US Partner In War Crimes

For years, people have been fed the atrocities of the Hitler regime, and yes, the Holocaust was a bad thing. But in an effort to ensure that "never again" will genocide be used against the Jewish people, genocide is now being used to protect the people of Israel.
And whatb does this have to do with us in the US? Well, for one, we blocked a UN vote calling for Israel to stop their attacks against the people of Gaza. And we are pushing Hamas for a durable ceasefire when in fact it was Israel who violated the last ceasefire agreement.
So while the world rallies around the Palestinians, remember that the US is Israels' partner in war crimes, and that never again should be applicable to all humans.

Scannon Family Top Ten For 2008

As the year draws to a close, I thought it would be fun to share with you the past year's obsessions within the Scannon family household. Some are old, and some are new, and some are exclusively ours.
10.Legend Of The Seeker

Around here television watching isn't a form of mindless entertainment, it's a family activity where anything and everything is up for ridicule. Case in point:Legend of the Seeker, a Hercules/Xena hybrid with a bit of Lord of the Rings thrown in as well. Featuring a hero with anachronistic hair, a cleavage bearing female lead, and a wizard who bears more than a passing resemblance to Todd Rundgren, who, ironically, once titled an album A Wizard, A True Star(bonus points if you can connect a wizard attack to a Rundgren song title, it helps to have somewhat a familiarity with his canon) Cheesy yes, but boundless interactive entertainment for those who enjoy riffing on bad television.

9.DEER
While still not equaling earlier enthusiasm, when everything deer was dear to their hearts, my kids can still be persuaded to take a walk through Huff Park, where these magnificent mammals may be observed, running freely through the thicket, like a bad Ted Nugent song (is there any other kind?)
8.The Simpsons
While it may not have jumped the shark as of yet, America's longest running animated prime time series is circling the cage. And with older and far more superior seasons still in syndication, one is sure to find an episode you haven't as yet seen, at least in a while. So we still make time around here to catch it while we can.

7.You Tube
From watching their Cousin Nick do a bad Christopher Walken impersonation, to watching an endless choice of Green Day videos, spending time at YouTube is always a choice for this family.
Watch this Todd Rundgren Beatles homage/parody "I Just want To Touch You":

6.House, MD A drama about a drug abusing doctor? How is that not appropriate for children. While not our collective favorite show, it is fun to watch for fans of A Bit of Laurie and Fry.
5.Tropic Thunder"These head movies make my eyes rain."

4.The Dark Knight-The best movie of the year,the best Batman movie ever, and the most superlative super hero movie. Director Christopher Nolan takes another step up. Plus, that dead guy did a good job as The Joker.
Seriously, someone who had seen the movie recently at work commented on how dark the movie was, and how they could see how the role may have driven Heath Ledger to overdose on drugs. But watching the movie, to me, it seemed that this was an actor having the time of his life in the ultimate role of his life.
3.WiiGiven as a gift from Grandma last Christmas. Much better than the XBox, the Xbox 360, the Wii forces more body movement (and therefore, more isometric exercise) from those who play. Whether it be at their mother's house, or on the occasion when they bring it here, nothing occupies the boy's time more than their Wii.
2.The Beatles-Once, it was the boys main obsession. Now, it has fallen by the wayside as the boys found a new band that is actually writing recording and releasing new material in this millennium. Still, our vinyl collection(s) picked up more favorites from the Fabs this year. And that makes
1.Green Day number one on the list, as the boys scramble to have the most Green Day CDs in their collections. And, it has led to endless arguments about who is the better band, Green Day, or Butthole Surfers? One thing for certain, with the release of a new Green Day album in 2009, they're sure to remain at the top of the list.
But hey, at least it's not the Jonas Brothers.

Happy Holidays From Dick Cheney

Sometimes Progress Is Good, Sometimes People Are Stupid

I grew up in a simpler time. Computers were still gigantic and expensive items not yet developed for home use, television was broadcast through the air, which meant sometimes, you couldn't pull a signal to watch your favorite show, and the rotary phone was still the main means of communication for most Americans.
While in elementary school, with my father at work everyday and my mother spending most of her time in the hospital, we were left unsupervised, and with no one to guide us, were introduced to the prank phone call. Calling places to see if the carried Prince Albert in a can, or random houses to see if their refrigerators were running was a source of amusement we never tired of, safe in the knowledge that if we ended the phone call quick enough, there'd be no way to trace it back to us. We'd scan the phone book, seeking out oddly named people, and make prank phone calls based upon them. (pity the poor widow of one Caesar Dusterwinkle, who must have received hundreds of phone calls from fourth, fifth and sixth graders at Mary A. White elementary school pretending to be elves asking if Caesar was home)
But that was then. Nowadays, with caller ID and cell phones, prank calling has been replaced by the robocall and the junk call. A person would have to be fairly stupid to call the police and threaten to shoot the next snowplow driver to come down your street. Having spent much of my teenage years in a rural area where a visit from the snowplow was as frequent as a full moon, a snowplow driving down our street would have been a welcome sign, especially for my dad, the only one who had a truck and would have to drive into town to buy cigarettes beer and food for some of the neighbors less daring to take the daunting trek down unplowed roads. And I knew that I'd rather have to shovel out chunks of snow from the end of my driveway than have to spend the winter cooped up in the house with my Dad and stepmom with out any weed.

Governed By Crooks

"There is no longer any doubt as to whether the current administration has committed war crimes. The only question that remains to be answered is whether those who ordered the use of torture will be held to account."

-Lt. Gen. Antonio Taguba
Dick Cheney has been making the rounds lately, openly admitting he is a war criminal who willfully and wantonly violated the Geneva Conventions. There doesn't need to be any investigation by the DoJ, when someone confesses on national television, I believe that's all the evidence needed.
However, it's unlikely that Cheney will actually be prosecuted for being a war criminal, something that puts him in the same league as Pol Pot or Adolph Hitler, because he is wealthy, and a member of the corpocracy, the people who decide that you should go to jail for smoking a joint, but for someone who authorized the wholesale slaughter of 1,297,997 Iraq civilians, and the torture of people who may be in US custody because they were sold to the US for bounties as opposed to being linked to al qaeda, 9/11, or even are any kind of terrorist.
Take Bernie Madoff, who made off with $50 billion in fraud. His ass should be sitting in jail right now, but he's not. He's under "house arrest" in one of the mansions that his scams bought him. Poor guy!
That these people should go unpunished is unconstitutional. We are guaranteed equal protection under the law, but from where I'm sitting, things don't look all that equal. In fact, it almost would appear the bigger the crime, the more likely it is that you will see any jail time. This is to encourage our children to think big, even when it comes to crime.

The Philosopher's Stone

The Republican party was at a loss following the last presidential election, and seeking a leader. A number of the people in the party chose to rally around Sarah Palin, not because of any good reason, rather, because she said things that they wanted to hear. like "Drill baby, drill!"
Meanwhile, in the past election cycle, Ron Paul was ridiculed because he said things they didn't want to hear, such as things stated in the above video.
The American dream of unlimited growth is unsustainable. With a finite amount of resources available in this country, only so much value can be ascribed to it. The only way the truly wealthy can acquire more wealth is if the take it from the collective rest of us in a grand, glorified Ponzi Scheme disguised as a free market. The defense contractors and brokers and other criminal members of the corpocracy are looting the country, printing us up a bunch of worthless paper that becomes less valuable with every CEO that gets a bailout, until one day, all that will be left is a bunch of beer swilling television watchers wondering "Wha happened?" as they stand waving a flag that used to stand for something.

Another Shoe Bomber

George W Bush paid another "surprise" visit to Iraq, on his farewell tour, where he was the target of a pair of shoes, hurled at him by an irate journalist. No, it wasn't an American "journalist" who barely had the temerity to hurl uncomfortable questions at Bush in eight years, let alone a pair of uncomfortable shoes.
Bush blamed the US-led invasion on Saddam, you know, because he was asking for it, standing over there in Baghdad being all alive and crap. Really, was it Saddam who forged the Nigerian yellow cake uranium documents? Was it Saddam who stood before the UN and claimed a mobile weather balloon inflation trailer was in reality a mobile chemical weapons lab? Was it Saddam who claimed to have WMD? (These are all rhetorical questions and if you don't know the answer by now, there is no hope for you)
Bush now claims that "America is safer" since the invasion, a spurious claim since Iraq never posed any threat to the US in the first place. So what is America safer from? Economic collapse? Crumbling infrastructure? No, America will not be entirely safe until you are back on the ranch at Crawford, doing the one job you were competent at: clearing brush.

There's Always Someone Who Has It Worse Than You

Everyday I face the daunting task of going to a job I despise while simultaneously being thankful I still have one. I know there is no bailout for me, when that job is gone, it's gone.
But then I think of those less fortunate than me. Sure, I may have it tough, but I've weathered worse storms than this and survived. It's like Bob Dylan said, when you got nothin' you got nothin' to lose. What can we do to help those whose livelihood is teetering on the abyss?
SPONSOR AN EXECUTIVE

Let's Fetishize Christmas!

I can imagine it must be confusing for most Americans this time of year. On the one hand, you want to decorate your yard with the tackiest kitsch you can find. On the other hand, you don't want to let your guard down in your love for America, lest the terrorists catch us unaware. Still yet, you want to show your support for the troops so much that you're happy they're spending the holidays away from their family mired down in an endless pointless war with no exit strategy.
Well, forget about all that "Peace on Earth, Goodwill To Men" crap, it doesn't apply to indigenous brown people anyway, and stick the above "Soldier Santa" in your front yard, because nothing lets you say everything you need to say more than an eight foot tall light-up inflatable Santa dressed in desert camo fatigues. See you dirty heathenistic Ramadan lovin' terrorists. We're going to win because we got Satan Santa on our side. He sees you when you're sleeping and he knows when you're awake, (but just like God, he can't really stop you from strapping yourself with explosives and blowing us up)and he knows when you've been bad or a slave to the capitalistic system (good).
And you can sleep better at night knowing that you did your durndest to keep America safe on this the Holiest of nights, right after the Fourth of July.
Father Christmas-The Kinks

Break The Law, Win A Prize

Torture works. That is, if your goal is to attract more foreign fighters to attack US troops in Iraq (last paragraph). It's a good way to ensure that a war continues in perpetuity.

Bill Kristol, chief neocon, editor of The Weekly Standard and probable defense contractor stock holder thinks that those who torture should be given the Medal of Honor. Because there's nothing more honorable than ensuring that foreign fighters and Iraqi insurgents continue to kill American forces in Iraq than torturing people.
Torture is a war crime, which would make those who authorized war criminals. So into the moral quagmire we ask can you pardon some one for committing a crime you authorized?

WAR! WAR! WAR!

First, the war on Christmas....

A Wal-Mart worker died after being trampled when hundreds of shoppers smashed through the doors of a Long Island store Friday morning, police and witnesses said.

The 34-year-old employee, a temporary maintenance worker, tried to hold back the unruly crowds just after the Valley Stream store opened at 5 a.m.

Witnesses said the surging throngs of shoppers knocked the man down. He fell and was stepped on. As he gasped for air, shoppers ran over and around him.

Only in America. One day you're spending your Thanksgiving holiday with your family, the next day, hundreds of people overcome with the spirit of goodwill to men are leaving their bootprints on your body as they fight their way to get at the limited quantity big screen TVs.
Next, the war on drugs.....

The United States' war on drugs has failed and will continue to do so as long as it emphasizes law enforcement and neglects the problem of consumption, a Washington think tank says in a report co-chaired by a former president of Mexico.

What are you going to do? The government imports the drugs, then privatizes the prison industry so they can make a profit from the incarceration of all the people using the drugs you smuggled in and abuse them while their at it.
People have been cultivating pot for smoking since before Jesus, perhaps the US needs to re-examine it's drug laws and policies rather than lock people away for recreational drug use.
Finally, the war on terror.....
George W Bush says he wants his legacy to be that of a liberator of millions. Sure, he liberated millions of Iraqis from this mortal coil and still terrorists keep attacking people. This is your legacy.

Things That Need To Go The Way Of 2008 When 2009 Arrives

As 2008 merrily winds it's way down into history, there are a few trends that I think it should take with it when it departs. Some are boring, some are trite, and some should have never existed in the first place
For instance, Pin's "Sober" video (no, I'm not going to post it) has trend number one-young women making out with each other (in the video's case, Pink actually makes out with herself!). For a number of years now, hot young starlets have been able to get publicity by sticking their tongues down another female throat I'm sorry, but that whole girl-on-girl thing is played, so unless you're going to take it to the next level and go all Maria Ford, don't even bother. That kind of stuff may be shocking to drunk mothers who have sex with strangers in sport stadium men's rooms, but I've seen it and it doesn't do anything for me.
Of course, the hole drunken mom thing started me thinking that I might actually get laid more if I went out drinking more often. Unfortunately, all the bars within walking distance from here are sports bars, which is another trend that needs to die. These places are like Chuck E Cheese's for grown ups, or people who should have chronologically grown up but still cling to their hopes that something sports related may happen to them. Sports jerseys and backward baseball caps were something I was kind of hoping we could leave back in the old millennium. Alcohol is mind numbing enough, eight large screen high def television sets blasting out every available sport simultaneously while some sports nerd rattles off stats that only he's proud he knows is probably the number one cause of brain death in America.
Speaking of sports, another thing that is pointless are the post game interviews of losing coaches. They all spew the same inane cliches, why do we need to hear them say them? No coach is going to say his team sucked, they screwed up, the other team cheated, and there'll be Hell to pay in the locker room, don't waste my time.
Finally, the last thing that I think that should go the way of variety shows (and never be revived is the lazy writer's answer to everything: lists. Magazines, television, and even here on the intertubes, if you want fill up space with little effort, just make yourself a list. From the 20 stupidest GI Joe Vehicles Ever to the Classic Ten: All-time Greatest Anti-heroes to this list, they are all as pointless and played out as George W Bush. At least with him, we know that he will go away.

The Month Before Christmas

No apologies to Clement Clarke Moore

'Twas the month before Christmas,and all through the town
Gifts were purchased with no money down
People were hung from the rafters with rope
The holiday stress they just couldn't cope
The children were on Ritalin for their ADD
Caused by too much sugar and Play Station 3
Ma with her Prozac and me with my Xanax
And a couple of bong hits to help us relax
When from out on the lawn there arose such a clatter
But I was already awake from my overactive bladder
I picked up my cell and to the window I plied
To attempt to record what was happening outside
The moon in the sky like a streetlight did shine
On all of the neighbor's 'home for sale' signs
When, what to my wondering eyes should I see
But a silver tongued demon in a black SUV
Followed by a flurry of angels to damn him
I knew that it was the False God of Mammon
With blinding headlights that went three city blocks
Sticking flyers and catalogs in every mailbox
"Bring VISA! Bring Discover! Bring your Master Card!
To Target! To Penney's! To Sears and Wal-Mart!
To the new shopping center! To the suburban mall!
Now spend away! Spend away! Spend away all!"
As furry lemmings hurl themselves over the bluff
Some people never seem to acquire enough stuff
So in the early morning well before dawn
In houses bedroom lights all were turned on

Then all down the lane the slamming doors
From eager shoppers heading to stores
So I threw on some clothes, and hopped in my coupe
And followed them all to get the real poop
They were all dressed in down, wearing caps and mitts
And behaving as if they had all lost their wits
They all got in line despite all the cold
The rich and the poor, the young and the old
Their eyes--seemed so empty, their souls seemed so lost
Waiting for bargains no matter the cost
And I saw in the lot, waiting just as a vulture
Their false God stood grinning for exploiting their culture
The stump of a crack pipe held tight in his teeth
And big bags of gold surrounded his feet
His eyes were red rimmed, yellowed and beady
As he punished the hopeful and rewarded the greedy
In the line the people were peaceful and loving
'Til the doors flung open and people were shoving
'Twas the start of the holiday shopping stampede
And six old ladies trampled under their feet
He spoke not a word, he just stood there and grinned
Not seeming to mind the cold Northern wind
And laying a finger aside of his nose
He had a good snort of some really good blow
He sprang to his SUV with big sacks of gold
Then shut the doors with the windows unrolled
As he drove away, I heard him speak:

"Everything will be marked down even more next week!

Award Winning Bloggery

Much thanks to libhom at Godless Liberal Homo for passing along the Superior Scribbler Award to unbrainwashed. For (in his words, not mine) "Tired of all the crap you are fed by the corporate media and the politicians? Enjoy snark and reasoning that undermines the garbage. Acknowledging brainwashing in this society itself is largely taboo, which makes the blog's title especially gratifying."
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Each Superior Scribbler must in turn pass The Award on to 5 most-deserving Bloggy Friends.
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Each Superior Scribbler must link to the author & the name of the blog from whom he/she has received The Award.
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Each Superior Scribbler must display The Award on his/her blog, and link to This Post, which explains The Award.
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Each Blogger who wins The Superior Scribbler Award must visit this post and add his/her name to the Mr. Linky List. That way, we'll be able to keep up-to-date on everyone who receives This Prestigious Honor!
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Each Superior Scribbler must post these rules on his/her blog.
Now, the hard part. Picking out five from my many favorites.

Born At The Crest Of The Empire-Mike always offers insightful analysis and opinion based on the facts, rather than than emotion (in other words, it's the complete opposite of this blog). Tireless and endlessly updated, it's worth visiting several times a day.

Who Hijacked Our Country-Tom I see as a kindred soul, one who is as disappointed and disgusted in the direction our country has taken as I am.

MCCS1977-Succinct and too the point and always lavishly illustrated. Superiorly snarky, Fred's just cool.

Stone Soup Musings-Fellow Michigander (Michiganian?) kathy shows the connection between the local and the national.

Brown Man Thinking Hard- I discovered Brown man recently, and have added it to my regular rounds. Witty, intelligent, embodying all the qualities I wish this blog had.


There were so many other blogs I would have liked to give this award to, picking out five meant that there were at least five others I wish I could have gifted. (Or, I could have copied libhom, who gave out six instead of five) But then, I would have been taking away someone else's opportunity to award a friend, since at times it seems that that's what we all really are.

No One Wants To Shake Your Hand When It's Covered With The Blood Of Millions

This weekend, the kids and I rented the first Die Hard because none of had ever seen it. What I found most amazing, other than the fact that Bruce Willis actually used to have hair was the fact that the villain of the picture was German. East German to be precise, but yet still, forty years after the end of World War II, Hollywood was still using Germans as stock villains in motion pictures.
I bring this up because in the James Bond picture, America is the villain. No longer the shining city on the hill, the US is on the fast track to be stock villain for the next millennium. In seven very long years, the Bush administration and the Republican party have taken an outpouring of sympathy and turned it into vile contempt for our nation as a whole. This is their real legacy.
Now George Bush can't even get one of the members of the G20 to shake his hand. It would be sad and pathetic, if it wasn't George Bush. All his friends have deserted him. His party has turned their back on him. All that's left of his legacy are those appointees "burrowed" deep into senior civil service posts.
This is a lame duck, walking.

You Can Keep Your Conservative Corporate Media

For many years now, the American people have been fed a myth. The myth of the liberal media. This myth was perpetuated by those on the right whenever they were portrayed in an accurate but unfavorable light.
But for the years between 1997-2005 conservative guests dominated on Sunday Morning news shows, effectively setting up the talking points for the week that were then passed along to conservative talk radio hosts nationwide in an attempt to hammer home the message to the American people.
Many on the left suggest a boycott of sponsors, since all they really worship is money..

or reviving the Fairness Doctrine which brought balance and diversity to the nation's airwaves. However, if you examine the results from the past two election cycles, being in charge of the echo chamber hasn't really helped them out at all. Disseminating right wing talking points has only shown how ridiculous those talking points are when contrasted against the news of the failures of the Republican controlled congress and the Bush administration.
So I say, let them keep their corporate media. The success they've had with has proved that in four years, there won't be much of a Republican Party left, right?

Economic Extortion:Bush Blackmails Barack

After losing much in this past election, the GOP has decided it needs a new identity. What it needs is a whole new platform.
Yesterday, when Barack Obama met with George Bush, he raised the posibility of a bailout for the auto industry. Bush said he might if the Democraps back a Columbian free trade agreement that Bush has been trying to pass and Democraps opposed. So what it comes down to is Bush is saying that either we give up these jobs here, or sign on to give up more jobs in the future. Either way, more Americans will be out on the street.
I hardly blame the worker or the CEOs for the auto makers problems. They were only making cars Americans wanted to buy, and four years ago, those were big gas guzzling SUVs. It wasn't until recently, when oil prices went up, did some Americans choose to give up their gas hogs, and by then it was too late.
But the problem isn't only that consumers aren't buying these cars, it's that the market has changed. America has switched from a manufacturing economy, which paid well, to a service economy, which doesn't. People in the service economy can't make house and car payments, as well as credit card payments, insurance payments, or any of he plethora of other payments, and still keep the gas tank filled (or shop at Circuit City) any more. The real criminal is out sourcing (which the auto industry has done to a certain extent) which has not only created a trade deficit, but a wealth deficit as well. And now President Bush wants to continue that policy, which has proven to be so detrimental to the US economy, and he wants to do it over the backs of the US auto worker.
So if the GOP really wants a new identity, perhaps it should give up the greed glorifying free market friendly one per center pandering image it has and instead do something that benefits the rest of the country. But don't count on it.

Someone Trying To Lie Us Into Another War?

One of the linchpins on which the Bush administration tried to hang a casus
belli to invade Iraq on were forged Niger documents that claimed Saddam Hussein (no relation to Barack Hussein Obama) was trying to buy yellowcake uranium for his (non-existent) weapons of mass destruction program. Later, Joseph Wilson, sent on a fact-finding tour discovered them to be fakes and said so in a New York Times op-ed piece that eventually led to the outing of his wife as a CIA agent by members of the Bush administration.
In 2005, the US toured the world with a stolen laptop computer they touted as evidence Iran was developing nuclear weapons with it's uranium enrichment program, not nuclear power. This was contrary to the National Intelligence Estimate that stated Iran had given up it's nuclear ambitions two years earlier. Now, as it turns out, the documents may have been fabricated. Gee, ya think? Someone in the Bush madministration faking evidence to start a war in another Middle East country rich with oil?

A Small Step Backwards

The Republican party, after receiving a major set back in this past Tuesday's elections, have decided the way to go forward is to take a step backwards.
Citing the success of the passage of measures opposing gay marriage in three states, they have decided that the "sanctity" of marriage is the way forward.

"There were three state referendums on marriage ... all three carried. The vitality of the conservative movement around the country is very real,"

Three referendums passing does not equal the vitality of the conservative movement. For instance, here in Michigan not only did a measure supporting stem-cell research pass, but a referendum on medicinal marijuana did as well.
What is going on now is the conservative right movement, after spending so much time effort and money these past few months trying to convince voters that Barack Obama was a secret Muslim Socialist Terrorist, is now saying that because people elected him even though his far left agenda was exposed does not mean that the country has shifted to the left politically, and is still in fact, center right.
Now it would appear that the GOP is giving up on national security, economic progress (unless you think that clinging to the failed notion of free markets is going to suddenly prove successful), in order to appeal a fringe part of the base that still clings to a notion that somehow prohibiting gays from becoming married is "freedom". How quaint.

14:59

The elections over. John McCain doesn't return your phone calls. Fox News isn't inviting you on their network to spew your ignorant views. While there still is that recording contract you know that if you really had musical talent, you would have been a star long ago. How does a media sensation know when their time is up? Hangers-on and sycophants won't tell you, they'll just desert you when you can't get them beyond the velvet rope anymore.
Luckily for you, we have devised this handy-dandy Oblivionometer. It will tell you when it's time to stop stalking Sarah Palin and get back to snaking turds from stuffed-up toilets. So enjoy autographing copies of your ghost written autobiography in the back of the Bargain Book Barn in some suburban strip mall while you can, there'll soon come a day when even the regs at the bar you drink will have heard your story enough that they'll make fun of you behind your back.