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The Vidiot's
weekly blog:
What
pissed me off this week? 7/4/2005
(updated
every Monday at some point during the day)
Declaration
of Independence (revised)
"If
ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude
better than the animating contest for freedom, go home and leave
us in peace. We seek not your council nor your arms. Crouch down
and lick the hand that feeds you, and may posterity forget that
ye were our countrymen."
Samuel Adams
From
The
Meaning of Independence Day |
...'cause
I'm angry and my friends are sick of listening to me...
Cost
of the War in Iraq
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Early update
today. Actually have a BBQ to go to. Great place for a vegetarian
though. Really.
So. It's been a
busy, busy, busy week.
First, Chimpy's
speech went over like a ton of bricks. Practically nobody
watched the thing, except real Bush supporters and us masochistic
folk, and the hoped-for
bounce never materialized. (Had
he told us the truth, however...) Meanwhile, the
speech itself was nothing. Really
nothing. It was almost as if he could've just went out there, made
a few cooing noises, muttered 9/11 a couple of dozen times and left it
at that. But, the best thing overall had to have been the reaction of
the troops who were present, or rather should I say, the
lack of reaction. Boy, did they ever try
to spin that around by saying the troops were told to not react. Spin,
baby, spin!
Hard to spin having to fake
applause, isn't it? (Though, I'm even
more wary now of a staged terror attack.)
As if that wasn't
enough to get the week going, Justice
O'Conner announced her retirement (before Rehnquist
no less). (Oh, and that deal they made regarding the filibuster could
really
screw the dem's pooch.)She did this on a Friday. THIS Friday. I wonder
why.... hmmm could it be that they'd rather have the talking heads prattle
on about the upcoming Supreme Court battles over the long weekend rather
than Karl's
complicity in the Valerie Plame case? I mean, Karl Rove, a.k.a. turd
blossom, might've had something to do with the leak. That's why Fitzgerald
might've been going after Cooper and Miller(Read
that. Miller is one scary chick.) to corroborate
Rove's guilt on some point. A
date of contact perhaps? Perjury? Rove did testify to disseminating
the information, but only after Novak had reported it. Maybe he lied
about the date? Well,
no matter what his lawyer says,(And what he said might
be damning enough) Rove had SOMETHING to do with it. He's leaked
before. I mean, anyone who even remotely understands how
this man operates can wrap their head around that one. He'll get
off though 'cause he probably has a kill switch and besides, I'm sure
Bush is covering for him. Too bad. I think he'd really
enjoy sharing a jail cell with a guy named Bubba.
And now,
a History Lesson from the Sailor:
Bush
Should Pull Out Like His Father Should Have
George
W. Bush, 4/9/99: ÒVictory means exit strategy, and itÕs important for
the president to explain to us what the exit strategy is.Ó
George
W. Bush, 6/5/99 ÒI think itÕs also important for the president to lay
out a timetable as to how long they will be involved and when they will
be withdrawn.Ó
Some
compare Iraq to Vietnam. America lost 58,000+ in Vietnam. The Vietnamese
lost over 10,000,000 between fighting the French, the Japanese, the
French and the Americans. And they finally won their freedom from outside
oppressors.
The
'attack' against US naval forces in the Gulf
of Tonkin, used by the US as the casus belli, never happened.
It was just a ruse to get the American people to sign on to a war of
oppression. If America had first helped the Vietnamese freedom fighters
when they asked for our help against the French colonialists we could
have avoided the whole war and done the right thing.
Excerpt
from an article in 1994 by Norman Solomon:
But
there was no "second attack" by North Vietnam Ñ no "renewed
attacks against American destroyers." By reporting official claims
as absolute truths, American journalism opened the floodgates for
the bloody Vietnam War.
A pattern took hold: continuous government lies passed on by pliant
mass media...leading to over 50,000 American deaths and millions of
Vietnamese casualties.
Please
read Dr.
Martin Luther King's words:
"They must see Americans
as strange liberators. The Vietnamese proclaimed their own independence
in 1945 after a combined French and Japanese occupation and before
the communist revolution in China. Even though they quoted the American
Declaration of Independence in their own document of freedom, we refused
to recognize them. Instead, we decided to support France in its re-conquest
of her former colony."
[...]
"Our government felt then that the Vietnamese people were not
"ready" for independence, and we again fell victim to the
deadly Western arrogance that has poisoned the international atmosphere
for so long. With that tragic decision we rejected a revolutionary
government seeking self-determination, and a government that had been
established not by China (for whom the Vietnamese have no great love)
but by clearly indigenous forces that included some Communists."
[...]
"They watch as we poison their water, as we kill a million acres
of their crops. They must weep as the bulldozers roar through their
areas preparing to destroy the precious trees. They wander into the
hospitals, with at least twenty casualties from American firepower
for one "Vietcong"-inflicted injury. "
Of
course when the US attacked, North Vietnam had to acquire help from
the only other powers able to counteract the US aggression. Which is
especially ironic since we had supported Ho in WWII against the Japanese.
A quote from State Department
white paper in '65:
"South
Vietnam is fighting for its life against a brutal campaign of terror
and armed attack inspired, directed, supplied, and controlled by the
Communist regime in Hanoi. This flagrant aggression has been going
on for years, but recently the pace has quickened and the threat has
now become acute.
The war in Vietnam is a new kind of war, a fact as yet poorly understood
in most parts of the world. Much of the confusion that prevails in
the thinking of many people, and even governments, stems from this
basic misunderstanding. For in Vietnam a totally new brand of aggression
has been loosed against an independent people who want to make their
way in peace and freedom."
Any
of this starting to sound familiar?
Those
who say otherwise don't know history and have made all of us doomed
to repeat it.
And from Daniel Ellsberg, Amen,
dude.
Site of the Week:
Today's
Front Pages
Idea of
the Week: Open
Source Software for Governments
iPod Software
of the Week: iFill
Video of
the Week: Harlan
McCraney
History
Site of the Week: American
Radio Works
List of
the Week: Movie
Quotes
Picture
of the Week: Icy
crater on Mars
Blog Title
of the Week: Why
Ann Coulter Is a Cunt, Part 1856 - The Plagiarism Edition
Another
Idea of the Week: Pledge
to stay in a hotel built on land owned by Justice Souter that is seized
through eminent domain.
Heroes
of the Week
Not a political hero, or a
war hero, or life-saving hero. But the Hosking
family really made lemonade out of lemons and I commend them.
Excerpt: A young
woman decided to call off her wedding 12 days before the event and her
parents knew they'd be stuck with the bill, so they decided to have
a party anyway and invited the homeless.
And now we can all say it:
Fuck the runaway bride.
Idiot
of the Week
This
woman is an idiot. There's no other way to describe it.
Excerpt: For $10,000,
Kari Smith has gone ahead and had her forehead tattooed with the Web
address of a gambling site.
Though this
girl is a close second.
Excerpt: In fact,
the 22-year-old's condition was the result of a three-year diet that
consisted almost entirely of crisps. She was eating up to 15 bags a
day and went into hospital weighing 14st.
Things
that make you go "hmmmmm"
Heading
for higher ground, are we?
Excerpt; The CIA
has plans to relocate the headquarters of its domestic division, which
is responsible for operations and recruitment in the United States,
from the CIA's Langley headquarters to Denver, a move designed to promote
innovation, according to U.S. intelligence and law enforcement officials.
Needing to admit
something they don't want to?
Excerpt: In a fact
sheet issued yesterday, the Bush administration stated: "We know
the surface of the Earth is warmer and that an increase in greenhouse
gases caused by humans is contributing to the problem."
But that won't stop them from
acting like shitheads.
Excerpt: President
George W Bush has ruled out US backing for any Kyoto-style deal on climate
change at the G8 summit.
Maybe the think that the impending
rise in oil prices will naturally cause a decrease in emissions since
nobody will be able to buy gas any more.
Excerpt:Oil prices
could rocket to $100 within six months, plunging the world into an unprecedented
fuel crisis, controversial Texan oil analyst Matt Simmons has warned.
Our
MSM sucks
Why do I have to read about
this
on the BBC website?
Excerpt: US President
George W Bush has ordered the creation of a domestic intelligence service
within the FBI, as part of a package of 70 new security measures.
Or this
on the British Register?
Excerpt: An extraordinary
statement by the US government has sent shockwaves around the internet
world and thrown the future of the network into doubt. In a worrying
U-turn, the US Department of Commerce (DoC) has made it clear it intends
to retain control of the internet's root servers indefinitely. It was
due to relinquish that control in September 2006, when its contract
with overseeing body ICANN ended.
I'm sure it was somewhere in
American media, but it certainly wasn't prominent.
The
Chewbacca Defense
I'm shocked. Really I am. I
never once thought our government would try to keep contradicting information
from the public regarding CAFTA
Excerpt:The Labor
Department kept secret for more than a year government studies that
supported Democratic opponents of the Bush administration's new Central
American trade deal, internal documents show.
Or fisheries
Excerpt: Many scientists
at NOAA Fisheries, the federal agency responsible for balancing hydroelectric
dams against endangered salmon, say they know of cases where scientific
findings were altered at the request of commercial interests, according
to a survey released Tuesday by two watchdog groups.
What could be their possible
motive to hide such information? It just doesn't make sense, so therefore,
it must not be true.
Cut
out the middle man
I for one don't think he should've
been arrested.
I think he should be thanked!
Excerpt: A man
who tried to conduct a job interview naked has been sentenced to three
years' probation and placed on the sex offenders' register.
Frankly, I usually spend an
interview imagining my interviewer naked. This guy would just make it
easier for me. Put him on the crapper and I'd give him a gawdammed medal!
Hell
hath no fury...
All the speculation on why
we're going to war with Iran? Speculate
no more!
Excerpt: An Iranian
MP said Thursday that US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice holds a
grudge against Iran "because until today she hasn't gotten over
her Iranian boyfriend dumping her when she was a university student."
The MP, Shakrallah Atar, claimed the faithless lad was from Kazwin ,
some eighty miles west of Teherean. Atar said his source was a female
MP whose name he would not disclose.
Gee, and I thought she was
gay.
What
is going on in Mexico?
Flying
Humanoids?
Excerpt:The June
24, 2005, UFO incidents over Mexico continue causing surprises and concern.
During the course of this investigation, a new sighting has just surfaced
- but this time a bizarre and disturbing one in nature.
Fleets
of UFO's
Excerpt: Three
new MPEGs from Santiago featuring the amazing fleet of UFOs seen over
Mexico, as presented on Mexican television, one of which features the
"Big Disc" that appeared to be the "leader" of the
pack
File
this under Uh-Oh
I'm not so sure we want these
guys to be best pals.
Excerpt; Chinese
President Hu Jintao visited Russia on Thursday and is expected to bolster
ties with Beijing's former rival in hopes of quadrupling their trade
turnover to up to $80 billion a year by 2010.
Especially since the Chinese
are licking
their chops over some of our assets.
Excerpt: Right
now, the price of a barrel of crude oil is flirting with $60; a Chinese
state-controlled oil company has made an $18.5 billion bid for the American
oil firm, Unocal
Speaking
of Mexico...
OK, I saw "War of the
Worlds" and despite the entire TomKat
thing, I liked it.
Excerpt: Regarding
the romance -- who can explain love? It's a mystery, particularly in
Hollywood, and we're unlikely to ever get the particulars about Cruise
and Holmes. But the buzz in some Scientology circles is that Cruise
may have reached one of the highest echelons of the Church of Scientology.
While not a lot is known about this level, known cryptically as OT-VII,
Scientology observers say that attaining it could explain Cruise's behavior
in recent months.
Metrosexuals
suck.
OK, here's a note to all you
guys out there: Making yourselves more like women
only makes you more annoying than you already are as men.
Excerpt: Let's
call him a smoothie, the modern version of a pretty boy, a waxed-chested
breed that's far more prevalent and far more high-maintenance than those
dabbling urban metrosexuals. The smoothie transcends the scope of "Queer
Eye" and is centered not in the big cities, but in the small towns
where decades of boy bands and hair products and Chess King fashions
have filtered into the cultural groundwater, until most young men have
a grasp of personal hygiene, style and flamboyant behavior that the
older, crustier and less hygienic among us can hardly fathom.
I swear, if I were out with
a guy and I reached into his shirt expecting to find that lovely patch
of fur, but found a waxed smooth chest instead, (And trust me. I know
the difference between waxed smooth and hairless.) I'd say "see ya'
later sucka", after I stopped laughing at him of course.
Proof
they suck.
I'm very
happy for them.
Excerpt:The House
on Tuesday agreed to a $3,100 pay raise for Congress next year —
to $165,200 — after defeating an effort to roll it back.
They deserve a pay raise. It's
hard work screwing the public every day.
News
of the Weird
It's getting so you can't drink
and do anything
any more.
Excerpt: A man
is accused of driving an electric-powered shopping cart around a grocery
store here while drunk, endangering other customers.
That's a lot o' catfish.
Excerpt: Thai fishermen
caught a 646-pound catfish believed to have been the world's largest
freshwater fish ever recorded, a researcher said Thursday.
Zombie
dogs.
Excerpt: SCIENTISTS
have created eerie zombie dogs, reanimating the canines after several
hours of clinical death in attempts to develop suspended animation for
humans.
I have no
words. (It happens.)
Excerpt:A US man
was arrested after a teenage girl saw him staring up at her from a cesspit
below a toilet seat.
Insert George Bush joke here.
Excerpt: An Austrian
zoo says it has been flooded with requests for paintings created by
its orangutan.
Previous
rants
What do we do about all of
this crap? I have no idea. Part of me wants to start teach-ins
at my local pub. Just go to the bar, rant and rave and inform the idiots
who still think Dan Rather is telling them the truth. Another part of me
wants to organize a voter observation program to insure that this moron
isn't in the White House all the way to 2008. I sincerely believe that if
we protected the voting rights of the underprivileged that any Democrat
could SWEEP any election. And we'd have to start with the Florida Election
for Governor THIS FALL (like these
guys!.) I don't think Democrats are the answer. But they are at least a
start.
At the very least,
point your CNN-loving friends to my links
page. Just getting started in reading alternate news sites gets people
thinking. I have one friend who was very happy-go-lucky, thinking ol'
Greta was telling the whole truth until I opened up his eyes a bit. Now,
he's all depressed. He'll get over it. You gotta' get depressed before
you get angry and you gotta' get angry before you can accomplish anything.
We're all in mourning. We have to move through the steps. But we gotta'
hurry it up.
Read. Inform.
Spread the word. Even if it means your friends avoid you for awhile. If
they really love you, they'll start to listen.
"POSSE
COMITATUS ACT" (18 USC 1385): A Reconstruction Era criminal law proscribing
use of Army (later, Air Force) to "execute the laws" except where expressly
authorized by Constitution or Congress. Limit on use of military for civilian
law enforcement also applies to Navy by regulation. Dec '81 additional
laws were enacted (codified 10 USC 371-78) clarifying permissible military
assistance to civilian law enforcement agencies--including the Coast Guard--especially
in combating drug smuggling into the United States. Posse Comitatus clarifications
emphasize supportive and technical assistance (e.g., use of facilities,
vessels, aircraft, intelligence, tech aid, surveillance, etc.) while generally
prohibiting direct participation of DoD personnel in law enforcement (e.g.,
search, seizure, and arrests). For example, Coast Guard Law Enforcement
Detachments (LEDETS) serve aboard Navy vessels and perform the actual
boardings of interdicted suspect drug smuggling vessels and, if needed,
arrest their crews). Positive results have been realized especially from
Navy ship/aircraft involvement.
(Tom
Ridge has practically said he'd do away with this act.)
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