hard earned change into the Dove World Outreach Center collection plate, making it all the more impossible for Pastor Jones to reach out to more of the world and shake them down for their hard earned bread so he may live like a king and spread his hate to all the gullible television watchers too fat from constant snacking to get their fat asses of the couch and attend a real church where, maybe, just maybe, fear and hatred won't be used to shakedown stupid, fat and ugly people who pray to an invisible man in the sky.
But who is really doing the Devil's work here? Pastor Jones message spreads hate which leads to fear. Soon, it becomes acceptable for us to drop bombs on people just because they are of a different religion, which plays in to the hands of the military security complex, who use this as an excuse to continue to drop tax payer funded bombs on more innocent people to clear the way for Big Oil to commandeer all that luscious black gold underneath their feet.
America has become stupider because it's main religion has been taken over by fear-mongers who want to further their message of intolerance against not only other religions, but gays, medical workers, scientists, teachers, and anyone else who doesn't see the world through their myopic telescope. And since they do all this hate in the name of God, the fact that these people haven't been strciken down is all the proof I need that no God does exist.
Consider this: Florida students were sent home from school for wearing tee shirts emblazoned with the message Islam is of the Devil. There's true Christianazi tolerance for ya. The shirts were produced by a local church called the Dove World Outreach Center. The pastor, Terry Jones (no, not that one) says that the "message is more important than education".
Well, it certainly can't be Jesus' message, because Islam was founded well after the death of Jesus, so then whose message is it? My guess would be with one Pastor Jones, who for whatever reason, decided that children need to be indoctrinated to his vile and contemptible ideas more than they need to learn how to spell, add, read or identify Palestine on a world map (It's right there, underneath Israel). It's easy to understand why Pastor Jones feels his message is more important than learnin'- once people learn they become able to think for themselves and therefore become less likely to toss their hard earned change into the Dove World Outreach Center collection plate, making it all the more impossible for Pastor Jones to reach out to more of the world and shake them down for their hard earned bread so he may live like a king and spread his hate to all the gullible television watchers too fat from constant snacking to get their fat asses of the couch and attend a real church where, maybe, just maybe, fear and hatred won't be used to shakedown stupid, fat and ugly people who pray to an invisible man in the sky.
But who is really doing the Devil's work here? Pastor Jones message spreads hate which leads to fear. Soon, it becomes acceptable for us to drop bombs on people just because they are of a different religion, which plays in to the hands of the military security complex, who use this as an excuse to continue to drop tax payer funded bombs on more innocent people to clear the way for Big Oil to commandeer all that luscious black gold underneath their feet.
America has become stupider because it's main religion has been taken over by fear-mongers who want to further their message of intolerance against not only other religions, but gays, medical workers, scientists, teachers, and anyone else who doesn't see the world through their myopic telescope. And since they do all this hate in the name of God, the fact that these people haven't been strciken down is all the proof I need that no God does exist.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
She's Baa-a-a-ack!(Actually, She Never Went Away. You Did)
President Obama has a surprise waiting for him as he starts his summer vacation in Martha's Vineyard (who knew he owned property there?) and it's not gun toting astroturfers. It's Cindy Sheehan. Seems she's still upset that even after riding the antiwar sentiment to power, Barack and the rest of the Democratic party have now turned there attention to not solving America's health care crisis, as opposed to not solving it's financial crisis, among other crises facing the administration these days.
Moreover, Obama is continuing the Bush administration policy of rendition of "terrorism" suspects, or heck, anybody it damn well pleases.
So even though the war in Iraq has been proven to be based on lies, and deception, the Democratic party still thinks we should still be fighting it. Good for them. And after exploiting the antiwar vote, they feel it's more important to not do anything about ending these shams, lest chickenhawks label them surrender monkeys.
It's interesting that the antiwar movement barely received the coverage the anti-health care reform crowd is getting these days, and it wasn't until Ms. Sheehan began her vigil outside George W Bush's Crawford ranch that the media paid any attention to the movement. Because, with the arrival of Cindy, a grieving mother who wanted answers as to why her son had to die, that the corporate media could put a face on the movement that war shills could use to paint it as "looney". But I doubt if any of the astroturfers will demonstrate the tenacity of Ms. Sheehan, her pain and anguish are real, as opposed to what amounts to actors hired by the health industry lobby to disrupt serious debate about reforming our seriously fucked up health care system. And I'm sure health care reform will be a lost and distant memory before we see any end to the wars of choice we are fighting in the Middle east.
Moreover, Obama is continuing the Bush administration policy of rendition of "terrorism" suspects, or heck, anybody it damn well pleases.
So even though the war in Iraq has been proven to be based on lies, and deception, the Democratic party still thinks we should still be fighting it. Good for them. And after exploiting the antiwar vote, they feel it's more important to not do anything about ending these shams, lest chickenhawks label them surrender monkeys.
It's interesting that the antiwar movement barely received the coverage the anti-health care reform crowd is getting these days, and it wasn't until Ms. Sheehan began her vigil outside George W Bush's Crawford ranch that the media paid any attention to the movement. Because, with the arrival of Cindy, a grieving mother who wanted answers as to why her son had to die, that the corporate media could put a face on the movement that war shills could use to paint it as "looney". But I doubt if any of the astroturfers will demonstrate the tenacity of Ms. Sheehan, her pain and anguish are real, as opposed to what amounts to actors hired by the health industry lobby to disrupt serious debate about reforming our seriously fucked up health care system. And I'm sure health care reform will be a lost and distant memory before we see any end to the wars of choice we are fighting in the Middle east.
Friday, August 21, 2009
The Garage Sale Police Do Exist
I rarely buy anything new.
It's not just the outrageous mark-up I don't like to pay, it's also the feeling that with technology, I kind of get the feeling I'm being scammed. And I enjoy going to garage sales. Not only can you find good items incredibly cheap, but, having dealt somewhat in the antique business when I was younger, I know what is of value, and give it to my ex to sell on eBay.
I've had three separate record collections in my life. the first, I started when I was still a teen, and grew to about two hundred albums, until I sold or traded most of them for pot, because I no longer had a turntable to play them on. The second came after the advent of compact discs, when I was able to buy a decent stereo at a garage sale for a mere ten dollars. With everybody in a rush to replace many albums they already had with the new format, I was able to pick up many great albums for as little as twenty-five cents. Soon that collection grew to close to a thousand records. Following my divorce, and several moves after that, I pared my collection down again to the essentials: Ramones and Butthole Surfers.
Now, I've started my third, mostly because he kids and I like collecting records, and the challenge of finding them is becoming greater, what with vinyl prices rising due to increased demand. It was at the start of the summer, while at a garage sale which had listed albums for sale, that the concept of garage sale police came up. I had filed through someone's record collection, clearly sitting in a box in their driveway and marked for sale. After sifting through them and distributing them fairly between my two sons, who had their own money and were willing to buy them, the person in charge of the sale took an album my eldest had intended to buy (McCartney Paul McCartney's first solo effort, on Apple, and very desirable) and told him "I'm sorry, I'm not selling that one". Wil was crushed, and became sad that the one album he wanted, that was listed in the ad as for sale, wasn't going home with him. Me, feeling angry, as I backed in to their garbage can by the curb, suggested, "Maybe there needs to be a garage sale police".
We've been buying a lot of CDs lately as well, as people are already dumping that format for the MP3, much easier to manage and carry around, so CDs are going cheaply as well. You can trace the history of formats, from music, to gaming systems, to movies at garage sales. VHS tapes, which used to command higher prices in the secondary market, have been discarded in favor of DVDs, which themselves are on the way out in the advent of HD Blu-Ray technology. So while many people continue to buy the same product in each new format as it comes out, I'm down here going through what most people would discard, because, guess what, the formats still work, and I'm not going to invest a lot of money in a format that will be obsolete while I'm still using it. It's the main reason I don't have a cell phone-why invest over a hundred dollars to be the first one to have the new phone when in six months you won't be able to resell it for twenty dollars?
I was junking last week after work, when I stopped by a sale being run by a twenty something couple. Not much I was interested in, until I came across a VHS copy of Weird Al's UHF, which is my son Nelson's favorite entertainers. I brought it home, and when the boys came over that weekend, we put it in the VCR (yes, I still have one, as well as several DVD players which seem more disposable) only to find someone had taped over the movie with a special on skateboarding that must have been on one of the myriad of television channels available to those brain dead enough to actually sit around and watch a show about skateboarding. Once again, Nelson's big score became worthless, and he turned to me and stated, "You know dad, there needs to be a garage sale police."
Well, now there is a garage sale police. As part of a campaign called Resale Roundup, the federal government is cracking down on the secondhand sales of dangerous and defective products. Maybe someday, we can get them to crack down on unscrupulous sellers as well. It's a dream anyway.
It's not just the outrageous mark-up I don't like to pay, it's also the feeling that with technology, I kind of get the feeling I'm being scammed. And I enjoy going to garage sales. Not only can you find good items incredibly cheap, but, having dealt somewhat in the antique business when I was younger, I know what is of value, and give it to my ex to sell on eBay.
I've had three separate record collections in my life. the first, I started when I was still a teen, and grew to about two hundred albums, until I sold or traded most of them for pot, because I no longer had a turntable to play them on. The second came after the advent of compact discs, when I was able to buy a decent stereo at a garage sale for a mere ten dollars. With everybody in a rush to replace many albums they already had with the new format, I was able to pick up many great albums for as little as twenty-five cents. Soon that collection grew to close to a thousand records. Following my divorce, and several moves after that, I pared my collection down again to the essentials: Ramones and Butthole Surfers.
Now, I've started my third, mostly because he kids and I like collecting records, and the challenge of finding them is becoming greater, what with vinyl prices rising due to increased demand. It was at the start of the summer, while at a garage sale which had listed albums for sale, that the concept of garage sale police came up. I had filed through someone's record collection, clearly sitting in a box in their driveway and marked for sale. After sifting through them and distributing them fairly between my two sons, who had their own money and were willing to buy them, the person in charge of the sale took an album my eldest had intended to buy (McCartney Paul McCartney's first solo effort, on Apple, and very desirable) and told him "I'm sorry, I'm not selling that one". Wil was crushed, and became sad that the one album he wanted, that was listed in the ad as for sale, wasn't going home with him. Me, feeling angry, as I backed in to their garbage can by the curb, suggested, "Maybe there needs to be a garage sale police".
We've been buying a lot of CDs lately as well, as people are already dumping that format for the MP3, much easier to manage and carry around, so CDs are going cheaply as well. You can trace the history of formats, from music, to gaming systems, to movies at garage sales. VHS tapes, which used to command higher prices in the secondary market, have been discarded in favor of DVDs, which themselves are on the way out in the advent of HD Blu-Ray technology. So while many people continue to buy the same product in each new format as it comes out, I'm down here going through what most people would discard, because, guess what, the formats still work, and I'm not going to invest a lot of money in a format that will be obsolete while I'm still using it. It's the main reason I don't have a cell phone-why invest over a hundred dollars to be the first one to have the new phone when in six months you won't be able to resell it for twenty dollars?
I was junking last week after work, when I stopped by a sale being run by a twenty something couple. Not much I was interested in, until I came across a VHS copy of Weird Al's UHF, which is my son Nelson's favorite entertainers. I brought it home, and when the boys came over that weekend, we put it in the VCR (yes, I still have one, as well as several DVD players which seem more disposable) only to find someone had taped over the movie with a special on skateboarding that must have been on one of the myriad of television channels available to those brain dead enough to actually sit around and watch a show about skateboarding. Once again, Nelson's big score became worthless, and he turned to me and stated, "You know dad, there needs to be a garage sale police."
Well, now there is a garage sale police. As part of a campaign called Resale Roundup, the federal government is cracking down on the secondhand sales of dangerous and defective products. Maybe someday, we can get them to crack down on unscrupulous sellers as well. It's a dream anyway.
Thursday, August 20, 2009
A Nation of Rubes Deserves No Better
During the Bush administration, there was a general feeling that "terror" levels were being manipulated to benefit the president and his party. As it turns out, we were right. I conclude that these manipulations are in fact evidence there is no "terror" threat at all, just part of the propaganda.
At least the Republicans got it right. In President Obama's attempt to gain support for his escalation in Afghanistan, he has first told us the war against the Taliban secures America . Then, backtracking, he tells us al Qaeda did 9/11. No wonder that the majority of Americans oppose the Afghan war, Obama went off message. By now we all know that if it isn't about the UNOCAL pipeline, it's about the lucrative opium trade. I guess Agi was right: the Democrats have no running game.
In spite of the fact that a majority of American support health care reform, the Democrats having a filibuster-proof majority, a 40-seat advantage in the House, and a president who was once really popular, those town hall protesters shown to be fake, Obama still can't get it together and "reform" health care. That's why his approval rating is slipping, while being good at speechifying, Obama seems unable to stick to a lie or accomplish anything he was elected to do. Which is not a good thing when you preside over a nation of rubes.
At least the Republicans got it right. In President Obama's attempt to gain support for his escalation in Afghanistan, he has first told us the war against the Taliban secures America . Then, backtracking, he tells us al Qaeda did 9/11. No wonder that the majority of Americans oppose the Afghan war, Obama went off message. By now we all know that if it isn't about the UNOCAL pipeline, it's about the lucrative opium trade. I guess Agi was right: the Democrats have no running game.
In spite of the fact that a majority of American support health care reform, the Democrats having a filibuster-proof majority, a 40-seat advantage in the House, and a president who was once really popular, those town hall protesters shown to be fake, Obama still can't get it together and "reform" health care. That's why his approval rating is slipping, while being good at speechifying, Obama seems unable to stick to a lie or accomplish anything he was elected to do. Which is not a good thing when you preside over a nation of rubes.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Pesticide On Astroturf
(Picture poached from here)
After I posted this, one thing about this picture stuck with me. No, it wasn't that is an obvious photoshop, rather, it's the young girl standing just to the left of the guy in the middle. Her sign reads:
Oh Im Sorry We Thought Reading The Bill Was Ur Job
Beyond the fact that she appears to be too young to be at the rally on her own, and beyond the fact that she is too stupid to even know how to spell "your" (which, if you've ever read a comment in any forum by anybody opposing "Obamacare, seems to be a common trait), is the fact that these people are protesting a bill they haven't even fucking read. How do they know it's bad if they haven't read it?
You can't tell me that these people are acting independently to protest something they haven't read. It's clear that they have been misinformed by someone, and are acting on that misinformation.
PT Barnum Was Right
Organizers held a fortieth anniversary concert of the original Woodstock concert this weekend. It was a chance for aging boomers to dress like hippies, wear peace symbols and love beads, and take part in something they totally missed out on the first time around. And thereby, missing the whole point of what made the original experience so iconic.
It was anarchy.
It was mud, brown acid, and skinny dipping. It was the explosion of a youth culture facing being shipped to an early death fighting an unwinnable war in southeast Asia for reasons never fully understood.
Now it's all about reliving memories of something they never took part in, flashing the peace sign, and tailgating in the parking lot, with, I'm sure, lots of bottles of chardonnay passed around the parking lot. That's right, it was like a fucking sporting event. Organized, and calm, it belies and betrays the spirit of the original.
A lot of the original acts that played at the original returned to play this one. Big Brother and the Holding Company returned, for instance, missing, of course, the iconic lead singer that made them a festival attraction in the first place. Canned Heat played as well, sans founding members Bob "the Bear" Hite and Alan Wilson, both of whom are now dead.
The whole purpose of the concert seems to have been promoters and musicians loosely tied to the original stars exploiting hippie poseurs looking to have a memory of something they wished they could have been at and now are desperately seeking ways to connect to so they can say, I wasn't at the original , but I was at the fortieth anniversary.
So they didn't get to see the Who, or Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young, Crosby Stills and Nash, or Creedence Clearwater Revival, but they did get to sit in lawn chairs and cheer along with Country Joe McDonald. They still think that by voting for Obama, they are "hip" and "with-it", even though Obama has shown his reluctance for the "peace" the original concert was set up to exploit and promote. And such is the definition of pathetic.
It was anarchy.
It was mud, brown acid, and skinny dipping. It was the explosion of a youth culture facing being shipped to an early death fighting an unwinnable war in southeast Asia for reasons never fully understood.
Now it's all about reliving memories of something they never took part in, flashing the peace sign, and tailgating in the parking lot, with, I'm sure, lots of bottles of chardonnay passed around the parking lot. That's right, it was like a fucking sporting event. Organized, and calm, it belies and betrays the spirit of the original.
A lot of the original acts that played at the original returned to play this one. Big Brother and the Holding Company returned, for instance, missing, of course, the iconic lead singer that made them a festival attraction in the first place. Canned Heat played as well, sans founding members Bob "the Bear" Hite and Alan Wilson, both of whom are now dead.
The whole purpose of the concert seems to have been promoters and musicians loosely tied to the original stars exploiting hippie poseurs looking to have a memory of something they wished they could have been at and now are desperately seeking ways to connect to so they can say, I wasn't at the original , but I was at the fortieth anniversary.
So they didn't get to see the Who, or Jimi Hendrix, Neil Young, Crosby Stills and Nash, or Creedence Clearwater Revival, but they did get to sit in lawn chairs and cheer along with Country Joe McDonald. They still think that by voting for Obama, they are "hip" and "with-it", even though Obama has shown his reluctance for the "peace" the original concert was set up to exploit and promote. And such is the definition of pathetic.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
The Hypocrisy Never Ends
Back when George W Bush was our president, every public event was stage managed down to who received invitations, down to who got let in through the door, and who was allowed to address Bush. It happened for eight years, and for eight years, Michelle Malkin, Rush Limbaugh, and rafts of other "conservative" commentators said nary a peep. So, no problem, right?
Now, there's a problem.
Sure, if the story's true, and I have no reason to believe otherwise, that 11 year old Julia Hall was used as a "kiddie human shield",where's Malkin's gripe? Bush used to fill his events with supporters,hand out flags and signs without a peep from Ms. Malkin. The precedent has been set, and by complaining about it now, and not then, you show how stupid the American political system has become. Everything the opposition does is wrong, even if it's the same fucking thing your side is doing. And how can Obama continue to claim to be an agent of change if he keeps on using the Bush playbook?
Now, there's a problem.
Sure, if the story's true, and I have no reason to believe otherwise, that 11 year old Julia Hall was used as a "kiddie human shield",where's Malkin's gripe? Bush used to fill his events with supporters,hand out flags and signs without a peep from Ms. Malkin. The precedent has been set, and by complaining about it now, and not then, you show how stupid the American political system has become. Everything the opposition does is wrong, even if it's the same fucking thing your side is doing. And how can Obama continue to claim to be an agent of change if he keeps on using the Bush playbook?
Monday, August 10, 2009
Death Panels In Full Effect
Exhibiting all the qualities that make a perfect candidate for the corpocracy, like our previous three presidents, infallible to the faithful, irksome and irritating to the opposition, Sarah Palin claimed President Obama's new health plan includes "death panels". Instead of calling her a crazy bitch, or a silly cunt, defending Palin's statements is Newt Gingrich, not because he wants to hit that, she's much too vintage for a guy who likes to trade in on a newer model every decade or so, but because he's likely angling for a Cheney-like position as her VP when she wins the GOP nomination.
You could say that Republicans have raised fear mongering to an art form. Give them any sensible issue (gay marriage, health care, black president, etc) and they'll manufacture a big lie to scare the bejeezus out of voters too dumb and too lazy to get off their asses and actually read anything, much less a proposal that may determine their future.It doesn't matter how many websites Obama sets up , these are people who only use the internet to forward Christianazi talking points and email racist jokes to each other.
Gingrich says he doesn't think "that the government is to be trusted ... You are asking us to trust turning power over to the government....when there are clearly people in American who believe in ......selective standards."
Like Newt Gingrich. He has a problem with death panels putting elderly people to death because keeping them alive is a costly nuisance, but doesn't have a problem putting brown skinned people to death because their living on the ground above a wealth of natural resources important to keeping the white man in charge is a nuisance. Almost everyday, in Afghanistan, Iraq, and now even Pakistan, the US military is killing people to ensure that oil keeps flowing like dollars into the coffers of Gingrich's many think tanks. And Gingrich raises his concerns not a whit, because it isn't about doing the right thing to him, it's about doing the Right Wing thing, which ensures he'll never have to worry about getting a real job, or, as a former member of Congress, he'll never have to worry about being denied health insurance.
You could say that Republicans have raised fear mongering to an art form. Give them any sensible issue (gay marriage, health care, black president, etc) and they'll manufacture a big lie to scare the bejeezus out of voters too dumb and too lazy to get off their asses and actually read anything, much less a proposal that may determine their future.It doesn't matter how many websites Obama sets up , these are people who only use the internet to forward Christianazi talking points and email racist jokes to each other.
Gingrich says he doesn't think "that the government is to be trusted ... You are asking us to trust turning power over to the government....when there are clearly people in American who believe in ......selective standards."
Like Newt Gingrich. He has a problem with death panels putting elderly people to death because keeping them alive is a costly nuisance, but doesn't have a problem putting brown skinned people to death because their living on the ground above a wealth of natural resources important to keeping the white man in charge is a nuisance. Almost everyday, in Afghanistan, Iraq, and now even Pakistan, the US military is killing people to ensure that oil keeps flowing like dollars into the coffers of Gingrich's many think tanks. And Gingrich raises his concerns not a whit, because it isn't about doing the right thing to him, it's about doing the Right Wing thing, which ensures he'll never have to worry about getting a real job, or, as a former member of Congress, he'll never have to worry about being denied health insurance.
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Paging Donald Segretti.......
Anybody who knows their history, should know that the Republican party has a legacy stretching back at least as far as Richard Nixon and Donald Segretti of disrupting political opponents rallies . And so when I read that some of the same protesters seen at these town hall meetings , were also seen at the now infamous Brooks Brothers Riot of 2000, I was not surprised. This is the party, after all, of of the infamous right wing dirty trick squad. The same people who forged a letter attributed to Edmund Muskie, forged documents purporting to show Saddam Hussein was trying to buy yellow cake uranium from Niger, and forged a Kenyan birth certificate purporting to show Barack Obama was born in that African nation wouldn't have a problem twisting reality to show that the people disrupting these meetings are not paid shills working for the health care industry.
While many will defend the right of free speech at these rallies, it is interesting to note that not one of the same people voicing their support for those disrupting town hall meetings ever spoke up against the Bush administration free speech zones. And now, the same people who said antiwar protesters should be tried as enemies of the state for speaking out against the president during a time of war are defending these new protests against the president. And the last time I checked, we were still at war. Fucking hypocrites.
While many will defend the right of free speech at these rallies, it is interesting to note that not one of the same people voicing their support for those disrupting town hall meetings ever spoke up against the Bush administration free speech zones. And now, the same people who said antiwar protesters should be tried as enemies of the state for speaking out against the president during a time of war are defending these new protests against the president. And the last time I checked, we were still at war. Fucking hypocrites.
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Crazy, Not Stupid
Ya gotta love those nutty crazy Birthers. Even after evidence has been produced, they still claim that they would have seen it by now. Well, maybe Nascar was running that day, or something shiny rolled across their front yards, maybe they had too many beers, or they were busy getting tea bagged somewhere, or maybe they just can't fucking read, but there it is- a certificate of live birth.
My problem with the Birthers is the fact that now they're being lumped in with the 9/11 truth movement, which unlike the Birthers, is based on a quest for truth from a government that did a shoddy job investigating the attacks in the first place.
For instance, Sibel Edmonds. Among her most recent claims is the fact that Osama Bin Laden was a US proxy until 9/11. Moreover, he met with the CIA at the American hospital in Dubai in July 0f 2001. (Bin Laden also denied involvement in the terrorist attacks.
While there are many different theories floating around 9/11 (including ludicrous ones like there were no planes flown into the Twin Towers or the Pentagon on that day)there are just as many differing theories of why the towers were the only steel framed buildings to ever collapse due to fire, such as weak bolts were used to connect the beams, thermal expansion, or mysterious " magnetic forces". A judge even threw out a case claiming WTC collapsed due to faulty construction and improperly placed diesel tanks. And none of these explain the evidence of thermite at Ground Zero.
The Birthers will not go away, even after the necessary documentation has been provided. The 9/11 truth movement will not go away. The government spent twenty times as much money investigating Bill Clinton's sex life than it did 9/11. And while Ken Starr had unlimited avenues to investigate in his inquisition, the 9/11 commission was limited as to where and what it could actually investigate. Since these alleged terrorist attacks have been used as the basis for military excursions into countries that had nothing to do with them, doesn't it seem prudent that we should investigate some of the claims and evidence offered up by the 9/11 Truth Movement? Just don't lump us together with the Birthers. We may be crazy and paranoid, they, on the other hand, are just plain dumb.
My problem with the Birthers is the fact that now they're being lumped in with the 9/11 truth movement, which unlike the Birthers, is based on a quest for truth from a government that did a shoddy job investigating the attacks in the first place.
For instance, Sibel Edmonds. Among her most recent claims is the fact that Osama Bin Laden was a US proxy until 9/11. Moreover, he met with the CIA at the American hospital in Dubai in July 0f 2001. (Bin Laden also denied involvement in the terrorist attacks.
While there are many different theories floating around 9/11 (including ludicrous ones like there were no planes flown into the Twin Towers or the Pentagon on that day)there are just as many differing theories of why the towers were the only steel framed buildings to ever collapse due to fire, such as weak bolts were used to connect the beams, thermal expansion, or mysterious " magnetic forces". A judge even threw out a case claiming WTC collapsed due to faulty construction and improperly placed diesel tanks. And none of these explain the evidence of thermite at Ground Zero.
The Birthers will not go away, even after the necessary documentation has been provided. The 9/11 truth movement will not go away. The government spent twenty times as much money investigating Bill Clinton's sex life than it did 9/11. And while Ken Starr had unlimited avenues to investigate in his inquisition, the 9/11 commission was limited as to where and what it could actually investigate. Since these alleged terrorist attacks have been used as the basis for military excursions into countries that had nothing to do with them, doesn't it seem prudent that we should investigate some of the claims and evidence offered up by the 9/11 Truth Movement? Just don't lump us together with the Birthers. We may be crazy and paranoid, they, on the other hand, are just plain dumb.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Chick Fight In 2012?
With the Obama administration unable to follow through on any of it's promises, from reforming health care, to ending the war in Iraq (or Afghanistan), ending the torturous practices of the previous administration, and generally failing to deliver the hope of change that was the theme of it's campaign, is someone looking ahead to 2012? Of course, I mean Hillary Clinton, who is still keeping a small political team from her campaign staff. For someone who believes the elite win power by the will of God, who uses them for his purposes (and not by the will of the voters, who hope they'll keep their promises) to be so close to the top might be a temptation even such a spiritual person as Ms. Clinton can not resist.
And in this corner- Sarah Palin, able to garner support from 80% of the rich old white men at NewsMax in a 2012 presidential run. (I say old men because 80% of advertising is aimed at fat unhealthy seniors). She used her farewell speech as a foundation for her 2012 campaign. Who else dos the GOP have? Tim Pawlenty? "Bobby" Jindal? (I can see the base that refers to Barack Hussein Obama going for a guy whose first name is Piyush) George (or what ever his first name is)Huckabee? Mittens? Just read these pro-Palin comments and you can see what the base likes about her-she's good looking, especially lined up against a long-in-the-tooth hag like Clinton will be in three years.
Just face it. Even with a filibuster proof majority in the Senate, Barack Obama is not going to change anything. America is fucked up the way the corporocratic masters want it fucked up. So if politics can't serve the will of the people, the least it could do is offer us some entertainment.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Will Clinton Pull A Powell?
In 2002 it was much easier to sell a war. Our corporate controlled Congress co-mingled nicely with our corporate controlled media to sell us many reasons we needed to invade Iraq, from Saddam has a cheesy mustache to his feet stink really bad and he hogs all the covers at night. Throw that together with an American audience angered at the delay of the release of the new Spiderman movie while the Twin Towers were digitally erased, and you have a recipe for war.
But you have to give the Obama administration points for trying. On NBC's Beat The Drums today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Iran's pursuit of nukes futile. What's really futile is the War Party's constant lies about Iran even after Director Of National Intelligence Dennis Blair's statement about Iran not re-starting it's nuclear weapons program. Perhaps the politically minded Clinton should remember what happened to Colin Powell after he lied to the UN about Saddam's non-existent nukes.
While Iran may possess defensive missiles, the only way that could endanger the television watchers is if Iran used them to take out Octomom before her reality show hits the air. So the media plays out the birther thing longer than it needs to be (started by a group of people who had no problem with a Bush administration full of people with dual citizenship and loyalty) it's important to remember who is the threat here and who only wishes to defend it's people from a fate similar to it's neighbors to the west.
But you have to give the Obama administration points for trying. On NBC's Beat The Drums today, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Iran's pursuit of nukes futile. What's really futile is the War Party's constant lies about Iran even after Director Of National Intelligence Dennis Blair's statement about Iran not re-starting it's nuclear weapons program. Perhaps the politically minded Clinton should remember what happened to Colin Powell after he lied to the UN about Saddam's non-existent nukes.
While Iran may possess defensive missiles, the only way that could endanger the television watchers is if Iran used them to take out Octomom before her reality show hits the air. So the media plays out the birther thing longer than it needs to be (started by a group of people who had no problem with a Bush administration full of people with dual citizenship and loyalty) it's important to remember who is the threat here and who only wishes to defend it's people from a fate similar to it's neighbors to the west.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
We All Just Became Peasants
Our country is broken, and I don't just mean economically. We have a congress willing to spend $50 million, borrowed from our children's future on utter nonsense that benefits the agenda of a few evil rich men while millions go wanting for health care. But that's not even the root of the problem.
No, the problem is we have people so lock stepped with political parties so out of touch with reality that Nancy Pelosi can declare $350,000 the new middle class. This makes the president slightly upper middle class now, but he doesn't have to pay taxes on his free health care, (or his free security,his free lodging, or his free public transportation), but his plan wants you to consider your health insurance (if provided by your employer) as " taxable income".
But if $350K is the new middle class, is $175K lower middle class? That would explain why there has been so much credit default lately, somehow, while we were busting our asses, paying our bills, and providing for our families, we all became poor. Someone moved the goal line while we were still on our own 30 yard line.
But you can't blame Pelosi, or the rest of congress, for taking advantage of people stupid enough to keep voting against their own interests-that's capitalism.
As insane and out of touch as Pelosi's statement is, it is more in touch with the Republicans, who last year were ready to vote for a guy who thought $3 million was middle class. The reality is that as long as we keep playing the corpocracy's game of Democrats vs. Republicans, we will all remian what they want us to be: peasants.
No, the problem is we have people so lock stepped with political parties so out of touch with reality that Nancy Pelosi can declare $350,000 the new middle class. This makes the president slightly upper middle class now, but he doesn't have to pay taxes on his free health care, (or his free security,his free lodging, or his free public transportation), but his plan wants you to consider your health insurance (if provided by your employer) as " taxable income".
But if $350K is the new middle class, is $175K lower middle class? That would explain why there has been so much credit default lately, somehow, while we were busting our asses, paying our bills, and providing for our families, we all became poor. Someone moved the goal line while we were still on our own 30 yard line.
But you can't blame Pelosi, or the rest of congress, for taking advantage of people stupid enough to keep voting against their own interests-that's capitalism.
As insane and out of touch as Pelosi's statement is, it is more in touch with the Republicans, who last year were ready to vote for a guy who thought $3 million was middle class. The reality is that as long as we keep playing the corpocracy's game of Democrats vs. Republicans, we will all remian what they want us to be: peasants.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Stating The Obvious
In the debate over health care reform, one question that has been asked time and time again is, where will the money for single payer health care from?
Taxes. that's right, Obama wants to raise your taxes. Good thing we voted for more taxes because with the economy is full-on depression mode, the one thing working people need to do is pay more taxes. How else could we fund such a massive government undertaking?
Ron Paul has an idea. If we end the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and cut our defense budget in half, we'll have all the money we need for a health care program. Of course being a libertarian, (and a doctor), Ron Paul opposes nationalizing the health care industry, but "you don’t want to cut under these [economic] conditions medical care from poor people who have been dependent, or the elderly." That this makes sense is all the more likely that no one in congress will actually do anything about it.
Take Afghanistan. Please. (That is, if you can. No country has ever successfully been able to take that piece of real estate, and that vote-for-me-and-hope-for-change guy isn't going to have anymore success, no matter how many more troops he sends into that quagmire.) And what are we fighting for In Afghanistan? Liberty! The liberty to build a pipeline that only benefits big oil, essentially socializing the army for a select few (who then complain about having to pay taxes). The liberty to increase opium production so the police can have the liberty to arrest heroin addicts at home. The liberty to set civilian death records, liberating Afghanis from this mortal coil. Oh yeah, then there's that whole 9/11 thing, of which the Taleban, as with the people of Iraq, did not partake in at all, but being that America was founded on liberty, we can take all the liberties we want.
Of course, it's noted, that right after Paul made his pronouncement, the "liberal" media changed the subject. Can't have the truth slip out on the news shows, the sheeple might get angry.
Taxes. that's right, Obama wants to raise your taxes. Good thing we voted for more taxes because with the economy is full-on depression mode, the one thing working people need to do is pay more taxes. How else could we fund such a massive government undertaking?
Ron Paul has an idea. If we end the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, and cut our defense budget in half, we'll have all the money we need for a health care program. Of course being a libertarian, (and a doctor), Ron Paul opposes nationalizing the health care industry, but "you don’t want to cut under these [economic] conditions medical care from poor people who have been dependent, or the elderly." That this makes sense is all the more likely that no one in congress will actually do anything about it.
Take Afghanistan. Please. (That is, if you can. No country has ever successfully been able to take that piece of real estate, and that vote-for-me-and-hope-for-change guy isn't going to have anymore success, no matter how many more troops he sends into that quagmire.) And what are we fighting for In Afghanistan? Liberty! The liberty to build a pipeline that only benefits big oil, essentially socializing the army for a select few (who then complain about having to pay taxes). The liberty to increase opium production so the police can have the liberty to arrest heroin addicts at home. The liberty to set civilian death records, liberating Afghanis from this mortal coil. Oh yeah, then there's that whole 9/11 thing, of which the Taleban, as with the people of Iraq, did not partake in at all, but being that America was founded on liberty, we can take all the liberties we want.
Of course, it's noted, that right after Paul made his pronouncement, the "liberal" media changed the subject. Can't have the truth slip out on the news shows, the sheeple might get angry.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Methinks Thou Doth Protest Too Stupidly
Wait a minute, wait a minute. So the US condemns a video of a soldier captured in Afghanistan? Why? Is he stacked up naked with other prisoners while a burqa wearing female points at his genitalia? Is he forced to stand naked while dogs snap at his body? Is he being forcibly sodomized by a guard? No? Than really what do we have to condemn?
Oh. I see. It's a violation of international law. While I feel for the soldier, and his family, for the understandably traumatic experience they are having to endure, the US lost it's right to complain about international law violations a long time ago. This is why anti-torture advocates have been so vociferous following the revelation of the US using "enhanced interrogation techniques". Because, someday, sooner or later, our soldiers, fighting in the global war for enduring hegemony, are bound to be captured by the enemy, and perhaps, they won't be forced to eat rice and bread, drink tea, and wear traditional grey, loose-fitting Afghan shalwar kameez clothing.
The US, under the Obama administration, had an opportunity to change the way that the US operates, but, as with much else with in our foreign policy, has opted to continue the same policies of the Bush administration. (So much for "change we can believe in). So the current administration, as with the previous, can blather on about how our troops are handled as if they really care. But the truth is, if they really cared, they would put an end to this policy before some other serviceperson is captured by a group that cares even less than we do about international law. Fortunately for us, the only other country that cares less than we do about international is Israel, and they are our ally.
Cross posted at American Insurgency
Oh. I see. It's a violation of international law. While I feel for the soldier, and his family, for the understandably traumatic experience they are having to endure, the US lost it's right to complain about international law violations a long time ago. This is why anti-torture advocates have been so vociferous following the revelation of the US using "enhanced interrogation techniques". Because, someday, sooner or later, our soldiers, fighting in the global war for enduring hegemony, are bound to be captured by the enemy, and perhaps, they won't be forced to eat rice and bread, drink tea, and wear traditional grey, loose-fitting Afghan shalwar kameez clothing.
The US, under the Obama administration, had an opportunity to change the way that the US operates, but, as with much else with in our foreign policy, has opted to continue the same policies of the Bush administration. (So much for "change we can believe in). So the current administration, as with the previous, can blather on about how our troops are handled as if they really care. But the truth is, if they really cared, they would put an end to this policy before some other serviceperson is captured by a group that cares even less than we do about international law. Fortunately for us, the only other country that cares less than we do about international is Israel, and they are our ally.
Cross posted at American Insurgency
You Can Dish It Out, But You Can't Take It
It started innocuously enough.
I had posted a link to this on my Facebook page. I did it for two reasons. One, I was trying to let Fred know that it was indeed me putting in a friend request. (He rejected me anyway. Bastard.) The other reason was to counter my brother, who uses his page to post opinion pieces from the NY Times. (Get a blog!) But I forgot.
One of my friends is a conservative. Well, not a conservative, but a Limbaugh spouting parrot, as exampled by his comment:
Of course, I know that not to be true, having been a friend of his for sometime now. I didn't respond, because, really, there was nothing to respond to. A day later, he posted another comment:
Still, no response from me, as I felt no response was necessary. All in good fun, he tried to bait me, and was unsuccessful. In the meantime, another friend posted a comment:
Still, no reason to respond. Then, for some reason, last night, the first friend posted two more comments:
and
Now, he's fully OT, and so, I felt the need to respond in the same spirit as my friend:
That was this morning, and now I find that I have been deleted as his friend. Did I go over the line? I don't think so, I was merely responding to his taunts and baiting which were OT. We've always had a difference of opinion when it came to politics, but could agree on most everything else. While I did vote for Obama, I'm sure, being the astute political type he is, he would notice that there is no difference in foreign policy between Bush and Obama, which means we're both suckers for the corpocracy.
Or, maybe, I should just let it go.
I had posted a link to this on my Facebook page. I did it for two reasons. One, I was trying to let Fred know that it was indeed me putting in a friend request. (He rejected me anyway. Bastard.) The other reason was to counter my brother, who uses his page to post opinion pieces from the NY Times. (Get a blog!) But I forgot.
One of my friends is a conservative. Well, not a
Hope and Change, Yes we Can I was inspired, and it proved I'm not racist
Of course, I know that not to be true, having been a friend of his for sometime now. I didn't respond, because, really, there was nothing to respond to. A day later, he posted another comment:
Just giving ya a hard time, looks like a regular from Snug(a place we used to work together)
Still, no response from me, as I felt no response was necessary. All in good fun, he tried to bait me, and was unsuccessful. In the meantime, another friend posted a comment:
Oh, yeah. I'm looking for the joke with a microscope, missing my sense of humor.
Still, no reason to respond. Then, for some reason, last night, the first friend posted two more comments:
wow, sorry, lets get back to dogging bush.
and
can't wait for the new taxes, we'll finally get all those evil rich people
Now, he's fully OT, and so, I felt the need to respond in the same spirit as my friend:
I had to go back and check, but yeah, I don't think I dogged Bush at all in that link. Nor do I believe I mentioned anything about taxing those evil rich people. I merely pointed out how conservatives sense of humor isn't very funny at all, just a little racist and/or macabre.
I mean, how stupid are conservatives? They don't want to spend any money to help those people who have no health insurance, but don't seem to have a problem socializing our defense department and spending billions of dollars in Iraq fighting a war against a country that posed no real threat to the US, had no links to al Qaeda, and wasn't involved in 9/11, all for the benefit of a few, dare I say it, evil rich people.
But that's okay. Just keep listening to Rush Limpballs and parroting his talking points, waving your flag and driving your gas sucking pig of a car. Maybe in 2012 you can vote
for Palin, and maybe she'll stick the job out this time.
That was this morning, and now I find that I have been deleted as his friend. Did I go over the line? I don't think so, I was merely responding to his taunts and baiting which were OT. We've always had a difference of opinion when it came to politics, but could agree on most everything else. While I did vote for Obama, I'm sure, being the astute political type he is, he would notice that there is no difference in foreign policy between Bush and Obama, which means we're both suckers for the corpocracy.
Or, maybe, I should just let it go.
Friday, July 17, 2009
If You Don't Want Be Called An Asshole..........Don't Act Like One
The British Parliament is considering passing a law to make it a criminal act to call Jews Nazis. Just because Israel walled up Palestinians in the equivalent of a ghetto and have been systematically eliminating them through military force and siege like behavior doesn't make them Nazis, it just means they learned from the Nazis. But, in the effort of fairness, and to not give one group extra rights over everyone else, perhaps it should be criminal to call some one an anti-Semite when they publish a piece are critical of anything short of the Jewish religion itself.
But why stop with just Zionists? Why not criminalize any comparison to the Nazis? The left would no longer be able to refer to the GOP as the "Reich Wing", and Limbaugh and all his mindless shittohead followers would be forbidden to use the term 'feminazi'. This might even elevate political discourse on the net and eliminate Godwin's Law.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
The US Plans To Attack Another Nation That Had Nothing To Do With 9/11 In It's Continuation Of The Alleged War On Terror
Iran signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which guarantees it the right to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. It also requires Iran to open up it's process to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency, which it has done, and fully co-operated with in it's performance of it's job. The IAEA has found that not one grain of the uranium Iran has enriched has been diverted to any other program. The US has also signed the same treaty, which requires that the US not interfere with any country developing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
So why has the G-8 set a deadline for Iran to accept negotiations over its nuclear ambitions or else face tougher sanctions? Is it because Iran is ruled by a bunch of thugs who murder foreign leaders? Oh wait, that's the United States. Has Iran threatened any body in the world with military action? Once again, that's the US which has shown that the Obama administration is no different than the Cheney/Bush regime when it comes to sending troops to die for big oil.
Now Israel has stepped into this as well, promising the international community to offer concessions on the formation of a Palestinian state as well as on its settlement policy and "issues" with Arab neighbors, in exchange for international backing for an Israeli operation in Iran.As a matter of fact two Israeli warships sailed through the Suez Canal within cruise-missile range of Iran earlier this week. Couple that with the Israeli Air Force joining the USAF in a training exercise, and you can almost hear the bombs falling on Tehran as Us media types report on the damage while computer generated flags wave in the background as stirring pseudo-patriotic music plays. Why watch Michael Jackson get burned when you can watch Iranian women, children and men get bombed?
So why has the G-8 set a deadline for Iran to accept negotiations over its nuclear ambitions or else face tougher sanctions? Is it because Iran is ruled by a bunch of thugs who murder foreign leaders? Oh wait, that's the United States. Has Iran threatened any body in the world with military action? Once again, that's the US which has shown that the Obama administration is no different than the Cheney/Bush regime when it comes to sending troops to die for big oil.
Now Israel has stepped into this as well, promising the international community to offer concessions on the formation of a Palestinian state as well as on its settlement policy and "issues" with Arab neighbors, in exchange for international backing for an Israeli operation in Iran.As a matter of fact two Israeli warships sailed through the Suez Canal within cruise-missile range of Iran earlier this week. Couple that with the Israeli Air Force joining the USAF in a training exercise, and you can almost hear the bombs falling on Tehran as Us media types report on the damage while computer generated flags wave in the background as stirring pseudo-patriotic music plays. Why watch Michael Jackson get burned when you can watch Iranian women, children and men get bombed?
Monday, July 13, 2009
Conservatives Are Funny People, It's Just That You're Not In On The Joke
Oh, those poor misunderstood conservatives. It's not that they're not funny, it's just that nobody "gets" their sense of humor, with the exception, of course, of other conservatives.
Take the wonderfully open minded folks at the Free Republic. Please. When some comments there made comments about Malia Obama looking like a "street whore", it was a joke made out of fear that soon, their daughters, like President Obama's, will be forced to dress like a common street trollop instead of the high-class hookers they want them to dress like. And asking them to apologize for it would be liking David Letterman to apologize for any inappropriate jokes he may have made about Sarah Palin's daughter. Except people actually watch David Letterman. I don't know anybody who would admit to visiting the Free Republic, except to catch updates on the homosexualagenda.
Even funnier is Pat Buchanan, dear old Uncle Pat to some people, which is why I don't understand why no one got his joke about how Todd Palin "ought to take Levi down to the creek and hold his head underwater until the thrashing stops.” Such wit and wordplay going on there! Levi, is of course, Levi Johnston, father to Todd Palin's bastard grandchild, and he made the mistake of actually speaking his mind, which is not funny in conservative circles. And Buchanan, former speechwriter for President Nixon, was probably recalling the good-old-days when political opponents were taken down to the Tidal Basin and drowned on a regular basis.
But by far, the funniest conservative is pro-assassination analyst Wayne Simmons who stated that Dick Cheney would never break the law. Sure, he may commit treason, get drunk and shoot his hunting partner in the face, fabricate intelligence to lead the US into an illegal war, lie about connections between Saddam Hussein and 9/11, and run a top secret assassination squad out of his office, but he would never break the law.
So the next time you hear a conservative reel off a really tasteless statement, just remember, it's just a joke. And don't expect them to apologize for your obvious lack of a sense of humor.
(Cross posted at American Insurgency)
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Why Do I Have To Pay For This?
A Review by the government of the warrantless wiretapping declares it of little value in the so-called 'war on terror', but it must have had some value for the Cheney regime. While it held no value in fighting "terrorism", it did help them gather dirt on political opponents. It also helped them plug leaks with regards to the governments involvement in 9/11.
It is perhaps the information gathered by the Cheney regime that keeps him from jail for concealing a secret "counterterrorism" program from congress, probably the executive assassination ring. But, instead of going to jail, what does Cheney get for his criminal actions? Six more months of secret service protection. Security authorities in Dallas, Texas decided to cut back on former President George W. Bush's protection amid increasing costs, and he was the fucking president. So once again, the Cheney regime has gotten a pass from the Obama administration. Makes me wonder what kind of information they have on Barack?
It is perhaps the information gathered by the Cheney regime that keeps him from jail for concealing a secret "counterterrorism" program from congress, probably the executive assassination ring. But, instead of going to jail, what does Cheney get for his criminal actions? Six more months of secret service protection. Security authorities in Dallas, Texas decided to cut back on former President George W. Bush's protection amid increasing costs, and he was the fucking president. So once again, the Cheney regime has gotten a pass from the Obama administration. Makes me wonder what kind of information they have on Barack?
Friday, July 10, 2009
Two Wars We're Not Fighting
Does anybody remember the war on drugs? You know, the multi-billion dollar enterprise started during the Reagan administration to rid the world of the scourge of drug use. We passed tougher laws, suspended suspects rights, all in the name of protecting our children from the very evil and nefarious type who would push their dope upon them. Same with the war on terror. How's that working out?
Not too good. It seems that Hamid Karzai, US puppet "president" of Afghanistan pardoned five heroin traffickers, and his brother has been linked by the US military to Afghan drug lords. Meanwhile, prisons here in the US are filled with pot smokers, who might buy Grateful Dead recordings, tie dye perfectly good white tee shirts, and grow hideously unsanitary dread locks. Why are they locked away? Well, we're told that some of that drug money goes to fund terrorism.
And what exactly is terrorism? The calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious. So when Newt Gingrich proposes US sabotage against Iran's oil and gas infrastructure, that qualifies as terrorism. Except that the money for this proposed act isn't filtered through pot smokers. No, this comes directly from the US taxpayer.
Imagine you're working at one of Iran's many gas and/or oil structures, not really liking your job, or your government for that matter, but hey, that's capitalism. Suddenly, through no fault of your own, your body and limbs are rendered from each other and you find that the promise of paradise wasn't for real. Americans got real pissed when Neda was shot on camera, this is the same thing, except, we're killing in the name of Jesus based capitalism, so that makes it OK.
Not too good. It seems that Hamid Karzai, US puppet "president" of Afghanistan pardoned five heroin traffickers, and his brother has been linked by the US military to Afghan drug lords. Meanwhile, prisons here in the US are filled with pot smokers, who might buy Grateful Dead recordings, tie dye perfectly good white tee shirts, and grow hideously unsanitary dread locks. Why are they locked away? Well, we're told that some of that drug money goes to fund terrorism.
And what exactly is terrorism? The calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious. So when Newt Gingrich proposes US sabotage against Iran's oil and gas infrastructure, that qualifies as terrorism. Except that the money for this proposed act isn't filtered through pot smokers. No, this comes directly from the US taxpayer.
Imagine you're working at one of Iran's many gas and/or oil structures, not really liking your job, or your government for that matter, but hey, that's capitalism. Suddenly, through no fault of your own, your body and limbs are rendered from each other and you find that the promise of paradise wasn't for real. Americans got real pissed when Neda was shot on camera, this is the same thing, except, we're killing in the name of Jesus based capitalism, so that makes it OK.
Tuesday, July 07, 2009
A World Class Memorial In A Third World State
"We are asking fans of Michael Jackson to help contribute to a world-class memorial for a world-class superstar by helping contribute to keeping this place safe."-Matt Szabo, press secretary to Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa
So who should pay for the spectacle that was Michael Jackson's funeral? The state is broke, it certainly can't afford the extravagance. You can't ask the family to pay for it, they're too busy fighting over his financial legacy.And even though his estate is looking to reap profits from record breaking record sales, don't expect them to contribute anything to this "world class ( somehow, to me, Michael Jackson and class are opposite ends of a spectrum) memorial.
That leaves Jackson's fans, the enablers, the apologists, and the idiots who bought into that whole "King-of-Pop" bullshit and believed that Michael was something more than a gifted singer and dancer and believed he changed the world by making pop music videos, dressing in pseudo-militaristic garb, and mutilating his face beyond recognition.
It is said that Michael Jackson bridged a gap in our culture between black and white, and in the end, it was his wealthy celebrity friends who got to participate in this "world class memorial" with out contributing a dime. But by asking his relatively pauper fans to foot the bill, the state of California has crossed the line.
Sunday, July 05, 2009
Hypocrisy As Official Policy
As I round the corner into my fifth year here (Five years? It seems like twenty)one of the things that has really grated my cheese has been hypocrisy. I know that everybody has a bit of it in themselves, it's only human. But when it becomes official policy, that's a different story.
Glenn Greenwald has a piece about how that bastion of all things media, the official paper of record won't use the term torture when describing US 'enhanced interrogation techniques'. However, in an article about Iran's use of torture to extract confessions about those attempting to topple that brutal theocracy under a 'velvet revolution', what term do they use for techniques milder than what we ourselves (well, not really us, just the people who have forgotten who they work for, our government)? Torture! And politicians and publishers wonder why newspaper circulation is dwindling. Maybe it's because the NYT has hypocrisy as an official editorial policy that has caused people to throw their collective hands in the air and say "They expect me to pay for this shit?"
One of the many changes not brought forth by the people who promised you lotta change is the official government policy of hypocrisy. Joe Biden, today on one of them Sunday mornin', nobody watchin' did-he-really-say-that talk shows:
What he meant was that although the US can tell Iran to abandon it's nuclear power program, it cannot tell Israel not to attack Iran because of Israel's paranoia about Iran's alleged atomic weapons program. And, I'm fairly sure, that after Israel attacks Iran, the Us will probably tell Russia and China, who trade regularly with Iran, not to retaliate against Iran.
Glenn Greenwald has a piece about how that bastion of all things media, the official paper of record won't use the term torture when describing US 'enhanced interrogation techniques'. However, in an article about Iran's use of torture to extract confessions about those attempting to topple that brutal theocracy under a 'velvet revolution', what term do they use for techniques milder than what we ourselves (well, not really us, just the people who have forgotten who they work for, our government)? Torture! And politicians and publishers wonder why newspaper circulation is dwindling. Maybe it's because the NYT has hypocrisy as an official editorial policy that has caused people to throw their collective hands in the air and say "They expect me to pay for this shit?"
One of the many changes not brought forth by the people who promised you lotta change is the official government policy of hypocrisy. Joe Biden, today on one of them Sunday mornin', nobody watchin' did-he-really-say-that talk shows:
the U.S. "cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and cannot do."
What he meant was that although the US can tell Iran to abandon it's nuclear power program, it cannot tell Israel not to attack Iran because of Israel's paranoia about Iran's alleged atomic weapons program. And, I'm fairly sure, that after Israel attacks Iran, the Us will probably tell Russia and China, who trade regularly with Iran, not to retaliate against Iran.
Saturday, July 04, 2009
The Campaign Begins Today
...we can ALL learn from our selfless Troops... they're bold, they don't give up....-Sarah Palin (from the SarahPAC website)
This land, blessed with clean air, water, wildlife, minerals, AND oil and gas. It's energy! God gave us energy.
Much speculation has been raised about yesterday's sudden announcement by Sarah Palin that she is stepping down from her job as governor of the State of Alaska with a year and a half yet to go on her term of office. Some say there's a scandal looming, others offer more spurious explanations.
it may be tempting and more comfortable to just keep your head down, plod along, and appease those who demand: "Sit down and shut up", but that's the worthless, easy path; that's a quitter's way out.
But between the lines of her SarahPAC post, she indicates that, although she is quitting, she is not a quitter.
I'll work for and campaign(emphasis mine) for those PROUD to be American, and those who are INSPIRED by our ideals and won't deride them.
Yes, the Palin campaign for the Republican party's nomination has begun in earnest! No more being stuck way up there in Alaska, far from the national forum on issues and stuff, not having to answer to voters will allow Sarah to be Sarah. And, I know what you're thinking: won't quitting her job when the going gets tough make her look, well, like a quitter? That depends on who she's trying to woo.
The world needs more "Trigs", not fewer.
Yes, she is out to appeal to the retards, the Tea Baggers, and those people who believe that shooting moose and abortionists is not only a God given right, but a patriotic move as well.
I thought about how much fun some governors have as lame ducks... travel around the state, to the Lower 48 (maybe), overseas on international trade... So you see, rather than spend the remainder of her term as governor traveling around and campaigning for the presidency, she's going to quit her post so she can commit to it full time without feeling the guilt of "milking it". And this bold move has been successful so far, like Nirvana, she has succeeded in knocking out Michael Jackson.
Friday, July 03, 2009
Double Standard Time
How long is too long? German doctors today cleared suspected Nazi death camp guard fit to stand trial as an accessory in the murder of 29,000 Jews. John Demjanjuk, a retired autoworker was extradited from his Seven Hills, Ohio home in May of this year to stand trial even though he has bone marrow and kidney diseases.
The great irony here is, if Demjanjuk is guilty of the crimes he is accused of,while he certainly should be punished for them, they happened over sixty years ago. At the same time Obama was sending this 89 year old to trial, he was announcing his intentions not to prosecute anybody for the torture carried out by the Bush/Cheney regime, because, as he said, it was time to move forward.
So we're straight: Demjanjuk, a prison guard who merely followed the policies of the Nazi regime (if, indeed, he is guilty) and did not create the policies, gets prosecuted, even though these events happened in the past?
Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales, etc., don't get prosecuted for their crimes, even though they are the ones who created the policy that led to illegal acts being carried out, because, even though they happened within the past eight years, it's time to look forward?
So when it comes to war crimes, it's better to create the policy than to carry them out? Would Obama have given Hitler a pass as well?
The great irony here is, if Demjanjuk is guilty of the crimes he is accused of,while he certainly should be punished for them, they happened over sixty years ago. At the same time Obama was sending this 89 year old to trial, he was announcing his intentions not to prosecute anybody for the torture carried out by the Bush/Cheney regime, because, as he said, it was time to move forward.
So we're straight: Demjanjuk, a prison guard who merely followed the policies of the Nazi regime (if, indeed, he is guilty) and did not create the policies, gets prosecuted, even though these events happened in the past?
Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Alberto Gonzales, etc., don't get prosecuted for their crimes, even though they are the ones who created the policy that led to illegal acts being carried out, because, even though they happened within the past eight years, it's time to look forward?
So when it comes to war crimes, it's better to create the policy than to carry them out? Would Obama have given Hitler a pass as well?
Thursday, July 02, 2009
News Flash:John Bolton Is A Tool
I don't watch much television news. These days it deems reporting every bit of minutia concerning the death of Michael Jackson more important than a US Congress women taken hostage by a foreign nation.
Newspapers are struggling these days, and why not? They are as about as useful as a Republican politician lecturing to us about morals.How trustworthy can a paper that offers access to Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and even the paper’s own reporters and editors for a token fee of $25,000?
Even worse is when the very same paper publishes an opinion piece by neocon tool John Bolton advocating an Israeli strike against Iran. The reasons are both spurious and complete fabrications, starting with Iran's non-existent nuclear weapons program, and continuing on with the disputed election results from last month's elections. Never mind that such an action would be illegal under international law, Bolton (and Israel) have no use for international law, except when it serves their purpose.
As for that whole "democracy" thing, when Hamas won the majority of seats in the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council, the US, (as part of the Quartet on the Middle East) voted to cut funding to the PLC. There you go, that's what you fucking get for exercising freedom of choice.
So if the newspapers are struggling, maybe they should focus less on Michael Jackson (that's why we have supermarket tabloids) and focus less on propaganda for that next big war. However, online newspapers do provide good links for bloggers, and I will continue to link to them even if some crazy judge thinks the practice should be banned to save newspapers.
Newspapers are struggling these days, and why not? They are as about as useful as a Republican politician lecturing to us about morals.How trustworthy can a paper that offers access to Obama administration officials, members of Congress, and even the paper’s own reporters and editors for a token fee of $25,000?
Even worse is when the very same paper publishes an opinion piece by neocon tool John Bolton advocating an Israeli strike against Iran. The reasons are both spurious and complete fabrications, starting with Iran's non-existent nuclear weapons program, and continuing on with the disputed election results from last month's elections. Never mind that such an action would be illegal under international law, Bolton (and Israel) have no use for international law, except when it serves their purpose.
As for that whole "democracy" thing, when Hamas won the majority of seats in the 2006 Palestinian Legislative Council, the US, (as part of the Quartet on the Middle East) voted to cut funding to the PLC. There you go, that's what you fucking get for exercising freedom of choice.
So if the newspapers are struggling, maybe they should focus less on Michael Jackson (that's why we have supermarket tabloids) and focus less on propaganda for that next big war. However, online newspapers do provide good links for bloggers, and I will continue to link to them even if some crazy judge thinks the practice should be banned to save newspapers.
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Chances Are That If You Are Reading This, You're a Political Extremist Dickweed
Or maybe it's just me. Maybe you're the political extremist, and I'm the digital dickweed.
Whatever we're doing, we're pissing off the corporate media because we lack the legitimacy of capital earned by fellating corporate sponsors and favored political hacks.
Now just to be sure, the CEO of News Corp., the parent company of Fox News, home to the likes of Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and Bill O'Reilly, call us political extremists? I guess a political extremist is anyone to the left of Adolph Hitler. But it doesn't end there. No, John Hartigan suggests that bloggers be jailed as they are in oppressive police states like China and Burma. Because freedom of the press should only be available to those whom would use it to try and shape the agenda for an illegal war (while still maintaining that whole "fair and balanced" facade).
Less serious is the charge from CNBC host Dennis Kneale, who responded to bloggers who have called him "unwatchable", among other things, by referring to them as "dickweeds". Hey, I may be a dick weed, but at least I still have my soul.
Which is more than I can say about anybody working for the corporate media.
Whatever we're doing, we're pissing off the corporate media because we lack the legitimacy of capital earned by fellating corporate sponsors and favored political hacks.
Now just to be sure, the CEO of News Corp., the parent company of Fox News, home to the likes of Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and Bill O'Reilly, call us political extremists? I guess a political extremist is anyone to the left of Adolph Hitler. But it doesn't end there. No, John Hartigan suggests that bloggers be jailed as they are in oppressive police states like China and Burma. Because freedom of the press should only be available to those whom would use it to try and shape the agenda for an illegal war (while still maintaining that whole "fair and balanced" facade).
Less serious is the charge from CNBC host Dennis Kneale, who responded to bloggers who have called him "unwatchable", among other things, by referring to them as "dickweeds". Hey, I may be a dick weed, but at least I still have my soul.
Which is more than I can say about anybody working for the corporate media.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Mental Fundy Christiansanity-The Missing Link
Many people are jumping ship on the conservative movement within the Republican party, and I can understand why. The mental fundies are making it confusingly difficult to stay on message as they bat at straw men and scapegoat everything that doesn't fit in their strict and narrow nomenclature.
Take our current economic woes. A sane and intelligent person could say they were caused by the loss of our manufacturing base coupled with dubious banking procedures by an unregulated industry. But in the mental fundies eyes, there are three completely different reasons for the current economic crisis: Gays, Porn, and Abortion. Their God is upset with America, you see, and they feel it necessary to pass an "Oklahoma Citizen’s Proclamation for Morality" in order to curry His favor and get America rolling again.
Then there's the other school of non-thought put forth by the owners of the "Creation Museum" which states that all our troubles were caused by a "moral relativism" that came about when America embraced evolution. Never mind that America's greatest period of growth and equitable prosperity came at a time when evolution was taught as scientific fact, and since some Americans rejected that theory, our country has entered a period of decline-these people say it's true because their big book of fairy tales says so, therefore, it must be or their whole lives have been built upon a lie. But why stop there? Why not just say that our country really went down the tubes when we rejected God's mode of transportation, and replaced it with the Horseless Carriage? The only certainty in all this is that our real problems will never go away as long as we have people who elect representatives like this.
Take our current economic woes. A sane and intelligent person could say they were caused by the loss of our manufacturing base coupled with dubious banking procedures by an unregulated industry. But in the mental fundies eyes, there are three completely different reasons for the current economic crisis: Gays, Porn, and Abortion. Their God is upset with America, you see, and they feel it necessary to pass an "Oklahoma Citizen’s Proclamation for Morality" in order to curry His favor and get America rolling again.
Then there's the other school of non-thought put forth by the owners of the "Creation Museum" which states that all our troubles were caused by a "moral relativism" that came about when America embraced evolution. Never mind that America's greatest period of growth and equitable prosperity came at a time when evolution was taught as scientific fact, and since some Americans rejected that theory, our country has entered a period of decline-these people say it's true because their big book of fairy tales says so, therefore, it must be or their whole lives have been built upon a lie. But why stop there? Why not just say that our country really went down the tubes when we rejected God's mode of transportation, and replaced it with the Horseless Carriage? The only certainty in all this is that our real problems will never go away as long as we have people who elect representatives like this.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Fighting Fire With Fire Means That Everyone Gets Burned:America's Terrorist Tactics Against Iran Exposed
"They hate us because we are free....and they are not"-George W Bush
Leave it to a simpleton to provide a simple answer. The reasons that America is so reviled in the Middle East are myriad, and it all boils down to this-we won't leave their countries the fuck alone! We install puppets on almost a whim, and then, by the same whim, decide to topple them when they show dissatisfaction with being asked to perform like little monkeys time and time again. We put America's corporate interests over the interests of indigenous people, our allies' people, and even our own sainted troops. All must suffer so that rich men may become richer.
And now, we're screwing around in Iran, and have been since the Bush administration. Using proven tactics, we have been working to destabilize the current regime since, probably since 9/11, when Bush identified Iran as part of his "Axis of Evil". And the faithful corporate media has been playing right along.
-The paper of record went on record reporting a misinterpretation as a fact when in truth completely different statement.
-The creation of a martyr conveniently killed on camera by terrorists working with the CIA.
-The arrest of nine Iranian British embassy employees by Iran accused of instigating the unrest following the disputed elections. This is reminiscent of the 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis, in which American embassy workers, including at least three CIA operatives, were taken hostage following the US's decision to allow the Shah into the country to seek medical treatment. Ironically, one of the agreements reached during Carter administration negotiations was that it is and from now on will be the policy of the United States not to intervene, directly or indirectly, politically or militarily, in Iran's internal affairs." I guess that little tidbit escaped the Bush administration, or, more likely, was ignored because it was a pledge made by the highly unpopular Carter administration. The hostage crisis was seen as leading to anti-Iranian feelings in the US that have remained (especially in conservative circles).
-The continued, and quite unproven claim that Iran's nuclear energy program is a front for a nuclear weapons program.
It is highly likely that a lot of the covert activity that we are seeing in Iran was started by the previous administration. However given recent events, it is likely that the Obama administration will do anything to reverse these policies. And it is just as unlikely that we will see any honesty from the corporate media with regards to Iran.
Leave it to a simpleton to provide a simple answer. The reasons that America is so reviled in the Middle East are myriad, and it all boils down to this-we won't leave their countries the fuck alone! We install puppets on almost a whim, and then, by the same whim, decide to topple them when they show dissatisfaction with being asked to perform like little monkeys time and time again. We put America's corporate interests over the interests of indigenous people, our allies' people, and even our own sainted troops. All must suffer so that rich men may become richer.
And now, we're screwing around in Iran, and have been since the Bush administration. Using proven tactics, we have been working to destabilize the current regime since, probably since 9/11, when Bush identified Iran as part of his "Axis of Evil". And the faithful corporate media has been playing right along.
-The paper of record went on record reporting a misinterpretation as a fact when in truth completely different statement.
-The creation of a martyr conveniently killed on camera by terrorists working with the CIA.
-The arrest of nine Iranian British embassy employees by Iran accused of instigating the unrest following the disputed elections. This is reminiscent of the 1979 Iranian Hostage Crisis, in which American embassy workers, including at least three CIA operatives, were taken hostage following the US's decision to allow the Shah into the country to seek medical treatment. Ironically, one of the agreements reached during Carter administration negotiations was that it is and from now on will be the policy of the United States not to intervene, directly or indirectly, politically or militarily, in Iran's internal affairs." I guess that little tidbit escaped the Bush administration, or, more likely, was ignored because it was a pledge made by the highly unpopular Carter administration. The hostage crisis was seen as leading to anti-Iranian feelings in the US that have remained (especially in conservative circles).
-The continued, and quite unproven claim that Iran's nuclear energy program is a front for a nuclear weapons program.
It is highly likely that a lot of the covert activity that we are seeing in Iran was started by the previous administration. However given recent events, it is likely that the Obama administration will do anything to reverse these policies. And it is just as unlikely that we will see any honesty from the corporate media with regards to Iran.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Michael Jackson: What Will Happen
With the passing of Michael Jackson yesterday, there has been an effort by his celebrity friends to beatify him, which is fitting, since like some men of the cloth, he couldn't keep his hands off children. With all the glowing tributes around the world, plus his own addiction to plastic surgery, it's hard for some people to forget that he was merely a gifted an talented human being. And, for what it's worth, one hundred years from now, all that will be left of his legacy is the most important part: his music.
What struck me following the news of his death was not the immediate response, nor are the rumors of his prescription drug use as a probable cause, since he was his generation's equivalent of Elvis. What I read yesterday was the story of his people following him into the hospital pleading for the doctors to save him.
Not to be crass, but a megacelebrity ( or do I mean ubercelebrity?)like Jackson employed an army of helpers, I'm sure. From the personal trainer, a nanny or two for the photo op prop tots, nutritionists, housekeepers, personal security, drivers, you're talking about a lot of people who relied on Jackson for their daily bread. So what is likely to happen once all the glowing tributes have faded, and the twenty-four hour news cycle pounds the story into the ground, is one or two of those former employees, non-disclosure forms be damned, will be a spate of tell-all books, leaked to supermarket tabloids, lurid details of just how fucked up a drug addled celebrity with more money than guidance can get when surrounded by sycophants who won't tell him no. And, barring a suit by the Jackson estate, people will pour through them, cluck their tongues and feel, better them selves because they know that if they had that much money and talent, they wouldn't have squandered it like Jackson. And then, it twenty years or so, all that will be left is his music. Which is as it should be.
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Bull's Eye On Bull Shit
John McCain cites the death of Neda as a criticism of the Obama administration's handling of the situation in Iran. This is, of course, from the guy famous for singing "Bomb Iran" to an old Regents song, which, if we had done that, would have likely killed a lot more Neda's than the one allegedly shot by government forces during protests this past weekend.
What you won't hear a thing about from Flak Jacket Johnny is how US forces killed two protesters in Iraq.(They were demanding back wages that likely ended up in Dick Cheney's bank account.) In fact, the US has been killing protesters in Iraq and John McCain has stood silent, even supporting the war.
No, McCain doesn't mind US soldiers killing protesters in Iraq because it's all in the name of spreading democracy, or, the US equivalent. Killing protesters in Iran is one less person who gets to die at the barrel of an M-16 (or under the fallout of a depleted uranium bunker buster bomb) therefore they are not collateral damage to the cause of a neocon wetdream: worldwide capitalist corpocracy masquerading as democracy.
What you won't hear a thing about from Flak Jacket Johnny is how US forces killed two protesters in Iraq.(They were demanding back wages that likely ended up in Dick Cheney's bank account.) In fact, the US has been killing protesters in Iraq and John McCain has stood silent, even supporting the war.
No, McCain doesn't mind US soldiers killing protesters in Iraq because it's all in the name of spreading democracy, or, the US equivalent. Killing protesters in Iran is one less person who gets to die at the barrel of an M-16 (or under the fallout of a depleted uranium bunker buster bomb) therefore they are not collateral damage to the cause of a neocon wetdream: worldwide capitalist corpocracy masquerading as democracy.
Monday, June 22, 2009
The Shah Sleeps In Lee Harvey's Grave
Some people insist insanity is repeating the same action and expecting a different result. Another popular train of thought is those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.
I'm not sure which category this falls under, but some sources are now saying that the US may want to install the Shah's son as monarch in Iran. Which makes all the quibbling about "democracy" all the more cynical, especially since none of these people American citizens to control the streets of Washington DC following the Bush election fraud debacle of 2000. And crown prince has been generating a lot of publicity lately.
With the housing market worsening and welfare rolls increasing, the Obama administration is probably glad to have this distraction from the failures of it's economic stealfromus. It won't tkae too many more gruesome videos to sway the television watchers into supporting another war which only benefits a small portion of Americans, in another oil rich Middle eastern country that has nothing to do with democracy and everything to do with continuing an insane foreign policy that we were promised was going to change.
I'm not sure which category this falls under, but some sources are now saying that the US may want to install the Shah's son as monarch in Iran. Which makes all the quibbling about "democracy" all the more cynical, especially since none of these people American citizens to control the streets of Washington DC following the Bush election fraud debacle of 2000. And crown prince has been generating a lot of publicity lately.
With the housing market worsening and welfare rolls increasing, the Obama administration is probably glad to have this distraction from the failures of it's economic stealfromus. It won't tkae too many more gruesome videos to sway the television watchers into supporting another war which only benefits a small portion of Americans, in another oil rich Middle eastern country that has nothing to do with democracy and everything to do with continuing an insane foreign policy that we were promised was going to change.
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Lessons Learned From My Dad
(Image poached from here)
Around here, every weekend is Father's Day. I don't get ties, or coffee mugs, license plates, tee shirts or other bric-a-brac emblazoned with "WORLD'S GREATEST DAD" on them, no do I desire or require them. My kids tell me I'm the best dad with out prompting, and I'd just as soon that be kept as our little secret. No, I don't get a lot of material things from my guys, and that's okay, because I get a lot more from them-happiness. Spending time with my kids gets better and better as they get older because we spent so much time together when they were younger.
I learned a lot about life from my own Dad. My demand for absolute truth & honesty stems from his insistence on it, not only from me, but from his politicians, and media representatives. A lot of my more tin foil hatted predilections stem from his indulgences in all things conspiratorial. He feared everything, from feminism to the Beatles, were all part of a commie plot to undermine the youth of America. But besides the positive lessons, even some of the more negative things influenced me as well, in a good way.
As an instance, my Dad was prone to spanking, not just slight taps on my fanny but more along the lines of oh-my-god-he's-taking-off-his-belt-get-the-fuck-out-of-here type of spanking. These stopped shortly before my mother died, and were infrequent enough, but from it I learned not to spank my children. Reason works well, and if introduced at an early enough age, sticks a whole lot better than beatings.
Growing up, when choosing a career path, it seemed no matter choice I made, instead of encouragement, I was always told "Yeah, but that's a hard field to break into". He often encouraged me to "join the service", although, years later, he expressed relief that I never did, as I would have never turned out the way I have if I had taken that advice. So from that, I have learned to encourage my children to be the best at what they choose. And I think I have been rewarded with two wonderfully talented children.
My Father was also staunchly reactionary. If we were to discuss politics, you had better have something to back up any argument you may feel compelled to present. So from that, I learned it is better to be right than it is to follow a political leaning.
My dad grew up as an only child raised by alcoholic parents, and could never understand why all his children couldn't get along. He wasn't aware of sibling abuse, so many times I felt near torture at the hands of an older brother who almost seemed to delight in kicking my ass because he decided I needed it. From that I learned to be fair with my own children, to protect the weaker one from the whims of the stronger one.
My dad is no longer with us, and I miss him a lot, especially thinking how he would be prouder of my kids than I am of them myself. But a lot of the good that was in him now lives on in me, and will be carried on by my children as well. And for that Dad, thank you.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Not That Anybody's Trying To Pull A Fast One
Way to go, BBC. At least when you get caught manipulating popular opinion you do offer up a mea culpa.
It not be what the internets were invented for, but it has become it's most practical and important use (next to the proliferation of pornography, of course):catching the powers that be in a blatant lie designed to sway public opinion towards the will of the corpocracy. That these people have been pushing for a war against Iran for a long time goes with out saying. And if they can't get people all concerned about Iran's non-existent nuclear weapons program, perhaps the antiquated notion of "defending democracy" can rouse the masses, or at least those who still think that we're a democracy.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
We Stole The Election And Would Have Gotten Away With It-If It Weren't For Those Meddling Americans
So Iran is accusing the US of meddling in it's election crisis. I can't say for sure, but, yeah, that sounds about right. We've been meddling in Iran for years now, and we probably will in the future. Every time, it's always come back to bite us on the ass, but, hey, if we haven't learned by now, we never will. The US is like the annoying big brother who keeps picking on the weaker and smaller countries, denying it when it gets caught, in spite of incontrovertible evidence.
I think before we start meddling in other countries, we need to fix a lot of the problems we have here. Our health care system is not exactly the best in the world, our education system is crumbling, our political system is corrupt, our economy teetering on the brink of collapse, the only thing we're getting better at is becoming more of a police state, which means we're not as free as we think.
America is devolving into a genetic cesspool full of slack jawed, Nascar loving, beer swilling television watchers who can only spell USA from sheer repetition. We think we're better than everyone else because we're too stupid to pay attention. Television shows us bright shiny objects and we want to go to there.
So load the computer generated graphics, cue the stirringly patriotic theme music, it's time for payback-and this time, it's in dollars.
I think before we start meddling in other countries, we need to fix a lot of the problems we have here. Our health care system is not exactly the best in the world, our education system is crumbling, our political system is corrupt, our economy teetering on the brink of collapse, the only thing we're getting better at is becoming more of a police state, which means we're not as free as we think.
America is devolving into a genetic cesspool full of slack jawed, Nascar loving, beer swilling television watchers who can only spell USA from sheer repetition. We think we're better than everyone else because we're too stupid to pay attention. Television shows us bright shiny objects and we want to go to there.
So load the computer generated graphics, cue the stirringly patriotic theme music, it's time for payback-and this time, it's in dollars.
Monday, June 15, 2009
A Tale Of Two Riots
Following the results of alleged election fraud, riots broke out in Iran. Stupid Iranians. It's just an election, not like it's anything important. I mean, when vote fraud was discovered in the US presidential election, Florida in 2000, and Ohio in 2004, Americans didn't take to the street. Of course, many of them didn't even hear about the fraud until way after the election, but that's beside the point. Americans don't really take to the streets unless it's for something really important and life affecting.
Like a basketball championship. Elections are only every four years, but the NBA playoffs, they hold those every year. And winning those is really important because it determines bragging rights for a bunch of beer swilling television watchers until next year. So it's no surprise that Lakers fans rioted after their team won the NBA championship. Now those official Laker jerseys mean something, at least for another year, and really what's more important anyway?
Like a basketball championship. Elections are only every four years, but the NBA playoffs, they hold those every year. And winning those is really important because it determines bragging rights for a bunch of beer swilling television watchers until next year. So it's no surprise that Lakers fans rioted after their team won the NBA championship. Now those official Laker jerseys mean something, at least for another year, and really what's more important anyway?
Saturday, June 13, 2009
By His Own Rules Means He Doesn't Follow The Law
In a new book on Donald Rumsfeld, the author claims that George Bush deceived him into thinking that his job as Secretary of Defense was safe, then dumped him after the 2006 midterm elections. Which only goes to show that these snakes can't even trust their own kind to be honest.
The book, entitled By His Own Rules:The Story of Donald Rumsfeld, an aptly named tome for a book about a man who flouted laws, ethics and decency to make himself richer and more powerful, is by a former Washington Post reporter who covered the Pentagon. It's intentions, I'm sure, are to garner sympathy for Poor Old Rumsfeld, whom the book portrays as ..."an honorable man, deeply patriotic, a good friend to many and unfailingly loyal to those he has served"... Honorable? Yeah right. This is a man who called in political markers to fast track FDA approval of the killer known as aspartame, a dangerous artificial sweetener whose numerous symptoms include death. Not to mention the fact that he pushed for the illegal invasion of Iraq, which has cost many Iraqis their lives and US taxpayers over half a trillion dollars. There's your honor, if you can find it.
It's not a shock that this book comes from a member of the corporate media elite. Their job is not to report on events, but rather, to mythologize and cover up for the cabal of corporate criminal elites and banksters that actually run the country. I've become convinced (and become more convinced everyday) that very few of the nations wealthiest people came about their wealth honestly, fairly or ethically, and they hire scribes like Bradley Graham to paint a more flattering picture of themselves so that the masses don't see what kind of monsters we really have running the show.
The book, entitled By His Own Rules:The Story of Donald Rumsfeld, an aptly named tome for a book about a man who flouted laws, ethics and decency to make himself richer and more powerful, is by a former Washington Post reporter who covered the Pentagon. It's intentions, I'm sure, are to garner sympathy for Poor Old Rumsfeld, whom the book portrays as ..."an honorable man, deeply patriotic, a good friend to many and unfailingly loyal to those he has served"... Honorable? Yeah right. This is a man who called in political markers to fast track FDA approval of the killer known as aspartame, a dangerous artificial sweetener whose numerous symptoms include death. Not to mention the fact that he pushed for the illegal invasion of Iraq, which has cost many Iraqis their lives and US taxpayers over half a trillion dollars. There's your honor, if you can find it.
It's not a shock that this book comes from a member of the corporate media elite. Their job is not to report on events, but rather, to mythologize and cover up for the cabal of corporate criminal elites and banksters that actually run the country. I've become convinced (and become more convinced everyday) that very few of the nations wealthiest people came about their wealth honestly, fairly or ethically, and they hire scribes like Bradley Graham to paint a more flattering picture of themselves so that the masses don't see what kind of monsters we really have running the show.
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