The Possumhole

Lt Col Davis Breaks News: Afghanistan Is Lost

2012-02-07T10:53:00.000-08:00

First, let me begin with the gratuitous "I Told You So". I have been saying for some time now that the war in Afghanistan is Vietnam II, and I have also been saying for some time now that the USA is headed for another disaster.

Now a currently-serving military officer, one just returned from a tour of duty in Afghanistan, is saying much the same thing. Oh my.

Here is the original article, "Truth, lies and Afghanistan" by Lt. Col. Daniel L. Davis, in the Armed Forces Journal, no less.

Here are the first two paragraphs of that article -

I spent last year in Afghanistan, visiting and talking with U.S. troops and their Afghan partners. My duties with the Army’s Rapid Equipping Force took me into every significant area where our soldiers engage the enemy. Over the course of 12 months, I covered more than 9,000 miles and talked, traveled and patrolled with troops in Kandahar, Kunar, Ghazni, Khost, Paktika, Kunduz, Balkh, Nangarhar and other provinces.

What I saw bore no resemblance to rosy official statements by U.S. military leaders about conditions on the ground.

The article itself is fairly short, very blunt, and absolutely worth reading.

Also worth noting is the fact that while overseas media are having a field day, US media have mostly ignored this story, aside from one article that I found in the NYT. Then again, in all fairness, this copy of the AFJ was just published on Sunday. Give Amerika time to recover from its Super Hangover.

So, will anyone listen? Will this blunt, brutal dose of Truth-with-a-capital-T have any effect upon the course of events? No, of course not. Washington in general, and the Pentagon in particular, have a constitutional inability to ever admit error. So they will drive off the cliff. Again.

It's been 43 years since the Tet Offensive caught General Westmoreland and MACV with their pants around their ankles, but the Pentagon has apparently learned fuck-all nothing since then. My heart goes out to the line animals who pay the most direct and immediate price for the idiocy of their so-called "superiors". When the brass screws the pooch, it's always the poor gunbunnies who take it in the shorts.

Some things never change.

I'll say it again. The USA will exit Kabul the same way it exited Saigon, with a panicked last-minute evacuation of the embassy as the victorious insurgents enter the capital. Somewhere Ho Chi Minh is laughing his ass off.

Yalta

2012-02-05T09:33:00.000-08:00

This weekend is the 67th anniversary of the Yalta Conference, which was held February 4th through 11th of 1945, between Roosevelt, Churchill, and Stalin. The (ostensible) purpose of the conference was to decide the shape of the postwar world.

"Boring, Possum, boring...", you say, "that was a long fucking time ago".

Yes, it was a few years ago, but the world we live in today was shaped by the decisions taken at Yalta.

For example, it was at Yalta that the agreement was formed for the structure of the United Nations, in particular the existence of the Security Council, and the provision of permanent seats on that council for the major powers, and the veto power which those with permanent seats would wield. And the only substantial change in the Security Council between then and now has been the addition of the People's Republic of China as a permanent member.

It was at Yalta that Roosevelt and Stalin agreed that part of the "reparations" to be paid to the USSR by Germany would be in the form of forced labor. This was an appallingly cruel decision on the part of the Western leaders, one which doomed tens of thousands of German POWs to years of destructive labor under inhuman conditions. Many of those POW's died or were murdered by their Soviet captors. Read the memoirs of Hans von Luck for a detailed description of what I'm talking about.

It was also at Yalta that the entirety of Eastern Europe was condemned to half a century of Russian occupation, a decision that was made in spite of the fact that not one single representative of any of those Eastern European nations was present.

As an example of how incredibly naive Roosevelt was about Stalin, let me offer you this quote -

I just have a hunch that Stalin is not that kind of a man. ... and I think that if I give him everything I possibly can and ask for nothing from him in return, noblesse oblige, he won't try to annex anything and will work with me for a world of democracy and peace.

It's enough to make you shake your head in utter disbelief.

And that, dear reader, is our history lesson for the day. Additional reading here

Welfare Piss Test

2012-02-03T08:25:00.000-08:00

A little something on the lighter side today, dear reader.

I do not watch TV, at all, and I haven't for over a decade. In fact, my TV has been unplugged for over two years now, and I even discontinued the minimal cable TV service I once had.

But a fellow 99er in Florida, an all-around good person by the name of Ellen Turner, sent me this link to a Jon Stewart episode that is just too good not to share. It's even worth sitting through the obnoxious commercial that precedes it. Ugh.

But the best part of the issue isn't even mentioned in the video. You see, Florida governor Rick Scott, who has been busted for MediCare and MediCal fraud multiple times, owns the string of clinics where the piss tests are to be performed. Oh wait, excuse me, he recently transferred legal control of the clinics to his wife. Well, that makes it alright then, doesn't it?

Part of what's so scary today is the shamelessly blatant manner in which the elites engage in their corruption. With the elites controlling the MSM to the extent that they do, it seems they don't even bother to hide their dirty dealings anymore.

And so I ask you once again the question I asked in my first blog. Quo vadis, my friends, quo vadis? Where in the name of seven hells are we going from here?

Typhoid Outbreak In Zimbabwe

2012-02-01T10:40:00.000-08:00

As if the long-suffering people of Zimbabwe did not have enough problems, with Mugabe calling for new elections, and ZANU-PF beating the war drums against the MDC, now there are reports of a Typhoid epidemic in the making.

The outbreak seems to be centered in the Kuwadzana township of the capital, Harare. Early reports are blaming the out outbreak on poor quality municipal water systems. While this seems obvious, since Typhoid is almost always caused by contaminated water, the true depth of the problem may not be immediately obvious. To quote from the Wiki article linked above, Typhoid is "transmitted by the ingestion of food or water contaminated with the feces of an infected person". In other words, there is raw sewage in the municipal drinking water. And we thought the tap water here in San Diego County was disgusting, just because it contains radioactive waste. And flouride. And chloramines to kill the god-only-knows-what bacteria. And...but I digress.

Let us not forget, four years ago, Zimbabwe suffered through a cholera epidemic that affected over 100,000 people, with officially acknowledged fatalities numbering in the thousands. You can be quite certain that the actual number of deaths was far higher than the Mugabe government was willing to admit.

So now Zimbabwe wants millions from the IMF for improvements to infrastructure. But let us stop a moment and ask, what happens to the hundreds of millions of dollars that the Mugabe government gets from sale of Marenge blood diamonds? Hmmmm?

Zimbabwe, my friends, the nation once known as Rhodesia, is a tragic example of everything can go wrong in Africa. And if it makes me want to cry, you can imagine how the Rhodies feel, in whatever homes they have made for themselves in exile, somewhere in Zaire, or South Africa, or Australia.

Text story at All Africa here.

Open Salon readers can watch the video here.

Where on Earth Is The USS Vincennes?

2012-01-27T09:56:00.000-08:00

Do you remember the Vincennes, boys and girls? She is the fourth of that name, CG-49 by hull number, a guided missile cruiser generally remembered for having shot down an Iranian airliner in 1988. The destruction of Iran Air flight Six Five Five killed all 290 passengers, including 66 children.

The reasons behind this appalling crime have never been fully (or even partially) explained. Here in San Diego, many of us remember the rest of the story, in which the captain of the Vincennes then tried to murder his wife by planting a bomb in her mini-van, and blaming it on "retribution" by the Iranians. Fortunately, the competence of local law enforcement was up to the challenge, and his machinations were revealed.

So, all that tedious history aside, where is the Vincennes today? According to official sources, she was decommissioned in 2005, sold to International Shipbreaking in mid-2010, and completely broken-up by November of last year, roughly 3 months ago. According to this timeline, Vincennes was in Brownsville, Texas from November 2010 onwards.

Yet other eye-witness sources have related that Vincennes was in fact in Bremerton until some time late last year, when she was towed out of harbor in the middle of the night.

From here, things get weird. There has even been some speculation that Vincennes was towed to the Persian Gulf, and is currently at 5th Fleet HQ in Bahrain. This line of thinking then goes on to postulate that she is being prepared for use as a sacrificial lamb in a false-flag attack which will then be used as casus belli for an assault on Iran.

My first reaction was extremely skeptical. But, then again, in a world where so much of the so-called "news" is just smoke-and-mirrors, how can we say where the credible ends and the ridiculous begins?

Police Fire On Demonstrators At UC Riverside

2012-01-21T09:43:00.001-08:00

Police at University of California Riverside opened fire upon demonstrators with so-called "pepper balls" yesterday, during a meeting of the Board of Regents. Press TV had reported yesterday that the police fired rubber bullets at protesters, but I am unable to find any corroboration of that, so I'm guessing it was just confusion of the moment.

Story with video here.

And another story with different video here.

This is the second time recently that we have seen California police, at UC campuses, going way overboard with use of force. At this rate, we are heading for another Kent State incident.

As a son of the Golden State, this is profoundly disturbing to me. The disconnect between community and law enforcement has been driven to such an extreme, mostly by the so-called "War on Drugs", that a serious potential for major disaster has been created.

Absit omen.

Caught Red-Handed

2012-01-21T09:33:00.000-08:00

Watch the video below, my friends. Listen carefully.

(Open Salon readers can watch the video here)

Yes, a Jewish man was behind the string of so-called "Anti-Semitic Hate Crime" incidents.

This is not a unique happening. In fact, it's more like a typical pattern of behavior. Jews carrying out false-flag "attacks" upon their own community in an attempt to generate sympathy for themselves and Israel, and hatred against Muslims.

Now, ask yourself, is it more likely that this is just coincidence, just copy-cat syndrome? Or is it more likely that this is being coordinated through some central authority? In an election year. While the Zionists and their supporters are beating the war drums against Iran.

You make the call.

Sanctions In Trouble

2012-01-16T10:33:00.000-08:00

Oh, my, but the world is not cooperating.

China's response to Geithner's arm-twisting visit was not just refusal, but outraged refusal.

Japan is remaining politely equivocal , which means they're not going to play ball either. After all, the Japanese never say flat-out "No", it's just not polite.

South Korea has also refused to go along with US plans for unilateral sanctions against Iranian oil.

Asia in general is not impressed.

And the Russians have flatly refused to play.

Europe might be a different story, and then again, it might not. One could wonder if the sudden downgrade of European credit ratings by S&P over the weekend was not either a threat or a punishment for Europe's reluctance to screw its own fragile economy through soaring oil prices. For that matter, what the fuck is Obama thinking? Doesn't he need an economic recovery in the US if he hopes to get re-elected this Fall?

And what news source has not just the best coverage of the topic, but the only comprehensive coverage, who are the only ones willing to ask the ugly questions? PressTV again, much to my embarrassment and disgust. Not that I have anything against PressTV, just that I'm outraged by the fact that they're the only ones willing to really discuss the issue.

(Open Salon readers can watch the video here .

When Anti-Semitism Is Abused

2012-01-08T08:55:00.000-08:00

Apologies to Sarah Wildman for stealing her title, but it was so appropriate.

I'm not even going to add anything of my own to this, dear reader, lest the eloquence of her message be adulterated. I'm just going to point you to this article at Desertpeace, written by Sarah Wildman, on the use and abuse of the term "Anti-Semite".

Go, Sarah, go!

Persian Gulf Follies

2011-12-29T11:06:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, it was reported that Iran has threatened to close the vital Strait of Hormuz if the USA follows through on plans to impose a total embargo upon the Iranian oil industry.

Today, we are informed that our nation's government has responded with counter-threats, and that a representative of the US 5th Fleet, (which is permanently assigned to the Persian Gulf, and based in Bahrain), chimed in with further hawkish saber-rattling.

This raises a number of questions in the tiny marsupial mind of your faithful correspondent. Not least of these would be, why do we have an independent statement by the 5th Fleet? Is the US Navy now a power unto itself? Does the State department no longer handle diplomatic chores for the United States of (corporate) Amerika? A minor point, you may opine, but still one more indicator that we live in a post-democratic nation-state.

On to the substance of the issue.

The painful part about being a student of history, is that one can often see the parallels, and guess what happens next. The hazardous part about being a student of history, is that one can often guess wrong. None the less, let's play the game of historical parallels for a bit, shall we?

The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, which occurred on December 7th of 1942, roughly seventy years and three weeks ago, should not have been a surprise. The Anglo-Dutch-US consortium which controlled all oil resources in the Pacific at that time had imposed a complete oil embargo on Japan, using the colorful excuse of Japanese expansion in China.

Yes, I use the term "colorful excuse" deliberately. The Rape of Nanking occurred in 1937, and its details were known in western capitals within weeks, at most. So it took the powers-that-be four long years to decide that those naughty Japanese must be punished? Horseshit. In 1937, nobody in the West gave a damn about the Chinese. By 1941, Roosevelt was desperately seeking an excuse to drag the USA into another European war.

And so the device of an oil embargo was decided upon. Japan, then as now, was totally dependent upon oil imports. US economists predicted that the Japanese economy would collapse within six months without oil. And yet, when Japan responded with a military assault upon the colonial possessions of the embargoing powers, we were caught by surprise? Again I say, horseshit. Anyone who knew anything about Japanese culture and history could have predicted that Japan would fight rather than fold. And even a cursory study of Japanese military history would have revealed that the surprise attack was an old favorite tactic.

Now fast-forward 70 years. Granted Iran and Japan are very different nations, with very different cultures and historical traditions. Imperial Japan was territorially expansionist; Iran hasn't invaded a neighbouring country for over 200 years. The Achilles' Heel of Imperial Japan was oil imports, and that of Iran is its oil exports.

And yet, there are parallels. In both cases, the nation being embargoed was perceived to be a threat to the power of the US Navy. In both cases, the nation being embargoed was perceived to be a threat to the colonial practices of the Western Powers. And in both cases, the subtle hand of the Zionists was at work behind the scenes.

Whoa, Possum, you say! That came out of left field; how the fuck do you figure that?

In 1941, the Zionists wanted the USA committed to the European disaster that we now call World War II, both in order to defeat Germany and also to follow through on plans for the creation of Israel.

Here in late 2011, the Zionists want the USA committed to war with Iran, in order to further the interests of Israel, or at least the perceived interests of the ultra-conservative cabal which currently controls Israel's government.

(And this is as good a place as any to gently remind ourselves that there are good people in Israel, and blaming all Israelis for the horrid crimes of the Israeli government would be every bit as unjust as blaming all Americans for the horrid crimes of the US government.)

So, once again, we have an oil embargo being used to provoke an armed conflict. And yet, the world of 2011 is vastly different from that of 1941. Today, we have stern warnings against precipitate action from the Russians and Chinese, both of whom have a permanent seat on the UN Security Council, with the veto power granted by that permanent seat.

As horrid as the thought may be, as painfully as my heart cries out in grief for the potential suffering of the common people both in Iran and here in the USA, I am very much afraid that the reactionaries will succeed in provoking a shooting war involving Iran, sometime in 2012.

What the consequences of that war will be, dear reader, that I cannot begin to say. And neither can the criminal psychopaths who control Washington DC and Tel Aviv.

(Open Salon readers can watch the video here)

2003 Redux

2011-12-24T09:29:00.000-08:00

Just as the US government stampeded us into a totally unjustified invasion of Iraq in 2003, based upon fabricated evidence, so there is another effort underway to justify an attack on Iran.

Yes, I've said this before, but it's serious business, and worth repeating. Washington DC has apparently gone bugfuck crazy, and embarked upon another of those "we are an empire now; we create our own reality" escapades.

Watch the video, or at least the first 10 minutes of it, and see for yourselves. Change we can believe in, yeah, but not a change we would have picked if we'd had a choice. I am almost wishing I'd voted for McCain. Things would be just as bad, I'm sure, but at least we'd have an open enemy in the White House, and not this wolf-in-sheep's-clothing called Obama.

(Open Salon readers can watch the video here)

Again, the usual disclaimer. This video is from PressTV, which is an Iranian news service. You should keep the salt shaker handy, and your bullshit filters firmly in place, as you should when screening news from any source, foreign or domestic.

Cheap Possum Excuses

2011-12-20T08:40:00.000-08:00

If Mary and Joseph rode into Bethlehem today...

Greetings, dear reader. Your faithful marsupial correspondent has been slacking off shamelessly on the blog posts this month, it's true. I'm claiming the holidays as my official Cheap Excuse ™

Since I still don't have anything intelligent (or even semi-intelligent) to talk about, here are some visual things to hopefully distract you. Hey, look, a squirrel!

The three wise men in Bethlehem today...

And as far as the NDAA nightmare, well, it's all been said. Goodbye, America. Skulz Fontaine of Graphic Visigoth captures it well.

Lost Drone Followup

2011-12-08T10:44:00.000-08:00

Herewith, dear reader, a quick followup to yesterday's "lost drone" story. As always, you should maintain a reasonable degree of skepticism in evaluating this or any other video, from any national government or news organization.

(Open Salon readers can view the video here.)

Somewhere, Francis Gary Powers Is Laughing

2011-12-07T09:56:00.000-08:00

Oh, the more it changes, the more it stays the same. At least this time there's no pilot involved.

A "stealth drone" operating somewhere in Western Afghanistan, (i.e. along the border with Iran), has been "lost", (don't you just love the euphemisms?), and apparently recovered by the Iranians largely intact.

I think we all know what happened. The CIA was spying on the Iranians with this stealth drone, and either they crashed it, or it malfunctioned. But of course our government can't just come out and say that. For some reason. Apparently, Washington is highly allergic to plain truth.

(Open Salon readers can watch the video here)

Oh, what schadenfreude!

Debt Jubilee

2011-12-07T09:29:00.000-08:00

The time has come for a debt jubilee.

By now, it should be clear to everyone that the current status quo is absolutely unsustainable. The world's governments are staggering under a crippling load of debt. And, because of this, the bankers have taken control of the government of every major nation in the world. The working people of the world, those fortunate enough to still have a job, are likewise staggering under a never-ending mountain of debt, and facing a lifetime of economic enslavement.

The only answer to saving our nations, the only answer to breaking the power of the bankers, is a complete repudiation of all debts, by governments, by small businesses, by individuals, by everyone except corporations.

Of course those who profit from the status quo will scream bloody murder at the suggestion. Of course they will heap scorn upon the idea, and predict that it will bring about the apocalypse. Of course the powers-that-be will do anything they can to prevent this idea from even being seriously considered. But let's think about it logically.

Who would suffer, in the end? Well, the bankers would. Individuals would prosper, small businesses would prosper, governments would be relieved of a huge and crippling portion of their mandated budgets. There would no longer be any excuse for cutting vital social programs, and of course the Conservatives would hate it for that reason alone.

The only people who would really suffer would be the rich,. and the banks they control. Yes, the banks would take it in the ass. But, who caused this financial crisis in the first place?

Well, the bankers did.

Why is it so outrageous to suggest that those responsible for creating the problem should pay the price of fixing the problem?

Think about it.

Endgame in Pakistan?

2011-11-30T10:06:00.000-08:00

As most of you are probably aware by now, last week US helicopter gunships crossed the border into Pakistan and attacked an outpost of the Pakistan army, killing 24 Pakistani soldiers, and wounding 13 more. There can be little doubt that this was a deliberate attack, ordered and approved at the highest levels of the Obama administration. It is virtually certain that the President himself approved the attack.

How do we know this? Well, consider the fact that as soon as the attack started, the Pakistanis radioed NATO command, and told them that their helicopters were attacking an outpost of the Pakistan army. The gunships then broke off their attack and left. But, fifteen minutes later, they returned to renew the attack. How do you explain that as an accident?

This was done after a blunt warning from the Chinese a few months ago, to the effect that any US attack on Pakistan could lead to war.

And a similar blunt warning from General Hamid Gul, former head of the ISI, (think Pakistan's CIA), in May of this year, as seen in the video below.

(Open Salon readers can watch the video here)

If you're short on time and patience, drag the slider to 10:00 and watch the last 2 minutes of the video.

Now, with regard to General Gul. As a former head of the ISI, there can be no doubt that he has bloody hands up to his armpits. I'm not suggesting for one moment that he is an angel, or a nice guy. But I cannot help but respect him for his strategic acuity, and most of all for his willingness to state the blunt truth. After all, dear reader, this was the man who had the courage to say openly that the "War on Terror" was nonsense, and entirely a product of George Bush's imagination.

So, having said all that, the obvious remaining question is, what the fuck is going on is Washington? Have they succumbed to the Bush-era thinking that "we are an empire now; we create our own reality"? Are they utterly stark, raving insane? Or are they pursuing a dark agenda which has not yet become apparent, even to those of us who attempt to sift through the mega-tons of media bullshit, and follow events in the world outside our borders?

In all truth, dear reader, I do not have a clue. Your guess is as good as mine.

War on Iran: Follow Up

2011-11-18T09:03:00.000-08:00

As a follow up to my last scribble, from the 9th of this month, about the campaign to launch a war against Iran, let me offer you another video from Press TV.

Again, remember that this is an Iranian news agency, but note that the vast majority of the video consists of an interview with Jeffrey Steinberg, editor of the Executive Intelligence Review in Washington DC.

The reason why I continue to monitor Press TV, and post their videos here, is because their reports do not simply consist of propaganda, but rather in large part of interviews with Americans who do not support the establishment view. In what seems to be almost a variation on the classical Socratic Method, Press TV is very fond of interviewing Westerners, asking them the relevant questions, and letting their audience be explained to by people who look like us, talk like us, dress like us, and therefore have more credibility with us.

In this interview, note carefully how Mr Steinberg points up the parallels between the propaganda that led up to the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the blatant war propaganda being directed at Iran by the Zionist Lobby today.

Open Salon readers can view the video here

Iran: The Other Side Of The Story

2011-11-09T08:15:00.000-08:00

Once again, the War Drums are being beaten hard and loud against Iran, beaten by the Israel Lobby and its paid lackeys.

First came the farcical accusation of a plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador, a story so patently threadbare that even reliably conservative establishment media outlets questioned its credibility.

Now we have hysterical accusations from the new US-sponsored head of the IAEA, (International Atomic Energy Agency), to the effect that Iran is working on a nuclear weapons program. Let us remember, at this point, that the US spent years trying to get the IAEA under al-Baradei to issue such an indictment. But al-Baradei was, (and is), his own man, and stated repeatedly that there was no evidence of Iran attempting to build a nuclear weapon.

So, in detail, what do these accusations consist of? They consist of two things.

First, an accusation that the Iranians have attempted to create a computer model of an atomic weapon. Excuse me, but, how many game companies have done the same thing? Attempting to create a computer model of something is not the same as making the thing itself.

Second, IAEA under Amano, its new puppet boss, has accused Iran of doing preliminary design work on a metal casing which could possibly be used to contain a nuclear weapon, if one was ever constructed.

And so, dear reader, do you begin to see how incredibly contrived and insubstantial these accusations are? And is it coincidence that this is all happening, in the IAEA which is now coltrolled by the United States, and in the US media which is largely controlled by Zionists, at the same time that Israel is openly threatening to attack Iran? Right, of course it is! Why, you'd have to be crazy to suggest some sort of conspiracy...

But all is not rosy for the Zionist plan. France has issued its usual strongly-worded caution against military aggression, (as they hose the dust of Libya off their warplanes), but France isn't really going to do anything.

Russia, on the other hand, has issued a blunt warning that any attack on Iran, "could have severe consequences and even lead to war". This is Russia's backyard, let us remember, and a region with a long history of Russian interest and intervention, a record going back to the Czars.

So, what are the Iranians themselves saying about all this? Below is a video from Press TV examining the subject at some length. Press TV is an organ of the Iranian government, so by all means keep your salt shaker handy. But while their opinions, (as reflected in their choice of adjectives), is definitely slanted, I have never caught them in an outright falsehood. In my experience, when Press TV cites hard facts, those facts are accurate. Which is certainly more than one can say for Fox News.

(Open Salon readers can watch the video here)

Peaceful Protest And Limits

2011-10-26T10:51:00.000-07:00

Well, well, well. The more it changes, the more it stays the same.

In response to the brutal attack by Oakland PD upon peaceful demonstrators at the Occupy Oakland site, Desertpeace has a lovely quote from Jack London, (of all authors!), specifically a largely-unknown work of his entitled "The Iron Heel" -

We are in power. Nobody will deny it. By virtue of that power we shall remain in power…We have no words to waste on you. When you reach out your vaunted strong hands for our palaces and purpled ease, we will show you what strength is. In roar of shell and shrapnel and in whine of machine-guns will our answer be couched. We will grind you revolutionists down under our heel, and we shall walk upon your faces. The world is ours, we are its lords, and ours it shall remain. As for the host of labor, it has been in the dirt since history began, and I read history aright. And in the dirt it shall remain so long as I and mine and those that come after us have the power. There is the word. It is the king of words–Power. Not God, not Mammon, but Power. Pour it over your tongue till it tingles with it. Power.

Certainly not what you think of when you hear the name Jack London, is it? In contrast, the rest of his works seem like books for children.

And just yesterday my own father emailed me in response to a video I'd sent him last week, showing a similar crackdown by our own local cops against the Occupy San Diego site. What did my Dad have to say? "It's too bad, but the 'occupy movement' or any other form of peaceful protest just doesn't do any good."

Uh huh. Do I really need to say that I agree?

And yet, in a certain coldly cynical sense, peaceful protest does serve a purpose. It demonstrates its own futility, so that all can see other measures are also necessary. And it provides a casus belli, to which The People may afterward point and say, "We tried".

For an interesting historical example, see the Boston Massacre of 1770, and the death of Crispus Attucks. Note that these events took place five years prior to the battles of Lexington and Concord, which are generally considered to have begun the American Revolution.

And on the other hand, Desertpeace, on a relentlessly optimistic note, also offers us this little homily to John Lennon

The "Occupy" Movement Shames Us

2011-10-17T09:43:00.000-07:00

So, how about this Occupy Wall Street movement? A bunch of people actually started an Occupy Washington action on the 15th, and some of them, including Prof Cornell West, were arrested on the steps of the Supreme Court yesterday. I find this all pretty inspirational stuff.

But yesterday I was doing my usual early Sunday morning grocery shopping, and as I waited outside for the store to open, I asked the other middle-aged guy standing there what he thought about Occupy Wall Street. I was surprised at the bitterness with which he pronounced them all to be "idiots". Vehemently, he insisted that they would accomplish nothing. I was feeling patient and curious, so I asked him a few questions, in that Socratic method that I have worked so hard to develop, and it soon became apparent he hadn't really thought the issue out at all, but he was bitter, angry, and resentful at the folks in the Occupy Wall Street movement.

I have seen a surprising amount of this attitude in the last week or so, and it puzzles me. I spent most of the rest of the day pondering that, in a back-of-the-mind sort of a way, and sometime in mid-afternoon it occurred to me in a blinding flash. They're ashamed.

People like the man I spoke with outside the grocery store are ashamed because they know they should be doing something. They see the problems with America, they know it is ultimately their responsibility as citizens to correct the situation, and yet they do nothing. And they feel shame for doing nothing, so they make excuses, saying that the movement will accomplish nothing, and angrily denouncing its members as idiots. They trivialize the Occupy movement in order to assuage their own feelings of guilt.

The anger arises from shame, and guilt.

Another Bullshit "Bomb Plot"

2011-10-14T09:44:00.000-07:00

I'm not the first to say it, but this whole business of accusing Iran of plotting to assassinate the Saudi ambassador stinks to high heaven.

How dreadfully convenient that something like this should come up just as the Occupy Wall Street movement really starts to gain momentum. How convenient for Obama, and convenient for the corporate puppet-masters who so obviously pull his strings.

But most of all, the story is just not credible.

In the words of Pepe Escobar -

"No one ever lost money betting on the dull predictability of the US government. Just as Occupy Wall Street is firing imaginations all across the spectrum - piercing the noxious revolving door between government and casino capitalism - Washington brought us all down to earth, sensationally advertising an Iranian cum Mexican cartel terror plot straight out of The Fast and the Furious movie franchise. The potential victim: Adel al-Jubeir, the ambassador in the US of that lovely counter-revolutionary Mecca, Saudi Arabia."

Or, for a more Conservative view of the subject, try this piece by Hamid Dabashi, who says plaintively-

I am of a certain generation and analytical bend of mind that I cannot believe that Eric Holder, the Attorney General of the United States, can in bright daylight come to national television and just straight lie about a matter so dire and dangerous in its actual and potential consequences.

We have no way of challenging the veracity of what he says. He is privy to intelligence. We are not. He is a figure of authority - we must take what he says seriously. The very assumption and presumption of a democracy is that people in position of such power and authority don't just lie.

Right, Hamid, sure thing. What, our government, lie to us? Say it ain't true!

What's that you say? You want something more mainstream? OK, how about The Atlantic, FFS?

UN Report Finds "Systematic Torture" in Afghanistan

2011-10-11T08:09:00.000-07:00

Quoted from Al Jazeera English -
A United Nations report has found "compelling evidence" that Afghan intelligence officials at five detention centres "systematically tortured detainees for the purpose of obtaining confessions and information".

Yes, I know, you're thinking, "well, no shit, Sherlock...", but let's go through the motions, shall we?

Here is the original UN document, entitled UNAMA report: Mistreatment of conflict-related detainees in Afghan facilities.

Essentially, it confirms what we have already known for years. Beginning with the Bush administration, and continuing under the Obama administration, innocent people were randomly arrested by NATO forces and handed over to the Afghan government for torture. We knew that, or at least we had ample reason to suspect it. But this report gilds the lily by proving that our worst suspicions were and are true. This report documents the torture, again. As if Abu Ghraib were not enough.

See the official response by NATO's spokes-animal here.

Read the story on Al Jazeera English here.

And, of course, the question is, now what?

Another Pogrom

2011-10-05T08:18:00.000-07:00

Were you ever at a lynching? Were you ever someplace where an unbridled mob was beating you and your friends and then chasing you to beat you again? Were you ever the victim of wild violence before the blind eyes of policemen who ignored your desperate calls for help? Have you ever felt abandoned? The following story begins with with blood, but its point is the abandonment.

What happened Friday afternoon at the entrance to the settlement of Anatot was a pogrom, a lynching. There’s no other way to describe an event in which hundreds of large men are wildly beating and pursuing a nonviolent group of male and female activists for an extended period of time. There’s no way to convey to those who weren’t there the threatening sense of the approaching dark – not in words, not in pictures, not even in video.

The above is a quote from a new article at Desertpeace.

I'll let you go and read the rest for yourself. What needs to be said is that this is not an isolated incident. This is sadly typical of what is being done to the Palestinian people in the Occupied West Bank every week.

This is the kind of ugly story that the mainstream media here in the USA will never cover. Why? I think you know the answer to that...

Even A Blind Pig...

2011-09-27T09:31:00.000-07:00

As the old saying goes, even a blind pig finds an occasional acorn.

Foreign Policy magazine is not one of my favorite online publications, being altogether too conservative and mainstream for my taste, but every now and then, they do publish something worth reading. Such is very definitely the case in the latest column by Stephen M. Walt.

This column is the latest is an ongoing editorial catfight between the author and Jeff Goldberg, an ardent Zionist who writes for both Atlantic magazine and Bloomberg. This little spat all started when Mr Walt wrote a blurb for the fly cover of a book which dared to criticize Israel. So now Mr Goldberg has accused Mr Walt of being an anti-Semite, (oh noes!), etc, etc, ad nauseam. And the column linked above is a response by Mr Walt and his associate John Mearsheimer.

"Possum," you think, "why are you wasting my time with an editorial bitchfest between two over-educated East Coast Establishment assholes?".

Well, because in the course of his oh-so-genteel defense, John Mearsheimer makes some very interesting points about what was actually said and not said, and about the nature of the whole Zionist debate.

The book in question is "The Wandering Who", by Gilad Atzmon. In spite of the title, it has nothing to do with Pete Townshend or Roger Daltrey. (And, no, I'm not making any money off the link to Amazon).

As I said, there are some interesting points made here, which is why I'm posting about this whole issue. Not least among these interesting points is a sterling example of just how the Zionists use partial truths to slander people. let me quote one paragraph -

Let me make one additional point about Goldberg's mining of Atzmon's blog posts. Goldberg ends his attack on me with the following quotation from a Feb. 19 blog post by Atzmon: "I believe that from [a] certain ideological perspective, Israel is actually far worse than Nazi Germany." That quotation certainly makes Atzmon look like he has lost his mind and that nothing he has written could be trusted. But Goldberg has misrepresented what Atzmon really said, which is one of his standard tactics. Specifically, he quotes only part of a sentence from Atzmon's blog post; but when you look at the entire sentence, you see that Atzmon is making a different, and far more nuanced point. The entire sentence reads: "Indeed, I believe that from [a] certain ideological perspective, Israel is actually far worse than Nazi Germany, for unlike Nazi Germany, Israel is a democracy and that implies that Israeli citizens are complicit in Israeli atrocities." This is not an argument I would make, but what Atzmon is saying is quite different from the way Goldberg portrays it.

See what I mean? The author offers up an agonizing observation on the moral dangers of representative democracy, in which the leaders which we elect can then take unilateral actions, of an utterly reprehensible nature, in which we are morally complicit. And Goldberg massages that into a simple statement of extremism.

Take the time to read the column linked above, my friends. It's not easy reading, but it is worth your while.

Obama Sucks Israel's Cock Again

2011-09-23T09:32:00.000-07:00

Proving once again that he is Israel's whining bitch apologist, Barak Hussein Obama, our ever-so-noble President, in all his Nobel prize winning glory, stood up and delivered a speech to the UN that Desertpeace has quite accurately described as "a defense of Jim Crow in Israel".

Way to go, Mr President. I'm sure Abraham Lincoln, whom you so admire, would have totally agreed with your unconditional support of a racist, fascist Israeli government.

Meanwhile, Israel is busily arming its mad-dog, religious-fanatic "settlers" even more heavily than before, and drawing them pictures of when to shoot.

Oh, but tonguing Israel's anus wasn't enough for our President, oh no, not by half. He had to go for broke with comments like this...

I took office at a time of two wars for the United States. Moreover, the violent extremists who drew us into war in the first place -- Osama bin Laden, and his al Qaeda organization -- remained at large. Today, we've set a new direction.

A new direction, Mr President? You mean by killing Habeas Corpus and escalating drone attacks in Pakistan, drone attacks that kill 39 times as many civilians as "militants"?

At the end of this year, America’s military operation in Iraq will be over. We will have a normal relationship with a sovereign nation that is a member of the community of nations. That equal partnership will be strengthened by our support for Iraq -- for its government and for its security forces, for its people and for their aspirations.

Yeah, right, but we'll leave behind 10,000 fully-armed "trainers" and roughly 4 times that many mercenaries in the guise of "private security personnel". Oh, but we're completely withdrawing from Iraq, really!

As we end the war in Iraq, the United States and our coalition partners have begun a transition in Afghanistan. Between now and 2014, an increasingly capable Afghan government and security forces will step forward to take responsibility for the future of their country. As they do, we are drawing down our own forces, while building an enduring partnership with the Afghan people.

No, asshole, the war in Afghanistan is just getting to the crucial stage, and the Taliban have momentum on their side. You ain't seen nothing yet. And how can you talk about "building an enduring partnership with the Afghan people" when most of them hate our guts because we have occupied their nation and murdered their kin? Just how stupid do you think we are, Mr President, to swallow blatant bullshit like this? What kind of brain-dead morons do you take us for?

The fact is peace is hard. But our people demand it. Over nearly seven decades, even as the United Nations helped avert a third world war, we still live in a world scarred by conflict and plagued by poverty. Even as we proclaim our love for peace and our hatred of war, there are still convulsions in our world that endanger us all.

No, you worthless cock-bandit, peace is easy. You just stop killing people and end your occupation of their countries, you stop supporting fascist governments that murder their own people, you stop pandering to the corporations and the Zionist Lobby.

In short, Mr President, you simply retrieve your misplaced testicles from wherever you have them hidden, and do your job. You remember the words of your oath of office and live up to them. Of The People, By The People, For The People. It's very simple. You quit being a whimpering pussy and be a President.

Asshole.

Did The US Assassinate Burhanuddin Rabbani

2011-09-22T09:43:00.000-07:00

Did The US Assassinate Burhanuddin Rabbani?

Somebody killed the man, and the Taliban are adamantly denying any involvement. Personally, I have long suspected that the US has been behind many of the bombings and killings which are commonly blamed on the Taliban.

Let's ask ourselves, cui bono? Who profits from this?

First, as with anything in Afghanistan, one must look at tribal issues. Rabbani, a former President of Afghanistan, was not a Pashtun (from southern Afghanistan), but a Tajik, (from northern Afghanistan). Furthermore, he was one of the few Tajik with enough prestige on both sides to act as a respected broker for talks between the government and the freedom fighters. By all reports, Rabbani was doing just this.

The Karzai government gains nothing from his death; they desperately want a negotiated solution, preferably one which excludes the USA.

The Taliban gain nothing from his death; they may or may not be serious about negotiating, (remember the "peace talks" between the US and North Vietnam?), but merely by forcing the government to negotiate with them, they gain immense prestige. So why on earth would the Taliban kill Rabbani, knowing that this would harm their credibility with the Afghan people?

So who profits? The US government does, Haliburton does, the oil companies do. They profit by scuttling any serious attempt to negotiate a solution in Afghanistan, thereby justifying their continued occupation of Afghanistan. And make no mistake, dear reader, the corporations are reaping immense profits from the occupation.

These are only my own thoughts and opinions, of course. And what do I know? Nasty, suspicious-minded Possum, bad boy, bad!

Open Salon readers can view the video here

Straight Talk From A Spook

2011-09-21T12:08:00.000-07:00

I have said this before, but it's more true than ever. I am really coming to seriously admire Robert Grenier.

This man can speak the truth so compellingly, and yet manage a sense of the whimsical, a brief and eloquent thought spared for what-might-have-been. Who would ever have expected it from a former spook? I am forced to reconsider my image of the CIA, in spite of their manifold and heinous crimes against humanity, their crimes against sanity.

The article to which I refer is here.

Then again, what is the CIA, really?

On the one hand, if you go to their website, at www.cia.gov, and choose World Factbook from the blue menu at the right, you can find a truly excellent online reference source, one which contains blunt, factual, astonishingly undiplomatic appraisals of any number of nations and situations around this world of ours. Back at the main site, if you examine the menu on the left, there is a listing for the CIA "Kids' Page". I confess, I haven't had the courage to look. My excuse is that I'm not a parent, (much to my sorrow and regret), and therefore I'm not qualified to assess the situation. If you're a parent and you do have the courage, let me know what you find, please.

On the other hand, we all know their reputation. There are some who describe the CIA as essentially the private army of the Bush Dynasty. I suspect that the CIA to which these folks refer is essentially the directorate of operations. But who knows?

In conclusion, let me offer a personal anecdote from years ago. In the late 1970's, I was contemplating career decisions, of the sort we all have to make long before we have any realistic idea what we are committing ourselves to, or just how far-reaching the effects of such decisions will be. An older female relative, whom I most emphatically will not identify by name, asked me if I'd considered a career with the CIA. I replied that no, I had not thought about it, and added that it was my understanding that one could not merely walk in and apply for such jobs, but that one must be invited to apply. She looked me right in the eye and asked, "would you like to be invited?".

The point of this story is not that this female relative of mine was an evil woman. She was rather stern and serious for my tastes, and hellishly judgmental, but she was not evil by any means. The point of this story is that the CIA is composed of people, people much like thee and me.

For the record, I said No, thank you. Just imagine how different a man I might be today, if I had said Yes, thank you. Granted, with my basic irreverence for authority, I might well have wound up dead or in prison. But, on the gripping hand, I might have wound up a man much like Robert Grenier.

Is Greece Being Abandoned?

2011-09-16T09:57:00.001-07:00

With their own financial problems growing apace, the EU nations are showing some signs that they may perhaps abandon Greece.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, (who belongs in a prison cell for his role in the 2008 meltdown, and subsequent robbery of the US taxpayer), took the unprecedented step of actually attending a meeting of EU Zone financial ministers. And if, at this point, you find yourself wondering just why this is unprecedented, join the club.

Watch carefully the comments of Finnish Finance Minister Jutta Urpilainen in this video. And speaking of her, how come the Finns get a hottie like her, and we get stuck with an ugly jug-eared motherfucker like Geithner? There is no justice in the world.

Open Salon readers can view the video and an AJE text article with some further information here.

And, for a totally different take on the issue, see this editorial at The Asia Times. Be aware as you read, however, that this is a very conservative paper, in financial terms.

Trumpka as Hoffa?

2011-09-06T07:59:00.000-07:00

My attention was directed to this raving right-wing excuse for a blog by some forum friends. Yes, I'm actually linking to a blog I adamantly disagree with. Not a clever thing to do in terms of traffic management, but who cares.

The author of this blog, apparently one Doug Ross, pretends to mistake Trumpka for Jimmy Hoffa Junior, saying "All these labor leaders look alike to me". Given that he'd just mentioned Frederica Wilson, Maxine Waters, and Jesse Jackson, I suspect that this was right-wing code-speak for "all black people look the same". Ahh, the more it changes, the more it stays the same.

(Edit: Yes, I realize that that Trumpka and Hoffa, Jr are both white)

What we have here is transference, in which the the Right accuses the Left of the transgressions which the Right itself has instigated. The violent demonstrations of the Teabaggers are retroactively justified by pointing a finger at the Left and screaming "Violence! Commies! Revolution!" as soon as the Left dares to defend itself, and this while blithely ignoring the calls for revolution which have been coming from the Tea Party, (and other loathsome creatures of the Far Right), for over three years now.

I sometimes wonder if maybe I shouldn't avoid all discussion of the Left/Right divide on this blog, because it plays right into the divide-and-conquer game, and the last thing we need is to fight among ourselves. But on the other hand, how can I avoid this subject when the GOP has waged a war against the poor and the unemployed for over a decade now?

This is certainly not to say that the Democrats as a whole have been anything more than lukewarm friends to the unemployed and disadvantaged, and Obama might as well be a Republican for all he's done to help (which is, let's face it, more or less nothing).

From 1776 to 1861, the people of the USA managed to compromise, and built one of the greatest nations on earth. Then that willingness to compromise was sabotaged by powerful men who had a vested financial interest in seeing it destroyed, men who reaped huge profits from the chaos of war via fat government contracts.

And the nightmare of the War Between The States does not need to be explained to any of you, I'm sure.

Again today, we stand on the brink of chaos, our willingness to compromise and agree to disagree having been sabotaged by powerful men, (and women), who stand to profit from the resulting nightmare.

Lenin said that history repeats itself, first as tragedy, and then as farce.

I Got Nothing

2011-08-29T09:34:00.000-07:00

Blame it on the heat, but my muse is on strike, and this morning my mind is a complete blank. Yes, even more so than usual. Here's an Onion video that sums it all up very well, complete with bullshit commercial for gas-guzzling, obsolete trash that nobody in their right mind would waste money on.

Open Salon readers can view the video here

Steve Jobs Resigns After Realizing Technology Has Gone As Far As It Can

One Picture...

2011-08-26T09:04:00.001-07:00

...is worth a thousand words.

Here, from the pen, (or the computer), of Skulz Fontaine, proprietor of the site called The Graphic Visigoth!, is a picture that captures it all better than anything I could ever write.

Remember Fukushima?

2011-08-23T08:44:00.000-07:00

Hey folks, remember Fukushima? You know, that Japanese nuclear plant in partial meltdown, the one that has been dropped from the news in favor of political nonsense surrounding the Republican silly season?

Well, the problem hasn't gone away just because it's dropped off the mainstream media. In fact, there are signs that we haven't seen the worst of things yet. And the Japanese government is lying shamelessly to its own people about the extent of the radiation release. Aren't you glad we live in Amerika, where our government would never lie to us?

The only good news is that people are stepping up to conduct their own monitoring, and sharing the information. Check out this report by Safecast. Interesting, no?

But the radioactive chickens inevitably come home to roost, and it appears that Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan is about to resign. At least he's not required to fall on his sword. Oh, cheap shot, Possum, cheap shot.

Short-Selling Explained

2011-08-12T09:29:00.001-07:00

This brief video offers a good explanation of just what short-selling is all about.

The relevance of that issue at the moment is that 4 European nations have just banned the practice, as there is evidence that it has been used in the very recent past to manipulate financial markets for the gain of certain rich elites. And of course, such manipulations do immense harm to all those of us who are not rich.

(Open Salon readers can watch the video here, or at my main site here)

A New Campaign For The 99ers

2011-08-11T12:11:00.000-07:00

The problem we 99ers have is that we have become invisible. We get no attention from media or politicians, and ignoring us has become far cheaper and easier than helping us. Now, we cannot do anything about the cost of helping us. That is a fixed number, although it keeps creeping up as we grow in numbers.

So, the problem is that variable A (cost of helping us) is greater than variable Z, (cost of ignoring us).

We need to reverse that, so that Z, (cost of ignoring us), is greater than A, (cost of helping us).

And we cannot reduce the value of variable A, (cost of helping us).

Therefore the only way to achieve our goal is to increase the value of variable Z, the cost of ignoring us.

In summary,we have to make it prohibitively expensive to keep ignoring us. And, at least for now, we need to accomplish this without breaking the law.

So, here is a simple suggestion for a first little baby step in that direction.

I want to convince every 99er in America to re-apply for unemployment once a month. There is no rule against this, there is no prohibition whatsoever. We just fill out a new application every calendar month, telling the full and honest truth. And every month, the state unemployment machinery has to process all those applications, and send us a form letter saying "you have already received the full 99 weeks of blah blah blah, etc, etc".

The California EDD admits that there are 469,000+ of us in California alone. That means about 120,000 applications a week for them to process, deal with, and respond to.

There is also a secondary benefit to this idea. If and when something like HR 589 should ever be passed, all of us will still be active in the files of our state unemployment departments. Until today, Cal EDD hadn't heard from me in over a year. If HR 589 did pass, would they remember me?

Anyhow, I am truly fired up about this idea. It's something we can do, and do for free, and in most states we can do it online.

London Is Burning

2011-08-08T14:20:00.000-07:00

Watching the live video from the London riots on Al Jazeera English, I was amazed at how many times a commentator said something to the effect that this was "difficult to understand". Anyone who feels that way, obviously has a job.

It's almost amusing to listen to the government Talking Heads like Nick Clegg declare indignantly that "there is no excuse", calling the rioters thugs, criminals, etc. While I'm not suggesting that the situations are equivalent, the similarity of the UK government's rhetoric to that being employed by the Syrian government is impossible to ignore.

Then again, they are not completely dissimilar. In both cases, there is an incumbent government which does not represent the people, but rather a rich elite. In both cases, that government employs force to repress the popular will.

So now, on the third day, the rioting has spread to Birmingham and Leeds. And the Cameron government is still frantically denying that this could possibly have any connection to the recent round of vicious cuts to public services, to the brutally high unemployment rate, to the whole ruthless package of "austerity measures".

While my sympathies are with the rioters, that doesn't mean I think what they're doing is at all clever. Burning down their own neighbourhood is dumb, and puts no pressure at all on those actually responsible for their misery. If they want to do some good, they need to march to the neighbourhoods where the rich people live, and burn down their houses.

Turning Points

2011-08-07T09:56:00.001-07:00

It is commonly recognised that in a conventional war, there are turning points which are, at least in the clarity of 20-20 hindsight, fairly obvious.

Midway was the turning point of WWII in the Pacific, as Stalingrad was the turning point of the War in the East. At such decisive battles in a conventional war, one side suffers losses of men and material that tip the balance decisively and irrevocably in favor of the other side. At Midway, the IJN lost four fleet carriers. At Stalingrad, the Wehrmacht lost the entire 6th army, some three-quarters of a million men.

Insurgencies are more nebulous. They have no formal beginning, and in many cases, never a true ending either. FARC have been fighting in Colombia for 40 years now. The obvious exception is a successful revolution, in which the insurgents become the new government.

And yet insurgencies also have their turning points, though they can be far more difficult to recognise.

The turning point for the French war in Indochina was either Dien Bien Phu, in April/May of 1954, or the Destruction of Mobile Group 100 in June of that year.

The turning point for the US involvement in Vietnam was the Tet Offensive of 1968. Note carefully that in the strictly military sense, this offensive was a victory for the US, and a disaster for the Communists. Yet in the political arena, that outcome was completely reversed. And an insurgency is not primarily a military struggle, it is a political struggle. It is the failure of US leadership to grasp this basic fact which has prevented the US from ever conducting a successful counter-insurgency.

The destruction of a CH-47 Chinook on Friday, 30-35 miles outside Kabul, which apparently resulted in the deaths of 22 Seals, a dozen others, and the helicopter crew, is being claimed by the Taliban. While claims mean little in a situation of this sort, unless it was a major mechanical failure, they probably did shoot it down.

Is this a turning point?

Militarily, no. Politically, perhaps.

Again, note that this happened just outside of the capital of Kabul, not off somewhere along the Pakistani border. That fact alone magnifies the political impact of the event.

And if the Taliban have finally managed to obtain at least semi-modern shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles, then all bets are off, and the whole equation has changed.

(Open Salon readers can watch the video here)

Print story (and the same video) here

US Credit Rating Reduced; Geithner Eats Crow

2011-08-05T19:10:00.001-07:00

Standard and Poor has followed through on its threat, and reduced the credit rating of the US Government from AAA to AA+, at the same time as the other two major credit rating agencies confirmed their AAA ratings.

Here's the story, just broken at The Hill about an hour and a half ago. Note that they did this late on a Friday, so that it will tend to fall into the "black hole" of the weekly news cycle.

Oh my!

Now, here's another story, from back in April of this year, in which Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner says there is "no risk" that the US will lose its top credit rating.

Ohhhhh, Timmy! What will you do now? Your record isn't looking very good, is it?

Possum's Budget Plan

2011-08-01T09:43:00.000-07:00

Early in my working life, I learned that you should never go to your boss and point out a problem, unless you also have a proposed solution in hand.

Given that I'm totally against, with every fibre of my being, the proposed "give away the store" budget plan agreed to by our thoroughly emasculated Eunuch-in-chief, I felt I should offer my own counter-proposal.

So, without further ado, your favorite marsupial varmint presents, The Possum Budget Plan -

Raise the maximum tax rate to 95%.

Eliminate the capital gains tax, and tax all income the same.

Cut the Intelligence budget by 50% over three years; cutting 20% the first year, 35% the second year, and 50% in the third year.

Put an absolute end to "black budgets" for the intelligence community. Such practices are pernicious to democracy, and they have no place in a free state.

Cut the Pentagon budget by 50% over three years; cutting 20% the first year, 35% the second year, and 50% in the third year.

End all special appropriations for the Pentagon. No more off-budget special appropriations of $60 Billion whenever the generals ask for it. If they can't afford the war, then don't start the war.

Immediate forced retirement of 30% of all military officers of flag rank, (O-7 and above, i.e. generals and admirals), without the customary automatic promotion on retirement. No further promotions to O-7 or above except on a one-for-one basis as existing flag officers retire. (Explanation- The circa 400-ship US Navy of today has more admirals than it did in the days of the 600-ship Reagan navy. There is no need for that much useless, clueless brass. They just interfere with the captains and lieutenants who actually get things done in the military.)

End all federal subsidies to corporations. All of them, no exceptions. Agricultural subsidies to individuals can stay on the books.

Terminate the existence of the Most Favored Nation trading status.

Place an immediate 30% tariff on all imports, of everything, with no exceptions, unless Congress determines that certain imports need to have an even higher tariff.

Immediately and permanently terminate the H-1b visa program, and give all current H-1b visa holders 90 days to leave the country.

Compensate for the item above by instituting a massive government program to re-train American workers, with preference given to veterans, the unemployed, and those over 45 years of age.

Institute an immediate and absolute moratorium on all immigration until the U-7 unemployment rate in the USA has fallen below 3%.

Require the immigration service to conduct frequent raids on businesses that hire illegal aliens. Require that each single illegal alien employed by a business be considered separately for purposes of assessing fines and other legal penalties, rather than allowing a judge to lump them all together and impose but a single fine. In short, make it prohibitively expensive for anyone to employ illegal aliens.

Institute an immediate and absolute moratorium on all foreign aid, in any form, until the U-7 unemployment rate in the USA has fallen below 3%.

Permanently end all aid to Israel, and institute collection proceedings against Israel to recover the approximately $1 Trillion in US taxpayer money already embezzled by the Zionist mafia. We want our money back.

Declare AIPAC and its mouthpiece WINEP to be what they are, paid lobbying organs of a foreign power, and an arguably hostile foreign power, at that. Order the FBI to commence an immediate criminal investigation against AIPAC for massive political bribery and influence-buying.

Open a true investigation of the sinking of the USS Liberty, with no white-wash this time. File a case before the World Court to collect compensation from Israel for the next of kin of those US servicemen murdered by Israel in that sad incident.

Institute new Labor legislation at the Federal level to empower unions, to make it easier for employees to unionize, and to prevent union-busting by the state governments.

I think that would do the job of balancing the budget quite nicely.

Dems Fold Again

2011-07-31T08:35:00.000-07:00

Well, the news out of DC is grim as hell, but I cannot claim it's unexpected.

The Democrats are apparently set to bend us over and spread our cheeks for the Republicans, again. And this time, we're not even getting any Astroglide.

You can read the story at The Hill linked above, but the gist of it is $3 Trillion, (yes, Trillion), in cuts to things like Social Security and Medicare, with no additional revenue at all. None, zilch, zip, nada, bupkis. Not even closing any tax loopholes, let alone actually raising taxes rates on the ultra-rich, who are paying less taxes now than at any time in the last 75 years. Oh, no, the Republicans insist that we must not tax the "job creators".

But there's a problem with that label. Over 90% of the new wealth created in the last decade has gone to the uber-rich. Yet, at the same time, the US job market has seen its worst decade since the Great Depression. If the ultra-rich are the job creators, where are the jobs they should have created in the last decade, with all that new money they made? Obviously, those jobs were not created. So, clearly, labeling the ultra-wealthy as "job creators" is total bullshit.

And where is our Fearless Leader in all of this? Wringing his hands and playing the Peevish Professor, or scolding us like "Dad" in some 1950's black and white TV show. Gee, Mr President, I'm really sorry. Can I have a job now, please?

My "wishful thinking" side cannot help but imagine how different this could be if Hilary had won the Democratic nomination back in 2008. The woman is not a saint by any means; if anything she's a ball-busting bitch. But I doubt she'd have gotten herself into this ugly a budget mess in the first place, and if she did, I'm sure she'd have the courage to fight her way out of it.

Gods have mercy, but we are so well and truly screwed.

Bug Splat

2011-07-30T14:02:00.000-07:00

They call it "bug splat", the splotch of blood, bones, and viscera that marks the site of a successful drone strike. To those manning the consoles in Nevada, it signifies "suspected militants" who have just been "neutralised"; to those on the ground, in most cases, it represents a family that has been shattered, a home destroyed.

So begins a new article on the drone war in Pakistan, by Muhammad Idrees Ahmad.

I do suggest you take the time to read this article. This is a watershed moment in history, I am convinced of that in an overall sense. And this is a very relevant subject.

Here's the gist of it - the USA has killed 2500 Pakistanis with drone strikes. Of that total, thirty-five were actual targets. The rest were all civilians.

Ouch.

Go read it, please.

Bullshit Bomb Plot

2011-07-29T08:42:00.000-07:00

Oh my, another bomb plot foiled. The world is safe for Democracy again, thanks to the vigilance of your Amerikan Law Enforsement. They can't spell for shit, but they have guns and badges and egos the size of Texas, yeehaw!

OK, to begin, a practical concession to the current environment of "security" paranoia. This scribble is not intended to encourage anyone to make things that go boom, or to teach anyone how. Demolitions is scary shit, even when working with good quality, commercially manufactured ordnance, and I discommend it. Demolitions of the improvised sort are an order of magnitude more unstable, and I strongly discommend it. Period, full stop, end of sentence.

This scribble is intended to highlight certain practical aspects of hypothetical construction of such improvised demolitions, in order to show how law enforcement and their tame media regularly distort the facts of such alleged cases.

There are two main things you need to know.

First, smokeless powder is not an explosive.

Second, the detonators are the issue.

Point One - Gunpowder

The stuff of Hollywood. We all grow up thinking we know what it is. Well, with a helpless shrug of apology to Woody Allen, let me present to you, dear reader, "Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Gunpowder, But Were Afraid To Ask". I will keep this short and simple, I promise.

Basically, there are two types of gunpowder.

The original gunpowder is called Black Powder, and was apparently devised by the Chinese, and used as far back as the Three Kingdoms period, circa the 3rd century AD. Black Powder is a mixture of charcoal, sulfur, and saltpeter.

Black Powder is a true explosive, albeit what is classified as a "low explosive".

In the mid-to-late 19th century, Smokeless Powder came into use. Smokeless Powder is a form of nitrocellulose; the first variety was made by pouring nitric acid on cotton, and was called guncotton. Later, nitroglycerin was added to the process.

Smokeless Powder is not an explosive.

Let me say that again. Smokeless Powder is not an explosive.

There are immense quantities of detail which I have omitted for purposes of brevity, but that is the gist of the issue.

Point Two - Detonators Are The Issue.

Every time a story like this breaks, the media breathlessly inform us that "bomb-making materials" were found in the suspect's car/home/backpack/rectum/whatever.

Take a deep breath. You have "bomb-making materials" in your home. So do your neighbours. So does your minister, (rabbi, priest, high priestess, imam, prayer leader, church elder, whatever). "Bomb-making materials" are everywhere. If you don't believe me, root around and find a copy of the old Anarchists Cookbook. Yes, yes, it's verboten reading material these days, but there are still copies floating around out there. FFS, do not, repeat not, try any of the recipes in there, because half of them are likely to blow up in your face, but the point remains the same.

Bomb-making materials are everywhere.

Timmy McVeigh (allegedly) blew up the OKC Federal building with a bomb improvised from lawn fertilizer. In actual point of fact, there were obviously demolitions planted inside the building as well, as attested to by the fact that the broken ends of the concrete beams were rounded rather than jagged, but the point remains, he made a hell of a big boom with explosive improvised from materials you can buy at Home Depot.

The issue is detonators.

It is not possible to improvise an effective and reliable remote detonator, using readily available materials. It cannot be done. The only practical solution is to use commercially produced electrical detonators, what are commonly called "blasting caps".

And those cannot be bought. The only way to obtain them is to steal them, usually from a construction company. And if you're going to break in and steal detonators, why not steal the commercially produced explosives stored nearby (yes, they really do that), at the same time?

So, next time you read another breathless announcement about "bomb-making materials", stop and think about this. Are you getting facts, or a ration of shit?

Thor's Day

2011-07-28T08:14:00.000-07:00

Ah, what lovely times in which to live!

I'm not even going to rant about the aftermath of the Norwegian Shooter incident, except to say that the discourse in Israel, on the Hebrew language websites, is disgusting. There are far, far too many Israelis saying that the Norwegians "had it coming" for supporting Palestine. Such bigoted, hateful, narrow-mindedness sows the seeds of its own destruction, and when it happens, perhaps the world will say that Israel "had it coming".

Ted Rall points out the creation of another astroturf (fake grassroots) cat's paw organization called Americans Elect. ("Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!"). One is tempted to ask how stupid they think we are, but the probable answer is too painful to contemplate.

Al Jazeera English has an Op-Ed on the "Censorship of War Casualties in the US" which I found to be worth reading. It is a fact that the MSM goes out of its way to avoid showing Mr and Mrs America the blood and gore that is the inevitable by-product of American Imperialism.

Paul Rosenberg has an interesting piece on the New Apostolic Reformation, again at AJE. Oh, those wacky fundamentalists. If they weren't so scary, they would be highly amusing to watch.

And it was pointed out to me today that Obama has a serious problem on his hands. Well, yes, OK, he has a whole basket-full of them, but give the man a break. Middle East diplomacy is hard! Pardon the cheap shot, but I'm still thinking about the administration's comment that bringing peace to the Middle East had turned out to be much more difficult than the President had expected.

I mean, no shit, Sherlock! Just think about the colossal arrogance or colossal ignorance that comment betrayed. There has only been an issue here since 1948. That was during the administration of Harry Truman. Since then, Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush Sr, Clinton, and Bush Jr have all wrestled with the issue. Eleven different administrations have tried to bring peace to the Middle East. If you want to be cynical and say that nobody before Nixon tried very hard (or even at all), that's still seven Presidents, seven administrations, that have struggled with this intractable tarbaby of an issue. But Obama thought he was just going to waltz in there and fix it all up in time for the midterms of 2010.

Either the man is stupendously arrogant, or he was just ignorant of foreign affairs to a truly frightening degree. And his grasp of international issues does not seem to be improving with experience.

So, to the current issue. International support for a unilateral Palestinian declaration of statehood is snowballing rapidly. It is becoming obvious that the Palestinians will have enough support in the General Assembly to pass their measure with ease this September, barely a month from now. This is going to leave the US playing the dog in the manger by vetoing it in the Security Council.

Now, Obama is in re-election mode, utterly and shamelessly. Can he afford to alienate his Democratic base by a Security Council veto of Palestinian hopes, against the clear majority of international opinion, and just hope desperately they have forgiven him by next November? Or will that be the straw that breaks the camel's back, on top of the ugly cutbacks in Social Security and Medicare that he is crying out to give the Republicans? With the economy stalling badly, the real unemployment rate just under 20% and climbing, and jobs nowhere to be found, just how much more can Obama afford to piss-off the Left?

The Buchanan Paradox

2011-07-24T09:34:00.001-07:00

Al Jazeera English has just posted an interview by Riz Khan, another in his One on One series. The subject of this particular interview is none other than Pat Buchanan.

Pat is an old man these days, being well into his eighth decade, and the years have taken a visible toll. He wanders a bit at times, as old men will, and gets a bit long-winded with stories that could interest only a historian.

But in the 25 minute interview, there are about eight minutes of material that are very worth watching.

For example, drag the slider on the video to 1:40 and listen to Riz Khan ask Pat about the rise of the Neo-Cons, and listen carefully to the answer he gives.

Then drag the slider to 18:20 and listen to Pat answer a question about what caused him to become disillusioned with the Republican Party. He talks again about the end of the cold war and the beginning of the current interventionist foreign policy, and how that was a Neo-Con policy not at all in line with traditional Conservative thinking. Then he talks about the exodus of good jobs, and admits he was wrong about Free Trade. "But American workers cannot be made to compete with workers in Singapore and Malaysia who are making one dollar or two dollars an hour"

In fact, if you have the patience to suffer through a brief bit about the Reform Party bid in 2000, the rest of the interview from that point is worth watching.

There are many people who loathe Pat as simply one more Conservative asshole, but that opinion does the man a serious injustice.

When Pat Buchanan talks about being against an interventionist foreign policy, that's not a typically conservative opinion. In fact, it's very much the opposite.

When he speaks against Free Trade, and against the outsourcing of jobs, and says that US workers cannot be made to compete with the cheap labor markets in Asia, that's not a typically Conservative opinion. In fact, it's very much the opposite.

I disagree vehemently with Pat Buchanan on a very great number off issues. But I do not dismiss him as simply one more Conservative asshole. Like it or not, for better or for worse, he is a unique American.

But he can be an asshole at times.

Oslo? OSLO? Why Norway?

2011-07-22T08:30:00.000-07:00

An explosion in Oslo, Norway early this morning, (early morning, California time; it was just after 3pm in Oslo), has now been officially confirmed to have been a bomb. At least two people are confirmed to have died, and thus far we have no idea about injuries

There is speculation as to the target; the blast did occur very close to the office of the Prime Minister, but so far no definite idea. Some have mentioned an Islamic activist who is being deported to Iraq. Some have mentioned the recent re-printing of "anti-Islamic" cartoons by a newspaper whose offices are nearby the blast. Others have pointed to Norway's participation in the NATO missions in Libya and Afghanistan. There is always the possibility of a false-flag attack by Mossad, in order to discredit Islam in general, prior to the expected UN showdown in September over a unilateral declaration of Palestinian statehood.

At this point, all we know for certain is that this is the ugliest thing to happen in Norway since World War II.

One Year

2011-07-19T09:30:00.001-07:00

Well, well, how time flies when you're having fun. It was one year ago today that I published my first blog at Blogger.com; the cross-post at Open Salon came about somewhat later.

Three hundred sixty-five days, and one hundred fifty-three scribbles later, here we are.

In all sincerity, I want to thank my dear old dad, whom we will refer to simply as "George", in order to protect his privacy. Without you pushing me to do this, father of mine, I'd never have gotten started. Thank you, with all my heart.

And so, dear reader, l'll spare you the tedious year-in-retrospect bullshit. But ask yourself, are you better off than you were a year ago? Are we, the human race, better off than we were a year ago?

I don't think so...

Sad Times In Africa

2011-07-18T09:21:00.000-07:00

In addition to the hideous situation in Somalia, which is spilling over into northern Kenya, (and which has made the news cycle), there is more grim news out of Africa.

South Africa is preparing a mass expulsion of between 1 million and 2 million Zimbabwean refugees. Now, to refresh your memory, those Zimbabweans fled across the border to South Africa because their nation has been reduced to a basket case by 30 years of dictatorship under a man named Mugabe. More specifically, they fled a cholera epidemic, government violence against political opponents, and an inflation rate that ran into five digits. Yes, I'm serious.

Zimbabwe, where to begin. Zimbabwe is one of the most promising nations in sub-Saharan Africa, and all of that promise has been squandered, murdered, bastardized, prostituted, and sold down the river. Zimbabwe was once a major exporter of food to its neighbours. Today, Zimbabwe is a major importer of food. Zimbabwe once had the best educational system on the African continent. Even today, after thirty years of neglect, 90% of all Zimbabweans over age fifteen are literate in English. Yes, the official language of Zimbabwe is English.

It's enough to make you scream for the sheer criminal waste of human potential.

And further north in Kenya, the government has just carved a big chunk off the Selous Game Reserve, a World Heritage site, in order to make room for a uranium mining project.

Now, let's think about this. A game preserve, a place where a small fragment of East Africa's rapidly vanishing wildlife is given a home relatively safe from poachers and bulldozers. And they're going to carve a chunk off of that for a massively polluting, incredibly toxic uranium mining complex.

Granted, there are other problems closer to home. Granted, as a 99er, I have umpteen bazillion things to worry about, and which have more to do with how well I eat next month, and whether I can keep lights, water, and internet turned on for another 30 days. But in the end, I am only one person. If I fall over dead five minutes from now, the planet will keep spinning and life will go on and the species will survive. But if we irretrievably fuXX0r our planet, the species Homo sapiens will not survive.

South China Sea, Part V

2011-07-16T09:42:00.000-07:00

It's been a month since I last mentioned the subject of the South China Sea, and there have been a few new developments, so I suppose it's that time again. Though I must say the degree of apparent interest in this topic here in the US has been underwhelming to non-existent.

China at the moment is playing it very soft on the subject of the South China Sea, because they have other more pressing subjects to pursue. Specifically, they are busy making friends in Europe by establishing stronger economic ties and offering financial support. Europe's bankers, who essentially run the EU, will not forget this support at a time of crisis. And China is also busy applying heavy pressure behind the scenes to get Washington to hammer out a budget deal and raise the debt ceiling. China has invested very heavily in US government debt, and would take a huge loss if Uncle Sam should default.

Behind the scenes, however, the Chinese have been as busy as the proverbial beaver.

This month, July 2011, will see China deploy to the Spratly Islands region the biggest oil exploration, drilling and support rig in existence, a rig constructed at an investment of 8 Billion US dollars.

July 2011 will also see the official launch by the Chinese Navy of its first aircraft carrier, and there is a long tale of deception behind that. Back in 1998, the Chinese bought an unfinished aircraft carrier from the Ukraine, saying that they intended to make a floating casino out of it. The carrier, named Varyag, was a leftover from the USSR, and Ukraine had no use for it. In a truly epic voyage, which deserves a post of its own, the Chinese then towed the Varyag to China, where it has been in drydock ever since. This month, the completed aircraft carrier will be launched, with no casino facilities. Now, let it be understood that this is not a fleet carrier like those used by the US Navy. It is in fact a smaller "ski jump" design of the type once employed by European navies.

And speaking of European navies and aircraft carriers, there are three different Chinese consortia bidding on the former HMS Ark Royal. The story this time is that it will be converted into "the world's largest floating exhibition platform for high-end appliances". I can't even keep a straight face while typing that. Come on, guys, can't you at least cook up a halfway-credible cover story? Not all of us are complete and total idiots...

Olivia Chung's story on the Ark Royal sale in Asia Times Online

Retired US diplomat David Brown has raised another interesting point about the South China Sea area, (we have got to make up a handy acronym for that), namely the existence of Methane Hydrates in vast quantities under the sea. When heated, these Methane Hydrates release methane, or natural gas. Biting my tongue here.

According to David Brown's article-

A 2007 Chinese report estimated that the methane hydrate deposits found so far in the South China Sea may hold as much exploitable energy as 10 billion tons of oil.

I confess that one made me scratch my head a little. Oil is usually measured in barrels, no? Well, it turns out that's mostly an American thing. There can be 6 to 8 barrels of oil in a ton of oil, depending on density. And whose ton we're talking about. But let's use the lower figure.

The equivalent of Ten Billion tons of oil. Six barrels per ton. Sixty Billion barrels of oil, equivalent.

And I think we now understand why the Chinese want the South China Sea so badly.

David Brown's Folly And The South China Sea, also in Asia Times Online

New Golden Gate Bridge, Made In China

2011-07-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

The New Golden Gate Bridge, Made In China

Yes, sadly enough, I'm serious. The replacement for the old Golden Gate Bridge, to stretch across the San Francisco Bay to Oakland, is being made in China.

The claim is that the state of California has saved "millions" in labor costs by building the bridge in Shanghai. But let's think about that. If those millions had been paid to California workers, what would have been different?

They'd have paid income tax, to both Federal and California governments.
They'd have paid Social Security taxes on that money.
They'd have spent that money here in California.
The follow-on effects would have generated more millions in economic activity.
And we'd have an American-made bridge.

So, given that all of this is painfully obvious, my questions are as follows.

Why hasn't the mainstream media reported on this?
Who was bribed to make this happen?
Who profits from this boondoggle, other than the Chinese?

Hidden Lies In June Jobs Report

2011-07-11T08:01:00.000-07:00

So, you've seen the June jobs report by now. According to the Obama administration's official figures, only a net 18,000 jobs were added in June. In evaluating that, remember that we need to add 150,000 new jobs per month just to keep up with new workers entering the workforce, before we can even start making any headway on putting the unemployed back to work.

Well, that 18,000 is a lie. The truth is that the net number of jobs added was negative. The economy actually lost 157,000 jobs. Yes. The truth is not +18K but rather -157K.

Let's look at the deceits employed to make that appallingly negative number look at least a little positive.

First, the administration chose to add a totally imaginary 131,000 to that number. Their explanation is that they "believe" this many new jobs were created by newly formed companies, and therefore they are invisible. They have no evidence of this, not a thing to base it on, they just pulled a number out of their collective ass because they felt like it.

But that still left them with a net loss of 26,000 jobs, and they couldn't have that. So they moved 44,000 jobs from May to June. That's right, they just arbitrarily adjusted the May report downwards by 44,000, and moved those jobs into June instead, in order to get themselves the positive number they felt they needed. To quote John Crudele, "It's like moving the fences at Citi Field so the Mets players can hit more home runs. It might make Jose Reyes feel better, but it doesn't actually make him more powerful."

Read the rest of the Crudele's report here.

I can't wait to see how the Obamapologists spin this one-

"He had to do it, there was no choice!" or
"The Republicans forced him to!" or even
"Bush did it too, you know" or maybe that tired old standby
"You just don't understand economics"

As if that wasn't bad enough, the U-6 unemployment rate, the number that really matters, increased from 15.8% to 16.2%, and that number doesn't even include the six million 99ers.

One Wife Not Enough

2011-07-10T17:21:00.001-07:00

Ah, marriage, domestic bliss. Hey, what are you laughing about?

Two stories here.

Michelle Bachmann, the Great White Hope of the Clueless Right, has signed a 14-point pledge, (hey, she can count to 14, that makes her smarter than Sarah Palin), eschewing things like "polygamy, adultery, and polyandry", along with a few minor points like homosexuality, (no Bachmann-Palin slash fanfic), and Sharia Islam. Just, you know, in case she felt the urge to suddenly recite the Shahadah...

And it's interesting that she didn't include polygyny.

You can check the links above, but here's a summary.

Polygyny is a man with two or more wives, in which there is no direct marriage bond between the wives. This is what Islam endorses. This is typical of the patriarchs in the Old Testament of the Christian bible. This is also what Fundamentalist Mormons practice, although neither LDS nor RLDS endorse it.

Polyandry is a woman with two or more husbands, in which there is no direct marriage bond between the husbands. This is rare.

Polygamy is a marriage with more than two partners, in which each partner is married to each of the others. In the USA, we usually call this group marriage.

Meanwhile, back in Jordan, land of the last Hashemite king, the "Committee For Supporting Polygamy" has been launched to promote polygyny, although they call it polygamy. Confused yet? No? Well then, read on by all means. It only gets better. "Spinsterhood," says the founder, "is a dangerous social phenomenon that, if unabated through marriage, would lead to social and ethical degeneration."

Now, those of you who read this blog regularly, know by now that I am a staunch opponent of Islamophobia. I'm no Arab-basher. And I grant you that my North American perspective on society is not well-suited to judge social phenomena in the Middle East. But...

Back to the story. It seems that in Jordan, the number of unmarried women over thirty is 15 times what it was in 1981.

Now, if you want to hear a calm, reasonable Jordanian, from a charity that pays for weddings for those who cannot afford them, explain why he thinks "polygamy" (polyandry, dammit) is not a good idea, read the story and watch the video. The gentleman in question comes on about 1:15

So, the other man, at the beginning of the video, who just married his third wife. Islam allows him a total of four, do you think we could get him to marry Michelle Bachmann?

There exist a number of related posts on polyandry among the Jewish community over at the Mostly Kosher blog, much to my surprise. Life educates us every day.

Porn Crazy On A Bitter 4th

2011-07-04T10:00:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July, we say.

Just what's so fucking happy about it?

At least 20 million Americans are unemployed. At least 10 million more are underemployed. At least 7 million of the unemployed, the 99ers, have completely exhausted their unemployment benefits, and have nothing at all, since they still cannot find a job.

14% of the population of the USA is now receiving Food Stamps.

And meanwhile, we are on track to break the barrier of Four Trillion US dollars spent thus far on the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Libya. Oh, but don't worry, it's only about 3 and a half Trillion so far.

Our constitutional rights have been raped away by the bitterly misnamed Patriot Act. The President has murdered Habeas Corpus. And the US Supreme Court is dominated by reactionaries who have declared corporations to have the same rights as people.

The Gulf of Mexico is dying, we still haven't been told the brutal truth about radiation leakage from the Fukushima plant in Japan, and our President is the most painfully inadequate eunuch to sit his unworthy fundament in the Oval Office since Warren G Harding.

Oh, but hey, Happy 4th of July, everyone!

Then again, (gasp!) perhaps my brain has been re-wired by pornography. That is the breathtakingly unoriginal assertion of Naomi Wolf in a recent article at AJE.

If you really have nothing better to do than read her regurgitated drivel, you will find that it's a tired recycling of old and discredited theories from the grossly-misnamed "War on Drugs", just re-targeted on pr0n instead. "They need more and more powerful drugs to get them off" has become, "They need more and more hardcore porn to get them off".

Oh, and to justify that breathless exclamation about "rewiring the male brain", she then solemnly invokes the word "dopamine", ooooooooh, Naomi, that's science! The whole article is a series of sloppy assertions, pseudo-validated by phrases like "we now know" and "there is an increasing body of evidence to support". And yet, not once in the whole article does she cite a single reference to back up any of these assertions. In fact the only reference in the whole article, and a half-assed one at that, is in support of a passing reference to the alleged effects of porn upon women.

If dear Naomi knew anything at all about pr0n, she'd know that while addictive personalities and those who have been raised in a sexually-repressive atmosphere may go crazy with it, most men simply get incredibly bored with it in fairly short order.

In short, this is nothing more than a socio-political hit piece, targeting 49% of the human race.

If you want to argue against porn, there are far more credible ways to approach the subject. My mother, late in her life, changed her position on pr0n, and decided that she was against it, simply upon the pragmatic grounds that, (in her opinion), it leads men to have unreasonable expectations of women. Now, you may or may not agree with that, but we can at least discuss the assertion, although it doesn't do anything to address the First Amendment aspects of the debate.

Turkey May Attack Syria?

2011-06-27T18:12:00.000-07:00

This is an odd story.

I was making my usual rounds of foreign online publications, and in Today's Zaman, a Turkish newspaper/website, I found this story.

Now the Turkish story quotes a Kuwaiti media story claiming that Turkey has notified the other members of NATO that it may attack Syria. And down at the bottom of the column it also quotes al-Akhbar, a Lebanese paper said to be close to Hezbollah sources, as saying that Iran has warned Turkey that Iranian forces would attack Turkey if NATO attacks Syria.

Yeah, read that one a few times, it's confusing.

Who knows what basis there is to all this, if any. So far, I can find no trace of this story, or group of stories, being reported in any US Mainstream Media, or even on Al Jazeera English.

Your guess is as good as mine, dear reader.

Bachmann Needs A Boobjob

2011-06-27T07:37:00.000-07:00

So I woke up this morning, had a shower, and made myself a substantial breakfast of chicken Parmesan sausage, ($3.99 a pound at Henry's, nomnomnom!), hash browns with onions, and eggs. This turned out to be a good thing, because I needed all the fortification I could get before discovering that Michelle Bachmann (brief pause while the clouds part, the sun shines down, and the angels sing Hosanna), has felt a calling to run for President of these here Yoonited States of Amerika.

Of course, we all knew it was coming. But there's a difference between abstract knowledge of impending disaster, and actually getting kicked in the nuts.

Given that Obama is going to be a one-term President, there is a grim inevitability to the whole thing. Oh, I suppose if the Archangel Michael came down from Heaven with a flaming sword and announced in a voice of thunder that it was the Will of God that Obama be re-elected, it might happen. But short of that, he's almost certain to be kicked out on his worthless ass.

And the sad part is that everyone knows this. The Republicans know it, the Democrats know it, my cousin's dog in Shawnee Mission knows it. But the Democrats will nominate him anyhow, simply because that's what they have always done, and the Amerikan political machine worships at the anus of business-as-usual.

So, whatever, we're fucked, and there's really nothing to be done about it until people are desperate enough to start listening to the Anarchists; then the real party will begin. But until then, we might as well have fun with it, no?

So I put on some Wagner, as I often do when in an Gotterdammerung sort of mood, and all at once it came to me. Bachmann needs a boob job!

I mean, come on now, Palin has the rack, and it does get attention. After all, never forget Rule One.

(Possum's Guide To Understanding The Male Of The Species, Chapter 2-Axioms, Rule One - "Men are pigs".)

Yes, pigs. Grunting, oinking, squealing, rude, inconsiderate, farting, belching, perpetually horny animals. And most of us here in the USA have a raging obsession with boobs. Big boobs. So, clearly, the smart move for A-cup Michelle Bachmann is an expensive set of first-class implants. Now, if she's going to do this, it's going to be obvious. After all, that's the whole idea. So what point in subtlety?

No, no, they hang you for a sheep, they hang you for a lamb, may as well steal the whole buggering flock. Our dear Michelle should clearly throw caution to the winds and go for the Godzilla-does-Tokyo broke with a set of the Hitomi Tanaka-style monsters. (Be aware that any search you do on that name will very probably yield results which are decidedly NSFW, but check Jlist-dot-com if you're curious. And at home.)

Now picture her doing a campaign ad, with the winged helmet and the iron bra, with Ride of the Valkyrie playing in the background, shaking her spear in the air and displaying The Twins for all those anal-retentive, mother-fixated, closet Nazis that are the stalwarts of the Republican party.

Tell me that's too crazy for US politics. Tell me it would never happen. Go ahead.

Hamlet Online

2011-06-26T08:30:00.000-07:00

While enormous volumes have been written in recent years on the subject of online games, the vast majority, (if not the entirety), of that work has been written by those who are not themselves gamers. This is the equivalent of a treatise on rainbows written by a blind woman.

While I seldom venture upon this subject, preferring for the most part to focus upon international affairs, I have been a gamer since 1971. Now, "games", in that long-distant age we call "The 70's", consisted of half-inch square cardboard counters moved upon a paper map, usually regulated in hexagons. It would not be until the following year that I would encounter the first electronic game, as such, in the form of an arcade game called "Pong", right there next to the Foosball tables in the old Parkway Bowl.

Forty years later, a bright-eyed 11 has become a somewhat-world-weary 51, and the world of games is dominated by computers. Unfortunately, the games industry is dominated by corporations. Virtually all the big names from the early days of computer games are long gone, and the few that survive do so as naught but an empty shell, a shambling zombie corpse animated by the necromantic marketing of their soulless corporate masters.

The perhaps inevitable effect of this corporate domination has been catastrophically devastating to originality and innovation. This is bad enough in PC games, but the console is the ultimate expression of corporate slavery. Everything about a console is completely proprietary; it is capable of doing nothing other than playing the games approved by the corporation which controls it. And this leaves the gamer utterly at the mercy of that corporation.

Fortunately for the game geeks of the world, this bleak situation within the USA is somewhat balanced out by the availability of games from abroad.

If you'd like to try something really different in turn-based gaming, check out Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI from Koei. The game is based upon the oldest novel in the world, a 14th-century account of the end of the Han Dynasty, which actually took place in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD. Gameplay and all, this is a real gem, and something enormously different from western games. In a cruel irony, RTK XI is actually a PC port of what was originally a console game. What can I say?

But the game I mostly want to talk about today is something older, and amazingly successful in spite of relatively primitive graphics. Yes, I'm talking about Mabinogi, a free (yeah, right) online game played in large part by those 1/3 my age. And they're doing Shakespeare.

That's right, Shakespeare. In a move of staggering audacity, the folks at Nexon, the Korean company that owns Mabinogi, have actually translated Shakespeare into a playable "generation" of the ongoing campaign storyline.

They started with Hamlet back in January. Now, those of you that know your Shakespeare will realize that Hamlet is a very mutable play, since the three surviving "earliest" versions of the play, (referred to as Q1, Q2, and F1), are each so different from the other two, and Q1 much shorter.

Hamlet worked very well. I've played it all the way through with three different characters, and it was quite enjoyable. That wasn't what surprised me. What really surprised me was how well they managed to capture the spirit and essence of the story. I've seen stage productions of Hamlet which did not accomplish that goal so well. Let the purists scream in outrage.

Next they tackled Romeo and Juliet. This is a somewhat more difficult campaign, and I've only played this all the way through with one character so far, but again I would call it a success. They have managed to capture the essence and the feel of the story. All the major scenes are there, including one in which you have to sneak past the guards to serenade Juliet on her balcony. And another in which you play Romeo, and are forced to fight Tybalt.

I admit I felt guilty when Mercutio died, and I admit I was choked up at the very end when Juliet awakened to find Romeo dead and...yeah, well, you know what happens. If they can make the audience, (that's me, the gamer), feel what the Bard meant an audience to feel, I call that success.

Now, Nexon said at the start that they meant to do four Shakespeare plays, and they showed a teaser with four little icons. We have seen the first two. The third was something unrecognizable, at least to me, but others have suggested Othello or the Merchant of Venice. The fourth icon was clearly of three witches.

Oh my. The Scottish Play. Talk about mixed feelings.

US Infant Mortality

2011-06-22T09:51:00.000-07:00

I've known I should write about this for a year now, but I keep putting it off because it's such a grim subject. Well, I said in my last entry that I'd deal with this, and here it is.

Infant Mortality is defined as the number of deaths of babies under one year of age, per 1,000 live births. The infant mortality rate correlates very strongly with, and is among the best predictors of, state failure. IMR is therefore also a useful indicator of a country's level of health or development, and is a component of the physical quality of life index.

The CIA World Fact Book has a list here of Infant Mortality Rates for the nations of the world. There are 46 nations with lower IMR than that of the United States. Let's look at a few highlights from the roll call of shame.

USA has an IMR of 6.06

Greece, for all its troubles, has an IMR of 5.00
Canada has an IMR of 4.92
Cuba, (FFS!), has an IMR of 4.90

"Possum", you say, "one measly point doesn't impress me". OK, fine, let's move down the list a bit further.

Slovenia, for the love of god, has an IMR of 4.17
Ireland has an IMR of 3.85
Czech Republic has an IMR of 3.73
Italy has an IMR of 3.38
France is at 3.28
Hong Kong has an IMR of 2.90, less than half that of the USA. Are you disgusted yet?
Japan 2.78
Sweden 2.74
Bermuda 2.47
Singapore 2.32
Monaco tops the list, with the lowest Infant Mortality Rate in the world, at 1.79

Now, the naysayers will jump in with frantic denials founded on alleged inconsistencies in the manner of reporting data. That was a valid point prior to 2008, but no longer.

The only remaining inconsistency of any note is that Hong Kong and Japan still sometimes report deaths within the first 24 hours as still births rather than infant deaths. But in evaluating this, remember that IMR is deaths within the first year. And even if we totally discard the statistics from those two areas, that does nothing to invalidate the data from the other nations, such as Sweden, with IMR less than half of our own.

The USA has the most expensive healthcare system in the world, and the quality of the services we receive, (for those who even have access to healthcare), is for shit, by the standards of a first-world nation.

Fine, and now I've spent half a page giving you bad news on a thoroughly depressing subject. Now do you understand why I didn't want to write this?

So WTF are we going to do about it?

Infant Mortality Spikes in Philadelphia

2011-06-18T11:19:00.000-07:00

First, right out of the gate, take the core of this story with a grain of salt, (or perhaps half a shaker full), because it was reported on Fox News.

According to Fox news, quoting the director of the Radiation and Public Heath Project, Philadelphia is experiencing dangerously elevated levels of both radioactivity and iodine in its drinking water. At the same time, there has been a "spike" in infant mortality in Philadelphia.

I place the word "spike" in quotes for a good reason. The infant mortality per week "has increased by 48%", Fox breathlessly reports. Well, OK, 48% is an alarming increase. Then we discover that this translates to an increase from 5 per week to 7.5 per week. We'll pass over the obvious half-a-baby gags and references to the Wisdom of Solomon.

The question is, does this constitute a large enough statistical sample to be valid? I don't know, do you? If you have some professional competence in any applicable field, by all means please comment.

I do know that the subject of infant mortality is a shamefully embarrassing one for the USA, and I definitely intend to visit the topic in full very soon.

Radioactive Air Filters in Seattle

2011-06-16T09:22:00.000-07:00

Latest news leaking out of Japan indicates that the release of radiation, in particular micron-size "hot particles", (which allegedly cannot be detected by geiger counters), of caesium, plutonium, and strontium isotopes, has been far greater than has previously been admitted.

Earlier this month, Japan's Emergency Nuclear Response Headquarters finally admitted that Fukushima reactors 1, 2, and 3 had all experienced a full meltdown.

And, as I said in the title, radioactive air filters are showing up in cars in the Seattle-Tacoma area of Washington state.

If those hot particles are getting into people's cars, they are also getting into people's lungs, and intestinal tracts, where they lodge and remain for the rest of your life. Needless to say, that "rest of your life" is likely to be a good bit shorter than would otherwise have been the case.

Why hasn't the administration done anything about this? Well, it's a case of follow the money, of course. One of Barak Obama's biggest campaign donors has been the Exelon corporation, which operates, (you guessed it!), nuclear power plants. Furthermore, Exelon corporation is one of the biggest employers in the state of Illinois, where Obama was Senator. As if that wasn't enough, Obama has also appointed the CEO of Exelon to his Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future. My grandmother would have called this "setting the fox to guard the chicken coop".

Hey, it's business as usual in Corporate Amerika. Screw public health, screw the future, corporate profits and getting re-elected are more important. Change we can believe in, Mr President, thank you very much.

Could McCain really have done all that much worse?

Read the full story at AJE here

The Moral Police

2011-06-15T09:51:00.001-07:00

Demonstrating once again a positive genius for shooting himself in the foot, the Supreme Leader (*snicker*) of Iran has ordered that 70,000 Moral Police are to be deployed on the streets of Tehran this summer. The stated targets of this deployment are women who fail to fully cover their hair or who wear revealing clothes, and also men with "inappropriate hairstyles". It should be noted that many Tehrani women wear a scarf over only the back half of their hair, rather than covering all of it.

If this seems utterly ridiculous to you, then we have that much in common. Especially considering that summer in Tehran is not quite as nasty as summer in New Jersey or Kansas City, but it's close. 90F degrees outside, 90% humidity, so by all means, let's require women to swathe themselves in yards of black cloth before going out in public, that's perfectly reasonable.

Politics in Iran right now is a three-way struggle between the zealots under the Supreme Leader, the moderates under President Ahmedinejad, and the largely-powerless opposition under whatever leaders haven't been thrown in jail yet. Yes, I called Ahmedinejad a moderate; in this context, he is. In previous summers, Ahmedinejad has publicly and vocally opposed any such dress-code crackdown, and largely prevented it from happening. This year, Ahmedinejad has just lost a spat with the Supreme Leader and been forced to eat crow, which leaves him in no position to help.

The other thing to remember about Iranian politics is that much of what is said, is only said for consumption. (Of course, that never happens in US politics, our elected leaders are always completely sincere in their public pronouncements). This seems to be more of the same, as the video below will show you. The people of Tehran, men and women both, seem to be dressing as they did last summer, and happily ignoring the Moral Police. And listen to the answers that AJE gets when they ask Tehranis about their reaction to this latest pronouncement. The replies are calm, thoughtful, moderate, and more or less what you might expect from a group of college-educated US citizens. Note that no-one even mentions God, or refers to religion at all, except in the phrase "Islamic Republic", which is how Iranians refer to their nation.

Some Iranian leaders may be loony tunes, (but of course you could never say the same about any of our leaders, right? Michele Bachmann is the soul of moderation, after all), but the Iranian people are as ordinary as can be. They're not crazy, they're not fanatics, and they're not blood-thirsty killers. They are, in fact, very much like us.

(Open Salon readers can view the video here)

Trouble In The South China Sea, Part IV

2011-06-12T10:24:00.000-07:00

As I reported in August and September of last year, (see Part I, and Part II, and Part III), long-term trouble is brewing in the South China Sea.

Once again (or still), the center of the current dispute is the unfounded Chinese claims of sovereignty over the entire South China Sea in general, and over the Spratly Islands in particular. Lest the casual reader be fooled by the name, allow me to point out that despite the name China is really nowhere near the South China Sea. Indeed, the nearest point of Chinese land is over 500 miles from even the northernmost of the Spratly Islands.

Now, the standard international treaties clearly state that a nation is entitled to a 200-mile zone of economic exploitation of the sea. Vietnam, Malaysia, The Philippines, and the tiny Sultanate of Brunei are all within 200 miles of at least part of the Spratly Islands. China is over 500 miles away. In spite of this, China is claiming not just economic rights, but actual sovereignty over the entire South China Sea.

Yes, sovereignty, as though it were their own coastal waters. Sovereignty, meaning that the ships and aircraft of all other nations would require Chinese permission to transit any part of the South China Sea. And the South China Sea, my friends, is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. Yes, now you see why this matters.

Nor is the issue of transit rights and sovereignty the actual crux of the issue. No, the true issue here is, (what else?), oil and gas. According to China's estimates, there are over 2 billion barrels of oil under the sea near the Spratly Islands. This would be enough to give China the second largest oil deposits in the world, very close behind Saudi Arabia. If you factor in the widespread belief that the Saudis are seriously exaggerating their deposits, this could leave China sitting on top of most of the oil remaining on the planet.

But there's more. The Spratly Islands area is also estimated to hold seabed deposits of over 2 Quadrillion cubic feet of natural gas. Yes, Quadrillion. That's a Billion with six more zeroes tacked on the end. In the blunt vernacular, "un chingo".

So, how hot are things getting this time? Well, the Vietnamese are accusing the Chinese of harassing their ships and cutting cables to exploration vessels. The Chinese, without bothering to deny the specifics, have simply stated that they acting within their rights. The pattern seems to be the same as that which China has used against the Japanese in the disputed Senkaku islands far to the north. First the Chinese send "fishing vessels" manned by military personnel. Then the fishing vessels act aggressively to provoke a confrontation, with ramming being a favorite tactic, and then the Chinese openly send in their navy to "protect the fishermen".

Vietnam, refusing to back away from the confrontation, has announced a "live-fire exercise" in the South China Sea next week. Last weekend, outgoing US Defense Secretary Robert Gates openly warned of the risk of armed conflict in the Spratlys. Last year, the US Navy joined the Vietnamese in maneuvers in the South China Sea. This year, there is no mention of such joint activities.

The first 10 minutes of Counting The Cost at AJE has a very good review of the overall situation and the latest developments, including Chinese plans to deploy a huge new exploration rig to the Spratlys in July. More information is to be found in the AJE print article here.

There is an article in the Asia Times Online, Fight or Flight in the South China Sea, which is surprisingly critical of China for a publication based in Hong Kong.

NHK World English (Japan) has an interesting video report here.

In conclusion, dear reader, I will repeat what I said last summer. Keep an eye on this one. The question is not whether it will blow up, but simply when.

Desmond Tutu Speaks Out

2011-06-10T08:39:00.000-07:00

Anglican Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu last month published a public letter equating the Israeli policies toward Palestinians with the policies of the former apartheid government in South Africa. Here is that letter, reproduced in its entirety ☮

Virginity Test

2011-06-02T09:45:00.000-07:00

The problem with peaceful revolutions is that they leave the power structure of the former government intact.

If you're still under the impression that the incredible courage of the Egyptian people has actually gained them something meaningful, watch this video and be disabused of that illusion. Only the names and faces have changed. Egypt is still a military dictatorship.

In summary, she and a group of other Egyptian women dared to protest the beating of some of her friends by security. They were all arrested, beaten, and tazered repeatedly. After a night in custody, she was forced to strip naked so a nasty little man in a dirty labcoat could stick his finger up her vava for a "virginity check".

So Mubarak is to be thrown to the wolves, and the Rafah crossing has been opened, within limits. These are worth something, I admit. But the revolution has been quietly and very successfully hijacked by the powers that be. So-called "peaceful revolution" is a waste of time and sacrifice, as are most other half-measures.

And the sad reality of life in America today, is that I dare not say more on this subject. The First Amendment ain't what it used to be.

Duke Nukem Forever

2011-06-01T20:24:00.000-07:00

Quick, check outside and see if pigs are flying.

Duke Nukem Forever has actually gone gold, and is scheduled for US release on June 14th. It's been 15 years, and the damned thing has become a cliche for vaporware. But it's actually releasing.

In an amusing side note, Game Stop has announced that they will honor all pre-orders, even those going back over a decade. If you can find the receipt, they'll honor it. Wow.

If you're an adult, check the video linked from the page above. It looks like vintage Duke, but the rap music just makes my lip curl. Call me old-fashioned, but Duke should rock, dammit!

Fifteen years, dayum! This has to be a new record.

Oh, yes, and in closing, here's a look back at classic Duke Nukem 3D, circa 1996.

Hoplophobia

2011-05-27T08:23:00.000-07:00

The biggest albatross around the neck of the political Left in the USA is their raging hoplophobia.

What is hoplophobia? Fear of weapons. Why did Colonel Cooper describe this as a phobia? Because it manifestly is a morbid and illogical fear.

Intelligent, well-educated, politically-aware US citizens, who are otherwise given to rational and logical consideration, discard all logic and fly straight to emotion when the subject of weapons is under discussion. Only fear makes people behave like this.

Allow me to cite as an example Michael Shure of The Young Turks, not because he's particularly prominent, but simply because he's a typical representative of the progressive blogosphere. Mr Shure has solid progressive credentials, good political awareness overall, and if he's more of a liberal capitalist than a true Socialist, that's OK, the dialectic tells us that progress comes in small increments.

And yet, when the subject of weapons is on the table, Mr Shure goes from calmly logical to purely emotional. Here are his own words -

"I talk about guns, and I have no idea what I'm talking about, other than that they seem ridiculous to me."

"I don't care what the Constitution said"

Both these quotes are from the show Michael guest-hosted on August 18th 2009. And yes, that was almost two years ago, but have the facts of the issue really changed any since then?

The point is that the issue of arms and Second Amendment rights reduces an intelligent, articulate, well-educated progressive to a level of response which, by his own admission, has nothing of logic about it, and nothing of informed opinion. This is the painfully sad part. This is the albatross. This is our Achilles' Heel.

Achilles' Heel because it alienates reasonable men and women who would otherwise be sympathetic to our cause. Achilles' Heel because we sound like hypocritical fools, championing Constitutional Rights in every other instance, but execrating the Second Amendment. Achilles' Heel because it makes us look weak and contemptible in the eyes of our opponents.

Have you ever wondered why the radical Right so openly heaps vitriolic scorn upon the political Left? It is more than the standard nationalist tactic of demonizing an opponent. It is more than the arrogantly obnoxious self-righteousness of religious fundamentalism. It is more than the desperate compensation of the quiveringly insecure.

It is the contempt of those who have weapons for those who do not.

The blunt fact of the matter is that most of the radical Right own guns and know how to use them. Most of the political Left do not own guns, and know less then nothing about them. Less than nothing because they have zero actual first-hand knowledge, and a head full of wildly mistaken ideas foisted upon them by television, movies, and other media.

If you think this disparity is irrelevant, you have obviously not studied history very carefully.

Mao Tse Tung once said -
Every Communist must grasp the truth; political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.

The modern Chinese government takes an interesting line on the subject of Mao Tse Tung, saying that he was 60% right and 40% wrong. I'll leave you to decide for yourself in which category that statement belongs.

Obama Sells Out To AIPAC, Again

2011-05-23T08:23:00.000-07:00

Oh, Mr President, how can you stand to look at yourself in the mirror to shave of a morning?

After giving lip service to the concept of a Palestinian "state" based upon the pre-1967 borders, Obama proceeded to stick his nose right back up between the ass-cheeks of the Zionist Lobby and give them a major rim-job.

Adhering tightly to the Netanyahu government's line, Obama then laid out his vision of a Palestinian "nation" which would be nothing of the sort, any more than the Bantustans created by the Apartheid government of South Africa were nations.

A nation is a sovereign entity, with its own military, and the right to enter into international treaties. Barak Obama's vision of a Palestinian "state" includes neither of these. Consider his own words.

First he said -
"As for security, every state has the right to self-defense, and Israel must be able to defend itself -– by itself -– against any threat"

But then later in the same paragraph he said -
"withdrawal of Israeli military forces should be coordinated with the assumption of Palestinian security responsibility in a sovereign, non-militarized state"

Excuse me, Mr President, but since you just said that every state has the right to self-defense, how are the Palestinians supposed to manage that with no military? If a state has the right to self-defense, and the Palestinians are to be "non-militarized", then by your own definition, that is not a state.

The fact that Obama cannot manage to maintain even internal logic and consistency, not even for the duration of a single paragraph, serves to highlight the gross hypocrisy and shameless immorality of US policy toward Israel.

And just in case there was any remaining doubt in anyone's mind about who wears the pants in the US-Israel relationship, the Israelis just approved the construction of nearly 300 more homes in an illegal settlement in the Occupied West Bank. While Netanyahu was visiting Washington DC. Just to make sure we got the "Fuck You" message loud and clear.

Israel Murders 21, Wounds Nearly 300

2011-05-17T09:02:00.000-07:00

This is the observation of the 63rd anniversary of the Nakba, which was the forcible expulsion of Palestinians from their land in 1948, in a shameless act of ethnic cleansing by the Zionists.

Sunday's peaceful observation of this anniversary turned into Sunday, Bloody Sunday when Israeli forces opened fire with live ammunition on the unarmed protesters. This, of course, is not the sort of thing you'll see reported on the MSM, which are owned and controlled by rabid supporters of Israel.

In the Gaza Strip, thousands of Palestinians marched to the border crossing at Erez, where the Israelis fired upon them with tanks. One teenager was killed outright, and more than 50 injured, many of them children. It was reported that another man was later murdered by Israeli forces east of Gaza City.

Palestinian refugees in Southern Lebanon marched in peaceful protest to the border crossing at Maroun el Rass. Israeli forces opened fire upon them without warning, murdering 10 people and wounding over 70 more.

Palestinian refugees and their Syrian supporters in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights marched in peaceful protest, and they too were fired upon by the Israelis. Eight people were killed outright, and more than 50 injured.

In the Occupied West Bank, hours of assaults upon peaceful protesters by Israeli forces using live ammo, (as well as rubber bullets and tear gas), left over 100 Palestinians wounded, and one man dead.

In considering these figures, my friends, remember that the medical care available to the Palestinians is very limited, and some of those injured will later die of their wounds, or be crippled for life. Oh, Israel has some fine, modern hospitals, but they only admit Jewish patients. Muslims and Christians are relegated to older, second-rate medical facilities, which are systematically deprived of supplies.

For how much longer will we continue to send Israel $12 Billion a year in aid, which they then use to commit atrocities and crimes against humanity?

We are told we cannot afford $16 Billion to extend UI benefits for the long-term unemployed, six million US citizens who have done nothing wrong, who have worked and paid their taxes and voted all their lives. But we have $12 Billion a year to give away to Israel? Did you know that the amount we have spent in Libya so far would have funded that UI extension 15 times over?

How much longer, my friends? How much longer do we put up with this shit?

Read more about Bloody Sunday Nakba protests-
GTV News
The Daily Star

Israel Attacks Gaza Aid Ship, again...

2011-05-16T07:57:00.000-07:00

Once again, the Israeli Navy has attacked an unarmed aid ship in international waters. This, like the attack on the Mavi Marmara, is an act of piracy, pure and simple.

Details are skimpy at this time, but a vessel of the Egyptian navy was apparently also involved, which shows how much the "peaceful revolution" has really changed things in Egypt. The Egyptian government and military are still Israel's puppets.

As I said, details are still scanty at this time, but the vessel was intercepted and fired upon in international waters, which is the definition of piracy.

More information here

Alexandria, 50 years ago

2011-05-04T09:14:00.001-07:00

Foreign Policy magazine is, for the most part, little more than a conservative propaganda organ. But every now and then, they do publish something well worth looking at.

Such a gem is the new photo essay Once Upon A Time In Egypt, which consists of a few paragraphs of background and nine black and white photographs, taken in Alexandria in 1959.

To quote directly -
The late 1950s marked the end of an era in Alexandria that had begun in the late 19th century, when the port -- then the largest on the eastern Mediterranean -- emerged as one of the world's great cosmopolitan cities. Europeans -- Greeks, Italians, Armenians, and Germans -- had gravitated to Alexandria in the mid-19th century during the boom years of the Suez Canal's construction, staying through the British invasion of the port in 1882 and the permissive rule of King Farouk in the 1930s and 1940s. Foreign visitors and Egyptians alike flocked to the city's beaches in the summers, where revealing bathing suits were as ordinary as they would be extraordinary today.

The photographs are like something out of a time machine. The women seem a bit chubby by the standards of today, when the starving refugee look is all the rage, and the swimsuits are very tame, although they were daring at the time.

But remember this is Egypt. The Egypt that was.

And if you read to the end of the introduction, you'll learn that the girl on the far left of the first photograph, Odette Tawil, would 40 years later marry Elie Moreno, the man who took these photographs. Is life not strange?

Osama bin Bullshit

2011-05-02T11:57:00.000-07:00

We'll learn more as time goes on, but for the record I call bullshit.

I'm one of those who believe that Osama bin Laden has been dead for a decade now.

But why the whole big psy-op in the first place? Yes, I've heard about the so-called DNA evidence, and I'm not impressed. It can be faked, like anything else.

This looks to me like a setup, and Peter King's comment about al Qaeda wanting to retaliate as soon as they can sends chills down my spine. Pray to whatever gods you believe in that this is not a setup for another 9/11-style false flag attack.

On a far more positive note, can we bring the troops home now?

Crucifying Monkey Jesus

2011-04-24T15:32:00.001-07:00

That's a moderately horrible title for an Easter Sunday, isn't it? What on earth is Possum ranting about now?

The video above, (Open Salon readers can watch it here), is from an Israeli television show called "Toffee and the Gorilla".

"Yeshu" is the Hebrew name for the historical/religious/mythical figure known in English as Jesus. So Toffee opens by telling the gorilla that Jesus was an enemy of the Jewish people because, "he tried to convert us all to Christianity". That statement is just so wrong, from so many different directions, that I'm not even going to bother refuting it. But it typifies both the raging paranoia that is so typical of the Israeli Right, and the shameless re-writing of history which is their typical modus operandi.

And then the pretty Israeli girl, with her boobage nicely displayed, tells the stuffed gorilla that he'll be playing the part of Jesus, and nails him to the cross. While telling him that he's a Nazi and a coward. As he screams in pain and begs her to stop.

Umm, whiskey tango foxtrot, over?

Now some background. You know, the boring, "let's be fair" part.

This program did not air today, on Easter. The video was posted to YouTube some months ago.

My sources in Israel inform me that this is not typical of the thinking of most Israelis, but that it is typical of the thinking of the Right. While the Right is very much in the political ascendancy in Israel, (as it is here in the USA), it is always worth remembering that Israel has a fearlessly outspoken community of Socialists and other Progressives. It would be a mistake to condemn all Israelis categorically, just as it would be a mistake to condemn all Americans categorically.

Apartheid in Israel

2011-04-22T08:42:00.000-07:00

Desertpeace has an outrageous article this morning about a right-wing group in Israel that is unhappy about Arab men being allowed to work at the same job as Jewish women.

It seems that the idea of a Jewish Israeli woman actually having an Arab Israeli boyfriend drives these people into an absolute frenzy. A frenzy which is oddly reminiscent of the racist fear-mongering which was heard here in the USA back during the peak of the civil rights movement in the 1950's and 1960's. Make no mistake, it's the same racist attitude, the same overwhelming fear of a hated other.

And yet, I cannot help but be amused by one aspect of this ugliness. These conservative Jews, who loudly proclaim themselves to be the Chosen People of their god, and infinitely superior to us lowly goyim, seem convinced that their womenfolk will find Arabic men utterly irresistible. But, logically, if they're so damned superior, why wouldn't the women choose a Jewish man?

Silly me, expecting logic from religious fanatics. By all means, go read the article and laugh at the silly Haredim.

BP Anniversary

2011-04-16T10:36:00.000-07:00

April 20th marks the 1-year anniversary of what is shaping up to be the greatest environmental disaster in the history of mankind. Although, to be fair, we still haven't seen the worst of the Fukushima meltdown disaster. But, back to BP.

One year ago on the 20th, the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, beginning an oil spill that would eventually dump at least 5 million barrels of oil into the ocean. A barrel, by the way, is 42 US gallons, (or 34 Imperial gallons, or 160 liters). If we do the math, that is 210 million gallons of oil. Minimum. It could have been two or three times that much, we just don't know.

In the "clean-up", which was more like a cover-up, BP sprayed roughly 2 million gallons of toxic dispersants, which are so toxic that they are banned in 19 countries, including the United Kingdom.

In August of last year, a study by the University of Georgia suggested that 70% or more of the oil which was spilled, "has not been recovered and remains a threat to the ecosystem".

Rather than quoting extensively from what is, after all, someone else's work, let me just suggest that you read the article at AJE.

Jesse Jr Calls It A Spade

2011-04-11T11:06:00.000-07:00

With his usual fearless propensity for calling a spade a spade, Jesse Jackson Jr, (a man whom I heartily admire), weighed in with the following comment on the so-called "budget compromise". So-called because we all know what it really was, it was Obama wimping out and giving in to the Republicans without a fight, again. Betraying those he was elected to represent, again. Stabbing us in the back, again.

Ahem, right, Jesse Jr's analysis -

"The people paying the $39 billion price tag to keep the government open did nothing to cause the economic predicament in which we find ourselves. Yet the very people who negotiated tonight’s deal are the same people who rewarded the most fortunate in our society with over $800 billion in tax cuts last December."

Oh yes, I love it. Eloquent, succinct, and most of all, true.

Read the full story at Crew of 42, a blog following the members of the Congressional Black Caucus, or CBC.

The Gold and The Stone

2011-04-10T08:31:00.000-07:00

Given how harshly and frequently I slam Israel, you might find this hard to believe, but I was once an ardent Zionist. Before I learned the truth. And yet there is still a part of me that is deeply saddened by what has become of Israel.

Thus it brings me great joy to encounter a Righteous Jew (irony intended) among the fascists who inhabit and support Occupied Palestine today. Mind you, Juliano Mer-Khamis was such a man, and what it got him was dead, but let's skip over that ugly little fact for the purposes of this scribble, shall we?

Another such righteous man, (and who am I to measure degrees in such things?), is Uri Avnery, who has written a bitingly insightful analysis of Judge Richard Goldstone's recent "recanting" of the UN report bearing his name. Note that this is a weekly column, so if you follow that link more than a few days after I write this, you'll have to page down and find The Gold and The Stone. Yes, I know, he should have direct links to individual articles, but (shrug) c'est la guerre, non?

I have been watching the interactions between various individuals within the world Jewish community, and there are all viewpoints represented, including many attempting to stake out a moderate position in that fire-swept middle ground, such as Rabbi Michael Lerner of Bayt Tikkun in the San Francisco Bay area.

My formal credentials in behavioral science are utterly non-existent, and you should bear that closely in mind as you read what I have to suggest next. But also apply your own common sense.

Look at the way the Israelis treat Palestinians today, the institutionalized discrimination, the demonization, the cheapening of their lives and trivializing of their deaths. Compare that to the way that Jews were treated in Germany in the late 1930's, and there can be no denying the chilling similarities.

Now think about the way that abused children so often grow up to abuse their own children.

Is it possible that the Zionists as a cultural whole are suffering a type of mass psychosis as a result of some form of collective, multi-generational delayed stress syndrome from the Holocaust? Think about the raging paranoia that is such a prominent part of the Israeli world view before you answer that.

Note carefully that I say Zionists rather than Jews, because many here in the US seem largely untouched by this, and immune to the madness. But is it possible that in casting the Israelis as villains, we are doing them a terrible injustice, because they are not criminals but rather mentally ill?

Mossad At Work

2011-04-06T09:25:00.000-07:00

By now you will have heard about the murder of Juliano Mer-Khamis in Palestine on Monday.

You may also have heard that Hamas is being blamed. This is a typical false-flag operation by Israel. Yes, that's right, Mer-Khamis was murdered by Jewish Israelis. Observe the photo at left, courtesy of Desertpeace.

Let me quote directly the description provided by the author of that site, "The above photo was a press release from Israeli sources purported to show Palestinian terrorists. However one of the suspected terrorists forgot to take off his star of David before being photographed."

Yup, that's right. What we have in the photo of "Hamas Terrorists" are actually Jewish Israelis dressed up in a costume. Follow the little red arrow. See the Star of David? And we all know every well-dressed member of Hamas wears one of those, right? They're also carrying US-made automatic rifles. Oops.

Now, in this day of Photoshop, what does a photograph conclusively prove? That's right, dick-all nothing. But that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Read about the rest of the story at Desertpeace.

NOT April Fools'

2011-04-01T09:19:00.000-07:00

I hate April Fools' Day. Then again, I hate practical jokes. Unfortunately, fate seems to be playing one practical joke after another on us.

The situation in Japan, believe it or not, continues to get worse. Yes, that's true; I have said that before. More than once, even.

Radioactive iodine levels in the sea near the Fukushima nuclear plant are now up over 4000 times the legal limit, and officials are saying they may have a continuous leak.

Plutonium has been found in the soil nearby, and groundwater near the plant is also contaminated at up to 10,000 times the normal level. Oh, but the operators of the plant assure us there is no danger to human health. There is an EPA document on Plutonium here; it's written for the layman, and relatively easy to read and understand, so I'll let you judge for yourselves. The good news seems to be that the damned stuff isn't quite as chemically toxic as was thought to be the case 30-some years ago.

There have also been more explosions at the plant in recent days, just to keep us wondering. And the Japanese government has announced that "evacuations will be long-term", which is a de facto admission of heavy contamination.

In other related news, the Japanese government also announced that it will take control of TEPCO, the Tokyo Electric Power Company, which is the operator of the Fukushima plant. This in the face of compensation liabilities which have been estimated in excess of $130 billion US.

While we're on the subject, let's compare that amount to something else. This whole nuclear disaster has incurred a liability of $130 Billion US. That's a lot of money. But it pales in comparison to the $700 Billion US that Obama gave away to the richest 2% of Americans by extending the Bush tax cuts.

Think about it. With the amount that our oh-so-dearly-beloved President handed to the Republicans on a platter, without even a fight, the whole nuclear mess in Japan so far could have been paid for five times over, with enough left to finance HR589 three times over.

And to think I was stupid enough to actually vote for that asshole.

Radioactive Ocean

2011-03-26T08:15:00.000-07:00

Oh, and the news from Japan just keeps getting better. The latest is that levels of radioactivity 1200 times normal have been detected in the ocean near the Fukushima nuclear plant. (the part of the video you want starts about 0:55)

There is a monitoring page here, which will show you radiation levels at various points around the continental USA. Be aware that you need to read the disclaimer and other accompanying documentation in order to interpret this information in an intelligent manner.

The question in my tiny little mind at this point is, how much longer is this going to go on? How much worse is it going to get? At what point will the Obama administration, (which is desperately pretending that the Gulf Oil disaster is all over and done with), pull its pointy head out of its collective anal orifice and acknowledge that there is a potentially very serious problem here?

Oh, but they're "monitoring the situation", so there's no need to worry. I mean, after all, it's not like our government would lie to us about anything this serious, right?

The sad fact of the matter is that Obama has gone into bunker mode, and he's not going to do anything until he either gets re-elected or thrown out of office. Our dearly-beloved Commander-in-Chief seems to feel that he can just stand up there with his golden teleprompter and "look presidential", and that this will be enough to get him re-elected in 2012, which certainly seems to be all he cares about at this point.

And please don't try to tell me that the US air raids in Libya are an example of decisive action by Obama. Please. What he did was dither and wring his hands until the last possible moment, and then simply give in to the right-wing hawks, as usual.

Remember Nixon?

2011-03-19T13:09:00.001-07:00

I was a Republican in my youth, a fact which still embarrasses me to this day. But every now and then I am reminded that the incredibly evil Republican Party of today is not the GOP of days gone by. Oh, don't get me wrong, they have always been greedy, selfish bastards. Though I failed to see that when I was young, it is obvious in retrospect; we all have 20-20 hindsight.

Although the Republicans of my youth were selfish, they were never so shit-where-you-live shortsighted about their greed. After all, an efficient parasite doesn't weaken its host.

I was reminded of this in reading through the Wikipedia entry on Richard Nixon, (which is impeccably foot-noted). Here are a few quotes from the Economy section of that article -

Under Nixon, direct payments from the federal government to individual American citizens in government benefits (including Social Security and Medicare) rose from 6.3% of the Gross National Product (GNP) to 8.9%. Food aid and public assistance also rose, beginning at $6.6 billion and escalating to $9.1 billion. Defense spending decreased from 9.1% to 5.8% of the GNP. The revenue sharing program pioneered by Nixon delivered $80 billion to individual states and municipalities.

Social spending increased. Defense spending decreased by over a third. Under a Republican President. And the exact opposite is happening under Obama, who masquerades as a Progressive.

Nixon was worried about the effects of increasing inflation and accelerating unemployment, so he indexed Social Security for inflation, and created Supplemental Security Income (SSI). In 1969, he had presented the only balanced budget between 1961 and 1998. However, despite speeches declaring an opposition to the idea, he decided to offer Congress a budget with deficit spending to reduce unemployment.

Ho-ly Shee-yit, a Republican who actually worried about the effects of inflation and unemployment on working Americans. Now, I'm not imagining for one second that he worried about the effects of these things upon the working folks for the sake of the working folks. Hell, no, he worried about those effects because he was smart enough to realize that people cannot buy anything if they don't have money to spend, and if we don't buy things, the economy goes in the tank. Greed yes, but intelligently calculated long-term greed.

As for Spiro Agnew, well, we won't discuss Spiggy, except to note that his name is an anagram for "grow a penis".

Nixon photo courtesy of Wikimedia

The Endless Human Capacity For Art

2011-03-19T11:21:00.000-07:00

(Photo courtesy of EPA)

I am not an artist by nature, I am more of an engineer, (Or a jack-leg mechanic, to be completely honest), but there are moments when I am stopped cold by something that reaches out and bites me on the ass and shouts, "Hey Moron! Wake up and pay attention, this is Art!"

There are moments when I am truly humbled by nature's beauty, or by the realisation that some of my fellow human beings possess a quality which I utterly lack.

The photo above does not encompass "great art" in the sense that the Sistine Chapel does. The greatness lies in what it says about the human spirit.

The new Libyan flag, (which is actually the old pre-Gaddafi Libyan flag), in the shape of a heart, applied to the warhead of an RPG. I fully understand that some of you will react with "Uhh, so what?", and that's fine. But it speaks to me, and I am guessing that I will not be the only one.

Fat old armchair types like me, pontificating endlessly in wordy, overblown prose, that's one thing. Fat old politicians in expensive suits blowing out hot air on cue from their corporate masters, for the consumption of the formulaic corporate media, that means even less.

But a man who is willing to shoulder an RPG and wait by the road for Gaddafi's tanks to show up, that is a commitment of a rather higher order. Agree with his politics or not, you have to admit he has balls. And when he makes a statement of patriotism with that sticker, you have to admit that is not an empty boast.

Clinton Vows Help To Create Jobs

2011-03-17T16:26:00.001-07:00

Yes, boys and girls, that's right! Our fearless Secretary of State has today vowed help to create jobs. Oh, but not in the USA, this was in Tunisia.

Here are a few lovely quotes for your further enjoyment -

"we will stand with you as you make the transition to democracy, and prosperity and a better future," she said.

Hmm, say Madam Secretary, could we get some of that here at home for the 99ers, please? You know, the folks that you supposedly work for, us Americans? Remember us?

Clinton said she and Kefi discussed a number of ways Washington could help with moving the country forward, including US assistance to those who will draft Tunisia's new constitution and in creating jobs.

Uhh, Madam Secretary? Could we get some of that "moving the country forward" and "assistance...in creating jobs" here at home in the USA? You know, the country you supposedly work for? Remember us?

"We need a plan for economic development, for jobs. The Tunisian people deserve that," she told reporters, saying the US would take part in a donors' conference later this year to help the North African nation.

Ahh, I see, the Tunisian people deserve that, but the American people do not? Could you explain to us, please, Madam Secretary, the impeccable logic by which you reasoned to that conclusion, please, Ma'am? And what about a donors' conference for the 99ers?

Clinton said she would also push for $20m for Tunisia to "respond to some of their needs" after Tunisian officials requested US help, but hinted at more aid. "We need to have a very big commitment to Tunisia, [so] that we can be ready to help them economically as well as with their democratic transformation," she said.

Madam Secretary, I don't mean to sound like a broken record here, but why is there $20M now and "more aid" later, a "very big committment" to use your own words, for Tunisia, but no money at all and no committment of any size for the 99ers?

Original story here

St Patrick's Day

2011-03-17T13:28:00.001-07:00

A Happy St Patrick's Day to you all.

I would like to take this occasion to suggest that you find yourselves a copy of a Novel called Trinity, by Leon Uris. You should be able to find a used copy at Amazon for a few bucks.

Trinity is the story of modern Ireland, and how it came to be what it is.

As you read this book, take note of the clever schemes used in Ulster and Belfast to control the populace, take note of the way that Catholic and Protestant were played off against each other, in order to prevent the Irish people from organizing to demand their rights, or even humane labor laws.

Then think about how closely this parallels the current Democrat-Republican bullshit game, which is also used to pit us against each other, to trick us into fighting each other instead of banding together to demand our rights.

200 years have gone by, but the game of power is still played the same. The rich still play their dirty money games, exploiting the workers cruelly to wring the last drop of profit from every enterprise. And the crooked politicians still kiss their butts and scurry to do their bidding. After all, "the arse of the mighty tastes of money".

Japan Nuclear Meltdown In Progress

2011-03-16T15:09:00.000-07:00

Not to run around echoing the Alex Jones crowd, but we really can legitimately use the word meltdown now.

Check the following quotes from AJE's Japan Live Blog.

...

More on that "US nuclear chair" - who has now been named as Gregory Jaczko, the chief of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, currently giving a report to Congress.

He says all the water has gone from the spent fuel pools at reactor No.4 in Fukushima No.1 facility, Japan's most troubled nuclear plant. This means there is nothing to stop the fuel rods from getting hotter and ultimately melting down.

The outer shell of the rods could also ignite, with enough force to propel the radioactive fuel inside over a wide area, he says.

Gregory Jaczko did not say how the information was obtained, but the NRC and US Department of Energy both have staff on site at the Fukushima complex of six reactors.

....

Staff at Japan's Fukushima nuclear plant may receive "lethal doses" of radiation, the US nuclear regulator has told Congress. Gregory Jaczko, head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said:

We believe that around the reactor site there are high levels of radiation. It would be very difficult for emergency workers to get near the reactors. The doses they could experience would potentially be lethal doses in a very short period of time.

Oh my. When a government official admits the situation is that bad, you know things are really fucked up.

The important thing is to somehow keep all this in perspective. To evaluate the available information, weight it according to our best estimate of the credibility of that source, and decide what to do. For most of us, there's little or nothing we can do.

Japanese Nuclear Plant Explodes

2011-03-12T09:00:00.000-08:00

The 4th reactor at the worst-damaged nuclear power plant in Japan has exploded, prompting Japanese authorities to widen the evacuation zone repeatedly.

(Open Salon users can view the video here)

This is going beyond ugly. Three Mile Island failed to be a major disaster because the containment dome held up. This containment dome has just failed catastrophically.

It is very hard to know what to say at this point, my friends, other than to express my extreme sympathy and best wishes for the Japanese people.

Oh yes, and on the possible nutcake-alert front, some are saying that HAARM was used to cause this earthquake and subsequent disasters. I'll let you look HAARM up for yourselves and decide what to think. Just try to remember that while paranoia is defined as an unreasonable fear, it is difficult to objectively determine which concerns are unreasonable when dealing with the workings (or possible workings) of an unknown technology.

Losing Afghanistan

2011-03-09T11:00:00.000-08:00

While everyone's attention, mine included, has been focused upon events in the Arab world, Afghanistan is quietly going from bad to worse.

The relationship between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the Obama administration continues to go downhill, with Karzai 3 days ago refusing to accept Obama's apology for the killing of nine Afghan children in a US raid.

As LBJ did in Vietnam, Obama is now floundering desperately in Afghanistan. The so-called COIN strategy, which was hailed with much fanfare and hoopla last year, is a failure. This should come as no surprise. COIN was not anything new, despite loud claims to the contrary. COIN was a re-hash of old strategies which failed in Vietnam. "Clear and Hold" sound familiar? "Fortified Hamlets", perhaps? Strategies such as these ignore the basic facts of guerrilla warfare; they are an attempt to apply conventional warfare concepts to unconventional warfare. And the whole point of guerrilla warfare is that the conventional warfare strategies do not work.

I will repeat my earlier prediction. The US involvement in Afghanistan will end badly, as badly as the fall of Saigon in 1975, with the helicopters taking off from the US embassy with people hanging off the landing skids.

Raging Racism In California (updated 3/10/11)

2011-03-05T07:47:00.000-08:00

Update - Censorship at YouTube happens all the time. The video in question may now be seen at this new location.

The video below documents one of the ugliest things I have ever seen in the Golden State. The blatant racist bigotry on display is utterly disgusting, even for a Conservatard stronghold like Orange County. This is like something out of Mississippi in the 1950's, with even elected public officials standing up and spouting racist hatred of an unbelievably vitriolic nature.

Enough of my indignant sputtering. Watch the video, which was first aired on Salon.com
(Open Salon users can view the video here)

The first of my ancestors came to California in the 1840's, during the final years when it was still a part of Mexico. I have always been "prouder nor a banty rooster" of my state. When Europeans ask me if I'm an American, I say "Well, Californian...", because I'm damned proud of the distinction. Love us or hate us, nobody will deny that Californians are different.

And seeing shit like this taking place in my state simply infuriates me beyond words. There is a certain unreconstructed, atavistic part of my character that feels the urge to rush down there and beat the crap out of every one of those bigoted assholes. Fortunately, I'm too old and fat for street-fighting, so the urge goes nowhere; jail was bad enough at 17, it would truly suck at 51.

And wouldn't you know it, who was at least partially behind this ugly display of xenophobic hatred? Rabbi David Eliezrie of Chabad Yorba Linda. Uh huh. Never again, eh?

ICC Investigates Libyan War Crimes

2011-03-03T08:37:00.000-08:00

Demonstrating just how quickly the world's power brokers can move when their own interests are threatened, the ICC has today announced an investigation of war crimes in Libya.

Never mind the fact that Robert Mugabe has been doing the same things in Zimbabwe for 30 years, never mind the fact that many of the actions of the USA and its NATO lackeys in Afghanistan have obviously fulfilled the definition of war crimes, (hello, bombing innocent civilians, over and over, hello?), the war in Libya has threatened the profits of the high and mighty, and so the ICC has moved within 72 hours of the charges being referred to it. This is the same ICC that usually takes years to do anything.

Make no mistake, dear reader, I have no affection whatsoever for Gaddafi. I make no excuses for his actions, and he certainly is guilty of terrible crimes against humanity. But the obviousness of such painfully selective enforcement of international law is simply breath-taking.

Ahhh, but oil exports are threatened, and we cannot have that. Seething hordes of Muslim refugees are threatening the precious "cultural integrity" of a blatantly anti-Muslim Europe, and we cannot have that.

And the usual Hawks here in the USA are madly rattling the sabre, urging military intervention, as though the US military had anything left to intervene with. But practical considerations never prevented US Conservatives from urging military action. After all, they never met a war they didn't love. And hey, there's all that lovely oil for their corporate masters to grab control of. And so, once again, the US military must play the role of mercenaries for the great international corporations.

Meanwhile, here at home, Conservatives are slashing budgets to the bone, cutting programs for children, seniors, the poor, in short everyone who isn't a rich shareholder. Somehow, when it comes to anything but the military or security, there's no money! there's no money! there's no money! But when it's a war at issue, they never even mention what it will cost. When there's a war to be had, with all those rich profits for the defense contractors, then pay-as-you-go ideas and fiscal conservatism are cast aside without a second thought.

What a fucking crock of shit.

Wisconsin Police Union Supports Protesters

2011-02-27T09:59:00.000-08:00

In a move that greatly surprised many, the Wisconsin Police Union has joined the protesters at the state capitol building, and refused an order to clear the protesters out.

(Open Salon readers can view the video here, you know the drill by now...)

In a related move, 99ers have rallied to support the Wisconsin unions at protests and vigils across the nation. This is particularly poignant in light of the fact that the unions and NELP utterly abandoned the 99ers last year, when we needed their help so desperately, and still do.

As I have said in this column before, I'd love to see the wave of popular protest really take hold here in the USA. Given the fact that there is not one single jobs bill currently pending in the US Congress, we obviously need to do something.

Air Strikes Used Against Libyan Protesters

2011-02-22T10:17:00.000-08:00

One of the more interesting aspects of the Libyan situation over the last few days has been the way that several Libyan government officials abroad have spoken out against the actions of the Gaddafi regime. Yesterday Libya's Deputy Ambassador to the UN spoke out.

Today Libya's ambassador to India resigned his post and spoke to AJE, claiming that fighter planes and helicopter gunships have been used against protesters, as staggering as that accusation may be. Remember, please, that this claim is still unsubstantiated at this point in time. None the less, if I may be forgiven for lapsing into the vernacular, Holy Shit, Batman!

Open Salon readers can view the video here.

I wonder how many intelligence services around the world are watching this nervously, knowing that their dirty little secret dealings with Libya over the years may be about to become public knowledge. There has been "something rotten in Denmark" about the Libyan regime for decades. If nothing else, the dealings between the USA and Libya prior to Reagan's attack on Tripoli in the early 1980's would be very interesting reading. If you think that's too far-fetched, reflect for a moment upon the manifest weirdness of the Iran-Contra affair. Remember that the Reagan administration sold weapons to Iran under the table, (while loudly proclaiming in public that Iran was the devil incarnate), and used the money to finance the Nicaraguan contras.

We live in interesting times, my friends, interesting times indeed. And these times are so "interesting" in large part because of crimes that were committed 30 years ago and never punished. Precedent is the relevant concept, precedent which is set when a government official commits a gross violation of law and escapes with his/her head intact. We allowed the rot to begin with Watergate, when Nixon got away not only with criminal actions, but with gross manipulation of the rules of succession. Not only was Nixon never punished, but in years after he was retroactively exonerated and allowed to assume the role of Elder Statesman that so often devolves upon former presidents, no matter how criminal, (or criminally incompetent), they may have been while in office.

Now stop and think about the precedent we have set by allowing Bush and Cheney to escape prosecution for their many and manifest war crimes. Stop and think what that may lead to, 37 years down the line.

If our nation survives that long.

If our species survives that long.

Israel's Bitch

2011-02-20T08:45:00.000-08:00

No comment needed for these two. As immeasurably painful as I find both of these cartoons, there is no denying their essential truth.

In the aftermath of the US veto of the UN resolution declaring Israel's settlements illegal, a resolution which the other 14 members of the security council all voted in favor of, in the aftermath of Rice's incredible, mealy-mouthed, weasel-word hypocrisy in defense of that veto, there is little more to say.

The Obama administration is Israel's bitch, and so is our whole nation, willingly or no. Some bend over and spread their cheeks gladly, while others have to be raped, but we have all been made Israel's bitch.

I am ashamed of my country, truly and deeply ashamed.

Bahrain Doctor Pleads For Help

2011-02-18T08:16:00.001-08:00

You will have heard by now that the Army in Bahrain attacked the demonstrators in Pearl Roundabout during the early hours of Thursday morning.

This morning, the demonstrators reformed their ranks and returned to Pearl Roundabout, which has been become the center of resistance in Bahrain, just as Tahrir Square was in Egypt. The army opened fire indiscriminately on the peaceful crowd, and casualties appear to have been in the hundreds.

The following video is a phone interview with doctor Ghassan of Sulamaniya Hospital, overlaid with raw video footage of the city. I will not even attempt to comment at this time.

As you watch and listen, make allowances, please, for the circumstances. The good doctor is obviously quite upset, but I dare say you and I would be equally upset, in his shoes.

Hilary's Hypocrisy

2011-02-17T07:54:00.000-08:00

On Tuesday night, Hilary Clinton was giving a speech at George Washington University. The theme of her speech was condemnation of dictators who use violence against peaceful protesters.

In the audience, a 71-year old veteran named Ray McGovern silently stood up, displaying his "Veterans For Peace" t-shirt, and turned his back on Secretary Clinton. As McGovern stood there, saying nothing, he was tackled from behind by security, beaten bloody, and dragged out the door to a waiting jail cell.

All of this took place right in front of Mrs Clinton, where she could not possibly fail to see it. She said nothing, and did nothing, but simply carried on with her canned speech.

Hypocrisy, dear reader, means saying one thing and doing the opposite. It means espousing a principle at the same time you are violating that principle. Why is it acceptable to Mrs Clinton that her own security brutally attacks peaceful protesters, but unacceptable that others do so?

Let there be no doubt where I stand on this issue; such actions are always unacceptable to me.

The article at Open Mike is here.

But good luck finding any coverage of this story anywhere in the MSM (MainStream Media). It did not happen, as far as the corporate-controlled talking heads are concerned. I went to CNN.com just now and searched for anything about the story; there was not a word.

Is there any remaining doubt that the MSM are completely a creature of the power elites? Is there any remaining doubt that the only "free press" left in the USA is online? And that online freedom, my friends, is very much under siege.

Protests Spread to Bahrain

2011-02-15T08:05:00.001-08:00

While the situation in Egypt remains uncertain, the protests have now spread to Bahrain, in the Persian Gulf.

If you are like me, dear reader, you could use a little reminder just WTF Bahrain is -

map image courtesy of wikimedia

Peaceful protests 2 days ago resulted in two protesters being shot to death by police, in what most are describing as a very heavy-handed response. The King of Bahrain has made a rare public appearance, and apologised for the deaths. The king also announced a one-time payment of approximately $2500 to each Bahraini. Can you imagine the US government doing this? The mind boggles...

This morning was the funeral for one of the protesters killed by police, and AJE's correspondent in Manama, the capital of Bahrain, estimated the crowd at upwards of 10,000 people. He went on to say that the crowd was angry and frustrated, but peaceful. Interestingly enough, the protesters seemed to be entirely loyal to the king, and simply unhappy with the current government.

Another interesting aspect of the situation is that Bahrain's population is 70% Shia, and only 30% Sunni. The AJE correspondent in Manama said that today's crowd was mostly Shia, with relatively few Sunni present. The Shia of Bahrain, as with the Shia of most Persian Gulf states, are the poor and disenfranchised.

Egyptian Army Steps In, Mubarak To Resign.

2011-02-10T09:38:00.000-08:00

In breaking news from Egypt, the army appears to have quietly assumed control of the government, and announced that Mubarak will resign.

AJE is reporting that The Supreme Council Of Egyptian Armed Forces has met, with the Defense Minister chairing the meeting, rather than Mubarak or his new VP Suleiman. In Middle Eastern politics, this is enormously significant.

Mubarak is scheduled to address the nation on live television very soon, so I'll refrain from further speculation.

Struggle In Egypt Goes On

2011-02-08T09:10:00.000-08:00

While Mubarak scrambles to try to stay in office, the protesters who demand his removal turned out in major force again today. The video below shows hundreds of thousands of protestors in Cairo's central Tahrir square again today, and thousands more in Alexandria, Egypt's second-largest city.

The issues here are being seriously mis-reported in US mainstream media. The politician Sulieman, whom Mubarak has appointed as his new Vice-President, is the former head of the secret police, and has blood up to his elbows. This man is absolutely not a fit candidate to steer the country through a period of transition. He is a criminal and belongs in a prison cell, not an executive office.

It was amusing to watch the US and Israel and scrambling frantically to try to save their puppet Mubarak. It is not at all amusing that they appear to be having some success. You see, they cannot save Mubarak personally in the long-term; if nothing else, he will die of old age soon. What the Zionists, both here and in Israel, need to do is simply to preserve the existing power structure in Egypt. They need to maintain their puppet government which will do its part to keep the Palestinians bottled up, and repress the desire of the Egyptian people for revenge upon Israel.

What the Arabic world desperately needs right now is another Salah ad-Din Yusuf ibn Ayyub, who is remembered in the Western world as Saladin. Yes, I'm aware that Saladin was a Kurd, not an Arab. But those he led to victory after victory were in large part Arabs; Egypt and Palestine were the lands of his greatest victories.

Mass Friday Rally In Egypt

2011-02-04T07:29:00.000-08:00

I'm watching the live video coverage from Cairo's central Tahrir square as I sit here sipping my first cup of tea, and frankly, my friends, I am in awe. There are hundreds of thousands of demonstrators in the square, some estimates are over a million, with more arriving all the time. The momentum may have been faltering yesterday, but they are back in force today.

The army seems to be keeping the thugs and security forces at bay, while allowing the protesters free access to the square. At any rate, there has been no fighting so far today, and only a few warning shots fired as the army appears to be skirmishing with the forces that attacked the demonstrators yesterday and Wednesday.

As I have said before, the best live coverage is at AJE's YouTube channel. Stop the video at the top of the page, if it auto-starts, and page down once. You'll find a live video channel one page-width down on the right hand side. About half of the commentary is silly or inane, simply because the anchors seem to feel obligated to be talking all the time, and there isn't really that much to say. But such is the nature of the video medium in its commonly-accepted format, I suppose. At least the other half is highly relevant commentary or reporting from people who are actually on the scene.

As I have said before, I am not a Muslim myself, and I feel no particular desire to become one. But the sight of hundreds of thousands of people kneeling to pray together in that huge square, united for the moment by their common belief, was a very powerful one for me personally. Make no mistake, I am highly engaged with this demonstration on a political level, particularly as it reflects so keenly my fervent desires for change in our own country. But this was a different feeling, a stirring of something beyond the political, beyond the logical, beyond anything that really has an accurate description.

And yet, at the conclusion of that prayer, a speaker stood up and declared bluntly, "this is not about religion or ideology", and the crowd cheered him wildly for it. This destroys any attempt to dismiss these protesters as "religious fanatics". These people are united by their religion, but they are not there to protest about or because of religion, they are there to protest about tangible secular issues like corruption, unemployment, food prices, inflation, and...hey, wait a minute, do those problems sound familiar to you?

Having said that the demonstraters are united by their religion, let me add that although Egypt's Coptic community supports the demonstrations, they are doing so separately, being no fools.

In the midst of this generally positive news, there is one chilling note. The Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, stated bluntly that the armed forces of the USA are "standing by to support or intervene".

Excuse me?

Elsewhere in the Middle East

2011-02-02T08:05:00.000-08:00

Elsewhere in the Middle East, the King of Jordan dismissed his entire cabinet two days ago, scrambling frantically to head off growing protests in his kingdom.

And today the President of Yemen is backing down frantically in the face of mass protests, publicly abandoning the idea of becoming President for life, vowing not to run again, and promising that his son will not succeed him.

Well, well, well! It does make my wicked old heart go pitty-pat to see such a wave of popular anger sweeping the Middle East, to see rulers quaking in their boots, to see the Zionists gape in consternation as their whole jerrymandered power structure of tame tyrants sways in the hot wind of popular rage. Oy gevalt!

But what will it take to bring this wave of reform to the shores of our own nation? What must we do to awaken the sleeping masses of complacent Americans?

Is it even possible?

And how long will it be until Sarah Palin has something colossally stupid to say on the subject?

Events Turn Ugly In Egypt

2011-02-02T07:42:00.000-08:00

If you've been following the news, you probably already know that events in Cairo's central Tahrir square have turned very ugly in the last 4 hours.

What you may not know is that the so-called "pro-Mubarak demonstrators" are actually a mixture of government security forces and hired thugs. Pro-democracy demonstrators have shown on Al Jazeera several Egyptian Police identification cards which they took from these so-called "pro-Mubarak" forces. And the army is reported to be standing by observing, but not interfering on either side.

If you want live coverage, I'd suggest that the best is to be found at the YouTube channel of Al Jazeera English. Stop the video at the top of the page, if it starts automatically, and Page Down once. You'll see a live coverage video embedded at the right side, with frequent commentary from a surprisingly informed range of different people. As always, the big difference with AJE is that they have local reporters who actually live there and know who's who in the zoo.

Strange days, my friends, strange days indeed. If you're up for a moment of amusement, imagine how our own President would be pissing his pants if a million of us showed up in Washington DC to protest with such vigor and determination.

Egypt Update, Monday

2011-01-31T10:04:00.000-08:00

Apparently, most of Egypt remains without internet access at all, and it is being reported that cell phone users can call locally within Egypt, but all international cell calls are blocked.

The video below is another of those rambling live reports, but there is none the less a good deal of information to be gleaned. You'll note that when the studio anchor asks the field reporter where he is, the field reporter evades the question. Given that the Egyptian government has shut down the Cairo field office of Al Jazeera and jailed 6 reporters, I'm sure you can imagine why he's not more forthcoming.

(Open Salon readers, the video is here. YouTube has changed it's embed code from the embed command to the iframes command, and Open Salon is not dealing with it yet. Apologies.)

The Truth Is Punished

2011-01-31T08:24:00.001-08:00

In a striking display of just how much tyrants hate the truth, (as if the US government's vendetta against Wikileaks were not sufficient proof of that point), the Egyptian government has shut down the Cairo office of Al Jazeera, arrested 6 of their reporters, and blocked transmission of the Al Jazeera signal through NileSat, a satellite communications network controlled by the government.

Obviously, AJE is doing a good job. But I wish I understood a little more of the background. For instance, if one accepts the theory that all Arab rulers are tyrants, and one has eyes to see that the unrest in Tunisia has now spread to Egypt, with evidence of serious unrest in Jordan and Algeria, then obviously all Arab tyrants are in danger. So why is the Emir of Qatar doing nothing to call off Al Jazeera, which has been arguably fueling the flames simply by reporting events so openly and comprehensively? Is the Al Jazeera network really as independent of political control as they claim to be? Given all that I know, (admittedly not a great deal), of Gulf politics, this would seem highly unlikely. And yet, there are only two other rational explanations.

First, it could be the case that events have simply moved forward too quickly for the Qatari political leadership to react. But this would be totally out of character. Qataris are known for being bold and decisive; perhaps not always prudent, but never given to dithering or hesitation. And this has been going on for a week now.

The other possible explanation is that the events in Egypt, Jordan, and elsewhere are moving in a direction that political leadership in Qatar finds to be agreeable. As odd as it may seem at first glance, this explanation actually makes sense under closer examination. While much of the rest of the Arab world has moved progressively toward ever greater pandering to Israel, Qatar has remained steadfastly devoted to the cause of Palestinian liberation. Given the extent to which the Mubarak government has been a tool of Israel, a change in leadership along the Nile could very well work to the long-term benefit of the Palestinians.

Oh, and if you doubt that the Mubarak regime has been Israel's creature, take note that the Israeli government has called on the US and EU to stop criticizing Mubarak. Don't like that story at AJE? Try this one at Haaretz.

The fundamental fact of Middle East politics that is never mentioned in the main-stream media is that opinion on the Arab street is very strongly against Israel, and very strongly in favor of the liberation of Palestine. The reason why the USA and Israel support repressive puppet dictatorships in so much of the Arab world is precisely in order to contain this popular opinion. If the Arab people were allowed to govern themselves democratically, Israel would very quickly be under siege, at least in the politico-economic sense.

Latest From Egypt

2011-01-29T09:06:00.000-08:00

We do not appreciate how scripted and planned news ordinarily is, until we see and hear the usually-silver-tongued news personalities fumbling and babbling on live TV. The two videos below are both recorded from live broadcasts by Al Jazeera English, and both provide a good look at just how flustered news people get when required to do without their scripts.

Keep in mind that although it is early Saturday in California, it was already late afternoon in Egypt when these were broadcast about an hour ago.

The first is visually interesting, but you might as well turn the sound off, as the news anchors commenting have no more idea what's going on than we do.

The next video is a live interview with a prominent Egyptian blogger now residing in South Africa. Note how the satellite lag on the voice link is driving them both crazy. This is the opposite of the above video; all the information is in the audio. The only thing you'll learn from the visual portion is that this Egyptian blogger desperately needs to spend a few minutes with a razor and a hair brush if he's going to do video interviews. (and we'll just ignore the fact that I look twice as scruffy as he does)

Abdelfataa makes some interesting points, in spite of the talk-overs. First, I was interested to hear him say that the "football clubs" have actually been the biggest force in organizing these demonstrations. It was also informative to hear him confirm that Al-Baradei, the former head of the IAEA, has lost much of his popularity for leaving the country at a time of crisis.

Interesting days, my friends, interesting days indeed.

Oh, and the whining, mealy-mouthed hypocrisy of the Obama administration in calling upon Mubarak to reform. As if our nation had not been giving the Mubarak government 1.5 billion dollars a year to maintain its security state stranglehold upon the Egyptian people, and doing so for decades now. I almost pity Hilary for having to deliver such blatant bullshit. Then again, once you've had Bill Clinton's well-traveled cock in your mouth, I don't suppose a few lies can taste that much worse.

Political cartoons are often a good indicator of how people feel on a subject, assuming they survive the translation process and inter-cultural confusion. For three delicious cartoons from the Arab media that translate just fine, have a look here.

150 Years Ago

2011-01-28T09:10:00.001-08:00

150 years ago, the Union was falling apart, and our nation stood upon the brink of war within itself.

150 years ago today, Senator Alfred Iverson of Georgia stood up in the Senate chambers to say goodbye to his colleagues of the Senate, and goodbye to the United States of America. Georgia had seceded from the Union, and the War Between The States was at hand.

Throwing down the gauntlet, Iverson challenged the Senate with these words -

You may acquiesce in the revolution, and acknowledge the independence of the new confederacy, or you may make war on the seceding States, and attempt to force them back into a Union with you. If you acknowledge our independence, and treat us as one of the nations of the earth, you can have friendly intercourse with us; you can have an equitable division of the public property and of the existing public debt of the United States. If you make war upon us, we will seize and hold all the public property within our borders or within our reach.

Jefferson Davis, who would soon be the first President of the Confederate States of America, was then a Senator from Mississippi. In departing, Jeff Davis chose these words -

It has been a conviction of pressing necessity — it has been a belief that we are to be deprived in the Union of the rights which our fathers bequeathed to us — which has brought Mississippi to her present decision.

The issues then were very different from the issues today in one sense; no rational person today would defend the institution of slavery, or deny that all men and women are created equal.

And yet in many senses the situations then and now are directly comparable. Once again, free men and women are denied the rights bequeathed to them by their forefathers. Once again, a hopelessly corrupt government in Washington DC is completely out of touch with the real situation faced by the average inhabitant of this nation. Once again, a shamelessly arrogant government in Washington DC has chosen to pursue the agenda of the rich and powerful at the expense of the working man and woman.

Once again, those who have worked all their lives face economic ruination at the hands of the political elite.

And our oh-so-beloved President, Barack Hussein Obama, has compared himself to Abraham Lincoln, flattering himself outrageously. Lincoln may have been an evil dictator, but at least he had a working pair of testicles.

This blog is in response to an Op Ed on this subject at the NYT here
Original copy of the Senate record from Jan 28 1861 here