comix

tinfoil-hat time

I've just got a few questions, a thought or two that my paranoid little brain came up with. I'm not saying that I believe that these things to be true, but what I have said many times in this blog is this: You dont have to believe in conspiracy theories, but you ignore the ideas contained within them at your own peril. i.e., just because the theory is crazy, dont discount all the ideas contained within. So here are a few of my questions:

1. How many troops are in the Blackwater organization, and how quickly can they be deployed compared to the regular army?
2. How many Blackwater troops have been convicted of violent crimes?
3. How many Blackwater troops are foreign nationals?
4. How easy is it for Blackwater to bring these troops into America?

One of the marks of any two-bit third-world tyranny is an army more loyal to its own needs than to the nation that they supposedly serve. Our own military, I think, is immune from this. But what about a private army, highly paid (sometimes 10X regular army pay), of hidden make-up (corporate secrecy, as the Freedom of Information Act "doesnt apply", even though the corporation does government bidding with government money). Now, I've seen people speculating about the possibility that Dubya could go rogue (yes, you Len) and never thought he could get away with it because I didnt think that the military would go along with it. But now, here's this private army, run by a Right-wing Christian (is he a Fundamentalist?) . Could it be used to stage a coup?

Crazy? Naturally, it's crazy, after all, things like that dont happen in our country. Our government leaders do not lie to us, or give our shrinking tax dollars to their friends, or ignore the will of the majority. And our elections are fair and free, with an emphasis on fair, right? Our press operates independently as the Fourth Branch, providing much needed oversight, rather than mouth-pieces for the government controlled by friends of the administration, yes? So, of course it's crazy to wonder about these things.

Obviously, the guys at the Nation are bit crazy, too. I mean they are liberals, after all.

a question

Okay, I've got a question: Why is it, in a nation that insists that we cannot pay for useful, economically beneficial things like higher education and universal health-care (No New Taxes!), we dont seem to have any trouble with having a "defense" budget that is equal to the rest of the world combined?

After all, isnt that much like paying taxes to police the rest of the world?

hey big boy, what do you want to be when you grow up?

you cant fool all of the people all of the time (only one third, apparently)

you've got covert action
prejudiced to extremes
you've got primitive cunning
and high tech means
you've got eyes everywhere
but people see through you

you've got good manipulators
got your store of dupes
you've got the idiot clamour
of your lobby groups
you like to play on fears
but people see through you

you've got instant communication
instant data tabulation
you've got forces of occupation
but you dont get capitulation
cause people see through you

you've got the sounding brass
you've got the triumph of the will
you do what you want to
and we pay the bills
you hype the need for sacrifice
but people see through you

you've got the anti-matter language
contrived to conceal
you've been lying so long
you dont know what's real
you're a figment of your own imagination
and people see through you

you've got lip service tributaries
you've got death fetish mercenaries
you hold the tickets to the cemetaries
you're BIG and BAD and SCARY
but people see through you

Bruce Cockburn
"People See Through You" on World of Wonders (1986)

The more things change, the more things stay the same. If anyone would like to contribute links to this, feel free.

we are sooo stupid...no, really, we are

Len at the Existential Cowboy is back, after a long hiatus, and back with a vengence. I'm back too, but I'm not feeling even a little bit edgy, so I'm going to steal a bit of Len's thunder for my own:

We got around to the subject of war again and I said that, contrary to his attitude, I did not think that the common people are very thankful for leaders who bring them war and destruction.

"Why, of course, the people don't want war," Goering shrugged. "Why would some poor slob on a farm want to risk his life in a war when the best that he can get out of it is to come back to his farm in one piece. Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America, nor for that matter in Germany. That is understood. But, after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine the policy and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy or a fascist dictatorship or a Parliament or a Communist dictatorship."

"There is one difference," I pointed out. "In a democracy the people have some say in the matter through their elected representatives, and in the United States only Congress can declare wars."

"Oh, that is all well and good, but, voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country."

--Gustave Gilbert, Nuremberg Diary, interviewing Hermann Goering

Hey George, tell me again that this war is justified. Hell, fuck George, I want to hear it from everyone still left in congress who rubberstamped Dubya's agenda. Why are we in Iraq?

geekdom

I admit it, I'm a geek. I've also been a longtime Star Trek fan (though not to the point of dressing up). So when I found this, I just had to share. There's more where that came from, too.

demotion

I have not been, admittedly, much of a poster these last few months. In fact, I've been really bad, so bad that I've been considering alternative content for this blog because quite frankly, I just dont have much to say lately. But apparently, I've been really bad lately, because I just today noticed that I have been removed from the sidebar of the Omnipotent Poobah's (admittedly) fine roster of links. I gotta tell ya, I feel bad about this. Obviously I've been slacking worse than I realized. So, I'll see what I can do, okay? No more goofing off. Really. I swear.

this month's entry (a joke, I hope)

Q: What time do cows go to sleep?


A: When it's pasture bedtime!

bear-bones post (for my brother)

My friend Shawn sent the following to me:

Folks who live on the Hillside area of Anchorage just built this playground in their yard last weekend for their 3 and 4 year-old boys. The next morning, the mom woke up to this scene -



As someone who has children, I can say that this is not someone you you want playing with your children (bears are a bad influence you know).