15 September 2011

Some clarifications, I hope

It seems that I need to try and clear up a few things about the old corner and in particular, the way I reply to comments.
First off, I really appreciate all the comments I get here as I never figured that anybody would even read anything I post, let alone take the time to comment on what I post. As I state in my profile, I am just an old, permanently disabled machinist, former US Marine/Vietnam war vet. In short, a ordinary working class guy who just wanted to make a decent life for his family. For the most part, I think I have done that. I know I have made more than a few mistakes along the way in this life. How many people never have made any? Dad used to tell me that the only people who never made any mistakes are the ones who never did anything. The thing is, I try to learn from the mistakes and not keep repeating them over and over.
On that note, it seems that I have made a mistake and then repeated it. 
I refer to y replies to comments here at the old corner. When I reply to comments here I tend to ramble at times and I include in a reply to one comment, my thoughts that apply to another comment made here or in a private email. I often start to reply to a certain comment and go on to include comments from me that would have been better stated to some other comment. For this I apologize as it seems to have got some folks confused and they think I found their comment to be argumentative or such.  I am sorry for any confusion that I have caused with my rambling comments.
I have referred to some negative comments that I have received in the past in private emails and my reply contained references to those negative comments. They were not meant to be directed at the person whose comment I replied to here. Again, that is totally my fault and I apologize for the confusion. I'll try to keep my comments to replies more centered on the particular comment and not just ramble on and include other thoughts.
I would say that I will try to change my "style" in how I reply to comments, but I don't want to elevate my rants or replies to having a "style" as I don't think there is any style to my rants. I basically have something that has got my attention, either it has upset me or it is something I just want to talk about. When I start my rants, I have a basic "idea" if I can elevate my thoughts to such a high level. I try to stay more or less on topic, but usually end up some place else. Sorry, that is just how I am, yes, in person also. As I said, I tend to ramble on and on.
I will try to keep my replies to any comments from going off topic and I will try to keep any thoughts on private emails off here when I reply to any comments. That alone should help to lessen any confusion.
I want to close this post by again saying that I really DO appreciate any and all comments I get. That holds for private emails and comments posted here at the corner. Also, I even appreciate any negative comments as I try to learn from them. Please, this is NOT directed at anybody, just general comments by me.
Thank you all for your time reading this blog and an extra thanks to all who post comments here and/or your emails. 
semper fi.

11 September 2011

Ten years after

Yes I know, the title of this rant could be mistaken for a blast from the 60's.  Well, I still enjoy much of the music from that long ago time, so..........
Yes, it is also a reference to today, 9/11 and the tenth "anniversary" of the "day that changed everything". Except it really didn't "change everything".  What it did change was the covert wars came out of the shadows and morphed into "hot" or shooting wars. The invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq were the first US "responses" to that day. It has lead to bombings of Pakistan, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen in addition to the first two victims of US anger at having been attacked by the "evil terrorists" who of course "hate us for our freedoms". Yeah, sure, that is why the US was attacked on 9/11.
September 11, 2001 was NOT the first 9/11 that the USA was involved with. The first 9/11 that "we" had anything to do with was September 11, 1973 in Chile.  That was when "tricky" Dick Nixon and his sidekick/pal Henry the K unleashed the coup that ousted Allende from power and installed the military dictatorship that ruled that poor country for far too long. Funny how history seems to work. So, there are many "meanings" to 9/11 that many of us Americans don't know about or remember.
The 9/11 that is being commemorated today is the one that came about due to blowback from the foreign policies of the USA in particular, our policies toward the Palestine/Israel conflict/occupation/genocide/war crime/crime against humanity and many other terms that fit that ongoing disaster that has seen Palestinians evicted from long held family homes/homesteads and land. Those evictions that started in 1948 are ongoing even today. The"separation wall" is one of the most obvious and blatant examples of the apartheid rule of the zionist entity towards the Palestinian people. Old bin Laden, in his many video and audio statements to the world sited that ongoing conflict as one of the major reasons why his al-Qaeda was waging jihad against the USA and our allies.
I had decided that I would not do a blog entry about the tenth anniversary of 9/11, and I am trying to keep this post from going too far into that sort of post. 
Yes, I do mourn the loss of life in our country on that day. Not on a daily basis as I had no family or friends killed by the attacks on the building in New York or Washington D.C. nor on the aircraft that crashed in Pennsylvania. I also mourn the loss of life in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Somalia, Pakistan, and Yemen that go on day after bloody day including, no doubt, today as well as every day since the attacks of 9/11, 2001.
A question to ask is just how many "others" need to die before there is "parity" with the loss of life in New York, D.C., and Pennsylvania? How many must die to "make up" for our loss of life? Us and NATO troops have killed many times over the numbers of people killed on 9/11. It has been estimated that over 100,000 people have been killed in Iraq alone since we invaded that country in 2003. The killings continue still, and I need to ask, how many more "need" to die? 
Gobomber has announced to the world that "we" have killed bin Laden. Great, OK, fine, so, how many more do "we" need to kill? Hey, our troops bumped off the "number one" bad guy, so when do we stop the killing?
I refuse to watch or listen to any of the "celebrations" of this tenth anniversary. If you want my opinion on these events, just check out Tomdispatch for the latest commentary by Mr. Engelhardt. The link is here on the right side of this page. He said it much better than I ever could. Basically, any remembrances have been hijacked. This day should be one of quiet reflection and remembrances. A highly personal day/time to look back and try to understand the "why" of it all, not some huge gala with loads of celebrities. Just check out what Tom has to say on this, you won't be sorry.
I keep coming back to my own central question; how many more people do "we" need to kill before we can finally put this date in its proper place? We did stop killing Japanese people in 1945. It only took us just a bit more than three and a half years to get past Pearl Harbor. How much longer do we need to kill to do the same for 9/11? 
Maybe war has become too profitable for the "too big to fail" gangsters. Wars have always been money makers for the rich and the war industries and of course, the big  banksters and their Wall Street pals. War now seems to be about the only thing that America still makes. It appears to be our biggest export now days. Wars and weapons and weapon systems are still American made. Most every other product that is for sale here is made elsewhere. Oh, sure, we assemble some things still, like cars, but many of the parts for them are made in some other country. 
There seems to be no end to it all either. Just look at who is running to replace Gobomber. The entire gang of elephants who want that job aren't very inspiring if you want a peaceful world. So far, no member of the donkey gang has risen up to challenge him. Probably none will either. That is most unfortunate. Old Teddy Kennedy gave Jimmy Carter a run for it in 1980 and may have caused him to lose to "saint" Ronnie of Raygun. Is there no democrat to give Gobomber a small fright? We''l have to just wait and see I suppose.
OK, how about some third party challenge?  I have not heard of any yet. Maybe it is still to early for them to even announce an intention. I think that a real, serious person to represent the working class of this country could give the two wings of the war party a real run at the job. But that is just me and I have not had much success at predicting elections. I'd like to see Ms. McKinney run again. Of course it is doubtful that AIPAC would allow her to win. No, she has a real respect for humanity and oppressed peoples to have any realistic chance at becoming president. If only..........yeah, I can still dream. Last I checked, it was still legal.
Our economy, or what passes for such these days still looks bad for the working people. Even Gobomber in his speech the other day didn't do much to instill any great confidence in his plans. Did I just say he had a plan? Sorry, my bad. His only real plan is to get re-elected and the rest of us can go take a flying jump at the moon. Ain't this a great country? And, of course do not look to the congress critters to help out either, they have their priorities. Yeah, same as Gobomber, get re-elected. America, what a country.
semper fi