Does anyone besides me think the story about the National Guardsman, menaced with a gun and beaten by five young male "peaceniks", sounds fishy. If true, the perpetrators need to be prosecuted under hate crime statutes, because that is exactly what it would be. It seems unusual though, and the detective investigating the case says as much, in the account I read. The whole waving a gun around and calling him a "babykiller" thing seems just too bizarre.
If it is true and this was done by five young white males, they will talk about it and someone will turn them in. I wonder if it is not a hoax. This kind of incident does great damage to the morale of the servicemen overseas, irregardless of it's veracity. It did forty years ago in Vietnam and it will today. I hope it is not true.
Thursday, August 31, 2006
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Moonbat
As a nation we seem to be polarizing. People are increasingly staking out positions on one end of the spectrum or the other on almost every political, religious and philosophical issue. I find this troubling. What I find even more troubling is that people seem to be buying the complete package of whatever they view as "their side". It is too much trouble for them to examine even the major issues of the day and make up their minds on individual issues. They just accept the "blue plate special" and take whatever is being offered up for general consumption. If this is truly what is happening, real democracy and the rights of the minority, face a perilous future. Another unsavory aspect of this group think mentality is that we tend to view others in general terms instead of individuals capable of diverse opinions.
I recently told an associate that I had a very low opinion of our current President and his administration. From that point on, I became, to him, just another "moonbat". Yeah, me and William F. Buckley Jr. Just a couple of liberal moonbats.
I recently told an associate that I had a very low opinion of our current President and his administration. From that point on, I became, to him, just another "moonbat". Yeah, me and William F. Buckley Jr. Just a couple of liberal moonbats.
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Update to Murder Ink-August 21, 2006
The FDA has authorized the over the counter sale of Plan B, a morning after pill less controversial than RU 486 to women 18 years old or older. Those younger than 18 will have to present a doctor's note at the pharmacy. This is more than I ever expected from the Bush administration.
Most urban and suburban communities have free community clinics that will not only provide a doctor's note but also dispense the medication, free or at little cost. There's one in my town. I have worked there both as a volunteer and employee.
In small town America, I suspect that there are sympathetic physicians who are known to maintain confidentiality and discreet pharmacists.
George Bush is really going out on a limb with his Christian conservative base on this and I salute him for it.
Since I always try to be both honest and pragmatic, I would be remiss if I didn't bring up this point, which I am sure George Bush and James Dobson are both aware of. It's hard to imagine there are many sexually active teenage girls in this country who don't have a sympathetic older girlfriend who would be willing to buy the pill for them. So GW and Dr Jim aren't really giving up very much.
Most urban and suburban communities have free community clinics that will not only provide a doctor's note but also dispense the medication, free or at little cost. There's one in my town. I have worked there both as a volunteer and employee.
In small town America, I suspect that there are sympathetic physicians who are known to maintain confidentiality and discreet pharmacists.
George Bush is really going out on a limb with his Christian conservative base on this and I salute him for it.
Since I always try to be both honest and pragmatic, I would be remiss if I didn't bring up this point, which I am sure George Bush and James Dobson are both aware of. It's hard to imagine there are many sexually active teenage girls in this country who don't have a sympathetic older girlfriend who would be willing to buy the pill for them. So GW and Dr Jim aren't really giving up very much.
Update to Stem Cells-July 19, 2006
This summary is not available. Please
click here to view the post.
Monday, August 21, 2006
Murder Ink
The first time I saw it happen was in the Fall of 1963. I was in the 7th grade and not quite 12 years old. The girl who had the locker above mine disappeared. I never saw her again, not in church, not in school, not around town. No one said a word. Her picture was never on a milk carton. After that it became more common. By the ninth grade, several a year were gone. By the 10th grade, they stopped disappearing forever. After a while, you'd see them around town again, at a bus stop, walking down the street. They looked older and didn't dress as nice. They kept their eyes down and wouldn't wave back. In the 11th grade, they'd talk to you when they came back. they'd be working around town at little jobs or attending continuation ed classes. Sometimes they'd talk about what happened to them. Sometimes the stories were even funny. Still, you almost never saw the baby. In College, you'd know before they disappeared. Their behavior was manic. They'd go to parties and drink too much and end up crying. Then they'd pack up their stuff and move out of the dorm. Then they legalized abortion and it all stopped. The clinic with no sign out front opened. The local Catholic St. Jude Home for Girls closed.
You hear a lot from the pro lifers about how abortion is murder. It's a sin. It"s not safe for Doctors who perform abortions to admit it in public. It's not uncommon for them to wear body armor to work and back. I think they ought to give them medals and put up statues of them in public parks. I'm not in favor of abortion. I think as a society we need to do everything we can to prevent it, but you have to have lived in America the way it used to be to feel the way I feel. No one has the right to force a pregnant girl to carry to term. I don't care if it's murder or not. A woman has a right to choose!
Why would anyone want to take the opinion of the religious community seriously about an issue of morality anyway? On the other great moral issue of our time they were dead wrong. It's true that the church was active in promoting the cause of civil rights in this country. The black church. Churches were all segregated in those days. Come to think of it , they still are for the most part. Come to think of it, it was the Christian community that drove young girls out of society during the days before legalized abortion. They are the ones who want to restigmatize unwed mothers today.
RU 486 was developed decades ago. It's safe, effective and widely used around the world. It has never been widely available in this country because of the controversial way in which it works. It prevents the implantation of the fertilized egg onto the uterine wall. It was instantly branded the "abortion pill" because of this by the Religious right. Now, largely in response to this complaint a new drug with the trade name of Plan B has been developed. This drug prevents the ovary from releasing an egg and makes eggs that are released unlikely to be fertilized. Gee, what could be wrong with that?
George Bush and his nominee to head the FDA, today voiced their opinion today that Plan B should not be made available to minors. Presumably, this is because somewhere in his philosophy of a "Culture of Life", there is a subtext that precludes young people from having sex. Of course they can get the pill, they just have to get a signed release from their parents to present at the pharmacy. I can just see it now, "Mommy, Daddy, about yesterday, after my quinceanera, my boyfriend and I had unprotected sex, could you please sign this release form so I can get the morning after pill", Yeah, right. There's a scenario that will be played out in living rooms all over America.
You can't have it both ways. If you don't want a lot of abortion/murder going on in society, you have to do every thing possible to keep these girls from getting pregnant in the first place. Education, birth control, whatever it takes. Stress abstinence all you want, but it's not the answer. I realize that all of the juice has dried up in your pasty, shriveled, God fearing gonads, but try and remember back in the day. Young people have sex. That's what they do. It's the first thing that happens after young people start to honestly express their emotions to each other and whether you like it or not it's completely natural. Growing up female in America is a far different experience than it was a couple of generations ago, and a lot of it has to do with the fact that they all don't start to get pregnant as they emotionally mature. It's not going to change, so get over it.
Women make up over half of those graduating from college. They make up an even higher percentage of those going on to professional schools. Things have sure changed. Must be all that home schooling and abstinence training. I would use this opportunity, as I usually do in my posts to call George Bush a scumbag, but I guess he doesn't believe in those either.
You hear a lot from the pro lifers about how abortion is murder. It's a sin. It"s not safe for Doctors who perform abortions to admit it in public. It's not uncommon for them to wear body armor to work and back. I think they ought to give them medals and put up statues of them in public parks. I'm not in favor of abortion. I think as a society we need to do everything we can to prevent it, but you have to have lived in America the way it used to be to feel the way I feel. No one has the right to force a pregnant girl to carry to term. I don't care if it's murder or not. A woman has a right to choose!
Why would anyone want to take the opinion of the religious community seriously about an issue of morality anyway? On the other great moral issue of our time they were dead wrong. It's true that the church was active in promoting the cause of civil rights in this country. The black church. Churches were all segregated in those days. Come to think of it , they still are for the most part. Come to think of it, it was the Christian community that drove young girls out of society during the days before legalized abortion. They are the ones who want to restigmatize unwed mothers today.
RU 486 was developed decades ago. It's safe, effective and widely used around the world. It has never been widely available in this country because of the controversial way in which it works. It prevents the implantation of the fertilized egg onto the uterine wall. It was instantly branded the "abortion pill" because of this by the Religious right. Now, largely in response to this complaint a new drug with the trade name of Plan B has been developed. This drug prevents the ovary from releasing an egg and makes eggs that are released unlikely to be fertilized. Gee, what could be wrong with that?
George Bush and his nominee to head the FDA, today voiced their opinion today that Plan B should not be made available to minors. Presumably, this is because somewhere in his philosophy of a "Culture of Life", there is a subtext that precludes young people from having sex. Of course they can get the pill, they just have to get a signed release from their parents to present at the pharmacy. I can just see it now, "Mommy, Daddy, about yesterday, after my quinceanera, my boyfriend and I had unprotected sex, could you please sign this release form so I can get the morning after pill", Yeah, right. There's a scenario that will be played out in living rooms all over America.
You can't have it both ways. If you don't want a lot of abortion/murder going on in society, you have to do every thing possible to keep these girls from getting pregnant in the first place. Education, birth control, whatever it takes. Stress abstinence all you want, but it's not the answer. I realize that all of the juice has dried up in your pasty, shriveled, God fearing gonads, but try and remember back in the day. Young people have sex. That's what they do. It's the first thing that happens after young people start to honestly express their emotions to each other and whether you like it or not it's completely natural. Growing up female in America is a far different experience than it was a couple of generations ago, and a lot of it has to do with the fact that they all don't start to get pregnant as they emotionally mature. It's not going to change, so get over it.
Women make up over half of those graduating from college. They make up an even higher percentage of those going on to professional schools. Things have sure changed. Must be all that home schooling and abstinence training. I would use this opportunity, as I usually do in my posts to call George Bush a scumbag, but I guess he doesn't believe in those either.
Friday, August 18, 2006
They Only Call Themselves Terrorists
The "War on Terror" has been a failure. Nobody with a brain disputes this statement. Most are now disenchanted with the Bush administration's handling of the situation but many see no clear alternative. "At least he's doing something", is a statement you hear frequently in defense of the President. You gotta wonder though, who are we fighting? And why? And is it making any difference? Nobody is telling us this stuff and I don't know about you but I'm getting tired of it.
I see sound bites on cable of various Mullahs, issuing Fatwahs declaring Jihad on America. For some reason, I'm not too scared. These guys are obviously squirrels. They have such flat affects and don't seem mentally sharp. They look like they smell bad. Nobody would dress like that or grow those scraggly beards on purpose. Does anybody really think that a bunch of Q'uiran reading couch potatoes, who haven't figured out the mechanics of a toothbrush, are going to successfully lead the Armies of Islam in the destruction of the Great Shaitan. I'm having a hard time with it.
The Iraqis do not have their shit together. The only stable thing about Iraq is the American presence. It's clear that if we left, the whole country would explode like a cheap pocketwatch with an overwound mainspring. What's even more amazing, is that everyone there seems eager for it to happen. They don't even hate us, they just want us to get out of the way while they dismantle the country back into it's tribal components. So why don't we leave and let them get on with it.
Are we really worried about Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon? Say they do make one. It will be low yield and weigh about as much as a main battle tank. How would they deliver this bomb, by donkey cart? Say they managed to blow up D.C. It would be a tragedy, all those historic monuments, museums and libraries gone. Otherwise, no great loss. I've always thought Vegas would make a good Capital, or maybe Orlando. Our brave governmental officials might not be missed much, but they wouldn't go into that long, dark night unavenged. Just imagine it, a 630,000 square mile skateboard park, paved with a smooth, durable glass finish. I'd go.
Did you guys see those neat publicity films put out by the feared Islamofacist terrorist organization Hezbollah, at the beginning of the recent hostilities in Lebanon. I did, and they were GREAT! First, it had them marching down some street in close order. They were all dressed up in tailored uniforms, bloused boots and silk scarves. Very colorful. Then they broke into some kind of flashy, disco duck, double time. Man, I been to boot camp and I learned to march but not like that! That must have taken a long time to get down right. Next, these guys were way up in the air, hanging on ropes, doing all of these graceful, choreographed, twirling moves. I think they call it Hezbobatics. It was way better than Cirque de Soleil. It was very clever of them to put those films out. Almost nobody noticed that they didn't do any fighting. None, zero, nada. Their entire strategy was to fire a bunch of rockets in the general direction of Israel and then cower in basements. Their only other strategic move was to herd a bunch of retarded children into a building they were sure the Israelis were going to shell, and then call in the press corps to report on the predictably grizzly aftermath, complete with the ubiquitous, but always effective, wailing crones. That won the war for them, right there. I"m so scared of these guys, it makes the piss run right down my leg.
Are you guys tired of those long waits at the airport boarding gates? Contracting nasty fungal infections standing around in your stocking feet, while they X-ray your shoes? Having to buy back that gold plated manicure kit in the cool lizard skin case on eBay after every business trip? Not being able to find your favorite brand of replacement toiletry items in a strange city? Are you still sore from that last cavity search? I am and I've about had enough of it. How does this sound? Everybody that gets on a plane, over the age of eighteen, gets offered a complimentary taser for the duration of the trip. The flight attendant gives instructions for it's operation right after those for the seatbelts, O2 masks and flotation devices. I'd take one. It might not be the perfect solution but you can only do so much.
This is not a war of class. This is not a war of states. This is not a war of political ideology. Armies are of no value. This is JIHAD! Islam wants us to understand their disdain for us and requires only one thing in return, FEAR!
HEAR ME NOW, MY AMERICAN BRETHREN AND SISTREN. We have things to do and a country to run. Fear is not productive. Safety is not an option. Civility and trust are for those that are trustworthy and civil in return. You need not tolerate threats or aggressive behavior, from anyone, for any reason. A civilized society need not be weak or effete. We must put away our petty differences. One American threatened is a threat to all. Do not fight this threat alone. Form alliances with your fellow Americans at every level of endeavor. Be vigilant. If you see a potential threat, communicate it and gather more information. If it requires action, you'll know what to do and you won't have to do it alone. I'll help, I swear it. There are others that will too.
I see sound bites on cable of various Mullahs, issuing Fatwahs declaring Jihad on America. For some reason, I'm not too scared. These guys are obviously squirrels. They have such flat affects and don't seem mentally sharp. They look like they smell bad. Nobody would dress like that or grow those scraggly beards on purpose. Does anybody really think that a bunch of Q'uiran reading couch potatoes, who haven't figured out the mechanics of a toothbrush, are going to successfully lead the Armies of Islam in the destruction of the Great Shaitan. I'm having a hard time with it.
The Iraqis do not have their shit together. The only stable thing about Iraq is the American presence. It's clear that if we left, the whole country would explode like a cheap pocketwatch with an overwound mainspring. What's even more amazing, is that everyone there seems eager for it to happen. They don't even hate us, they just want us to get out of the way while they dismantle the country back into it's tribal components. So why don't we leave and let them get on with it.
Are we really worried about Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon? Say they do make one. It will be low yield and weigh about as much as a main battle tank. How would they deliver this bomb, by donkey cart? Say they managed to blow up D.C. It would be a tragedy, all those historic monuments, museums and libraries gone. Otherwise, no great loss. I've always thought Vegas would make a good Capital, or maybe Orlando. Our brave governmental officials might not be missed much, but they wouldn't go into that long, dark night unavenged. Just imagine it, a 630,000 square mile skateboard park, paved with a smooth, durable glass finish. I'd go.
Did you guys see those neat publicity films put out by the feared Islamofacist terrorist organization Hezbollah, at the beginning of the recent hostilities in Lebanon. I did, and they were GREAT! First, it had them marching down some street in close order. They were all dressed up in tailored uniforms, bloused boots and silk scarves. Very colorful. Then they broke into some kind of flashy, disco duck, double time. Man, I been to boot camp and I learned to march but not like that! That must have taken a long time to get down right. Next, these guys were way up in the air, hanging on ropes, doing all of these graceful, choreographed, twirling moves. I think they call it Hezbobatics. It was way better than Cirque de Soleil. It was very clever of them to put those films out. Almost nobody noticed that they didn't do any fighting. None, zero, nada. Their entire strategy was to fire a bunch of rockets in the general direction of Israel and then cower in basements. Their only other strategic move was to herd a bunch of retarded children into a building they were sure the Israelis were going to shell, and then call in the press corps to report on the predictably grizzly aftermath, complete with the ubiquitous, but always effective, wailing crones. That won the war for them, right there. I"m so scared of these guys, it makes the piss run right down my leg.
Are you guys tired of those long waits at the airport boarding gates? Contracting nasty fungal infections standing around in your stocking feet, while they X-ray your shoes? Having to buy back that gold plated manicure kit in the cool lizard skin case on eBay after every business trip? Not being able to find your favorite brand of replacement toiletry items in a strange city? Are you still sore from that last cavity search? I am and I've about had enough of it. How does this sound? Everybody that gets on a plane, over the age of eighteen, gets offered a complimentary taser for the duration of the trip. The flight attendant gives instructions for it's operation right after those for the seatbelts, O2 masks and flotation devices. I'd take one. It might not be the perfect solution but you can only do so much.
This is not a war of class. This is not a war of states. This is not a war of political ideology. Armies are of no value. This is JIHAD! Islam wants us to understand their disdain for us and requires only one thing in return, FEAR!
HEAR ME NOW, MY AMERICAN BRETHREN AND SISTREN. We have things to do and a country to run. Fear is not productive. Safety is not an option. Civility and trust are for those that are trustworthy and civil in return. You need not tolerate threats or aggressive behavior, from anyone, for any reason. A civilized society need not be weak or effete. We must put away our petty differences. One American threatened is a threat to all. Do not fight this threat alone. Form alliances with your fellow Americans at every level of endeavor. Be vigilant. If you see a potential threat, communicate it and gather more information. If it requires action, you'll know what to do and you won't have to do it alone. I'll help, I swear it. There are others that will too.
Will he Buff up or Punk out
In the case of the ACLU vs. George Bush yesterday a federal judge ruled, that by circumventing the FISA court and implementing warrantless surveillance, the Bush administration violated both the constitution and civil law and has done so in thousands of cases over the last 5 years.
It has been made public that the Bush administration is introducing draft legislation to negate the War Crimes Act of 1996 and to make this negation retroactive to 2001. The War crimes Act allows members of the US armed forces who violate the articles of the Geneva Convention to be brought to trial in American courts by those who they commit violations against. This is a tacit admission that American troops have been committing war crimes since the first days in Afghanistan. It has been US armed forces policy to adhere to the Geneva Convention, regardless of the nature of the opponent, for more than 50 years.
The significance of this is not that some American soldiers are committing violations of the Geneva Convention and George Bush wants to take it easy on them. It has been the policy of the Bush administration, from the very first days of the "War on Terror", to ignore the Constitution of the United States, the Geneva Convention, the prerogatives of the other two branches of government or any duly authorized authority, other than his own. These are not the actions of a chief executive who values the continuance of the democratic tradition in the society that he leads. These are the subversive and nefarious machinations of a tyrant, seeking to esconse himself as absolute monarch in all but name.
George Bush knows that if the Democrats take over the House in the mid term elections, there will be a special prosecuter. If the Senate falls as well he will be impeached. The level of the animus toward Bush by the Democrats is such that they will put him on trial after impeachment and he will go to jail.
The only choice for Bush at this point is whether to attempt to maintain control through the midterm elections using electoral fraud, which has worked well for him so far, or to declare martial law with some trumped up state of emergency as the pretext, and start rounding up the opposition and quietly putting the fear of God into them. The only other option is just to lay down for hard time and I don't really see him doing that.
It has been made public that the Bush administration is introducing draft legislation to negate the War Crimes Act of 1996 and to make this negation retroactive to 2001. The War crimes Act allows members of the US armed forces who violate the articles of the Geneva Convention to be brought to trial in American courts by those who they commit violations against. This is a tacit admission that American troops have been committing war crimes since the first days in Afghanistan. It has been US armed forces policy to adhere to the Geneva Convention, regardless of the nature of the opponent, for more than 50 years.
The significance of this is not that some American soldiers are committing violations of the Geneva Convention and George Bush wants to take it easy on them. It has been the policy of the Bush administration, from the very first days of the "War on Terror", to ignore the Constitution of the United States, the Geneva Convention, the prerogatives of the other two branches of government or any duly authorized authority, other than his own. These are not the actions of a chief executive who values the continuance of the democratic tradition in the society that he leads. These are the subversive and nefarious machinations of a tyrant, seeking to esconse himself as absolute monarch in all but name.
George Bush knows that if the Democrats take over the House in the mid term elections, there will be a special prosecuter. If the Senate falls as well he will be impeached. The level of the animus toward Bush by the Democrats is such that they will put him on trial after impeachment and he will go to jail.
The only choice for Bush at this point is whether to attempt to maintain control through the midterm elections using electoral fraud, which has worked well for him so far, or to declare martial law with some trumped up state of emergency as the pretext, and start rounding up the opposition and quietly putting the fear of God into them. The only other option is just to lay down for hard time and I don't really see him doing that.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Calling on the Holy Trinity
We are losing the struggle in Afghanistan. Al-Quaeda is secure in it's mountain strong holds. The Taliban regains it's ideological control over the cities and towns. The Narco-Warlords, sensitive to the shift in power, have slipped the bonds of their American masters. They were able to beat us because they have a terrible and secret weapon, their own version of Rambo. A moribund, cadaverous, six foot, eight inch, Bedouin super hero, able to slip stealthily through the American patrols, amid the caves and mountain passes, trailing behind him several hundred pounds of dialysis equipment and it's attendant electrical generator and medical supplies. How can you catch a guy like that?
Iraq is like something out of a Mad Max movie. The Sunnis are killing the Shiia, the Shiia are killing the Sunnis. The Mullahs are ordering the deaths of grocers who arrange their produce in a provocative manner. The Iraqi government is sending out Ministry of the Interior death squads to disappear anyone who calls for a return to sanity. At this point very few Iraqi deaths are the result of the action of American troops, who are mostly just trying to stay out of the way. George Bush says we've turned the corner. Yeah, but what a corner.
The Israelis are pulling out of Lebanon. George Bush is declaring a victory over Hezbollah. Hezbollah is still in place. Their secret weapon turned out not to be Iranian rockets, but the stategic placement of retarded children and wailing crones. Who can beat something like that? The fallout is just beginning. In Israel, the ruling coalition government will probably fail. In Lebanon, I don't even want to speculate on the future. I don't think anybody does.
You would think that this would be enough mayhem in the Middle East, even for George Bush. You would be wrong, Even now he is planning to bomb the Iraqi nuclear research facilities. It will be happening soon.
Newt Gingrich is going around telling anyone who will listen, that World War III has already started. Since no Arab country has much in the way of a functional army, I'm a little unclear as to his meaning. The TSA would seem to have the real threat to our shores under control. X-ray those shoes, confiscate that breast milk, full cavity search for anybody that complains.
I saw some fat, blowhard evangelist on TV, talking about how these are the end times. He said that Armageddon is coming to the Middle East and only the return of Jesus will end the slaughter. He said we all better call on Jesus to come soon.
He can call on Jesus if he wants. I'm going for the whole hog. The Holy Trinity!
LARRY! MOE! CURLEY! COME ON DOWN HERE NOW! GW NEEDS YOUR HELP!
Iraq is like something out of a Mad Max movie. The Sunnis are killing the Shiia, the Shiia are killing the Sunnis. The Mullahs are ordering the deaths of grocers who arrange their produce in a provocative manner. The Iraqi government is sending out Ministry of the Interior death squads to disappear anyone who calls for a return to sanity. At this point very few Iraqi deaths are the result of the action of American troops, who are mostly just trying to stay out of the way. George Bush says we've turned the corner. Yeah, but what a corner.
The Israelis are pulling out of Lebanon. George Bush is declaring a victory over Hezbollah. Hezbollah is still in place. Their secret weapon turned out not to be Iranian rockets, but the stategic placement of retarded children and wailing crones. Who can beat something like that? The fallout is just beginning. In Israel, the ruling coalition government will probably fail. In Lebanon, I don't even want to speculate on the future. I don't think anybody does.
You would think that this would be enough mayhem in the Middle East, even for George Bush. You would be wrong, Even now he is planning to bomb the Iraqi nuclear research facilities. It will be happening soon.
Newt Gingrich is going around telling anyone who will listen, that World War III has already started. Since no Arab country has much in the way of a functional army, I'm a little unclear as to his meaning. The TSA would seem to have the real threat to our shores under control. X-ray those shoes, confiscate that breast milk, full cavity search for anybody that complains.
I saw some fat, blowhard evangelist on TV, talking about how these are the end times. He said that Armageddon is coming to the Middle East and only the return of Jesus will end the slaughter. He said we all better call on Jesus to come soon.
He can call on Jesus if he wants. I'm going for the whole hog. The Holy Trinity!
LARRY! MOE! CURLEY! COME ON DOWN HERE NOW! GW NEEDS YOUR HELP!
Monday, August 14, 2006
If It Quacks Like A Duck
George Bush is a pathetic figure. Except for the fact that he was born into a wealthy and influential family, he has little to recommend him. Public speaking, intellectual attainment, business acumen, manners and social graces, in any of these pursuits, he makes Charley Chaplin's little tramp appear the most sophisticated and accomplished gentleman. As he approaches the end of his sixth of eight years as President, opinion polls show little support. Even Republicans in rural Red State America are leaving his camp. His war is a quagmire. His economic reforms have driven the country deeply into debt. The Republican controlled Congress is threatening to grow a spine. The Supreme Court, even with conservative new appointees, balks at his usurpation of power. His cobbled together coalition of the dumb and dumber is falling apart.
So, ask yourself this question. Why isn't he worried? He's continuing on his merry way as if he has all the time he needs and not a worry in the world. You know what? He just might. He has reconfigured the Executive Branch to include a huge new entity called the Department of Homeland Security, largely free of oversight or constitutional constraint, and answering only to him. He has a large, well equipped, army, trained and ready to fight a war of urban insurrection. This is an army unlike any America has ever seen. It is not drawn from the broad skein of the fabric of America, and these soldiers are not looking to return to the civilian world any time soon. How hard would it be for him to declare a state of internal security crisis in America. Who would speak up if opposing voices started disappearing in the night. Who would dissent if elections were postponed during the state of emergency. When elections were resumed, who would run against the men who controlled the death squads.
Are you sure you know what a duck sounds like when it quacks. Maybe you better brush up. Before you find yourself squealing like a pig in some damp basement.
So, ask yourself this question. Why isn't he worried? He's continuing on his merry way as if he has all the time he needs and not a worry in the world. You know what? He just might. He has reconfigured the Executive Branch to include a huge new entity called the Department of Homeland Security, largely free of oversight or constitutional constraint, and answering only to him. He has a large, well equipped, army, trained and ready to fight a war of urban insurrection. This is an army unlike any America has ever seen. It is not drawn from the broad skein of the fabric of America, and these soldiers are not looking to return to the civilian world any time soon. How hard would it be for him to declare a state of internal security crisis in America. Who would speak up if opposing voices started disappearing in the night. Who would dissent if elections were postponed during the state of emergency. When elections were resumed, who would run against the men who controlled the death squads.
Are you sure you know what a duck sounds like when it quacks. Maybe you better brush up. Before you find yourself squealing like a pig in some damp basement.
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Fidel Castro, if he lives, will turn 80 this year...
Fidel Castro, if he lives, will turn 80 this year. There is no arguing that he has been one of the biggest thorns in the side of the United States for the last 50 years. We have tried to topple his government many times and achieved only embarrassment. I was in the 6th grade in 1962 and vividly remember preparing to die in a thermonuclear conflagration precipitated by the Cuban missile crisis. CIA plots to shoot, stab, poison and explode him have become the stuff of legend. That same agencies support of the Bay of Pigs invasion in 1961, is still a painful reminder of Fidel's ability to make America appear foolishly inept.
In the 3rd World, especially in subsaharan Africa , Cuban and American irregular troops have led opposing factions against each other in a succession of bloody, inhumane wars. Wars denied by World leaders and ignored by the press. Wars that nobody won. Forgotten. Nobody wants to remember the Congo in '65 or Bolivia in '67 or Angola or Ethiopia or Chad. Nobody remembers a Congolese postal clerk named Patrice Lamumba or who Jonas Savimbi was. They remember a young expatriate Argentinean doctor, named Ernesto Gueverra but not the revolutions he died trying to foment. They remember when he came down from the mountains into Havana, dirty, bearded, wearing fatigues, smoking a big cigar, with Fidel.
Everybody remembers Fidel. They have no choice. He's still there, dirty, bearded, wearing fatigues, smoking a big cigar, leading his country, as he has been, for five decades. Like all leaders of his ilk, he is a megalomaniac. He believes not in his people, country or political creed but only in himself. Even though he has failed in all his efforts to modernize, industrialize and force Cuba to thrive, the people still love him. Why? Because he works hard and doesn't steal, attributes they know they're not likely to see again in a Cuban leader. While the cities are crumbling, they're clean. The crime rates are low. While there isn't much to share, it's shared equally. Cuba's literacy rate is higher than America's. It's healthcare system is low tech but available to all. There is not much opportunity for advancement and people still seek to leave the country, in droves, but compared to it's neighbors in the Caribbean community, it's not so bad.
I sympathize with the Cuban people. Capitalism wasn't working out for most of them 50 years ago when it ended. Communism hasn't been the panacea that they hoped it would be. George and Condi are eager to sell them the franchise, crying crocodile tears over the fact that Cuba is the only country left in the American community that is not yet a "democracy". George Bush actually believes that democracy is an economic system and that it will "cure" Cuba's problems. He also believes he's rich because he's real smart and works hard. I would hate to see Cuba become a democracy like Jamaica, the Dominican Republic or, God forbid, Haiti. I suspect many Cubans hope Fidel does live forever and things just go on as they are. That won't happen. Still, there's no reason to push Fidel into the grave prematurely. If America was really so concerned about the welfare of the Cuban people it might consider lifting the economic sanctions and easing the travel restrictions that they have imposed on Cuba for the last 47 years.
In the 3rd World, especially in subsaharan Africa , Cuban and American irregular troops have led opposing factions against each other in a succession of bloody, inhumane wars. Wars denied by World leaders and ignored by the press. Wars that nobody won. Forgotten. Nobody wants to remember the Congo in '65 or Bolivia in '67 or Angola or Ethiopia or Chad. Nobody remembers a Congolese postal clerk named Patrice Lamumba or who Jonas Savimbi was. They remember a young expatriate Argentinean doctor, named Ernesto Gueverra but not the revolutions he died trying to foment. They remember when he came down from the mountains into Havana, dirty, bearded, wearing fatigues, smoking a big cigar, with Fidel.
Everybody remembers Fidel. They have no choice. He's still there, dirty, bearded, wearing fatigues, smoking a big cigar, leading his country, as he has been, for five decades. Like all leaders of his ilk, he is a megalomaniac. He believes not in his people, country or political creed but only in himself. Even though he has failed in all his efforts to modernize, industrialize and force Cuba to thrive, the people still love him. Why? Because he works hard and doesn't steal, attributes they know they're not likely to see again in a Cuban leader. While the cities are crumbling, they're clean. The crime rates are low. While there isn't much to share, it's shared equally. Cuba's literacy rate is higher than America's. It's healthcare system is low tech but available to all. There is not much opportunity for advancement and people still seek to leave the country, in droves, but compared to it's neighbors in the Caribbean community, it's not so bad.
I sympathize with the Cuban people. Capitalism wasn't working out for most of them 50 years ago when it ended. Communism hasn't been the panacea that they hoped it would be. George and Condi are eager to sell them the franchise, crying crocodile tears over the fact that Cuba is the only country left in the American community that is not yet a "democracy". George Bush actually believes that democracy is an economic system and that it will "cure" Cuba's problems. He also believes he's rich because he's real smart and works hard. I would hate to see Cuba become a democracy like Jamaica, the Dominican Republic or, God forbid, Haiti. I suspect many Cubans hope Fidel does live forever and things just go on as they are. That won't happen. Still, there's no reason to push Fidel into the grave prematurely. If America was really so concerned about the welfare of the Cuban people it might consider lifting the economic sanctions and easing the travel restrictions that they have imposed on Cuba for the last 47 years.
Saturday, August 05, 2006
My Religion is the RIGHT Religion
You shall have dominion over the earth. Fill the earth with your progeny.
Accumulate more material wealth than you can ever use and consume as many resources as you can then afford. Fill the atmosphere with so much carbon dioxide that the Sun burns down like a furnace. Then pump in more, so that it's forced into the water, until the rain and rivers and seas become so acidic they burn and dissolve the life they were meant to nurture. God gave us dominion over the earth.
Gather in your churches and sing the songs and chant the prayers by rote. Listen to the clergy while they tell you that anybody that doesn't believe exactly the way you do is a threat to you, then send your children out to kill them and die themselves in the process. The unbelievers must be punished.
Avert your eyes from the hungry, they're too lazy to work. Shun the sick, disease is a punishment sent by God. Despise the foreigners, they aren't like us. Keep yourself among the righteous, lest you stray down the path of unrighteousness.
Give your gifts to the church, it will decide who is deserving of charity. Live your lives within the tenets of the church, anything else is sacrilege. God made us in his image and gave us dominion over the earth. Only God may judge the righteous. It is the duty of the righteous to judge and chastise the unrighteous. Harden your heart. Do not feel guilt for participating in the punishment of sinners.
Do not take responsibility for alterations in the environment. The song of the birds in the dawn is not a hymn of praise to the Lord, do not mourn their silence. Green leaves rustling in the summer breeze is not a prayer to the Lord, ignore it's absence. The only species that venerates the Lord is ours, others are of no consequence.
Birth control is an affront to the Lord. Abortion is murder. The Lord demands an eye for an eye. Fill the earth with your progeny. Gods will be done.
Accumulate more material wealth than you can ever use and consume as many resources as you can then afford. Fill the atmosphere with so much carbon dioxide that the Sun burns down like a furnace. Then pump in more, so that it's forced into the water, until the rain and rivers and seas become so acidic they burn and dissolve the life they were meant to nurture. God gave us dominion over the earth.
Gather in your churches and sing the songs and chant the prayers by rote. Listen to the clergy while they tell you that anybody that doesn't believe exactly the way you do is a threat to you, then send your children out to kill them and die themselves in the process. The unbelievers must be punished.
Avert your eyes from the hungry, they're too lazy to work. Shun the sick, disease is a punishment sent by God. Despise the foreigners, they aren't like us. Keep yourself among the righteous, lest you stray down the path of unrighteousness.
Give your gifts to the church, it will decide who is deserving of charity. Live your lives within the tenets of the church, anything else is sacrilege. God made us in his image and gave us dominion over the earth. Only God may judge the righteous. It is the duty of the righteous to judge and chastise the unrighteous. Harden your heart. Do not feel guilt for participating in the punishment of sinners.
Do not take responsibility for alterations in the environment. The song of the birds in the dawn is not a hymn of praise to the Lord, do not mourn their silence. Green leaves rustling in the summer breeze is not a prayer to the Lord, ignore it's absence. The only species that venerates the Lord is ours, others are of no consequence.
Birth control is an affront to the Lord. Abortion is murder. The Lord demands an eye for an eye. Fill the earth with your progeny. Gods will be done.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Our Friends in the Middle East
While war rages in Iraq and Lebanon and Islamic fundamentalist control returns to the narco-warlord riven zona libre that is Afghanistan, it sometimes seems that all of the other Islamic nations of the region are on the sidelines cheering on the home team and threatening to spill onto the field and join the fray. It's not true, we still have many "friends" in the Arab world. Friends who remain above the fray. Let us for a moment cast a comforting gaze upon them.
First we travel to the south, along the coast of the Arabian Sea, home of those countries known as the "Gulf States". Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, land of the bedouins. No Sunni/Shiia conflict here. These are the Wahabi Arabs, played so picaresquely by Alec, Anthony and Omar in everybody's favorite 1963 movie epic. They are to the Sunnis and Shiites as snake handling, tongue talking holyrollers are to Lutherans and Methodists. Public beheadings and mutilations are not done here for the benefit of CNN news crews, but routinely for violation of Sharia Law. There is no problem with separation of religious and civil authorities here, they are one and the same. Slavery is legal. Women are rarely allowed out of the house. We are assured they are moving toward democracy, just very, very slowly. These are the lands where most of the 9/11 perpetrators hail from and this is where the money comes from. We can fool ourselves into believing that the money to fund Jihad comes from Iran, Iraq or someplace else but that would be a fantasy. All the money comes from the Gulf states. They are truly the engine of Islam. This function is too important to compromise with violent conflict, "The oil must flow, Maud-Dhib". George W loves these guys, he wishes he was one.
Next we move to the mighty Nile and Egypt, cradle of civilization, a populous but poor nation, gripped by an austere socialist military dictatorship. Coptic Christians here are forced to live as virtual untouchables in an underground society, barred from public education or formal employment. The slave trade also flourishes. Genital mutilation of young girls among the devout is the rule. American financial aid and frequent annihilation of their military by the Israelis keep them quiet. Hatred for the West seethes just below the surface at every level of society.
Finally let us look at Turkey, that most Westernized of Islamic countries. They have lately been calling themselves "Europeans", claiming that ethnic and religious discrimination keep them from taking their place in the EU. America considers them one of it's staunchest allies. For many decades they have sent their sons and daughters to the west, to do the jobs "Europeans won't do", then refusing to go home when their contracts expire, sound familiar? Their host countries are too polite to force them out and it would be bad PR. It is interesting to note that the Turkish minorities are responsible for virtually all of the violent crime in Germany and Scandinavia, including the huge increase in rape, in the countries of Sweden and Norway, where it was almost a non-existent crime a decade ago. Turkey also continues to hold the northern half of the Island of Cyprus, which it took from Greece in order to "protect" the ethnic Turks in 1971. Conditions are so bad there that the ethnic Turks long ago voted to return to Greek control. The Greeks, wisely, refuse to take them back. Turkey continues to deny that the Armenian genocide, where essentially every one of the millions of Turkish Armenians were driven, with only the shirts on their backs, into the burning wastes of the Syrian desert and died of thirst, even happened. All traces of Armenian culture in Turkey have been carefully expunged. When pressed Turkish spokesmen state simply, "they all moved away".
These are the "good' Arab countries. The ones that remain on "our" side. Pretty inspiring.
First we travel to the south, along the coast of the Arabian Sea, home of those countries known as the "Gulf States". Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, land of the bedouins. No Sunni/Shiia conflict here. These are the Wahabi Arabs, played so picaresquely by Alec, Anthony and Omar in everybody's favorite 1963 movie epic. They are to the Sunnis and Shiites as snake handling, tongue talking holyrollers are to Lutherans and Methodists. Public beheadings and mutilations are not done here for the benefit of CNN news crews, but routinely for violation of Sharia Law. There is no problem with separation of religious and civil authorities here, they are one and the same. Slavery is legal. Women are rarely allowed out of the house. We are assured they are moving toward democracy, just very, very slowly. These are the lands where most of the 9/11 perpetrators hail from and this is where the money comes from. We can fool ourselves into believing that the money to fund Jihad comes from Iran, Iraq or someplace else but that would be a fantasy. All the money comes from the Gulf states. They are truly the engine of Islam. This function is too important to compromise with violent conflict, "The oil must flow, Maud-Dhib". George W loves these guys, he wishes he was one.
Next we move to the mighty Nile and Egypt, cradle of civilization, a populous but poor nation, gripped by an austere socialist military dictatorship. Coptic Christians here are forced to live as virtual untouchables in an underground society, barred from public education or formal employment. The slave trade also flourishes. Genital mutilation of young girls among the devout is the rule. American financial aid and frequent annihilation of their military by the Israelis keep them quiet. Hatred for the West seethes just below the surface at every level of society.
Finally let us look at Turkey, that most Westernized of Islamic countries. They have lately been calling themselves "Europeans", claiming that ethnic and religious discrimination keep them from taking their place in the EU. America considers them one of it's staunchest allies. For many decades they have sent their sons and daughters to the west, to do the jobs "Europeans won't do", then refusing to go home when their contracts expire, sound familiar? Their host countries are too polite to force them out and it would be bad PR. It is interesting to note that the Turkish minorities are responsible for virtually all of the violent crime in Germany and Scandinavia, including the huge increase in rape, in the countries of Sweden and Norway, where it was almost a non-existent crime a decade ago. Turkey also continues to hold the northern half of the Island of Cyprus, which it took from Greece in order to "protect" the ethnic Turks in 1971. Conditions are so bad there that the ethnic Turks long ago voted to return to Greek control. The Greeks, wisely, refuse to take them back. Turkey continues to deny that the Armenian genocide, where essentially every one of the millions of Turkish Armenians were driven, with only the shirts on their backs, into the burning wastes of the Syrian desert and died of thirst, even happened. All traces of Armenian culture in Turkey have been carefully expunged. When pressed Turkish spokesmen state simply, "they all moved away".
These are the "good' Arab countries. The ones that remain on "our" side. Pretty inspiring.
Monday, July 31, 2006
A Requiem for Israel
If ever there was a missed opportunity for the residents of the Middle East, it is the way they have handled the formation of the Jewish state of Israel. From the very beginning, they have misjudged and mishandled the opportunities presented to them. It's not like the Jews descended on Palestine like a horde of blood thirsty barbarians intent on rape, pillage and enslavement. Let's look for a moment at the way things could have been for the Palestinians.
They could have had infrastructure. One of the first things the Jews did when they got to Palestine was get the utilities turned on. The basic improvements the Jews brought to the area are almost too embarrassingly numerous to list. Water, power, roads, communications, public sanitation, none of these things existed before the Jews. The difference that they make in the quality of life is staggering. Once the utilities are on, other opportunities present themselves.
They could have had agriculture. Goats, and a date palm, are not agriculture. The Israelis grow grain, fruit and vegetables. They produce meat and dairy products, they fish. More importantly, they process and package these things so that they can be transported to the people who consume them in a wholesome condition.
They could have had industry. The Israelis make stuff, in factories. Real stuff, not just rugs, a few hookahs, and the odd camel saddle. They produce pretty much every thing they need, from furniture to electronics to pharmaceuticals. Oh yeah, and weapons, they make their own weapons, they don't get them from the US, except for aircraft, which they modify extensively.
They could have had commerce. Israel produces enough that they are able to export large quantities for sale internationally. There is no oil in Palestine and a fellah's got to make a living.
They could have had tourism. Huge numbers of people spend astronomical amounts of money each year to vacation in Israel, inspite of the enmity, destruction and random killing that occur there daily. Go figure.
I'm still leaving out a lot of stuff. Healthcare. Education. Peace. The list goes on and on. Israel has offered to share everything they have with their neighbors all along the way. They still offer it today. That Israel even exists as a sovereign nation is due to Palestinian enmity. The UN would never have partitioned Palestine if not for the fighting that was initiated by the Palestinians at the close of World War II.
Israel won't disappear tomorrow. They're there and they're not going to leave. There is no place for them to go. So they will fight. They will fight to the last little child. Ultimately, they will use every weapon at their disposal and that's a lot of weapons. There's not going to be much left of the Middle East when it's over. Israel will Nuke them back into the seventh century. That was the century when they still had relevance, and it's the century where they want to be. So the Arabs will get their way after all.
They could have had infrastructure. One of the first things the Jews did when they got to Palestine was get the utilities turned on. The basic improvements the Jews brought to the area are almost too embarrassingly numerous to list. Water, power, roads, communications, public sanitation, none of these things existed before the Jews. The difference that they make in the quality of life is staggering. Once the utilities are on, other opportunities present themselves.
They could have had agriculture. Goats, and a date palm, are not agriculture. The Israelis grow grain, fruit and vegetables. They produce meat and dairy products, they fish. More importantly, they process and package these things so that they can be transported to the people who consume them in a wholesome condition.
They could have had industry. The Israelis make stuff, in factories. Real stuff, not just rugs, a few hookahs, and the odd camel saddle. They produce pretty much every thing they need, from furniture to electronics to pharmaceuticals. Oh yeah, and weapons, they make their own weapons, they don't get them from the US, except for aircraft, which they modify extensively.
They could have had commerce. Israel produces enough that they are able to export large quantities for sale internationally. There is no oil in Palestine and a fellah's got to make a living.
They could have had tourism. Huge numbers of people spend astronomical amounts of money each year to vacation in Israel, inspite of the enmity, destruction and random killing that occur there daily. Go figure.
I'm still leaving out a lot of stuff. Healthcare. Education. Peace. The list goes on and on. Israel has offered to share everything they have with their neighbors all along the way. They still offer it today. That Israel even exists as a sovereign nation is due to Palestinian enmity. The UN would never have partitioned Palestine if not for the fighting that was initiated by the Palestinians at the close of World War II.
Israel won't disappear tomorrow. They're there and they're not going to leave. There is no place for them to go. So they will fight. They will fight to the last little child. Ultimately, they will use every weapon at their disposal and that's a lot of weapons. There's not going to be much left of the Middle East when it's over. Israel will Nuke them back into the seventh century. That was the century when they still had relevance, and it's the century where they want to be. So the Arabs will get their way after all.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Is That A Fork In The Road Commin' Up?
Five Jewish American ladies were shot yesterday in an office building in Seattle. A leader at the mosque attended by the 30 year old Palestinian-American who shot these women down in cold blood stated that he was a quiet loner with few friends. Now there's a line we've heard before. Turns out this guy works at the Hanford Nuclear Facility, with his father, and "many members of the areas Islamic community". These guys all presumably have gone through extensive background investigation, received security clearances and have been pronounced to be loyal Americans. Can anyone say "Dirty Bomb". The areas Islamic community is still actively involved in facilitating the immigration of numerous family members from the Middle East. Yes folks, that's right, we're still letting prospective terrorists legally become residents of this country.
Let me make it real clear. George Bush is not a good President. The Department of Homeland Security is not doing a good job. The Iraq War is not having any positive effect on the War on Terror. There are a billion and a half Muslims in the World. They all regard us as Infidels. We have been exposed to the true religion and have rejected it. We have taken hostile action against Islam and supported the enemies of Islam. Killing us is not only sin free, bonus points are awarded. The next sound you hear may be the ululating cry of a 13 year old female suicide bomber, as she crowds in next to you in line at the Baskin-Robbins. You have given up your Constitutional Rights to George Bush, but he didn't make you safer, did he?
It is time for us as a nation to stop lying to ourselves, and to stop listening to the lies of the politicians on the left and the right. Terrorists aren't coming to this country, they're already here, but you know what, they could be convinced to leave. If needed, our Armed Forces can help to "Normalize" relations with Islamic nations, but it won't have anything to do with making them "Democratic Members of the World Community". The dealer calls the game and the game is terror. You got to play out the hand. You can't let some snotty, retarded frat boy and his bullying friends change the rules to what they want. The Muslim World wants terror? Deal it out.
Let me make it real clear. George Bush is not a good President. The Department of Homeland Security is not doing a good job. The Iraq War is not having any positive effect on the War on Terror. There are a billion and a half Muslims in the World. They all regard us as Infidels. We have been exposed to the true religion and have rejected it. We have taken hostile action against Islam and supported the enemies of Islam. Killing us is not only sin free, bonus points are awarded. The next sound you hear may be the ululating cry of a 13 year old female suicide bomber, as she crowds in next to you in line at the Baskin-Robbins. You have given up your Constitutional Rights to George Bush, but he didn't make you safer, did he?
It is time for us as a nation to stop lying to ourselves, and to stop listening to the lies of the politicians on the left and the right. Terrorists aren't coming to this country, they're already here, but you know what, they could be convinced to leave. If needed, our Armed Forces can help to "Normalize" relations with Islamic nations, but it won't have anything to do with making them "Democratic Members of the World Community". The dealer calls the game and the game is terror. You got to play out the hand. You can't let some snotty, retarded frat boy and his bullying friends change the rules to what they want. The Muslim World wants terror? Deal it out.
Friday, July 28, 2006
Anybody Home?
Mr President:
Three Years, many hundreds of billions of the tax dollars that Americans entrusted to you, thousands of American servicemen dead, tens of thousands more maimed, that's what Iraq has cost us so far. You have told us why we needed to unilaterally invade Iraq. In fact, you've told us several times, and each reason proved to be, in turn, untrue. The most recent of your increasingly weak justifications for the flushing away of American lives and resources, into the toilet that is Iraq, involves our need to establish it as a "Democratic Ally", upon which we can build a "New Era"of peace in the Middle East.
So, this week, President Maliki of the new democratic state of Iraq, comes to Washington, criticizes Israeli "Aggression" in Southern Lebanon and won't utter the slightest rebuke of the international Islamofascist terrorist organization, Hezbollah. What's the next reason you're going to use to justify the Iraqi invasion?
HELLO! GEORGE! DICK! KARL! ANYBODY HOME! HELLO!
Three Years, many hundreds of billions of the tax dollars that Americans entrusted to you, thousands of American servicemen dead, tens of thousands more maimed, that's what Iraq has cost us so far. You have told us why we needed to unilaterally invade Iraq. In fact, you've told us several times, and each reason proved to be, in turn, untrue. The most recent of your increasingly weak justifications for the flushing away of American lives and resources, into the toilet that is Iraq, involves our need to establish it as a "Democratic Ally", upon which we can build a "New Era"of peace in the Middle East.
So, this week, President Maliki of the new democratic state of Iraq, comes to Washington, criticizes Israeli "Aggression" in Southern Lebanon and won't utter the slightest rebuke of the international Islamofascist terrorist organization, Hezbollah. What's the next reason you're going to use to justify the Iraqi invasion?
HELLO! GEORGE! DICK! KARL! ANYBODY HOME! HELLO!
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
What about Lebanon?
Mr. President:
Let's talk a little bit about Lebanon. Of all the countries in the Middle East, only one shows any promise as a potential outpost of secular democracy and that is Lebanon. The reason for this is that they have a tradition of religious and social tolerance.
The population is a rich mix of racial and religious diversity. It is the center of the Maronite Christiam community, one of the oldest Christian sects. It has long offered sanctuary to refugees of genocidal persecution from Europe, Africa and Asia, as well as the Middle East. It is because of this tolerance and diversity that they are not well loved by their neighbors. The use of Lebanon as a battleground with the Jews, by Hezbollah, is a win-win situation for them. When it's over and done with and Hezbollah retreats into the sanctuary of Syria, they will leave behind the smoking ruin of a country they care nothing about. The cost to them? A few thousand obsolete missiles, and an insignificant number of casualties. What do they gain? A huge propaganda victory and further polarization of the Muslim world against the US and Israel. This kind of action has tremendous popularity in the Muslim World. It offers encouragement and a template for success to Islamic liberation groups from Sub-Saharan Africa to the Philippines.
Here's the sad truth, intervention is futile. My advice, stay away. Much smarter and more well thought of American Presidents than you have tried and failed to change the dynamics of the Muslim world. You want to make a difference, there's only one way, kill them all. Every Taureg in the Atlas Mountains, every juvenile delinquent in the slums of Marseilles, every bare breasted Balinese maiden of them. The number I hear most often is 1.25 billion but it may be closer to 1.5. Have at 'em, Cowboy! What's wrong? All hat and no saddle?
Let's talk a little bit about Lebanon. Of all the countries in the Middle East, only one shows any promise as a potential outpost of secular democracy and that is Lebanon. The reason for this is that they have a tradition of religious and social tolerance.
The population is a rich mix of racial and religious diversity. It is the center of the Maronite Christiam community, one of the oldest Christian sects. It has long offered sanctuary to refugees of genocidal persecution from Europe, Africa and Asia, as well as the Middle East. It is because of this tolerance and diversity that they are not well loved by their neighbors. The use of Lebanon as a battleground with the Jews, by Hezbollah, is a win-win situation for them. When it's over and done with and Hezbollah retreats into the sanctuary of Syria, they will leave behind the smoking ruin of a country they care nothing about. The cost to them? A few thousand obsolete missiles, and an insignificant number of casualties. What do they gain? A huge propaganda victory and further polarization of the Muslim world against the US and Israel. This kind of action has tremendous popularity in the Muslim World. It offers encouragement and a template for success to Islamic liberation groups from Sub-Saharan Africa to the Philippines.
Here's the sad truth, intervention is futile. My advice, stay away. Much smarter and more well thought of American Presidents than you have tried and failed to change the dynamics of the Muslim world. You want to make a difference, there's only one way, kill them all. Every Taureg in the Atlas Mountains, every juvenile delinquent in the slums of Marseilles, every bare breasted Balinese maiden of them. The number I hear most often is 1.25 billion but it may be closer to 1.5. Have at 'em, Cowboy! What's wrong? All hat and no saddle?
Monday, July 24, 2006
A Confession to Make
Mr President:
I approach you today with a heavy heart. I have a confession to make. When I'm done I will have lost any respect I may ever have had with my fellow Americans, but I can no longer remain silent. I must speak the truth, no matter the cost. Jimmy Carter was my favorite President. I thought he did a great job and I still miss him.
Jimmy began his professional life, like many American boys from the Heartland, by joining the military. He went to sea as a submarine sailor and was, by all accounts, a very good one. Being a submariner marks you for life in ways that it's difficult for the rest of us to understand or accept. Submarines are the most complicated, nonautomated, troubleprone machines ever devised by man. While submarines are an exclusively military piece of technology, no Rambo types inhabit their claustrophobic compartments and passageways. Submariners apply themselves to the task of mastering their environment and doing their jobs with an intensity that is not normal. The honesty and blunt frankness that characterizes the communication between submarine sailors is not often appreciated by outsiders. Half a century ago, Jimmy learned the secret that few know and fewer will admit. It doesn't matter what God you pray to, how much money you have, what your race is, or your sexual preference. What's important is that a shipmate will stand to his station, and do his job, and do it right, when the battle lanterns come on, and the air goes bad, and the water comes in.
I always thought that most of Jimmy's problems as President were related to his time as a submariner. There was never a lot of rosy scenario propaganda coming out of his Whitehouse. He told the truth as he saw it. When the corporations that ran the mines, mills and factories in the area we now call the Rust Belt, shut them down and took production overseas, there wasn't much he could do about it, and he said so. Nobody liked that. Today, we pretend that we can keep the economy going forever by cleaning each others swimming pools, selling each other cheap Chinese goods, and printing more money. We all know it's a lie, but we don't talk about it.
America might not be the place it once was and while I sincerely hope it's not true, you might be the President we deserve . As for myself, I'd be more comfortable with a man like Jimmy Carter. A man who would stand to his station, and do his job, and do it right, when the battle lanterns come on, and the air goes bad, and the water comes in.
Thanks for listening Mr. President. Why don't you go downstairs and have them make you a drink. Hell, have two, and a couple of lines of coke. I know, you won't be worth shit in the morning, but you're really not worth shit anyway.
I approach you today with a heavy heart. I have a confession to make. When I'm done I will have lost any respect I may ever have had with my fellow Americans, but I can no longer remain silent. I must speak the truth, no matter the cost. Jimmy Carter was my favorite President. I thought he did a great job and I still miss him.
Jimmy began his professional life, like many American boys from the Heartland, by joining the military. He went to sea as a submarine sailor and was, by all accounts, a very good one. Being a submariner marks you for life in ways that it's difficult for the rest of us to understand or accept. Submarines are the most complicated, nonautomated, troubleprone machines ever devised by man. While submarines are an exclusively military piece of technology, no Rambo types inhabit their claustrophobic compartments and passageways. Submariners apply themselves to the task of mastering their environment and doing their jobs with an intensity that is not normal. The honesty and blunt frankness that characterizes the communication between submarine sailors is not often appreciated by outsiders. Half a century ago, Jimmy learned the secret that few know and fewer will admit. It doesn't matter what God you pray to, how much money you have, what your race is, or your sexual preference. What's important is that a shipmate will stand to his station, and do his job, and do it right, when the battle lanterns come on, and the air goes bad, and the water comes in.
I always thought that most of Jimmy's problems as President were related to his time as a submariner. There was never a lot of rosy scenario propaganda coming out of his Whitehouse. He told the truth as he saw it. When the corporations that ran the mines, mills and factories in the area we now call the Rust Belt, shut them down and took production overseas, there wasn't much he could do about it, and he said so. Nobody liked that. Today, we pretend that we can keep the economy going forever by cleaning each others swimming pools, selling each other cheap Chinese goods, and printing more money. We all know it's a lie, but we don't talk about it.
America might not be the place it once was and while I sincerely hope it's not true, you might be the President we deserve . As for myself, I'd be more comfortable with a man like Jimmy Carter. A man who would stand to his station, and do his job, and do it right, when the battle lanterns come on, and the air goes bad, and the water comes in.
Thanks for listening Mr. President. Why don't you go downstairs and have them make you a drink. Hell, have two, and a couple of lines of coke. I know, you won't be worth shit in the morning, but you're really not worth shit anyway.
No Moral Equivalence
Mr. President:
UN Ambassador Bolton, while still not making any sense in his public utterances, is at least becoming a little more interesting. He seems to be fixated on the concept of moral equivalence and finds that there is none between the various groups of the slain, whose subsets make up the butchers bill for the "Global War on Terror". For example, take the groups of the dead on our side, about 3,000 each 9/11 victims and American servicemen. According to him there is no moral equivalence between them and any Iraqi dead, whether combatant or noncombatant and whether the combatants were engaged in jihadi or factional violence. Likewise, he finds there is no moral equivalence between Israeli casualties and Lebanese casualties, whether civilian, military or Hezbollah. The main significance of the dead, is, according to Mr. Bolton, that they are dead.
Let us leave aside for now the Israeli/Lebanese conflict and focus on our own "War on Terror". One of the main "Truths" about this war, that we hear over and over again from you and your various surrogate apologists, is that it's better to fight the "Axis of Evil" over there, than over here. Given the absence of moral equivalence, why? It's better to kill Muslims here in America. It's cheaper, easier, more fun, less dangerous and more effective than going to Iraq to do it. Let's face facts, no Iraqi ever carried out an act of terrorism against the US. Most of the terrorists involved in 9/11 were more or less permanent residents of the US. Admittedly, they weren't citizens, but these days, who is. Besides, the country they did come from, Saudi Arabia, is one of your most valued "allies". I tell you what. If we had been keeping a close eye on the Arabs in this country over the last couple of years and had killed 30,000 of them who were engaged in "suspicious activities", and had several thousand more locked up, it seems to me we'd be a lot safer than we are. The Arabs that were left would be a lot less surly and better behaved.
The more I think about it, the more I think this no moral equivalence thing might be the key to winning the war on terror.
UN Ambassador Bolton, while still not making any sense in his public utterances, is at least becoming a little more interesting. He seems to be fixated on the concept of moral equivalence and finds that there is none between the various groups of the slain, whose subsets make up the butchers bill for the "Global War on Terror". For example, take the groups of the dead on our side, about 3,000 each 9/11 victims and American servicemen. According to him there is no moral equivalence between them and any Iraqi dead, whether combatant or noncombatant and whether the combatants were engaged in jihadi or factional violence. Likewise, he finds there is no moral equivalence between Israeli casualties and Lebanese casualties, whether civilian, military or Hezbollah. The main significance of the dead, is, according to Mr. Bolton, that they are dead.
Let us leave aside for now the Israeli/Lebanese conflict and focus on our own "War on Terror". One of the main "Truths" about this war, that we hear over and over again from you and your various surrogate apologists, is that it's better to fight the "Axis of Evil" over there, than over here. Given the absence of moral equivalence, why? It's better to kill Muslims here in America. It's cheaper, easier, more fun, less dangerous and more effective than going to Iraq to do it. Let's face facts, no Iraqi ever carried out an act of terrorism against the US. Most of the terrorists involved in 9/11 were more or less permanent residents of the US. Admittedly, they weren't citizens, but these days, who is. Besides, the country they did come from, Saudi Arabia, is one of your most valued "allies". I tell you what. If we had been keeping a close eye on the Arabs in this country over the last couple of years and had killed 30,000 of them who were engaged in "suspicious activities", and had several thousand more locked up, it seems to me we'd be a lot safer than we are. The Arabs that were left would be a lot less surly and better behaved.
The more I think about it, the more I think this no moral equivalence thing might be the key to winning the war on terror.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
CREEPY
Mr. President:
A lot of people are using the occasion of your impromptu backrub of the German Prime Minister, to call you creepy. Creepy, in my book, would would require perverted or unnatural motivations and that is clearly not the case. This behavior is loutish, and sexually inappropriate. To engage in this sort of behavior while huge numbers of the international press are watching through live feed video cameras, indicates extreme stupidity. You were just being you. If you had lifted up the front of her blouse and kissed her on the belly, that would have been creepy. So rest easy, you're not creepy.
A lot of people are using the occasion of your impromptu backrub of the German Prime Minister, to call you creepy. Creepy, in my book, would would require perverted or unnatural motivations and that is clearly not the case. This behavior is loutish, and sexually inappropriate. To engage in this sort of behavior while huge numbers of the international press are watching through live feed video cameras, indicates extreme stupidity. You were just being you. If you had lifted up the front of her blouse and kissed her on the belly, that would have been creepy. So rest easy, you're not creepy.
Friday, July 21, 2006
Lebanon
Mr. President:
I'm sitting here, with the TV on, waiting to watch Israeli troops cross into Lebanon. It doesn't take a psychic to know that in a few days, the country will be in flaming ruins, for the I don't know how manyeth time in my memory. There will be the usual atrocities; death, dismemberment, and rape. Soon after that the starvation and disease will begin. In the end, what will be left, is what is there now, seething hatred. Hatred for the Israelis and hatred for us. Since you and your puppet minions have been largely silent about what's happening in Lebanon, I feel obligated to alert you to some facts of which you may not be aware.
This is going to come as a shock to you, so you may want to sit down. There is a relationship between the War on Terror that you valiantly embarked us on five years ago and the state of Israel. I know it seems crazy, but things aren't always as they seem; like with that weapons of mass destruction thing. It really isn't our freedom, democracy, way of life, and guiltless consumption of alcohol that makes Arabs despise us and want to fly planes into our most prominent edifices. Think about it, if that were the case, would so many of them come over here to run liquor stores in bad neighborhoods, where they sell whiskey by the shot, cigarettes by the each and condoms by the gross to passing junior high school students. Except when we constrain them from genitally mutilating their daughters, they like America just fine. It is our support of Israel that they're really mad about. That's been the problem the whole time!
The way it got started was like this. Back about the time you were born, we had a President named Truman. World War II was over in Europe but we were still fighting the Japanese. This was back before the time when we weren't allowed to kill "innocent" civilians. So, to avoid invading Japan and getting a lot of American soldiers killed, President Truman nuked some Japanese cities. A lot of people got killed and lot more got sick, so the Japanese gave up right away. Everybody was so happy the war was over, that they elected him to another term as President and gave him a lot of political capital. It was kind of like your re-election, only with him it wasn't all pretend.
At the same time that was happening. It turned out that over in Europe, the Germans had killed a lot of Jews. Nobody in Europe was very fond of the Germans during the war but nobody was very fond of the Jews at any time, so no one had kicked up much of a fuss. This situation made the Germans ashamed, the rest of the Europeans embarrassed and the Jews anxious about staying in Europe, in case it happened again. Everybody was pretty relieved when a lot of the Jews began to pack up and leave Europe. Can you guess where they went ? YUP, Israel.
Only in those days, it wasn't called Israel. It was called Palestine and it was full of Palestinians! Soon, there were so many Jews in Palestine that the Palestinians became very distressed. First there were hard feelings, then quarrels, then they were duking it out in the streets. Before anybody noticed, the Jews had formed their own government, smuggled in guns, and put together a fair sized army. The Palestinians got even more upset, because they didn't have any of these things. Palestine was a British "Protectorate". Britain was supposed to be administering the country, but they were tired, the Empire was threatening to fall apart, and Palestine was not a big producer. The whole thing came to a head when the Jews demanded to cut out a big piece of Palestine and have their own country.
Now we get back to Harry Truman and his political "Capital". Harry had no great regard for Jews and felt no guilt over the fact that so many of them had been killed by Germans. He could see the writing on the wall, though. With all those Jews in Palestine and more coming every day, if they got run out, there was only one place for them to go. That's right GW, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breath free." Harry figured we had all the Jews we needed in America. so he went over to the United Nations and got them to cut up Palestine. We pretty much ran the United Nations in those days, having traded Eastern Europe for it to Joe Stalin at Yalta. He used his political "Capital" to secure the support of the American people. He probably should have saved it for Korea.
Things have never been right in the Middle East since that time. The other Arab countries have never accepted Israel. Israel hasn't helped matters by kicking the shit out of them umpteen times and simultaneously turning their little rock pile into a garden spot and tourist mecca, with a standard of living about the same as Switzerland. Through it all, mostly because we're the ones that started the whole shitball rolling down hill, we've been Israel's friend, sometimes a reluctant friend but their only friend. That's why the Arabs give us a hard time.
So, you can see that we are not in a world wide war on terror, we are in the middle of a 60 year struggle between the Jews and the Arabs. It's true that the Arabs are very ethnocentric and they have issues with many nations of the West. There is also a huge demographic migration out of the Middle East and into Western Europe. No other country has the same issues with the Arab Block as we do, however. That's why we don't have any Allies in this War. If you're going to fight a War, at least take the time to figure out who you are fighting and why. It's not any mystery as to why we're not doing so hot in the "War on Terror". It's because you don't have a GODDAMN clue as to what's really going on. This should prove to people once and for all, that the next time we elect a President, it should be someone who doesn't think that the best use for the pages in history books is to WIPE HIS ASS.
The Israelis will punish the Arabs into temporary quiesence this time and next time and the time after that, but it's only a matter of time. You just have to look at the difference in numbers and in birthrates. Like the Goodbook says, "The race is not to the swift". Who knows, maybe you'll solve the problem George. Say, do you think the Israelis would be willing to relocate to a 20 mile wide strip along the Mexican border?
I've kept you up long enough, goodnight. Maybe Laura can bring you a glass of warm milk. No more than two ounces of whisky in it though, or you'll feel it in the morning and just want more.
I'm sitting here, with the TV on, waiting to watch Israeli troops cross into Lebanon. It doesn't take a psychic to know that in a few days, the country will be in flaming ruins, for the I don't know how manyeth time in my memory. There will be the usual atrocities; death, dismemberment, and rape. Soon after that the starvation and disease will begin. In the end, what will be left, is what is there now, seething hatred. Hatred for the Israelis and hatred for us. Since you and your puppet minions have been largely silent about what's happening in Lebanon, I feel obligated to alert you to some facts of which you may not be aware.
This is going to come as a shock to you, so you may want to sit down. There is a relationship between the War on Terror that you valiantly embarked us on five years ago and the state of Israel. I know it seems crazy, but things aren't always as they seem; like with that weapons of mass destruction thing. It really isn't our freedom, democracy, way of life, and guiltless consumption of alcohol that makes Arabs despise us and want to fly planes into our most prominent edifices. Think about it, if that were the case, would so many of them come over here to run liquor stores in bad neighborhoods, where they sell whiskey by the shot, cigarettes by the each and condoms by the gross to passing junior high school students. Except when we constrain them from genitally mutilating their daughters, they like America just fine. It is our support of Israel that they're really mad about. That's been the problem the whole time!
The way it got started was like this. Back about the time you were born, we had a President named Truman. World War II was over in Europe but we were still fighting the Japanese. This was back before the time when we weren't allowed to kill "innocent" civilians. So, to avoid invading Japan and getting a lot of American soldiers killed, President Truman nuked some Japanese cities. A lot of people got killed and lot more got sick, so the Japanese gave up right away. Everybody was so happy the war was over, that they elected him to another term as President and gave him a lot of political capital. It was kind of like your re-election, only with him it wasn't all pretend.
At the same time that was happening. It turned out that over in Europe, the Germans had killed a lot of Jews. Nobody in Europe was very fond of the Germans during the war but nobody was very fond of the Jews at any time, so no one had kicked up much of a fuss. This situation made the Germans ashamed, the rest of the Europeans embarrassed and the Jews anxious about staying in Europe, in case it happened again. Everybody was pretty relieved when a lot of the Jews began to pack up and leave Europe. Can you guess where they went ? YUP, Israel.
Only in those days, it wasn't called Israel. It was called Palestine and it was full of Palestinians! Soon, there were so many Jews in Palestine that the Palestinians became very distressed. First there were hard feelings, then quarrels, then they were duking it out in the streets. Before anybody noticed, the Jews had formed their own government, smuggled in guns, and put together a fair sized army. The Palestinians got even more upset, because they didn't have any of these things. Palestine was a British "Protectorate". Britain was supposed to be administering the country, but they were tired, the Empire was threatening to fall apart, and Palestine was not a big producer. The whole thing came to a head when the Jews demanded to cut out a big piece of Palestine and have their own country.
Now we get back to Harry Truman and his political "Capital". Harry had no great regard for Jews and felt no guilt over the fact that so many of them had been killed by Germans. He could see the writing on the wall, though. With all those Jews in Palestine and more coming every day, if they got run out, there was only one place for them to go. That's right GW, "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breath free." Harry figured we had all the Jews we needed in America. so he went over to the United Nations and got them to cut up Palestine. We pretty much ran the United Nations in those days, having traded Eastern Europe for it to Joe Stalin at Yalta. He used his political "Capital" to secure the support of the American people. He probably should have saved it for Korea.
Things have never been right in the Middle East since that time. The other Arab countries have never accepted Israel. Israel hasn't helped matters by kicking the shit out of them umpteen times and simultaneously turning their little rock pile into a garden spot and tourist mecca, with a standard of living about the same as Switzerland. Through it all, mostly because we're the ones that started the whole shitball rolling down hill, we've been Israel's friend, sometimes a reluctant friend but their only friend. That's why the Arabs give us a hard time.
So, you can see that we are not in a world wide war on terror, we are in the middle of a 60 year struggle between the Jews and the Arabs. It's true that the Arabs are very ethnocentric and they have issues with many nations of the West. There is also a huge demographic migration out of the Middle East and into Western Europe. No other country has the same issues with the Arab Block as we do, however. That's why we don't have any Allies in this War. If you're going to fight a War, at least take the time to figure out who you are fighting and why. It's not any mystery as to why we're not doing so hot in the "War on Terror". It's because you don't have a GODDAMN clue as to what's really going on. This should prove to people once and for all, that the next time we elect a President, it should be someone who doesn't think that the best use for the pages in history books is to WIPE HIS ASS.
The Israelis will punish the Arabs into temporary quiesence this time and next time and the time after that, but it's only a matter of time. You just have to look at the difference in numbers and in birthrates. Like the Goodbook says, "The race is not to the swift". Who knows, maybe you'll solve the problem George. Say, do you think the Israelis would be willing to relocate to a 20 mile wide strip along the Mexican border?
I've kept you up long enough, goodnight. Maybe Laura can bring you a glass of warm milk. No more than two ounces of whisky in it though, or you'll feel it in the morning and just want more.
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