I've been reading this great book - I highly recommend it. It's called Hungry Planet



It shows what families all over the world eat in one week. From a family in North Carolina, to Mongolia to a refugee camp in Darfur.

It's pretty amazing just how much of our processed crap has infiltrated the rest of the world. I like how for each country they note how many McDonald's are there and how much a Big Crap costs. I got your special sauce right here, pal.

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I know I haven't been posting much lately - I've been in a state of moping lately. Not to go webjournal on y'all, but as it goes for most of us, things haven't been progressing they way they have in my deluded little mind so I've been a bit down. I'll be picking things up soon. Don't go away. I may even be doing some posting on...sex. {gasp}

It'll probably be fiction.

I've been holding off on posting lately because I've been trying to fully form this thought, but I don't think it's going to spontaneously happen, so I'll just start typing and we'll see where this leads.

I've been thinking about political parties lately. Specific ones, sure, but also the whole concept of them - or at least how people view them. As I've said before, I'm a registered Green. I'm a Green because I am down with the Ten Key Values. All candidates who run on a Green ballot line are supposed to be down with all of them - not most - all. To me, they're all pretty much common sense, but that arguement is for another time.

The cool thing about this is supposed to be that if you meet a Green you know what s/he stands for. The person may be an idiot otherwise; s/he may have bad teeth (a real probablity) and poor social skills, but you know the cat is down with non-violence, etc.

I realize the world isn't that black & white, even where green is concerned. But I will admit that there's been some stuff going down that has made me question the usefulness of political parties - even Green. There is the stuff going down in Pennsylvania with the candidate getting money from Republicans (how much is being debated, but that's not the point). I'm hearing credible reports about a faction of Greens getting donor lists and calling folks telling them NOT to contribute to the party. I'm also reading about people who aren't Green in their values, registering in the party to harass individuals about the stance the party has taken on Israel.

Greens are people too. They...I mean we have weaknesses and are prone to the same character flaws as the rest of you.

Then I hear about a "dem" running for a seat in the House who is running on basically an anti-war stance. The problem is he's an ex-marine who brags that he is a hunter, owns guns, etc. Now I know of some Greens who are gun-owners. (See previous paragraph) But this guy was asked at a press conference if he's ever hunted a human being with a gun. After some hemming & hawing (because he knew it wouldn't be a good political answer) the candidate threw caution to the wind and bragged that he has hunted human beings and was proud of it.

If you know how politics actually works, particularly the process in which people actually get on the ballot, this isn't that huge of a surprise. Criminals, freaks & nutjobs do get on the ballot when people in a party don't pay attention. The problem is this guy has the ferverent support of the local Democracy for America chapter - which is supposed to be the progressive wing of the Democratic Party. They hate the Republican incumbent so much (with good reason) and are so party loyal, that these "progressives" have become euphoric over a guy who is proud of hunting human beings.

Yes, there's Joe Lieberman. There are Republicans who don't act like Republicans (like The War Criminal), yet they continue to get backed by folks due to party loyalty.

A local blog which supposedly touts anything progressive refuses to link to the local Green Party website. It's not a value-based decision, it's a party-loyalty decision.

The funny thing is, in elections (usually local ones) that are non-partisan ones, Greens tend to win!

I don't have a conclusion to this right now. This is where my thought process is stuck. I'm annoyed with some of the internal crap of my own party, but I still believe it's the best thing out there. I still haven't been able to decide exactly where the line is when/if I would think that the Green Party doesn't uphold the values it claims to.

While unconstitutional, it'd be cool if political parties were banned. But it wouldn't be the first time we did something unconstitutional.

Before I get into the main point of my post today, I'd just like to point out one small thing about the Ned Lamont vicory that "progressives" are getting all moist about: Uh Sparky, Ned's a rich, white guy. Take a look at the article by Sarah Baxter from The Sunday Times. Yes, I prefer him to Liebs, but come on...dude ain't turning anyone's water into wine, 'kay?

OK, now on with the show...

I almost got into a fight yesterday. Well OK, I didn't really, but the baseball team I'm on did. I had a nice view of it. I don't get into fights...oh, I'll defend myself, but I'm not getting into a fight...especially over a baseball game.

So while both teams piled onto the field, I literally started thinking about what a bunch of idiots those 20 guys looked like. Like this was a real beef or something. I mean, if you look at the transcript: "He punched me in the leg!" "I did not you moron!" Pathetic.

Seriously, there are people getting killed, raped and maimed every day...hell, let's not even talk about Iraq, Afganistan, Darfur, etc. It's happening in your own hometown. And to the douchbag who was on deck who ran onto the field with his bat? What were you going to do?

Later, I started putting it into the stupid, sports-guy concept. Not the uber-fan who knows everything about his/her team, but the idiot to takes a football game on TV as a "battle" when they only thing he's ever done is hit his wife & kids. Or the idiots who play/watch basketball and act like they're so bad with this pseudo-macho...uh...bullshit.

I said this before, but I'd like to reiterate...all these people need to have their asses dropped into Bagdad, Darfur, Beruit, etc and just be told...there you go, Rocky, survive.

Damn, I just wanted to play f-ing baseball.

I have a few things to touch on and I need something to kinda pull it all together, so I'm going to just sum it all up as a discussion on some things going on and the illogic of the reasoning.

Lebanon- We suck...well, by we I mean the US & Israel. The US because we're not using our influence and we're giving intellegence & weapons to Israel, but Israel's "logic" behind bombing infrastructure & civillians doesn't work. Hezbollah sucks. I'm giving you that. What they're doing is not cool and steps need to be taken. I'll go into those steps at another time. But using what Hezbollah does as an excuse to screw the democratically-elected government of Lebanon and the citizens by bombing bridges, hospitals, etc, doesn't cut it. Hezbollah was only favored by about 20% of the Lebanese...thanks to this, that number is higher AND it's creating more terrorists. Just like in Afganistan & Iraq. This goes against Israel's need for security...but the thing is, they're not stupid. They have to know this - so then what is their reason for doing something that goes against their stated interest? Hmmmmm??? Stupid is as stupid does.

AND...if you call for the killing of innocent civillians then you can't be pissed about 9/11...logically. Sure, you can look at it from a hypocritical, nationalistic point of view, but Israel (and the US in Iraq) has been purposely targeting civillians and non-related infrastructure. Evil is as evil does.

Terrorists in Britain- Who knows if all the details of this is going to come to light, but I have questions? How did the British know about this plot? Were civil rights violated? I don't know. But logically, this was taken care of by means of law enforcement, not militarily. 9/11 could have been taken care of via law enforcement, if The War Criminal & Co, followed the intellegence.

So...this plot comes to light and THEN, we go to a red level terror alert. Using the right-wing logic, wouldn't that alert other terrorists that we're on to them? Because that's the logic used for the calls for censorship and over-classification of information.

Jam-master Joe Lieberman- I will admit, I'm a bit torn here. I mean with Lieberman's insistence that he's running as an independent. I tell folks they shouldn't vote based on party so his running as a non-dem shouldn't matter to me. But by the same token, I do want parties to stand for something, so if he's still a registered Dem, or would be ready to just take whatever Republican help just to win...kinda like that alleged Green Party guy in Pennsylvania. I'm for anyone's right to run for office - especially if it's not in a corporate-sponsored party, but his reason for running is really about himself and not about ideals. So...if you're making me choose...take a hike Joe.

Organizing at Wal-Mart- Well, there is finally a Wal-Mart where workers are being allowed to organize. Here's the catch...it's in China! (you have to go to the bottom of the page)

Wal-Mart gave in because there's a bigger market there and let's face it, most US workers won't give up their "creature comforts" to go on strike or boycott. Oh yeah - unions in China are government controlled. There have been individual communitites that have resisted Crap-Mart, but they know there's 4 more area towns that drool over the possibility of having them come.

I realize that I've been bitching about people not getting involved, not standing up for what they believe in. But this isn't quite what I meant.

Look here, Sparky...I'm not putting down your favorite band. It would be nice if they banned the song "Beth", but I'm OK with Kiss, even if Gene Simmons needs to get over himself. Hell, I made my stage debut with a tamborine singing back up to a cover band's version of "Rock & Roll All Night". So I'm OK with the band.

But 200 losers protesting in front of the R&R Hall of Fame because Kiss hasn't been inducted yet...some travelled from California to Cleveland...Guys...(yes, I'm assuming they're dumbass guys)...shake yourselves...illegal wars...staggering corporate profits...pollution...homophobia...Kiss not in the Hall of Fame. DOH!

I think I'm pretty fair with my assessments of Republicans & Democrats. I'm not a "homer", if a Green is doing something not cool, I say it. I definitely cut my political (and emotional) ties with Ralphy when he started bugging out. And I like to give credit where it's due. So it's with tempered enthusiasm that I point out a couple of things...

THIS is what I'm talking about! This report on the War Criminal's administration's handling of Iraq and how they've used it to be traitors, criminals and profiteers is what the Dems should have been doing years ago rather than being concerned they might be seen as unAmerican. Of course, Conyers is the ranking D in this committee.

Now this thing is pretty massive. An abstract of this should made and every Democrat in Congress should be barnstorming the nation talking about this report. This report should not just sit on a shelf...the corporate press isn't going to do anything about it. They need to force it down the public's throat.

More semi-kudos go out to one of my least favorite in politics, Senator Clintonbagger. I can explain my loathing of her pretty easily - she's a slimy liar and I don't appreciate anyone who takes the values I hold and uses them for her own slimy purposes. I take it as a personal insult.

It's with that, that I do commend her on her recent questioning of that nutjob Rummy and calling for his resignation. That would be great if he did (but he won't), but calling for that wacko to resign is not the same as calling for the ending of occupation. And I won't hesitate to say that what she did is purely a calculated move to get her some political chips somewhere. I've been wincing, watching lefties online & the few in the media trip over themselves commending Clintonbagger on the Rumsfeld questioning. It's as if they finally have an actual reason to recognize her as a Dem.

And finally, this isn't an "ah-ha" moment or anything like that. But I'll just post this link as food-for-thought. Long-term...the two corporate parties are closer than they are apart.

{sigh} This really for the political geeks out there.

There's some guy in Pennsylvania who is running for the US Senate as a Green. Yes, he's going against Rick "Man-on-Dog" Santorum. It seems that all of the money his campaign has gotten (except for his own) has been from Republicans - even a Haliburton lobbyist! I don't know who this dude is, but if that's the case then this clown isn't a real Green. He may or may not be a registered Green, but he's not a Green in terms of his values.

Anyway, this story was posted on Crooks & Liars and I read the comments...well, I was really disappointed. I thought people who frequented that site knew their shit, but I guess I was wrong.

At first I was going to just ignore it, but it bugged me too much so I posted my own comment. Go to the link above, then click on comments. It's at the end.

I could have posted much more, but I didn't think it would be too cool. As it is, I think my post was a bit too long.