Wednesday, January 17, 2007

Other reasons for Doomsday Clock adjustment

The doomsday clock is closer to midnight.

Besides the obvious reasons for this move, reasons which I have been flogging and will continue to flog as the days wear on, there are some more obscure reasons why this was the correct move for the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists to make:

--Salmon-colored shirts seem to be making a comeback, particularly among executive types. As if their excessive hair gel wasn’t bad enough, we can now add this odious apparel color to the list of things for which they should be despised, along with failure to properly manage anything and their ongoing “my Bluetooth earpiece is cooler than yours and I can go a longer period of time before removing it than you can” contest. Never taking a position with red or pink, they opt instead to cower fearfully in fashion’s wasteland with the in-between salmon choice.

--I could have sworn that annoying and mostly useless car alarms went out around ’99 or ’00. These also seem to be enjoying a resurgence as I haven’t been able to step outdoors once in the last three weeks without an alarm going off in my ear. I tried to do a scientific survey, starting with the bum who gleans used butts from the outdoor ashtray, but as soon as I opened my mouth, a car alarm went off and thwarted my efforts.

--Donald Trump acquired his own star on the Walk of Fame. Next in line, Anders Dahlvig?

--Big Brother is still a running television show

--Someone actually decided it would be a great idea to hire Mr. Spears. What’s the over/under on how many times “diamond in the rough” was mentioned in that meeting? Someone point SEC in the direction of Nationwide—this move is just plain hostile to investors.

If anything, they’re not moving that clock forward enough.

(feel free to add to the list in comments)

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Monday, January 15, 2007

Gulf of Tonkin-Coming to a Middle East near you.

The spectre of the Gulf of Tonkin is back and it is pissed. It has also been working out, preparing to wreak havoc heretofore unseen.

The days since Bush’s surge speech have rendered me nearly catatonic with horror. Since declaring that we are throwing (“surging”/”bumping”) more of our people into the meatgrinder, the news has been nothing but a battering wave of ceaseless and baseless propaganda blaming Iran for all of our problems over in Iraq.

As you (hopefully) are already aware, Bush ordered the recent raid on the Iranian bureau in Erbil and has taken five diplomatic hostages in an effort to provoke a response from Tehran. The Iraqi foreign minister has stated that the Iranians were there with Iraqi government approval (remember, that’s “sovereign” and “democratic” Iraqi government), working in an approved liaison office. Bush and company continue to act as though this fact doesn’t exist, continuing to blame Iran and provoke yet another war in the Middle East. This administration is doing everything in its considerable power right now to provoke more war and nothing less. One has only to think about the many ways Bush tried to bait Saddam into violent conflict to see where this is going concerning Ahmadinejad. If you aren’t aware he continually tried to bait Saddam before our invasion, right now would be a good time to find out about how he wanted to paint some of our planes with UN colors to provoke Saddam into shooting them down, giving us the reason we wanted/needed to strike.

Bush has declared that the gloves are off over in Iraq, which means that our troops will begin fighting against Shi’ite militias as well (there will be no quarter for politics or anything else, as dutifully stated by the puppet Maliki), because we are told they are being supported and armed by Iran. The Shi’ites who have thus far not been a major part of the insurgency and who are fighting with Sunnis to try and ensure control in post-US Iraq-if that ever happens-(Arab on Arab violence suits those who control this war just fine) will increasingly join the insurgency if they are being actively attacked by the US. If Iran was truly the sole source of US problems in Iraq, believe me, our problems would be much, much bigger. Iran is much larger than Iraq in population and land mass, and the population is predominately Shia. Why in the world would Iranian Shi’ites be arming a Sunni insurgency that seeks to kill Iraqi Shi’ites in an effort to eventually regain the Sunni power and control they once had in Iraq? The answer is that Iran wouldn’t—you are being fed lies, just as you were in the run-up to the Iraq invasion.

Iran has only to begin actively encouraging the massive Shia population in Iraq to join the fight against not only Sunni’s, but also the US, to cause us much larger problems than those we are currently dealing with. These warhawk Nazi’s that are currently foaming at the mouth for war with Iran have grown so impatient they are now going to foment a raging anti-US Shia insurgency on their own. As the Shia population begins to increasingly engage in violent resistance in the coming months, the numbers of our dead (alongside further untold numbers of Iraqi civilian deaths) will climb. You will be told that it is Iranians who are at fault for the increasing numbers of American dead and that we must strike—you will not be reminded that it was us who “took the gloves off”, further inciting and helping to escalate the violence. Again, we are going to begin going after Shi’te militias as well (listen to the calls for the “taking out” of Al-sadr), and we will essentially begin fighting the entire (Sunni and Shia) population of Iraq.

We will begin to get crushed. You think the death toll is high right now—just wait.

There is currently a host of naval military in the region, from carriers to nuclear subs. All of this destructive military power along with the increasingly aggressive moves by this government both in action and rhetoric spell the coming of a major staged incident very soon that will practically have a name-tag stating “Hi, my name is Gulf of Tonkin, father of Run-Up to Iraq Invasion, nice to meet you.” I fervently hope this is not so, but the drumbeats from the corporate news services tell a different story as they continue to push policy and propaganda reminiscent of LBJ and Vietnam, except now it’s more like LBJ with a heavy crack habit and suffering the third stage of syphilis.

Bush on 60 minutes, Cheney and Condi (and many others) through the FOX mouthpieces are trying to crank up false patriotism once again within America. We are seeing a resurgence of the sentiment that if one doesn’t support the “surge” then one is undercutting the troops. Shenanigans. Only a fool believes such sentiment to be true.

You want to support our troops? Stop listening to the lies that make up the drumbeat propelling them to their death. They are too busy trying to keep their asses (and other extremities) and the asses of their friends from being blown away. Most of them don’t have the time or luxury (or access) to familiarize themselves with Middle Eastern religious and political considerations—they are too busy trying to carry out orders and trying not to die. In a hostile combat environment it is either you or the other guy, and when death is around every building corner, behind every door, and around every bend in the road, everyone not in a US uniform naturally becomes your enemy. We have only to look at Vietnam to know this as true and what the consequences of being in such a situation are.

It is our duty as the American public to do what needs to be done to stop these criminals that have taken over our government and military, because none of our current Senate or House leadership will. At this time, nearly every single person in a seat of power is more than happy to let the fighting continue as they discuss “non-binding” criticism of a unilateral, power-mad administration and continue plotting to grasp that power for themselves in ’08. Campaign strategies are already being formed on the assumption that we will still be in Iraq come next election.

You want to support our troops? Learn what is really going on and show others who aren’t aware. It is only a fully knowledgeable, aware, and active public that has any hope of stopping this utterly Orwellian madness.




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Sunday, January 14, 2007

Dreams

The Times Online, today:

Administration officials are already pondering alternative strategies for Iraq, should the surge fail. Dumping Maliki is an obvious first step. According to one congressman, Bush told him on the phone last week: “This has to work or you’re out.”
Iraqis—Free, democratic, and sovereign, as long as they cooperate.

************

Considering the holiday tomorrow, here is the obligatory MLK quote:

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

That’s the idea, anyway. Too bad it’s further away from being practiced than ever before. Wealth is being concentrated ever more at the very top—80% of the worlds assets and wealth are concentrated into the top 2%. US infrastructure is continually being given away for pennies on the dollar (whatever “dollar” is worth these days), and American labor is further eschewed in favor of foreign slave labor.

Don’t worry. Continue focusing on “retraining” and “updating” your skills. This way you can get a job that pays less and has fewer benefits than the one you will be forced from.

All men are created equal, unless the government determines you are one of the “terrorists”. Proof? Pfft, not for the persona non grata—it has been declared.

All men are created equal, unless the government deems it necessary to restrict you “for your protection.”

All men are created equal, as long as they are in line behind the fake notion of security and its attendant smoke and mirrors fascistic implementation.

All men are created equal, as long as all men toe one of the two party lines that have been set forth by elites. Any departure from set forth government-approved (see also: Party Approved) philosophies, dogmas, demagogues, directives, action items, orders, or policies is strictly forbidden. Only terrorists stand on the outside (see above)

All men are created equal, as long as they can afford to be. No money? That’s too bad; perhaps you should have been more serious about your retraining.

I have a dream, also. In fact, I have several of them.

More truth and reality--Less propaganda and colorful, shiny illusion

More character and integrity--Less partisanship, cronyism, lobbying, and other forms of sanctioned deceit.

More accountability--Less quiet resignation.

More habeas corpus--Less “robust interrogation”

More Constitution—Less color of law.

More of everything we are supposed to be—Less of what we currently are.

Enjoy your many liberties tomorrow, civil and otherwise. Just make sure you keep it confined to your free speech zone at a reasonable volume with no smoking.




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