Taking Bets
As global capitalism enters its orgiastic death throes, our leaders know what is coming but they cannot or will not work to mitigate the damage (as it would amount to an admission of guilt), instead taking every precaution to preserve their own power and secure a future for themselves on the corpses of billions if not the planet itself. This is what we have been seeing for the last few decades as the War on Drugs and the War on Terror have been used as a pretext for panoptic levels of domestic surveillance/spying, the militarization of police forces and the domestic use of military forces, the criminalization and imprisonment of a disaffected minority class who would be sympathetic to a revolutionary movement, and various other implements of control.
Now we are seeing a deluge of anti-gun propaganda with more media focus on gun related violence than in previous years (violence is statistically on the downfall, what is more prevalent is the media actually covering such stories), as the elite class tries to remove obstacles to its survival. The more resistance to the state's attempt to deprive us of our right to self-defense, the more coverage of gun violence, and perhaps even more "incidents" to sway public opinion towards the disarmament of the citizenry. Within the next few years we will begin to see more examples of politically motivated violence, if not revolutionary violence, as the state becomes ever more repressive and prices begin to rise due to the decrease in the availability of oil. These attacks will come from both the right and left, but the focus will be on the right-wing violence as the "official" left-wing in this country long ago renounced the idea of violence as an agent of change. This does not mean however, that leftist violence will be treated any less harshly. This is what the elite class has been preparing for. They know the end of their power system is near and will only be maintained by massive amounts of violence directed towards those who would see it overthrown, for whatever reasons. They know the war is coming, they've been preparing, hell, waging it for years. "Our" side, or rather, those individuals and communities who have not been the subject of police violence for generations on end, do not even know there's a war on.
Hardly original thought, I just want to see if anyone wants to bet I'm wrong.
Now we are seeing a deluge of anti-gun propaganda with more media focus on gun related violence than in previous years (violence is statistically on the downfall, what is more prevalent is the media actually covering such stories), as the elite class tries to remove obstacles to its survival. The more resistance to the state's attempt to deprive us of our right to self-defense, the more coverage of gun violence, and perhaps even more "incidents" to sway public opinion towards the disarmament of the citizenry. Within the next few years we will begin to see more examples of politically motivated violence, if not revolutionary violence, as the state becomes ever more repressive and prices begin to rise due to the decrease in the availability of oil. These attacks will come from both the right and left, but the focus will be on the right-wing violence as the "official" left-wing in this country long ago renounced the idea of violence as an agent of change. This does not mean however, that leftist violence will be treated any less harshly. This is what the elite class has been preparing for. They know the end of their power system is near and will only be maintained by massive amounts of violence directed towards those who would see it overthrown, for whatever reasons. They know the war is coming, they've been preparing, hell, waging it for years. "Our" side, or rather, those individuals and communities who have not been the subject of police violence for generations on end, do not even know there's a war on.
Hardly original thought, I just want to see if anyone wants to bet I'm wrong.
Updated Yet Again
I cried when they shot Gabbie Giffords
I wailed for more gun control
The shootings at movies and temples
Moved all American's souls
But who cares about drone bomb victims?
They're nothing but charred smoking holes
So love me love me love me, I'm a liberal
I go to women's rights rallies
And I love and support all the gays
The GOP is at war with our freedoms
But what's that about NDAA?
Oh you crazy conspiracy theorist
You folks never cease to amaze!
So love me love me love me, I'm a liberal
I cheered when Obama was chosen
My faith in the system restored
I forgot about anti-war protests
And torture's now safely ignored
George Bush was the worst person ever
But justice is really a bore
So love me love me love me, I'm a liberal
The people who all vote Republican
Should hang their heads in disgrace
I can't understand how their minds work
They're a shame on the whole human race
But now I'm okay with austerity
Barack really made a good case
So love me love me love me, I'm a liberal
I read Kos and Salon and Balloon Juice
I really keep up on the news
I can tell you about how the right wing
Ruins all that the Prez wants to do
You say he lied about single payer?
You're voting for Romney, aren't you?
So love me love me love me, I'm a liberal
I vote for the Democratic party
Not even a question for me
There's no other viable option
Even if with them I claim to agree
I'd remind you that Nader ruined everything
So forget about Jill and Cheri
So love me love me love me, I'm a liberal
Oh I love that you're young and impulsive
Wear every conceivable pin
Go to all those Occupy meetings
Just remember apostasy's a sin
Revolution is nothing to speak of
Don't you kids know that you'll never win?
So love me love me love me, I'm a liberal~
I wailed for more gun control
The shootings at movies and temples
Moved all American's souls
But who cares about drone bomb victims?
They're nothing but charred smoking holes
So love me love me love me, I'm a liberal
I go to women's rights rallies
And I love and support all the gays
The GOP is at war with our freedoms
But what's that about NDAA?
Oh you crazy conspiracy theorist
You folks never cease to amaze!
So love me love me love me, I'm a liberal
I cheered when Obama was chosen
My faith in the system restored
I forgot about anti-war protests
And torture's now safely ignored
George Bush was the worst person ever
But justice is really a bore
So love me love me love me, I'm a liberal
The people who all vote Republican
Should hang their heads in disgrace
I can't understand how their minds work
They're a shame on the whole human race
But now I'm okay with austerity
Barack really made a good case
So love me love me love me, I'm a liberal
I read Kos and Salon and Balloon Juice
I really keep up on the news
I can tell you about how the right wing
Ruins all that the Prez wants to do
You say he lied about single payer?
You're voting for Romney, aren't you?
So love me love me love me, I'm a liberal
I vote for the Democratic party
Not even a question for me
There's no other viable option
Even if with them I claim to agree
I'd remind you that Nader ruined everything
So forget about Jill and Cheri
So love me love me love me, I'm a liberal
Oh I love that you're young and impulsive
Wear every conceivable pin
Go to all those Occupy meetings
Just remember apostasy's a sin
Revolution is nothing to speak of
Don't you kids know that you'll never win?
So love me love me love me, I'm a liberal~
Happy Pride!
"If [people] want any rights more than they's got, why don't they just take them, and not be talking about it?"
-Sojourner Truth
It's Our Ground; Stand It
"What if you could join an army to fight global environmental catastrophe? If you could simply enlist and say, give me whatever I will need to fight this thing, give me a cot, teach me how to fight, and I will fight it?
I’ll bet lots of people would join such an army.
But there is no such army to join."
He's wrong, there are armies to join. Unfortunately, most of them are labeled terrorist organizations by various governments beholden to corporate interests. Which says a lot about the state of environmental protection and awareness in our culture. Our future was given a price and it has been bought and sold cheaply by people who have only the next quarter's profits in mind. We never put it up for sale, but the laws say they own it now. Of course, laws mean nothing when they exist to protect stolen property, stolen resources, stolen wealth, stolen time.
But that leaves people with a mind to protect the futures of themselves and their loved ones in an awkward situation...
The Dead Enemies
So you've been the Prez
For a year or two
And you've got to make the call
With baseball cards
Of the ones in charge
Who cares just kill em all!
Like video games
We don't need no names
Got the bombs just let em go
Braggin' that you know
How the Pakis will blow
Up when we rock and roll!
It's time to taste what you most crave
Yes, Sir, you are so brave
Power to kill, power to save~
Power to kill, power to save~
It's a holiday in Waziristan
Tough luck Tariq Aziz!
It's a holiday in Waziristan
To put your mind at ease!
I'm not saying it was Aliens... but it was Aliens.
For me it's just accepting the fact that these movies will never be as good (or just plain coherent) as they could be if just a little more effort/thought/slapping down of the directors stupid fucking ideas, no George, shut up, that's fucking idiotic, you don't get to make films anymore/planning/research went into them and just take them as they are.
And I don't know if I can set 15 bucks aside for every decent movie that could have been good had it just had a little more work...
And I don't know if I can set 15 bucks aside for every decent movie that could have been good had it just had a little more work...
Triumph of the Kill
This film is surely going to be a clear-eyed objective view on the decision to assassinate bin Laden and a somber reflection on the death of a complicated, contentious, indeed evil human being.
Good thing Congress is pressing to allow production of domestic propaganda.
Good thing Congress is pressing to allow production of domestic propaganda.
The Misleading Statement of Fact Dollar
Are people really influenced by marketers putting labels on things that say something like "20% MORE THAN 18oz. BOTTLE!" or "40% MORE THAN COMPETITORS 24oz. SIZE!"? They're just stating the quantity of stuff in the bottle, they're making no other claim, but it's presented like it's something people should take into consideration when buying that brand.
Don't Worry
I can guarantee a Romney Presidency will be better than a second term of Obama, because under Romney, certain people will once again pretend to care about the horrible shit America does and will at least talk about trying to do something about it.
Well that's sort of better, right?
Well that's sort of better, right?
Seriously, fuck that guy.
In other news, Dick Cheney ripped the still-beating heart of a newborn from its chest, the first wail of its life the last, as he opened the yawning black chasm in his abdomen and forced it beside the dozens of other tormented, ichor dripping organs in another undeserved attempt to extend his horrid life...
Remind Them Afghans
I agree wholeheartedly with the author here; it is unspeakably insensitive to spend a decade invading, bombing, and terrorizing a nation, murdering and torturing thousands of men women and children, and driving tens of thousands more into homelessness and starvation, without at least having the good graces to be aware of their religious and cultural mores. They are absolutely right; there can be no justification for violent rampages, no matter what the injury.
Cowardice
Where will you be, what will you do tomorrow?
Do you have work, school, all those lovely obligations keeping people from joining in with this worldwide howl of rage and love? Do you care? Do you know what's at stake?
Sure, this is important, but we have to pay rent, eat, and keep up our grades. If we're too visible or outspoken, we could lose our jobs you know! Our responsibilities to keep ourselves safe within this system come before making it better. Certainly before even thinking of dismantling it, god forbid!
Where will I be tomorrow? I have to be at work in 3 hours. Do we want to be the gears or the bodies upon them?
I know what I want. But knowing is always a far cry from doing.
[edit.] WAH WAH WAH
I know what I want. But knowing is always a far cry from doing.
[edit.] WAH WAH WAH
Godwin is Dead, Long Live Godwin
After World War 2, Allied Command forced some homosexual prisoners of concentration camps, survivors of the goddamned Holocaust, to serve out their time for their "crimes" after the war, no matter how long they had been in the camps or how they had suffered, some of them into the 1960s.
WIP Air and Water are Nice
I want you all to be environmentalists in your own right.
I want you to think about how we all treat our home.
So I want you to join me in a little exercise:
The Earth is our home. Now, we don't treat it too well despite this, cause its rather large, and we can't picture what we collectively as a species are doing to it.
So imagine your home. Whether you live in an apartment or on a couple of acres of land, this will work either way. But because this is an analogy for the Earth, I want you all to go one step further. Imagine all the water you use in a year and imagine only having enough air to surround your home in half a cube whose base is equal to the square footage of wherever you live.
Got that in your mind? Good.
Now imagine every single thing you use in a year.
Everything you throw out.
All the packaging you toss.
All the food you scrape into the garbage can.
All the bodily waste you produce.
All the cleaning chemicals you spray.
All the gas you burn to go somewhere.
And everything else you don't think about when you buy it, use it, and forget it the moment you lose interest.
Now imagine all that trapped with you in your home.
All the liquid waste goes into your water.
All the gaseous waste goes into the air.
And all the solid waste, stuffed into a corner and desperately hoped to be forgotten.
Actually, nix that, a good bit of the solid waste goes into your water too.
How long do you think you would last in that environment?
Got it?
Good.
Now imagine you and 7 billion other people doing the exact same thing.
How long do you think we will last in that environment?
It's not an idle question. We're living it right now. Think about it!
And now think what we can do about it!
I want you to think about how we all treat our home.
So I want you to join me in a little exercise:
The Earth is our home. Now, we don't treat it too well despite this, cause its rather large, and we can't picture what we collectively as a species are doing to it.
So imagine your home. Whether you live in an apartment or on a couple of acres of land, this will work either way. But because this is an analogy for the Earth, I want you all to go one step further. Imagine all the water you use in a year and imagine only having enough air to surround your home in half a cube whose base is equal to the square footage of wherever you live.
Got that in your mind? Good.
Now imagine every single thing you use in a year.
Everything you throw out.
All the packaging you toss.
All the food you scrape into the garbage can.
All the bodily waste you produce.
All the cleaning chemicals you spray.
All the gas you burn to go somewhere.
And everything else you don't think about when you buy it, use it, and forget it the moment you lose interest.
Now imagine all that trapped with you in your home.
All the liquid waste goes into your water.
All the gaseous waste goes into the air.
And all the solid waste, stuffed into a corner and desperately hoped to be forgotten.
Actually, nix that, a good bit of the solid waste goes into your water too.
How long do you think you would last in that environment?
Got it?
Good.
Now imagine you and 7 billion other people doing the exact same thing.
How long do you think we will last in that environment?
It's not an idle question. We're living it right now. Think about it!
And now think what we can do about it!
Troy Davis Must Die
I learned that policemen are my friends
I learned that justice never ends
I learned that murderers die for their crimes
Even if we make a mistake sometimes
That's what I learned in school...
Doin' What I Think I Should...
Troy Davis yesterday, Occupy Wall St. today.
But not every day for the next few months. Not even most of today. For the usual reasons. So it goes.
We're all part-time bodies upon the gears.
But not every day for the next few months. Not even most of today. For the usual reasons. So it goes.
We're all part-time bodies upon the gears.
Freedom is Slavery.
The professor handed out the Catechism of the Knights of Labor and asked us for our reactions.
Gladys, an older woman, an immigrant from Latin America recounted her first experience with employment in the United States: she worked in a factory in Midtown Manhattan, she was obviously scared to give the exact location and name when pressed by our professor, but she had been exploited, paid less than minimum wage, told to work for 6 days a week, her employers had taken advantage of the fact that she had little grasp of the language at the time and that she knew even less about her rights within this system. She was nearly in tears with the whole class turning in their seats to listen to her in the corner as she described what she went through as slavery.
"But could you quit that job? You did get paid, correct?" The professor pressed.
"Slaves could not quit, they did not have that choice, you were free to leave, right? You could take another job if you found it?"
Gladys responded that yes, she did eventually escape that place, once she had learned enough and could find an employer that could use her language as an asset, rather than a shackle. She was clearly shaken by our teacher's seeming dismissal of her experience to prove what seemed like a semantic point.
"Ah, so you were not a slave then, strictly speaking. See, that's the difference, slaves could not choose to stop working, if they did, they would be beaten. Freedom, free labor means you work or you starve. That is the definition of freedom, in a capitalist system at least."
What a fucking asshole. But good point.
*Update*
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/britain-may-contain-up-to-60-million-slaves-201109134294/
I love these people.
http://www.thedailymash.co.uk/news/society/britain-may-contain-up-to-60-million-slaves-201109134294/
I love these people.
Thinking Back
I don't put much stock in the conspiracy theories, but for everything else progressives and dissenters who don't subscribe to them put at Bush's feet, you'd think they'd be a little more inclined to believe them once the death count in the war on terror reached 2,977 people.
Spark Notes
The Republicans, concerned with getting reelected by frothing, cretinous Teatards have taken a principled stand against raising the debt ceiling, something every single incumbent has voted for in the past.
Not voting for it could mean the collapse of the US economy with all the attendant damage that would do to the world.
Not voting for it could mean the collapse of the US economy with all the attendant damage that would do to the world.
Of course there are ways around that; Obama could simply declare it unconstitutional not to vote for it, citing the 14th Amendment, among other solutions, but he has decided not to bother with such routes.
Instead, he dangles massive spending cuts including to the aforementioned entitlement programs while asking for a pittance in tax revenue from the GOP, and of course military cuts are not even considered...
He's being the adult, the better man, he's compromising~
Instead, he dangles massive spending cuts including to the aforementioned entitlement programs while asking for a pittance in tax revenue from the GOP, and of course military cuts are not even considered...
He's being the adult, the better man, he's compromising~
Of course, the elephant in the room is why all those who bankroll the GOP and the Democrats, the various corporate entities and the super-rich who would be harmed (but by no means be the worst affected) by a default on American debt would even allow their lackeys in Congress to actually implement such a threat.
And the answer is: they wouldn't (Boehner's postponed the vote, even). It's all theater, a convenient way for everyone (except the vast majority of the American people) to get what they want; less government handouts to the most vulnerable Americans, less money being paid by the wealthiest Americans, and maintaining a facade of the wise elder statesman, valiantly holding off the barbarians at the gates, while the barbarians get to pretend they're upholding real American values.
Oh, and they get to sack America again.
And the answer is: they wouldn't (Boehner's postponed the vote, even). It's all theater, a convenient way for everyone (except the vast majority of the American people) to get what they want; less government handouts to the most vulnerable Americans, less money being paid by the wealthiest Americans, and maintaining a facade of the wise elder statesman, valiantly holding off the barbarians at the gates, while the barbarians get to pretend they're upholding real American values.
Oh, and they get to sack America again.
Needs Work
Your own... Chocolaty... Jesus...
Don't hear your prayers, he's candy to share...
Your own... Chocolaty... Jesus...
Don't get on your knees for prayer, he's always there...
At Zerelda Lee's Candy Wares...
Don't hear your prayers, he's candy to share...
Your own... Chocolaty... Jesus...
Don't get on your knees for prayer, he's always there...
At Zerelda Lee's Candy Wares...
How Concise
"The CIA funnels opium and other drugs into underworld organizations in return for said criminal enterprises' complicit involvement with the suppression of local socialist and revolutionary movements. Most notably, this happened during the Vietnam War when the CIA was buying heroin from Khmer warlords in Cambodia and selling it to the mafia so they could flood the streets of Harlem and other black neighborhoods with enough dope to keep the Black Panthers and other Black Power groups too stoned to fight."
-Anonymous, 06/11/11
The Value of Planning Ahead
I'm curious as to why Osama didn't take the Assange route and tuck away some incriminating documents concerning his job history at the CIA somewhere, ordering someone to release them should he ever be caught or killed.
Even if we did capture him and put him on trial, its not like we'd do any but the most superficial of trials, sort of like the one Saddam got that was cut off before they could get to his complicity and work for the US government.
Even if we did capture him and put him on trial, its not like we'd do any but the most superficial of trials, sort of like the one Saddam got that was cut off before they could get to his complicity and work for the US government.
Osama
The Taliban offered to hand Bin Laden over to a neutral third party nation for a criminal trial if we stopped bombing and provided evidence he did it.
So we went ahead and declared war on a nation and a peoples that had nothing to do with 9/11, mostly ignoring Al'Qaeda's Saudi and Pakistani relations.
Meanwhile, we let him escape at Tora Bora because of an unwillingness to commit more troops to the fight, losing bearing on him for 10 years. And yet we continued to fight a war there predicated on capturing him and ending support for his terrorist network while he and his group slipped out of Afghanistan altogether.
In that decade,
Tens of thousands more refugees have been created
And those are just the more prevalent problems, not to mention the fact that "Al'Qaeda in Iraq" was one of the bullshit reasons we invaded that country.
We finally kill him (in Pakistan, shock of shocks) after most of you have seemingly forgotten about this fucking boogeyman and you all cheer!
I hope that price which we continue to pay, which your children will continue to pay was worth it.
Enjoy your corpse.
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