Monday, October 29, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Islamofascism Awareness Week
Just when you thought that October had its full with Breast Cancer awareness here comes David Horowitz with his Islamo-fascism awareness week. He had many things planned like attacking feminists in America for not standing with their Saudi/Afghan women which is kind of fitting considering it is Breast Cancer Awareness month. I guess he figures that the numbers of breast cancer deaths, predicted to reach 40,000, are less important than the 3000 killed on Sept. 11th or the thousand Israelis killed in the five years since the Palestinian’s latest uprising. Or maybe like his Islamofascist enemies he too views women as lesser beings.
Here are the fourteen points of Fascism and why the term is wrong.
1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism: How can it be that the Islamic Jihadi movement can be called nationalist when they have no nation is beyond me.
2. Disdain for the importance of human rights: Well it can be easily demonstrated that these Jihadists have no regard for human rights but that does not make them unique. If one looks, from Abu Ghraib to the West Bank to the French in Algeria to China to India, it is obvious that most powerful people have a disdain for human rights.
3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause: This, I believe, can be applied to the Jihadists for sure. The Jews, the West and modernity are the scapegoats no doubts. Just like the Arabs, the Islamofascists and communists were to the US.
4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism: Even though the Jihadists don’t have a formal military, one can interchange the words military with violence if they like. In the US though, it is off limits to question anything the military does or spends it money on. It must be remembered that the lack of a formal military was the excuse given as to why we didn't need to apply the Geneva Conventions to our P.O.W.s. and why it was admissible to shove things in their rectums, make them stand for days at end, keep them in cold cramped cells without clothing, sexually humiliating them and on and on...... Though I am sure Rumsfeld would argue that their is a percentage of Americans who actually like to have things inserted into their rectums.
5. Rampant Sexism: No need to comment, obviously.
6. A controlled mass media: Even though many freaks will argue that AL Jazeera is the Jihadi television network, which is complete nonsense. Unless of course, you subscribe to the racist mentality of “fight THEM over there” in other words, you view all Muslims as terrorist.
7. Obsession with national security: Again considering they have no nation this is kinda moot. Though if one wanted to they could argue that the Jihadists want to create a Pan-Arabic state and they view that as under assault but it is a stretch.
8. Religion and the ruling elite tied together: Just on the simple basis that it is a Jihad makes this one very logical even though there is no ruling elite unless you really think Bin Laden is the chair of an organization named Al Qaida. “One nation under God”, “the attack on Christmas…..”
9. Power of corporations protected: That one is simple since they have no corporations.
10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated: There is no transcript of Bin Laden or his ilk talking about Labor rights.
11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts: By their rejection of modernity they reject intellectuals and the arts. Though if one looks around, the “Right” in America feels the same about intellectuals.
12. Obsession with crime and punishment: Their fascination with Sharia law shows that they are obsessed with punishment.
13. Rampant cronyism and corruption: Typicallly the more pious the religious muslims are the less corrupt, as we in the west understand it, they are.
14. Fraudulent Elections: This one is too easy since there would be no elections in Bin Laden’s world.
Now compare these fourteen points with the society we live in. Are they more apt to describe our country? If one tallies the vote it would seem that the US is more closely aligned with fascism then the radical muslims.
Maybe what we need, in place of Islamofascism awareness week, is plain Fascism Awareness week.
Here are the fourteen points of Fascism and why the term is wrong.
1. Powerful and continuing expressions of nationalism: How can it be that the Islamic Jihadi movement can be called nationalist when they have no nation is beyond me.
2. Disdain for the importance of human rights: Well it can be easily demonstrated that these Jihadists have no regard for human rights but that does not make them unique. If one looks, from Abu Ghraib to the West Bank to the French in Algeria to China to India, it is obvious that most powerful people have a disdain for human rights.
3. Identification of enemies/scapegoats as a unifying cause: This, I believe, can be applied to the Jihadists for sure. The Jews, the West and modernity are the scapegoats no doubts. Just like the Arabs, the Islamofascists and communists were to the US.
4. The supremacy of the military/avid militarism: Even though the Jihadists don’t have a formal military, one can interchange the words military with violence if they like. In the US though, it is off limits to question anything the military does or spends it money on. It must be remembered that the lack of a formal military was the excuse given as to why we didn't need to apply the Geneva Conventions to our P.O.W.s. and why it was admissible to shove things in their rectums, make them stand for days at end, keep them in cold cramped cells without clothing, sexually humiliating them and on and on...... Though I am sure Rumsfeld would argue that their is a percentage of Americans who actually like to have things inserted into their rectums.
5. Rampant Sexism: No need to comment, obviously.
6. A controlled mass media: Even though many freaks will argue that AL Jazeera is the Jihadi television network, which is complete nonsense. Unless of course, you subscribe to the racist mentality of “fight THEM over there” in other words, you view all Muslims as terrorist.
7. Obsession with national security: Again considering they have no nation this is kinda moot. Though if one wanted to they could argue that the Jihadists want to create a Pan-Arabic state and they view that as under assault but it is a stretch.
8. Religion and the ruling elite tied together: Just on the simple basis that it is a Jihad makes this one very logical even though there is no ruling elite unless you really think Bin Laden is the chair of an organization named Al Qaida. “One nation under God”, “the attack on Christmas…..”
9. Power of corporations protected: That one is simple since they have no corporations.
10. Power of labor suppressed or eliminated: There is no transcript of Bin Laden or his ilk talking about Labor rights.
11. Disdain and suppression of intellectuals and the arts: By their rejection of modernity they reject intellectuals and the arts. Though if one looks around, the “Right” in America feels the same about intellectuals.
12. Obsession with crime and punishment: Their fascination with Sharia law shows that they are obsessed with punishment.
13. Rampant cronyism and corruption: Typicallly the more pious the religious muslims are the less corrupt, as we in the west understand it, they are.
14. Fraudulent Elections: This one is too easy since there would be no elections in Bin Laden’s world.
Now compare these fourteen points with the society we live in. Are they more apt to describe our country? If one tallies the vote it would seem that the US is more closely aligned with fascism then the radical muslims.
Maybe what we need, in place of Islamofascism awareness week, is plain Fascism Awareness week.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Thank You Democrats!
Well the Democrats proved that they too can destroy the Constitution just as well as the quasi-fascist Republican Party. Today the Senate Intelligence Committee reached an agreement with the Bush administration granting immunity to the telecom companies that allowed the Bush Administration to illegally wiretap us. Again this proves that, when it really comes down to it, the Democrats will sell us all down the fucking river just as quickly as the authoritarian Republican regime. So in 2008 when everyone tells me how “this is the most important election in our lifetime”(ever notice how every election is so much more important then the last most important election ever?) and that there is a huge difference between Hillary and Rudy I will laugh in their face and vote for whatever third party is allowed on the Wisconsin ballot.
This illegal wiretapping, or “terrorist surveillance program”, depending on whom you ask, became a big deal when the New York Times first reported about it after the election. The Democrats said that had the American public known about the program it may have been enough to tip the election to John “I voted to give Bush the Authority to invade and occupy Iraq” Kerry in 2004. Then it came out that some Democrats had been briefed about it but had said nothing. So these asshole Democrats, Jay Rockefeller and the rest, were telling us that this election was the most important in our history yet refused to leak the information they claim could have changed, the most important, election. Instead they kept quiet.
That the Democrats would capitulate to every whim of Bush should have been obvious, had it not been for the faux outrage spouted by the Democratic Congress members. The minute we all should have foreseen this happening was when our brave Senator Feingold suggested censuring the President for his illegal behavior. The proposal, from Russ, was toothless and symbolic. He wanted the record to show that Congress voted that the Bush Administration had overstepped their authority and then move on from there. Democratic colleagues ran away from reporters, some leaving out the backdoor, for fear of having to make a statement and when they finally did they said things like “I haven’t read it.” This incident should have told us all that the Democrats weren’t really concerned about the violations of the Constitution, no matter how outraged they pretended to be.
The most obvious reason the Democrats don’t protest the repeated violations of the Constitution is because they only care about their careers. Instead they, after repeated faux protest on the airwaves, have quietly passed legislation giving Bush the powers they claim to abhor. It is more important that they continue to suck our tax dollars in the form of income, an income they voted to automatically increase because average Joes were getting upset when the press would report on Congress giving themselves a raise, while Joe’s income stays stagnant at best.
So when my Democratic friends begin attacking me in 2008, over my plan to vote for any left-wing third party candidate, I will laugh in their faces. When they tell me that this is the most important election in the history of humankind, I will laugh in their faces. Then when they attempt to prove the differences between the two parties, I will laugh in their faces and remind them that the Democrats voted for nearly everything they are upset with. Last election, in an attempt to sway my vote away from a candidate I agreed with, many of my Democratic friends would tell me about how abortion would be outlawed, more wars would be started, gay rights were going to get rolled back and numerous other horror stories. So what are they going to say when the Republicans nominate a pro-gay rights, pro-choice, pro-immigrant candidate? What, he might start a war with Iran that Hillary will vote for?
This illegal wiretapping, or “terrorist surveillance program”, depending on whom you ask, became a big deal when the New York Times first reported about it after the election. The Democrats said that had the American public known about the program it may have been enough to tip the election to John “I voted to give Bush the Authority to invade and occupy Iraq” Kerry in 2004. Then it came out that some Democrats had been briefed about it but had said nothing. So these asshole Democrats, Jay Rockefeller and the rest, were telling us that this election was the most important in our history yet refused to leak the information they claim could have changed, the most important, election. Instead they kept quiet.
That the Democrats would capitulate to every whim of Bush should have been obvious, had it not been for the faux outrage spouted by the Democratic Congress members. The minute we all should have foreseen this happening was when our brave Senator Feingold suggested censuring the President for his illegal behavior. The proposal, from Russ, was toothless and symbolic. He wanted the record to show that Congress voted that the Bush Administration had overstepped their authority and then move on from there. Democratic colleagues ran away from reporters, some leaving out the backdoor, for fear of having to make a statement and when they finally did they said things like “I haven’t read it.” This incident should have told us all that the Democrats weren’t really concerned about the violations of the Constitution, no matter how outraged they pretended to be.
The most obvious reason the Democrats don’t protest the repeated violations of the Constitution is because they only care about their careers. Instead they, after repeated faux protest on the airwaves, have quietly passed legislation giving Bush the powers they claim to abhor. It is more important that they continue to suck our tax dollars in the form of income, an income they voted to automatically increase because average Joes were getting upset when the press would report on Congress giving themselves a raise, while Joe’s income stays stagnant at best.
So when my Democratic friends begin attacking me in 2008, over my plan to vote for any left-wing third party candidate, I will laugh in their faces. When they tell me that this is the most important election in the history of humankind, I will laugh in their faces. Then when they attempt to prove the differences between the two parties, I will laugh in their faces and remind them that the Democrats voted for nearly everything they are upset with. Last election, in an attempt to sway my vote away from a candidate I agreed with, many of my Democratic friends would tell me about how abortion would be outlawed, more wars would be started, gay rights were going to get rolled back and numerous other horror stories. So what are they going to say when the Republicans nominate a pro-gay rights, pro-choice, pro-immigrant candidate? What, he might start a war with Iran that Hillary will vote for?
Monday, October 15, 2007
Chomsky debates the late Foucault
I love this debate not only for the discourse but also because both speak their native tongues without translators.
Foucault was the only Parisian Post-Modernists that Chomsky thought was of any value. He at least, according to Chomsky, was attempting to say something even though is wasn't profound.
Foucault was the only Parisian Post-Modernists that Chomsky thought was of any value. He at least, according to Chomsky, was attempting to say something even though is wasn't profound.
Monday, October 08, 2007
Music Videos
Here are some of the things that inspired me as a child. I know they are corny but their messages resonated with me when I was a kid.
I know it's Michael Jackson.
I know it's Michael Jackson.
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Hilarious.
I just read this most hilarious of jokes. It turns out this is a joke that the Israeli Defense Forces like to tell.
"Two soldiers, infantry-men in the Golani Brigade, were on patrol in Hebron, getting ready to enforce the six p.m. curfew. The streets were mostly empty already, but one of the soldiers saw an old Arab man hobbling down the lane in the distance. The soldier dropped to one knee, took aim, and fired, taking off the old man's head. The other soldier watched this in shock. "What are you doing?" he cried. "It's not six yet."
"I know," said the first soldier. "But I knew where that guy lived. He never would have made it home in time."
Ah yes, the poor Israeli victim. The fact that this joke is even acceptable and popular tells you something about the people who live in that state. Whenever I come across things like this I have the hardest time reminding myself that it is the Palestinians who are the violent ones, the aggressors. I wonder where one can get some of that Israeli 'kool-aid".
"Two soldiers, infantry-men in the Golani Brigade, were on patrol in Hebron, getting ready to enforce the six p.m. curfew. The streets were mostly empty already, but one of the soldiers saw an old Arab man hobbling down the lane in the distance. The soldier dropped to one knee, took aim, and fired, taking off the old man's head. The other soldier watched this in shock. "What are you doing?" he cried. "It's not six yet."
"I know," said the first soldier. "But I knew where that guy lived. He never would have made it home in time."
Ah yes, the poor Israeli victim. The fact that this joke is even acceptable and popular tells you something about the people who live in that state. Whenever I come across things like this I have the hardest time reminding myself that it is the Palestinians who are the violent ones, the aggressors. I wonder where one can get some of that Israeli 'kool-aid".
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Resource
I just spent the last two hours enjoying Bertrand Russell essays and thought you might too.
Here is a link to a site with many of his writings.
Here is a great quote from his Praise of Idleness.
"First of all: what is work? Work is of two kinds: first, altering the position of matter at or near the earth's surface relatively to other such matter; second, telling other people to do so. The first kind is unpleasant and ill paid; the second is pleasant and highly paid."
Here is a link to a site with many of his writings.
Here is a great quote from his Praise of Idleness.
"First of all: what is work? Work is of two kinds: first, altering the position of matter at or near the earth's surface relatively to other such matter; second, telling other people to do so. The first kind is unpleasant and ill paid; the second is pleasant and highly paid."
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
A Quick Thought.
Today, as usual, I was engaged in my mindless job listening to a Chomsky lecture from a few years ago and a thought entered my mind. Noam was talking about what may happen if the Iraqis are ever really allowed to control their own country in the democratic form so highly touted by the US administration. He lists off a few things that could be possible, this was before any elections in Iraq had occurred, and he mentions, the obvious, that they would seek better relations with Shia Iran. It is an obvious outcome considering many of the most important Iraqis lived there in exile, during Saddam's reign, and the most powerful man in Iraq, Al-Sistani, was born there. At that moment I realized why we are going to attack Iran and it is an exact replica of the Iraq bullshit.
Notice how again we are told that some evil brown skinned man is producing nuclear weapons just like Saddam was.(Our own CIA now claims that there were no WMD let alone nukes in Iraq) Then comes the threat to Israel with the now proven incorrect translation where the Iranian President says that he wants to "wipe Israel off the face of the map".(Israel being the fifth strongest military in the World and the first Middle Eastern nation to introduce nuclear weapons into the region) I think the final sign of imminent attack is the comparison to Hitler.(Remember that Hitler killed millions and the Iranian President has 40,000 Jews living in his country) So that is the pretext but what is the real reason.
The real reason again will be regime change which will be the second time we have overthrown a democratically elected Iranian leader in 60 years. Why must the regime change? Because if we allow Iraq to be free they would align themselves with the Clerics who run Iran, since the President is merely a figurehead, something the press and the intellectuals seem to be unable to remember. So we must eliminate the Clerics and the President, I guess for symbolic value since he is the newest Hitler. ( With amazing amounts of "New Hitlers" arriving on the international scene it makes one wonder about reincarnation.) That way when we are forced out of Iraq, which will happen, the Iraqis will have no Iran Shia Clerics to align themselves with. The only regime in Iran will be a secular regime that respects minority rights, just like the Iraqis who greeted us with flowers.
The most cynical part of me has another scenario that may be possible.
Okay say the US attacks Iran and the SHia in Saudi Arabia rise up, with the help of Iran, and overthrow the "government" of Saudi Arabia. We all know that the US and it population believes that the oil over there is really our property so a overwhelming percentage of AMericans would argue for the invasion and takeover of the Saudi state and its oil fields.
Notice how again we are told that some evil brown skinned man is producing nuclear weapons just like Saddam was.(Our own CIA now claims that there were no WMD let alone nukes in Iraq) Then comes the threat to Israel with the now proven incorrect translation where the Iranian President says that he wants to "wipe Israel off the face of the map".(Israel being the fifth strongest military in the World and the first Middle Eastern nation to introduce nuclear weapons into the region) I think the final sign of imminent attack is the comparison to Hitler.(Remember that Hitler killed millions and the Iranian President has 40,000 Jews living in his country) So that is the pretext but what is the real reason.
The real reason again will be regime change which will be the second time we have overthrown a democratically elected Iranian leader in 60 years. Why must the regime change? Because if we allow Iraq to be free they would align themselves with the Clerics who run Iran, since the President is merely a figurehead, something the press and the intellectuals seem to be unable to remember. So we must eliminate the Clerics and the President, I guess for symbolic value since he is the newest Hitler. ( With amazing amounts of "New Hitlers" arriving on the international scene it makes one wonder about reincarnation.) That way when we are forced out of Iraq, which will happen, the Iraqis will have no Iran Shia Clerics to align themselves with. The only regime in Iran will be a secular regime that respects minority rights, just like the Iraqis who greeted us with flowers.
The most cynical part of me has another scenario that may be possible.
Okay say the US attacks Iran and the SHia in Saudi Arabia rise up, with the help of Iran, and overthrow the "government" of Saudi Arabia. We all know that the US and it population believes that the oil over there is really our property so a overwhelming percentage of AMericans would argue for the invasion and takeover of the Saudi state and its oil fields.
Monday, October 01, 2007
In Case You Missed It.
As of now this is about all of the footage that has gotten out of Burma since the massacres started. It is impossible to know exactly what has transpired because the government has cut off the internet. One thing that is known, as of now, is that a Japanese journalist was shot dead at point blank. I mean c'mon, I expect that kind of behavior from the Israelis but the Burmese.
Here is the footage of the Journalist being shot.
It is okay when our buddies do it in Israel. Notice how the other Israeli peace activists have to tell the Israeli Defense Forces that the wounded journalist is an Israeli. Why is that? Is it because their entire society is completely racist through and through. If only the Burmese people had a strong lobby in this country then they coould shoot civilians at will and our government would fall all over themselves to praise them.
Here is the footage of the Journalist being shot.
It is okay when our buddies do it in Israel. Notice how the other Israeli peace activists have to tell the Israeli Defense Forces that the wounded journalist is an Israeli. Why is that? Is it because their entire society is completely racist through and through. If only the Burmese people had a strong lobby in this country then they coould shoot civilians at will and our government would fall all over themselves to praise them.
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