DEAD

Alice and dodo
One in four mammals risks extinction for now, but it will be a much worse forecast 50 years from now. The problem is not too many people, but how those people we actually have organize their economic activity on Planet Earth.

Seas turn to acid as they soak up CO2 The problem is not too many people, it is what the people do to the oceans when organized in a destructive world economy.

Vanishing forest: a northern forest is disappearing at a rapid pace—that spells trouble for billions of animals Do you have an American or Canadian flag waving from your house? Why are you so proud and defensive about all this destruction? Don’t you know what is happening? Stop celebrating this culture, this economy, this spirit of DEAD.

Factory farming leads to ‘Destruction of biodiversity — A tendency towards using single adapted breeds (a mono-culture) in factory farming, both in arable and animal farming, gives uniform product designed for high yields, at the risk of increased susceptibility to disease. The loss of locally adapted breeds reduces the resilience of the agricultural system. The issue is not limited to factory farming and historically the problem is reflected in the rapid adoption of one or two strains of crops across a wide area as seen in the Irish potato famine of 1854 and the Bengal rice famine in 1942.[58] The loss of the gene pool of domesticated animals limits the ability to adapt to future problems. This issue exists in all types of farming practices.’ from wikipedia

The Factory Model simply is not the solution at all to anything, whether it be economic or agricultural production, whether it be the production of ‘services’ or the production of ‘education’. Factories run top down by rich owners is DEAD. Factory buffalo hunting is DEAD. Factory fishing is DEAD. Factory logging is DEAD. Factory mining is DEAD. Factory living in shopping mallandia is DEAD.

Eat the Rich, redux.

A friend of mine asked on another forum what could possibly be done with the cannibalistic practices of Wall Street Speculators.

The answer is simple: make a meal of the issue.

When the airborne fecal material violently contacts the rotary air circulation device..

The dumb bunny speculators wouldn’t even be able to find their way to the Subway.

They’ll be wandering around lost for a couple of hours or more, desperately wondering where all the taxis have gone…

When they’re good and tired, the sun is setting and the streetlights aren’t coming back on, ever,…

That’s when The C.H.U.D. attack.

(Cannibalistic… Humanoid… Underground… Dwellers…

really sick flick and you would have to see it for yourself to understand.)

The stock thieves who had spent time working out at the gym, you know, Paying to work, because work keeps your body functioning.. and if they were serious about it, well, the meat will be pretty tough.

On the other hand, with fewer fat reserves, no insulating value besides their retarded looking Wall Street jackets, plus they don’t smoke and therefore won’t have matches or lighters, to light a campfire, and probably wouldn’t be able to figure out how a match works in the first place… they’ll weaken more quickly and start to succumb to the hypothermia.

The lazier, fatter ones would still have to be harvested fairly quickly, a couple of days of wandering and just not eating will run all the calories and other potential nutritional value off of them.

The dumbest and therefore easiest to harvest will be standing on the street corner waving their arms frantically trying to signal one of the non-existent Taxis.

Stealing a cab would be a quick way to harvest them.

The doors even lock when they get in. How perfect is that?

Some Tabasco sauce would be a wise investment …

Singin’ the Bail-out blues…

..except nothing that ugly could possibly be put to music..

There’s a massive effort from the Far Right to blame the Liberals, blame the Working poor (whispered rumors are that it’s those MINORITIES) when the evidence has been staring us right in the face for all this time.

Infomercials on how to Get Rich Without Trying filled the late-night, early morning TeeVee…

The loans that were defaulted, turns out that not only most but the Vast Majority of them were to people who were speculating.

Not people who were buying homes to actually, you know, LIVE in them.

The “Flip that house” show is still on HGTV…

Buy a house at a flexible rate, wait while the real estate value goes up, then sell it at a profit.

The Infomercials promised that you could do this with “little or even NO money down! How could you possibly lose?”

Buy a house with no money, sell it a week later, pay off the balance of your mortgage and use the rest as paper collateral, “Cash Instrument” on another loan, preferably two, and do the same thing over again.

“How could you possibly lose?”

ummm… maybe by following the instructions, yeah, that’s a fast way to lose.

NOW, How Much Would You Pay? BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!

these “Cash Instruments” essentially a post-dated check backed by an extremely ætherial government guarantee of payment…

then get used as collateral for secondary and tertiary levels of loans.

Now, the Republican-controlled Congress, (until January 07), top heavy with Harvard MBAs and even Doctorates in Economics, and of course the Investment Banks and the Brokerage Houses, for some reason now they’re saying they’re the victims, that none of them had the experience or the intellect to spot a Pyramid Scam in the works.

Especially not when given a 15 year head start on spotting it.

They say they were forced to give loans to Poor Risk (meaning: underpaid Minorities) customers, but neglect to mention that most of those owner-occupant houses didn’t default.

They also weren’t “required by Federal Law” to push the bank guarantees off onto the Speculators, in fact, they seem to be complicit in those crimes.

And all these Financial Experts, especially those in Congress, like McCain, have had their Corporate Sponsors spend Large Money telling us how vigilant they were over our economy…

WELL, DUH!!

So the most they can claim is Not Guilty By Reason of Massive Incompetence.

But they come, not hat in hand, not humbly, but Arrogantly, demanding that we pay their bills, with no questions and no oversight.

Because, so they say, they’re the only ones who have the competence and experience to do it.

my yass.

We’ve just experienced the full measure of their “Competence”

Then there’s the little matter of that Federal Insurance on the mortgages.

It wasn’t there. Why was that insurance not there?

Two Words: Eye Rack.

Seems Mr Bush, whose Grandpoppy, Poppy and brothers are all Bankers, has had a little Fancy Finance Finagling going on to “pay” the bills on that mess.

It makes the Treasonous Actions of Reagan, North, Poindexter Bush Sr Secord and Casey look like a trial run.

Which essentially it was.

This time instead of funding the Cuba Libre, the Contras, the Medellin Cartel, the Taliban, Hizbollah and al Qa’eda, it goes directly into the American Taliban in other words BlackWater, Halliburton and other more highly organized Terrorist Groups.

But they’re going to blame the entire collapse on a relative handful of low-budget homeowners.

Eat the Rich.

George Saunders on Sarah Palin

Excerpt from “My Gal” by George Saunders, one of my favorite funny but twisted authors.

“Explaining how she felt when John McCain offered her the Vice-Presidential spot, my Vice-Presidential candidate, Governor Sarah Palin, said something very profound: “I answered him ‘Yes’ because I have the confidence in that readiness and knowing that you can’t blink, you have to be wired in a way of being so committed to the mission, the mission that we’re on, reform of this country and victory in the war, you can’t blink. So I didn’t blink then even when asked to run as his running mate.”

Isn’t that so true? I know that many times, in my life, while living it, someone would come up and, because of I had good readiness, in terms of how I was wired, when they asked that—whatever they asked—I would just not blink, because, knowing that, if I did blink, or even wink, that is weakness, therefore you can’t, you just don’t. You could, but no—you aren’t.”

The article devolves into the usual George Saunders weirdness, but it’s worth a few minutes, if for no other reason than to get a taste of Saunders himself! Read the full article in The New Yorker online.

Death of a Democracy

The domestic news is bleak across the board. Brother Jonah has already weighed in on the government’s latest post-9/11 power grab. Here’s a little more on the subject.
 
From the Army Times:
Beginning Oct. 1 for 12 months, the 1st BCT will be under the day-to-day control of U.S. Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command, as an on-call federal response force for natural or manmade emergencies and disasters, including terrorist attacks.
IT STARTS NEXT WEEK

…this new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to NorthCom, a joint command established in 2002 to provide command and control for federal homeland defense efforts and coordinate defense support of civil authorities.
IT’S UNPRECEDENTED

After 1st BCT finishes its dwell-time mission, expectations are that another, as yet unnamed, active-duty brigade will take over and that the mission will be a permanent one.
IT’S PERMANENT

They may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control or to deal with potentially horrific scenarios such as massive poisoning and chaos in response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive, or CBRNE, attack.
THE POWERS WILL BE UNLIMITED

The 1st BCT’s soldiers also will learn how to use “the first ever nonlethal package that the Army has fielded,” 1st BCT commander Col. Roger Cloutier said, referring to crowd and traffic control equipment and nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals without killing them.
AND AIMED DIRECTLY AT US

“If we go in, we’re going in to help American citizens on American soil, to save lives, provide critical life support, help clear debris, restore normalcy and support whatever local agencies need us to do, so it’s kind of a different role,” said 1st BCT Commander, Roger Cloutier.
IT’S POWERED BY THE PROPAGANDA MACHINE

For the past 130 years, the Posse Comitatus Act, along with the Insurrection Act, has prohibited the government from using the U.S. military for domestic law enforcement. However, the 2007 Defense Authorization Bill allows the federal government to deploy the military here at home basically whenever they feel like it. This new “federal freedom” will most likely be used to limit our Constitutional liberties and suppress dissent.

Who’s minding the store? How are these bills — including one that throws out more than 100 years of American history with a single pocket veto — passing without a whimper? Why don’t we know? And why don’t we care?

In the words of Willy Loman, “Attention must be paid!”

AIG and Washington Mutual soon to follow Lehman Brothers down the drain?

while-you-were-outTo put things in perspective, it helps to know that Lehman Brothers holdings were 10 times the value of Enron’s, a company that also fell into bankruptcy amidst scandal. But the collapse of the American economy is not over yet, as other companies, such as Washington Mutual and AIG also appear to be on their way to going under. Here is what wikipedia has to say about AIG, the 18th largest company in the world, and one that in 2006 was fined over 1.5 billion dollars for fraud.

‘On June 15, 2008, under intense pressure due to financial losses and a falling stock price, Martin Sullivan resigned from the CEO position. He was replaced by Robert B. Willumstad who has served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company since 2006.

In 2008, AIG’s share prices fell over 95% to less than $3 in September and the company reported over $13.2 billion in losses in the first six months of that year. As Lehman Brothers suffered a major decline in value and share price, potential investors began to compare the types of securities held by AIG to those held by Lehman, and found that AIG had valued their Alt-A and sub-prime mortgage-backed securities at rates 1.7 to 2.0 times those Lehman had used for what Lehman officials called similar securities. On September 14, 2008, AIG announced it was considering selling its aircraft leasing division, International Lease Finance Corporation, in an effort to raise necessary capital for the company. The Federal Reserve has hired Morgan Stanley to determine if there are systemic risks to a failing AIG, and has asked private entities to supply short-term “bridge” loans to the company. In the meantime, New York regulators have approved AIG for $20 billion in borrowing from its subsidiaries.

On September 16, AIG’s stock dropped 60 percent at the market’s opening. The Federal Reserve continued to meet that day with major Wall Street investment firms to broker a deal to create a $75 billion line of credit to the company. Rating agencies Moody’s and Standard and Poor’s, meanwhile, downgraded their ratings on AIG’s credit on concerns over continuing losses to mortgage-backed securities. The New York Times later reported that talks on Wall Street had broken down and AIG may file for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday, September 17.’

Will this company in fact file for bankruptcy tomorrow as the NYT reports? And what about Washington Mutual and the others? It’s beginning to look like the 30’s once again, and all doubt about ‘recessions’ or not is now over. The word is DEPRESSION. Hang onto your job, house, and pension if you can, for it looks grim.

Palin says NUCULAR like ya know who

Sarah Palin Charles Gibson ABC interviewSarah Palin pronounces “nuclear” like President Bush, “nucular.” Ya know, Ya gotta wonder whether “Charlie” came through for ABC viewers, or whether the game afoot is really a jig up. Or trap set. But for whom?

Any number of Palin’s handlers could have made sure Palin sat up straight, or wasn’t positioned to be talked down to by her white male elder. Unless it was meant to look that way.

Gibson’s questions were plain and straightforward, and probably inherently condescending. Could Palin have failed them more miserably? Where could Gibson have gone that wasn’t going to make this Hockey Mom look like she was clutching her purse at a job interview?

Most intriguing to me was the question about the “Bush Doctrine.” Palin didn’t know what it is, but I’d hazard to say neither do you. It’s not like the Monroe Doctrine, or whatever doctrine rebuilt Europe, it’s the term the media has dubbed for George Dubya’s cowboy foreign policy, and obviously they don’t make a big critical to-do about it with us. Sarah Palin huh? Cornering Sarah Palin into trying to conceal that she had no clue to its definition, made the interview look like an ambush.

Can you recite the “Bush Doctrine?” If newsmen and analysts would spell it out, the American public would have called for Bush’s immediate impeachment. Now Palin, thrust cleverly into the role as OUR surrogate, is expected to know what the media has left unspoken?

At first glance I thought ABC came out more aggressively than I expected. Palin certainly did not disappoint with her face plant. But maybe a good many potential McCain voters are going to see their hopes victimized by whatever subtle “shove” they think pushed Sarah over. Especially coming from what they believe to be the Left-leaning media which led Palin unto the ice. Right wing self-described feminists are going to see themselves as victim to Gibson’s paternalistic tone.

ABC may have allowed itself to look like a bully, without asking any of the hard questions about all the representations Palin made in her speech at the RNC. Lies which she’s being allowed to repeat unchanged at every subsequent rally. If they had, at least we’d have answers that Palin would be qualified to give, the proverbial rope with which she’d hang herself.

How Obama should apologize about Lipstick, and why.

kind of a pictorial essay.

As to do I really believe he meant Sarah Palin is ugly, well, he didn’t say she was, McCain, however, jumped to the conclusion that somebody was disparaging her looks.

Why? Is he or she or both of them together that sensitive to the subject?

Must have hit a sore spot.

Let’s not forget that McCain used the Term Lipstick on a Pig first, to describe Hillary Clinton.

And said that Chelsea Clinton, who to my knowledge has never run for any elected office, was ugly, and that the reason was that Janet Reno was her father.

So why the sudden Knight in Shining Armor routine, and why does he automatically assume that Palin is the target of the Pig comment?

These questions and many more answered on the next episode of Doap…
Apology to McCain

Gentle reminder

pig

Apology to real swine

an offended pig

A letter from an American Soldier

I received a well written letter yesterday from an American Soldier. It was addressed to me, but I thought I’d post his arguments for general comment.

Mr. Verlo,

I stumbled upon your website by a pure stroke of accidental misfortune while searching for current news on the Fort Carson Installation.. My wife, my son and I are from Colorado, and I am an American Soldier. I am college educated and studied Middle-Eastern history, and I am well versed as it pertains to Mesopotamia, global-terror and global insurgencies.

I have deployed to Iraq twice and Afghanistan once. In 2003-2004 I served in Al-Fallujah and Ar-Ramadi in the Al-Anbar province, and in 2005-2006 in Tal’afar in the western Ninewah province with the 3d Armored Cavalry from Fort Carson (maybe you heard about the letter that Najim Abdullah wrote to George Bush about my unit?).

I spent seven months in Afghanistan training Afghani Security Forces, and would go back again to either country to serve for one reason only: to support my Soldiers. Although I am career-military, I do not now, nor did I ever support the Bush Administration or the pretenses under which we invaded Iraq. But, unfortunately, our elected officials thrust us into this mess, and we (Americans and American Military alike) are essentially left to deal with it. I am writing to you to comment on a few articles that you have authored, and provide my own opinions and citations.

First, in your article titled: “It’s in the Percentages”, you note that “apparently” 30% of Soldiers don’t have a high school education, 30% are returning with PTSD and 25% percent of their children are considered “special needs”. These are very interesting statistics, yet, you provided no citations. You go on to state that (and I quote): “I find it an absolute nightmare to imagine soldiers in positions of authority, making life and death decisions over others, who don’t know right from wrong, history from high stakes poker, or intelligence from drunken stupor. How do you reason with someone whose only motivation is their next beer?” and “It’s a war crime to subject civilian populations to rule by incompetents”. Again, very interesting. Here are some solid statistics for you, as well as citations. I chose to contrast military service members to college students in this case, but the same could be applied to any demographic (i.e., individuals who were recently laid off nation-wide, or illegal immigrants).

– 40% of college students who come from middle to upper class families engage in binge drinking on a regular (weekly) basis, as opposed to 26% of military personnel who have recently returned from combat tours overseas, where they suffered some sort of physical and/or emotional trauma (ABC news poll, 2007/2008). In addition, over 22,000 service members have called suicide hotlines in an attempt to get help (VA poll, 2008).

– 20% of college students engage in heavy drug use, as opposed to less than 5% of military personnel (ABC News Poll, 2007).

Here’s my favorite one:

3% of all college women report sexual assault at some point in their college career. In 2007, there were 2,212 reported cases of sexual assault on military installations by service members. In a military that exceeds roughly 2,000,000 people, that’s less than 1%.

Second, in your article titled: “Turning out to support fewer Troops”, you allude to Soldiers “riding in on a black cloud”. Hmmm, I’m not quite sure I understand that one. Is this a reference to the environmental damage we do with our vehicles, or the perceived “evil” that we bring with us because we are all, in fact, rapists, murderers and psychopaths?

Third, in your article titled: “Colorado Springs Military Community”, you state that (and I quote) “FIVE MAJOR MILITARY INSTALLATIONS ALREADY AND THE CITY AND COUNTY ARE BROKE”. El Paso County is broke? Since when? I would love to see a citation in reference to this one, because I have “Googled” it to no end and have found nothing that would lead me to believe anything but the contrary. The Colorado Springs Economic Development Corporation reports that: “Colorado Springs has a 3.1 million labor force within an hour radius, a Fast track permitting and planning program (30-60 days), 27 Fortune 500 Companies and a quality of life which is 70% the cost of coastal communities” (CSEDC 2008).

Sir, I have read your opinions on the media (many of which I share with you, by the way), so I would presume that you think this is a fabrication. Here’s the bottom line; the military presence in Colorado (the big, scary war-machine that we are) boosts the economy of the area due to its service members buying cars, houses (and paying taxes on their properties), shopping at local businesses, applying for and receiving loans from local banks, etc. There is no doubt in my mind that if the military left Colorado Springs, the city would continue to thrive, but the economy would noticeably decline anywhere that 30,000 people leave, military or not.

Fourth and final, in your article titled: “On Jan 14 let us not expand Fort Carson”, you state that more military in the area would make (and I quote) “Colorado Springs even more dependent on poor paying jobs, predatory businesses, and skyrocketing social problems. Only developers, car-dealers, pawn shops, strip clubs, liquor stores, social workers, jails and mortuaries benefit from a higher soldier population”. Wow, seriously? These are only issues tied to the influx of more military in the area? So, if 3,000 recently released convicted felons chose Colorado Springs as their new home, it would have less of an impact? Or how about 3,000 illegal immigrants, or 3,000 pregnant teenagers?

Well, let’s go ahead and analyze this a bit further. Developers and car-dealers will benefit from ANY new arrivals to the area, not just military. In reference to pawn shops and strip clubs, the owners of these businesses know exactly what they are doing by placing them outside of military installations. Service members are targeted by these establishments. That’s why they are placed where they are in the community. The same can be said for pay-day loan houses and used car dealerships on Powers and Academy blvd. But if you placed strip clubs next to colleges, would it still be the military that held the higher attendance record? It’s all about business strategy my friend, not the assumption that all military service members are sex-crazed, alcoholic lunatics.

Social workers, jails and mortuaries benefit wherever there are people with problems, criminals and people who have died. I suppose that again, it’s only military who fall into these categories. Ah yes, and our children are even more screwed up than we are. The fact that you said (and I quote): “The rest of us suffer increased crime and their children’s behavioral problems in our schools” vividly displays your utter incompetence and lack of any compassionate notion. You realize that less than 30% of military children who have been separated from a parent experience behavioral issues (USA Today poll, 2008)? The percentage of non-military children who experience behavioral issues as a result of a parent’s incarceration, or divorce, or even domestic abuse is almost twice as high.

Sir, I will be the first to admit that military service members are not perfect. But we are human beings, who are susceptible to the same things that civilians are. We are an easy target, because so many of us are returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan with severe problems, after having served in a war that has lost most of it’s public support (and rightly so).

What I have a hard time understanding is why people such as you exercise your freedoms of speech, protest, religion, etc, and then malign the very people who provide, protect and preserve those liberties? I am as anti-Bush as the average American left-wing protestor, but to blame service members for the actions of their elected leadership is immoral. You are essentially grouping us with Nazi’s, which is absolutely ridiculous. The Nazis’ goal was global domination, and they had no clearly defined rule of engagement. They knew that what they were doing was wrong, and did it anyway.

Does the US Military have people who behave in this manner? Absolutely, and they are dealt with within the justice system for their actions. We are in fact “just following orders” with our presence in the Middle-East. As I realize that this was also the defense of Nazi war criminals at Nurnberg, allow me to elaborate. The US military has clearly defined Rules of Engagement, and our greater mission is to stabilize an unstable region, not global control as conspiracy theorists would have everyone believe. Unless you have a solid understanding of counter-terror and counterinsurgency doctrine, you are in no position to presume anything about the US Military in the Middle-East (unless YOU have been there) other than the fact that we invaded Iraq under false pretenses. I’ll give you that one, and take it for myself as well.

Sir, have you ever held a young Iraqi child in your arms, returning him to his parents as they kiss you and your Soldiers’ cheeks, after he had been treated at a US facility because terrorists sodomized him and cut out his tongue? Have you ever looked straight into the eyes of a terrorist, who swore allegiance to Zarqawi and proclaimed himself a “holy warrior”, and seen pure evil? And while your medical personnel treated him for burns (which were sustained when he poured kerosene on a child and his father and attempted to set them on fire publicly, only succeeding to set himself on fire) he spoke perfect English and vowed to remember your name and kill your family? I presume you would view this as our fault, correct?

But here’s the difference between the American Soldier and everyone else: when it is our fault, we acknowledge it, and DO something about it. We help people, good and bad, bottom line. Do bad things happen? Of course. Are all Soldiers and Marines upright citizens? Of course not.. That’s why one Marine out of 30,000 threw a puppy off of a cliff, and four Soldiers out of 121,000 raped a 14-year old girl and killed her family. These actions were inexcusable and tragic, and the individuals in question were/are being dealt with. To generalize every American service member based on these isolated incidents vividly shows your lack of any rational thought.

So in closing, allow me to say that whether you care to acknowledge it or not, it is the MILITARY who grant and preserve liberties and who TRULY make a difference, not politicians, protestors, or half-minded anti-war bloggers. And understand (or don’t) why we are involved in the Global War on Terror, it is because it doesn’t matter whether or not you are white, black, Canadian, American, gay, straight, blind, deaf, or how many anti-Bush websites you manage or protests you attend, there are fundamentalist extremists who want to murder you and your family because you represent western culture.

I want this war to be over so badly that it consumes me at times. I do not want my son to have to see what I have seen as a result of a failed administration. Sir, we are human beings also, and I gladly serve to protect the liberty and freedom of individuals like you who don’t support me at all. So at your next rally, or the next article you write which slanders US service members, take a moment to reflect on your freedoms, and understand who it is that truly grants them. I wish you all continued health and happiness.

Sincerely,

[D.]

The difference between GOP and a pig? Lipstick.

Alaska governor Sarah Palin hunts wildlife from a plane doorIn her speech last night at the RNC, Alaska Governor Sarah Palin riddled us: What’s the difference between a HOCKEY MOM and a PIT BULL? LIPSTICK. Maybe those of us who aren’t Alaskans or Canadians don’t know what “hockey moms” are. The raised placards at the RNC would have us think, and the cheering response would have us believe, that this is an appeal to homemaker feminists. We’re meant to confuse “hockey moms” -I’m sure- with “soccer moms,” a term which has nothing to do with tenacious blood-lust / sports advocacy.

“Soccer Moms” is about multitasking mothers overtaxed by the myriad after-school activities which excuse their driving Subarus or SUVs. The lexicographic link must be “soccer hooligan” from which we can derive the disproportionate competitive fervor shown by Little League parents. (Soccer Mom — Soccer Hooligan — Hockey Mom?) Would that explain the pit bull comparison? Or are Alaskan pit bulls beasts of burden on the dog sled teams?

No. VP candidate Sarah Palin is a pit bull alright, with the lies she’s pulling her children into, and the bold faced misrepresentations she’s making about her political record as a reformer and corruption cop, which she is everything but. But where Palin really needs the lipstick is to disguise her pit bull blood lust. Palin shoots moose and wolves from airplanes. lipstick She championed a ballot initiative to protect the rights of “Safari” outfits to take “hunters” like herself aloft where they can spot wild animals against the bare snow, stalk them until they are out of wind, then fire at them with high power rifles until they splatter dead. No need even to land the plane.

Pit bulls are outlawed in many civilized municipalities and Human Societies throughout the lower forty-eight won’t let people re-adopt them, choosing rather to euthanize pit bulls sooner than expose more would be pet owners to the genetically malignant brutes. Pit bull skulls shrink in on their brains as they age. Ever since the Budweiser pitchdog, people think they’re cute, and owners will insist they are friendly just like any other dog, yada yada yada. Except they are the preferred pets of meth dealers to guard the stash while they are replenishing ingredients at Wal-mart. Pit bulls were bred to have heads like anvils and vice-like jaws. They look like steel-toothed pot-bellied pigs.

I’m surprised the GOP wants to remind TV viewers about an analogy whose punchline is lipstick.

Lipstick cannot disguise a pig, and it’s not going to disguise Sarah Palin.

Watching the GOP National Convention

WHO ARE ALL THESE IDIOTS? Have you ever seen such a homogeneous bunch? American Fascism doesn’t need Nazi uniforms. It’s in our faces. Those faces. The TV coverage is enough to reveal the ignorance plainly readable in those Republican mugs. Save an RNC commemorative DVD for the medical records to advance the study of stupidity demographics. Probably security firms working on facial feature recognition already know the patterns. These of the genes of dumb chattel. They’re nothing authority has to fear. But march them behind sleazy, immoral predators, and they make for a terrifying bunch. Tonight was a celebration of the basest of personal attacks and the cheerleading of inanity.

More worrying, who are the masses of vacuous morons who elected the party leaders spewing these lies and half baked arguments? Stolen and manipulated elections to be sure, but at some point you have to hold Hawaii, Alaska and NYC for tolerating these pandering asshole pretenders.

Play-by-play: Cindy McCain is dressed as Kermit the Frog. They’re passing Trig around like a hot potato. Snowmobiles are now referred to as “snow machines” in deference to John McCain not knowing what they’re called. Did Bush’s cohorts start talking “nucular” to make their boss look less ignorant?

Will a daughter’s second pregnancy obfuscate Governor Palin’s coverup?

Bristol Palin nurses Baby TrigThis story is not about the Palin daughter, it’s about VP candidate Sarah Palin.

Who was it that dragged young Bristol Palin’s private life into the political fray? The GOP would like to say it was Leftist bloggers. But who decided these not-ready-for- prime-time family foibles should face the scrutiny of an election podium?

A further preface: has a US public yet showed an interest in the real culpability of a politician?

Really, I’m not in the least prepared to allow the “left” to tell us what arguments should or shouldn’t be raised against Palin and the family members she drags into her schemes.

The Palin/McCain handlers think they’d averted a media firestorm by recasting the scandal as a simple teenage pregnancy. To counter accusations that VP candidate Sarah Palin lied about who mothered Baby Trig, they’ve announced that Bristol is NOW five-months pregnant. We’re supposed to do the math and conclude she couldn’t have birthed Baby Trig, when of course, there’s no corroborating testimony about Bristol’s condition, and there won’t be because inquests into the candidate’s children are off the table.

Redefining the Baby Trig news byte as a self-effacing confession about a pre-marital teenage pregnancy has so far shamed the critics. Even Obama is put in the position to be indignant for Bristol’s privacy. I’m amazed that the discourse has been about John McCain’s vetting process, instead of his good judgment of Sarah Palin’s character. Does a candidate pick a running mate based on their being impervious to scandal, or based on their capabilities as a partner?

A teenage pregnancy or two, a mother covering for her daughter, even pulling out all stops to help your sister in a custody battle with her ex, these are not uncommon predicaments for families anywhere. These things show Sarah Palin to be simply all too human. Being tempted to conceal your frailty is no great vanity either. But is succumbing to the common an indication of the strength of character required of a leader?

Going from junior college to council-person of a pop 7,000 person town to governor to potential President of the United States is a Heratio Alger story that feeds our American Dream. We all want to think we’re just one Lotto win away from riches. Of course, scratching a winning lottery number would qualify us for a life of leisure until the money’s gone. But some doddering Senator lifting us up from obscurity based on photogenic and possibly oratory skill can’t possibly qualify a person for a position of great responsibility and tact. In light of (just four days worth so far) of evidence to the contrary.

Sarah Palin’s sister married a cop

What does TROOPER GATE say about the potential Vice President, now Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin? Apparently emails and phone records indicate that Palin used her authority as governor to fire the supervisor who wouldn’t fire the state trooper with whom her sister was fighting a custody battle.

How TROOPER GATE strikes me, in addition to the inappropriate abuse of power, is that Palin’s sister was married to a cop. How far can anyone fall from so short a tree?

Which is not to say Palin would not be smart enough to be Vice President, or President, when John McCain expires. She’s no worse a patsy than George W. Bush. The odds are phenomenally unlikely she could be dumber.

Sarah Palin poses with gunHow did such an inexperienced person find herself as governor of Alaska? Probably Palin was the only person myopic enough to step into Senator Stevens’ corrupt political machine. Stevens and his cronies couldn’t serve as governor themselves, they were too busy with sneaky oil deals. As scandals grew to investigations, they needed someone in office who wouldn’t know how to do anythng, much less turn the heat on them.

It turns out Palin was cut from the same cloth, of a rougher thread-count. Instead of embezzling from oil deals, or stealing cuts of construction projects, she’s pushing her weight around in personal vendettas against in-laws.

Martial Law undeclared in New Orleans

WE INTERRUPT WITH BREAKING NEWS- New Orleans is under MARTIAL LAW. It’s a scoop! The Breaking News keeps announcing the anticipation of Hurricane Gustav, without explaining the images which speak the obvious. The National Guard have arrived, and they’re not carrying sandbags. The soldiers are sitting in parked Hummers, with assault rifles across their knees.

As if what undid New Orleans and Baghdad was the looting pursuant to Katrina and Shock and Awe. Hurricanes and floodwaters can demolish homes in the wrong neighborhoods. The homes on higher grounds have to fear the looters.

So a curfew has been announced, starting at 9PM tonight, with no set end time. Is that a curfew or Marital Law? If the power goes out, how are you supposed to learn when “curfew” has been lifted? If you’re found outside your property lines, you face arrest for ignoring the mandatory evacuation. You’ll be presumed to have intentions on your neighbor’s property.

The Mayor of New Orleans is warning that potential looters will be sent directly to Angola [Prison.] There will be no quarter, he appears to be saying, no temporary holding facility between court and sentence. You’ll go directly into the General [Prison] Population. Adding, “May God have mercy on you,” as if pronouncing the last rites on a condemned man.

Can he do that? Can they throw away the key on citizens innocent until proven guilty? Mayor Ray Nagin is speaking down to his constituents as if they are adolescents he can scare straight. But I’m sure the same TV audience which cheers when their Law and Order heroes smack down suspects who don’t confess, are loving these tough words of warning. Here’s a black man speaking as if he knows that his constituents 1. have no self respect, and 2. can’t wait to loot.

I see the same public desensitivity to excessive police presence, as became apparent at the DNC. We may stand aghast, but few question if it’s appropriate. Tons of cops, heavily armed, even pointing their guns at you. Unless you find yourself brutalized, it’s just added security. And so long as you don’t have a problem with whose rule of law is being enforced, who can argue with absolute power?

Perhaps security developments in New Orleans are not called Martial Law, because they’re closer to everyday law as we’re coming to see it.

Here are Mayor Nagin’s condescending words:

You need to be scared.
You need to be concerned.
And you need to get your butts movin’
Out of New Orleans. Right now.

That’s the scare tactic used to justify police crackdown. It makes me laugh.

And then finally,
I just talked to the Sherif and to the Police Chief,
I just want to send a strong message out to anybody
who’s thinking about lingering around
and becoming a looter.

Looting will not be tolerated.
We have doubled the police force,
Doubled the National Guard force
that we had for Katrina,
And looters will go directly to jail.

You will not get out -uh uh-
You will not get a pass this time.
As a matter of fact,
anybody who’s caught looting
in the City of New Orleans
Will go directly to Angola.
Directly to Angola.
You will not have
a temporary stay in the city.
You go directly to the Big House
In General Population.
Aight?
So I want to make sure that every looter,
Potential looter, understands that.
You will go directly to Angola Prison.
And God Bless You, when you go there.

Just say no, Sarah Palin

Sarah Palin familyExactly who is John McCain pandering to by adding Sarah Palin to the ticket? Talk is that he’s hoping to hook the evangelical crowd, but he’s obviously missing a few key bits of information.

Conservative Christians do not put their women in positions of authority over men. Ever. In my former church, women were not allowed to preach to the general congregation because this was seen as unbiblical, and a condescension to their male counterparts. Believe it or not, they aren’t even permitted to lead the “praise and worship” musical segment of the Sunday service for the same reason. Jezebel can forget about the support of evangelical males.

As for females, they present an even peskier problem. Christian women have strong opinions about the roles of wife and mother. In my experience, few evangelical wives are employed full-time outside the home. Their lives are about rearing godly children and glorifying their husbands. Many consider themselves helpmates, subordinate to their husbands and the church. They are not going to view Sarah Palin as a sister in Christ. She resembles a Biblical harlot, not a Proverbs 31 role model.

There is a nonreligious unbridgeable gap here as well. In case you hadn’t heard, there is an ongoing feud between stay-at-home mothers (SAHMs) and women employed outside the home. The SAHMs claim the moral high ground in the area of child-raising and husband-tending, while the working women, especially those in traditionally male-dominated professions, cling to feminist values of independence, equality, and self-actualization. Ms. Palin — the working woman who calls herself a soccer mom — may strike both camps as an imposter. And many women, regardless of work status, will wonder why Sarah would leave five children, including a special-needs infant, to be used as a pawn in a good-ol’-boys ploy.

I feel sorry for Sarah Palin. She’s being used as hastily begotten arm candy to pretty up an ugly ticket. Things won’t go well for her this election season. In my opinion, she should have refused McCain’s offer. She should have thanked him for the honor of being asked, and then used the national spotlight to showcase who she really is. Not the life preserver he’d like her to be.

High Hopes for Hurricane Gustav

In 2005, I was skeptical of the imminent threat posed by Katrina. TV forecasters are always hyping the worst. But if Hurricane Gustav does blow to fruition: Please Gustav, spare the people of Cuba, spare the black and the poor of New Orleans. But otherwise, GO GO GODZILLA!

When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, TV images seen the world over left fellow developed countries amazed that the USA couldn’t look after itself. How could a natural disaster cause such carnage in a supposedly technologically advanced nation? Our government officials looked like fools, both for being ill prepared and for their ineffectual scramble to bring aid. Americans have learned that little was done to prepare for a Katrina. We’ve now seen that rebuilding has less to do with restoring the victims’ homes than providing a huge land grab for land developers.

Let it happen again. Rain upon the resorts and casinos, batter the rich neighborhoods who wouldn’t let Katrina’s afflicted cross their bridge to safety. Let Gustav make a mucky swamp of Nouveau-riche Orleans. Let Bush and his “Good Job” Three Stooges take the spotlight again. Consider it a rerun for those whose Katrina memories have lapsed. Let all Americans soak up what a clown car sideshow Bush & Co has been.

We hear that the GOP is considering postponing their convention in Minneapolis St Paul so that they’re not seen waving flags while poor black Americas are floating on flood waters. If the RNC is rescheduled, I’m making plans to get there just to laugh at the heartless white fatties and their ignorant fans.

McCain-Melnitz?

You know how sometimes something you see, hear or smell calls to mind another something? Something close yet inaccessible. It’s a bit like the feeling of deja vu, yet not exactly.

Janine Melnitz for VPAnyway, when I saw Sarah Palin for the first time yesterday, I had the sense that she reminded me of someone. For some reason, I kept thinking about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles but couldn’t complete the mental thread. It gnawed at me all day. Kids show. It had to be late eighties when my boy was little. Whaaaat was it?
Janine Melnitz GhostbustersFinally it came to me. Ghostbusters! Janine Melnitz, aka Annie Potts, aka Sarah Palin. Now I can sleep.

Fish out of hot water in peaceful crowd

DENVER- Sunday DNC day zero, Civic Center Park, agent provocateurs
den-sun-under-agent-cops.jpgI made it a sideline to take photos of potential police instigators at the DNC protests. What excuse can law enforcement make for planting undercover agitators in a peaceful assembly? Encouraging lawlessness is how Pinkerton thugs used to bust up efforts to organize unions.

two
They stand out like black-clad thumbs. And they’re making the crowd nervous. I’m still not sure these thug cops aren’t planted to be noticed on purpose. They serve as sheep dogs, moving the flock along with just the faintest of aggressive postures to trigger fear responses.

three
Now would you say they’ve been joined by a female officer of similar demeanor?

three more
Isn’t this fun? Can you detect another TRIO moving along the same walkway? Hint, they’re closer to forty something.

Behavior Detection Officers

TSABehavior Detection Officers who execute TSA’s Screening Passengers by Observation Technique (SPOT) program, identifying potentially high-risk individuals based on involuntary physical and psychological reactions. TSA anticipates expanding the original SPOT pilot program by training more than 500 Behavior Detection Officers by the end of fiscal year 2008. For more information on how you can become a Mind Cop go directly to the US Transportation Security Agency website and ask for an application. Be sure you have the right attitude now!

DPD DNC provocateurs shy from camera

DENVER- Monday PM, DNC Day 1. Undercover Agent Provocateurs.
Undercover copsCirculating among protesters with video cameras is one thing, walking around like you want to start trouble is another. Can you spot the faux troublemaker? This image doesn’t show his professional ass-kicker boots. The two Unconventional Action participants facing him saw I wore an ACLU t-shirt and urged me to document this provocateur‘s actions.

Actually, in the image above there are two undercover cops in the foreground, moving past the two onlookers facing us. Everyone’s dressed the same, with some unsubtle differences. The cops are dressed EXACTLY the same, like best friend tweens at the mall. These two wore black backwards baseball caps, black hoodies, black bandanas, with spare bandanas worn at the knees as flair, substantial black backpacks, dark glasses, jeans, and heavy black boots. And of course, they have way above average muscles compared to the rest of the people drawn to a political protest.

Getting suited up
So I kept taking pictures of this cop and his partner. Their stereotypical getup caught my eye, but the fact that I interrupted them suiting up to cover every further inch of their faces is what made me nervous. I wanted to keep using my flash hoping they’d feel detected and would go away. But I didn’t want to push it so far that they’d instigate a pushing match with me to have me arrested.

Watching
As tension grew at this standoff with the police, the line of riot police kept closing in. At the same time, these two started obscuring their faces and stepping in closer behind the first line of protesters. The job of agent provocateurs in these situations has been documented at the WTO and the FTAA etc. They push people into the line of policemen, initiating an “attack.” (And LO it happened this night.)

Ready for anonymous action
I kept taking picture after picture to deter them. Even if it they didn’t shove me, the riot police would begin clubbing everyone on their cue.

Leaving camera flash
Finally they wandered off, either chased by the camera, or called off by their commander. If the DPD indeed wanted no riot, what were these undercover cops doing? I suppose their chief role might be to be recognized as police muscle, frightening everyone more.

You can tell by the fascist riot uniforms that the DPD has no qualms being feared. Police can terrorize even more effectively when people come to understand you follow sinister scruples.

UPDATE: Here’s what began that afternoon.

My travel plans for the Minneapolis RNC

To get the hell out of the country. We have a police state and a people who stand awestruck. They’re shocked by it, but not enough to say.
Pepsi Center behind guards
Really, the activists hyped the risk of arrest and spread that legal illogic to reporters. We faced potential police brutality if we sticked by the IVAW vets? We faced arrest for standing on the grass? We put ourselves in jeopardy of being jailed for turning onto Speer instead of following the Police golf cart leading the way for the “unpermitted” march? Wouldn’t journalist want to ask why? What law are we breaking? Do we have to obey a command to disperse if it’s not lawful? What happened to free speech? We’re just standing here. Can we no longer do that?

Pepsi Center fortifications
To raise your voice against this wall of police would seem to others to ask for trouble. For example, when you start drumming or chanting, a number among the crowd might join you, but the greater part of them will very quickly recede. LIKE THAT MIGHT BE AGAINST THE LAW.

Your vote just doesn’t count in the two party dictatorship

Hydra …Dictatorships have gotten wise. It is easier to run a dictatorship when you present the public with two parties instead of one. Dictatorial Power no longer resides in just one single individual in today’s dictatorship, but within one power bloc instead. The public face of today’s dictatorship is a bureaucratic assemble of hacks, not just the face of one Supremo.

Take the current American dictatorship for an example (though Mexico’s current dictatorship is run exactly the same way, and if the American public was more familiar with Mexico would be just as illustrative as the American dictatorship itself is), where dictatorial power resides in a bureaucratic assemble of a bloc of bipartisan DP-RP hacks. We shall look at the present US government drive towards war with Russia as our example.

The public face of the American dictatorship comes in condensed form through the faces of about 6 individuals; Obama, Biden, Cheney, Bush, McCain, Lieberman (very possibly the VP selection by McCain). All have been appointed more than truly elected, and all are united in the need for the US to attack Russia. Russia confronts not El Supremo but rather a six headed hydra of global business domination centered in the US.

A modern day American dictatorship is the viper we can all see publicly, but it is multi-faced, and not that of just one Gran Prepotente (Big Shot). Unfortunately, the public has a hard time truly understanding that the face of America’ modern dictatorship is truly not much different from dictatorship’s of the past, where Mr. Power Hog ruled over all.

In the past, the dictator put on a show election, but that is still how it is done today with the multi-headed Dictator Bloc, too. The show currently is in the pageantry at Denver and St. Paul. In both cases, your vote really need not be bothered to be counted, since the selection was already made for you by raw economic power, which you have none of.

Dictatorship has always resided in ownership, and today’s multi-headed hydra dictatorship for all its apparent differences with the past is no different. The dictatorship owns all; press, soldiers, police, banks, oil, money supply, jobs, the water and air your life depends on. Rebel, and they’ll take off the shirt on your back and the pants you wear, and give you those of their own which they will now own.

Well what about our example of the American dictatorship confronting Russia? It is obvious to see for all that should look and think, that the 6 headed hydra of Obama, Biden, Cheney, Bush, McCain, Lieberman all have obtained ‘consensus’ to rule just like a one headed El Supremo style dictatorship would. They are all for using the Pentagon and NATO to attack Russia. Your vote doesn’t count in the 2 party dictatorship! It’s because the America you live in is a dictatorship. Vote if it makes you feel good but don’t be under any delusions about it.

HYDRA

IVAW betrays their youthful marchers and capitulates to the Democratic Party

IVAW march
DENVER- I have friends in Iraq Veterans Against the War, but their much anticipated action today was totally FUBAR. Given latitude by the other protest organizers to be the feature action on the last day of the DNC, the IVAW march aimed no higher than to ask that their rep be allowed to meet with a party representative. The IVAW had Rage Against the Machine do a free concert, asked the audience to follow them across town to lend moral support, and when the appointment with a DNC delegate was given them, the IVAW cheered, thanked their fellow marchers, and asked everyone to go home.

Denver Riot Police

This in the face of hundreds of cops in riot gear, heavy machinery, and a large audience of bystanders, delegates and press. The confrontation needed to put the spotlight of media attention on the issue of military imperialism and corporate fascism, passed like it some kind of Pirates of the Caribbean amusement ride, everyone smiling and posing for pictures under the noses of heavily armored riot police menacing the crowd with batons and riot control guns.

police state song and dance
Instead of chants like THIS IS WHAT A POLICE STATE LOOKS LIKE, or megaphone entreaties to ask why do nonviolent common citizens face such intimidation by police, the crowd watched Code Pink and other theatrical performances sing cutesy songs to recast the oppressive tone into a humorous light. They should have been signing “Just a spoonful of sugar makes the medicine go down.” Comedic relief is often laudable, but should we be laughing, instead of facing the militarization of our policeman stone cold sober?

No, instead of calling the Democratic Party and the City of Denver on their repressive ways to curb dissent, the situation was kept in check by the vets’ self-policing. The police never had to issue an order. Instead the IVAW coordinators were constantly detailing city ordinances and forewarning everyone about possible arrest. Every time, more and more people retreated from the action.

For example, the IVAW march was un-permitted, and yet they directed it into the allowed free speech area, instead of veering toward better visibility and “certain arrest.” Oh, you don’t have a “permit” for your march, but there are places that are off limits, meaning, for which you don’t have “permission?” Which is it then? The crowd of Rage fans wanted to have their voices heard. They didn’t want to be led in somber veteran respect mode until all their spirit was worn out of them. The IVAW march coordinators kept everyone in line, followed prearranged parade direction signs, and even allowed themselves to be led by the damn police golf cart whose backward facing sign flashed FOLLOW ME.

IVAW drama stop
So the crowd followed the IVAW into the Free Speech dead end, and they and a multitude of press waited for something to happen. I heard an IVAW coordinator phoning Barack Obama’s office from which they were expecting a phone call. When no Obama appearance materialized, the vets led everyone back out again and into the “forbidden area” with it’s oft-reminded possibility of arrest.

I was asked to stay back with the rest of the followers, and not crowd the IVAW formation. I told the coordinator that he had led us into the Auroria free speech maze and back, and I was not about to obey a single further idiotic command, no matter how much “respect” the veterans were needing.

Seriously. All “out of respect for the veterans.” Even reporters were barked orders as if they were subordinate to the vets. I took umbrage at being told constantly to stop every few minutes to listen to the vets give their witness of Iraq and wait as their spokesman gave further statements to the press. Staying behind, keeping a distance, or keeping the way clear was supposed to be honored “out of respect for the veterans.”

These were the same veterans who went to war when we asked them not to. I’m very thankful that each of them has changed their tune now, but where was their respect for us before more than a million Afghans and Iraqis were killed at their hands? No, the veteran worship was severely misplaced. They earn no points from me for “their sacrifices in the service.” The bastards killed innocent people, they should be begging forgiveness, not assuming to command our respect.

That said, I think the antiwar movement is misplacing its hopes thinking the IVAW can carry any sort of ball promoting an end to war. The vets are after a return of their comrades, and better veterans benefits. That’s a far cry from pacifism, or even a repudiation of US predatory militarism. And this DNC stunt proved it. Here’s how the self-aggrandized crunts blew the last opportunity to show dissent at the DNC.

They held a concert which pulled the youth element away from where they might have been participating in street actions. Of course this is no different than Tom Hayden and Ralph Nader drawing their audiences from likely people who had to choose whether to protest or go see them. Not such a big deal, but it got much worse.

This afternoon the IVAW shepherded a reported 5,000 supporters not to the Pepsi Center delegate entrance, but deep into the Free Speech Cage, away from sight of convention delegates. After a long delay they moved everyone into the promising area, but kept thinning the crowd with warnings of potential arrest. They also kept the marchers well out of proximity of the police lines. The IVAW limited what anyone could say, out of respect for the vets, led them in a last chanted instruction to Go Home, then reminded stragglers that it was the expressed wish of the veterans that everyone leave the area lest an ensuing disturbance mar the IVAW event. After everyone was gone, the veterans even gave a round of applause for a nearby contingent of cops. More in the morning when I’m feeling less enraged.

Sexy nuns, manly priests?

Nun costumeIt is getting so hard to rehabilitate the public image of the pedophile proliferating international Roman Catholic Church of worshiping papist dupes! Oops, I got a little bit out of hand there… (but really it is now). So I think it is a beautiful idea that Father Sadducee has come up with to have a nun beauty pageant! Priest to hold nun beauty pageant What’s not to like about this idea?

Nuns are beautiful creatures and such total submission to God’s teachings, too! I get a hard on thinking about it sometimes! Don’t you? I grew up as a Southern Baptist, but I just never found them to be as sexy as Roman Catholic nuns often can be. Especially when they keep saying, ‘Peace. Peace. Peace.’ That’s Virgin Mary like almost! I love nuns, I really do!

However, I think the Italian Padre is being too Conservative here with his proposals, not to say too sexist, too. He is being discriminatory against all the Manly Priests out there by limiting the beauty pageants to just nuns may apply. There are some damn good looking priests out there, too! And ex-priests, also! (some of them just can’t take the pressure to be constantly good…) Why not have them take their tops off? I don’t think that God would consider that little bit a sin, would he?

Think of all the potential here for the Modern Church? Wouldn’t it be great to see the Pope invigoratingly judging the nun beauty pageant? Wouldn’t it be wonderful, too, to see him judging the Manly Priest contest also? This is all very natural!

Now I know that a lot of Catholic clergy are already in secret nudist clubs, so it is natural to move on from this to celebrating nun’s beauty, too. I think the Catholic Church is finally beginning to change with the times, and for this, we all are very grateful. Now when we say 3 Hail Mary’s we can have some visual images in mind.