Another Western War Waged Under False Pretenses?

If you loved the genocidal, seemingly interminable 2003-2013 slaughter of Iraqis waged by USA under false pretenses, you'll LOVE the impending intervention in Syria. I grieve for the Syrian people, but US intervention is almost always exclusively military in nature, and always serves to worsen a bad situation. It's a fascinating exercise in double-speak that US Secretary of State John Kerry insists the Syrian government destroyed the evidence proving it committed a chemical attack, but now, precisely because the West is lacking such evidence, it's finally time to intervene. Maybe even with boots on the ground, who knows. OK, Kerry didn't exactly put it like I did, but that's the sense I'm getting. I was pleased thus far that President Obie at least had enough sense to say the hell out, but it looks like the American Pentagon-Prison-Industrial Complex, so disastrouly dependent on military spending and intervention, is itching for yet ANOTHER wretched war. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/the-heir-to-blair-david-cameron-makes-moral-case-for-attack-on-syria-in-echo-of-defence-for-iraq-war-8786783.html

Mucho BULLSHIT-o

"There'll be Pie in the Sky When you Die" is Mucho Bullshito, concocted for the "benefit" of the gullible by a bunch of Apostles who wanted people to still talk about them after they were gone. So SKIP that next lame-ass meeting you've got scheduled and take ACTION now.

NO, I Don't think so

NObama, NOBiden, NORomney, NORyan. NOBODY for President, 2016. NOWalker, NOScott, NOPerry, NOCuomo. Absolutely not. NOGovernor - would be better than what we've got. NOPutin, NOCameron, NOMerkel, NOAssad, NONetanyahu, NOKim. NOCarlos Slim! No way, Jose. NOBill Gates, NOWarren Buffet, NOGeorge Soros, NOMark Zuckerberg, NOSheryl Sandberg. NORockefellers of any age. KEINE und NICHTS. Locally speaking: NOSoglin, NOVerveer, NOFrautschi, NOGorman, NOAlexander, NOParisi. Oh my my, think I'm becoming an Anarchist. And, Just for Today, which happens to be Sunday: NOGod, NOJesus, NOMother Mary, NOFather Murphy, NOAllah, NOMuhammad, NOMessiah. NOSaint Paul, NOSaint Augustine. To "Hell" with the whole rotten bunch, and their ruinous SYSTEM. If they're not already there, that is, like most of us forced by unenviable circumstance to reside in this Inferno - they will be soon. Nein, Nee, Nyet, Nao, Negative. Frick them all, and C'est la Vie.

Good Luck, Laura

Best of luck to Laura Poitras, who has worked with Edward Snowden AND Glenn Greenwald, in the tireless cause of trying to preserve what little freedom is left in this sick and sorry society! Laura Poitras also has a remarkable history of exposing the war crimes of the US military; no surprise she's been persistently, outrageously harassed at numerous international airports for the last six or seven years. The article, by the supremely talented author Peter Maass is FAR better than anything I would have expected to see in the Sunday New York Times Magazine: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/18/magazine/laura-poitras-snowden.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Phuck-You- Shima Dai'ichi Disaster

Alarming to be sure! What's interesting about virtually all exposures to radioactive waste is that there's NO safe dosage. The only distinctions to be drawn are between LESS harmful and MORE harmful exposures. The leakage into the sea of 300+ tons of highly lethal Strontium-90 and Cesium-137 contaminated water from the three damaged/destroyed Fukushima Dai'ichi reactors represents a global calamity with no apparent solution. To say nothing of the much more dangerous Plutonium-239 contained in deadly abundance within the reactor cores, and no doubt still being widely emitted into the atmosphere. The overall ecological impact is much like what happened at Chernobyl in 1986 and afterward. Thus, there's no need to worry, since worry, in the absence of a potential solution, is the most futile of all emotions. Best to just wait for eventual radiation sickness, eat a lot of miso, and smile at Death as he makes his gradual way across the Pacific. And oh, make sure to stay away from that Pacific blue-fin tuna. Anybody who tries to tell me that nuclear fission generated electric power is an indispensable part of our energy equation has, figuratively speaking of course, a corpse in his/her mouth. http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/08/22/national/rate-of-radioactive-flow-to-pacific-alarming/ https://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/08/10-0

Air Raid Extra Dry for Ronald McDonald

During the past 45 years, I’ve been intensively, “personally” indoctrinated into the most cynical brainwashing scheme ever conceived by Big Advertising – and that’s only what I can consciously recollect. Yet in the final analysis, gauging skeptically as I do the campaign’s penultimate results, my teeth aren’t as shiny as "Madison Avenue’s" frenetic come-ons suggest they should be. Who among YOU can sincerely claim YOUR whites are as white as inhumanly possible!? Have you ever REALLY purchased the softest roll of toilet paper to ever be extruded from a mill? Has Body Odor been utterly vanquished, as we ALL understandably, passionately desire? If North Americans are so squeaky clean as their hearts and minds demand, why do they continue the forlorn obsession with how they smell!? I’m inclined to think that by now we’d have WON the glorious victory over all manner of unpleasant aromas. Billions have been spent in this tireless effort. I certainly sympathize with the obvious imperative to shower daily – but why then the overstated need to apply anti perspirant? Just what is there left to blot out!? Then there’s that tragic indignity of persistent acid reflux. I don’t know about YOU all, but I want MY money back! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6K722Mer0ow

Media Seduction

"Clip this coupon, Spread Grey Poupon!" "Artie, did you see THAT?" "I SAW it, Bob!" "You're definitely the man who ALMOST thought for himself!" ("There's no need at all to PANIC- Now's the time to eat Organic! ") "Do you think the war will begin tonight? I gotta say - that's Outta Sight!" "Tomorrow would be good enough - please be patient - I know it's tough!" ("Eat Doritos - KILL Mosquitoes... Eat Doritos... KILL... KILL...KILL!") "Did you hear!? Kim Kardashian BUSTED out! It's really TRENDing, dramatically. UpENDing the HOLE World Wide Web." ("Click here, Click here... Drink Blotz Beer, Drink BLOTZ...") "Don't TOUCH that remote - 'Facelift The Nation' is COMEing Right UP! BUTT first, these massages." "...Americans love their dogs, That's SLEAZY to FINGER out - they spend almost $40 billion per year on pet food..." ("It's not illegal to love your Beagle! It's not illegal...") "Click! PIC! Bing! BANG! IN! OUT! All ABOUT! BOOM! Doom! Breath! DEATH! Here, there and Everywhere!" "Isn't it long past the WHEN we needed to comprehend the inner workings of our Culture World?" "What the HELL are you talking about, Artie?" "Oh, sorry Bob; I must have had a brain-sprain." ("You're a Clown, if you turn us Down... You're a CLOWN... so have a HEARTY night out on the Town!") ."...I'll WAIT, till your love COMES down - I'm aiming straight for the BALLS! No way you can stop me NOW - as FINE as you Are!!!" ("Tastes Great! Less Filling! Tastes Great! Less...") "RUB it, don't FLUB it, Artie! "Aggh, Bob - you're such a SLOB." There hadn't been a single SOLITARY night Bob didn't ride that Radio-Ear-Phonic highway down to sleep, not for the PISSED three years. Surprised? Ya shouldn't be! http://books.google.com/books?id=5docQQAACAAJ&dq=media+sexploitation&hl=en&sa=X&ei=fCgRUu2gFYnF2wWp04Aw&ved=0CDAQ6wEwAA

Subliminal Sexploitation

"Hey KENT, you TWIT: haven't I told you SIX times it's a dirty TRICK to SNATCH words off the DOCK, words that closely resemble various subliminal trigger words, differing perhaps by only one or two letters? You know, words used by several economically important SECTS?" "FORK off," he replied, "you and your CLUCK POSSE have gone too FUR this time. If I need to sell more soda online, I can be as FICKLE as I want with every TWEET. Might even play something erotic on my alto SAX." ("Drink Mountain Dew, Drink Mountain Dew...." "After all, there's no DEARTH of bon mots - the White SOX may even win the Series this year." ("Drink more beer, Drink more beer...") COME on, take it EASY. This underhanded technique has been used by Ad FOLK for several DICK-Aids, now, and how! Backwards tracking, post-hypnotic FRACKing, Mad Media CONTent. So don't be SUCK a DINK - take a refreshing drink!" "Well, lots of LUCK with your psycho nip-TUCK! ("Watch 'Cash Cab,' Watch 'Cash Cab,' Watch..." Remember, you can never get enough of that embedded MUFF. Add the odd PHUCK for extra PLUCK. ("INSERT here, don't be queer, INSERT here...") "Very PENETRATING ANALysis, to be sure, utilizing such a devious lure." ("Drive a Chevy, Buy a Bevy, Drive a Chevy, Buy a Bevy...") "HIT me with your best SHOT, fire away! Don't delay - don't be a CHUMP - take that big JUMP. Get off your RUMP, today! No need to be upTIGHT - DIG into one for dinner tonight! Now's the time to work off being a major JERKOFF. ("View 700 Club, at the pub. It's not odd - Believe in God!") http://books.google.com/books?id=B4dfAAAACAAJ&dq=subliminal+seduction&hl=en&sa=X&ei=-B0RUtyoMcrx2AXG_4FY&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAA

Was it REALLY worth it?

The US deliberately targeted Iraqi water purification systems, beginning in 1991. The 2003 bombing killed untold thousands of civilians. The vicious sanctions imposed in the wake of the first Gulf War resulted in the death of at least 500,000 Iraqi children, a toll that Madeline Albright, Bill Clinton's Secretary of State, described as being "worth it" in a 1996 interview with CBS' Leslie Stahl. All of those war crimes were especially despicable considering Iraq never posed any threat to the USA. But hey, don't let my unpleasant statements of fact prevent anyone in America from enjoying the latest Kim Kardashian gossip. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANv0e7gBXQA

"I don't need your War Machine.."

America must have perfected the most perfect death machine ever to blight Planet Earth. Well, Nazi Germany was a close runner-up, but the Thousand Year Reich didn't persist long enough to kill as many tens of millions. Well, then again... it's probably a close tie. Hey- at least our GIs prevented the North Vietnamese from storming the beaches of San Diego in their formidable PT boats, right, LOL!? America had no business even being there, except to enrich Lyndon Johnson's pals at Root & Brown. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InRDF_0lfHk&list=PLEGpqH40P5rzxglJU0I6bKwnOnoDHd8uO

Washington's faithful, murderous clients in Cairo

Oh Wow! American officials HAVE announced they will suspend impending joint military exercises with the interim Egyptian regime. But $1.3 billion in military aid to the latest Egyptian dictatorship is merely to be "reviewed." It will not be suspended or least of all terminated, as should happen, because of course, Egypt controls the Suez Canal and Washington needs to vouchsafe its "vital national interests." The White House and State Department also need to keep the "Peace Treaty," dating back to the original Camp David accords of 1978, in effect. It hardly matters which brutal autocrats retain power in Cairo. Our notorious client state Israel, whose $4 billion annual allocation of military aid - which dwarfs that received by Egypt - must be assured that their southwestern neighbor will remain a compliant presence on the Sinai border. Of course, Egypt also receives more than $12 billion in aid every year from nearby Arab states, so even if Washington did interrupt the pipeline of death to Cairo, it wouldn't change things drastically. America's influence is considerably less than it used to be. But at least cutting off the lethal supply would send an important message from this side, that for once, Obama really does object to the routine murder and mayhem perpetrated by USA's faithful client regimes. Needless to say, a more enlightened policy is almost certainly never going to be imposed. BTW, in case anyone didn't already figure this out - I am NO fan of the Muslim Brotherhood. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article35859.htm

My First Catholic Mass

Went to my first Catholic Mass ever, in Madison last month. Not much to do, really, Sundays being so dull, in no small part thanks to Christianity. Anyway, I decided to attend at a small chapel, what the HELL, heh heh. The priest was an old guy, didn't seem from outward appearances to be a practicing or former child molester, but you never can tell with those guys. He was fairly dull as far as his sermon went, but I'll give him credit where credit's due - he correctly attributed to the ancient Hebrews their proper heritage, when reading from the Old Testament. Sillest part was all the "now we stand, now we sit," ritualistic nonsense. Best part was some of the music - the organ player (really more like a synthesizer of sorts) utilized a "chorus" feature, the sound of which was truly etheral. The Catholic Church as an institution has a LOT to answer for, including the Vatican's vile collaboration with Nazi Germany. Hitler himself, as you may already know, was never ex-communicated. But individual Catholics can be well-meaning people, no doubt about that. In the interest of fairness, next week, I'll bash the Protestants, and the following week, the Jews. But at least those latter two groupings sensibly allow their clerics to get married!

Ride that Cash Cab to Oblivion!

What with the American Public's usual levels of ignorance, indolence and narcissistic abandon adhered to daily, we can expect the Powers That Be to push us all to the precipice, basically unhindered. And the saddest part is, we don't have the luxury of waiting for a fix to our increasingly lethal global situation. The newest craze on Television is something called "Cash Cab." My friends watch it, too. Viewers seem to think it's a "good show," merely because the participants are called upon to answer a few possibly minimally challenging questions. Any time the slightest bit of informed resistance to the Establishment's cynical plans rears its tiny head, the Infotainment Culture springs into action with another "Fear Factor," "American Idol" or similar fare. I wouldn't be at all surprised if a Republican, utilizing a strategy of massive voter suppression, re-takes the White House in 2016. Not that any of the Dems are any better.

"It was worth it."

Been re-reading Chalmers Johnson's "Nemesis; The Last Days of the American Republic." It never ceases to amaze me how the United States has waged war against the poor and undefended people of the WORLD. Against Planet Earth ITSELF. How USA deliberately targeted Iraqi water purification systems, with the deliberate intention of propagating water-borne illness. Spread Depleted Uranium in Former Yugoslavia, Iraq and Afghanistan, knowing full well this would cause only Gawd knows how many additional cancers. Even IF the World Trade Center was really attacked by 19 hijackers (15 of whom were supposedly Saudi nationals) in 2001 - and there is MUCH reason to doubt the official story - if there actually were any Afghani peasants hiding for dear life on these summits, they had NOTHING to do with 9/11. And the Iraqi people, whose country has been literally destroyed by the 2003-2011 Amerikan juggernaut also posed us no threat whatsoever. Yet people like Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama want us to believe we need to bankrupt our nation, conducting perpetual war ostensibly in order to achieve perpetual peace. And to keep us safe from "The Terrorists." What, you mean they are protecting us from THEMSELVES? I WISH! And Obama has the unmitigated Chutzpah to point his blood-stained fingers at Edward Snowden! Well, at least Bill Clinton's former secretary of state Madeline Albright, in a rare, unscripted moment of candor in May 1996, admitted to Leslie Stahl of CBS' "60 Minutes" that the killing of at least 500,000 Iraqi children from 1991-2003, through the most vicious and heartless administration of sanctions in history, was "worth it." In her twisted imagination, anyway, it was "Worth it." Above all, how sick, and how very disheartening indeed, to live among a largely bunch of lobotomized, sanitized, deodorized androids -otherwise known as "Average Americans." How utterly disappointing and disgusting it is, to exist in a country where most people are more concerned about Justin Bieber, Honey Boo-Boo and Brad Pitt than they are about Human Rights, Peace on Earth, the administration of true JUSTICE and the rule of international law. Free Bradley Manning!!! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDBKU74VjtQ

For the Born-again Crustaceans

THIS is the Church, THIS is the steeple: Open 'em up, and see all the SHEEPLE!

Capitalism Hits The Fan

Example of Capitalism hitting the fan: In the 1950s, Detroit was a powerhouse, an industrial behemoth that had over 3000,000 manufacturing jobs. It has about 30,000 now. (Source: PBS News Hour, 8/9/2013). Now the ruling class is looking to cheat Detroit's municipal retirees out of their hard-earned pensions. But the reactionaries and racists - on the web and elsewhere - are busy blaming Detroit residents for their plight. Never mind the lion's share of the onus, which should be properly directly at General Motors, Ford and Chrysler. http://books.google.com/books?id=36fAB5cfyKwC&printsec=frontcover&dq=capitalism+hits+the+fan&hl=en&sa=X&ei=gYoGUoqxFoKRygHvoYBA&ved=0CDwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=capitalism%20hits%20the%20fan&f=false

Nagasaki

What a truly awful anniversary. The US remains the only nation to have used atomic bombs against a civilian population. And USA also declines to renounce a "First-strike policy" regarding nuclear weapons. http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=fp-tts-745&va=Nagasaki+bombing

Chevron really cares

Aren't these Corporate Criminals par exellence generous? That would be like me tying down 15,000 innocent people, choking them and spraying mustard gas in their faces, then settling for the hefty sum of $0.20 cents. "Chevron to pay $2 million for refinery fire:" http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Chevron-to-pay-2-million-for-refinery-fire-4707675.php

House Republicans de-fund the Hapsburgs!

Word from several Left-wing talk radio hosts is that House Republicans are also poised to cut off military aid to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, soon. "House GOP Weighs Defunding ACORN In 13th Vote To Block Funds To Defunct Organization:" http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/05/gop-acorn-defunding_n_3690753.html

Textbook case of police overkill in Miami Beach

Say what you will about my media choices. I first heard about this police-atrocity from the Sunday New York Times, today. I have ways of getting it for free. That's helpful; I hardly ever read the Miami Herald or Palm Beach Post these days, since I don't spend time in Florida any more. And that's no doubt a good thing:) Miami Beach/Hialeah cops hit this guy 16 times, killing him, and they shot four innocent bystanders as well. Shades of the 2006 Queens, NY "Sean Bell Insane Overkill Episode!" http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/04/us/2-years-after-116-police-bullets-flew-few-answers.html?_r=0

"Getting Up."

"Got a black magic marker.. got a black magic marker..." Been thinking a good deal about my (mostly juvenile) career as a "tagger." Amazing to consider I started when I was at the ripe old age of 11, unless you count the time I was eight when I inscribed "poo-poo" in Mean old neighbor Mrs. Hartmann's new piece of freshly laid sidewalk, and she chased me down the street with a rake in her long-widowed hands. So my real graffiti penchant began back in 1974, when I went under the old Olin Avenue bridge with a can of lovely purple. Can't actually remember what I wrote, but it was a blast, pun intended. Got explicitly political around 1979, if you include scrawling "Gabba Gabba Hey!" and "Rocket to Russia" on the sides of State Street buildings. (Hmmm, do I owe The Ramones any royalties?) To say nothing of stirring things up at the three different high schools I proudly dropped out of. Oh, wait, I was expelled from the one, partly on account of my incorrigible "literary" habits. By 1983, I had gone truly "political" in my focus, which brings to mind a number of regrets. 1. It's really tough not to have a brain-freeze when you're standing there with a can of flat black, poised to strike a wall with 2' high letters, and worrying overmuch about the cops who might at any time roll up on your paint or ink-stained person. It even got boring; "Stop the Contras!" isn't the most original slogan. Much better was "Nuke Reagan, Not Russia!" But I digress. And speling errors are just totaly embarassing. 2. My chosen vocation came to an abrupt halt in 1984, a most appropriate year, if you think about it. You can imagine why, and I got off easy that memorable night. Hell, I'm just glad there is still a statute of limitations in effect. Well, I sure hope to Goddamn Sweet Baby Jesus there is such a limit on bringing charges! Am I ever going to have Sharpie stains, er, I mean egg on my face if I'm sorely mistaken. 3. Spray paint is just too damn toxic, and wearing a respirator is taking matters a bit too far, as a practical matter. Remember - inhaling toluene and other serious poisons cause can mental serious damaje. Some markers were intoxicating as holy heck, too. Rubber gloves helped protect the hands, but made "working" a bit cumbersome. Then there was the harm to the greater environment. Using cattle markers made me a more eco-friendly writer. 4. Some of the businesses I targeted really didn't deserve it; others, specifically the fat, contented Asspiring Yup-and-comers, certainly DID. These days, I don't do it any more. Thanks to the quasi-legal status of chalking, however, I don't do it any less, either. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDLLXUaqZxg P.S: 'Course I was writing this in jest, but historically speaking, it's not a joking matter: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Stewart_(graffiti_artist)

Illinois becomes the 20th state to legalize medical marijuana

I always knew there were many decent, sane people in Illinois. Now those Flatlanders have made Wisconsin look like our motto is actually "Backwards." If the hemp-fiber shoe fits, wear it. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/01/illinois-medical-marijuana_n_3690323.html

Private Dick hired to investigate Weiner?

Now I understand as well as the next little prick that the whole Anthony Weiner sexting scandal is a major diversion from the REAL issues - cruel "Sequestration" cuts to Meals on Wheels, massive Arctic ice melt, endless wars for coprporate profit. But if I lived in New York City, I'd vote for Weiner! True, I disagree with his vehemently pro-Israel stance, and a few other, ahem, positions. The fact remains - Anthony Weiner's personal peckerdillos aren't a genuine concern. I LIKE a man who's so cocksure of himself. Finally, New York gets a candidate with NOTHING to hide!