Fat White Slobs who carry openly, legally

I was in a convenience store located in a small Wisconsin town three nights ago when someone I can only describe as a "fat slob" wearing a black T-shirt entered. He was strapped, with a semi-automatic pistol on his belt. He was a middle-aged white slob, so apparently no one gave him a second thought, except me. I could see the pistol on his waist through my peripheral vision; he was almost right behind me as he entered the Kwik-Trip. I paid for my candy bar and left, then waited for him to exit, which he did. He drove away in his crappy little civilian car. No one was alarmed at this white guy carrying openly inside a store - no one called the cops. Yep, nobody was alarmed or surprised. Except me - I always keep an eye out for people - white or otherwise - who are SO scared they "need" to go about armed in a tiny town with almost no crime rate at all. So much for "equal protection under the law!" http//www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/24/walmart-shooting-grand-jury-declines-indict-john-crawford

Sliding down Slippery Slope to another Eye-rack war.

At the time I was skeptical about an eventual ebb to the flow of America's war-fever. But now it's clear - the substantial minority of Americans who opposed the 2003 invasion of Eye-rack were not only RIGHT - we've had an impact. So now, 11 years later. Obama promises "no boots on the ground," even as he bolsters US forces in the region, including the several thousand "advisers." The sole reason the POTUS is attempting to calm public reaction is the overwhelming, collective War Fatigue from which this country suffers. Even in an under-educated and disinformed society like the USA, the impact of four trillion dollars and a million human lives sacrificed to greed is not overlooked, at least not by EVERYONE. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/17/obama-us-troops-ground-war-isis-iraq

Scotland, bonnie Scotland

I favor TRUE independence, but recognize that not all nations that have achieved NOMINAL freedom during the last twenty years have benefited from it. Political independence is a laudable thing, but it's largely an illusion. It all boils down to economics. Economic interdependence is the TRUE state of affairs in the world today, and tiny countries are often some of the worst exploited by Globalization. The smaller Balkan nations and Moldova are good examples. Moldova is now the poorest country in Europe, and the tiny former Yugoslavian republics really aren't very prosperous. In Kosovo, also one of Europe's poorest, things have deteriorated considerably during that period. There was even a bloody and protracted war, part of the larger Yugo War of the nineties which were at least partly caused by the 1991 breakup. Of course, with all the wealth concentrated in Scotland, there should be no war in the wake of separation, if it comes. Pro-Independence Scottish People, including a very militant bloke I met in Amsterdam years ago, are definitely very vehement about getting free from Bloody England. They should simply bear in mind there are no real countries anymore, in a meaningful sense. There are only various departments of the World Economy. That will remain true 'long as the International One Percent retains a stranglehold on Earth's economy. We'll see how much the Scots stand to benefit if they do break away. Interesting to note that in Brazil. a very large country, the government has initiated at least SOME policies that tend to favor the poor and downtrodden majority. Other Latin American countries that have moved towards a more just social system include a considerable number of large, fully intact nations. Here are a couple links to propaganda propagated by both sides: http://www.independentscotland.org/cont ... ndence.htm http://www.bettertogether.net/

Anonymous, elite Israeli soldiers refuse to serve

Opinion is slowly changing here, in America, too. The resentment of arrogant and brutal Israeli policies, bankrolled to the tune of $4 billion annually, is growing, albeit slowly, agonizingly. And hopefully, these anonymous Israeli resisters will reveal their identities ASAP. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/13/world/middleeast/elite-israeli-officers-decry-treatment-of-palestinians.html?_r=0 P.S: Here's the original, for those who resent my precipitous posting of links from the enemy, the New York Times: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4570256,00.html

I Like Mike(?)

I'm worried I'm starting to LIKE the new chief. http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/crime_and_courts/mike-koval-acknowledge-failure-of-marijuana-laws/article_65c1fda4-365a-5c7e-8657-0aed619ac9d3.html

NFL needs to chill with a splif.

There really hasn't been a great deal of progress in America during the last 15 or 20 years - except on this one important issue. A tidal wave of public opinion is now exerting pressure on state and federal governments to change, and hopefully REPEAL some of the worst laws in USA's history. http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/09/opinion/the-nfls-absurd-marijuana-policy.html

Call me Irresponsable.

This is the first time I've been offline so long I don't even know what's trending most strongly. May the trend continue. Is it ISIS, and the Obomber's choice to authorize strikes against Syria? A professional boxer caught commiting domestic abuse? The Gay Marriage obsession still unfolding? How about "....come by my place and let's talk Animal Rights?" Hey, Animal Rghts - where did that hot button issue evaporate to? Seems pretty lukewarm, now. I'm so old and set in my media habits these days, I really don't know how to keep "current." I even stopped reading the newspapers. Positively SCANDALOUS! Something's definitely WRONG with me - I seem to be capable, for the first time since identifying as a lefty Politico, of just not caring as much as I should. Somethings quite RIGHT, too, of course. Cast off thy chains of mental slavery, and let the fortune cookie crumble in its wake.