Things on the homefront are looking pretty Interesting. Organisations in the Internet community are really coming together and making things happen from a political point of view. The Neocons are getting backed up and a War for Law is ensuing. I know they are feeling the pressure, as I am sure you all are aware of them now tripping over their own tongues. Cheney says this, but a General on the ground is saying the opposite. Bush is saying the Insurgents are falling apart and in their last throes as well, yet that same general John Abizaid says the exact opposite, so what are the Neocons to do?
The question I have though is "What in Gods name will these monsters do to reverse public opinion?" If 9-11 (and its quite a small 'if' ) were an inside job to get the bush son and pa team together to make war on Saddam, it was effective. Of course in opening that war, war had to be made on Afghanistan or a nation that could be made to look bad by our controlled media while public opinion and the anti-terrorist mindset were high. Afghanistan was an easy start as well, being that there was little need for higher numbers of men, being they are/were a poorer nation. Sure did stir the old Patriotic Spirit to be lied to, over and over again in lieu of 9-11. So after a bit of patience and preplanning (you recall the downing street memo) we moved from Afghanistan to Iraq.
After years of sanctions that starved, took away medication and several arial attacks in the no fly zone 1,000,000 people are dead, mostly children. I would almost say the United Nations could have voted out Saddam, or stopped acknowledging him as leader of Iraq instead of ruining a nation of peace loving people. What a laugh to believe bush excercised diplomacy based on what he said back then. With the downing street memo proving the opposite, I would put a couple of bucks on the fact that he was learning how to create a war with Iraq while he was Governor of texas, why else would he take 8 months of vacation in preperation for 9-11. During that vacation most of his time I am betting was occupied with fellow texan Oil Goones and Golf.
How can the bush administration reverse their situation? (As if I care, but give it some thought.) For you and I they can't but we are not all the voices in the nation. What you or I know can be left unheard or unspoken by the majority.Regardless of the deception how can a Karl Rove put the spin on the situation, to get justification for more BS and fear mongering, more lies and deceptions? Lets pause a moment and consider an answer.. They are getting up against the wall, public opinion of this administration is at its worst. Public opinion on this president is at its worst since Nixon. Bush can't seem to reverse his idiocy and stands stubborn on his ignorance and arrogance and the public is becoming enraged just by learning the facts you and I have known for a year or more. Bush cant fix problems at home, no child.., Social Security regardless the name on the issue he is a lame duck "AGAIN."
I wonder how those dead Saudi guys are doing, of 6 still living one walked into a U.S. embassy to say "I did not know I died in the 9-11 incident?" I wonder how many moms out there are going "why doesn't my son count?" The answer being "well ma'am he did not die in Iraq he was one of the 6000 (or thereabout) who died enroute or on an operating table outside of Iraq, so we dont count him among the nearly 1750 men and women who died there, though we know he recieved his cause of death in Iraq." -I wonder how true it is if the helicopter was enroute to kuwait but only 5 feet off Iraqi Soil when he/she died.
I guess I am getting away from the point I was trying to make. To reverse the demise based on the facts 'they' the Neocons are faced with what would you do? Would you kill 'another' 3,000 people? That did work to get the Patriotic Blood Flowing before. That is what I expect. I am almost convinced that that option is the only one they will conclude. Lets make it a 4th of July event. Now just point a finger, while everyone is scared *hitless. "It was those Iranian Extremist's!" Iranians bent on solving their nations energy needs, but still being environmentally kind. Iranians looking for an easy way to help solve world oil needs and reduce their own oil consumption. They will blame someone once again for there own acts of terrorism.
Compared to Coal and Fossil Fuels Nuclear power is a cleaner option, sure it uses and polutes alot of water.
The U.S. would instantly blame Iran though, they are already working on a smear campaign to go to war there.
It sure would Reverse Bush/Chaney/Rove's demise to create more havoc on more Americans to suitcase bomb them/ourselves. All they would have to once again do is point their little fat fingers at an Iran a North Korea or another supposed rogue nation, and all guns would swing that way instead of the way they are pointing now based on public opinions and realisations. It would be like the Olive in the Martini. Bush could get back to picking his nose and calling himself a War President, instead of the Liar he and his administration already are.
By creating more havoc, starting a new 3rd or 4th war, freezing more Civil Rights/Liberties, hoodwinking the nation again, through fear, lies, deception he can regain his title and the people will buy up the pre-packaged media BS like hungry wolves, Again. Torture (still going strong in several 'allied' countries) again will be swept away, forgotten. The innocent will suffer by loss of family members dead or incarcerated, and Americans will feel safe, once again, under the leadership of a tyrant and his lies/liars.
This article is free press. And can be repeated-redistributed freely on any site. The writer only ask's his name to be attached.
Steve McFarland
noise@dickeatsbush.com
But, a few bits:
First off, Bush's tuesday address to the nation regarding Iraq, is gonna be a must-watch...
This is the first time I'm actually LOOKING FORWARD to seeing Bush read the TelePromptEr, in front of a camera. Now: before that day arrives, I want each and every one of you out there to understand:
From the first word, to the last word, everything Bush will say will be a fully-documented lie. The documentation will come, within minutes of the broadcast (maybe even during), via the blogosphere. But seeing Bush lie is not great theater- we see it every day- he hasn't told one drop of the truth, in as long as I've been following the guy.
What will be interesting about this speech, and what I'm looking forward to, is the begging and pleading (masked behind a poorly-rehearsed facade of "presidential courage and confidence") that Bush will be doing.
Bush will be prostrating himself, in front of an increasingly skeptical public, and his message will be "Buck up- things aren't so bad. We're making GREAT PROGRESS."
This will be the equivalent of the "days of malaise" speech that fatally crippled Carter. However, Unlike Carter, Bush has the media in his pocket, so it will certainly not be as ruinous- but it will be fun to watch.
Secondly, the recent "elections" in Iran gave that country the candidate the neocons cheered for. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (I look forward to hearing Bush pronounce THAT one), was the preferred candidate of the Neocons, as this former mayor of Tehran is a notorious hardliner, at odds with both of the previous presidents, and marches in lock-step with the more conservative religious elements of the government. Just the kind of guy that the "Guess Jeans bloggers" will rebel against (at least, in their own minds- a property located upwind from Neverland Ranch.)
Now, there are rumors abounding, via the internet, that Israeli airstrikes against Iranian nuclear installations will occur, this week. I hope and pray that this ain't gonna be the case, but as I stated, months ago, I can see this being the opening salvo of a "hot war."
More, as this develops
And what's this post-Michael-Jackson-trial corporate media gibbering about somethng that happened in Aruba, or some other resort-island kidnapping/murder/whatever? I haven't been paying attention. five more soldiers died in Iraq, in the past two days, and I just haven't been bothering with the latest smokescreen.
And finally, a short movie review. I was told to stay away from it, but I decided to drop a few dollars, and rent "Team America- World Police", the puppet comedy created by "South Park" creators, Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
First off- I admit- I watch "South Park." Yeah, it's crude and vile to the core, and offends anyone with a shred of decency- and that's why I like it so much. Their right-wing tendencies have always bubbled beneath the surface, but I've been willing to overlook it, because it's hard to be judgemental, when I'm laughing at Mel Gobson bending over and spraying an Eric Cartman wearing full nazi regalia in feces.
But this movie- OY.
First off- not funny. Not a single laugh, giggle, or shocked moment of suspended disbelief- it's crap. From beginning to end, I found myself resenting every moment spent, gazing at this cinematic turd.
(As an aside, I'll say that this movie's only redeeming characteristic is that it gave high-biling work to a bunch of folks who, otherwise, are collecting welfare, since their jobs were co-opted by CGI animation- but that's neither here nor there.)
How to classify this movie, on a deeper, political level?
The basic story revolves around a bunch of self-delusional "super heroes" that, I guess, are supposed to represent the film's creators' obsession with a childhood watching "thunderbirds", and america, as a whole. Their goal: Destroy terrorists.
Destroy terrorists, they do, and at the same time, destroy just about everything else in the vicinity, including the Louvre, the Pyramids, and anything else that gets in their way.
Okay- as sick as it sounds- if the movie just stuck with this grotesque motif, I'd be able to stomach it, as just a horrid parody of american policy.
What follows, after this exposition, is a nonstop cinematic campaign of villification of every liberal in Hollywood.
Now- here's what gets me about folks who complain about actors speaking out, on causes they care about: Limbaugh, Hannity, O'Reilly, and Beck lambast these actors, at every turn, saying that "These Hollywood Liberals should just shut up, and stop pretending that they're experts on these matters."
Uhh- reality check, here:
Tim Robbins, Janeane Garofalo, Cher, Jamie Kennedy, Johnny Depp- they never SAID, once, that they were "experts", they're simply using the prestige they have, as a result of their careers, to bring about change. Guess what, Matt, Trey, Limbaugh, Hannity, etc?
It's their RIGHT to do so. Just as Matt and Trey have the right to produce four episodes of South Park, in a year, and make 100 million dollars, doing it, Jamie Kennedy has the right to speak at peace rallies, and make his voice heard.
But I digress...
The movie culminates in a bloody puppet orgy, in which Alec Baldwin, along with the Limbaugh-defined "Hollywood elite" get their collective brains blown out, in ways that press the limits of what is generally accepted as the Freudian definition of "obsessive/compulsive disorder" All fun aside- okay: Garofolo gets the top of her head blown off- wow. hilarious.
The same pretty much happens to Tim Robbins, Sam Jackson, Danny Glover, Matt Damon, and anyone to the left of Dennis Miller. Wow- hilarity abounds- Alec Baldwin's head gets shot off, thee times, too, in slow-mo, from various angles. I'd laugh, but I'm afraid my head would explode.
Please.
Stop- you're killing me- I can't take comedy, of this magnitude. I mean, the first time I saw the demeaning stereotype of the "hollywood liberal" get their head blown off, I wet myself.
No- I lie- I was disgusted.
Now- Matt And Trey have been totally honest in their intentions, regarding their careers as animators and filmmakers:
Make enough money to buy an island, where they can spend the rest of their lives, and never work again.
All well and good- but ya know- Sam Jackson, Ben Afleck, Leo DiCaprio, and other hollywood liberals already have ten times the money they need to retire to such an island, but they choose to stay here, in this country, and try to make things better, in their own way.
Given a choice between the Ayn-Rayndian selfishness of Matt/Trey, and the philantropy of Danny Glover, I'll choose the latter, should I ever be blessed with 1/100th of the wealth and status that the "South Park" boys have accrued.
But, in the final analysis, the film ends with a justification of the tactics used by Team America (and, by association, the actions taken by the Bush Bowl), with a parable that one would expect from a misogynistic alcoholic pervert who holds narcisism as the highest ideal.
On a suckage scale, I give "Team America" a four out of five. I have to wonder- Germany, back in the 30's had 1/10th the population of the USA does, today, and they were able to come up with a genius like Leni Reifenstahl to film "Triumph of the Will". Even Stig Hornshoj-Moller's "The Eternal Jew" was hypnotically effective, in getting the lumpenproletariat to follow the insanity of the 3rd reich's anti-semitism.
Is Parker and Stone's "Team America" the best this country can come up with, as far as murderous propaganda? If so, we're gonna lose- this was just pathetic.
But hell- they got my four bucks to rent this piece to crap- so who is the REAL fool, here?
Quick plug, before I get into it... I'm sure ya'll are aware that everyone's least favorite pill-popping blowhard, Rush Limbaugh has been selling the most tasteless products I've personally seen, since the Idi Amin beanie babies came out.
Sign a petition, here, if you feel moved to address this matter.
Now, tonight, I feel the need to address something, that has just stuck in my craw, as of late.
Bush doesn't like science- it's plain. It spooks him, unless it means newer and gorier ways to make the flesh of Iraqis, Venezuelans, and Iranians explode from a bunker ten thousand miles away. Global warming? It just doesn't exitst. Wildfires? Save the forests, by chopping them all down. Bad Air Quality? Hand the responsibility for drafting the "Clear Skies Initiative" over to the most egregious polluters of our day.
But that's only one facet of the new luddism- and the least surprising, as these actions were taken, because, well- it means the rich will get richer, the poor folks take it up the pooper, and our environment is sold off to the highest bidder- in other words "TRADITIONAL REPUBLICAN FISCAL POLICY"
What irritates me, is when science is perverted, outright, by this administration. Think Terri Schiavo, Stem Cell Research, and you'll get where I'm coming from.
But, as the Bush bowl is overflowing with heaps hewn from the rhetorical feces of lies past, the pipes have backed up, and this idiocy has spread throughout all america- particularly amongst the religious right. The most pernicious vermin that have emerged from this ideological sewage is the resurgence of the "Intelligent Design" crusaders.
Reader's digest explanation of "Intelligent design": A Pseudo-"Science" invented by the religious right, when they realized that the term "Creationism" sounded too "religious". Its basic tenet is: "If you pick apart the century of verifiable evidence of evolution, as outlined by the teories of charlers darwin, and verified by generations of sicence, you find gaps, and a few unanswered questions- Thus, we can only conclude that five generations of scientific inquiry that has time and time confirmed the validity of evolution are totally incorrect, and the only sane alternative is the book of Genesis, from the english-language translation of the King James Version of the Bible (even though we pretty much ignore the rest of the old testament- that's JEW stuff!)"
These folks have been on the MARCH, lately. Just check out the news stories.
I'm not even sorry to say it: THESE PEOPLE ARE IDIOTS.
I know this will piss some of ya'll off- but if you believe that the "creation myth" that is found in the christian bible is the literal, historical truth- you are delusional.
Evolution is a fact- it's how we came to be. Yeah- I, and the chimpanzees that swing in the boughs of an african tree, share a common ancestor- do I have a problem with that? No- because you know who else shares this ancestry?
Bach- Mozart- Einstein- Plato- Martin Luther King- Nelson Mandella- John Paul 2- Gandhi- Abraham Lincoln- and the nice gal who runs the italian bistro down the street.
In saying that evolution is fact, am I dissing God, Christianity, or any other religion, that says otherwise? No- no- and triple no.
First off, I would like to believe that God, being the "ultimate reality", the be-all, and end-all, would be the most creative, innovative, and curious being in the 'hood. I think that if such a being were to create life, he/she/it/"Bob" would take a more creative and expressive way to show their intent than to create trees, before they created the sun (as "Intelligent design" would have us believe.)
And let's pose two scenarios, for the "Greatness of God":
The "Intelligent design" argument for the existence of God, as it relates to our existence: "One day, after sitting around, doing who-knows what for several eternities, God whisked the world and the universe together in six days. Boom-boom-boom- since then, he's been busy punishing gays with AIDS, and backing republicans for congress."
The evolutionary argument for the existence of God, as it relates to our existence: "God might be seen as the act of creation, itself, as God, being timeless, is the only concieveable entity that could guide a process to arduous and eternal as the creation of life itself. The very nature of intelligence implies error, and thus, improvements are made."
As to being out of touch with Christianity- Evolution was first PROPOSED by a christian, as a theory- over a millennia before Darwin came along, Saint Augustine wrote that "in the beginning", God created all things in their germinal causes, including the physiology of man, and that the germinal cause (of God's creation) inseminated the matter, which then- GASP- EVOLVED- into come complex shapes, eventually cluminating in MAN.
Far be it from me to argue with Saint Augustine, or the Late Pontiff, John Paul the second, who acknowledged evolution as "more than just a theory"
Now- if you believe that, indeed, as christianity, and a ton of other religions believe, that God sneezed the universe into existence, well- that's all fine and dandy- the constitution of this great country gives every american the right to be wrong, delusional, or just pedantic. Believe what you will- that's all fine and good.
But DO NOT bring your FAITH in these beliefs into publicly-funded classrooms, and museums. Don't foist a few sentences that you read in a book that has been translated and re-translated for over 2000 years, as "science" into our communities. Go to church and do it- KEEP IT OUT OF OUR CLASSROOMS.
The basic tenets of "Creation Science/Intelligent Design?":
"You weren't there, ten million years ago, so you accept scientific evidence out of FAITH- so evolutionary theory is a matter of faith, not science."
Bullplop.
Yeah- we don't know what happened, ten million years ago, definitively. We have holes in the theory, but they are being filled, with every year of research that happens. We can't explain, everythng, right now, but the drive for knowledge continues, worldwide, and we are learning such AMAZING things, in the pursuit for knowledge of our origins.
Evolution doesn't deal with certainties- it deals with variables, and a force of creation that we are only beginning to understand- and that's the beauty of it.
"Intelligent design", on the other hand, is a ham-handed pseudoscience that, much like the Bush Bowl intelligence apparatus, comes to the table with a conclusion, and seeks to "fix" evidence around this preconcieved "fact". They KNOW everything, already, and don't bother exploring other venues- the Book of Genesis has it all.
I know their arguments, well. Dr. Kent Hovind, a preeminent lecturer on "intelligent design", used to have his entire lecture series online, but removed it, recently. Too bad- I saw all 9 hours of it, and it was a hoot. Yeah- Evolution is a farce, but in Hovind's lectures, he uses the Loch Ness Monster, Bigfoot, Dragons, and the Yeti as evidence for Biblical "Intelligent Design." Write to him, and ask him to put the lecture series back up. It was priceless- truly priceless.
The most preeminent "Creation Science" propagandist is Kennith Ham, who- well- is just insane. His daily "answers in genesis" radio rambles make my brain hurt- they really do.
I remember, back in high school, back in the 80's, a substitute teacher at our high school got canned, because she showed how closely the north and south american continents fit so closely with the eurasian and african continents, and suggested, that maybe, they had might, at one point, been joined.
Now, this kinda idiocy is going nationwide...
Oook, ook!
So, As we're in the latter third of the month of June, it's time, once again, to address the situation, re: Iran. That country has entered the news, recently, in the leadup to and aftermath of their recent "election". (Note that I used the quotation marks, there. Iran's election was seriously flawed, but not in a way as described by Condi Rice's theatrical grandstanding. I could go into details, but it is not my mission to discusss elections in other countries (at least those taking place in US-Occupied nations- but I digress...))
As I stated, a few months back, June is to be the month that the first steps against Iran would take place. While such actions haven't been overtly visible to the american public (at least, to those who don't read newspapers,) they have been taken, nonetheless. Scott Ritter, who broke this story, goes into detail in his recent colum, which can be read here.
Now, I can hear the red staters out there grunting their disapproval, as the article comes to us via Al-Jazeera. I'm pretty sure those who will condemn Al-Jaz for being "partisain", are the very same folks who tune in to Bill O'Reilly, and think they're getting the straight poop (as opposed to a dumpster full of bollocks, spoken by a man who enjoyed anally sodomizing himself, during illicit phone sex, but I digress further.) In journalistic integrity and fact-checking, Al-Jazeera puts the US corporate media to shame- 'nuff said.
However- being the proper skeptic, I did fact checking, and everything in that article is backed up, time and again. (Google news is your friend and mine.) But one thing that Ritter described piqued my curiosity- his reference to an anti-Iranian terrorist organization operating inside of Iraq- Mujahedeen el-Khalq, or MEK.
Ritter explicitly states that recent MEK terrorist activity within Iran has been taken with the backing of the CIA. One is led to conclude that the Tehran bombings that preceded the "election" were part of this, as MEK is by far the largest and best-funded of anti-Iranian insurgent groups, and would be the most likely to have the funds and people on the ground to execute suich strikes.
But such is conjecture- I decided to spend an hour with google, and find out exactly what the MEK was, and if, indeed, it had ties to the Bush plans for war in Iran.
The answer came back, in spades- and it's pretty damned frightening...
First off, who are the MEK?
The MEK came about in the '60's, initially formed by college students, adopting as their programme a marxist/islamist, anti-western ideology.
Although the group took part in the 1979 Islamic revolution that replaced the shah with a Shiite Islamist regime, MEK’s ideology, a blend of Marxism and Islamism, put it at odds with the postrevolutionary government. In 1981, the group was driven from its bases on the Iran-Iraq border and resettled in Paris, where it began supporting Iraq in its eight-year war against Khomeini’s Iran. In 1986, MEK moved its headquarters to Iraq where it received its primary support to attack the regime in Iran. During the 2003 Iraq war, U.S. forces cracked down on MEK’s bases in Iraq, and in June 2003 French authorities raided an MEK compound outside Paris and arrested 160 people, including Maryam Rajavi.
MEK was added to the U.S. State Department’s list of foreign terrorist groups in 1997.
GlobalSecurity.org
Okay- formed in Iran, moved to Iraq, funded by Hussein, and labelled a "terrorist" group. Fair enough- but let's take a step closer, here.
It turns out that the MEK, and their "political wing", the National Council of Resistance, are run by a husband-and-wife team, the Rajavis, with the wife, Maryam Rajavi, serving as "President elect". The Rajavis have built up a strange cult of personality around themselves, which can be seen, when you visit their website. (It's a pretty swanky site for a woman running a terrorist group with less than 4000 soldiers on the dirt- but hell- Iranian expats have money to throw around, I guess.)
And it ain't just that the MEK is fostering a cult of personality- it's also been reported to be a plain-out religious cult (looking to me, like the islamic answer to Jim Jones' attempt to mix maoism with christianity.)
Former members and friends of members of the group describe the organization, which insists its members be celibate, as a cult. "They take your individuality and beliefs and tell you that all the love you have must go to the leadership," Sametipour says. "That's how they make terrorists."
Ronak Dashti, 20, who was also introduced to a reporter by the Iranian government, said she was abducted in Turkey by MEK members who took her to Iraq. There, she says, she had to sign documents saying she had no right to contact her family and should not think about marriage. She and three other defectors described communal living, hours of menial work and nightly self-criticism sessions.
But, here's the rub: just as the Bush bowl has never backed down from sucking up to self-described Christ and Eternal king, Sun Yung Moon, they likewise have no problem with cuddling up with the Rajavis.
In fact- (here's where it gets scary)- it turns out that the source cited by ol' Georgey boy himself, in relation to the Iranian nuclear program is- wait for it...
I'm starting serious work on the new animation, tomorrow. I have the soundtrack, the image bank, and now, comes a few days of synching. It's gonna be a big one (at least in terms of size.)
I've been taking it easy, this weekend- sorry- no ranting, tonight...
Aaron Kaye, famed pieman of yore, has a new archive of Abbie Hoffman MP3s at his site. If you're into 60's style anarcho-yippie dissent, check it out... (Needless to say, Ol' Abbie used colorful language- adults only, bitte schon.
'Till we meet again...
John Conyers was able to hold hearings on the Downing Street Memo, today. If you didn't catch it, you can hear audio of the event here, courtesy of Brad Blog. You can watch streaming video of the event over at C-span's website, but it takes a bit of searching, to get to it. Good luck.
The main thing that struck me, about the event, was the miserly space the DNC gave to Conyers, for the event. This, thanks to a republican majority, and a megalomaniacal Sensenbrenner, who decided to prevent any democrat from using house and senate chambers , for hearings. Nice to know that the republicans are working to keep our government free of any nastiness, such as dissent, and opposition- where would we be, without them? One wonders...
The MEK!
Yep- George Bush, along with his neocons, are using evidence supplied to them by an organization cited by the state department as a terrorist group, as their basis for Iranian policy! Hmn- well- Bush did say "we're going to hunt them down", and "kill them", but he didn't say anything about not taking intel from them, when it suited their purposes...
I could rant on and on, about this- but I shant- you can draw the lines of irony, for yourself.
But, it goes deeper. Bolton thinks the MEK are terrorists, too, but thinks their intel is worthwhile. Republican senators are trying to get the MEK's "terrorist" label dropped. Allegations of torture, collusion, bank fraud, and more and more, and more.
Read all about it, here.
Just as Chalabi had the ear of Cheney, the MEK has the ear of Bolton, and Bush- and they haven't learned a single thing, in the interim...
And ya know- I have been seeing an upswing, in the media rhetoric, regarding Iran. Not just the standard white house bloviation, and the predictable "nuke scare" flapdoodle, but the return of the same lies, on all fronts, that we saw in 2002, and early 2003.
Particularly, the neoconservatives who have taken to the airwaves, hyping the "greeted as liberators" canard, that they tried, last time around. "The Iranian youth Love Amurka- and hate their leadership- they buy Guess jeans- they're big into blogging- BLOGGING, I TELL YOU!"
What a load of culturally myopic horse dung- are americans so insulated in their own self-satisfaction, that as soon as we see a pair of designer pants, and a blogspot account, we assume it's time to invade a country?
I'm making a ten-million-dollar bet, right here and now. Take one of those guess-jeans-wearing, blogspot-using Iranian kids, who "loves amurka" to the heart of his being. Then, "accidentally" drop a cluster bomb on his house, killing his mother, father, and all of his siblings, during a US invasion of his country.
Call me crazy, but I'm willing to bet that after his family was wiped out, he might keep his Guess jeans, and his computer (assuming it survived the bombing), but his opinion of "amurka" wil take a few hits. In fact- he might even learn to hate "amurka".
Any takers?
Oh- and- I've decided to bring back the "Idiot Of The Week"- but have made it now, a monthly event- I get a lot of hatemail- but only rarely does someone emerge from the virtual aether, and truly drop his/her pants...
I haven't anything to add to the hearing- go and watch it, now.
I'd ramble on, but tonight, I wanna do some work on the new animation- I finally got the soundtrack together- and the main attraction on this site is the media and animations, not my rambling...
A tad more, tomorrow...
I'm slowly dragging my sorry posterior back into productivity.
First off- this is VERY important. The US military's official death count in Iraq recently crept past the 1700 mark, but as bad as that is- it only tells a small fraction of the story. It turns out that those US personnel who have died in transit to, or on US military bases OUTSIDE of iraq, are not reported as Iraq fatalities, by the DOD.
When you take into account those who have died in the circumstances detailed above, the unofficial death toll is in excess of 7,000.
So- I guess things are still going well, in Iraq, right? I haven't paid attention to the news, today- the Michael Jackson idiocy hit fever pitch, and I just couldn't watch. One part of me says "Gee- maybe, now, that this stupidity has ended, maybe we'll see some REAL news, for a change." But I know: The next three days will bring endless "post-trial coverage" by the corporate media. Not one, further word, on the Downing Street Memo.
Speaking of which...
As many of you know John Conyers, was planning a forum, to be held within the halls on congress, concerning the aforementioned DSM, this coming thursday. However, republican James Sensenbrenner has shut the halls of congress, for all democratic party activity (strange- I thought the house chambers were owned by the PEOPLE- not the republican party- but I digress), so Conyers has moved the event to the washington DNC headquarters. The effort, facing us, now, is to make sure that the singular, unbiased internal news network here in the USA, C-Span, covers the event.
If you have the time, let 'em know you'd like them to send at least one camera over to the event.
Phone: 202-737-3220
e-mail: events@c-span.org
And here's what gets me, these days: The Bush bowl is in a free-fall... No matter where you look- there's nothing but bad news. The polls are heading down, down, down. Iraq just gets worse, with each passing day- even war criminal Donald Rumsfeld has admitted that Iraq is no more secure than it was, last year. Gas prices continue their upward spiral, and as a long, hot summer descends upon us, folks are noticing that their electric bills are higher than they can remember. Bush's social security scam has fallen off of the public radar, and more and more questions are arising, every day, about where this corrupt administration is leading us (at least among the independent media.)
What's the only thing keeping this ship of fools from falling into the vortex of their own incompitence, and lies? The corporate media, as always. Today was a case in point. How many hours were spent on Michael Jackson? And how many SECONDS were spent examining what's REALLY going on? It boggles the mind.
The media, once a power great enough to shake the corridors of power with the resonance of truth, are now totally useless.
Do you watch CNN, Fox "News", MSNBC? STOP it, NOW.
Yeah- I know- "We have to MONITOR the news, and uncover the lies." Nah- I don't bother with that, anymore. Screw that. If you wanna monitor lies, more power to you. The crap that comes out of the word-holes of these media whores, comes from the crania of people who have had their brain matter scooped out, and replaced with canine dung. You wanna listen to, and monitor the ramblings of lobotomized talking heads?
Leave me out of it. When I walk through the streets of NYC, and happen upon a homeless person, who speaks in tongues, prancing about the street, whilst crapping in his pants- do I sit by and "monitor" his ravings? No- I ignore them, and walk away.
Anyway...
I'm off for a short visit to the great state of San Andreas. I'll send you a postcard (gamers know what I'm talkin' bout- fo'sho, G.)
Major General Joseph Taluto, a senior US military chief, has said that 'Good and honest' Iraqis are fighting the US occupation of their country.
All together now:
WELL, DUHHHHHHH!
The Bush bowl refutations of the Downing Street Memo have taken a different tack than the idiotic explanation given by the RNC chairman Ken Mehlman (as seen below).
I have heard it stated far and wide by the republican talking heads:
"The downing street memo is nonsense, because the events it mentioned took place BEFORE the US took its case to the UN!"
Ahem:
WHAT THE BLOODY HELL DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING?
So what- all that says is that the Bush Bowl was planning to go to war, prior to their orchestrated fakery at the UN, months afterwards.
Idiotic as it is, the corporate media is buying into this foolishness.
My respect for Jon Stewart took a hit, when he had Colin Powell on his show, last night, and this subject came up. During that short segment, I had to scream "BULLS**T!" six times- Powell lied time and time again, and Jon just sat there and took it. (case in point- Powell said that Iraq had to be confronted solely by the US, because if the UN had had its way, Iraq wouldn't have been subject to sanctions. EX-SQUEEZE ME? Iraq was suffering, at the time, under the most stringent regime of sanctions in UN history! How the HELL do people with such a fundamental lack of understanding of geopolitics get into our government?)
Argh- but thank "Bob" in slackness that John Conyers, Ted Kennedy and MoveOn.org, are still fighting to bring this thing to the fore.
As usual, count on the corporate media to keep parroting Bush Bowl lies, on this matter, but don't let up- give the folks above every bit of support you can.
One last bit of political rambling: This article was forwarded to me, the other day, and I have to say "Hear Hear!"
Buy Venezuelan oil and fuel, before Citgo gets the cold shoulder (and it's coming soon!)
Tomorrow is D-day for me. Tune in tomorrow, for the boring details.
Well- bush's poodle rolled into town, today, and both did the predictable evasion methods when they were asked about the Downing Street Memo. I'm not into the mood to go into details- I trus you know how to go over the C-span's site, and watch it, there.
The one thing that has made me just ill, as a result of the press conference, is how the corporate media is reporting Bush's measly $674 million Bush pledged to fight AIDS in africa (and, if past results of such "pledges" are a guide to go by- africa will be lucky to get 100 million) as such a wonderful thing. render unto me a freaking break...
For the money that the Bush Bowl has pissed away in Iraq, we could have fully funded worldwide AIDS prevention efforts for 17 years.
But then again, the 180 billion we've spent in Iraq is giving us a grasp on an oil source that will fuel hummers for another generation, and makes further billions for Halliburton- AIDS prevention funding just saves the lives of a lot of poor people- who wants that?
The supreme court's decision on medical marijuana is just insane, and foolish. But strange how the three dissenting voices on the court were coming from the conservative wing- even Clarence Thomas broke ranks with his mentor, Scalia, and decided on the side of states' rights.
Strange- if I'm ill, in this country, I can be prescribed synthetic morphine, cocaine, barbituates, uppers and downers of a million and one stripes, painkillers that Rush Limbaugh would die for, but POT? NO WAY! That's just TOO whacky...
The rest of the world is going one way, in regards to drug policy, and we, here, in the USA, are steadfastly marching in the opposite direction. But that's keeping with everything else, in this country...
I'm going to bed, now- sorry- wish I could write more, and do more, tonight, but it's been a crappy day. More in 48...
It was hard, but I did, indeed, spend six days completely ignoring politics, and the news. While a week sitting around my apartment fell far short of what I wanted in a vacation, it was better than nothing...
The Downing Street memo refuses to disappear, but Ken Mehlman, GOP chairman, put forth his party's view on the controversy this morning on Meet The Press (view segment, here.) Predictably, his defense is mind-numbingly lame.
Let me break it down for you: The DSM details how our government did not believe Iraq was a greater threat than other nations; how intelligence was "fixed" to sell the case for war to the American public; and how the Bush Administration’s public assurances of "war as a last resort" were at odds with their privately stated intentions.
Mehlman's refutation? That the DSM has been "discredited."
"Discredited?" By what?
By prewar intelligence, Mr Mehlman tells us.
SKREECH! Now, I'm not the smartest guy in the world, but I know circular reasoning, when I see it. The DSM proves that the Bush administration "fixed" the intel that led us into war with Iraq- but, in Mehlman's mind, the DSM is "discredited" by THE VERY INTEL THAT THE MEMO EXPOSES AS FALSE.
As insane as this line of thought is, watch for it to show up in the corporate media in the coming days. The DSM isn't going away, and sooner or later, it's gonna have to have its day in court, and there's no way in hell the republicans will let something as damning as this to gain any creedence, even if it means abandoning logic.
If you haven't signed John Conyers' letter to Bush, do so, now.
Just a short plug. I recently got sent a copy of Vic Sadot's "Broadsides & Retrospectives". I enjoyed giving it a listen- if you're into folk/zydeco style stuff, check it out! The best track is "Mad Cowboy Disease"- a musical strike to the blackened heart of chimp boy.
Now that I'm back from "vacation", I plan to start work on a new animation, in the next couple of days. More on that, as it develops.
Bolton is still, unfortunately, headed for confirmation. despite almost daily reports of unethical doings on the part of Bolton, he's still too important to the neocons within the white house.
Speaking of which- June is upon us, and the first steps against Iran will be taken, this month. I have no Idea where and when, but keep your eye on the news- we're headed for serious trouble.
Related to this, is a decision by the white house to bar the CIA from national security council meetings.
The Bush Bowl has been at odds with the CIA, since the day they crept into office, and relations strained (literally, we now see) to the breaking point, in the leadup to war with Iraq. As we saw from the aforementioned Downing Street Memo, the Bush bowl takes a completely different approach to Intel and foreign policy. Whereas, in years and administrations past, the intel was weighed, and conclusions drawn, the new Bush paradigm is to pull a conclusion out of their collective butts, and screen and skew intel to reinforce this prefabricated conclusion.
Say what you will about the CIA- they were behind some of the most horrific and reprehensible acts perpetrated by this country- but you have to give them credit- intel is their specialty, and they have at their disposal the most sophisticated and comprehensive apparatus for the collection of intel, on the planet.
Precisely the kind of folks that Bush, Negroponte, Bolton, and Wolfowitz would rather not have pushing facts in their faces, when they already have a plan in mind....
Someone started a "Boycott MTV" petition here Check it out, and sign it.
And- about Amnesty International's report comparing Guantanamo to Stalin's Gulag.
Nowhere in the body of the report (which is comprehensive, factual, and documented, down to the last jot and tiddle) is this comparison made. Rather, the "Gulag" comment was made in the document's introduction, written by Irene Khan, SecGen of AI. I'm willing to bet that no one here has bothered to read the report, and only as handful are going to bother clicking the link above to check it out. So, let me quote:
In 1973 AI published its first report on torture. It found that: “torture thrives on secrecy and impunity. Torture rears its head when the legal barriers against it are barred. Torture feeds on discrimination and fear. Torture gains ground when official condemnation of it is less than absolute.” The pictures of detainees in US custody in Abu Ghraib, Iraq, show that what was true 30 years ago remains true today.
Despite the near-universal outrage generated by the photographs coming out of Abu Ghraib, and the evidence suggesting that such practices are being applied to other prisoners held by the USA in Afghanistan, Guantánamo and elsewhere, neither the US administration nor the US Congress has called for a full and independent investigation.
Instead, the US government has gone to great lengths to restrict the application of the Geneva Conventions and to “re-define” torture. It has sought to justify the use of coercive interrogation techniques, the practice of holding “ghost detainees” (people in unacknowledged incommunicado detention) and the "rendering" or handing over of prisoners to third countries known to practise torture. The detention facility at Guantánamo Bay has become the gulag of our times, entrenching the practice of arbitrary and indefinite detention in violation of international law. Trials by military commissions have made a mockery of justice and due process.
The USA, as the unrivalled political, military and economic hyper-power, sets the tone for governmental behaviour worldwide. When the most powerful country in the world thumbs its nose at the rule of law and human rights, it grants a licence to others to commit abuse with impunity and audacity. From Israel to Uzbekistan, Egypt to Nepal, governments have openly defied human rights and international humanitarian law in the name of national security and “counter-terrorism”.
Irene might have made an exaggeration in the SCALE of the human rights abuses, by referring to the infamous "gulag", but she's DEAD ON, in the comparisons of the METHODS and INTENT of these abuses.
In both cases, people are abducted, on the flimsiest of evidence, and held without having right to attorney, for years, never brought to trial, and held in the most humiliating and spartan of conditions. They are stripped of all human rights, aren't told why they are being held, and denied due process.
Despite the blustery protestations of Bush, Cheney, and Rumsfeld, the AI report is correct. The right-wing pundits can whine and moan all they want about this country being at "war" (which, we are NOT- as only congress can declare war, and such has never been declared- but I digress,) but such blustering is all hot air. We are a nation of LAWS, after all- and the moment we start tossing the laws out of the window for the sake of the crisis du jour, then we're all headed for trouble.
In the words of Abraham Lincoln:
"Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not retain it."
And now- let's go to Free Republic, for red state commentary:
TO DAMN BAD IF THEY DON'T LIKE IT !!! THE WHOLE WORLD CAN KISS THIS USAF VET'S A#S IF THEY DONT LIKE THE WAY WE DO THINGS!.........AND DON'T GET ME STARTED ON THE ILLEGALS IN THIS COUNTRY!!!
Amnesty International is one of the oldest communist front organizations there is, why would anyone pay attention to anything they had to say.
Amnesty International is a wholly owned subsidiary of the demonrat party.
Take a few pics and post on the net of the Islamofascists being executed in front of a wall and buried with a pig.
Amnesty International was founded in the 1960s but didn't get rolling until after the Vietnam war. The organization did a lot of good during the Cold War in the 1980s, but it's apparently been taken over by proIslamist morons and Leftwing loons.
Amnesty Intl is run by a MUSLIM WOMAN. I hope that tells you what's really going on.
Amnesty UnAmerican should join their terrorist friends at Gitmo. Newsweek, CBS, and the New Dork Slimes should be there as well.
Th-th-th-th-that's all, folks!
|
