Cogitamus

Veteran Barred from Campus for Essay on Violence

Interesting story in today's Baltimore Sun about a former soldier who was injured several times in Iraq and who was until recently enrolled at a local community college.  For one of his classes, encouraged by his teacher, he wrote an essay about his experiences and his "addiction" to killing.  The essay has caused him to be barred from the school.  Memories of the Virginia Tech killer are running through the college administrators' minds.  Comments to the article are split about 50-50, with some coming down on the side of freedom of expression, and others on the side of caution.  See what you think.

Excuse Me, I'm Having A Moment

From the Wall Street Journal:

Higher Taxes Won't Reduce the Deficit

The claim here. . .is that these added revenues—potentially a half-trillion dollars a year—will be used to reduce the $8 trillion to $10 trillion deficits in the coming decade. If history is any guide, however, that won't happen. Instead, Congress will simply spend the money.

Sigh. . .

Deep breath. . .

YES THAT'S EXACTLY RIGHT WHICH IS WHY WE HAD BUDGET SURPLUSES AT THE END OF PRESIDENT CLINTON'S TWO TERMS IN OFFICE AND WE IMMEDIATELY STARTED RUNNING DEFICITS AS SOON AS GEORGE BUSH'S TAX CUTS TOOK EFFECT.

That is to say. . .

I am so goddamned sick and goddamned tired of the same bullshit being thrown at me every single goddamn day by the same motherfuckers who threw this same line of bullshit at me yesterday and the day before and the day before that.

I am especially tired of how my fellow citizens are incapable of remembering what happened in this country yesterday, let alone what happened ten years ago.  I'm tired of people who are so willfully ignorant, so utterly stupid that they can't remember the last time we had a budget surplus in this country was under a Democratic President and

higher

fucking

 

TAX RATES!

 

Ok, I'm done for now.

Flyshare!

 

Sick of filthy, cramped and overbooked commercial flights and--even worse--having to endure increasingly intrusive Security Theatre for the privilege of boarding them?  Consider this intriguing addition to the list of A-to-B options: Planepooling.

Sharing ownership of a private plane is obviously not a new idea--think Net Jets--but this is a nascent movement to simply share in the cost of the flights themselves via Flyshare, a clearinghouse-type database organized by "a community of pilots brought together by the rising cost of general aviation and a desire to share our love of flying with adventurous travelers".

Pilots post where they're going and when; passengers post where they need to go, and when; the twain meets and a new mode of travel takes off, so to speak.  And as more of each are added, the system grows and succeeds (unless the craven, bought-and-paid-for creeps in Congress figure out a way to ban it or burden pilots with TSA-style bullshit).  A couple of guys I know who fly their own planes are just the types who would sign up for this, too.  It would make their own flying forays cheaper and give them the satisfaction of thumbing their noses at the Brownshirts.

All hail the market forces!

Here's to you, Alan Grayson--A liberal turns her lonely eyes to you

I know I'm not alone in hoping that Florida Congressman Alan Grayson returns to Washington soon. He's been one of the very few Good Guys to ever represent our unique and complicated state, and now he's leaving:

"There's not any doubt about it. The people's business is not being done. There's enormous influence by lobbyists and by special interests," he says. "And the other side has completely sold out to them."

Grayson says he always resisted the influence of those lobbyists.

"A good description of what happened in my case is that they couldn't buy me, so they decided to destroy me with negative ads [during the midterm campaign] that people in my district saw an average of 70 times," he says.

Grayson responded with a controversial ad of his own. It called his opponent "Taliban Dan" and repeated clips in which Webster appeared to say about his wife "she should submit to me." Although the spot was roundly criticized, Grayson says he was justified in running it.

"We had to do it because, in my case, he ducked every debate we were scheduled to have. And the result of that is that we had no way to communicate his record except for the fact that we could run ads that people called negative ads," he says. "And it's unfortunate that the system leaves no other possibility."

Grayson says the ad was a last resort.

"The average voter in Orlando saw that ad twice. The average voter in Orlando saw 70 ads calling me, an incumbent Congressman, a liar, a national embarrassment, a loudmouth, a dog and an evil clown," he says. "So I don't think that my opponents or anyone in the media for that matter — none of whom ever came to my defense — can lecture me on civility in politics."

Let's face it, this whole "civility" argument is a baldfaced joke. It's a silencing technique, really; it's what the entrenched Villagers, aka the White House press corps, call the lefty bloggers--Oooh, they're so foul-mouthed and uncivil!

But why should it be considered uncivilized to speak the plain truth? It should not be thought rude or "conversation-stopping" (ahem, Jon Stewart) to point out that Bush is a war criminal--that's exactly what he, Dick Cheney, and a slew of administration members, not to mention all the unethical (and often thieving, brutal, and/or murderous) independent contractors who profited wildly from the Iraq boondoggle, actually are.

Don't people realize that the lying war criminals who brutalized and murdered others without reproof could, as easily and with as little fear of consequences, harm them?

It's not indelicate to call out the Republicans and Blue Cross Blue Shield Dog Democrats for their pro-insurance-industry stance on health care reform (which is to say, don't reform it at all)--it's dead accurate, and Grayson, in his bold, unflinching, and courageous way, was simply doing his job as one of Florida's elected leaders.

Speaking the truth, and fighting for people instead of plutocrats.

Sadly, those who control the message are, themselves, controlled by corporations--some of which have vast defense industry sectors--who own the majority of media outlets now. It is beyond frightening, and I don't know what we can do to counteract it other than keep speaking out on the fora which remain available to us and informing and encouraging people.

They do eventually come around. Some of them do, anyway.

Minstrel Boy is often writing that democracies are historically short-lived and bloody. I often wonder if human nature, even modern-day human nature, is still not that different from the ethos of our canine brethren in that we fall into packs, each with its leader and attendant hierarchy, as opposed to running governments of the people, by the people.

I wonder if, despite the noble intentions of our more cognitively evolved individual pack members, the group at large will always, inevitably, return to the ways of the wild.

At least wolves don't lie to each other about why they're attacking something or collapse their entire social structure by selling worthless debt instruments en masse and leaving countless numbers of their pack-mates homeless and hungry while they line their own dens with yet more mink and caviar.

Also at litbrit.

Young Boy Searched (though not "stripsearched" as header says)

Quoting videographer:  

****** THIS VIDEO OCCURRED AT SALT LAKE CITY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ON NOVEMBER 19TH AT AROUND THE TIME OF 12 PM **********

Lets get the facts straight first. Before the video started the boy went through a metal detector and didn't set it off but was selected for a pat down. The boy was shy so the TSA couldn't complete the full pat on the young boy. The father tried several times to just hold the boys arms out for the TSA agent but i guess it didn't end up being enough for the guy. I was about 30 ft away so i couldn't hear their conversation if there was any. The enraged father pulled his son shirt off and gave it to the TSA agent to search, thats when this video begins. 

It's Life and Life Only

 

"Oh Carol" and "Little Queenie" - The Rolling Stones

Well I'm back and intact -- the junk remains inviolate.  (For those of you who must endure redeyes in coach, let me recommend a cocktail of two gin and tonics and two Ambien -- about an hour into an eight hour flight I drained the second G&T, knocked down the Ambien and the next thing I knew we were circling Chicago -- pure flying bliss.)

Speaking of junk of a different sort, I just finished up "Life" by Keith Richards on my previous flight.  He was a lively travel companion I must say.

A few thoughts on the book and the somewhat improbable life it recounts -- improbable in large part simply because it continues to this day, sixty-seven plus years into the gig.  And that's one of the things that strikes you early on in the book -- that Keith Richards, born in Dartford, just outside of London while World War II raged, was a child of a very different world than those of us born fifteen to twenty years later, especially those of us born in the U.S., a place virtually unscarred by the War.  Richards early memories include walking in still bomb-ruined parts of greater London, of a world still marked by rationing and privation.  I tend to think that the excesses of Richards and his musical cohorts stem in part from this very circumscribed world in which they were born, a place of both material scarcity and a kind of muted emotional palette.  Richards was, amusingly enough, both a boy scout and a choir boy.  But not for long.    

It's a remarkable tale really.  A young English boy of exceedingly modest means and prospects, falls in love with the guitar and the blues of black Americans -- not because there was a career in it, but just because.  He is obsessed and falls in with a group of similar obsessives, including his former Dartford elementary school mate, Mick Jagger.  They practice and practice and practice some more, eventually getting to play live in London for laughably little, if any, money.  (Interestingly, Richards meticulously recorded both the dates and places of the gigs and the payments, modest though they were.)  And then, in an insanely short time, the Rolling Stones were an international phenomenon, following on the heels of the Beatles (who also inspired Richards and Jagger to become songwriters). 

The most striking thing about the book -- after all the drugs ingested, the arrests made, the prison terms narrowly averted, and the dirt dealt -- is the seriousness that Richards brings to music.  It is a passion that seemingly remains undimmed to this day, the deep desire to unlock the sounds in his head, to play guitar and lead a band.  Everything else, the money (made and lost), the fame, the women, and yes, the drugs, are, at best, secondary.  Indeed, the drugs -- and there are shit tons of them -- seem less recreational than vocational to some substantial degree.  Richards relies on a mind boggling regimen of heroin and cocaine -- pure Merck pharmaceutical cocaine if you must know (a great endorsement deal just waiting for our legal system to lighten up) -- to give him both the patience and endurance to extract those precious sounds, the riffs and rhythms, the weaving guitars, the whip crack drums, the raucous horns, the rollicking piano -- everything that made the Stones the greatest band in the world for an astonishingly fecund five years from the release of Beggar's Banquet through Exile on Main Street, the latter being the culmination of, and perhaps the breaking point, associated with Richards' drug-fueled, sleep deprived, writing and recording style.

Thereafter, the drugs, arrests, and fame lead to diminishing artistic returns, although the passion to play remains. The Stones continue to undertake periodic mega-stadium tours and make a fortune while so doing (after ending their peak years in near penury), although the new music produced over the last thirty or so years is rarely memorable.  The songs from the late 60s-early 70s golden age remain the core of the play list -- one senses that like many veteran rock and roll writers, Richards and Jagger just don't have the juice left to produce a full album's worth of memorable material, where once the songs flowed effortlessly, almost unconsciously.

Much has been made of Richards talking trash about Jagger.  And it's true -- the book has a series of snipes at Jagger, implying that he is a shameless social climber, a poseur, an egomaniac, and, the greatest of sins in Richards' view, not fully loyal.  One gets the sense of a deeply complicated relationship -- a nearly fifty year marriage between difficult personalities filled with all kinds of hurt and betrayals (each slept with the others significant other -- something that still seems to rankle Richards forty years later), and yet an irrevocable, and, mutually dependent, bond.  My favorite take on this part of the book is this fictional reply that appeared in Slate drafted by the ironically named Bill Wyman.  (Bass player Bill Wyman is also the subject of Richards' scorn -- only Watts is spared.)  I am struck by Richards lack of perspective and gratitude with respect to Jagger who tended to business when Richards was incapable of it, in such a way that Richards is a very wealthy man today; and sprung to Richards' defense and mobilized resources whenever (and it was quite frequent) legal problems threatened to send him to jail. 

Richards is frank in the book without always being insightful.  He doesn't seem to fully grasp how difficult it might be to work with someone whose drug dependency is so profound that he is habitually, impossibly late, peridoically burns his house or hotel room to the ground, not to mention the air of legal jeopardy that surrounds him.  Friends and associates follow him into addiction and, in some cases, self-destruction -- Gram Parsons, producer Jimmy Miller, engineer Andy Johns, paramour Anita Pallenberg, even Charlie Watts for a time -- with little recognition by Richards of any possible culpability.  He also has the disconcerting habit of referring to women as bitches (although he prides himself on not being a compulsive groupie puller, unlike Wyman) and dropping the odd homophobic remark, usually in snide reference to Jagger (e.g. "Brenda" or "her majesty").

In the end, most of us fans will be inclined to forgive Richards for his trespasses -- because of the pleasure of the tunes he has written, the sheer enthusiasm he brings to the music, his rapscallion's charm, and, hell, out of sheer admiration for his survival.  It's a pretty fun read, one which I would imagine would be even more rewarding for a musician (love to have mhb's input on this one). 

[I love this clip of the Stones in 1969 performing two Chuck Berry songs, showing what a tight band they were and how naturally compelling Jagger was, before he became a bit of a self-parody playing stadium shows -- it's interesting to see how compact the band was -- Richards is almost rooted to Watts throughout and everyone, except Jagger, are but a few feet from one another.  I fear this will be one of a series of Richards related youtube posts -- I hate to go to heavy on the nostalgia, but they were, in fact, that good.]

FIVE WORDS

FIVE WORDS:

Philip Zimbardo.

Stanford Prison Experiment.

Accept the Gift

I thought that Hamid Karzai's clear call for the U.S. to reduce its military presence in Afghanistan and ratchet down the level of aggressiveness of the forces that remain was unqualified good news for President Obama.  Interestingly, I haven't seen much analysis in the mainstream media that suggests that this is the case.  I, on the other hand, see this as a rare gift to be accepted with enthusiasm. 

I think this especially so since I have long had the sense that Obama doubled down in Afghanistan with the greatest reluctance, having been boxed in by a combination of his own campaign rhetoric (a war that must be won), military leaders who are committed to playing out their counterinsurgency fantasies, and the inexorable logic of the Washington Rules.  It seems to me pretty clear that Obama assumed office believing that things in Afghanistan were not nearly as bad as they turned out to be and when advised of the reality on the ground, found himself without good political or military alternatives -- hence the hesitation in choosing a policy and then adopting one that was somewhat contradictory -- escalation coupled with a July 2011 target date for drawing down those same troops, a move that seemed far more political than strategic.

Now, however, the elected leader of Afghanistan, who, whatever his legitimacy, surely has more right than David Petraeus to dictate policy in that sad country, has said in effect, enough is enough -- that the bombings and the night raids and the special ops units, and now, God forbid, the tanks, are not going to produce victory for the United States in what is, from a military perspective, a hopeless cause.   

As reported in the Washington Post article on the introduction of tanks into the theatre, the cultural perceptions of this sort of thing are about as at odds as they could be:

[M]any residents near Kandahar . . . have lodged repeated complaints about the scope of the destruction with U.S. and Afghan officials. In one October operation near the city, U.S. aircraft dropped about two dozen 2,000-pound bombs.

In another recent operation in the Zhari district, U.S. soldiers fired more than a dozen mine-clearing line charges in a day. Each one creates a clear path that is 100 yards long and wide enough for a truck. Anything that is in the way - trees, crops, huts - is demolished.

"Why do you have to blow up so many of our fields and homes?" a farmer from the Arghandab district asked a top NATO general at a recent community meeting.

Although military officials are apologetic in public, they maintain privately that the tactic has a benefit beyond the elimination of insurgent bombs. By making people travel to the district governor's office to submit a claim for damaged property, "in effect, you're connecting the government to the people," the senior officer said.

I believe that this may be the new Millennium equivalent of "we had to destroy the village in order to save it" and it portends no good.  This kind of delusional madness -- this bizarre moral myopia -- is a sign that we are metaphorically back in Saigon circa 1963 -- and we all know how well that worked out.

Obama should take full advantage of the escape route offered by Karzai and commit to a serious pullback of troops as of the July 2011 target date.  The American people will welcome his choice even if the Washington elites get the vapors. 

I Used To Hate Myself In the Morning

Now,

I sleep till noon.

My Letter to Senators, Congressman About the TSA

(I forgot to mention the trauma for sexual assault victims, the danger of absolute power, and the questionable safety of the machines, but hey, I can't remember everything.  Letter sent via each rep's on-line form with appropriate salutation for each):

November 16, 2010 

Dear Senator Mikulski/Cardin/Congressman Cummings:

[To Elijah Cummings only: I had the honor of meeting you during the last day of early voting in Baltimore earlier this month.  I told you how proud I am of having you as my representative in Congress and how much I appreciated your work on healthcare reform.]

I am writing to protest in the strongest possible terms the abuse and infringement of rights being perpetrated on us by the TSA. 

First of all, the stripsearch scanners were rammed down our throats by corporations who stood to profit from them (such as Rapiscan – how appropriate a name – represented by former DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff) and by our elected leaders who acted out of haste at best and cowardice at worst.  Second, we now we have punitive and degrading gropefests foisted upon passengers who opt out of the stripsearch scanners.

On Pastors, Faith And The Lack Thereof

One of the purposes of a seminary education is to bring the student to a crisis of faith, to a point at which all the structures of belief that were created in childhood - and childish - Sunday School classes, summer camps, teen retreats and Sunday sermons are utterly demolished.  A good seminary education is a continual onslaught upon every assumption, every article of faith, everything that the student brings to that point.

Because, you see, no one can trust a minister who has never experienced a crisis of faith.  One of the many problems facing the Christian Church is that there are so many who can become pastors or priests without ever once shaking his or her fist at heaven, yelling curses at God for the injustice of the world, for the way in which we are left alone to find our own way.

Which is why, on the one hand, this article is somewhat encouraging.  It seems that there are a number of atheist ministers at the helm of very conservative congregations.  They are products of conservative Christian churches and the closed educational systems that these churches have created.  They were taught that every word of the Bible is literally true or none of them are.

Julian Assange and Wikileaks

Julian Assange, the man behind Wikileaks, continues to be smeared by the mainstream media.  Gosh, cowardice is in good supply!  So comforting to know that the most base characteristics of human nature manage to thrive no matter what the circumstances.

AP reports today that the trumped-up charges against Assange, formerly dropped, have been resurrected.  And thanks to hatchet jobs on him by the likes of the New York Times, which only a few weeks ago took precedence over the substance of the leaks themselves, Assange is again on the run and in hiding.

Is he paranoid?  Duh.  You sure as shit would be paranoid, too, if you had been the whistleblower on war crimes committed by the most powerful nation on earth and no country would give you asylum.  But that's the way it works in the Land of the Free and Home of the Brave, where lip service is paid to high and mighty concepts like "freedom" and "liberty," but where if you're a good boy or girl you'll hold your tongue and mind your manners and do whatever your overlords tell you to do.  Don't question, don't challenge, just accept authority, and everything will be okay.

Assange and his helpers, at least one of whom is still in jail, and another of whom was detained, are brave people, the way Daniel Ellsberg was brave.  Too bad so many of journalism's finest don't see it.

 ADDENDUM:  Unlike so much of the U.S. media, which is under the Orwellian spell of "enhanced" this and "enhanced" that, the U.K. newspaper the Guardian is unafraid to use real words to describe real actions.  Read about Frago 242, if you can stomach it.

New Jersey Legislators Take on the TSA

Finally, some people with guts.  Media cowards, don't watch; you'll only upset yourselves.

Andy Harris, Opponent of Healthcare Reform, Whinges on First Day

Ha ha ha!  It's lovely to see someone get hoist by his own petard!

New Republican Representative-elect Andy Harris of Maryland's First Congressional District is worried that his health care coverage won't kick in quickly enough to suit him and his family.  Yet he's been a staunch opponent of health care reform from the beginning.  As he once bragged:

"As the only physician in the Maryland state Senate, I know how legislatures approach health care issues," Harris wrote in an op-ed article last year for the Daily Times of Salisbury. "Politicians are usually tone-deaf to those who know the most about the issue: patients and their health care providers."

Not only is he out of touch, he's gutless, to boot:

Harris was not available for comment Tuesday. After the story began taking off on the Internet, he canceled a previously scheduled interview with The Baltimore Sun. His spokeswoman explained in an email that "Andy's orientation schedule got changed around today."

Maybe something else needs to get changed around, too -- like his mind.

TSA Molests 3-Year-Old Child at Chattanooga Metro Airport

And you know the only reason they got any response at all, however lame, out of the TSA, is because the father of this little girl works in TV.  How many times does it have to be proven, over and over and over, that the only thing that gets abusive organizations to change is bad publicity?  And how many of you out there are going to allow your children, after you've spent years teaching them the difference between "good touch" and "bad touch," to go through this?

Hallelujah - Random Act of Culture

(H/T to litbrit)

Senate TSA Oversight Hearing -- Wed Nov 17

The Senate Subcommittee on Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security will hold a Transportation Security Administration Oversight Hearing tomorrow.

For more info:
Jena Longo - Democratic Deputy Communications Director, (202) 224-8374
Nov 17 2010 - 10 AM
Russell Senate Office Building - 253

The committee chair is Sen Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) phone (202) 224-6472. The ranking member is Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison 202-224-5922. 

The subcommittee chair is Sen Byron L. Dorgon (D-ND) phone (202) 224-2551. The ranking member is Sen Jim DeMint (R-SC) phone (202) 224-6121. 

Regardless of your home state, call the chairpersons to ask whether recent TSA abuses are on the agenda for the oversight hearing. Ask to speak with the staffer responsible for dealing with issues related to the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation.

Here's a list of committee members, their homepages, and phone numbers.  If one of

Good News For 2012

Yeah, a lot of Democrats lost their campaigns.  And it's painfully obvious to everyone except those same Democrats that they lost in large part because they refused to use elementary political strategy - you know, campaign on accomplishments, don't give in to GOP talking points all the time, etc.

But we can feel good about Obama's chances in 2012.  In fact, I'm going to say that President Obama will not only convincingly win reelection, but he will once again provide strong coattails for any Democrat smart enough to grab hold.

The reason is very simple.  It's because of this headline and its article:

The big disconnect: D.C. elites think Obama will be reelected, but the public doubts it

Well, actually, it's the byline that makes me so happy:  Mark Penn.  If we can just get Dick Morris and Bill Kristol to say the same I'd advise Obama to not even bother campaigning and to just save his energy.

Dave Roberts: EPA Regulation Better Than Nothing, But Way Short of the Climate Bill

Can't say I'm surprised.  But it's still depressing as hell, especially given the all but nonexistent prospects for Dem legislation of any sort between now and 2017.

Documents released early this week finally start to offer a glimpse into EPA thinking. Long story short: Climate hawks shouldn't expect much from these upcoming regulations. They won't be a substitute for the climate bill. Not even close.

Here's the basic problem the EPA faces: The best way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources -- primarily power plants -- is to approach the situation holistically: shut down a bunch of dirty power plants, build a bunch of clean power plants, and push hard on efficiency to cover the cost differential and protect ratepayers. Legislation could have done that. EPA can't. EPA can't make anybody build anything.

The EPA also can't make anyone find cheap ways to simply use less power to accomplish the same work, which was the big low-hanging fruit of cap-and-trade.  Nor can it make states and cities create the infrastructure (i.e. rail) to enable people to choose lower-carbon alternatives to commuting by car and the like.

After the 2004 election, I was depressed for weeks because I knew that that meant no meaningful action on climate change until 2009 at the earliest.  Good think I didn't know it was really going to be more like 2017 or later.

I swear, one of these days I really am gonna haul Ilya down to the Capitol with me, make the rounds of Senate offices, and point out to them that they should start thinking right now about what they're gonna say a few decades from now to this kid who may well live to see the year 2100, who will see this all play out.

Update: Report: Global Warming Issue From 2 Or 3 Years Ago May Still Be Problem

WASHINGTON—According to a report released this week by the Center for Global Development, climate change, the popular mid-2000s issue that raised awareness of the fact that the earth's continuous rise in temperature will have catastrophic ecological effects, has apparently not been resolved, and may still be a problem.

While several years have passed since global warming was considered the most pressing issue facing mankind, recent studies from the Center for Atmospheric Research, the National Academy of Sciences, NASA, the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, and basically any scientific report available on the issue confirmed that it is not only still happening, but might also be worth stopping.

"Global warming, if you remember correctly, was the single greatest problem of our lifetime back in 2007 and the early part of 2008," CGD president Nancy Birdsall said. "But then the debates over Social Security reform and the World Trade Center mosque came up, and the government had to shift its focus away from the dramatic rise in sea levels, the rapid spread of deadly infectious diseases, and the imminent destruction of our entire planet."

Continued Birdsall, "Because the problem of global warming and massive environmental devastation appears to be lingering, however, the time may be right for the federal government to consider dealing with it again in some way."

Yeah, it's The Onion. God bless 'em.

The TSA -- Always Responding to Yesterday's Attack!

And now comes the news that the TSA is banning printer/toner cartridges -- you know, because of the recent intercepted toner cartridge bombaloos that reportedly originated in Yemen.  That's Homeland Security -- always responding to yesterday's problems!

(Oh, and forget your WiFi, too.)

Not one single terrorist attack has been stopped or thwarted by the TSA -- not one.  The Shoe Bomber and the Crotch Bomber were stopped by passengers, not the TSA.  The result?  First we had to take off our shoes, then we had to surrender our shampoo and mascara, now we have to be stripsearched and groped.  It's only a matter of time before the above scenario is implemented (especially if you stick a toner cartridge up your ass -- you know, because that's something we all try to do).

I can hear the security cheerleaders already:  "Oh, well, it's not such a big deal.  As long as it keeps us safe!  After all, cavity searches aren't going to be the primary method of screening, only the secondary.  The TSA says so!  And after all, what do you have to hide?  If they're singling you out for secondary screening, there must be a reason for it.  Anyway, the search will be done by a medical person.  Like a nurse or something.  A trained medical person.  Why, it's just like going to the doctor!  What's your problem?!"

Keep acquiescing, sheeple.  See where it gets you.

I don't know what Jon Stewart is trying to do, but I like it - update fixed

This is a long Rachel Maddow interview of Jon Stewart (Via TNC), but it's worth the time.  Maddow is trying to pin Stewart on his frequent responsibility-dodge that he's "just a comedian,"  I absolutely believe he's trying to avoid reality with the line.  I don't think he has an obligation to go through the other side of comedy into punditry, but he's there now and ought to acknowledge it.  I think his major contribution to politics has been the accepted point that cable news is terrible for everyone - but he's dragging it out a lot further than it will go.  I still enjoy TDS (The Daily Show) from time to time, and think hearing Stewart's voice along with other pundits' is valuable.  But he is a pundit.  He doesn't like it, and I don't blame him, but it's manipulative of him to imply he has no responsibility in news media shenanigans.   

He makes a good point that comedy is synthesis, resolving what is right in front of you. The news media should add up the facts and synthesize a description of reality - but they leave it to TDS, pretending that doing the synthesis would be biased.  There's a truism that the voice of reason is never funny.  TDS disproves that.  

 

There's a second Yes Men film (That's a Netflix streaming link.) where they start to realize that their pranks may be hilarious, but they're not doing anyone any good.  Them being funny relies on things being VERY WRONG with the world.  So it becomes a question of how to fix things.  Stewart seems to be near that point.  It's not funny anymore; it has never really been that funny that people are being made miserable; and it's time to stop putting jokes where action is needed.  The rally was a little bit of a misfire in that direction.  I know I would have gone to it if possible, just because it seemed like a good time.

 I think TDS is pretty fun to watch, but a major, somewhat reckless, failure at activism or advocacy.  I don't have a problem with jokes about the news, but I have a problem with making news and pretending it's a joke.  When the "teabagger" digression came up, I thought Stewart was being a little hoggy with humor.  I think it's totally appropriate for Maddow to acnkowledge a joke on her show (which I do not watch, so I 'm believing her when she says that she didn't push the joke as hard as, say, Kos.)  

Plus, the whole "Pol Pot is a war criminal" thing Stewart gets into is FAIL.  It's like saying you're not racist as long as you're not in the KKK.  

 

 

Perfect Post Parody Column for all you VSP Lovers

No not you Remy Martin lovers -- the lovers of Very Serious People.

And sadly, this is no parody.  Ruth Marcus evidently got the keys to the Broder 2000 for the weekend and spits out a typically thoughtless Washington Post embrace of the recommendations of the co-chairs of the Deficit Commission. 

Now, it seems, is the time for presidential leadership to serve the shit sandwich of cuts to Social Security and Medicare to his constituents while we end up with a maximum tax rate of 23% for the wealthiest Americans.  Why shouldn't Obama just jump right on that.  All very serious people are in favor of Social Security cuts -- especially raising the normal retirement age.  Why?  Well, just because.  

As Kevin Drum pointed out the other day, any serious discussion of deficit reduction would basically ignore Social Security and discretionary spending and focus almost entirely on rising health care costs.*  Social Security is not in crisis -- it faces a temporary bump down the road, one which can be overcome with very minor tweaking to the program.  

The problems with Medicare and Medicaid need to be addressed in the context of a broader health care fix.  And we know how well that went in terms of bipartisanship the last time around.  

Marcus empitomizes the intellectual laziness of the Washington Press Corps.  Serving spinach is always good for the Democrats because is builds character in the populace.  But this recommendation has nothing to do with solving our long term fiscal problems and everything to do with a corporatist approach to tax policy.    

*I would argue for ending a couple of unnecessary wars, drastically cutting down on our overseas commitments, shrinking the size of the defense budget, and avoiding the use of force as a default foreign policy prescription, but all of this makes me a very unserious person.

Jooni (beauty)

Sometimes it is very easy to get all wrapped up in the seemingly endless corruption, evil, greed, mendacity, and all those negative things which clamor for our attentions and outrage.

For me, it's good to take a little time.  A mere moment or two during the course of the day and remind myself that if I only look around, I am surrounded by beauty.

Beauty holds a special place in the Athabascan languages.  The word Jooni means good, and also beautiful.

For the traditional Apaches, the day begins with this prayer in one form or another.

Yosen, biihiill hishash aaii diji jooni
(God, may I walk today in beauty)

aaiill alza biihiill hishash aaii diji jooni
(this whole day may I walk in beauty)

intinn, ts'osch hadndiin biihiill hishash aaii diji jooni
(on a path marked with pollen, may I walk today in beauty)

shidahyu jooni
(beauty before me)

bideyu jooni
(beauty behind me)

adaje jooni
(beauty above me)

biihiill hishash aaii diji jooni
(may I walk today in beauty)

aaii diji naagozhidan jooni
(may my day begin in beauty)

aaii diji laszhleteh jooni
(may my day finish in beauty)

laszhleteh jooni
 (finish in beauty)

Hishash aaii diji jooni tek'eh naas aannii.
(walk in beauty my friends)

look at this

(i'll begin with an apology
stuff like veteran's day hoopla can send me to the darker regions of my own head
the genius of this cummings poem is that merely changing the weapon that makes the mess will make this poem appropriate for any conflict)

look at this)
a 75 done
this nobody would
have believed
would they no
kidding this was my particular

pal
funny aint
it we was
buddies
i used to

know
him lift the
poor cuss
tenderly this side up handle

with care
fragile
and send him home

to his old mother in
a new nice pine box

(collect

Richard Shindell: Arrowhead

An addition to the beautiful Veterans' Day tributes by MHB and Sir C (see below), one of my favorite singer-songwriters, Richard Shindell.  There are a couple of YouTube videos out there of him singing this, but the audio quality isn't very good, so I refer you to his website where you can click on Arrowhead to listen. It's a song about another hideous war in our history.