Very Important Information

This is the most important post to this blog ever.
Please follow the link below and either watch the podcast or read the transcript of the podcast.
This concerns the radiation that is STILL leaking from the damaged nuclear reactors that were damaged during the earthquake and tsunami back in March 2011.
YES, the four (4) nuclear power plants are still leaking huge amounts of radioactive materials into the environment. The US WILL be and has already been effected. Your health and the health of your children and the future generations WILL suffer due to this ongoing disaster.
 Please do follow this link, it is very, very important to all.


http://fairewinds.org/podcast/fighting-a-dragon-i-cannot-see

Thank you for your time. Again, this IS very, very important.
semper fi

One cannot make this stuff up

Greetings good people.
Yes, another rant from the old guy (me). I'll try and not go on so long as I recently did. I admit the post of 15 February 2013 WAS probably over long. Well, I felt some things needed to be said and did not intend to go so long, but, well, I do that at times.
This actually came as real news to me, you see I do not watch Faux Noise, MSNBC, or even CNN at home. Once in a great while we may put CNN or its companion, "Headline News" on the tube to check some email/web article that is "breaking". More often, it will be the Weather channel as our weather in central Louisiana is very "changeable"; if you don't like our weather, just wait a few minutes, is a very common phrase around here.
Well, back to the "news to me". It comes via Glenn Greenwald now at the Guardian in the UK. He lets us who do NOT watch MSNBC know that old Rev. Al Sharpton had a "spirited debate" (Mr. Greenwalds' comment, not mine) about "dear leader", Gobomber (drone "king"?) and maybe Gobomber ought to have his place on Mount Rushmore or maybe "deserves" his very own special monument. No kidding. Mr. Greenwald provides links to this news item. Here is the link to his story on this;MSNBC
OK, now, ask yourself a question. Could you make this stuff up and have anybody think it was true? Would you? If so, why? Just for Lolz? OK, I'll but that, maybe. And yet, some wonder why so many refuse to even tune to any TV "news" station in the US of A. LOLMAO! There is NO news on the TV in old America. No, what 'Merikkka does get is "news". Oh sure, whenever there is some mass shooting of some school/shopping mall/work place in the US of A, there is coverage, but NOT when it comes to what the people really need to know. How about the truth about the housing market in America? ROFL! Just ask Mike Whitney how many "news" outlets are phoning him for his views on that one. Hey Mike, how many calls waiting do you get every hour? Yeah, I thought so.
My point there is that he should have some "real" news outlet, as in TV/radio station and/or newspaper asking him to at least re post what he does get posted to oh, Counterpunch or any web site that still posts his articles. I don't single Mike out just because we have had rather pleasant email exchanges going back years, but because I think he needs to be exposed to a wider audience. The SAME goes for John Francis Lee and his excellent web site robinlea. And yes, I do have links to those wen sites on the main page of my "redesigned" blog. I hope this design makes for easier reading for all.

I may as well keep with my "apple polishing" and again tell you that for some excellent fiction as well as good commentary, check out Bill the Butcher. Again, links are on the right side of this page. The links I give here are those I read daily and trust, mostly. I do not agree with all that I read on theses sites, but I do find them to be mostly honest and I think I need to read opinion(s) that I do not always agree with. Man, if all I did was go to sites/read authors that I agree with, I'd be bored to death long before lunch time.

The other story, or non-story if you will (business as usual?) was about Nancy Pelosi says it is A-OK by her if our drone "king" ever decides to drone a US citizen on American soil AND if the drone king "decides" he must keep it all secret, well, she is 100% "on board" with that as well. No kidding folks.
Well, my attempt to link failed. At the Antiwar web site (link at right), the entry is dated 19 Feb 2013 by John Glaser, title; Nancy Pelosi:Obama Can Execute Americans In Secret. And here we are, still thinking that the members of both houses of congress(yes, still in lower case) work for the people. Well, they Do, just the people they do work for have more money/wealth than most of us, yes dear reader, you and me, can even dream of. In short, madam Pelosi (with deep apologies to any "real" madams out there) work for the very rich and to hell with us common/working class and poor people. We can be droned any time, anywhere, no matter, no "judicial review" needed. Oh, and no warning that you may or may not be on some "kill list" either, hey, the drone king needs to keep that stuff top secret. National security ya know. You betcha'. Ain't old 'Merikkka just a grand place? Oh, hell yeah!

Well, that will end this rant. I did say I'd try not to go on and on, so. Stay safe people. Thank you for your time. Until the next rant, be nice to each other.
semper fi

Well.............it HAD to happen..........

Greetings to all,
Well, the wonder "brains" who occupy the five sided puzzle palace, that refers to the Pentagon for any who are new to this old corner, have finally gone and done it. Way back, like during the time when W. Shrub occupied the White House, some Air Farce general (and it IS farce, not force) was all upset and had complained that his beloved drone "piolts" (they are really operators/gamers) were NOT being recognized with ribbons, badges, and/or medals for their "bravery" (any who have been here recently know that I consider remote control killing {yes this means death by drone} to be absolutley cowardice) and he felt his "pilots" should get some sort of medal. Well, they will get one now. Yes, dearly almost departed SecDef (secretary of defense{actually secretary of war}) a certain Mr. Leon Panetta, has decided that now, these drone jockies will be able to be awarded the newest US military medal. No joke people, even the Stars and Stripes newspaper/web site which was in my Marine days "the" military paper carried the news. Yes, now the drone jockies can be awarded the Distinguished Warfare Medal.

No, this is NOT a joke. As if this alone was not enough, the new medal will rank just above(!!!) the Bronze Star. Yes, apparently the days of bravery under hostile fire is now, what shalle we say, quaint? Or maybe just "old fashioned"? Any way one slices this, it does cheapen the old Bronze Star which used to be awarded for bravery under hostile fire. As in your (the person who is awarded the medal) actually being in grave, mortal danger of being actually, as in for real, killed. Even currently serving US military troops who see some merit in giving medals to the drone jocks, fail to understand why this new medal is ranked above the old one which was only given to those who faced, in person, real possible life ending activity.

OK, I maybe could see the gamers, um, I mean (do I?) the drone "pilots" being given some sort of medal. Yeah, sure, I mean this IS the US of A where "every kid is a winner" so why not let these people have a medal or three? The thing is, how in holy hell can they be given any sort of commendation for "bravery"?? Anybody got an answer for that one? Seriously, does anybody have even a damn clue as to how "piloting" a remote control aircraft from an air conditioned office in some secure base in, oh say, Nevada any way an act of bravery? If anybody has even the most remote idea, let me in on it. I honestly do not have even the smallest clue to this idiocy.

I suppose as the use of drones has cheapened human life even beyond what modern war has already done rates an award that cheapens real bravey. Hell, that may be the real reason for ranking this new medal to the status it seems to have. If the lives of all who are in the war zone are cheap, then the awards for killing them may as well be equally cheap, or maybe even cheaper yet.
On a slightly different note, same topic. Some had said the new medal might have the form of a gold plated X-box control pad.

Hey, maybe when old Ratzi stops being pope on the 28th of this month, he can become a drone "pilot" and even get his own medal for his "bravery".
Yes, I am "picking" on him and his RCC again. Why? Well, because I read one site that mentioned there are some 1.3 Billion members of that gang. That makes the pope a rather powerful person doesn't it? The leader of 1.3 Billion. Wow, that is like the top guy in China, the mainland, not Tiawan. It is like being THE top guy for Islam, which also has something over 1 Billion followers/members, however the Muslims are NOT totally united. Yes, they have two main sects or groups, Sunni and Shia. I don't think the RCC is in any way divided, at least not the way the Muslims are. Being the leader of such a large gang, I hold that the pope should be held to the highest of human standards. His non response to the child abuse by priests of his gang is criminal in my opinion. He ran the office of the vatican that used to run the Inquisition, yeah, very powerful job he had before becoming pope. That means he had to have known a great deal about the abuse scandal(s). Toss in the RCC run laundries in Ireland that abused the poor women who toiled in them and, well, you can see where this is going.
Any who, that is why I am "dumping" on poor old pope Bennie. In my opinion, he EARNED it all and more. And for the record, I quit going to any church back when I was in 7th grade due to my askling the "wrong sort" of questions. Dad knew if I was excommunicated, I would wear that as a badge of honor, so he told me I no longer needed to go to church. And, it was a protestant church. I was never a member in any way, of the RCC, nor would I ever become one ever. Of course I have no intent of ever joining any religion so that is basically a mute point anyway. I will no doubt, keep ragging on old Ratzi in the future, just maybe not too often, depending on how his retirement goes. Speculation on one web site I read every day is that he either 1) read the God Delusion by Richard Dawkins, or 2) finally finished reading the bible cover to cover and asked himself just what the hell? My bet is on number 2 for now as I always had thought that Revalations was a very bad acid trip.
OK, I have upset more than enough apple carts for today.
Thank you all for your time.
semper fi

What future?

Greetings to all.
Well, it just keeps on going and going, doesn't it? Yes, I mean the near dead US of A of course. Why do I say it is near dead? Just read on dear reader, read on and I'll explain as best I can.

We start with the "grilling" (cough, cough, um, er, uh, yeah, 'grilling', sure thing) OK, OFF.
Even before the hearings regards a certain Mr. Brennan to head up the CIA, the chairperson (is it OK {politically correct that is} to say chairwoman?) US Senator Ms. Feinstein told the media, as in "on the record", that she would NOT allow any person to make negative comments/statements against Mr. Brennan. Now, remember dear reader, that some years ago, this very SAME Mr. Brennan was disqualified for the same CIA top job. Yes, but of course, that was then and this is now. You really have to watch the D.C. follies, even if you do not do so very closely. Any way, she totally disallowed, before anything even started that might be negative. One report I did read said of this "grilling" that it; "proceedings resembled a well fed cat being questioned by a panel of skittish mice". That is a direct quote from a person, sorry I forget what site this was on originally, who watches the D.C. follies much closer than I do. My view, those mice were VERY timid indeed. Why, they were down right fearful in their collective "respect" for the man.
OK, OK, now maybe he does rate a certain amount of respect. Hell, I don't know him so who can say for sure? If we do grant him a bit of respect just for oh, say having lived to whatever age he has attained, OK. However, that only gets him so far, like, entry into the hearing room. It does NOT grant him any sort of immunity from being asked some serious questions. What sort of questions? Well, how about just what sort of legal opinion does grant our Piece Prizident the "authority" to kill anybody, at any time, and any where in the world? How are such extra-judicial killings in any way, shape, or form legal or, better yet, Constitutional? Or, does he think that our use of these drones to carry out these extra-judicial killings make more enemies than we kill? Or, even more of a "soft ball" type; does he think that "maybe" our use of the drones MAY make more enemies for the old US of A than we actually kill?
Oh, but you see, madam Feinstein has disallowed any and all such "negative" questions. No, you see such a "negative" thing would ONLY occur to oh, no doubt to a subversive sort of person. Yes, more of the undesirable sort like, oh, I don't know, some older sort who maybe is ex-military and oh, maybe even has actually BEEN in a real shooting war in the past. You know, the sort who, due to having actual real service in the military and in a hot war zone finds that he/she is very anti-war now days. Yeah, you know that "sort", um, you DO know at least OF that sort, and I can prove it. You, if you are still reading this, KNOW of that sort as one of "them" is the person who is writing this very blog. In fact, he is the ONLY person who has ever posted to this blog as he actually owns (OK, it is free, but it is still mine, so, ownership.......LOL) the blog. Yes, I keep it going at the "convenience" (or so it seems) of the "true" owner; Google. Any who, I am the sort who would have liked to have had the opportunity to ask or have asked by another, more well known person questions of that sort. If that makes me a subversive, well so be it and I will wear that label with pride, YES, the same or even more so, pride that I once had for having been a US Marine. And, truth be known, I was proud to have been a Marine. I will never deny that either, even though maybe I should have made other choices. Hey, I "could" have tried to do as old "dead eye" Dick Cheney did, he got 5 (yes FIVE) deferments as he "had other priorities" back when I enlisted. No, working class kids had no need to even think to apply for such. Oh well. Also, all that I have done has made me who I am today and while I am sure that given what I know today, I may (heavy emphasis on may) have made other choices. Still, had I made other choices, I would not be who/what I am now. The whole basis of this tangential line is just to let all know why I cannot say I am ashamed of my military service. I did what I did and live with the consequences of my choices and actions. I have made mistakes and as best as I recall, I have owned up to them. I wonder how many of the "skittish mice" can honestly say the same. I would never presume to ask Mr. Brennan if he can honestly say that, as that would no doubt, be perceived by Ms. Feinstein for sure, as very negative. So, I give Mr. Brennan a "pass", after all, if a US Senator can, I suppose I best also.
Hell NO! Damn and blast, as the Brits may have said. NO! Nobody who is looking to have the job of the guy in charge of the CIA should ever get a pass on anything. He should be held to a much higher standard than a teenager applying for a job at some burger joint. Or is THAT being subversive again? IF it is, then the US of A is totally, and I mean totally screwed, blued, and tattooed. Turn off the lights folks. Close the doors and walk away, the grand "experiment" that once held such promise, the US of A, is DONE. Finished, dead and we need to bury it, NOW, before it starts to stink up the whole place.
I really wonder some times, if anybody who has never been in the military, and even more, those who have been in a war, can understand just  how seriously difficult it is to say what I just did and not immediately check him/her self into the nearest mental institute. One does not become a Marine or be a member of ANY military in any country without having some feeling of real loyalty to that country. OK, those who are forced into a military, through the draft (USA) or otherwise conscripted are exempt, but anybody who ever enlisted HAD to have some positive feelings for that country. I sure as hell did. I still love America, the land, the country (geographic) and even most of the people. It is what passes for "our" leaders and government that give me serious doubts and make my life such a total joke. What loyalty can one maintain for what for all intents and purposes is now looking more and more each day like a criminal enterprise? What loyalty can I keep for politicians who seem to have zero (in some cases absolute ZERO) respect for the Constitution and in particular, the Bill of Rights? How can a person who has documented honorable service to the country still respect a president who now claims to have the authority (??) to kill anybody, any time, anywhere? Just WHERE the bloody goddamn hell is THAT in any part of the Constitution? I have a copy right here on my desk as I type away at this blog of mine. I have other copies in at least two larger books in case I misplace this small one that contains the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. It is a nice small, pocket size and I recommend to all citizens of the US of A that they get one or more for personal use. Oh, and when you get one, or any other copy of said Constitution, READ IT! And, after you have read it, read it again, just in case you missed something. Those are the main founding documents of OUR country and I really DO think it is our duty as citizens to read them at least once, once a month as needed, and NOT just once in a life time.
OK, there is your assignment, read the Constitution and if you want extra credit, the Declaration of Independence. No, I won't be giving a test, but our "leaders" sure as hell seem to be testing both of those documents every time, or damn near every time, they open their mouths to a microphone/TV camera. If we do not know what our own founding documents say to us, how can we even start to question our supposed leaders? Bets that if YOU asked them a question about what they are doing or saying they want to do, they will refer to the Constitution. So, you see why WE need to know what it says? So they cannot keep bullshitting us is why. We need to stop letting them give a throw away reply to our questions and we need to ask follow up questions or even to repeat our question when they do not answer us. So many, nearly every single one, of the "political reporters" (really just note takers, recorder operators) allow them to toss out some garbage reply to a question and move on, no follow up, no insisting on a REAL answer. This was not always so. Think back or read history, we used to have news reporters who actually demanded a real answer to the questions they asked. Not today, they treat politicians as if they were some sort of celebrity or "above" the rest of us. Hell, they treat them like the Pope.

Ah, yes, when was I going to get to that story? Well, now it seems. Yes, the Pope has said he will stop being the Pope on the 28th of this month. Why? Well, that is a question that will never get a truthful reply. Why do I say that? Because the Roman Catholic Church (hereafter referred to as the RCC) is a closed system. In short, the Pope answers to nobody. Well, OK, as I am not now, nor ever was a member of that church, he MAY answer to the College of Cardinals, but I cannot be certain of that. Once elected, yes the pope is elected by those same Cardinals, he is said to be infallible. Now, here it gets kind of "interesting" for the RCC. You see, it is something like 600 (yes six hundred!!) years since they had a pope quit. A question, on March 1, 2013, the day AFTER the current pope is no longer pope, is he STILL infallible? If so, how? If not, why not? Is infallibility only "temporary: at in effect ONLY while one IS pope? Does this mean that the last pope (yes JP2) was infallible even though in his last few years he was clearly unhealthy and I bet unfit? Curious minds (and those who are heathen/pagan {yes ME}) would like to know.
Seriously, just AS a curiosity, I would like to know if the current pope will still be infallible after he is no longer the pope. If he is determined by those who do or at least should know, to be so, that could lead to some serious stuff if he and the new pope disagree on some matter.
While for me personally, it matters not who the new pope is, it sure would be very nice if the next one would finally come to serious terms with the child abuse scandal that has dogged the RCC for so long. Of course that isn't going to happen, not in my life time. On a slightly different note, the next pope may be the last pope ever. According to one book, the prophecy of Saint Malachy, the next pope will be the last one. Of course the rest of us will have to endure the "true" so they say "end times".
OK, I admit, yes, I have been sarcastic about this subject. I do not belong to nor follow any religion at all. I do not believe in any god or gods either. If my unbelief has upset anybody, well, sorry, it was not my intent. I did not set out to offend, but, this blog has always been an outlet for me to voice my opinions. I do not say that what I post here is "the" truth, it IS my opinion and perhaps some bits of truth. I do try and provide links or sources to some things that I post here, but that is not a given for all time. Again, sorry, but I do not remember where I read everything I read nor do I always write down every comment or source for said comment. That is something that I may need to try and correct, but make no promises. I DO promise to continue to post my opinions and views on matters that concern me and that I think should be of concern to others, at least to those who care about this world and humanity and all life, as there is much, much more to this planet than humanity. In fact, I see creation or whatever one wishes to call such in the plants, flowers, and all the animals around me. IF I were to have a god, it would be cats. You may prefer dogs or some other animal/being, but for me, cats are the smartest, wisest, all knowing. The old Egyptians worshiped cats even. Of course some have said they raised cats just to kill and then make mummies of them. Not sure how accurate that is, but they did have a cat god/goddess.
OK, back off the tangent and onto the RCC again. That organization, it is such or so they try to be, seriously does need to actually DO some very deep soul searching about the abuse of children by some of their priests. Also, the current pope has much to answer for in this matter. It is claimed, with some accuracy, that he knew a great deal about this and has known so for years, decades even. What did he do about it? Well, the record shows he did next to nothing. In fact, he seems to have aided in covering it all up, glossing it over as it were. The RCC has allowed such pedophile clergy to be moved to a different parish and the new parish was NOT told of any accusations of abuse by the "new" priest. Talk about the fox guarding the hen house. They (the RCC) have also moved higher ranking members, such as the cardinal from Boston (I think it was Boston) to a post at the Vatican. This is a man who either had direct knowledge of child abuse by members of his diocese or he may have been guilty of the abuse himself. Either way, he was given a post at the Vatican as a "reward" for his service. Can you say cover up?  I think so.
This very same RCC has come out against use of condoms in Africa where AIDS is near epidemic condition if not worse by now. This organization is against ALL forms of birth control and abortion for ANY reason, to the point of a woman who died recently in Ireland because her pregnancy was going very wrong and she was NOT allowed an abortion to save her life. This make no sense to me, but as I said, I am just an old heathen/pagan so I do not count for much in this matter. That may be so, but I still have an opinion. I do think abortion should be, in fact must be, a legal option for all women. I do not think it should ever be used as a form of birth control, but that is just my personal view. I do not think any man has a right, in any sense of the term, to say yea or nay to the choice a woman makes as to abortion. IF he IS the father of said unborn, then he maybe should be consulted/told of her choice, particularly if they are married at the time, just because he then has a right to know what she plans and why. If the health of the woman is a risk, then no woman should ever be denied the procedure. Again, my own opinion.
Another matter the RCC, and most EVERY other religion MUST come to terms with is homosexuality. The outright discrimination and abuse heaped onto them by every major religion must STOP. Not tomorrow, not next week, but NOW. Immediately. ALL human beings have the absolute right to live their lives. Whatever consenting adults do with/to each other in the privacy of their own living place is of NO matter to any religion or other "club", "organization", etc. Period, end of discussion. Oh, and one more note on this, people do NOT up and "decide" one day, on a whim as it were, to become homosexual. That is how they were born, get used to that as fact, not opinion. To date, all real research into homosexuality has shown that it is NOT a "life style 'choice'". It is how a person is born, that is to say, their genetic makeup is why they are homo or hetero sexual. So, if some fool religion wants to place "blame", go after the parents. And, if they persist with the god will punish the "gays", tell said  religion that that god supposedly made us in his/her/its image, right? Well, then said god made "gays" as said god would not make "junk", or would he/she/it make "junk" after all? In other words, take the abuse and toss it right back at the abusers. As the old saying goes, what is sauce for the goose is also sauce for the gander, or something close to that.
All this leads to the following truth, or truth as I see things. Every religion, and most certainly ALL of the "big three" (those that trace{?} back to old Abe [Abraham]) need to get up to speed. We are now well into the 21st century. We can no longer be allowed nor allow myths of late iron age goat herders to influence our daily lives. We certainly must not allow such ancient myths to rule our nations and our relations between nations and peoples. If any "believers" in some god or other cannot/ will not see the god in every other human being that they "think" is in them, they are NOT fit for human company and need to be interred in a monastery or some hermitage until they are able to see that this god, if he/she/it exists, is in ALL life on this planet. YES, that includes, but is NOT limited to the animal kingdom and does include plants and ALL life on planet Earth. As Carl Sagan said, we are ALL star stuff. That alone, apart from being the truth, is an utterly amazing fact. It should, by itself, put in each any every one of us human beings to be so amazed by the fact that we are part of this wondrous, frightful, amazing, immense beyond belief universe, that we should never have cause for any child abuse, abuse of "the gays" or any other "minority", no more animal abuse, and certainly, never, ever, ever again, any excuse for another goddamn fucking war.
The late (why do we refer to the dead as "late", and how in hell can the dead ever be unlate, as in on time?) philosopher Alan Watts said in one of his books, no I do not remember which of his books, that we do things backwards. We should be able to say fuck without it being a "swear" word and war SHOULD be a "verboten" sort of word. Oh, but we are proud of our wars and ashamed that we actually do fuck. Fools! We should be very ashamed of our goddamn wars. Nobody "wins" any damn war, ever. Oh yes, one side quits/surrenders/whatever. Still, nobody really wins, except for those who reap obscene profits from the wars. NOW, now do you finally start to see why we all, we working class and poor folks in particular, must be ashamed of ALL the damn fool wars? Most particular, every goddamn fool war of choice, as has been the case for the US of A since 1945, and one CAN say that in 1860 and most assuredly in 1917 were BOTH wars of choice. Old (not so) "honest Abe" did NOT believe that the "Negro" and the "white race" could ever live together in the same country as equals, hell, he would have been more than happy for ALL black people to get sent back to Africa. He also had NO authority under the Constitution to have that war of his choice in 1860-65. At the time, a state was not bound forever to the union once it joined. Well, we can argue that until the end of time, but I still think, now days, that war did not need to be fought. I am 100% certain that had the US of A stayed OUT of WW1, there may not have been a WW2, as both sides were getting close to calling it a draw before "saint" Woodrow (he was re-elected on the slogan "He kept us OUT of war"!! honest, look it up) got us into that slaughterhouse of mass murder. The last surviving member of the British Army from WW1 died not so long ago. He had been a life long anti-war person since his time in the trenches of France/the Western Front. War IS mass murder. While Vietnam may not have been the absolute mass slaughter that WW1 had been, it WAS bloody and nasty enough on its own. The US military/CIA dropped as many, if not more(!!) bombs on Vietnam/Cambodia/Laos than they dropped on Japan and Germany during WW2. Now that is an amazing fact. And, guess what? In the end, the US still pulled OUT with the "last chopper" taking off from the roof of the embassy in Saigon/HoChiMihn City. Yeah, so what did the US of A "win" in that damn fool war of choice? Well, we got a "wall" with over 58,000 names of the US dead, that we know of! Wow, big damn deal. Holy shit folks, I mean, who cares? Who actually gives a flying shit? Or even a non-flying shit? A few of us old vets who were there and maybe our kids? So what?   How in hell was it "worth" it, as Ms. Madass Al(not so)bright has said about the vile sanctions against Iraq in the 1990's?  Can anybody tell me how all the dead were "worth it"? Can you? Really? Goddamn! I want to know. No shit! I want, hell no, I demand an answer. I was there, 1970-71 and I still do not know how it was worth the loss, the cost, which we have never even started to repay. As a song by Steppenwolf goes, ............"Now we are fighting a war over there, no matter who wins, you know we can't pay the cost............" That may not be 100% word-for-word, but you get the idea. How do we pay the costs of any war? Can we ever even try to start to? How do we explain to those who went to war, let alone those we invade and kill/maim/destroy mentally, emotionally, physically just WHY the war even happened?
So, I ask any of you, please, just WHY did we fight Vietnam? Korea? Any of the poor nations in Central America, South America, the African nations we have done "covert" wars in since at least the time we (by way of CIA/CIA paid assassins) killed a certain Mr. Lumumba(spelling)? Any of the three Southeast Asian nations, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos that we utterly bomber into nearly the real stone age? How about Indonesia? Or any of the other nations pre-Iraq/Afghanistan that we bomber/invaded/warred against? Remember Billy Bob Bubba Contesting and Ms. Al(not so)bright and the former (since it no longer exists)Yugoslavia? Yes, the Bosnia mess was part of Bubbas' as well, If so, WHY? Goddamn bloody fucking hell, WHY?? Can anybody tell me? If so, will you? Warning, do NOT give me the crap about how Iran must never be allowed to have nuclear bombs. Hell the zionist entity has somewhere around 300-400 of the damn things, so Iran having a few would still not balance them out, but it might make them stop and think before starting a war with an Iran that had a nuke or three. Hey, it supposedly kept the US of A and the old (as in former since it no longer exists) Soviet Union from nuking each other. Though old "Mr. 5 deferments" Cheney was working on some method to nuke Russia and/or China and not having them nuke us back. Fools! If nobody ever wins "regular" war, how in fucking goddamn holy (or un-holy if you prefer) hell can any jackass ever even fantasize about "winning" a nuclear war?  Nucking futs! That is what that is.............
So, yes, I am quite angry of late. One could actually even say that I am highly pissed off. Well, true, but I remember an old saying from my Marine days; better to be pissed off than to be pissed on. Yeah, like the latest "state of the union" address. (I did not use caps on purpose) There was "dear leader" our very own Pice Prizident, pissing on our feet and telling us right to our faces that it was raining. Well, unlike many of the supposed "leftists" or the "progressives", I refuse to buy his absolute bullshit. I refuse to see death by drone and call it "constitutional", I refuse to see war and call it peace. I refuse to see our country deep into a bad recession (if not an all out depression) and say that the unemployment numbers "look good". I refuse to see the "too big to jail" banksters still getting obscene bonuses and call it good for the economy. I refuse to see whole neighborhoods of unsold, unoccupied houses and say the market is solid/good. I refuse to see a US Senator who is about to chair a group to question a person for the job of CIA director but refuses, before the hearing even starts, to allow any negative questions/comments and call that good for democracy and the country. I refuse to see our military use remote control killing and tell me how very "brave" the "pilots" of drone aircraft are. I call that cowardice. Feel free to disagree, but you will never make me see that as any sort of bravery, ever.
If all the above makes me a subversive, then I will wear that label as a badge of the highest honor. If it makes me un-American, well, that is your opinion and you are entitled to it. I do not ask any to follow me. I am not a leader and never wanted to be one. A real leader takes responsibility for those who follow and I have enough trouble keeping myself responsible for what I do. If you do follow, you do so 100% at your own risk. You do not have to believe anything I say, ever. As stated above, everything I post here is my opinion. Yes, at times I provide a link or a title of a movie, book, or article, sometimes a record/cd even, a song title (those I remember). This blog is and has been my opinion. Things I like, though more often than not, things I dislike, intensly at times, as this post shows, very intensly.
It is not my intent to have you believe what I post, if you do, you may wish to have your own sanity checked as a precaution, you know, just inb case..........OK, that was sort of but also, maybe a kind warning/word to the wise? Your choice. That IS what matters most.........YOUR choice. You decide what to accept, what to believe. I give MY own opinion, what I think, what decisions I have made or may make, intend to make. You have to make your own. I present mine and give my opinion, maybe it will help your choice, maybe not. I cannot ever know. I do not intend to harm any of you who give your time to read my posts. Why would I wish to harm you? I have never met any of you in person. I know some of you through our comments here at the old corner or maybe through private emails. Also, if I harm any of you, you would no doubt never stop by here again, and why would I run any of you off? Now if you go out of your way to offend me, well, we'd have to see then. Of course, it does take quite a good bit of work to offend me. Remember, I enlisted in the Marines in April of 1968, how damn stupid could I have been? Huh? OK? OK.

For some reason, I do not have children. That is a some what longish story and highly personal. My second wife and I did have a daughter but she was premature and only lived six weeks. My wife died 16 years later from brain cancer. That is about all of that I ever intend to share on the corner, period. This blog is not about me, it is my views and opinions. The above, or a great deal of it in this post is personal back ground that may help to explain, maybe maybe not, why/how I hold some of the views/opinions that I express here. I think I have laid out, in some detail (all the detail most ever get on how "my" war went 70-710) why I am anti-war.
The mention of no children is for this.............I care, very, very much about the little ones who were born into this mess of a world since you started reading this extra length ramble. Why do I care? I have no kids, therefore no grandkids who will have to try and sort out the shit we are leaving them. I care deeply because my Dad and my grandparents (all four of them) taught me to care about others. I care because I have seen what happens to the little ones when nobody does care about them. I care about all life on this planet at least. Other planets, where no doubt there IS life, well, they may have another old charlie who cares about them, I have this planet to care about. I care because it is the human thing to do and requires NO religion at all. The "do unto others" is way older than either of the "big three" mid-East desert religions. In fact, just about everything in their religions was taken from much older stories/cultures. Much of all of their "sacred" texts were written long after the events described in them. My opinion;Revelations is  a very bad acid trip.
My wife (yes number three) has two beautiful great-grand daughters. The oldest recently had her third birthday. I do not call them beautiful just because they are Anns' blood family members, ALL the young children on this planet are very beautiful and every single one of  them deserves to be allowed to live their own lives on their  terms, as long as they do no harm to others. They should get the best education possible. They should never have to go to bed hungry, they should never be made homeless. They should be allowed to live a peaceful life and if they wish, get married and raise a family, their choice. They should be able to obtain employment that pays a decent wage not making weapons. They should not have to live in fear (most of which has been manufactured by people who have too much power) for their lives and the lives of their families. They should have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink. IF they wish to have geneticly modofied foods, that food should be labeled as such. Unlike how things are in the US of A today, they should be allowed to make an informed choice about GMO foods. The medicines they may need should be free of contamination and other harmful chemicals. (One can not watch TV in the US of A formore than 15 minutes without a commercial by some law firm with a class action type suit against some medicine or medical device) Women should be able to get safe, legal abortion when needed and not endure threats from those who claim to "know better what god wants" or possible physical violence. Those who were born since you started to read this long winded rant, if they are homosexual, should be allowed to live their lives to the fullest, as long as they harm nobody. They should never be threatened nor made to feel less than human  just because they are not attracted to the opposite sex.
Do I want them to live in some unobtainable uotopia?  No, I don't think that is what I ask/hope for these newest of our fellow human beings. I just want them to live in a world that is kind, just, safe, and not so war like/war loving (US of A I am pointing at you). I honestly DO think that what I ask/hope for them IS doable. It could happen, but only IF (a very, very huge if I know) we, we who are living now, start to try to make it that way. Just imagine, as John Lennon asked us to,imagine IF we all, all of us who really do care about the newest human beings who have been born since you started to read this screed,imagine if we ALL shouted to the world ENOUGH!!!!!!!! Enough of the damn fool wars. Enough of the drones, enough of the killing, enough of the depravity, enough of the unequality, enough of the goddamn hate, enough of the hate mongers and war mongers.We could actually start to  remake this old world. Oh it will not be easy, we will every one of us get damn tired and want to give up long before any real changes are even talked about seriously, but hang on a second, IF we all who care, really care, stood up and said enough, why there is NO limit to what would be possible. WE have the numbers. Seriously, there are MORE, many many more of us who are working class and poor than there are rich. Hell, they count on us being the vast majority. Hey, if all were rich, there'd be no poor, so who would do the work? And don't tell me robots...........LOL.The rich must be a minority, why else be rich? What did you say? If all were rich, the poor would rule? Don't be absurd, never happen.
The thing I ask, just think for a while, not now, you can do it any time, later on is OK, but not too late, if you put it off too long, it will be of no use. Yes, it can be too late. OK, just, when you have a spare moment, just imagine what it could be like if all of us who really care about this place were to stand and say ENOUGH. And then imagine if after that, we all of us started to remake this old world into what I asked/hope for above for the newest little ones who have only had mere minutes in this world. Just imagine, if you can, for a few seconds. Can you? Will you? Not for me, no, not even for yourself, though it is A-OK if you do, but for those who just came into this life of we all share. Imagine, unless we do, we're just stuck with what we have.
semper fi

Drones and torture...........again and again and.........

Greetings to all.
Yes another day, another rant.
No doubt all have heard of if not actually seen the movie "Zero dark thirty".  According to the reviews I have read, this movie apparently glorifies torture. No kidding, a Hollywood production that seems to be made for the likes of "Darth" Cheney. Yes, no doubt "dead eye" Dick may actually enjoy a movie where torture "does" help catch and kill the "bad guy".
Well, for my part, I have no intention of ever watching such a piece of garbage. Torture IS illegal in every civilized country. It has been seen as a crime for centuries. When US Army troops gave the "water cure" to captured Filipino civilians/insurgents in the last year(s) of the 1800's and early year(s) of the 1900's, it WAS seen as a crime. Torture seems to have never been of any real use in getting to any truth, ever. Torture only "works" in Hollywood movies or TV shows, the program "24" comes to mind here. Again, a TV program I never saw and have no desire to ever see.
Why my resolve to never watch these shows among others? Because I have seen war up close and all too personal. I do NOT approve of torture in any case. I think torture in all its forms is a crime and should be punished. Yes, those who do the torture must be held to account for their actions. They have committed a crime or crimes and need to be made to suffer the consequences of their actions.And, NO, they cannot, in fact MUST not be allowed to use the "Ollie North" escape plan. Remember back in the days when "Iran-Contra" hearings were on the TV, old Ollie tried to escape punishment (he resigned his commission is all he "suffered") he told the Congressional hearings that he was just "following orders". Well, that should have been disallowed as the victors of WW2 declared such an excuse invalid during the Nuremberg tribunals. IF, and I admit it is a HUGE if, these people who are and have done torture are ever brought to trial, they must NOT be allowed this excuse, for any. IF the US of A has any claim to being even remotely civilized, we cannot allow the "following orders" excuse, ever.

On a related subject, drones have made a come-back news wise of late. Probably due to Gobomber naming a certain Mr. Brennan as his choice as the CIA head honcho. Ah yes, the man who has aided Gobomber with the infamous "kill list". Well, no doubt Mr. Brennan has never met a drone strike he did not approve of. My guess is this may be so only because he has never been the target of such an attack.
Even more of a controversy comes with what are being called a "double tap" drone strikes. This is when after the initial drone strike, the drone or perhaps another drone waits for the rescuers come to find the dead and wounded and launch another missile hit. This is another illegal/unlawful act. International law and even the Laws of armed conflict state that such an attack IS unlawful.
I will again state that I am 100% certain that killing by drone is an act of cowardice in the extreme. The lingering around until other people come to rescue the wounded and retrieve the dead is doubly such a cowardly act.
The US of A has done such things and continues to do them. Now, does anybody who still has any small portion of humanity still wonder why so many people around the world despise if not hate the US of A? Imagine, for a moment, that your family home was hit by a drone strike. Now imagine how you and your neighbors rush to the remains of said house to see if any of your family are still alive and to retrieve the bodies of the dead, only to be hit by a "double tap" hit. IF you survive somehow, or this happened to a relative of yours, how "nice and warm" would your feelings be to the country that did such a thing? I'll bet the farm that you would NOT have any "warm fuzzy" feelings for that country at all, ever.
As I have said here before, in the middle East and countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan (just to name two) have very close family ties.  In some cultures, such as the two mentioned above, kill my second cousin, twice removed and now I am your enemy. Yes, wars are very nasty, brutish things, as I said many times, war is the most pornographic thing we humans have ever invented. The use of remote controlled killing is even worse and in my opinion, very cowardly. There is NO glory in war, but the combatants can be honorable, remote killing is NOT.
In my opinion, remote killing shows no respect for the person(s) targeted. even in war, one does begin to respect the enemy, even while he/she may be viewed as less than human, as the Japanese were portrayed as during WW2. On a personal note, I soon learned to respect the VC while I was in Vietnam. Yes, they were the "enemy" and we did not have many kind words for them, but many of us  DID respect them. There is no respect (in my view there ca be NO) for those we kill by remote control.
Even the despised Robert McNamara eventually admitted that had the US off A lost the war, our leaders could have been tried for war crimes. I wonder if any of the remote control killers ever have any thoughts about this. Or, do they see themselves as somehow heroic?
semper fi

Greetings good people.
Yes, I am back, well sort of, almost. I still have not been able to get my old computer repaired, and am still using a borrowed lap top. Fortunately, we acquired another computer since mine went down and I have full access to this computer, so, time for another rant.

Some of this will be going over old news. The most recent mass killing in the USA tops this post.
YES, the killings of those innocent children and the adults at the school in Connecticut was tragic. It is very shameful and should not have happened and we all would like that nothing like it ever again happens here in the USA.
At the same time, one has to stop and ask a serious question. What about all the innocent children who are killed on a daily basis due to the "war OF terror" being run by the White House, the five-sided-puzzle-palace, and the CIA? As an excellent article posted to the Counterpunch web site asked in its title;Do the Arabs cry for their children also? Of course they DO. They are human beings and to all of us humans, except the small percentage who have serious mental/emotional problems, all children are very precious. Any sane, rational human being with even the smallest amount of compassion for his/her fellow humans is saddened by the death of any child. However, according to the USA mass media (aka MSM), apparently it is only the children here in the USA who actually count as news worthy when they are killed by some crazed gunman. Can you say hypocrisy? YES, we can!
Enough! Enough of the USA as "holier than thou". That is old garbage and is totally bullshit. We, as a nation are not in any way any "better" than any other nation. We have our good points and bad points. We have good citizens and bad ones. No nation has a "lock" on human feelings of any sort. It is way past time for those of us who live in the USA to get over this total BS of American "exceptionalism". The USA is NOT the "indispensable" nation, no way, no how.
Of course if one subscribes to the same tired old garbage that was spewed by a former US Secretary of State; one Ms. Albright, one may "think"(??) that the deaths of innocent children in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, Syria, Libya, Somalia, Mali, etc are worth it. If so, please deposit your resignation from the human race at the door as you exit.
This brings me to the newest/latest country to get introduced to the war OF terror; Mali. Of course when mentioning Mali, one seems to need to include Algeria as the newest NATO/Africom war includes Algeria along with Mali as recent events have shown.
And here the world thought that France had given up on the "Napolean complex" of the departed Sarko. Well, Mr. Hollande has shown us all that he also knows how to "get things done" militarily at least. Poor Mali, and also, poor Algeria. Mali as the "center" of this newest imperial war site. Algeria, for having given permission to French aircraft to overfly Algerian air space to bomb "rebel" targets in Mali.
Of course the Anglo-French-American war is now focused on Mali because of the natural resources in that nation. Hey, China was looking to make a deal there no doubt. China is or has been, making many deals throughout the African continent. I believe the term used for such is "soft power". Financial deals ARE much softer than military ones, true enough. Of course the US/NATO/EU "must" stop China at all cost. After all, how else are "we" to even try to stay even with China and its economy? And don't forget that the USA is quite beholden to China whcih owns a substantial amount of US Treasury notes. I believe it is something on the order of one Trillion dollars worth. If that is an incorrect figure, let me know.
See, if "we" can get to the resources of Arfica before China does, why "we" might be in charge and could even call the tune as to the price for said resources. See how this all plays out, or so they hope, for the "too big to jail" banksters? Yep, never count Wall Street out of potential porfits. No sir, by the gods, they will fight tooth and claw for the merest scraps of obscene profits to the very last drop of our blood. What? Did you think they might fight their own battles? LOL, now, if you did, you need education, FAST. And in a hurry. No my friends, the banksters NEVER do the actual fighting, that is why they have us working class and poor folks around. Geez, ain't we so very "fortunate"? Yeah, sure we are.
In my opinion, it seems that the US of A cannot make enough enemies fast enough. Just look at the countries where we have been quite "successful" at making ever more new enemies; Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Somalia, Syria, Libya, Palestine (long term),Iran(ongoing since 1979), and now Mali, and most likely Algeria. The list keeps getting longer by the day it seems. And yet, "we" claim to be a "peace loving" nation. Why, we even claim that the US of A is a nation of laws and that we have "justice for all".  You know, if this wasn't so damn laughably sad, it might almost be funny in an ironic sort of way.
In my humble opinion, this is what we get when we go into countries where we do NOT have the faintest beginning of an understanding of the culture. My wifes' family is a very close one, they really do care about each other even to the level of cousins and children of cousins. No big deal one might say, most every family was like that at some time and many still are, the rub is; in places like Afghanistan, her family could be seen as less than normal. In some cultures, such as Afghanistan seems to be, they carry familia ties even further "down the line" as it were. Kill my third cousin, twice removed, and I, as an Afghan, may decide that you are now MY enemy on a very personal level. Yeah, one could say that they take family very seriously in other cultures. "We" get in big time trouble by going to such countries and NOT having any sort of understanding of their culture. Hey, most Americans may not get terribly upset if a third cousin, twice removed dies, hell, we may never have known that person. Not so in some cultures, even if they were not very close, they are blood kin and that is all that matters to them.  I am NOT saying or trying to imply that such a culture is any "better" than the culture of America, just that we need to have some idea of the culture of the country where we try to impose our vaklues. Our values may be totally at odds with their culture. How many of us who are not Muslims would like to have Sharia law imposed on us by foreign troops? I'd venture to say, none of us would like that one damn bit, and rightly so. Why then, do "we" expect the Afghans to "eat up" and love our values? This is a very complicated deal and I cannot do even the most minimal justice to it no matter how long I rant about it. All I can do is to state the most obvious, that "we" as a nation, as a people, do NOT have much of an understanding of the cultures of foreign countries. We all should at least be minimally interested in them I think. Certainly our troops who are sent to such places ought to have at least a crash course in the proper etiquette/ethics of said nation before they depart for same. Or, am I the one who is totally out of line here? Quite possibly I AM off base with my suggestion, I don't know, but I DO think some basic understanding of the culture of the country the troops are sent to should be a given. Or, maybe "we" do not seriously want to win the "hearts and minds" in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Yemen, etc. After all, if "we" keep creating more and more enemies, then this war OF terror can just keep on going and going, and going, and going...........just like the "Energizer Bunny"(TM). Yeah, maybe that explains it. Just my guess. Any thoughts?
semper fi

Down time

Greetings to all.
For the next few weeks, most likely well into January of 2013, there will be no new posts here.

I am having serious, major computer troubles and do not see how this can be corrected until after the new year starts. I am using borrowed computer and computer time to post this.

I will try when possible to stay current with events, but make no promises. I will post here again as soon as I can get my old computer up and running again. Until then, I wish all a pleasant holiday season. Or, as nice a holiday time as possible in this messed up world.

One more note. I apologoze to all who have posted comments here on the old corner that I have not replied to. I am just recovering from personal health issues and have not been up to posting my replies to your excllent comments. Again, I apologize for failing to be prompt with my replies. I did not forget your comments, I just was not in any great shape to engage my old brain to form a coherent reply.

Sorry for the non posting for the forseeable future, but maybe life will be a bit more pleasant without my rants for the next few weeks and beyond.
semper fi

Post election blues?............not with the current turn of events

Well, well, what a week. Man alive, who would have thought things would go so "well" after the recent election here in the empire?
Holy catfish folks. Not only do we get a flood of petitions demanding (well, at least asking/begging) for the secessionist gang in nearly every state, we have old "king" David of Iraq/Afghanistan "fame" stepping down as director of the "vaunted"(??) CIA due to some emails by his biographer/mistress.
Anybody who believes that "king" Davids' "reputation"/"legacy" may be damaged is and has been out to lunch for years. Think I am "piling on" poor little Davie?  Well, just check the links on the right side of this page, go to "Pen and Sword" blog. Yes, I know, there have been no new entries. Well, there is a good reason why, Jeff Huber died earlier this year. Man, I DO miss his insight and wit regards this "affair".  Jeff had skewered "king" David many times over the batshit of Iraq and the much "heralded/vaunted" surge. What actually happened was "king" David basically paid the Sunni militias to stop killing US/NATO troops and go kill Shia militia instead. Also, "king" David LOST/misplaced/could NOT account for something on the order of some hundreds of thousands of small arms like AK-47's. So much for the "surge" and the dear to the hearts of the neo-crazies, COIN.
Yes, Petraeus did get all sorts of high praise for COIN. He and his COIN were hailed as "new" and such, actually all COIN was/is is a repeat of the same old Phoenix program the CIA pulled off in Vietnam. Again, go and read some of the excellent analysis Jeff did during his life to expose the "sandbox" generals and the "bathtub" admirals. Man, Jeff knew his stuff cold and he was unafraid to name names. He would have a total field day for months with the current mess with poor old "king" David, the CIA, and the five sided puzzle palace (also know as the Pentagon).

Of course Delayus, er, um, uh, Petraeus will have his defenders and rightly so. However, I object to the bullshit they sling and the cover ups that WILL ensue if they have not started already. The lies and cover up will do zero to help, but may assist those still in office/power to keep some what "clean" and not get caught in the same net with the now former "king" David. The guy has been described as a "genius" in at least two articles I read today alone. OK, he may have been a bit smarter than the average general, but genius? No way Jose! Not by a country mile. Genius? Albert WAS a genius, E=MC2  and all. THAT is genius. COIN as "genius", not ever. no way.

According to one source, we now have petitions from ALL 50 states regarding secession. No kidding folks, it seems that EVERY state wants OUT of the union. We have been through this before people. Well, this just confirms my position regarding Americans and not just world history, but even the history of the USA. There was this thing called the "Civil War" back in the 1860's that dealt with seceding from the union. The states that wanted out lost, big time. This "movement" such as it is, will not go very far in my opinion. I will go even further, no doubt this will piss off many, but too damn bad, it is MY opinion. These clowns want out of the union mostly because a black man was re-elected. YES, I DO think this "movement" to leave the union IS due to racist ideas. The whole "idea"(??) that the USA was in a "post racial" era after the election in 2008 was and IS totally wrong. The racist talk/attitude in the USA ever since the 2008 election was not undercover in any way, it was and IS out in the open. Those who disagree must have been hiding under a rock with NO access to any form of media including the internet and were totally devoid of ALL human contact. A large number of my fellow Americans ARE racist and have never been able to accept that "their" White House was occupied by a black man and his family.

There, I HAVE said it, the USA IS a racist nation. We are NOT anywhere close to being "post racial" no matter who says we are. We SHOULD be past such attitudes, but we are not. I wish with every fiber of my being that we WERE past the racist past. Of course, wishing  doesn't make it so. All any of us can do is to live our lives so that we do not treat others who look different from us with the same respect we want to be treated with. Treat ALL people the way you want to be treated. If we all try, then at some future point in time, we just may get past our collective past. 

In the mean time, we can sit back and watch this all unfold. Will "king" David be called to testify at a congressional committee? How far will theses secessionist "movements" go? Grab a comfy chair, pop some popcorn, get your favorite beverage and watch the show. It has the promise to be one hell of a show. Just do not look for very much truth in it all, remember, this IS America and we still have Faux Noise on the tube.
semper fi

Wow, the election is finally over..........for a while at least

Well for a short while, at least, we are done with the election and, best of all, no more suffering through those damn TV/radio adverts telling us all how "bad" the opponent is.
I have no doubt at all that nearly every human being who resides in the old US of A is extremely happy, jumping for joy even, that there will be no more political campaign ads. Well, don't get too excited folks. The 2014 mid-terms are ahead and we may start getting bombarded by them sooner than usual. Hell, the 2012 election seemed to have gone on for years if not decades. Man alive, these elections seem to never end. 

Well, for the sanity of the majority of Americans I have an idea. How about a Constitutional amendment that will limit ALL election campaigns to no more than three (3) months and they must end 3 full 24 hour days before we go to the polls. Any takers for this one? Seriously, there is NO valid reason whatsoever for the campaigns to go on for months and months as we suffered through this round. Sure the folks who make those damn ads get more money as the campaigns drag on for seemingly decades, but we, the people who watch the occasional TV program are the ones who suffer. No, I do not have tiro or any such device and will not buy one. Even having such a device and doing the old "fast forward" past the ads is too much trouble. Just limit them to three months MAX! Let the folks who make said ads get a different job. 

No doubt the supposed "left" is overjoyed. "Dear ;eager" also know as Gobomber or as Bill (Bill the butcher that is) calls the guy, our peace prizident has been re-elected. Big goddamn deal. Yeah, I know, you may say that last is "sour grapes". Not really, I knew the person I voted for had little to no real chance of winning.  OK, so why am I not jumping for joy? Any of the regular readers of this corner know I am not and have not been a "fan" of dear old Gobomber. I am not happy with the results because this president has used the espionage act of 1917 more often than ANY president since that law was enacted! You read that right, Gobomber has used that little used, before he won the office, than any other president including Shrub/Cheney. Almost takes your breath away does't it? Yeah, and remember this guy did win the Nobel Peace Prize. 

This same man, Gobomber also has NOT closed Gitmo as he promised to do when he was elected the FIRST time back in 2008. This president has authorized/conducted MORE drone strikes around the world than Shrub. 

"Dear leader" is also on record as being FOR cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid among other social programs that actually benefit real hard working Americans and those who because of illness or injury are unable to work. What he IS for are the continued cuts to the taxes for the richest 1%. Well, sure thing there charlie, after all, who do "we" think he works for? It sure as hell is NOT the working class or the poor. Nope, old Gobomber works for the top 1%. They contribute more money to him than we do. Hey, we, the working class and poor don't have the extra funds to send to any politician. What little we may be able to part with will never come close, not even collectively, to what just ONE of the top 1% will spend to get their candidate elected. face it folks, we live in a nation that IS ruled by the big money interests/people. 

Some commentaries have said that the presidential election alone will probably TOP $3 Billion! Three Billion dollars??!!! Now that IS some damn serious money. The spending for president, House of Representatives, and the Senate will most likely exceed(!!!) $6 Billion. Now, think about that figure for a few minutes. Yes, 6 Billion dollars were most likely spent by all the candidates who ran for federal office this year. That 6 Billion could have been much better used to provide meals for school kids, or medical care for those without and insurance, or to pay for teachers to actually teach our children.  Basically, this money could have gone for much better use. I am certain all of you good people have or could very quickly make your own "wish list" for that amount of money NOT counting spending it all on yourselves and/or your family members.  That money would make a nice dent in fixing our roads and bridges for another "off the top of my head" list of better uses for $6 Billion. See how easy it is to come up with better uses for the money, and I have NOT set out to make a list, just thinking out loud as it were. 

One bit of good news from the recent election follows. BOTH Todd Akin and Richard Mourdock LOST their bids for office! Well, that IS cause for a real celebration in my book. You remember Mr. Akin, he was the clown who brought up the subject(?) of "legitimate"(??) rape. Yeah, THAT guy. Well, he LOST the election! Damn, that IS good news.
On to Mr. Mourdock, he was the moron who told us all, women in particular, that IF a woman became pregnant due to being raped, well that would all be Gods' plan. Yeah THAT guy. Well, he LOST his run at elected office. Again, damn good news to me.

Now, before you all run out and taunt your "tea party" neighbors, hold on a minute. This does NOT mean that the "tea party" is done, finished, gone for good. Nope, those sort never actually quit. Not because they do not know how to quit, they really Do know how to quit, just not when. These clowns will be back, with a vengeance no doubt. Now I know that some "pundits" or whatever some bloggers/columnists (on the web in particular) are jumping with joy at the "tea party" losses. Sites like the Smirking Chimp for an example are loaded with that sort of "leftists" or "liberals" as they seem to call themselves. Well, if those people are actually "liberals" or "leftists" then I do NOT fit/belong on the "left" and do NOT ever call me a "liberal" or if you do, watch yourself if you are ever physically close to me. Why? Because any who call me a "liberal" of "leftist" will be the recipient of a size 13 boot to their hind end. Yes, I DO wear a size 13 boot. Hey, I am 6 foot 3 inches tall, large feet come with being tall. Don't worry too much though, I only weigh about 175 and being disabled means there will not be a true "full force" along with said kick to the rear. Please, though, do NOT label me as a "liberal" nor a "leftist". By the way, I am NOT a "conservative" either. Actually, I do not seem to "fit" any political party, though I do lean a bit towards the socialists more than any other. I mean lean in a political sense. I DO tend to lean towards my own right side as my left knee is very arthritic and "favor" my left leg/knee, which means I lean while standing to my own right.

All the supposed "liberals" who are celebrating Gobomber getting re-elected are disgusting to me. Will they ever even ask him to stop the drones? Will they even ever ask/beg him to NOT enforce the NDAA? Will they ask/beg him to NOT kill any human being unless said person has a fair trial first? Will they ask/beg him to finally CLOSE Gitmo? I could go on with the asking/begging for much, much longer. I have left out many other "questions" and I am 100% certain that all of you good people have your own lists of "requests" you would like to have Gobomber answer. Like, why does he think(??) he alone can place any of us, Americans included, on his "kill list" and then have any of us droned to death? I bet every reader of this small corner would love to ask the president of the USA THAT question among many, many others as equally important or nearly as important. Good grief folks, I could do an entire post/rant on JUST such questions. And the supposed "liberals" who populate many web sites/blogs are telling us all we should be so very happy that Mittens lost to this Gobomber guy. Well, to that I say bull shit! Those folks need to realize that the "lesser of two evils" is STILL evil! 

In some respects, it may have been better for us had Mittens won. First off, it would get many of the supposed "liberals" OFF their collective fat butts and into the streets, as they did (for the most part) during the 8 years of Shrub/Cheney. How many of you noticed how few real demonstrations there have been these past four years? Where were the anti-war demonstrations the past four years? Hell, the country has been at war during EVERY minute of Gobombers first term. It matters not at all that he "inherited" two failed/failing wars from Shrub/Cheney. As I said above, he has used drones MORE than Shrub/Cheney ever did. Gobomber has gone even further than Cheney would have even thought to try with the "kill list" and his "position" as judge, jury, and executioner. Man alive, I bet Cheney has huge wet dreams of doing that himself. Poor old "dead eye" Dick, his pacemaker may not handle much of those dreams. Fine with me, the sooner he and those like him "check out" the better the world will be for those who are still alive. Vile bastard. (Take THAT NSA) At least had Mittens won, we would be 100% certain that the end of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid along with many other social programs would be ending very soon. With Gobomber, all we know for sure, is that he WILL go along with the damn elephant gang and their "cuts" to the social programs that many Americans depend on to stay alive. Gobomber will cut those needed programs, he will just be a bit less vocal about it and no doubt will claim, as he did the past four years, that the Republican congress critters "made him do it". On that "made me do it" I call Bull Shit! He HAD a Democratic majority when he first took office in january 2009. What did he do with that majority? Nothing! Not one single damn thing worth doing. In short, he pissed it all away. He could have demanded a real national health care system that would have benefited ALL Americans. Not to be folks, nope, all we got was "Obamacare" which does NOT help the people, but it DOES insure obscene profits for the damn health insurance companies. Oh joy. Aren't I "glad" or "overjoyed" that our "dear leader" the good old USA "prizident" won re-election? NO! I am NOT happy one damn but. We got screwed again folks. OK charlie, so tell em what IS new? Well, FEMA seemed to have had a better response to hurricane Sandy than they did for Katrina. THAT is some good news. The bad news follow to that is, there is another bad storm headed towards those same folks who made it through Sandy. I hope all who live on the East coast are OK and staying warm and dry. You and your family and friends are in my thoughts.  While Katrina and then shortly after Rita did severe damage to my area of the country, at least it was not near freezing at night after those hurricanes. I hope all who are/were effected by Sandy and the next storm are safe, dry, and warm. 
On the subject of Sandy and its aftermath, any who want to help, I have a suggestion. Look up a local food bank in the storm damaged area and donate what you can to that type of organization. My experience with the local food bank here in central Louisiana is that ALL donations to the food bank are used locally. The local food bank does help other areas when they have surplus enough to do so. Most every donation to a local food bank stays in the area they operate in. I trust the food bank far more than I trust any other organization including the Red Cross.  You all make your own choices, but if you wish to follow my suggestion, I do not think you will be sorry for it. Just my own opinion and experience. Our local food bank is happy for ANY donations they get, even spare change less than one dollar. Also, keep in mind that even after the recovery from Sandy is done, there will always be a need at all local food banks. Yes, even in America there are many people who cannot afford a decent meal every day and need our help to stay alive. I cannot give enough praise to the food bank here in central Louisiana, they are some of the kindest, most understanding and caring people in the entire nation in my opinion. 

On that note, time to end this rant for now. Thank you all for taking the time out of your day to stop by and have a read. I appreciate every reader and I appreciate ALL comments. Well, OK, I don't much care for the spam, but those are easy to get rid of, so far.
To all, stay safe, warm, and dry. Unless you go swimming or get in a hot tub that is. In that case, get wet.
semper fi

Where I get disgusted.........again

Well, here I go again.
Yes, the old guy (me) os once again highly pissed off (better to be pissed off than pissed on, as we used to say in my days as a Marine. Not that we were not ever pissed on, but, oh well......), or if you prefer more polite language (you really need to find other blogs if my language offends you, it is MY blog/corner here) I am totally disgusted, again. Or is that still? 
Either way, disgusted/pissed off/offended/sick of the "same old shit" (I DID warn about my language).

OK, so what "set off" the old guy today? Some internet articles is what. Yes, real news/opinion as opposed to total crap, i.e., "mainstream media". First off, a "hat tip" to an old internet/email friend, one Mike Whitney. Mike usually posts on economic issues, but every so often he comes out of his "econ" role and posts some very worth reading items. His latest at the Counterpunch web site today is one of his best ever. www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/31/afghanistan-the-smell-of-defeat/

Now it was not Mike who got me all wound up, nor is it his main source a certain Mr. Lind. I have read much by Mr. Lind when his articles get posted at Anti-war.com. I admit Mr. Lind certainly seems to know what he writes about. Recently, his main focus has been on what he calls "Fourth generation Warfare", which is to say, the types of wars we have been engaged in starting, my opinion, with Vietnam. This type of war is one in which the USA/NATO are pitted against non-state foes, such as the Taliban and/or al-Qaeda. In short what used to be called guerrilla warfare. As with Vietnam, we have lost in Iraq and ARE on the losing end in Afghanistan. 
That "we" are having our collective asses (hind ends for those who prefer "polite" terms) handed to us is no surprise to me. The US military did NOT learn the lessons of the Vietnam war/fiasco. All the military "seemed" to have learned from Vietnam was to never allow unattended access to the "press". This is why ALL media has had military "minders" and/or pool reporting of our recent wars. The best(or is that worst?) example would be the "embedded" reporters during and after the invasion of Iraq in 2003. 

What bothers me is that it appears that no matter which corporate candidate "wins" next Tuesday, we will have more wars in countries most Americans cannot find on a world map. As is/was true of both Iraq and Afghanistan and may still be the case for many in the USA. Hey, watching the "news" takes away from my time "texting" on my new "smart" phone. Oh America, we have smart phones and dumb people who buy them. And some of you think this isn't a "great" country? Well, we'll show you all who is or isn't "great". As soon as I finish this "text" message, maybe.

Yeah, I AM disgusted with so much in the USA, but in my opinion, that disgust has been earned. The dumbness, as it were, is active, not a passive thing. In the age of the internet, I believe it IS an active thing to be ignorant of world events. What with all the connectivity, cell phones, smart phones, tablets, etc I do believe it takes serious effort to be uninformed, aka dumb. 

Back to Mr. Lind. What really bothers me, and has done so since the first time I read his work, is that he is not, or seems to not be, anti-war. He comes across to me as being in favor of "war done right" rather than truly anti-war. I have not looked into his background, so I do not know, nor really care, if he ever served in any military. He seems very good at theory and he is persuasive, or can be. This ties in with some other articles I ran across that mention the possibilities of the coming election next week. No doubt some of you may have read articles by Mr. Ellsberg and Mr. Chomsky telling you to vote for Gobomber IF you live in a "swing" state, vote a "third party" if your state is a "lock" for either wing of the old war party. This is the old "lesser evilism" at work people.  OK, easy for me to say as Louisiana is NOT a "swing" state. We Do have more than a few "swingers" no doubt. Hey, we have New Orleans where "swing" is IN. Musically at least, any other form of "swing" is beyond my personal knowledge.  
As a Mr. Amos Burritt put things (also at Counterpunch) in an article dated 20 October 2012, Enough of the "lesser evil" voting. Amen sir! Damn right! About time we had some realism on the major web sites. Thanks for posting this one Counterpunch.www.counterpunch,org/2012/10/29/obama-in-2012-american-death-squads-in-2016/
Now, before you say;"Wait a second there old man. You need serious mental health intervention." Consider the basis of such an argument. IF Mittens "wins" next week, how many of you think the anti-war "left" will be revived? How many of you think that the "Occupy Movement" will roar back to life big time, should Mittens "win"? I don't know how you voted on those questions, but as for me, I'd say "bet the farm" on BOTH being 100% true. Hell, even the cliche 110% true. And YES, I am fully aware that one cannot ever give 110%. It is not possible, just consult an elementary physics text book. 100% is THE maximum anybody or system can ever give of itself. 
Mr. Burritt makes a damn good argument that re-elected, Gobomber will continue on his merry way. You know how that goes, unlimited drone attacks any where, any time, the "kill list" whereby Gobomber is now judge, jury, and executioner. We now have in the USA unlimited detention for ALL persons (YES even including US citizens) for an indefinite time period. And ALL of this plus more to come, on the sole "say so" of "dear leader" Gobomber. To paraphrase Mel Brooks from his film "History of the World Part One" It's good to be POTUS! Hell yes, he is now above any and all laws. And on his own word he has attained(?) these "heights". I'd say depths rather than heights as NO human being ever should have anything remotely near such authority. And to think, America used to be a democratic republic. Or so it supposedly started out as such. Quoth the Raven; "Nevermore". 

So, what to do? Should we all go and vote for Mittens, with the near certainty that this might revive the "left" in America? Do we just follow Mrs. Ellsberg and Chomsky and vote to re-elect "dear leader"? Or, do we vote for the candidate you feel might actually represent you and not the huge multi-national corporations? I would be the last person to tell anybody who to vote for, but my vote WILL go to a third party candidate. Hey, here in central Louisiana, we have NINE (Yes nine) candidates for POTUS who are NOT members of the war party. OK, that was a long winded way to say that on election day, I have 11 choices for the highest office in the land! Wow, an abundance of candidates. I will ask each of you, if you have yet to make a choice, to check how many candidates are running in the state you live, then read the policy statements/platforms of each. After doing so, make your best choice. True, no "third" party candidate has much real chance of winning, but it is YOUR vote, use it as YOU wish. Damn the war party, vote your best interests and not the biggest spenders.

One causation, and here I do agree that re-electing Gobomber may be the worst choice. If he is re-elected, who among the "left" will even try to hold him accountable? Wo among that gang has even tried since 2009? How many protests were there against the ongoing bankster bailouts? How many anti-war protests have there been since January 2009? Yeah, I thought so. What ever did happen to the Occupy movement? Lost in the shuffle? I do not mean to be nasty/critical of the Occupy folks, but I DO wonder what happened to them. Yes, I know, hurricane Sandy just got done with New York city. That is this week, where has Occupy been these last months?  They can't all be old and disabled like me. Oh, right, it IS football season. OK, that may be a bot over the top snark, but where is everybody who claimed to be of the Occupy movement? The Meet Up page I bookmarked has no new events even planned for months. 

So, in summary, the old guy (me) is disgusted again/still. He says vote the candidate who YOU think best represents YOU. He also says, no matter which war party guy "wins" we will have more damn fool wars of choice, less economic good news (for the common folks NOT the richest), and less freedom, of the net or any other freedom listed in the Bill of Rights. Neither Gobomber nor Mittens will do anything to undo the constitutional mess we are in now days. Neither of them will revoke unlimited detention without Habeus Corpus or access to a lawyer, neither will revoke the "renditions" by the CIA and/or "special Ops" types. Neither will wind down, let alone eliminate, the use of drones to bomb and kill supposed enemies. Drones WILL be common place in the skies of America, no matter which war party guy "wins" next week. Our civil liberties will NOT be restored by either Gobomber nor Mittens. Neither will offer anything worth having to the working class or the poor. Both will continue the all out assault on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid among other social programs, such as Foo Stamps and our schools. What will be done will be whatever increases profits for the richest of the rich and the multi-national corporations who profit from war. 
My one big question is; how much of this crap will Americans take before something finally snaps? How far will they allow themselves to be pushed before they push back? Or am I just an old, worn out damn fool for even asking such things? Maybe so, maybe so. And yet, as I live and breathe, I feel compelled to keep asking. 
semper fi