Wow...this is incoherent. Here's this genius in text.
If she can get her own thing going, with Malkin and Coulter, it'll be like the United Cryptofascists of Benetton...
Friday, June 30, 2006
Thursday, June 29, 2006
"What an outrage. Big win for democrats."
Ahhhhhh, yes. The Freepers are all frothy, now that some sanity has prevailed at SCOTUS. It's moments like this that give me hope:
"'Trial by military commission raises separation-of-powers concerns of the highest order', wrote Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens in the majority decision. The court ruled against the White House by a narrow margin of 5-3. "
I thought Bush got these guys because they were ringers? Nevertheless, Bush promises to take the ruling seriously. My question is this: Does this have any bearing on the prisons in Europe?
"'Trial by military commission raises separation-of-powers concerns of the highest order', wrote Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens in the majority decision. The court ruled against the White House by a narrow margin of 5-3. "
I thought Bush got these guys because they were ringers? Nevertheless, Bush promises to take the ruling seriously. My question is this: Does this have any bearing on the prisons in Europe?
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Kiss your local blogger
Because if Pete King gets his way, the White House will be able to press charges against Newspapers (presumably the Networks as well) for calling shenanigans on the various "intelligence" programs underway to catch terrorists. Why would King want this, you might ask:
"'No one elected The New York Times to do anything' King said. 'They're breaking the law to satisfy their own arrogant, liberal agenda'."
Well, of course-you knew he'd say something like that, right.
Afterall, we are yielding fruit (well, fruitcakes anyway) in this thing.
Nevertheless...kiss your local blogger: It may be the only free speech left.
"'No one elected The New York Times to do anything' King said. 'They're breaking the law to satisfy their own arrogant, liberal agenda'."
Well, of course-you knew he'd say something like that, right.
Afterall, we are yielding fruit (well, fruitcakes anyway) in this thing.
Nevertheless...kiss your local blogger: It may be the only free speech left.
Kill em again!
Funny...I thought we routed the Taliban years ago...
If this insurgency heats up anymore, I wonder the effect on the Bush people will be. Afterall, the Taliban were harboring Osama Bin Laden, and there is little doubt that we were justified in ever sense in going into Afghanistan. I wonder how the current policies that are the War on Terror can be justified if we half assed it there in order to get to Bush's real plan. Given the cuts in Homeland Security, and FEMA's decimation, anyone who still thinks Bush is a tough cowboy on terrorism is a bigger idiot than he is.
If this insurgency heats up anymore, I wonder the effect on the Bush people will be. Afterall, the Taliban were harboring Osama Bin Laden, and there is little doubt that we were justified in ever sense in going into Afghanistan. I wonder how the current policies that are the War on Terror can be justified if we half assed it there in order to get to Bush's real plan. Given the cuts in Homeland Security, and FEMA's decimation, anyone who still thinks Bush is a tough cowboy on terrorism is a bigger idiot than he is.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
One More in the Case Against the Death Penalty
Thanks for the tip Covington. This is a chilling story about the 23-year death row imprisonment and ultimate execution of what was almost certainly an innocent man. It has all the hallmarks of a police investigation gone wrong: shoddy evidence collection, conflicting testimony ignored, evidence witheld from the defense and, worst of all, a case based almost entirely on eyewitness identification.
Can we rationalize application of a death penalty in a system this imperfect? I have to say, no.
Can we rationalize application of a death penalty in a system this imperfect? I have to say, no.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Sweet Jeezus That's Beautiful
I'm glad Crooks and Liars is on the ball as usual, posting this so quickly.
Right wing talk show host Chris Baker threw a spectacular hissy fit live on national TV when asked to explain his half-assed, poorly reasoned assertions.
Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Ernie Fletcher and the Ministers of Information
Evidentally, Fletcher is blocking some liberal websites from state owned computers. Kos has the story here, and the our censored friends at Bluegrass Report have their take on it.
Of course, we all know that Fletcher and his pals are crooked as a goddamn barrel of snakes. I mean, how did this guy get elected? Anyone rocking the Jim Bakker coif like Fletcher does is surely a grifter, and while it is true that we don't do too much with Kentucky politics here, we live in Kentucky, and have a vested interest in the state.
I have to admit something here: I'm a little hurt that Fletcher hasn't had The Wizard blocked yet, nor our pals across the Licking, WireCan and Radio Free Newport. Fellas, we have got to do something about this: We can't let the aforementioned shoulder this burden alone.Nevertheless, let us sing loud, and sing proud, against this despicable cryptofascist: May your Consort Superhold never glue that mess right again.
Never Trust a Junkie: The Neo(Pharma)Kon/Con
Seems like good advice...I got it once from an Uncle of mine, who saged "Partying's cool...but if you know somebody really addicted to narcotics...really addicted...it doesn't matter how long you've known them...shit will come up missing from your house. They will lie...no matter what...".
Reading about Rush's latest, vilest, septic spew made me think of this. Having known a fair amount of people in my life that have been horribly addicted to one thing or another, I know this to be true. But it isn't only the fact that Rush's oxy-obsessions have famously led to some scrapes with the law that have me thinking about pharmaceuticals, because his presumably sober ilk all talk the same talk.
What's really has the NeoCon apologists, the administration, and those out in America addicted is not drugs in the street sense, or even drugs in the Walgreens sense, but drugs in the metaphysical sense. Derrida, in his ecstatic early masterstroke "Plato's Pharmacy" (see the complete in Dissemination) goes wild and wooly on Phaedrus, undermining the its very metaphysical distinctions, its hard and fast rules, black and white, etc: In short, shining a little objectivity into an untenable metaphysical sphere.
Derrida explains the use of the Greek "pharmakon" in this dialogue, noting that word is contradictory by definition; On one hand, it means "drugs/medicine" or "cure", and on the other hand, it means "poison". Thus it would seem that drugs, which exist in a metaphysical space which is synomous with the latter where the law is concerned, vis a vis, street drugs, and synomous with the former where institutions of medicine and commerce are concerned: "I know it seems like a lot, twenty five Vicodin ES a day, but I got a prescription, and its not like I'm a street junkie or anything...". One goes to prison, one goes to rehab, or, if one happens to poor, one will go to prison regardless...
But returning to the idea of the pharmakon, and the fact that Limbaugh is shuffling addiction with a nasty disposition but his ilk may not be, the metaphysical placement of this idea is dependent on the proximity of the subject to the metaphysical, or rather, who is thinking, writing or uttering the word and all the moral, spiritual or ideological baggage they bring to it, because, for this person, this baggage is not baggage at all, but obvious, and Platonically, absolutely True, even if it is objectively Not True, verifiably Not True.
In this way, the NeoCons, the Administration, and those out in America are all strung out on the metaphysical torpor of the pharmakon, the ideological fix derived from poisoning the United States to save America. The Constitution recognizes and allows for the free exchange of ideas to reach a reasonable middle ground. However, for Limbaugh, the metaphysical America, the construction which exists as ideology of the right wing, is the only objective, even as it is entirely subjective, and ruinous.
Derrida, in his discussion of Phaedrus, is interested in the myth of Pharmacia and Orithyia. Pharmacia (derived from Pharmakon) leads his friend astray, and while Derrida goes on to discuss how Socrates uses this myth to discuss writing, it think it is appropos here, not only because of the specific narrative details of the myth but because it is a myth, a construction used to explain an incomprehensible world, such as the Judeo-Christian view of the expulsion from the Garden and Eden. Inherent in such a myth is the idea that the world was different and better in a nebulous past, and this is the myth of America, and all of Limbaugh's rhetoric is a description of how and why we are exiled from this Paradise. In this way, Limbaugh et al. are both in the myth (Pharmacia) and the myth itself, for they lead astray the frustrated and confused Orithyias with their thetoric of the myth by proving it is not myth, citing themselves as proof of their own truth claims. This myth making is the ideological torpor, and when they come down, or come to, they face a crisis of needing to "cure" existential angst. Orithyias tune back it, and symbiotically, as a pusher to a junkie, Limbaugh is there, his "works" ready...The myth is self perpetuating, as is the need.
The "cure" is poison, but the poison is also the cure in that the recognition of the pharmakon as such becomes the vehicle of liberation from it. When the myth is taken back from its lofty, golden metaphysical space, it becomes again physical, actual, and human, just as when the addict ceases to want the dream over the real, and quits using-Orithyias finds his way back. Limbaugh may never kick, but we may yet be cured, must be cured, or we will die. The junkkon will perpetuate.
Reading about Rush's latest, vilest, septic spew made me think of this. Having known a fair amount of people in my life that have been horribly addicted to one thing or another, I know this to be true. But it isn't only the fact that Rush's oxy-obsessions have famously led to some scrapes with the law that have me thinking about pharmaceuticals, because his presumably sober ilk all talk the same talk.
What's really has the NeoCon apologists, the administration, and those out in America addicted is not drugs in the street sense, or even drugs in the Walgreens sense, but drugs in the metaphysical sense. Derrida, in his ecstatic early masterstroke "Plato's Pharmacy" (see the complete in Dissemination) goes wild and wooly on Phaedrus, undermining the its very metaphysical distinctions, its hard and fast rules, black and white, etc: In short, shining a little objectivity into an untenable metaphysical sphere.
Derrida explains the use of the Greek "pharmakon" in this dialogue, noting that word is contradictory by definition; On one hand, it means "drugs/medicine" or "cure", and on the other hand, it means "poison". Thus it would seem that drugs, which exist in a metaphysical space which is synomous with the latter where the law is concerned, vis a vis, street drugs, and synomous with the former where institutions of medicine and commerce are concerned: "I know it seems like a lot, twenty five Vicodin ES a day, but I got a prescription, and its not like I'm a street junkie or anything...". One goes to prison, one goes to rehab, or, if one happens to poor, one will go to prison regardless...
But returning to the idea of the pharmakon, and the fact that Limbaugh is shuffling addiction with a nasty disposition but his ilk may not be, the metaphysical placement of this idea is dependent on the proximity of the subject to the metaphysical, or rather, who is thinking, writing or uttering the word and all the moral, spiritual or ideological baggage they bring to it, because, for this person, this baggage is not baggage at all, but obvious, and Platonically, absolutely True, even if it is objectively Not True, verifiably Not True.
In this way, the NeoCons, the Administration, and those out in America are all strung out on the metaphysical torpor of the pharmakon, the ideological fix derived from poisoning the United States to save America. The Constitution recognizes and allows for the free exchange of ideas to reach a reasonable middle ground. However, for Limbaugh, the metaphysical America, the construction which exists as ideology of the right wing, is the only objective, even as it is entirely subjective, and ruinous.
Derrida, in his discussion of Phaedrus, is interested in the myth of Pharmacia and Orithyia. Pharmacia (derived from Pharmakon) leads his friend astray, and while Derrida goes on to discuss how Socrates uses this myth to discuss writing, it think it is appropos here, not only because of the specific narrative details of the myth but because it is a myth, a construction used to explain an incomprehensible world, such as the Judeo-Christian view of the expulsion from the Garden and Eden. Inherent in such a myth is the idea that the world was different and better in a nebulous past, and this is the myth of America, and all of Limbaugh's rhetoric is a description of how and why we are exiled from this Paradise. In this way, Limbaugh et al. are both in the myth (Pharmacia) and the myth itself, for they lead astray the frustrated and confused Orithyias with their thetoric of the myth by proving it is not myth, citing themselves as proof of their own truth claims. This myth making is the ideological torpor, and when they come down, or come to, they face a crisis of needing to "cure" existential angst. Orithyias tune back it, and symbiotically, as a pusher to a junkie, Limbaugh is there, his "works" ready...The myth is self perpetuating, as is the need.
The "cure" is poison, but the poison is also the cure in that the recognition of the pharmakon as such becomes the vehicle of liberation from it. When the myth is taken back from its lofty, golden metaphysical space, it becomes again physical, actual, and human, just as when the addict ceases to want the dream over the real, and quits using-Orithyias finds his way back. Limbaugh may never kick, but we may yet be cured, must be cured, or we will die. The junkkon will perpetuate.
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
A Great Match
I could only watch the scrolling play-by-play via Yahoo's MatchCast, but this was a really exciting match nonetheless.
Joe Cole's 30 meter volley gave England the lead in the 34th minute, but Sweden unbelievably tied the match just six minutes after the half, and nearly went ahead minutes later.
England appeared to have clinched the win in the 85th minute and held their lead clear through to the 90 minute mark only to have victory snatched away by Henrik Larsson at the last second.
Luckily for Swedish fans who might otherwise have been beaten to bloody pulps outside the stadium, a draw was enough to put England through to the round of 16.
Monday, June 19, 2006
Another Rant on Corporatism
I was checking out Kos, and there was a comment about how "corporatism" was an empty word, an undergraduate's jargonese. I felt, of course, compelled to explain:
"Corporatism seems to be a somewhat obvious concept, but it does refer to something very specific: The merger of corporate and government power in to an all powerful plutocracy. Governmental policy, in effect, is dictated by corporations for their benefit.
This seed was planted when corporations became virtual persons, with the same civil rights as you or I, but not the same ethical or moral responsibilities: A corporate "person" has civil rights, but cannot be held accountable for any crimes it might commit. The Ford Motor Company was indicted and convicted of murder, but the Ford Motor Company, obviously, was not sent to prison.
The effect of this is a badly titled game. When folks talk of a unregulated free market, it is a misnomer, for their is no such thing. The unregulated market will regulate itself, so it becomes a question of who does the regulation: Do we allow the government, which is supposed to look out for everybody, to handle the regulation, or the Capitalists, who would regulate it to their interests. Under the Corporatist paradigm, this point is, of course, moot.
Corporatism, with its "free market" apologists, make it possible that any meaningful or moral approach to health care, organized labor, and rule of law pointless, for the plutocracy already has set itself above these concerns: They have the best health care because they can afford it. They are have no reason to worry about workers' rights, the working class, or the poor since they control all the capital, and rule of law is a joke because they are the law. This, friends, is trickle down economics.
Finally, and most disturbingly, is the idea of Bush as a CEO President, and this administration, as a Corporate one: These words are not meaningless, but point instead to real intent, for what has been increasingly in the works since WWII is solidifying: The Hegemony of Capitalists and the cotillion of America (tm) aka the funeral of a United States. Mussolini, notably, saw this as step ladder to Fascism.
The import of this cannot be understated, because a failure to get some progressive/liberal/leftist/rationalist voices back into our government will result in an ostensible show democracy.
I do not believe that it is too late, but I definately fear we are running short on time to get our shit together."
"Corporatism seems to be a somewhat obvious concept, but it does refer to something very specific: The merger of corporate and government power in to an all powerful plutocracy. Governmental policy, in effect, is dictated by corporations for their benefit.
This seed was planted when corporations became virtual persons, with the same civil rights as you or I, but not the same ethical or moral responsibilities: A corporate "person" has civil rights, but cannot be held accountable for any crimes it might commit. The Ford Motor Company was indicted and convicted of murder, but the Ford Motor Company, obviously, was not sent to prison.
The effect of this is a badly titled game. When folks talk of a unregulated free market, it is a misnomer, for their is no such thing. The unregulated market will regulate itself, so it becomes a question of who does the regulation: Do we allow the government, which is supposed to look out for everybody, to handle the regulation, or the Capitalists, who would regulate it to their interests. Under the Corporatist paradigm, this point is, of course, moot.
Corporatism, with its "free market" apologists, make it possible that any meaningful or moral approach to health care, organized labor, and rule of law pointless, for the plutocracy already has set itself above these concerns: They have the best health care because they can afford it. They are have no reason to worry about workers' rights, the working class, or the poor since they control all the capital, and rule of law is a joke because they are the law. This, friends, is trickle down economics.
Finally, and most disturbingly, is the idea of Bush as a CEO President, and this administration, as a Corporate one: These words are not meaningless, but point instead to real intent, for what has been increasingly in the works since WWII is solidifying: The Hegemony of Capitalists and the cotillion of America (tm) aka the funeral of a United States. Mussolini, notably, saw this as step ladder to Fascism.
The import of this cannot be understated, because a failure to get some progressive/liberal/leftist/rationalist voices back into our government will result in an ostensible show democracy.
I do not believe that it is too late, but I definately fear we are running short on time to get our shit together."
Saturday, June 17, 2006
Chickenhawks/Chickenshit= Chicken Salad?
"House Republicans linked the war to the Sept. 11 attacks, the war on terrorism and to what they view as the Clinton administration's repeated failures to act after terrorist attacks in the 1990s."
Oh...we're back to that again.
What's instructive about the House vote yesterday is not so much that it passed, because you kind of figured it would, but to this old bullshit above. No mention of the "you broke it, you bought it". No mention of the moral problem of destroying a country and that it might not be right to leave it for the dogs to tear it to pieces. The Republicans want you to believe in WMDs. They sure as hell do, or at least want you to believe they do.
But here's the rub: They are in opposition to the will of the people. Isn't it bad enough that they continue to turn a blind eye to shady doings of their colleagues, flout the will of the people at every turn? Now they want to pretend that they haven't been called out on their bullshit. Maybe they haven't been...
I'll tell you who wants this sinkhole to keep sucking: Halliburton et al. They are the ones who voted yesterday, afterall.
Oh...we're back to that again.
What's instructive about the House vote yesterday is not so much that it passed, because you kind of figured it would, but to this old bullshit above. No mention of the "you broke it, you bought it". No mention of the moral problem of destroying a country and that it might not be right to leave it for the dogs to tear it to pieces. The Republicans want you to believe in WMDs. They sure as hell do, or at least want you to believe they do.
But here's the rub: They are in opposition to the will of the people. Isn't it bad enough that they continue to turn a blind eye to shady doings of their colleagues, flout the will of the people at every turn? Now they want to pretend that they haven't been called out on their bullshit. Maybe they haven't been...
I'll tell you who wants this sinkhole to keep sucking: Halliburton et al. They are the ones who voted yesterday, afterall.
Friday, June 16, 2006
Bloomsday
"Today the bards must drink and junket. Ireland expects that every man this day will do his duty."
102 years ago is the journey of Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dedalus through the busy streets of Dublin.
Ulysses, in my mind, cannot be overstated in its power. All manner of passion, anxiety, the weight of history, the lure of sex and drink, the human condition, are rendered immediate and visceral. Taking the Odyssey, and rendering it as the journey of everyman is absolute genius. Our lives are epic, if you bother to look.
Ever wonder how someone might transcribe an entire pub's worth of conversation? This book changed my life forever. It is not an easy thing-nothing worthwhile ever is. I recommend reading it aloud-this way, the dialect becomes real, and more understandable.
I cannot do such a thing of wonderous magick any justice other than suggesting you get yourself a copy and a pint, and dive in.
Thursday, June 15, 2006
Rude Boy
After teasing a man in a wheelchair by saying, "You look mighty comfortable,"
Shrub has now insulted a legally blind reporter about his wearing shades....
The man is on a roll. I await his attendance at a Special Olympics event with bated breath....
Via Squidlette
Shrub has now insulted a legally blind reporter about his wearing shades....
The man is on a roll. I await his attendance at a Special Olympics event with bated breath....
Via Squidlette
Everybody knows that this is nowhere...
Ann Coulter, The Tonight Show, and how Media Giants discredit blogs.
via Crooks and Liars. Compelling Stuff.
via Crooks and Liars. Compelling Stuff.
Flag Burning
Bob Kerrey has something to say about it.
It's funny, really, in a sad, tragic way: The NeoCon project burns down the country, and destabilizes the world, making Americans unsafe abroad and at home. Very Nero-Like to do they, the NeoCons and their Republican cronies, trivialize the world they've created with cynical politicking. Flag burning? It's just another attempt to make metaphysical the physical in order to justify their dangerous nationalist program. When the people are not free to dispense with idols, the idols do become cruel, mocking gods.
Have a look at Jello's Pledge of Allegiance.
It's funny, really, in a sad, tragic way: The NeoCon project burns down the country, and destabilizes the world, making Americans unsafe abroad and at home. Very Nero-Like to do they, the NeoCons and their Republican cronies, trivialize the world they've created with cynical politicking. Flag burning? It's just another attempt to make metaphysical the physical in order to justify their dangerous nationalist program. When the people are not free to dispense with idols, the idols do become cruel, mocking gods.
Have a look at Jello's Pledge of Allegiance.
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Live Gore
I caught Al Gore’s live act last week, courtesy of the Progressive Forum Houston, and I have to say that he was a pretty engaging and convincing speaker. What I couldn’t figure out is whether he is running for office or just damned serious about global warming.
It was a long evening. I rushed to get there by 7:30 only to be assailed by at least a half hour of the musical stylings of Mood Indigo, a couple of Boomers doing acoustic guitar and chick vocal renditions of Beatles songs–gag. The program didn’t end until after 10, and everybody I talked to agreed it was more than they needed on a Wednesday night. This was due, not only to the late start, but also to Gore’s insistence on mentioning every bit of evidence at his disposal, including a separate slide for nearly every one of last season’s hurricanes. But it occurs to me that Gore is forced into this kind of presentation by his skeptics, most of whom have a pecuniary interest in perpetuating the behaviors that result in global warming. In the altered reality of public debate as it exists today, any crank can stifle a well reasoned argument by offering up even the most flimsy one.
Gore’s argument, on the other hand, appears strong, and his evidence a mile and a half deep. But he is still fighting an uphill battle. Note, as he did, the myth that global warming is widely questioned in the scientific community. He referenced polls showing that the vast majority of climate scientists recognize the impact of humans on global warming followed by a slide showing that more than half the stories in the MSM continue to claim the opposite.
The MSM is an easy target because of too many journalists’ willingness to sacrifice the truth in order to appear “fair and balanced,” and Gore was able to discredit the lot with one slide. This is the genius of the medium he’s chosen. By appearing as the visiting professor, backed up by a very well designed powerpoint, he is able to bury his detractors in facts and evidence in a way that can’t be done in print or film. A good example was his riff on American auto-makers’ lawsuits to prevent the phase in of stronger emissions standards in California. First, he took their argument apart point-by-point. For example, he said the automakers tell us they’ll be ruined if they have to make their cars more efficient, then he pointed out that the most efficient cars are also the most profitable Japanese brands. He then pulled up a line graph showing the disparities between Chinese and American emissions standards, deftly illustrating his point about the Neanderthal mentality in Detroit that can’t even produce a car as clean as the ones Chinese companies make. But the punch line came when he noted that Detroit is suing to avoid implementing a standard in 2010 that’s not even as high as the Chinese standard is today.
While Gore relentlessly hammered his point home, he did a lot of it with tongue in cheek, making the medicine go down a lot easier. He joked about life after what he called “the VP gig,” including a humorous anecdote about stopping at an IHOP (or something similar) in western Tennessee with Tipper. When the waitress pointed out to another customer who it was sitting across the room, Gore said he heard the man remark, “he sure has come down in the world.” He later told that story at a public event in Africa, but the story that got picked up by the wire services had him “running” the restaurant. The big laugh came when he explained that Bill Clinton, after reading the item, sent Gore a note, no irony intended, wishing him well in the new venture.
The problem with this book tour is that Gore is preaching to the choir, although there were a number of state and local lawmakers in the audience and I also spotted the former CEO of Pennzoil leaving the hall. Still, I wonder what affect this will ultimately have other than giving Gore the chance to say, “I told you so.” It would be a shame for such fine rhetoric to go to waste.
It was a long evening. I rushed to get there by 7:30 only to be assailed by at least a half hour of the musical stylings of Mood Indigo, a couple of Boomers doing acoustic guitar and chick vocal renditions of Beatles songs–gag. The program didn’t end until after 10, and everybody I talked to agreed it was more than they needed on a Wednesday night. This was due, not only to the late start, but also to Gore’s insistence on mentioning every bit of evidence at his disposal, including a separate slide for nearly every one of last season’s hurricanes. But it occurs to me that Gore is forced into this kind of presentation by his skeptics, most of whom have a pecuniary interest in perpetuating the behaviors that result in global warming. In the altered reality of public debate as it exists today, any crank can stifle a well reasoned argument by offering up even the most flimsy one.
Gore’s argument, on the other hand, appears strong, and his evidence a mile and a half deep. But he is still fighting an uphill battle. Note, as he did, the myth that global warming is widely questioned in the scientific community. He referenced polls showing that the vast majority of climate scientists recognize the impact of humans on global warming followed by a slide showing that more than half the stories in the MSM continue to claim the opposite.
The MSM is an easy target because of too many journalists’ willingness to sacrifice the truth in order to appear “fair and balanced,” and Gore was able to discredit the lot with one slide. This is the genius of the medium he’s chosen. By appearing as the visiting professor, backed up by a very well designed powerpoint, he is able to bury his detractors in facts and evidence in a way that can’t be done in print or film. A good example was his riff on American auto-makers’ lawsuits to prevent the phase in of stronger emissions standards in California. First, he took their argument apart point-by-point. For example, he said the automakers tell us they’ll be ruined if they have to make their cars more efficient, then he pointed out that the most efficient cars are also the most profitable Japanese brands. He then pulled up a line graph showing the disparities between Chinese and American emissions standards, deftly illustrating his point about the Neanderthal mentality in Detroit that can’t even produce a car as clean as the ones Chinese companies make. But the punch line came when he noted that Detroit is suing to avoid implementing a standard in 2010 that’s not even as high as the Chinese standard is today.
While Gore relentlessly hammered his point home, he did a lot of it with tongue in cheek, making the medicine go down a lot easier. He joked about life after what he called “the VP gig,” including a humorous anecdote about stopping at an IHOP (or something similar) in western Tennessee with Tipper. When the waitress pointed out to another customer who it was sitting across the room, Gore said he heard the man remark, “he sure has come down in the world.” He later told that story at a public event in Africa, but the story that got picked up by the wire services had him “running” the restaurant. The big laugh came when he explained that Bill Clinton, after reading the item, sent Gore a note, no irony intended, wishing him well in the new venture.
The problem with this book tour is that Gore is preaching to the choir, although there were a number of state and local lawmakers in the audience and I also spotted the former CEO of Pennzoil leaving the hall. Still, I wonder what affect this will ultimately have other than giving Gore the chance to say, “I told you so.” It would be a shame for such fine rhetoric to go to waste.
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
Yes!
I've told folks for years: The best hangover cure is : B-12, a multivitamin, couple aspirin, and copious amounts of black coffee.
The Center
Sirota makes some good points concerning centrism in this piece. Extending this out a bit, here's somethings to consider;
1. Sirota is correct in that the center means different things for different people. For me, the center has always been the Constitution, yet the country has gone so far right that to be a centrist Democrat still puts one well to the right.
2. To find the center, one has to make a hard left, even perhaps risking the "moonbat" label, to even get close. In other words: The campus socialist is closer to the center than most centrist democrats.
I'm not here picking on Democrats, but last years speak volumes to this. How else does Lieberman even keep his DNC card?
1. Sirota is correct in that the center means different things for different people. For me, the center has always been the Constitution, yet the country has gone so far right that to be a centrist Democrat still puts one well to the right.
2. To find the center, one has to make a hard left, even perhaps risking the "moonbat" label, to even get close. In other words: The campus socialist is closer to the center than most centrist democrats.
I'm not here picking on Democrats, but last years speak volumes to this. How else does Lieberman even keep his DNC card?
Sunday, June 11, 2006
Dirty Cops
First of all: Despite simplistic platitudes and with us/against us shitstorm stirred up by the Bush apologists, I, nor anyone else representing a rational worldview is in the least bit sad that Zarqawi is dead, so let's nip that talking point right now.
However, if Zarqawi was alive when the troops arrived, then I would hope that some attempt to save his life long enough to put him on trial would have been made. This would have demonstrated that, despite BushCo's scorn of law, that some of us still care about justice, that we are all not bullshit hypocrites, even if the administration is.
Having said that, the LA Times, and about a 3000+ other news organizations, are reporting that Zarqawi may have been stomped to death by the troops:
"An Iraqi police lieutenant who said he was among the first people at the scene told The Times on Saturday that after Iraqi police had carried Zarqawi to the ambulance on the stretcher, U.S. troops took him off the stretcher and placed him on the ground. One of the Americans tried to question Zarqawi and repeatedly stepped on his chest, causing blood to flow from his mouth and nose, said the lieutenant, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A man identified only as Mohammed, who said he lived near the Zarqawi hide-out, told Associated Press Television News that he had witnessed Americans beating Zarqawi. 'They stomped on his stomach and his chest until he died and blood came out of his nose,' he said."
If this is, in fact, the case, this kind of colonial bullshit only endangers lives, both American and Iraqi. To kick a wounded man, regardless, to death is utterly vile. There's a right way and a wrong way, and making this sick fuck stand trial and let justice be served is the right way to deal with solipsists who believe the only law is the one that divine from a perversion of the Koran, or anyone, for that matter. Instead, we crawl further down into the quagmire, and everything that made this country great slowly drowns at the end of the moral slip n slide.
It's starting to remind me of stories about dirty cops, who break the law to enforce it. The only thing missing is the plant gun, but why would they need it? Bush didn't need one to put them in this position in the first place.
However, if Zarqawi was alive when the troops arrived, then I would hope that some attempt to save his life long enough to put him on trial would have been made. This would have demonstrated that, despite BushCo's scorn of law, that some of us still care about justice, that we are all not bullshit hypocrites, even if the administration is.
Having said that, the LA Times, and about a 3000+ other news organizations, are reporting that Zarqawi may have been stomped to death by the troops:
"An Iraqi police lieutenant who said he was among the first people at the scene told The Times on Saturday that after Iraqi police had carried Zarqawi to the ambulance on the stretcher, U.S. troops took him off the stretcher and placed him on the ground. One of the Americans tried to question Zarqawi and repeatedly stepped on his chest, causing blood to flow from his mouth and nose, said the lieutenant, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
A man identified only as Mohammed, who said he lived near the Zarqawi hide-out, told Associated Press Television News that he had witnessed Americans beating Zarqawi. 'They stomped on his stomach and his chest until he died and blood came out of his nose,' he said."
If this is, in fact, the case, this kind of colonial bullshit only endangers lives, both American and Iraqi. To kick a wounded man, regardless, to death is utterly vile. There's a right way and a wrong way, and making this sick fuck stand trial and let justice be served is the right way to deal with solipsists who believe the only law is the one that divine from a perversion of the Koran, or anyone, for that matter. Instead, we crawl further down into the quagmire, and everything that made this country great slowly drowns at the end of the moral slip n slide.
It's starting to remind me of stories about dirty cops, who break the law to enforce it. The only thing missing is the plant gun, but why would they need it? Bush didn't need one to put them in this position in the first place.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
Raise Yer Glasses
After nearly a year of e-correspondence, The Wizard and Dr. Puma, together again, have several pints at the Cock and Bull English Pub.
Kizzle was, unfortunately, not there.
Photo courtesy of Jeff C.
Kizzle was, unfortunately, not there.
Photo courtesy of Jeff C.
The 6 degrees of Travis G.
Courtesy of Wirecan : "Wow...I'd better shower before NSA van pays me a visit."
Ladies and Gentlemen...See you at the "recreational facility".
Ladies and Gentlemen...See you at the "recreational facility".
Friday, June 9, 2006
Red Herrings, anyone?
Salon has two interesting OP-ED's on Zarqawi's demise; Conason's "Death of a Useful Demon" and Shapiro's "Good Things, Bad Presidents".
What will emerge, no doubt, from the death of this total sonabitch will be BushCo's attempt to cast this as some kind of divine vindication for the last three nightmare years, or as Conason puts it, a "see, I told you so". The way that this is likely to play out is the reintroduction of the talking point about Al Quaida in Iraq: They were always there.
This, of course, is utter bunk, but in the days when BushCo's PR firm are able to sell that bullshit are dwindling to the brand-faithful, it become useful for them, especially with important midterms coming up, to get everybody back on message, especially with this quagmire. Somehow, Iraq was involved with 9/11.
As a corollary, I would expect that much more strident efforts by the administration to discredit the anti war movement as disloyal and unpatriotic, or worse, to lull people into a false sense of "whew...glad that's over". It's not. Zarqawi was the insurgent version of a carpetbagger: He had an agenda, and while it was in a simpatico with the Iraqi insurgents, it wasn't the same. His agenda was Bin Laden's: Destroy the Heathen Capitalist Hypocrites. The bulk of the insurgency's: Get the fuck out of my country. This, of course, is before the "Hey, remember what those other guy's did to us...vengeance is mine". With the latter, Zarqawi's death means jack shit to them.
Update: via Covington, "Revenge Fantasies from the wrong side of the blogosphere Here. And just for kicks, lets see some actual erudite commentary. Oh, whatever, nevermind.
Update 06.11.06: Wes can sure kick up a shitstorm. Pay attention to the TMJ...I think he's CoIntelPro. Thanks Wes...holla when you're in town again.
What will emerge, no doubt, from the death of this total sonabitch will be BushCo's attempt to cast this as some kind of divine vindication for the last three nightmare years, or as Conason puts it, a "see, I told you so". The way that this is likely to play out is the reintroduction of the talking point about Al Quaida in Iraq: They were always there.
This, of course, is utter bunk, but in the days when BushCo's PR firm are able to sell that bullshit are dwindling to the brand-faithful, it become useful for them, especially with important midterms coming up, to get everybody back on message, especially with this quagmire. Somehow, Iraq was involved with 9/11.
As a corollary, I would expect that much more strident efforts by the administration to discredit the anti war movement as disloyal and unpatriotic, or worse, to lull people into a false sense of "whew...glad that's over". It's not. Zarqawi was the insurgent version of a carpetbagger: He had an agenda, and while it was in a simpatico with the Iraqi insurgents, it wasn't the same. His agenda was Bin Laden's: Destroy the Heathen Capitalist Hypocrites. The bulk of the insurgency's: Get the fuck out of my country. This, of course, is before the "Hey, remember what those other guy's did to us...vengeance is mine". With the latter, Zarqawi's death means jack shit to them.
Update: via Covington, "Revenge Fantasies from the wrong side of the blogosphere Here. And just for kicks, lets see some actual erudite commentary. Oh, whatever, nevermind.
Update 06.11.06: Wes can sure kick up a shitstorm. Pay attention to the TMJ...I think he's CoIntelPro. Thanks Wes...holla when you're in town again.
Thursday, June 8, 2006
Al Zarqawi Dead
What does this mean, in terms of policy and continued rotation of the human being lawnmower? Speculations?
Tuesday, June 6, 2006
A Call To Action
With this kind of 'leadership,' no wonder nation's in trouble
Pensacola isn't exactly a hotbed of liberalism, but you don't have to be a leftist to recognize the poverty of Republican ideas and values when they seek once again to whip voters into a frenzy over the homosexual marriage issue. This op-ed piece demonstrates the Neo-Cons' crumbling base.
Pensacola isn't exactly a hotbed of liberalism, but you don't have to be a leftist to recognize the poverty of Republican ideas and values when they seek once again to whip voters into a frenzy over the homosexual marriage issue. This op-ed piece demonstrates the Neo-Cons' crumbling base.
The Moral High Ground
On the 62nd anniversary of D-Day, when vast amounts of human carnage covered Western Europe, its important to note what we were fighting for and why. No, not the revisionism of the NeoCons, but the real reasons.
Out of this hell on earth came the Geneva Pacts, which sought to bring some sanity to an inarguably insane situation like war. Among these were, as quoted in the Los Angeles Times.:
"That provision — known as a "common" article because it is part of each of the four Geneva pacts approved in 1949 — bans torture and cruel treatment. Unlike other Geneva provisions, Article 3 covers all detainees — whether they are held as unlawful combatants or traditional prisoners of war. The protections for detainees in Article 3 go beyond the McCain amendment by specifically prohibiting humiliation, treatment that falls short of cruelty or torture."
It is this humanity that was to set us apart from our enemies, an attempt to reduece the suffering.
The Bush Administration and its apologists, however, believe that the rules, either of our Constitution, or International Law, don't apply to them, and, as a corollary, the world sees us as a vicious bloodbeast, as oppressors and not liberators. Our enemies point to our hypocrisy concerning law and human rights. Our friends point to our hypocrisy and human rights, and we, as Citizens of these United States, must bear the weight of the antipathy when we go abroad.
It is this, more than anything, that rains death on our doors.
Out of this hell on earth came the Geneva Pacts, which sought to bring some sanity to an inarguably insane situation like war. Among these were, as quoted in the Los Angeles Times.:
"That provision — known as a "common" article because it is part of each of the four Geneva pacts approved in 1949 — bans torture and cruel treatment. Unlike other Geneva provisions, Article 3 covers all detainees — whether they are held as unlawful combatants or traditional prisoners of war. The protections for detainees in Article 3 go beyond the McCain amendment by specifically prohibiting humiliation, treatment that falls short of cruelty or torture."
It is this humanity that was to set us apart from our enemies, an attempt to reduece the suffering.
The Bush Administration and its apologists, however, believe that the rules, either of our Constitution, or International Law, don't apply to them, and, as a corollary, the world sees us as a vicious bloodbeast, as oppressors and not liberators. Our enemies point to our hypocrisy concerning law and human rights. Our friends point to our hypocrisy and human rights, and we, as Citizens of these United States, must bear the weight of the antipathy when we go abroad.
It is this, more than anything, that rains death on our doors.
Merry Anti-Christ-mass
"The Seven Seals are Revealed at the End of Time as Seven Bows: the Bloodbow, the
Pissbow, the Painbow, the Faminebow, the Deathbow, the Angerbow, the Hohohobow
THEN the morning after. A time and a time and a time and a time; all shall be
well or not. As the bluegreenbrown world is drenched with horsegore, and the
redseas are covered with horsehair, the ThreeGod arises. As a sign of Betrayal
- His? Ours? - a vast Bloodbow covers the skies. One dips into a broken bowl
full of sadness, the other into seven hundred children with horses' heads in
different stages of decomposition.
Across the Bloodbow a hundredthousand betrayers are nailed and lost. To the sound of the mewling of eight million cats all those who have betrayed humanity twist and turn. Step forward, if you can, Satan in many scumcoloured forms. Histermarks. If you have had ears betterto have slain them there on the warplain of your face.
Hell is paved, despite the Balance, with tedium and loss. Hell is where the steeds then betray thehorsemen, and the horsemen betray their steeds, and and and and.
The Bloodbow begins to discolour: streams of urine begin to gush from the blackbending
heavens and hells that have circled everything so very quickly.
The Redbloodbow gives birth to a Ureabow. ThreeGod starts to weep. Then all the angels weep. Then all the demons weep. The stench of the universal uric acid fills all the
worlds ever ever existing. The Bloodbow is replenished by a rain that ascends
from the bodies of the damned on earth. Huge clots of gore and blood and lymph
rise up, ripping through the flesh of the lost; the Bloodbow increases in size,
and bubbles and seethes. Unable to take any more, just over the surface of the
earth a thick plain of screaming congeals into the Painbow, which hovers and
turns above the soil.
Alas! A high pitched singing emerges; bones, somegleamingteethywhite, some shitdustbrown, start to clatter from the Painbow. A ricketty arch is hesitantly built by the rothorsekids from the bones and bones: the Faminebow. "We are so hungry, so very hungry" they sigh. They die, their hunger to be forever unassuaged. Their rotting bodies arise in clumps 'n' bits
'n' bobbins, forming over the Bonebow - that is to say, the bubbling Faminebow,
a new, special experience. A grotty rotty mass of children's and horses' grey
flesh, death in all its mumbling and dull colours, step or crawl right up for
the Deathbow.
ThreeGod has been so angry with us all whilst this is happening; His frown fills up one trillion universes, or more if you please or if you don't. His pursed lips fill up even more universes than His frown, as His anger grows as it descends His face. This immeasurable frown becomes the inverted Angerbow; an upsidedown 'U' that is constituted entirely of choler and spit,pick 'n' mix... stones and sticks... 'n' 666 - it makes me sick!
Then He sees, in His mercy, that the Worlds have all passed away. The frown passes, and Threee God starts to laugh. The farce is over, the wasted experiment over, and His jolly laugh becomes the HoHoHoBow.
All the starres are dead now.
And so we pass away.
Whilst the Gods play
We pass away
(Yet the stars and the moon and the sun and the comets and the little birds and the little lights and the little animals tath sing to God God bless the littlanimals and the little animals that scream to God please O Lord bless thelittle animals that weep and weep and weep they are approaching the Greatbluegate of Death itself oh Lord hear me when I shout and shout and shout my heart is almost empty)
Anyhow, once I looked at the stars, and they were all blood. Over the Southerncross she arose, redbloodyred, as I think she was, Luciferette and how she shined. Overthere in the west, where alas she had begun to set, dead children were singing. Out of my window, beyond Mao Rao and Yao what seems to be the sun over the arch of Beslam, shining. Louis Wain is there. I can see, if I stretch my eyes far and further, William Lawes dead dead dead on the plain dead dead dead. I fall to my knees and weep. And goodbye to You all.
And goodbye to you all
Whilst the Gods play
Goodbye
Goodbye to you all" (David Tibet).
Read the Marriage of Heaven and Hell.
Remember Hell on Earth.
Monday, June 5, 2006
Base...How Low will you go?
For Bush, and this ridiculous Gay Marriage Amendment, the answer is rhetorical: "How Low won't I go?"
"Bush himself, when asked after he was re-elected, what he would do to get Congress to pass a constitutional amendment against gay marriages, said that he would do little, given the futility of the project."
There's not much I can add to the erudite analysis of this naked politicking, except that anyone who's shocked that Bush would play politics with Constitution must have been in a coma since 2001.
"Bush himself, when asked after he was re-elected, what he would do to get Congress to pass a constitutional amendment against gay marriages, said that he would do little, given the futility of the project."
There's not much I can add to the erudite analysis of this naked politicking, except that anyone who's shocked that Bush would play politics with Constitution must have been in a coma since 2001.
Not these guys again...
Is an apology forth coming...oh wait, its Rummy.
"Vietnamese National Defense Minister Pham Van Tra held talks with his visiting U.S. counterpart Donald Rumsfeld on Monday in Hanoi, discussing measures to boost the bilateral cooperation and other issues of mutual concern.
Tra said he welcomes Donald Rumsfeld's visit. He, together with the U.S. defense secretary, during his trip to the United States in 2003, touched upon issues on beefing up their ties, and this time they are to continue discussing measures on strengthening their win-win relations, Tra said.
Donald Rumsfeld, who started his three-day visit to Vietnam on Sunday, said the visit is his first trip to the country as a U.S. defense secretary. He, who expressed his happiness to visit Vietnam, also highly appreciated the country's dynamic socioeconomic development.
Before arriving in Hanoi, Donald Rumsfeld said one more U.S. navy ship will visit the country this summer, and that Vietnam will send local pilots to the United States for English language training.
The U.S. defense secretary also said that the United States wants to enhance its military relations with Vietnam, but has no plans to rent Vietnam's military facilities.
Talking about the bilateral relations, he said the two countries' military ties are under progress. Vietnam is an important country in the region and the United States highly appreciates the relations with it, he noted.
Vietnam is the second leg of Donald Rumsfeld's several-Asian- nation tour which also includes Singapore and Indonesia.
Since the normalization of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the United States in 1995, cooperation between the two countries has been improved rapidly, especially in the fields of politics, economy, healthcare, education, science and technology, as well as in the fields of drug trafficking and transnational crimes."
The People's Daily
"Vietnamese National Defense Minister Pham Van Tra held talks with his visiting U.S. counterpart Donald Rumsfeld on Monday in Hanoi, discussing measures to boost the bilateral cooperation and other issues of mutual concern.
Tra said he welcomes Donald Rumsfeld's visit. He, together with the U.S. defense secretary, during his trip to the United States in 2003, touched upon issues on beefing up their ties, and this time they are to continue discussing measures on strengthening their win-win relations, Tra said.
Donald Rumsfeld, who started his three-day visit to Vietnam on Sunday, said the visit is his first trip to the country as a U.S. defense secretary. He, who expressed his happiness to visit Vietnam, also highly appreciated the country's dynamic socioeconomic development.
Before arriving in Hanoi, Donald Rumsfeld said one more U.S. navy ship will visit the country this summer, and that Vietnam will send local pilots to the United States for English language training.
The U.S. defense secretary also said that the United States wants to enhance its military relations with Vietnam, but has no plans to rent Vietnam's military facilities.
Talking about the bilateral relations, he said the two countries' military ties are under progress. Vietnam is an important country in the region and the United States highly appreciates the relations with it, he noted.
Vietnam is the second leg of Donald Rumsfeld's several-Asian- nation tour which also includes Singapore and Indonesia.
Since the normalization of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the United States in 1995, cooperation between the two countries has been improved rapidly, especially in the fields of politics, economy, healthcare, education, science and technology, as well as in the fields of drug trafficking and transnational crimes."
The People's Daily
Sunday, June 4, 2006
Saturday, June 3, 2006
Presidential Speechalist
I'm not sure where this came from, but it was so well done I had to post it.
Check out Andy's realistic Republican hair and star-spangled briefs.
Check out Andy's realistic Republican hair and star-spangled briefs.
Friday, June 2, 2006
Moore is sued.
I'm not sure, but if the footage came from a news organization, this guy, in this case, no longer owns his likeness. Am I wron?
November 2004
We were exceedingly drunk, and in a fine, upbeat mood. We were flushed from Democracy. We had done our part.
Covington and myself were joined by close friends and family at the Cock and Bull to watch what we were hoping was the beginning of a return to sanity. Beers were quaffed. Shots were drank. The election was on the plasma above the door. The exit polls were coming in, and it was looking good. Kerry was ahead. Maybe, finally, we can start rebuilding.
We repaired back to my place, and continued to celebrate. Things went, as you know, very wrong from there.
The next day, I had cancelled class, but was continuing to subcontract, so I needed to go paint two bedrooms and a hallway in Ivorydale, in a house that some junior exec had lived in way back when, one of those hacienda style homes from the thirties. There was an old, creme colored RCA radio, the kind my grampa had in his garage, and it was only AM. I had to listen to Limbaugh gloat, then Kerry's concession speech, and then, more right wing gloating, of the most horrible, malicious variety. They felt they had been vindicated: "See, Bush did win one". Something was wrong with this picture. I've never been more ashamed as a citizen of these United States. I didn't feel so united just then.
Reports began to trickle out about voting irregularities in Ohio: From bogus "Terror Alerts" in Warren County to votes magically appearing in the Bush column, but everybody instead tried to figure out "How did we fuck this up?".
Two years on, maybe we didn't fuck it up. Maybe our news media should have looked a little deeper. Maybe we were robbed afterall.
Thanks to Covington for the links on this.
Covington and myself were joined by close friends and family at the Cock and Bull to watch what we were hoping was the beginning of a return to sanity. Beers were quaffed. Shots were drank. The election was on the plasma above the door. The exit polls were coming in, and it was looking good. Kerry was ahead. Maybe, finally, we can start rebuilding.
We repaired back to my place, and continued to celebrate. Things went, as you know, very wrong from there.
The next day, I had cancelled class, but was continuing to subcontract, so I needed to go paint two bedrooms and a hallway in Ivorydale, in a house that some junior exec had lived in way back when, one of those hacienda style homes from the thirties. There was an old, creme colored RCA radio, the kind my grampa had in his garage, and it was only AM. I had to listen to Limbaugh gloat, then Kerry's concession speech, and then, more right wing gloating, of the most horrible, malicious variety. They felt they had been vindicated: "See, Bush did win one". Something was wrong with this picture. I've never been more ashamed as a citizen of these United States. I didn't feel so united just then.
Reports began to trickle out about voting irregularities in Ohio: From bogus "Terror Alerts" in Warren County to votes magically appearing in the Bush column, but everybody instead tried to figure out "How did we fuck this up?".
Two years on, maybe we didn't fuck it up. Maybe our news media should have looked a little deeper. Maybe we were robbed afterall.
Thanks to Covington for the links on this.
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