Michael Albert founder of Z Magazine.
iPhone/iPod Link
Friday, April 11, 2008
Wednesday, April 09, 2008
Normally I don't post this kind of shit.
HOW SMART IS YOUR RIGHT FOOT?
1. Without anyone watching you (they will think you are GOOFY......)
and while sitting at your desk in front of your computer, lift your
right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.
2. Now, while doing this, draw the number '6' in the air with your
right hand. Your foot will change direction.
1. Without anyone watching you (they will think you are GOOFY......)
and while sitting at your desk in front of your computer, lift your
right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles.
2. Now, while doing this, draw the number '6' in the air with your
right hand. Your foot will change direction.
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
Quick Thought
I have figured out a way to solve the Palestinian issue. Lets hold the Olympics in Tel Aviv.
This is my standard initial response to anyone asking about China, Tibet and the Olympics.
This is my standard initial response to anyone asking about China, Tibet and the Olympics.
Perspective
BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND
Why is it that there is correlation data that suggests the more one has their needs met the more they are likely to be depressed? Is it just me or does this seem to go against common sense?
Is it that once someone has their basic needs met, they then have the time to search their lives for the other things that are so terrible? For instance, “now that my family isn’t being oppressed by an occupying army, I can finally see that I am unhappy because of my looks or my social status? Before this I was concerned with trivial things like the safety of my children. Now I have time to complain that I don’t get everything I feel entitled to, like straight teeth.”
Isn’t it a joke for Americans to not take into consideration that there are four billion other people with far harder lives? One billion people are virtually starving to death while another billion are eating themselves to death because their sad lives created an addiction to food? One billion are fighting to feed their children and westerners are whining about how terrible their lives are, to a point where it is so bad that they can not eat and must throw their dinners into the trash.
I guess what I am talking about is perspective, a thing that is in short supply in our world. Where one Jewish settler’s life is worth that of one hundred Palestinians. Where 3000 dead one day are significant but another 3000 dead, not so. Where one fat person’s hopes weren’t met but children are starving and they aren’t complaining because they don’t know a different life while the fat woman complains that if she was wealthy like Oprah, she too could lose weight.
One thing is true, that people with real problems at least attempt to remedy them, and are killed along the way. In America we feel as if we shouldn’t have to act, instead we should just get. Maybe Americans like to be fat and sad. Though doesn’t the term “like” convey a sense of enjoyment? Maybe people are happy being miserable? Seems oxymoronic to me.
Why is it that there is correlation data that suggests the more one has their needs met the more they are likely to be depressed? Is it just me or does this seem to go against common sense?
Is it that once someone has their basic needs met, they then have the time to search their lives for the other things that are so terrible? For instance, “now that my family isn’t being oppressed by an occupying army, I can finally see that I am unhappy because of my looks or my social status? Before this I was concerned with trivial things like the safety of my children. Now I have time to complain that I don’t get everything I feel entitled to, like straight teeth.”
Isn’t it a joke for Americans to not take into consideration that there are four billion other people with far harder lives? One billion people are virtually starving to death while another billion are eating themselves to death because their sad lives created an addiction to food? One billion are fighting to feed their children and westerners are whining about how terrible their lives are, to a point where it is so bad that they can not eat and must throw their dinners into the trash.
I guess what I am talking about is perspective, a thing that is in short supply in our world. Where one Jewish settler’s life is worth that of one hundred Palestinians. Where 3000 dead one day are significant but another 3000 dead, not so. Where one fat person’s hopes weren’t met but children are starving and they aren’t complaining because they don’t know a different life while the fat woman complains that if she was wealthy like Oprah, she too could lose weight.
One thing is true, that people with real problems at least attempt to remedy them, and are killed along the way. In America we feel as if we shouldn’t have to act, instead we should just get. Maybe Americans like to be fat and sad. Though doesn’t the term “like” convey a sense of enjoyment? Maybe people are happy being miserable? Seems oxymoronic to me.
Holy SHit!
You have to listen to this clip. From what I have read it is Illinois State Rep. Davis of Chicago. In this audio clip you hear her responding to an atheist activist. Just listen and imagine her talking that way about gays, blacks, immigrants, Jews, Muslims, or women. If she did there would be outrage but guess what this story is days old and you are just finally reading about it. Only because I peruse a certain section of the internet did I find it.
What is it about the religious that is so threatened by non-believers? Is it that deep down they know that a belief in some benevolent omnipotent Creator is illogical and absurd. It is like the kid with his fingers in his ears yelling, "blah blah blah I can't hear you. blah blah blah". Christ you would think that us atheists were a bunch of commies, oh wait a bunch of us are.
Just in case anyone is interested, here is her email. mdavis2147@aol.com
What is it about the religious that is so threatened by non-believers? Is it that deep down they know that a belief in some benevolent omnipotent Creator is illogical and absurd. It is like the kid with his fingers in his ears yelling, "blah blah blah I can't hear you. blah blah blah". Christ you would think that us atheists were a bunch of commies, oh wait a bunch of us are.
Just in case anyone is interested, here is her email. mdavis2147@aol.com
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Monday, March 31, 2008
Free Market, my ass.
For the last two years I have attempted to land a spot as a community columnist for the Milwaukee Journal and have been rejected both times. At first I blamed my poor writing skills. Then I blamed my category as a white man when they were looking for a diverse group. Both of these seemed totally acceptable to me. Sure I wrote a great piece about the how stupid the death penalty and they picked a guy who stated that people who would/should receive the death penalty are routinely let out of prison.
I think though after years of reading the columnists I have figured out one must have to do, and I am going to call them out this year when I try again. The one column they print every single year is a column attacking atheists, around 5% of the population, as being unethical and having no morals. One guy actually argued that atheists should go around and murder because they have no book telling them it is wrong. If the topic isn't on the depravity of non-Christians then you must write a column filled with logical fallacies like the one a couple of days ago. The use of the logical fallacy, begging the question so pissed me off I had to respond. I decided I would share it with people and her response.
I was reading your column in Thursday's paper and I came upon an interesting statement. You say, "Salaries, in a free market, are set by supply and demand" which I find interesting. You are said to be the business and economics chair of a local university so surely you can't really call America a free market. I believe you are purposely lying to people to advance your ideology. How can the chair of economics call our economy a free market? Is it a free market when we bailed out Lockheed and Chrysler? My father lost his job because his boss at his saving and loans gave out shotty loans and we bailed out the SnLs but
not the workers. Some estimates put the figure at half a trillion dollars. How does this jive with your fake free market? How about the 14 billion dollar bailout of the airlines after 9/11? How does that fit into your psueso-free market. What about subsidies to the oil industries? How is that a free market? What about all the programs for returning GIs from WWII? Was that that free market at work? With just these few simple examples it is obvious, to even a non-chair of economics, that we do not live in a free market. At best we live in a coporate socialist state with free markets for the citizen. Give out bad loans and the tax payer will bail you out, take a bad loan and you lose your house. Socialism for the rich and free markets for the poor.
I have no problem with peole being ideological but they should not be deceptive. If they are deceptive then it makes one wonder how good their arguments are.
Don't lie to the people. A chair of economics should know better.
Justin Loper
Her response:
Hello:
While we do not agree, thanks for responding.
Barbara
Really that is it. I call her a liar and she says she disagrees. She cares that much to get her beliefs out there but can not defend them? Truly sad. Not what I would expect from a chair of economics unless she studied under Dershowitz at Harvard.
I think though after years of reading the columnists I have figured out one must have to do, and I am going to call them out this year when I try again. The one column they print every single year is a column attacking atheists, around 5% of the population, as being unethical and having no morals. One guy actually argued that atheists should go around and murder because they have no book telling them it is wrong. If the topic isn't on the depravity of non-Christians then you must write a column filled with logical fallacies like the one a couple of days ago. The use of the logical fallacy, begging the question so pissed me off I had to respond. I decided I would share it with people and her response.
I was reading your column in Thursday's paper and I came upon an interesting statement. You say, "Salaries, in a free market, are set by supply and demand" which I find interesting. You are said to be the business and economics chair of a local university so surely you can't really call America a free market. I believe you are purposely lying to people to advance your ideology. How can the chair of economics call our economy a free market? Is it a free market when we bailed out Lockheed and Chrysler? My father lost his job because his boss at his saving and loans gave out shotty loans and we bailed out the SnLs but
not the workers. Some estimates put the figure at half a trillion dollars. How does this jive with your fake free market? How about the 14 billion dollar bailout of the airlines after 9/11? How does that fit into your psueso-free market. What about subsidies to the oil industries? How is that a free market? What about all the programs for returning GIs from WWII? Was that that free market at work? With just these few simple examples it is obvious, to even a non-chair of economics, that we do not live in a free market. At best we live in a coporate socialist state with free markets for the citizen. Give out bad loans and the tax payer will bail you out, take a bad loan and you lose your house. Socialism for the rich and free markets for the poor.
I have no problem with peole being ideological but they should not be deceptive. If they are deceptive then it makes one wonder how good their arguments are.
Don't lie to the people. A chair of economics should know better.
Justin Loper
Her response:
Hello:
While we do not agree, thanks for responding.
Barbara
Really that is it. I call her a liar and she says she disagrees. She cares that much to get her beliefs out there but can not defend them? Truly sad. Not what I would expect from a chair of economics unless she studied under Dershowitz at Harvard.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
New Controversy
BEWARE SOME GRAPHIC FOOTAGE
I have no problem calling out religious texts for the bullshit inside, like when the Bible says gays should be murdered and fortune tellers too. Oh ya and unruly children and your wife if she tries to take you away from God. Though to paint the entire group in this way is offensive to me because it is unfair. What about the Christians who slaughtered doctors for performing a procedure which is legal?
I once met a guy who moved hear from Holland and I was shocked so I asked him why. He said that Holland is becoming a very racist country, which surprised me. I now understand what he was saying.
One point from Chomsky. Chomsky has asked how come when a Muslim leader does something crazy it is because they are Muslims while no one says that Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon slaughtered 3.2 million Vietnamese because they were Christian. Somehow one's religion only affects them if they are Muslim.
I have no problem calling out religious texts for the bullshit inside, like when the Bible says gays should be murdered and fortune tellers too. Oh ya and unruly children and your wife if she tries to take you away from God. Though to paint the entire group in this way is offensive to me because it is unfair. What about the Christians who slaughtered doctors for performing a procedure which is legal?
I once met a guy who moved hear from Holland and I was shocked so I asked him why. He said that Holland is becoming a very racist country, which surprised me. I now understand what he was saying.
One point from Chomsky. Chomsky has asked how come when a Muslim leader does something crazy it is because they are Muslims while no one says that Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon slaughtered 3.2 million Vietnamese because they were Christian. Somehow one's religion only affects them if they are Muslim.
Wednesday, March 26, 2008
New Mental Illness
A new mental illness is upon us. This mental illness plagues users of cell phones and blackberrys. They say that people are mentally ill because they are texting people too much. My guess is, had a newer mental illness that I have discovered been around when the telephone was introduced, people would have been talking about the new mental illness of people who talk on the phone too long. They would have argued that it is totally a different phenomena then talking to someone in person. Much like how iPods are more dangerous then their predecessor the walkman. Sure they are both mobile music devices but iPods are new and scary. In other words old people don't understand them.
You may wonder what this other new mental illness is that I have discovered. Of course, it should be known I hold no degree in any psychological field or any field for that matter. Still I think, I make just as much sense as the ones with letters after their names. My new mental illness is a mental illness that attempts to show that mental illness explains all behavior that doesn't fit some "norm".
Though at what point do we realize that abnormal is normal since everyone will have been diagnosed with some form of mental illness which in turn will turn the non-mentally ill into the mentally ill and the mentally ill into the norm?
You may wonder what this other new mental illness is that I have discovered. Of course, it should be known I hold no degree in any psychological field or any field for that matter. Still I think, I make just as much sense as the ones with letters after their names. My new mental illness is a mental illness that attempts to show that mental illness explains all behavior that doesn't fit some "norm".
Though at what point do we realize that abnormal is normal since everyone will have been diagnosed with some form of mental illness which in turn will turn the non-mentally ill into the mentally ill and the mentally ill into the norm?
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Music videos
Here is a version of one the most important songs of my life.
Then the Housemartins
and Stereolab
Then the Housemartins
and Stereolab
Saturday, March 15, 2008
A LIBERAL DECALOGUE
By Bertrand Russell
Perhaps the essence of the Liberal outlook could be summed up in a new decalogue, not intended to replace the old one but only to supplement it. The Ten Commandments that, as a teacher, I should wish to promulgate, might be set forth as follows:
1. Do not feel absolutely certain of anything.
2. Do not think it worth while to proceed by concealing evidence, for the evidence is sure to come to light.
3. Never try to discourage thinking for you are sure to succeed.
4. When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your husband or your children, endeavor to overcome it by argument and not by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory.
5. Have no respect for the authority of others, for there are always contrary authorities to be found.
6. Do not use power to suppress opinions you think pernicious, for if you do the opinions will suppress you.
7. Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.
8. Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter.
9. Be scrupulously truthful, even if the truth is inconvenient, for it is more inconvenient when you try to conceal it.
10. Do not feel envious of the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise, for only a fool will think that it is happiness."
Perhaps the essence of the Liberal outlook could be summed up in a new decalogue, not intended to replace the old one but only to supplement it. The Ten Commandments that, as a teacher, I should wish to promulgate, might be set forth as follows:
1. Do not feel absolutely certain of anything.
2. Do not think it worth while to proceed by concealing evidence, for the evidence is sure to come to light.
3. Never try to discourage thinking for you are sure to succeed.
4. When you meet with opposition, even if it should be from your husband or your children, endeavor to overcome it by argument and not by authority, for a victory dependent upon authority is unreal and illusory.
5. Have no respect for the authority of others, for there are always contrary authorities to be found.
6. Do not use power to suppress opinions you think pernicious, for if you do the opinions will suppress you.
7. Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.
8. Find more pleasure in intelligent dissent than in passive agreement, for, if you value intelligence as you should, the former implies a deeper agreement than the latter.
9. Be scrupulously truthful, even if the truth is inconvenient, for it is more inconvenient when you try to conceal it.
10. Do not feel envious of the happiness of those who live in a fool's paradise, for only a fool will think that it is happiness."
Monday, March 10, 2008
McCain '08
A couple thoughts on the Democratic Nomination.
Let it be known that I am a Clinton-hater. I figure that information should be known so that everyone will understand my slant. I just have a few questions.
Hillary is pushing this narrative that she has the experience to come in, on day one, and begin fixing the problems. Okay that is fine, but what problems are there? Of these supposed problems, how many did Hillary vote for or the Democratic Party as a whole? Is one the problems the Iraq War? Didn’t she vote for the Iraq war? Is she going to take on the major financial businesses that are paying for her campaign? Is she going to demand they fix this housing mortgage mess or are the banks buying her off? Or could it be that they are paying her for all the work she did on the Finance Modernization Act when she was President, oops I mean First Lady?
What happens if Obama goes into the convention with a lead in delegates but the party chooses Hillary? Will a whole generation of voters be turned off? Will people revolt and flock to Nader? Would Obama even get behind her considering she is an immoral human or as Ms. Power called her “a monster?” Wouldn’t it be a coup d’etat?
Is it possible that Hillary is going to come out and explicitly claim that Barack is not qualified to be President with the hopes that McCain will beat him and she can run again in 2012? Is she that opportunistic and if so why are people supporting her?
Are older women just voting for Hillary out of their own selfish reasons of hoping to see a woman President before they die and if so, Why couldn’t Condee been the one?
Just a few thoughts.
Let it be known that I am a Clinton-hater. I figure that information should be known so that everyone will understand my slant. I just have a few questions.
Hillary is pushing this narrative that she has the experience to come in, on day one, and begin fixing the problems. Okay that is fine, but what problems are there? Of these supposed problems, how many did Hillary vote for or the Democratic Party as a whole? Is one the problems the Iraq War? Didn’t she vote for the Iraq war? Is she going to take on the major financial businesses that are paying for her campaign? Is she going to demand they fix this housing mortgage mess or are the banks buying her off? Or could it be that they are paying her for all the work she did on the Finance Modernization Act when she was President, oops I mean First Lady?
What happens if Obama goes into the convention with a lead in delegates but the party chooses Hillary? Will a whole generation of voters be turned off? Will people revolt and flock to Nader? Would Obama even get behind her considering she is an immoral human or as Ms. Power called her “a monster?” Wouldn’t it be a coup d’etat?
Is it possible that Hillary is going to come out and explicitly claim that Barack is not qualified to be President with the hopes that McCain will beat him and she can run again in 2012? Is she that opportunistic and if so why are people supporting her?
Are older women just voting for Hillary out of their own selfish reasons of hoping to see a woman President before they die and if so, Why couldn’t Condee been the one?
Just a few thoughts.
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Israeli Nazis
I truly believe that we are seeing an end to Israel as presently structured. I fear as Israel realizes it is losing it will go on a major offensive and kill many. It is just amazing how fearless some people are and how full of fear others are.
Fuck the Nazis. SOme people don't like making any analogy between the Nazis and the Israeli state but when your leaders say things like this it makes it much easier.
iPod/iPhone Link
Fuck the Nazis. SOme people don't like making any analogy between the Nazis and the Israeli state but when your leaders say things like this it makes it much easier.
iPod/iPhone Link
Friday, February 29, 2008
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Finally I Have Someone I Can Vote For!!!!
So Ralph has entered the building. Early results are in and it looks as if the media has decided just to ignore him. Of course, they had to mention the news from yesterday but it had to be done in a dismissive way. The narrative is that Ralph is losing it and is going to taint his legacy as a great champion of the people. The problem is, he doesn’t give a shit. If Mr. Nader had this enormous ego, that everyone attempts to pin on him, then wouldn’t he be far more concerned about his legacy? Even the humble Bill Clinton was concerned about his legacy. That being said, I still am not clear as to why he is running.
In 2000 the American public was slowly moving back to the left, towards the center. People had finally caught on to the eight years of fake liberalism. The Clinton Administration had moved right of center and began neo-liberal colonialism on the world under the guise of free trade. People were sick and began to mobilize. Culminating in the riots in Seattle in 1999. Suddenly everyone knew what the W.T.O., I.M.F. and the World Bank were, and it mattered to them. This economic colonialism was rearing its ugly head and people began to have regrets.
Then comes election 2000, the most important of our lives, and it is more of the same. Two sons of congressmen, Al Gore Jr. Vs. George Bush Jr., in “the battle of the unperceived aristocracy.” AL Gore had a formidable opponent in Bill Bradley and many of us still wish Bradley had won but he didn’t. Bush was battling McCain and could have lost had it not been for Rove’s stories about McCain’s black baby, the baby I believe was actually Vietnamese. That destroyed McCain in S. Carolina and the rest is all Nader’s fault.
Then comes the 2004 election. The most important in our lifetime, we were told. We had to defeat this Bush character at all costs. This is so important we don’t care who the nomination is as long as it is Anybody But Bush. The Democrats were so determined to win they picked a candidate that wanted to send more troops into Iraq when the actual Democratic voters wanted the opposite to be happening. Since Kerry was Anybody But Bush it worked out perfectly. Here we had both candidates advocating the continued, and in Kerry’s case an increased, presence in Iraq. Either way you voted you voted in favor of the war. (If one wants to argue that Kerry would have begun a drawdown of troops, they should remember why the Democrats won in 2006 and what the results were).
The problem is that some of us can’t vote to continue the illegal occupation of a foreign nation. It goes against our morals. We don’t believe that America owns the world. Which is exactly what all these other people believe otherwise the rhetoric used would be far different. For instance, Iran is meddling in Iraq? They have no right? What about our meddling in Iraq? It isn’t meddling when you own the world. The sad thing too was that the Democratic base, as a result of their candidate being pro-war, had to legitimize his position so they adopted, what I, at the time, referred to as “the New White Man’s Burden”. In other words, us Americans (whites) need to run the affairs of the Iraqis (browns) because don’t have the ability. That is what voting for Kerry represented, to many of us people who believe in ethics and morality, and Ralph gave us an out.
To be sure, I am a little uncertain why Ralph is running again but I think it may be that he doesn’t care about his reputation anymore, if he ever did. I have a feeling that Ralph is willing to destroy his reputation in hopes of advancing his strongly held beliefs. This idea that his morals/values are somehow disingenuous is bullshit.
Is Ralph going to accomplish his mission? My guess is no. The American Public prefers denial to reality. As long as they have a paycheck they could care less that they are serfs. It won’t be until the economy begins to truly crash that we acknowledge all the people who, in the past, had warned us but, by that time, it will be too late.
I think that Ralph will spend the rest of his entire life trying to get people to understand the shear level of crimes being committed against the American citizens and the rest of the globe. The sad fact, for Americans who prefer to live in denial and don’t see themselves as responsible for the actions of their government, is that Ralph is likely to live a lot longer too since the man lives off chickpeas.
“Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.” Bertrand Russell
In 2000 the American public was slowly moving back to the left, towards the center. People had finally caught on to the eight years of fake liberalism. The Clinton Administration had moved right of center and began neo-liberal colonialism on the world under the guise of free trade. People were sick and began to mobilize. Culminating in the riots in Seattle in 1999. Suddenly everyone knew what the W.T.O., I.M.F. and the World Bank were, and it mattered to them. This economic colonialism was rearing its ugly head and people began to have regrets.
Then comes election 2000, the most important of our lives, and it is more of the same. Two sons of congressmen, Al Gore Jr. Vs. George Bush Jr., in “the battle of the unperceived aristocracy.” AL Gore had a formidable opponent in Bill Bradley and many of us still wish Bradley had won but he didn’t. Bush was battling McCain and could have lost had it not been for Rove’s stories about McCain’s black baby, the baby I believe was actually Vietnamese. That destroyed McCain in S. Carolina and the rest is all Nader’s fault.
Then comes the 2004 election. The most important in our lifetime, we were told. We had to defeat this Bush character at all costs. This is so important we don’t care who the nomination is as long as it is Anybody But Bush. The Democrats were so determined to win they picked a candidate that wanted to send more troops into Iraq when the actual Democratic voters wanted the opposite to be happening. Since Kerry was Anybody But Bush it worked out perfectly. Here we had both candidates advocating the continued, and in Kerry’s case an increased, presence in Iraq. Either way you voted you voted in favor of the war. (If one wants to argue that Kerry would have begun a drawdown of troops, they should remember why the Democrats won in 2006 and what the results were).
The problem is that some of us can’t vote to continue the illegal occupation of a foreign nation. It goes against our morals. We don’t believe that America owns the world. Which is exactly what all these other people believe otherwise the rhetoric used would be far different. For instance, Iran is meddling in Iraq? They have no right? What about our meddling in Iraq? It isn’t meddling when you own the world. The sad thing too was that the Democratic base, as a result of their candidate being pro-war, had to legitimize his position so they adopted, what I, at the time, referred to as “the New White Man’s Burden”. In other words, us Americans (whites) need to run the affairs of the Iraqis (browns) because don’t have the ability. That is what voting for Kerry represented, to many of us people who believe in ethics and morality, and Ralph gave us an out.
To be sure, I am a little uncertain why Ralph is running again but I think it may be that he doesn’t care about his reputation anymore, if he ever did. I have a feeling that Ralph is willing to destroy his reputation in hopes of advancing his strongly held beliefs. This idea that his morals/values are somehow disingenuous is bullshit.
Is Ralph going to accomplish his mission? My guess is no. The American Public prefers denial to reality. As long as they have a paycheck they could care less that they are serfs. It won’t be until the economy begins to truly crash that we acknowledge all the people who, in the past, had warned us but, by that time, it will be too late.
I think that Ralph will spend the rest of his entire life trying to get people to understand the shear level of crimes being committed against the American citizens and the rest of the globe. The sad fact, for Americans who prefer to live in denial and don’t see themselves as responsible for the actions of their government, is that Ralph is likely to live a lot longer too since the man lives off chickpeas.
“Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.” Bertrand Russell
Where's the Iraqi Voice?
By: Noam Chomsky
THE US occupying army in Iraq (euphemistically called the Multi-National Force-Iraq) carries out extensive studies of popular attitudes. Its December 2007 report of a study of focus groups was uncharacteristically upbeat.
The report concluded that the survey "provides very strong evidence" to refute the common view that "national reconciliation is neither anticipated nor possible". On the contrary, the survey found that a sense of "optimistic possibility permeated all focus groups ... and far more commonalities than differences are found among these seemingly diverse groups of Iraqis."
This discovery of "shared beliefs" among Iraqis throughout the country is "good news, according to a military analysis of the results", Karen deYoung reports in The Washington Post.
The "shared beliefs" were identified in the report. To quote deYoung, "Iraqis of all sectarian and ethnic groups believe that the U.S. military invasion is the primary root of the violent differences among them, and see the departure of 'occupying forces' as the key to national reconciliation."
So, according to Iraqis, there is hope of national reconciliation if the invaders, responsible for the internal violence, withdraw and leave Iraq to Iraqis.
The report did not mention other good news: Iraqis appear to accept the highest values of Americans, as established at the Nuremberg Tribunal -- specifically, that aggression -- "invasion by its armed forces" by one state "of the territory of another state" -- is "the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole". The chief US prosecutor at Nuremberg, Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, forcefully insisted that the Tribunal would be mere farce if we do not apply its principles to ourselves.
Unlike Iraqis, the United States, indeed the West generally, rejects the lofty values professed at Nuremberg, an interesting indication of the substance of the famous "clash of civilisations".
More good news was reported by Gen David Petraeus and Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker during the extravaganza staged on September 11, 2007. Only a cynic might imagine that the timing was intended to insinuate the Bush-Cheney claims of links between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, so that by committing the "supreme international crime" they were defending the world against terror -- which increased sevenfold as a result of the invasion, according to an analysis last year by terrorism specialists Peter Bergen and Paul Cruickshank.
Petraeus and Crocker provided figures to show that the Iraqi government was greatly accelerating spending on reconstruction, reaching a quarter of the funding set aside for that purpose. Good news indeed, until it was investigated by the Government Accountability Office, which found that the actual figure was one-sixth of what Petraeus and Crocker reported, a 50 per cent decline from the preceding year.
More good news is the decline in sectarian violence, attributable in part to the success of the murderous ethnic cleansing that Iraqis blame on the invasion; there are fewer targets for sectarian killing. But it is also attributable to Washington's decision to support the tribal groups that had organised to drive out Iraqi Al Qaeda, and to an increase in US troops.
It is possible that Petraeus's strategy may approach the success of the Russians in Chechnya, where fighting is now "limited and sporadic, and Grozny is in the midst of a building boom" after having been reduced to rubble by the Russian attack, CJ Chivers reports in the New York Times last September.
Perhaps some day Baghdad and Fallujah too will enjoy "electricity restored in many neighbourhoods, new businesses opening and the city's main streets repaved", as in booming Grozny. Possible, but dubious, considering the likely consequence of creating warlord armies that may be the seeds of even greater sectarian violence, adding to the "accumulated evil" of the aggression. Iraqis are not alone in believing that national reconciliation is possible. A Canadian-run poll found that Afghans are hopeful about the future and favour the presence of Canadian and other foreign troops -- the "good news" that made the headlines.
The small print suggests some qualifications. Only 20 per cent "think the Taleban will prevail once foreign troops leave". Three-quarters support negotiations between the US-backed Karzai government and the Taleban, and over half favour a coalition government. The great majority therefore strongly disagree with the US-Canadian stance, and believe that peace is possible with a turn towards peaceful means. Though the question was not asked in the poll, it seems a reasonable surmise that the foreign presence is favoured for aid and reconstruction.
There are, of course, numerous questions about polls in countries under foreign military occupation, particularly in places like southern Afghanistan. But the results of the Iraq and Afghan studies conform to earlier ones, and should not be dismissed.
Recent polls in Pakistan also provide "good news" for Washington. Fully 5 per cent favour allowing US or other foreign troops to enter Pakistan "to pursue or capture Al Qaeda fighters". Nine per cent favour allowing US forces "to pursue and capture Taleban insurgents who have crossed over from Afghanistan".
Almost half favour allowing Pakistani troops to do so. And only a little more than 80 per cent regard the US military presence in Asia and Afghanistan as a threat to Pakistan, while an overwhelming majority believe that the United States is trying to harm the Islamic world. The good news is that these results are a considerable improvement over October 2001, when a Newsweek poll found that "eighty-three per cent of Pakistanis surveyed say they side with the Taleban, with a mere three per cent expressing support for the United States," and over 80 per cent described Osama bin Laden as a guerrilla and six per cent a terrorist.
Amid the outpouring of good news from across the region, there is now much earnest debate among political candidates, government officials and commentators concerning the options available to the US in Iraq. One voice is consistently missing: that of Iraqis. Their "shared beliefs" are well known, as in the past. But they cannot be permitted to choose their own path any more than young children can. Only the conquerors have that right.
Perhaps here too there are some lessons about the "clash of civilisations".
THE US occupying army in Iraq (euphemistically called the Multi-National Force-Iraq) carries out extensive studies of popular attitudes. Its December 2007 report of a study of focus groups was uncharacteristically upbeat.
The report concluded that the survey "provides very strong evidence" to refute the common view that "national reconciliation is neither anticipated nor possible". On the contrary, the survey found that a sense of "optimistic possibility permeated all focus groups ... and far more commonalities than differences are found among these seemingly diverse groups of Iraqis."
This discovery of "shared beliefs" among Iraqis throughout the country is "good news, according to a military analysis of the results", Karen deYoung reports in The Washington Post.
The "shared beliefs" were identified in the report. To quote deYoung, "Iraqis of all sectarian and ethnic groups believe that the U.S. military invasion is the primary root of the violent differences among them, and see the departure of 'occupying forces' as the key to national reconciliation."
So, according to Iraqis, there is hope of national reconciliation if the invaders, responsible for the internal violence, withdraw and leave Iraq to Iraqis.
The report did not mention other good news: Iraqis appear to accept the highest values of Americans, as established at the Nuremberg Tribunal -- specifically, that aggression -- "invasion by its armed forces" by one state "of the territory of another state" -- is "the supreme international crime differing only from other war crimes in that it contains within itself the accumulated evil of the whole". The chief US prosecutor at Nuremberg, Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, forcefully insisted that the Tribunal would be mere farce if we do not apply its principles to ourselves.
Unlike Iraqis, the United States, indeed the West generally, rejects the lofty values professed at Nuremberg, an interesting indication of the substance of the famous "clash of civilisations".
More good news was reported by Gen David Petraeus and Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker during the extravaganza staged on September 11, 2007. Only a cynic might imagine that the timing was intended to insinuate the Bush-Cheney claims of links between Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden, so that by committing the "supreme international crime" they were defending the world against terror -- which increased sevenfold as a result of the invasion, according to an analysis last year by terrorism specialists Peter Bergen and Paul Cruickshank.
Petraeus and Crocker provided figures to show that the Iraqi government was greatly accelerating spending on reconstruction, reaching a quarter of the funding set aside for that purpose. Good news indeed, until it was investigated by the Government Accountability Office, which found that the actual figure was one-sixth of what Petraeus and Crocker reported, a 50 per cent decline from the preceding year.
More good news is the decline in sectarian violence, attributable in part to the success of the murderous ethnic cleansing that Iraqis blame on the invasion; there are fewer targets for sectarian killing. But it is also attributable to Washington's decision to support the tribal groups that had organised to drive out Iraqi Al Qaeda, and to an increase in US troops.
It is possible that Petraeus's strategy may approach the success of the Russians in Chechnya, where fighting is now "limited and sporadic, and Grozny is in the midst of a building boom" after having been reduced to rubble by the Russian attack, CJ Chivers reports in the New York Times last September.
Perhaps some day Baghdad and Fallujah too will enjoy "electricity restored in many neighbourhoods, new businesses opening and the city's main streets repaved", as in booming Grozny. Possible, but dubious, considering the likely consequence of creating warlord armies that may be the seeds of even greater sectarian violence, adding to the "accumulated evil" of the aggression. Iraqis are not alone in believing that national reconciliation is possible. A Canadian-run poll found that Afghans are hopeful about the future and favour the presence of Canadian and other foreign troops -- the "good news" that made the headlines.
The small print suggests some qualifications. Only 20 per cent "think the Taleban will prevail once foreign troops leave". Three-quarters support negotiations between the US-backed Karzai government and the Taleban, and over half favour a coalition government. The great majority therefore strongly disagree with the US-Canadian stance, and believe that peace is possible with a turn towards peaceful means. Though the question was not asked in the poll, it seems a reasonable surmise that the foreign presence is favoured for aid and reconstruction.
There are, of course, numerous questions about polls in countries under foreign military occupation, particularly in places like southern Afghanistan. But the results of the Iraq and Afghan studies conform to earlier ones, and should not be dismissed.
Recent polls in Pakistan also provide "good news" for Washington. Fully 5 per cent favour allowing US or other foreign troops to enter Pakistan "to pursue or capture Al Qaeda fighters". Nine per cent favour allowing US forces "to pursue and capture Taleban insurgents who have crossed over from Afghanistan".
Almost half favour allowing Pakistani troops to do so. And only a little more than 80 per cent regard the US military presence in Asia and Afghanistan as a threat to Pakistan, while an overwhelming majority believe that the United States is trying to harm the Islamic world. The good news is that these results are a considerable improvement over October 2001, when a Newsweek poll found that "eighty-three per cent of Pakistanis surveyed say they side with the Taleban, with a mere three per cent expressing support for the United States," and over 80 per cent described Osama bin Laden as a guerrilla and six per cent a terrorist.
Amid the outpouring of good news from across the region, there is now much earnest debate among political candidates, government officials and commentators concerning the options available to the US in Iraq. One voice is consistently missing: that of Iraqis. Their "shared beliefs" are well known, as in the past. But they cannot be permitted to choose their own path any more than young children can. Only the conquerors have that right.
Perhaps here too there are some lessons about the "clash of civilisations".
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
My Mass Email
Hello Everybody,
I know, you never get emails from me but I have an important one.
I am determined to do anything in my power to have Hillary lose the nomination. Fuck, I even gave Obama a campaign contribution, I get some t-shirts out of the deal, and I don't even plan on voting for him in the general election.(we all have our beliefs).(full disclosure: I have never even fancied the idea, in the past, of giving money to a candidate and actually it goes against a great deal that I believe in)
It is becoming painfully obvious to Shelley and I, and the rest of the astute observers, that conservatives are voting for Hillary, in the open primary, in huge numbers. SO there is a chance that Obama may lose the vote in Wisconsin. So in the case that such an outcome is created I have come up with two talking points.
If Obama loses, "Well of course Obama lost. All the conservatives, due to Wisconsin's open primary, voted for Hillary because they know she is the only candidate who could possibly lose to the warmonger(fill in your favorite adjective) McCain. Doesn't this show the fear that conservatives have with a Obama/McCain race. They have all seen the numbers and Obama beats McCain without question whereas McCain wins against Hillary. IN other words Hillary won because conservatives are terrified."
If Obama wins it gets better, "Barack beat the odds with so many conservatives voting for Hillary. I know it was close(my prediction) but Obama still won. THis is a movement that can not be stopped."
So even if Obama loses, he can still win.
Later
loper
P.S. Hey Gordon, you make some t-shirts and I will buy some.
I know, you never get emails from me but I have an important one.
I am determined to do anything in my power to have Hillary lose the nomination. Fuck, I even gave Obama a campaign contribution, I get some t-shirts out of the deal, and I don't even plan on voting for him in the general election.(we all have our beliefs).(full disclosure: I have never even fancied the idea, in the past, of giving money to a candidate and actually it goes against a great deal that I believe in)
It is becoming painfully obvious to Shelley and I, and the rest of the astute observers, that conservatives are voting for Hillary, in the open primary, in huge numbers. SO there is a chance that Obama may lose the vote in Wisconsin. So in the case that such an outcome is created I have come up with two talking points.
If Obama loses, "Well of course Obama lost. All the conservatives, due to Wisconsin's open primary, voted for Hillary because they know she is the only candidate who could possibly lose to the warmonger(fill in your favorite adjective) McCain. Doesn't this show the fear that conservatives have with a Obama/McCain race. They have all seen the numbers and Obama beats McCain without question whereas McCain wins against Hillary. IN other words Hillary won because conservatives are terrified."
If Obama wins it gets better, "Barack beat the odds with so many conservatives voting for Hillary. I know it was close(my prediction) but Obama still won. THis is a movement that can not be stopped."
So even if Obama loses, he can still win.
Later
loper
P.S. Hey Gordon, you make some t-shirts and I will buy some.
Monday, February 18, 2008
60 Minutes Interview
Great video besides the fact that it really turns out to be a Ron Paul ad.
iPhone/iPod Link
Here is a 60 minutes interview I have seen a few times and finally found a youtube version to show you'all.
One question I have is simple, In the 1950's our country had enough money to house, clothe, feed and give medical care to all the baby boomers as they were growing up. Now our country is much more wealthy, a bunch of the boomers were slaughtered in 'Nam and yet we don't have the same amount of money as we did in the 1950's? Really, our country is poorer then it was in the '50's? How can that be? From every indicator I have seen our country is far richer then it was is the fifties yet we can't take care of these same people for another 18 years? Something just doesn't add up.
Also how is it that the rest of the Western world is able to give healthcare to its citizens without going broke? I highly doubt a conservative like Walker would advocate a single payer healthcare system like they have up in Canada.
Maybe what promises need to be rescinded are the ones to the corporations that say you don't need to pay taxes. I love how the first group to be denied help are actual human beings, and then later they think about going after corporations.
Maybe we need to go bankrupt (some of my friends would argue it isn't a question of "if") in order for us to see what really matters, humans not corporate profits.
iPhone/iPod Link
Here is a 60 minutes interview I have seen a few times and finally found a youtube version to show you'all.
One question I have is simple, In the 1950's our country had enough money to house, clothe, feed and give medical care to all the baby boomers as they were growing up. Now our country is much more wealthy, a bunch of the boomers were slaughtered in 'Nam and yet we don't have the same amount of money as we did in the 1950's? Really, our country is poorer then it was in the '50's? How can that be? From every indicator I have seen our country is far richer then it was is the fifties yet we can't take care of these same people for another 18 years? Something just doesn't add up.
Also how is it that the rest of the Western world is able to give healthcare to its citizens without going broke? I highly doubt a conservative like Walker would advocate a single payer healthcare system like they have up in Canada.
Maybe what promises need to be rescinded are the ones to the corporations that say you don't need to pay taxes. I love how the first group to be denied help are actual human beings, and then later they think about going after corporations.
Maybe we need to go bankrupt (some of my friends would argue it isn't a question of "if") in order for us to see what really matters, humans not corporate profits.
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Hillary's Wintery Dillema
The Sunday schedule of Sen. Clinton includes stops in DePere, Wausau and Madison. Unfortunately Wisconsin is expected to get nearly a foot of snow. So the question is, will Hillary risk her and her staffer's necks, driving in a blizzard, in order to campaign? Or does she cancel her events and make the voters think she is conceding Wisconsin to Obama. Which in turn could be enough to catapult Obama to the nomination. So is it possible that a weather pattern could decide our next President? Isn't it stupid if it can?
Just some thoughts.
Just some thoughts.
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