Memorial Day and other thoughts

Well, here we are on the "new" Memorial Day weekend and the old fart (me) is still here. Yep, this mess we call America hasn't killed me off, yet.

First off, a small bit of history. Originally, Memorial Day was the 30th of May. It was not then a "long weekend" holiday. It had been established to honor the Union troops who had died during the "Civil War" or as some still call it, the War of Northern Aggression".  Back then it was called "Decoration Day" according to Wikipedia. It was not until after World War One that it was expanded to include ALL American troops who were killed in any military action. Just as a point of interest in case you thought this "holiday" had always been a long weekend.

It was also the traditional day for the running of the Indianapolis 500. Yep, back when I was a kid in the 50's and 60's, the race was run on 30 May. It didn't matter if that day fell on a week day, ie. Monday through Friday, that was THE race day. Of course now, like many other holidays, we changed the original date of celebration so that we get a long weekend.  I'm still waiting for our government to change the other holidays to suit this long weekend deal. You know the few that still are NOT yet a long weekend. They are very few today and I believe only amount to July 4th, Christmas, and New Years Day. All our other holidays have been "reset" so that they now are "long weekend" holidays.

Well, you wonder, what is this old fool pissing about? Not much I suppose, just making a point. But it does seem funny to me that we now seem to "need" a long weekend for most of our major holidays. Somehow we seem to be unable to have a holiday in mid week. Funny, that is how things were originally. How did we manage to cope with that "disruption"?  Another thing on this matter. I don't remember many businesses being open with "special holiday" sales on many of those days either. Of course one could never expect our selfless businesses to close down for an entire weekend today. The "public" would revolt I suppose. In fact, many people seem to look forward to and even plan on shopping during these holiday sales periods. Well, that IS the "new" America, make a quick buck, and/or, get a "good deal" on some item. Yep, it is all about the (no longer) almighty dollar.  Ain't America a grand place?

Another item for today, prompted by an article I read today. It concerns the "Rolling Thunder" folks. An article I just read about that group caught my attention in an odd sort of way. In the article, the author talks of how this patriotic group once was riding their motorcycles in celebration of the Vietnam dead and missing. She goes on to tell how they "lost their way" sort of in the recent past years. Since the Iraq mess of W. Shrub, they now have transformed into a pro-war group. Or so the author has suggested. Personally I don't  know much about them, but it is possible. She does give a good argument for this and I accept it, mostly.

Any way, in this article the myth of the Vietnam vet being spit on is brought up, again. Crap! When is this myth going to die and get buried?  Come ON people! It did NOT happen! As a veteran of the Marine Corps and Vietnam, I never had any such experience, nor have ANY other veteran I have ever talked to. It is a myth, plain and simple. Leave this damn lie/myth die the death it deserves.

Now, I will admit, and it is provable, that about EVERY TV cop show of the early 1970's had at least one episode where the "bad guy(s)" were the nearly universal "deranged Vietnam vet(s)". THAT is one real thing that pissed me off at the time and still has the ability to "get" me today even.  We were no all a bunch of drugged out criminals. We did not all lose all sense of morality.

We were not all criminals.

The very same can be said of Arabic peoples today. They seem to be the "target" of choice in some police dramas and movies recently. Why is this so? My opinion is that they, like the "deranged Vietnam vet" of the 70's are an easy target for Hollywood. We are bogged down in two wars in the Arab world and looking to start at least one more (in Pakistan). Also, the fact that the guys who attacked the World Trade Towers and the Pentagon, were Arabic people. Arabs are the "target of choice" for our military and Hollywood. To me, any "easy" target becomes the "new" movie/cop show "bad guy" of choice. It "flows" with the news and also, it helps to reinforce the government propaganda/stereotype. 

Now this is reason enough for me to not watch these TV shows and/or movies.  The stereotype bad guy is never correct in my opinion. The main reason to me, is that it never gives any real context. We never are told the "why" the current "bad guy" acts as he/she does. They are just held up as bad for the simple reason that they are either a Vietnam vet or an Arab. Simple folks. They are "bad guys" just because of who they are, the group they are part of. No further explanation is given, nor even hinted at.

Of course to give very much of a background as to why the "bad guy" really is doing as he/she does would make for very dull TV/movie experience. The American TV/movie watcher wants, in fact demands, action. Action, above a believable story line seems to rule what passes as "entertainment" for America. We love car chases, gun fights, and explosions. Oh, and plenty of fake blood and gore. Reality, well, that is for another time, maybe.

Funny, though, if you think on this. We seem to "enjoy" the fake blood and gore of our movies and TV shows (to a lesser extent on TV).  BUT, we never seem to be able to "take" it when it comes to the "real" news we watch. We "escape" to the fake blood shed of the movies, yet we shrink from the real blood of the news. Amazing. Maybe some "smart" folks will do a study on this and write a long, rather boring volume on this topic. Hell, maybe some of them have already. It still amazes me, how we "enjoy" Hollywood wars, yet we shrink from the real wars we are stuck in.

My opinion? We NEED to be shown just what a REAL war does to those who are caught up in it. In FULL COLOR. Hey, we now have high definition TV so, even better to show the gore and mess, the true hell of war. One small drawback, though, you still cannot transmit the smells of war through the TV or the movies. IF that were possible, then every war lover could have the experience of war right at home. 

Having survived a tour in Vietnam, I would like for ALL of these "war lovers" to have to sit and watch the real results of war, complete with ALL the sights, sounds, AND smells of war. I wonder just how many of them would still favor war after that. 

War is the most pornographic thing we humans have ever devised. Trust me on this people. Unless you have been in a war, you cannot, will never, fully understand what war is, what it does to those who are caught up in it. The sights, sounds, and yes, the smells of war are beyond imagining. You have to have been there, as they say.

So, in closing, on this "new" Memorial Day holiday, we need to remember not just the troops who have died in our wars, past and present, but we should remember ALL the people who have been caught up in our wars and who have been killed and/or maimed from war.

semper fi

What a world

Well this old world just gets crazier and crazier as each day passes.

An excellent source of truth and information is over  at    http:// www.tomdispatch.com/. I highly recommend the entry of 23 April 2009, "Killing Civilians" or, How Safe Do You Actually Want To Be? This site by Mr. Tom Engelhardt is always most useful and his own articles always worth your time. This latest article by him is particularly important. He gives an excellent look at what "we" are doing in Afghanistan. 

We continue to kill innocent civilians, yet we are very slow to admit any "mistakes". When we finally DO admit to having killed civilians, rather than say Taliban or al-Qaeda types, the best(?) we do is to offer an apology and a small payment in cash to the survivors. 

What "we" fail to realize, is that for every death of the innocent, "we" create more radicals who now have a valid reason to despise or even hate us. This is the same as we did in Vietnam, Iraq, and many other countries. Is America that bloody damn stupid? Do "we" ever learn from our past mistakes? Do "we" enjoy making more and more enemies with every passing day? When is this country going to wake up and 

 that wars of choice, in particular, are entirely evil?

If you have read any of my previous posts here, you know that I agree 100% with General Smedley Butler who said there are ONLY two reasons for war. One; to defend OUR homes. Two; to defend the Bill of Rights. ALL other reasons (excuses) for war are a racket. By that, he meant and I agree, that ANY other reason (excuse) for war are a total racket designed ONLY to enrich those who make the weapons and other materials of war. That does include those who make the under wear and socks the troops wear! No kidding folks, those manufacturers also make out like bandits during a war. General Butler knew this and in his small pamphlet "War Is A Racket" (available at Amazon.com and other book sellers), he states that quite clearly. It is NOT only those who make the weapons of war who profit from wars. As I just mentioned, clothing makers reap profits from wars. So do those who make the rations our troops eat and other "normal" products that the troops need for daily living or comfort. In short, war is big business. 

Well, I still believe that old poster from the 1960's, "War is unhealthy for children and other living things". 

That our new "decider guy", Mr. Oh-bomb-them, has "decided" that Afghanistan is a "good" war is disgusting. If you had really paid any attention to his campaign talk, you KNEW he was not, and never has been, anti war. Yes, he was (and supposedly still is) against the Iraq war. But, that is only because he thinks(?) it is the "wrong" war. In truth, we had and have NO business in either Iraq or Afghanistan. After 9/11, it would have been acceptable to send in teams of special operations types to go after bin Laden and his people. That would have been a valid use of resources. To invade with whole regiments is and was stupid beyond belief. It is like using a sledge hammer to swat a fly, overkill. It is also useless, or worse than useless. The Afghans have NEVER tolerated any invading force, as far back as Alexander the Great! NO invading army has ever :subdued" that country, and we are failing as well. Had we sent in small units with the specific task of killing or capturing al-Qaeda, then we might have had a chance for success. By invading in "full force" the mission was doomed from the very start. Apparently our new "decider guy" isn't quite as smart as some people want him to be. 

We will lose in Afghanistan,  just as Alexander, the British, and the Russians lost.  Don't any of our leaders ever read any history? Apparently not. Or, they must be filled to overflowing with hubris. Either way, it does not bode well for America.

I still stand by my comment that war is the MOST pornographic thing we humans have ever devised. 

Some interesting news. Ms. Jane Harman, a Democrat who "loves" the Bushies wire taps has gone and got herself caught on at least one of them! Outstanding! Now, let's sit back and see how this shakes out. It ought to be interesting to say the least. She apparently was tapped discussing tactics with an agent of AIPAC to pressure Ms. Pelosi to make Harman the chair of an intelligence committee.  Hmmm, swap money for position? Isn't that just "normal" behavior for our(?) elected officials?  Just business as usual? As more than one commentary has stated, it is time (actually way PAST time) for AIPAC to finally register as a foreign agency. 

One more item of note. The new foreign minister of Israel, Avigdor Lieberman, has said that "America accepts all our decisions." Translation, whatever Israel wants to do, say with regards to Palestine or Iran, America will "just go along" with whatever Israel wishes to do.  And yet, there are those who say that Israel and AIPAC do NOT have great influence in Washington D.C.!!!! 

Man, talk about arrogance! America will go along with "Whatever" Israel wants!?!!???!!! Well, hell there Avigdor, thanks for informing us idiot Americans of this. 

Of course when we have such "representatives" as Ms. Harman, who seem to be more loyal to Israel than to America, maybe he is right, as far as the "leadership" goes any way.

People, it is long overdue for "we the people" to stand up and tell OUR elected representatives that they work for US, and NOT for Israel. Who elected them? Since when do the Israelis vote in OUR elections? YES, AIPAC and others "donate" huge sums of money to both wings of the ruling party.  The best government money can buy is what we get stuck with. 

It is time for the people of America to wake up, get up off the couch and take back OUR country while there is still anything worth saving. 

semper fi

A question for America

There is an excellent article at the following blog site. The address is; http://velvelonnationalaffairs.blogspot.com. 

In this post, Dean Lawrence Velvel asks if we are Joe McCarthy or Joseph Welch. I would ask all of you to go and read his article.

This was my email reply to his latest.

Dean Velevel,

Sir, thank you for this excellent commentary.

Yes, we ARE at that sort of moment. How will we respond to it? I wish, sincerely hope, that we will prosecute ALL the criminals from the Bush dictatorship, including ALL members of BOTH parties in both houses of Congress (i.e. Pelosi etc) who knew the real truth about the torture of the innocent and even those who are guilty of terror acts who we have held in our miserable military prisons.

Notice sir, I say I wish/hope that we, as a country do so. Do I think this will happen? Sadly, no, I do not. I do not think it will happen for the reason that too many who are currently in power, as members of Congress or still in the "new" administration would be put on trial if this were to happen. Those people are fairly wealthy, there are few, if any, "poor folks" who are members of our(??) Congress now days. It takes far too much money to get elected for any "common" folks to be members of Congress.

As I just said, there are far too many current members of Congress who had knowledge of this torture. The knew, and yet, they did nothing about it. They kept silent. This silence reminds ME of that poem about the Nazis. I don't know the name (title) of it, nor do I know it entirely, but the sentiment(?) goes like this; When they came for the communists, I kept quiet, as I was not a communist.........Until, when they came for me, there was nobody left to object. THAT is how I see our(??) members of Congress who KNEW what was happening and to innocent people even,at Gitmo and other military prisons. THEY kept silent, and NOW, they hope all the rest of US will keep silent and not agitate for the prosecution of the criminals who approved of, ordered, and administered the torture. THEY, members of Congress, "hope" that their complicity will be overlooked, let to "slide by" as it were. THEY are having trouble sleeping at night, as THEY are in fear of THEIR own freedom. If THEY are found out, they THEY will have to go before a judge and jury to answer for THEIR silence in regards to what THEY knew.

Any member of Congress who DID know of such crimes and yet kept silent IS as guilty as the other criminals who engaged in any way in the torture of prisoners.

America DOES, indeed deeply NEEDS, to have the truth come out. The country NEEDS to have the criminals brought before a court of law to answer the charges. If found guilty, they MUST be sentenced to long prison terms. My personal choice of punishment would be life, with NO chance ever of parole or pardon. That would be life, making little rocks from big rocks. NO exceptions. No exceptions for reasons of health, age, sex, nor ANY other "excuse" from such punishment if found guilty of these crimes.

Am I being overly harsh? Maybe, yet I do not think so. We are talking about the moral standing of OUR country here. Not some minor detail. The moral health of America demands that the people who were involved in the torture of ANY prisoner in the custody of Americans be prosecuted according to OUR own laws. When we do this, we will show to ourselves that we actually ARE a nation of laws, not a nation of men.

I personally believe that this is absolutely VITAL to the long term health and well being of America. If we allow members of our government and military to escape punishment for torture, when they swore to uphold and defend the Constitution, how can anybody ever trust America again? How can any decent human being not demand that those who engaged in such crimes be allowed to go unpunished?

I am not a religious person. Ask me what my religion is, and I will tell you that I am a heathen. I have NO religion at all. I do not believe in any of them. I do think that I am a, somewhat at least, moral person. I believe that common decency and any moral reasoning demand that those who were involved in or knew of the torture of any prisoners must be put on trial for those crimes. I cannot fathom how any person who has any mild sense of decency or even the mildest of morals could allow for those who were involved in or knew of this torture to go free, with not even as such as a simple trial. No sir, I cannot, will not accept that any moral, decent human being would allow such crimes to go unpunished.

After posting this, I found an article that shows where Spain has laid out charges against six former Bush administration people. They are, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Mr. Yoo, Mr. Feith, Mr. Bybee, Mr. Addington, and Mr. Haynes.

Excellent news, these guys are finally being charged for their crimes. BUT, why is it that Spain is doing this and NOT America?

Why does president "rainbow" insist that he will not "look backwards" at all? How can we go forward if we do not realize where we have been?

The crimes committed by the last administration MUST be addressed. America needs to step up to the plate here.

 

Zionist rule in America

Today we hear that Charles Freeman has withdrawn his name from consideration from the National Intelligence Council. He had been opposed by the Zionist fools at AIPAC for being "too critical" of Israel. 

Yes, that's how America works today. If you want to be a part of the government, no matter how highly qualified you might be, do NOT criticize Israel in any way, shape, or form. If you do, kiss your career goodbye.

Americans do not run America. Not today, not since many years ago to be totally honest. The Zionists, AIPAC, and the goddamn assholes from the Israeli Likud party are in charge of things here.

This has been going on for many years, but ever since the idiot Shrub was "elected" back in 2000, it has become so open that it is no longer tolerable to any REAL Americans.

Enough of the goddamn bullshit. This is America damn it! WE ought to be in control of OUR foreign policies, NOT some foreigners nor their lobbyists. 

This is just the latest, and to me, the worst development.

Will this horse shit ever end? I seriously wonder. It will take more people getting sick and tired of being chained to the Zionist regime in Tel Aviv for that to happen. It will take American politicians with a TRUE sense of being a real patriotic American. Do we have any such critter? I wonder.

in disgust,

semper fi

what a world

Hi all. It has been some time since my last entry here at the old corner. Last month was very busy here with little energy left for the old corner. I'll try, again, to keep this more current in the future. Being an old, disabled guy I don't make any promises though. I WILL try to keep this my posts more frequent. 

Man are we living in "interesting" times or what?

We have the economy in near melt down, the rest of the world seems to be shooting themselves, the war in Afghanistan is now the "good war", there has never been a good war. Nope, not even the American Revolution. Wars are never "good". Wars are always very destructive and should only be the absolute last resort. I still agree with the remarks of General Smedley Butler who said there are only two reasons for war. One; to defend OUR homes. Two; to defend the Bill of Rights. ALL other reasons (??) for war are a racket. He was right when he made this remark back in the 1930's and it is STILL true today, maybe even more so.

We have lived through another atrocity in Gaza. The Zionist gang who run Israel tried their best to destroy Hamas. It has not turned out according to plan. Another failure, just as their last invasion of Lebanon was a couple years ago. It appears that Hamas is just as popular among the Palestinians as ever, if not even more so. The invasion did not destroy that organization. Of course the lost of life among the Palestinians does not ever seem to concern the leadership(??) of Israel. 

The tactics used were despicable, as usual. Apparently they were using banned weapons and maybe even "testing" some new ones, including the so-called "dime" weapons. These "new" bombs are packed with very fine bits of tungsten or other very dense metals. They cause very severe injuries and possibly cause cancer in the survivors. The wounds are nearly impossible to treat completely as they cause massive internal injury to the victim. Also, the IDF supposedly use white phosphorous against the civilians in Gaza. That is a war crime according to the Geneva Conventions. Of course that will not prevent the IDF nor the US military from using it. Just ask the folks who survived Iraq.

Another tactic used by the IDF was to tell the people in Gaza to take shelter in certain buildings. Then, the IDF would bomb or shell that very building! Well sure, this way they get more kills for their bomb/shell. When the target is "rich" with victims, you only need to use one bomb to increase your kill ratio. You use fewer bombs while killing more people this way.

They also have been said to have told people to come out of their houses. When they complied, they were lined up and shot. Well, sure, this makes sense as well. It is much easier to kill folks who are just standing in front of a wall or house than to hunt them down and kill them. Easier on the troops doing the killing that is. Less "work" for them, less energy expended.

All in all, the tactics used in the invasion of Gaza were totally despicable. The IDF does need to be looked at for war crimes and crimes against humanity. Disgusting is all I can add to this.

Since that invasion, Israel has had their election. It has been settled that Netanyahu will be the one to form a new government there. His coalition will likely include Avigdor Lieberman.  This guy, Lieberman, wants the Palestinian Arabs who actually reside inside Israel to have to sign a loyalty oath or leave their homes and the country.  He does not believe they deserve a country of their own, unless maybe, if it were very far from Israel. The guy is a racist. Israel is moving very far to the "right" of the political spectrum for sure. Not that there were any person running for high office in that country who would be willing to honestly negotiate with the Palestinians about a two state solution. Hell, America doesn't even have any people in leadership capacity who are willing to do that either. Oh, sure, Hi_larry is over there today and she has made the comment about "being committed to a "two state" solution. Sure she is. NOT! America has not been an "honest broker" for peace in that region for many years now. Don't look for Obama to "change" that issue either. His groveling before AIPAC last summer, after he had secured the nomination, is all you need to make that assessment of his administration. If that didn't convince you, look to his appointment of Rahm as his "chief-of-staff" Yep, a rabid Zionist who has had dual citizenship, he may still have such an arrangement today! The guy even volunteered for military service in the IDF during one of Israel's recent wars. I have forgotten exactly which "war" that was but it can be easily found with a search. I'm too damn lazy to do that just now. Sorry about that.

Another recent item I ran across was old Richard "the prince of darkness" Perle claiming that the neo-cons did NOT have any input with the administration of old W Bush! Bullshit! The guy even claims there are no such thing as neoconservatives! Man, these guys sure as hell know how to lie. Of course one would never expect them to even recognize, let alone ever tell, the truth. It just struck me as incredible that he could or would try to pull off such a whopper as this. There seems no limit to the depths the neo-crazies will stoop to.

Another item that caught my attention lately. The attacks by our drones against targets in Pakistan have increased since Oh-bomb-them has assumed office. That is right folks, Obama has actually increased the use of drones to bomb Pakistani targets. And we thought W was bad about this. Why, I bet some of you even "thought" Obama was a "peace" candidate back last summer. Didn't you? Well, you should have listened to what the man was saying, NOT to have "heard" what you wanted him to be saying. He is not, and never was, a "peace-nick". As the old song says, "meet the new boss, same as the old boss". How very sad, yet true.

While our economy is in the toilet, things are getting worse for everybody around the world. Recently the border guards in Bangladesh have mutinied. So far the reports say it was about low pay and food subsidies. They have killed a number of senior officers as a result of the mutiny. 

Just yesterday, the cricket team from Sri Lanka was attacked by armed people in Lahore, Pakistan. 

What do these two items have to do with us? Well, in my opinion, they are just the tip of the ice berg we are all riding called the "world economy". Look for more unrest and violence to come in the coming weeks and months. When people have lost all, they have no fear. What else can the lose? Only their lives, and if they feel there is no other way out, they will resort to violence.

The Bangladeshis may have mutinied over low pay and food price increase. The attack on the cricket team is still an unknown as to its "reason". Perhaps it was done by the LTTE as a part of their civil war in Sri Lank. Then again, it may have been a "retaliation" by India for the Mumbai attack last November. Or, it could have been a way to destabilize Pakistan. That country is bogged down in the US war in Afghanistan and the tribal areas of Pakistan and they are also undergoing unrest due to a recent "ruling" against some popular politicians in their country. Who is behind this attack and why they chose this target are, as yet, unanswered.

My point here is that we are going to see an increase in violent attacks across the world as the economy tanks. It is going to get very much more messy before there is any sort of "recovery" folks. This is shaping up to be one hell of a year, and it is only (!) March 3.

Keep your ammo handy.

semper fi

The Zionist entity and other items

Sorry for being "down" so long. Man, it was October that I posted last time. 

Well, I have been very busy with trying to get the house remodeled so the almost ex-wife and her sister can rent it and move in. That added to my physical pains and then another sister was diagnosed with cancer. That added to mental and emotional mess for all concerned.

n short, I have not been up to writing much these last months.

There was also the post election let down. NO, I did NOT want McCrazy as our president. Not at all, no way Jose!  But, Go-bomb-them is NOT going to be much better than Shrubbie has been. How so you ask? Well, look at his appointments so far. First off we have Rahm as his chief-of-staff. Just what "we" need, a rabid Zionist as the chief-of-staff for "our"(???) president. Some "gate keeper" this guy will prove to be. Unless you are a Zionist, I'd bet you will have one damn hard time gaining any access to the new president.

We have Hi-Larry as "our" (??) Secretary of State also. Oh swell, another Zionist bootlicker. It seems as if Oh-bomb-them is choosing a cabinet more suited to Tel Aviv than America. Where are the progressives on all this? Hiding and "claiming" that it will not be as bad as I think it will be. In other words, the "progressives" have their collective heads very far up their collective hind ends. THEY bought the Obama crap, hook, line, and sinker! Now let them deal with it. Where are the progressives in the new cabinet? Have any of you folks seen one yet? I sure as hell have not. Bets are that there will be none at all. None with any real power at least. 

The old, "he has to say what he said to get elected" crap doesn't cut it with me. Bullshit is what Obama was selling, and the progressives bought it all. Oh sure they said, just wait until after the election" then he will "change" things. Well, the election is long gone, what has changed? Where are the progressive nominees? Where are ANY progressive announcements from Obama? You still waiting for them? Have fun, it will be one hell of a damn long wait. Like beyond his second term if he has one that is.  The thing is folks, Obama is NOT a progressive, hell, he is NOT even near to being any where close to the "left wing" of even the craven donkey gang. More like Shrubbie lite than anything close to what the Democrats used to be.

Next up, my rage against the Zionist entity. They pick MY goddamn birthday to begin the bombing of Gaza! Well, damn, thanks loads you shit heads. After 18 months of blockade against the poor folks of Gaza, the Zionist war mongers finally had enough of the resistance! Yeppers, they could not break the spirits of the people to resist an illegal occupation and blockade of vital food, medicine, and fuel,so, they invaded!

Holy shit. It wasn't enough to try to starve those people, now they HAVE to bomb them to death! Fucking blood thirsty war monger Zionists bastards!!

I totally despise EVERY Zionist, no matter what country they live in. YES, that DOES include "our"(?) new vice president. Biden has long ago declared himself to be a Zionist. Therefore, I despise his sorry goddamn ass also.

How any Zionist can get a good nights sleep just proves that their god IS a blood thirsty, evil piece of shit and their "religion" is war! Damn them ALL!!!!

The Zionist entity has ignored many Unite Nations resolutions. They have tried their best to starve the Palestinians. They cut off shipments of food, medicine and fuel for water treatment plants. Electricity is extremely limited in Gaza, the hospitals were dangerously low on ALL supplies, then the Zionist entity invades the Gaza strip!!! Now THAT shows how blood thirsty, evil, and extremely vile those Zionists are. We are now seeing that they also use the "holocaust" as a club to beat world opinion into what they wish it to be. And guess what? The major media just rolls over and plays along!!!

You want real news? You want truth? Go do a google search for Livestation. It is a FREE TV service on your computer. Among some of the very good sources are two in particular. They are Press TV and al-Jazeera/English. Live, and FREE!!!!! Watch them and see the real story of the Gaza genocide.

Genocide you ask? YES!!!!! What the Zionist entity is doing in Gaza IS genocide! But it is not the first time the Hebrew tribes have done such crimes. Just go read your "holy"(??) Bible. Look at the Old Testament. It is FULL of genocides done by the Hebrews against all sorts of peoples. Kind loving god? My dead ass!!!! A blood thirsty war monger god. Mars has nothing on this asshole god of the Zionists. 

There WILL be a world wide backlash against this war crime. I only want it to be very limited. Limit the backlash to ONLY Zionists. Not every Jewish person is a Zionist. We ALL need to remember that fact. There are many thousands of Jews who are as appalled as I am at the war crimes of the Zionist entity. They are friends of peace and friends of humanity. We need to keep them safe. Please do not go out hating all Jews. If you do that, you are NOT a friend of mine. Direct your rage and anger ONLY at Zionists. THEY are the ones who are totally responsible for the war crimes and genocide in Gaza. And YES, that DOES include old Joe Biden. He wants to be a goddamn Zionist, then he shares the blame for Zionist crimes. Fuck him anyway.

We, America, now are very close to having "new" leadership in the white house. Noon Tuesday Obama will take over as our president. Not long after, the Zionist entity will get a "new" leader as well. The two who are "top" contenders are Tzipi and Benny Nutty-yahoo. Oh swell. Two blood thirsty war mongers. Old Benny was the leader of that rabid pack of animals once before. I finally saw a photo of Tzipi. Holy shit, what a butt ugly bitch it is!!!! Not even if I'd have been on a desert island for 20 years! Holy shit, she looks like they tossed out the kid and kept the damned afterbirth! Of course it talks like what it is as well, an evil thing! 

And what have the Palestinians done to "rate" the crimes against them? Well, they resist the illegal occupation by the Zionist entity for one thing. Can't have that now. After all, the Zionist god has told them that Israel was "theirs" to keep.  Unfortunately, that god never told the Palestinians who have occupied the land for centuries. So, the only(?) thing the Zionists can do is start up a genocide to eliminate the Palestinians. Hey, it worked out real good for the Europeans in the Americas since the last 1400's. 

What more can I add? Just that I had been "silent" since October due to the fact that nothing has changed for America. Some "progressives" have told me personally that they are just so happy to be rid of Bush. Sure, me too, but, I wanted REAL change. We did NOT get real change America. We just got Bush lite. It will be the same old shit as the last 40 years. Nothing will change, oh, the words will be "kinder" sort of. Obama DOES speak clearly, it is just that he says so damn little worth listening to. He is a very smooth talker though, which counts for, what?

Our empire will continue to roll on, no matter what the progressives dream of. They bought the bullshit, the wanted Obama to be what he never has been. They wanted a left of center person, they got the same old shit as always. Nope, could NOT back Nader or McKinney could you "progressives? Well, now you got your "change" and the "yes we can", deal with it. Just a more articulate voice for empire is all that we got in Obama. He will not bring the troops home. He MIGHT(?) withdraw them from Iraq, but they'll just be redeployed to Afghanistan and/or Pakistan. As McCrazy said in a truthful moment, there WILL be more wars, and Obama will lead our country into them. You can bet the Wall Street bailout on that.

I'll try to keep this more current as of now. I need to rant against the genocides and other crimes too much to stay silent now. I just wasn't sure what to say or how to say it until today. Well, I'm just going to say as I damn well please so there. Don't read my shit if you don't like it. Won't matter to me,  write for myself, NOT some approval from anyone. It matters not if I have any "fans" at all. Hell, it doesn't matter to me if nobody reads this blog. It is my form of therapy and I'll post as often as I need to do so. There, get used to that......LOL!!!!!

semper fi

Random thoughts on America

Well, we have sure found ourselves in some serious deep crap.
The bailout hasn't "kicked in" yet. Bush is telling us all to "just be patient" and wait for this thing to settle down. Well, I don't think that is going to work here bud. Americans have become a nation of folks who demand instant gratification. We want what we want, and damn it, we want it NOW!.
Being patient is not the American way. OK, once upon a time it might have been, but from the way I see things, since the early 1980's and "saint" Ronnie of Ray-gun we have become very impatient with everything. The "me" generation and the film "Wall Street" with the catch phrase "greed is good". Yep, that's America. I want it NOW! and I want MORE!
Well, now we are finding out just where that has got us all. In debt past our ever loving eyeballs! The national debt is in excess of 10 Trillion(!!!) dollars. The Iraq war alone is going to cost us something in excess of 3 Trillion of those same dollars. The "bailout" is "only" $700 Billion, so far. We are in serious economic trouble here folks.
Where is the money going to come from? Well, we are doing our damnedest to borrow more, from China, Japan, and other countries that have lent us money in the recent past. In fact, the two wars we are fighting, Afghanistan and Iraq, are being fought with borrowed monies. Yep, we are using the old "national credit card" to pay for the wars. This goes way beyond the old deal of "war on the cheap" and sets a new precedent in human history, as far as I know. I may be wrong, but I think this is the first time a war has been fought where one side (us this time) has used borrowed money to fight the war. I am sure that other wars in the past were fought with the promise of profits for the "investors" of the war, but this must be the first time that America has fought a war with borrowed money. Yes, in Gulf War One, papa Bush got some other countries to "chip in" to pay for the troops, sort of like "rent an Army" if you will. This is different. The entire war has been and continues to be fought with borrowed money.
Maybe a good thing to come from the financial collapse will be the end to these damn fool wars of choice. It sure as hell ought to slow down the rush for more wars, say with Iran or Syria.When you cannot get the cash to pay for fuel for your war machine, how are you going to have a war?
A few more things to ponder. Just how much longer will the Chinese continue to lend us the funds to keep these wars going? How much are they willing to lend us to keep our "economy" (such as it is now) alive? What happens when the money stops flowing into America? This whole financial meltdown has the look of being worse than the "great depression" of the 1930's. One thing seems obvious, we are in for one hell of a bumpy ride.

I see where lately at the rallies for Mrs. Palin, the crowds are getting down right rowdy. Nasty is a better description of the "gangs" who show up for her "pep talks". Folks who attend them shouting out crap like "kill him" "Traitor" "Hang him" and such. Wow!
I don't know how you see this, but it is getting damn close to being much like 1930's Germany in my view. This can get way out of control and fast. Did any of you see where even McCain himself cannot control his own "supporters"? He tried to calm a crowd who was there to hear him, when some fool shouted that Obama was a Muslim, McCain actually tried to correct the idiot and got shouted down by his own supporters! Now that has got to be a first for America. Getting shouted down by your own supporters! Wow. I don't think this has happened before in America. I may be wrong, but I surely don't recall anything like it.

All this just adds to other concerns of mine about America. Now mind you, when old charlie gets concerned about the future of the country it ought to make you sit up and think, at least for a minute. Why? Because I do not have any children who will "survive" my "passing". I would venture that most of the folks who read this post have children. That makes your concern for the future of the country very easy to understand. You have a personal "stake" in the future, through your children. I just have the cats and last time I checked, they don't count as my "kids" for legal purposes. They ARE my kids in fact here at the house, but it isn't the same as "real" kids. When those of us who don't have kids get concerned about the future of the country, well, things must be getting pretty damn bad. I think we ARE at that point now.
Among reasons to be concerned for our future, even our immediate future are such things as a recent article on Antiwar.com by Dr. Prather. Here is the link www.antiwar.com/prather?/article=13579 In this he discusses how bad things might get and his reasons why. I agree with this article and his reasoning. He did leave out two more things of great concern that, in my opinion, make the future less bright. They are National Security Presidential Directive-51 or NSPD-51 and Homeland Security Presidential Directive-20 or HSPD-20. These measures are to "ensure continuity of government". They give the president almost unlimited power to run everything in America. Now read that again, it gives the president almost unlimited power to run EVERYTHING. Not "just" the government, but absolutely the entire country, including the economy and all private sector activity.
That alone ought to be cause for concern among the "real" patriots in America. The fact that any president could have such unlimited power is the most un-American thing ever. These are NOT brand new, just signed into law documents folks. Nope, they were signed on 9 May 2008. There was no press release on this, for what I would venture to say obvious reasons.
The documents establish under the office of president a new National Continuity Coordinator. The job of that office is to plan for "National Essential Functions" of ALL federal, state, local, and tribal governments, as well as private sector organizations to continue functioning under the president's directives in the event of a "national emergency".
What would be a "national emergency"? The documents very loosely define that to be "any incident, regardless of location, that results in extraordinary levels of casualties, damage, or disruption severely affecting the U.S. population, infrastructure, environment, economy, or government functions." Wow, now THAT is a very, very broad definition of a "catastrophic emergency" in my opinion. ANY event? Like , oh, say, the collapse of the big Wall Street banksters? Well, that would affect the economy, wouldn't it?
Also, remember that very recently, we now have a standing Army, right here at home, ready for any such "emergency". Yes, North Comm, or Northern Command, now has an active duty Army unit stationed on home soil for an emergency. This is the 3rd Infantry, First Brigade Combat Team. They are now stationed here at home for possible future use for such things as crowd control in case of "civil unrest". Whoa there! The military is not supposed to be used for law enforcement on home soil. Add this military unit to the above listed documents (NSPD-51 and HSPD-20) and now you see why old charlie here is getting a bit concerned about the future of America. Toss in the crap going on at the "rallies" for Mrs. Palin and things are not looking so very bright for our future.
I do NOT mean to panic anybody, but damn, this is not the America I grew up in. It sure as hell is NOT the America of my high school civics class. It is starting to look very much like Germany of the 1930's to me. And that is something we should all be concerned about.
Somehow, we have let "our" government get out of our control. This is supposed to be a constitutional republic. Power is supposed to come from the ground up. We the people are the ones who are supposed to hold the power here. That is how the Constitution was written. That is how things are supposed to be. Instead, we have had, for far too long, rule from the top down. Our "leaders" tell us what they want us to do. No! Wrong!! It is supposed to be them working FOR us. They are OUR employees folks! An election is basically a job interview. WE elect them, and they are supposed to work for us.
With the current economic disaster, the "security directives mentioned above, the military Combat Team stationed here for use in "civil unrest", the hatred being spouted at the Palin "rallies", things do not look good for our future at all.
We the people must demand that this stop. We cannot continue as a nation if we allow ourselves to be divided by idiot politicians who are in this "game" for their own personal gain. We need to demand that OUR elected representatives start to work for US, not themselves and not for the big money folks who bankroll the campaigns. If we fail in this, our old republic just may disappear for our future generations.


semper fi

OK, finally time to talk about Palin

Well, I finally went and did it. I watched the video of Mrs. Palin doing the interview with Katie Couric. Man, oh man, I sure wish I had not done so.





First off, I have said from the first time she was "presented" to the press as the running mate for old McCrazy, that she was no "beauty queen". That is still my take on her. Passable, maybe, but NOT a "beauty". Maybe, just maybe if I'd been at sea for a year, but nope, she is not that good looking. Sorry.


Second, as soon as she starts to talk, all bets are off. Her voice has been described by some on the net as sounding like fingernails on a chalk board. Well, it wasn't that bad to my old ears. The problem I found with her speaking is that she makes W. Shrub sound almost coherent. THAT tells you about her "speaking" in my opinion.





Watching the video was not too bad, IF you mute the sound that is. Listening to her, reply"(??) is terrible. Did she ever take any sort of speech class in one of those five colleges she attended? If so, she ought to ask for her money back. The woman cannot express a coherent sentence in my view. But maybe it was because she was "speaking in tongues" during the interview.

The above cartoon fits my impression of Mrs. Palin just fine.

semper fi

bail out and other crimes

Well folks, it looks like the Congress critters are about to sign off on the $700 Billion bail out for the big Wall Street money gangs.
You knew it was going to be a done deal as soon as they announced the plan was in place. Discussion? Not in the Amerika of 2008. Nope, no way, not any "real" discussion at least.
Oh sure, there were a few of the "elected" critters involved who made noises about the "plan", but you just knew it was going to be passed by Monday no matter what. The "discussions" were not about any real help for the "regular" Americans. Nope, no way, no how. We just get the "honor" of paying for this give away of OUR tax dollars to the big investment banks and other speculators.What? You mean you actually thought that there might be some relief for the regular folks who are having trouble paying for their mortgages? Silly you. This is a government bail out. How much money do any of those folks with crap mortgages ever contribute to the politicians? My guess is not much if anything at all. Nope, mostly they are too busy trying to pay for the "adjustable rate mortgages" and trying to pay for other "minor" things like health care and save for the kids college education. No way they have any "extra" to give to a political campaign. They are stuck with their crappy mortgages and high interest credit card debt. They, meaning most of us, will not get anything from this bail out except the bill.
"We" will have the obligation now to cover this new, additional debt. Gee, thanks loads there Mr. Paulson. Interesting how is old firm, Goldman-Sachs has made out quite well from this bail out. I bet HIS investments are covered. Losses? What losses? These big money folks can't have losses. They get bailed out if it even looks like they might have a "down turn". We, well, we get to pay for the bail out. That is the "duty" of the American taxpayer. We, and our children and possibly even their children, will be paying for this welfare for the rich for many, many years.
$700 Billion is a whole lot of money there folks. And, don't think that is the end of the amount of this bail out. Nope, no sir, it is just the beginning of it. You may wonder just how they came up with this figure of $700 Billion. Well, they sat down, looked at the economy, looked at the balance sheets of the big banks and then, they guessed. Yep, they just plain old guessed at the figure. Or as we used to call it in electronics school in the Marines. They used the SWAG method. SWAG? Well, that is the Scientific Wild Assed Guess method. It works wonders when you flat out don't have a clue. Just sit back and pull an number or answer out of the air (or your ass if you wish).

For a very good look at this financial mess I highly recommend the following linked article by Mr. Mike Whitney. Mike is a very good person to read on the economic mess we have here. I read everything he writes and he is always on target with his excellent analysis. His latest is at http://www.counterpunch.orgwhitney09272008.html
You will certainly learn a good deal about this crisis by reading Mike's articles.

Oh, and just in case you might have been thinking that this bail out was the only big money deal our Congress critters have been working on this week. Well, it wasn't. They just voted on a defense(??) bill with a price tag of $612 Billion. And that is JUST for the coming year.
Our government has spent $182 Billion on the two wars we are stuck with for just this current year. Yep, $182 Billion for this year alone in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Now, aren't you glad that Bush vetoed that bill last year that would have cost us $7 Billion to provide health care to state funds for children's health services? With such "necessities" as wars and Wall Street bail outs we just can't be spending on such "trivial" things as health care for our kids. No sir, we have to have "our priorities" straight! War and war profits are what matter. Oh, and those fat commissions and annual bonuses for the stock sellers and CEO's.
I really wonder just how much longer the American people are going to just sit still for the abuse. How long are we going to let the big money gang run away with our tax dollars? How many more wars are we going to support? And let me tell you all something right here. If you don't protest the wars, and by doing so I don't mean you need to be out in the streets, you CAN protest by writing letters/emails to your Congress critters. If you are not doing at least that much to protest the wars, then you ARE supporting them. You support the crimes by not saying anything. Your silence is taken by those running this mess as support for their crimes. How much longer are you going to stay silent? Are you waiting until one of your children or grand children are sent off to these damn wars? Does it need to be one of your family members being shot at before you "decide" that war is not exactly healthy for children and other living beings?
War is NEVER the answer! General Smedley Butler, who was awarded the Medal of Honor TWICE and served in the Marine Corps for 33 years said that there are only two reasons for war. One; to defend OUR homes. Two; to defend the Bill of Rights. ALL other reasons for war are a racket.
He wrote a pamphlet titled "War Is A Racket" after World War One. In this short pamphlet he describes how various manufacturers make huge profits from wars. Even down to the companies who make under wear and socks. Yep, the troops need socks and under wear, and the folks who make these items are only too happy to reap huge profits from wars.
How many more wars and Wall Street "bail outs" are the people of this country going to stand still for? When will "we" finally say, enough? How much government debt, placed on the taxpayers is too much? When do we finally say STOP?
I sometimes wonder how this is going to play out. Will there be a revolt? Is that what it will take to finally stop this "government" by theft? Is that what is really needed to restore the old Constitutional republic?
I sure as hell hope not. That would be the worst case in my opinion. But something must change in the structure of how this country is being run, because right now, it sure as hell looks to me like the country is being run straight into the ground. We are just beginning to see the consequences of the past decades here folks. Ever since "saint" Ronnie of Ray-gun we have been on a fast down hill run. We haven't hit the bottom yet, but I think that final stop is getting very, very damn close. Look for the $700 Billion bail out to be just the start of the huge flow of tax monies being sent to the Wall Street gangs.
semper fi

shit, just plaine old shit

Well, I had intended to post here this weekend. I was going to write about surviving Gustav and Ike and maybe a bit on the economic mess and politics.
All that changed today. First off, my little dog Beau died this week. He had suffered a brain injury about 5 years ago. It left him disabled somewhat. Mostly he just sat and slept the day long since that injury. He was about 13 years old when he died. He passed quietly in his sleep Tuesday night. I had planned to take him to the vet on Wednesday. Guess he didn't want to do that.
Now today, my new neighbor let his goddamn dogs run loose again. The 5th time since before Gustav visited us. Today though, the fucking mutts killed Buster. He was one of the oldest cats. He and Sandy are the first of Mama cats kids. Now old Buster, a sweet old cat is dead. The fucking goddamn killer dogs now face a trained killer, me. They ever run loose in my yard again, they get to meet my nice double barrel 12 gauge. Fuck this shit about "they slipped their collar" bullshit. Five times in less than one month? I doubt that. Sounds like this asshole cannot keep HIS dogs in their pen as he should do. One other neighbor has hunting dogs also, but his are in their pens, not running loose. Well, we'll see how they run when under fire next time "they slip their collar". Fuck that shit AND the sheep it rode in on.
That's about all for now. I'm too goddamn angry to continue or do any "serious" writing just now. Maybe in the next day or so I might calm down enough to comment on the "bail out" bullshit that "we" the taxpayers are getting shafted with. Thank your politicians for that shit.

Add on to Buster. He was such a good old cat, silly too. He had been neutered when he turned 6 months old. He would have likely thought at first that the goddamn dogs wanted to play with him. I just hope he ripped at least one of those fuckers a new asshole before they killed him.
Shit, just plain old goddamn fucking SHIT!
And there are still 4 of the other cats I haven't seen in about 3 hours now. Hope they come home tonight. Local police sub station says HE is supposed to keep his dogs penned up or in a fenced yard. Fat chance of him being that much of a human being, let alone any sort of good neighbor.
Hell, he is probably like the asshole across the road who thinks I ought to "give" him my pain meds cause he "needs" them for his knee. Screw that shit, let him go to his own doctor and get his own meds. Another asshole to deal with. Shit!
semper fi