My 9-11 Tribute

How has 9-11 affected me? I’m thinking we’d better stop fighting and start working on surviving, or we’re all about to take private lessons on what it really means to hate life.

Polar water is lapping up around our ankles as our children look up at us for guidance. But we have no answers. Only desperate dreams that somehow it’ll all work out. But it won’t… that’s what we’re really thinking. That’s what we secretly tell ourselves in quiet moments in the dark. We long for tender love from the light hand, a touch that gives confidence and hope. But these days… these fast hard days in hell’s twilight… even that’s not enough. Can we live vicariously in our past? Can we hide in the mystery of our fantasies, pull the covers over our head and hope the boogie man will go away?

We have seen the end… the little girl in the pink overcoat… wandering around the chaos and the angry city, all on her own. She goes back to where she last saw her mother and lays under the bed to pray. The next morning they haul out her little bullet riddled body, still clutching her blood soaked pink taffeta doll, and toss her on the cart to the dump.

Every parent’s nightmare. Every child’s final realization. The Earth has become a harsh mistress and human is no longer kind.

Global warming, Arabs arming, fanatics swarming, Nuclear morning; its a brand new day
get your marijuana, beat your mama, fuck whores in the sauna, don’t do nothing you don’t wanna; but you will anyhow.

Take stock, suck cock, blow your brains out with a Glock; oh, you’re shocked?
teens on dope, the anti-Christ is a pope, you have no hope, we’re all at the end of our rope;

9-11 is a farce, the facts are sparse, too many things to parse, fuck I’m lost;
God is crying, the baby is frying, no more flying, no use lying; we’re all dying in the hand basket to hell.

Hope they let the sinners in.

Legacy

Source: Wikipedia
Source: Wikipedia

Contrary to the popular view of history, there have been three world wars. The Napoleonic War was the first, true global conflict. It was so massive that it involved a whole series of wars that spanned nearly 23 years. The massive epoch of violence consumed millions of lives, wiped out the treasuries of many countries, erased kingdoms, and changed geopolitical lines forever. Historians of the day considered it the greatest war humankind had ever seen.

Napoleon left behind a ravaged Europe; embittered and raw with emotion – ethic and political – that bubbled under the veneer of civil society and produced an era of stark nationalistic bluster. The great monarchs raised armies of burnished brass and terrible weapons as they fooled themselves and their compatriots into believing that their cause was the most righteous. One day, a match went into the power keg when a young Serbian assassinated a visiting Austrian archduke. Thus began World War I. More lives were destroyed as the conflagration drew an even wider swath of destruction than ever before. Once again, historians would come to call this the greatest war ever fought.

During the postlude of the ‘war to end wars,’ the war dogs never quite went back to their kennels. Instead, they were allowed to corner the Germans and Austrians on the battlefield of international diplomacy and forced a so-called negotiated settlement that saw the vanquished nations branded as the “initial aggressors” of the war and therefore culpable for its massive cost. Then they assessed an onerous economic legacy that lasted nearly two generations and helped breathe life into the Nazi movement. World War II, which was more massive the previous two put together, included the Japanese monarchy, which had a different purpose for expanding its territories and matched the other Axis nations with murderous fervor. Fiery battles ringed the civilized centers of the globe and nearly destroyed Europe and parts of Asia. It was, and still is, the most horrific war ever endured by humankind.

One of the not-so-brilliant solutions that came out of the WWII was the disposition of millions of Jews who were left homeless. Unable to reclaim their mother countries, the Jews sued a guilt-ridden international community for an Israeli homeland where defenseless Palestine then laid. Raw feelings of the displaced refugees – who also now have no home – have since spawned religious purpose and now fuels blind fanaticism and regional rebellion. Once again, people left with nothing and having nothing, vie for war and suck up the harsh rancor of destruction and death. Only one question remains unanswered, how much greater World War III will be in comparison to its harbingers?

N’est stupide que la stupidité, Bonaparte?

Pretext For Peace

If being superbolic is to exaggerate in the extreme then the current dust up between Israel and Palestine is quintessential pretext and positioning for all parties involved.

For the Palestinians who captured a 19 yo soldier, their pretext is to derail all movement toward recognizing Israel. It was a calculated move by powers (both within and out) who do not want to see this war end. It could even be said that much of the affected population has become so comfortable with conflict that the idea of peace is not only an alien one but also one that they may fear.

For Israelis, freeing a captive soldier is actually a pretext for collective punishment of the Palestinians who voted for Hamas. By extension, therefore, the current reactive military action by Israel is indicative of the darkness that has overtaken the whole country. Yes, they have rightfully protected themselves, but now they use fear as a tool to make life increasingly unbearable in the Palestinian ghetto. Israel has been seduced by the only roadmap they know – retribution.

And what of the pretexts of the so-called international community? Once a long time ago, the West saw the establishment of Israel as repayment for the collective guilt over what happened during WWII. But look at her now… a militarized spoiled brat who bullies her neighbors and fails to comprehend the consequences of her own actions. Rather than build on roadmaps to peace Israel builds walls, bombs beaches (apparently without discretion), and assassinates leaders.

Mahmoud AbbasThe 1967 war taught the Arabic monarchies a lesson that overt warfare would not succeed, so they have sought to subvert the experiment by sponsoring murderous waves of bomb-belted martyrs and armed fanatics. But this strategy has also failed and has even begun to backfire on them in the form of home-grown discontent and outright rebellion.

One thing about superbole – even the most practiced exaggerator grows weary of the adjective and adverb and longs for the simplicity (and beauty) of plainness. Call it the Cliff Vegas “no bullshit” Roadmap to peace: stop indulging Israel and, in turn, reward Palestinians like Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). With Arabic cooperation, we might even successfully impose international military rule over the whole mess, systematically disarm both sides, and entomb the forces of retribution with the pretext of peace.

By the way, happy 230th birthday America.

Update:

Gilad Shalit (About this sound גלעד שליט) is an Israeli soldier of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) who was abducted[1][2] inside Israel by Hamas militants in a cross-border raid via underground tunnels near the Israeli border with Gaza on 25 June 2006. The Hamas militants held him for over five years, until his release on 18 October 2011 as part of a prisoner exchange deal.

Shalit was abducted near the Kerem Shalom crossing in Israel, and held by Hamas as a hostage at an unknown location in the Gaza Strip.[11] On 18 October 2011, he was released in a deal that secured his freedom after more than five years in isolation and captivity, in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners, including some convicted of multiple murders and carrying out terror attacks against Israeli civilians (according to Israeli government sources, the prisoners released were collectively responsible for 569 Israeli deaths[12][13]).[14][15] Hamas’ previous demands of releasing of all female and underage Palestinians as well as Marwan Barghouti were not met.[16][17]

Shalit was the first Israeli soldier abducted by Palestinian militants since Nachshon Wachsman in 1994.[18] Shalit, having a rank of Corporal in the IDF’s Armor Corps at the time of his abduction, was promoted to Staff Sergeant, Sergeant First Class, and then Sergeant Major on the eve of his release.[19][20]

Convict Skilling

I love this photo. It’s a nice portrait of Jeffry Skilling – yet another self-important elitist, before his post-career retirement at Sing-Sing. What I would pay for an “after” shot 20 years from now. Vaya con Dios, dickhead – you’re FIRED.

Update from Wikipedia:

Jeffrey Keith “Jeff” Skilling is the former president of Enron Corporation, headquartered in Houston, Texas. In 2006 he was convicted of multiple federal felony charges relating to Enron’s financial collapse, and is currently serving a 24-year, four-month prison sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Englewood, Colorado.[1][2] The Supreme Court of the United States heard arguments in the appeal of the case March 1, 2010.[3][4] On June 24, 2010, the Supreme Court vacated part of Skilling’s conviction and sent the case back to the lower court for further proceedings. In April, 2011 a three judge 5th Circuit Court panel ruled that the verdict would have been the same despite the legal issues under discussion, and Skilling’s conviction was upheld.[5] Skilling appealed this new decision to the Supreme Court,[6] but was denied certiorari.[7]

DaVinci Hoopla

Marcom RULE #360: If you can’t write enough convincing superbole then piss off a group of people, stand back, and let the resulting hoopla shower you with free promo.

Dumbshit Christians.

Okay. I’m a Christian too, but I’m not a dumbshit. DaVinci Code is a stupid novel based on a stupid premise that has every stupid priest and church lady on every continent convinced that it’s the greatest insult to the faith since God knows what. Here’s some perspective: an anthropology professor of mine (way way back) had two timelines that were literally wrapped around the classroom – one illustrated the history of the cosmos; in the other, the history of man. Each tallied up the long string events that leads us to the present time, represented by a very small dot.

Consider that each line represents the whole shebang – evolution of the human mind, the creation of literature, the rise of critical thinking, all our wars, the rise and fall of civilizations, and all our religions. The events that brought about this novel and the subsequent movie deal do not even amount to a light shade of grey in the dot that represents present day.

DaVinci Code is not an insult to Christianity – it’s an insult to your intellect to even worry about it! Unless, of course, you believe that the movie needs a little more help at the box office – in which case, pine on. Dan Brown is laughing all the way to the bank.

Chairman of the Boredroom

What of those high-rolling CEOs who are fond of saying, “You journalists have no idea what it’s like to run aKen Lay Fortune 500 company.”  Those hefty salaries are to compensate them for managing all the risks they take, they say. No big bucks, no big dividends.

Kenneth Lay must have thought that… once.

But, Ken buddy, you can rationalize greed any way you want, but what you did at Enron is still a crime. If you claim ignorance or if you knew every detail, what you did was a crime. So suck up, pal. You’re going to the slammer. And if you write a book, may it be about your grief over the misery and anguish you allowed to happen.

Update:

Kenneth Lee “Ken” Lay, an American businessman, best known for his role in the widely reported corruption scandal that led to the downfall of Enron Corporation. Lay and Enron became synonymous with corporate abuse and accounting fraud when the scandal broke in 2001. Lay was the CEO and chairman of Enron from 1985 until his resignation on January 23, 2002, except for a few months in 2000 when he was chairman and Jeffrey Skilling was chief executive officer (CEO). He took a regional natural gas pipeline business and turned it into a energy conglomerate with a market capitalization of $70 billion, betting the future on unregulated energy markets.[1]

On July 7, 2004, Lay was indicted by a grand jury on 11 counts of securities fraud and related charges.[2] On January 31, 2006, following four and a half years of preparation by government prosecutors, Lay’s and Skilling’s trial began in Houston. Lay was found guilty on May 25, 2006, of 10 counts against him; the judge dismissed the 11th. Because each count carried a maximum 5- to 10-year sentence, legal experts said Lay could have faced 20 to 30 years in prison.[3] However, he died while vacationing in Snowmass, Colorado, on July 5, 2006, about three and a half months before his scheduled October 23 sentencing.[4] Preliminary autopsy reports state that he died of a heart attack caused by coronary artery disease. As a result of his death, on October 17, 2006, the federal district court judge who presided over the case vacated Lay’s conviction.[5][6] There have been conspiracy theories surrounding his death.[7]

Viva México

Finally, some real balls where personal freedom is concerned.

According to the Associated Press, the Mexican Congress approved a bill Friday that will legalize drug possession for personal use. Got that Dumshit? The Mexicans have decriminalized getting high in your own damn home! After el Presidente Fox signs the bill (which he is expected to do) folks toting around small amounts of marijuana, cocaine and even heroin will be free, high, and happy. And get this… they passed this legislation despite the wasteful and entirely useless war on drugs – the last remaining relic of the Nixon years and a product of the 1930s prohibition-minded nabobs who sought to control industries (hemp) and personal liberties. What a proud American accomplishment that’s turned out to be.

I’ll be damned if I can find this news item on the majors – even BBC seemed to miss this rather significant development. Meanwhile, news that did get headlines included Dubya’s indignation over the Spanish version of the US national anthem, a former Abu-Ghraib officer is charged with cruelty (OMG!), and the bill for the war in Iraq (which is far from ‘mission accomplished’) may hit $811bn.

You know? Maybe it’s time that we all sing the Spanish Spangled Banner – the Mexicans seem to have a hedge over most Americans on the concept of freedom and liberty for all.

UPDATE, 2009: After several fits and starts, President Felipe Calderón signs the law into history.

Farewell Tom

Tom DeLayPoor Tom DeLay. His legacy is a certain brand of ultraconservative Texan politico, susceptible to pitiable insight, arrogant oversight, near-sighted ambitions, and general myopia. I’m certain he sees his accomplishment worthy of praise. I’m sure that there are quite a few fellow ultracons who share that view. But as these gadflies of history die off, what will fill the void? Compromise? Willingness to reach across ideological boundaries? OMG… statemanship?

UPDATE – Wikipedia’s first paragraph says it all:

Thomas Dale “Tom” DeLay (born April 8, 1947) is a former member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Texas’s 22nd congressional district from 1984 until 2006. He was Republican Party (GOP) House Majority Leader from 2003 to 2005, when he resigned because of money laundering charges in connection with a campaign finance investigation. He was convicted in January 2011 and sentenced to three years in prison but is free on bail while appealing his conviction.

Pause for a Cause

Abbie As far as causes are concerned, one must always be concerned about PR. I’m not so sure that the pro-immigration protesters did themselves any good by wrapping themselves up in the Mexican flag. At least the Yippies had the good sense to wear American colors – damn commies. It kinda pisses me off tho – I have to admit. You can’t toke a harmless weed in your own damn home, but the Mexicans want a new law to let illegal trespassers traverse around the fucking country like they own the damn place. Is that right? Abbie? Are you listening?

Blog Bias?

I’m being asked to write for blogs as a PR activity. Well… it’s good money and I’m a good little prostitute… so off I go. But I think that blogs are turning some PR practitioners and marketers into tech junkies and making them lazy (especially a particular unnamed firm). Blogs still cannot compete with good-old fashioned ink (or video). People still turn to traditional news sources for their facts.

Yet, blogs do serve a purpose and I disagree with the growing suspicion (of some cynics) that blogs may threaten critical thinking of the public-at-large. They also worry that over saturation from blog-debates could harm the credibility of traditional news sources and – God forbid – taint public discussion with erroneous speculation (oh, you mean like Rush Limburger, Ann “blowhard” Coulter, et al?).

Blogs have made nitwits like Limbaugh and Coulter irrelevant by extending public debate to anybody with some bandwidth and a server. Of course there is some junking up to deal with, but now the selection is so diverse and the scope so deep that just about every opinion and point of view under the sun is fully represented and broadly explored. It reminds me of the gaggles of soapbox orators that once adorned the entrances of county fairs across the nation, spouting rhetoric and reason to gawking crowds. But oh what a selection of soapboxes – pro and con ad nauseum – all at one time, 24/7/365 and no shooting. The emerging “blog-slog” is as a healthy byproduct of democracy and our growing lust for ‘watchdog’ transparency? And we could use a whole heck of a lot more transparency at all levels of governance these days.

PIC_sharp_edges_21.jpgAt any rate, blogging is a far less insulting demonstration of the 1st Amendment than the talkshow hacks of the previous media age – ala Limbaugh and Coulter whom I think presented a far dire threat to civic debate. If anything, blogs encourage critical thinking and they help enlarge our constitutional entitlement for free speech. And you know what? If any one of those blog-nabobs becomes the least bit myopic or irrelevant there will always be plenty more soapboxes to gawk at.