07 May 2011

Another day, another rant

Well, here I go again. Yes, another rant from the old guy to stir up whatever I can.
This all started with an article at Information Clearing House (a link to the site is now posted on the front page here at the right side of the screen with the other links). 
The article is by Mike Whitney. While he usually writes about the economy, or whatever is passing itself off as an economy here in the old US of A, this time Mike has ventured into the realm of international politics and wars. This is not the first time he has done so, I just wanted to let you know that the majority of his articles on the Counterpunch web site are on the economy. 
The title of his article says it all, "The greatest purveyor of violence in the world today". You can read this excellent article here;www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28037.htm
In his article Mike makes many very good points as to the "why" Libya is being bombed into submission by NATO. Yes, it IS about the oil under the sands of Libya, but it is also about the 144 tons of gold that Libya has on hand. This does not in any way detract from the truth of the article, I just added that fact to an already excellent article.
I emailed Mike with my reply to his article and he sent back an email that I should post my reply here at the old corner, so, blame Mike for this rant. LOL. Seriously, without his email back to me, I may have let this slide. So, here goes my reply;
Mike,
Very good article on Libya.
No matter what one may feel about old Gaddafi, he does have the right to suppress any rebellion against his rule in his own country.
If the leader of a country being a supposed "bad guy", not many countries would be immune from invasion by the supposed good guys. To use Gaddafi being on the outs as reason to remove him from power is disingenuous or worse.
Hey, Gobomber is an asshole, does that mean the USA can be invaded and him removed from office? I wish. Maybe the Swiss can invade the USA and install a better form of government here. LOL.......much as I might enjoy that, it will never happen. Why would the Swiss want to take over the shit pot that  America has become? We have trashed the entire country, so even the natural resources and national parks are not worth their time to invade us now days.
All the wars of choice are based on lies. "We" are in Libya to take over their national bank accounts. They must be placed under control of the IMF and the World Bank. The Wall Street gangsters must have control of all.
What a damn mess America has made and continues to make of much of the planet.
Yes I am in a bad mood today, screw the goddamn empire.
By the "standards" the powers that be apply to Gaddafi, the ass clown governor of Wisconsin should be able to call for the US military to shoot the demonstrators in his state. Rule by force, that IS empire.
I best stop for now, too pissed off at the bullshit.
best,
charlie

Well, there it is folks. And, yes, I am still pissed off at the goddamn bullshit. I have been trying to keep my language polite here at the old corner, but every so often you reach a level where "polite" language just no longer conveys your true feelings. Some may think I should apologize for my "bad" language here today. Well, I did not mean to offend anybody, if I did, it was not by design. As for an apology, sorry, there will not be one. As the saying goes, if you are not outraged, you are not paying attention.
Every American should be outraged at these damn fool, useless wars of choice. We are NOT one bit safer due to the invasions of Iraq or Afghanistan. We are not one tiny bit safer from the drone attacks on Pakistan. We are not any safer from our government pumping billions of dollars every year into the Zionist entity. We are no safer from the use of drones and "special ops" types in Yemen, Somalia, or any other country around the globe.
The sanctions against Iran have not made America one tiny, tiny bit safer either.
The founders of the republic had it right; fair trade with all nations, entangling alliances with none. Also, we should not go in search of monsters to destroy. Had we kept to those basic ideas, the country and the entire world would no doubt, be much nicer than it is today. Imagine, a world without the bloody damn empire tromping all around invading here, bombing there. Why, there could actually be a very good chance for real peace. No, it would not be "all sweetness and light", but it most certainly could be much, much better than it is currently.
So many Americans like to say that our country is a "Christian" nation. Well, it never was nor was it designed to be, but OK, I'll give them a break on that, but ONLY if they start to practice one of the most basic tenants of their religion, that is, Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. IF every Christian would act accordingly, then I will not be so critical of them when they tell me that America is a "Christian" nation.
It is way past time, so lets all get with it and shout ENOUGH!! Enough of these damn fool wars of choice. Live and let live.
semper fi

02 May 2011

Well, the bad guy is dead, do the troops come home now?

As you all know, last night Gobomber came on live TV to announce to the world that Osama bin-Laden had been killed by US troops.
I was not going to post on this matter until watching a bit of TV this afternoon and that was topic number one. Yes, even ESPN, the sports channels had to tell us about this man being dead. One "lead" story on ESPN was about the "sporting world's reaction to the death of bin-Laden". Yeah, way to go America, even the sports channels have to give a "sports world" reaction to the killing of the "most wanted man" in the world. Just why would I care at all how any sports person reacts to this? Do I get my world view from some baseball player, or maybe a football player. Yeah, sure thing. 
OK, I'll try to keep any further sarcasm to a minimum. 
Some people have said that bin-Laden died or was killed years ago. There have been various reports on the internet about his death off and on since his escape from the mountains around Tora Bora back in late 2001/early 2002.
Reports also claimed that the man had kidney troubles and needed dialysis. Now I have never worked in the health care industry, but I would think that it would be very difficult, if down right impossible, to cart dialysis equipment around the Hindu Kush and over the mountain passes between Afghanistan and Pakistan. He was also supposedly a diabetic. Not exactly the sort of health troubles that would make for easy hiking over the mountain passes in that area of the world.
News reports tell us that they took DNA samples to prove that this time they really did kill bin-Laden. Also, he has been buried at sea. No doubt this was to rid any chances that his grave could become a place of reverence for his followers. 
While I never did have any support for him or his organization, you did have to respect his convictions. How many members of a wealthy family would give up a soft life style and hold out in the wilds of the mountains between Pakistan and Afghanistan? None that I can think of, though there may be some. The respect I give him and his organization is the respect for an enemy. One lesson I learned as a Marine in Vietnam was that your enemy, while you would not be friendly with him/her, you did need to give him/her some measure of respect. When you refuse to give your enemy any respect, you are about to suffer losses. I would venture to guess that even Sun Tzu  who is said to have written the book The Art of War had some measure of respect for any of his enemies. This does not in any way imply any friendliness toward said enemy. The VC had stamina, commitment, and were respected as a very worthy enemy. The same can be said of al-Qeada and Osama bin-Laden.
One more comment about this "event". Last night on CNN, they showed crowds outside the White House fences cheering and shouting  what has become the standard chant of America since 9/11. Yes, they were chanting "USA!  USA!   USA!" In my opinion, they were just like the mindless clowns who cheered Hitler at the rallies the Nazi party held, they were much like the old Romans who cheered at those who were tossed into the arenas to face off against wild beasts, or, and this may be uncomfortable, posed for photographs at lynchings in the American South and Mid-West some decades back. Just call me disgusted with that sort of behavior. All else aside, he was a fellow human being. I would have liked for him to be captured and put on trial in a US criminal court, NOT some military tribunal at Gitmo. Of course, then, he may have said more than our(??) government would have wanted him to say. No, he had to remain a phantom or, better yet (perhaps) eliminated. Well, bin-Laden is dead now, officially dead, Gobomber has said so. Now, can we bring ALL of the troops back home?
Or would you prefer to purchase a very nice old bridge in Brooklyn?
Just my opinion of the death/killing of bin-Laden, for what its worth, or not.
For a good look at al-Qeada, Osama bin-Laden and the history of both, please check the following article;www.counterpunch.org/qadir05022011.html
semper fi