Some changes to announce. I will now be published directly by Antiwar.com. This doesn't mean that I am giving up Examiner.com or going to abandon this site entirely either. What it means is that longer feature articles having primarily to do with foreign affairs will be published on Antiwar.com from now on. Shorter more blog like posts will continue on Examiner.com while more esoteric, fun, or conversational stuff will be here- on The Daily Burkeman1.
I am very grateful to all those who have followed my writing since the early days when I was a ranter on political forums. The constant praise and encouragement I have received from so many of you is why I have kept it up. I am very excited by the new opportunity for far greater exposure of my writing at Antiwar.com and it wouldn't have been possible without the support of my longtime loyal readers and the contributors to this blog. Thanks to all!
CJD.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Guns, Germs, and Steel? Does that explain it?
I caught the three part documentary "Guns, Germs, and Steel" on a PBS channel last night. I read the book a couple years ago and found it very compelling. The general thesis of the series is that the inequality we see between societies is basically a product of outside environmental determinist factors and it relegates culture as merely a byproduct of these factors and not as a guiding force unto itself.
For example, the monotheism of the West was merely a by product of a society that happened to be blessed by enough environmental factors that allowed them to produce the excess population that eventually came up with such a concept. And that any advantage such a concept might give to a society is therefore just another product of the environment that society developed in.
Anyway- a very interesting series and book. I'm not sure I buy the whole the argument. It is troubling to think that the level of culture a society has is merely the result of how successful that society is in producing masses of people freed from the responsibility of basic survival. But it is a compelling argument. I highly recommend reading the book over the PBS documentary, but you do get the gist of the idea if you just watch the PBS production.
For example, the monotheism of the West was merely a by product of a society that happened to be blessed by enough environmental factors that allowed them to produce the excess population that eventually came up with such a concept. And that any advantage such a concept might give to a society is therefore just another product of the environment that society developed in.
Anyway- a very interesting series and book. I'm not sure I buy the whole the argument. It is troubling to think that the level of culture a society has is merely the result of how successful that society is in producing masses of people freed from the responsibility of basic survival. But it is a compelling argument. I highly recommend reading the book over the PBS documentary, but you do get the gist of the idea if you just watch the PBS production.
Monday, June 08, 2009
Morning Coffee Odds and Ends- Two Party Fraud Explained and Obama's Cairo Speech.
Over the weekend I read what is perhaps the best explanation of how the Two Party Fraud plays out in our media. This is from Glenn Greenwald's blog over the weekend (a liberal I respect more and more every day for his refusal to shut off his brain since Obama was elected.):
Much has been written about Obama's speech in Cairo and I am sure most everyone is already sick of reading about it. As for me- I see no real reason to analyze any speech from Obama (or any American president for that matter). They are liars and will say whatever they think needs to be said. I am sure Obama's speech has outraged the reich wing cohorts who all but view it as a surrender declaration- or "surrender monkey" talk. They are insane and beyond comment. Suffice it to say that the difference between "liberals" and "conservatives" on the wars in the ME is that our liberals like to "celebrate the diversity" of the hapless third worlders in DC's scope while killing them- while our conservatives like to call them dirty mud people while killing them.
But I will comment on one portion of Obama's speech. Here is Obama admonishing the "Muslim world" for not believing DC's standard party line of the events of 9/11:
Yes. It is just so unreasonable for anyone to dare not believe Washington's "Facts" on 9/11. I mean- it isn't like they have kept the suspects for this deed in dungeons for what? 8 Years now? It isn't like they have tortured these people and kept them isolated from any independent outside contact with the world all that time either? No- and it isn't like DC has invented a whole new justice system just for the suspects of 9/11 to be tried under rules that make the ones governing Stalin's show trials look fair. And it isn't like the US government is now seriously just considering executing these men after they enter guilty pleas (men who have been tortured and isolated for 8 years and whose minds are utter putty) and foregoing any sort of trial whatsoever!
Yeah Obama- those are the actions of a government with nothing to hide whatsoever! How dare anyone question DC's explanation of 9/11 knowing all that?
Now- I am not saying that 9/11 was an "inside job". I'm just pointing out the fact that if any other country kept the suspects for a terrorist event that was the major justification for a massive invasion of an entire region- rich in oil and natural gas - on the other side of the globe- in dungeons for 8 years- tortured them- and then invented some kangaroo new trial system for them and then was actually talking about executing these men without a trial. . . well- let's just say most Americans would be suspicious of that country's "official story" on the attack. And a speech by the President of such a country admonishing everyone who doesn't take his word for it wouldn't be worth the paper it was printed on.
The steadfast, ongoing refusal of our leading media institutions to refer to what the Bush administration did as "torture" -- even in the face of more than 100 detainee deaths; the use of that term by a leading Bush official to describe what was done at Guantanamo; and the fact that media outlets frequently use the word "torture" to describe the exact same methods when used by other countries -- reveals much about how the modern journalist thinks. These are their governing principles:
There are two sides and only two sides to every "debate" -- the Beltway Democratic establishment and the Beltway Republican establishment. If those two sides agree on X, then X is deemed true, no matter how false it actually is. If one side disputes X, then X cannot be asserted as fact, no matter how indisputably true it is. The mere fact that another country's behavior is described as X doesn't mean that this is how identical behavior by the U.S. should be described. They do everything except investigate and state what is true. In their view, that -- stating what is and is not true -- is not their role.
The whole world knows that the U.S. tortured detainees in the "War on Terror." Yet American newspapers refuse to say so.
Much has been written about Obama's speech in Cairo and I am sure most everyone is already sick of reading about it. As for me- I see no real reason to analyze any speech from Obama (or any American president for that matter). They are liars and will say whatever they think needs to be said. I am sure Obama's speech has outraged the reich wing cohorts who all but view it as a surrender declaration- or "surrender monkey" talk. They are insane and beyond comment. Suffice it to say that the difference between "liberals" and "conservatives" on the wars in the ME is that our liberals like to "celebrate the diversity" of the hapless third worlders in DC's scope while killing them- while our conservatives like to call them dirty mud people while killing them.
But I will comment on one portion of Obama's speech. Here is Obama admonishing the "Muslim world" for not believing DC's standard party line of the events of 9/11:
We did not go by choice; we went because of necessity. I'm aware that there's still some who would question or even justify the events of 9/11. But let us be clear: Al Qaeda killed nearly 3,000 people on that day. The victims were innocent men, women and children from America and many other nations who had done nothing to harm anybody. And yet al Qaeda chose to ruthlessly murder these people, claimed credit for the attack, and even now states their determination to kill on a massive scale. They have affiliates in many countries and are trying to expand their reach. These are not opinions to be debated; these are facts to be dealt with.
Yes. It is just so unreasonable for anyone to dare not believe Washington's "Facts" on 9/11. I mean- it isn't like they have kept the suspects for this deed in dungeons for what? 8 Years now? It isn't like they have tortured these people and kept them isolated from any independent outside contact with the world all that time either? No- and it isn't like DC has invented a whole new justice system just for the suspects of 9/11 to be tried under rules that make the ones governing Stalin's show trials look fair. And it isn't like the US government is now seriously just considering executing these men after they enter guilty pleas (men who have been tortured and isolated for 8 years and whose minds are utter putty) and foregoing any sort of trial whatsoever!
Yeah Obama- those are the actions of a government with nothing to hide whatsoever! How dare anyone question DC's explanation of 9/11 knowing all that?
Now- I am not saying that 9/11 was an "inside job". I'm just pointing out the fact that if any other country kept the suspects for a terrorist event that was the major justification for a massive invasion of an entire region- rich in oil and natural gas - on the other side of the globe- in dungeons for 8 years- tortured them- and then invented some kangaroo new trial system for them and then was actually talking about executing these men without a trial. . . well- let's just say most Americans would be suspicious of that country's "official story" on the attack. And a speech by the President of such a country admonishing everyone who doesn't take his word for it wouldn't be worth the paper it was printed on.
Saturday, June 06, 2009
Burkeman linked on WRH
Happened to stumble across this linked item today browsing WhatReallyHappened.com.
I enjoy listening to the Michael Rivero radio show hosted by GCN, which can be found here.
B-man, great work. Love the columns and wish continued success.
I enjoy listening to the Michael Rivero radio show hosted by GCN, which can be found here.
B-man, great work. Love the columns and wish continued success.
Monday, June 01, 2009
Movie Review: "Taken", a revealing glimpse of a sick American collective psyche
Just a quick rant here. Over the weekend I watched on pay-per-view the movie, "Taken", starring Liam Neeson.
Now this movie is one long trip down our national collective paranoid and increasingly xenophobic soul.
This is already a country that is intensely narcissistic and inward looking and along comes this movie that is, without question, the film world's equivalent of "Freedom Fries".
Now, I know, it is just another movie. Yes- just a movie. Just another piece of cultural fast food garbage that reinforces a sinister and nihilistic sense of American Exceptionalism and paranoia among a public already dangerously far removed from reality.
It is as if the writers of this film set about to confirm the silliest of fears and false perceptions of the most parochial of middle American dimwits who view the entire world outside of fortress bubble America as a twisted evil place of corrupt vile foreigners who want nothing more than to "destroy America"- which is in their minds- the source of and last redoubt of all goodness in an evil world.
I will give the writers of this film this- they know their audience. This isn't a bad film actually. As a piece of cultural propaganda it is even art. Being able to capture the collective psyche of a large swath of the American movie going public- to capture and confirm the prejudices and stupidity of whole masses of people in 90 minutes- to brain stroke the egos of boobs- is what makes a good screenwriter. And it doesn't hurt if you also happen to portray the ruling authorities and government in a good light as well. Both of these writers have statist glorifying pasts. One wrote the military and statist glorifying epic "Gladiator"- a movie that reinforces an increasingly dangerous cultural meme that holds military men as being inherently virtuous and perhaps our only hope to "save us" from ourselves.
The film's "Hero", is Bryan Mills, played by Liam Neeson. Mills is a newly retired US government agent of some type with an implied long career of covert operations in the beyond world- in the darkness outside of the lighted borders of America. For years he was "out there" defending us from evil. In his own words to his daughter he describes himself as a "preventer" as in he "prevented" bad things from happening to America. Ah yes- that's right. That is what the American intelligence "community" does all day long- "prevents" bad things from happening to us. They don't have any other agenda but that- to "protect us". So all the stuff they do abroad? Not for any nefarious reasons, not for self interest on the part of the shadowy interests of an imperial elite. Nope- just constant vigilance to "protect us" from the bad guys- who, as this film makes clear, can be anybody not American.
He was so dedicated to his job, which was saving us from the bad people, that his daughter grew up barely knowing him and his marriage collapsed. Now- in his early retirement at the opening of the film he is trying to re-establish a loving relationship with his daughter. Though there hardly seems to be a reason for this since the film makes quite clear that his daughter loves him intensely and is the daughter of every father's dreams- pretty much perfect in every way from looks, to brains, to talent (she wants to be a singer).
The nagging ex-wife who married money and the daughter want daddy to sign off on a permission slip for her to travel out of the country to Europe for the summer.
Ooooh, wise old Daddy, with knowledge of the "world beyond" doesn't think it is a good idea! He knows things, as a secret agent man for decades, about the outside world that his spoiled ex-wife and naive daughter don't know! He doesn't think it is a good idea for his 17 year old daughter to travel outside the country. Where does the daughter want to go? Some old ex-Iron Curtain country rife with organized crime and barely functioning governments like Ukraine or White Russia? Uh uh. She wants to go to scary dark France- Paris to be precise. Mom doesn't think it is a big deal but Dad knows better. He's been there! He knows things . . . secret things. . . that mere dumb civilians don't know about the beyond world.
Well, as it turns out, wise old Dad was right! Because no sooner had perfect teen model super babe daughter stepped off the plane in Paris than she was targeted by a "spotter" for a white sex-slavery ring run by an Albanian gang so bad that even the really awful and evil Russians avoid them!
Once the spotter had followed them back to the place they were staying at- than both daughter and her friend are kidnapped by the sex slavers but not before Daddy, with perfect calmness is able to coach her on what to expect from her upcoming captivity over the cellphone while she is hiding from slavers searching for her in the apartment. He warns her captors of his "long career" and "skills" that make him a "nightmare" for bad people like them before the phone goes dead.
See, even in Paris, no one is safe because sex slaver rings operate spotters at the airport and they just wait around for nice looking white teens from America to land so they can mark them for capture by dirty Muslim gangs of Albanian sex slavers. Government secret agent Mills knows how bad it is "out there" while dumb civilian ex-wife had not a clue as to the dangers. Man- why don't we just let the government do its job and not ask questions! They know things! Things we don't know!
And as it turns out- the French police allow this to happen because well- they are French and thus corrupt. So the airport of Paris is just a big sex slave market allowed to operate by the corrupt cowardly "Surrender Monkeys" of France. Yes- no one would notice one or two foreign travelers simply disappearing every day in France within a day of arriving in the country- because well- those foreigners are corrupt and just don't care about life like "we" do. What is more absurd? This made up movie storyline that has a gang of Albanians buying off the whole Paris police force so they can kidnap hundreds of girls and for sex slavery or the made up American media storyline that had Saddam Hussein of Iraq "buying off" the entire country of France with some "oil for food" chump change so that France would oppose the selfless act of liberation that was the American invasion of Iraq?
So secret agent Daddy springs into action- marshaling all his connections to get basic intel on the Albanians who captured his daughter and he is able to get his ex-wife's new Husband to provide him with a fast Jet to Europe before the ludicrous and arbitrary "96 hour" window closes and his daughter is "gone forever". He knows that the stepfather has access to corporate jets because well- being a secret agent man he abused his position to run detailed background checks on him and knows pretty much everything about the man. And if he didn't? Then his daughter might well be dead! So there- privacy fetishists! See what your concern over our government knowing everything about us leads to? Death for white teen girls at the hands of dirty moooslim sex slavers! Is that what you want "liberals"? Is it?!
So Secret Agent American Daddy lands in France and you can guess the rest. He runs around killing and torturing numerous people, all who obviously deserve it because they are evil sex slaving foreigners. And the French authorities? Well- they are in the pay of the evil sex slavers and thus fair game as well as when Secret Agent daddy shoots the innocent wife of a French police detective in the arm to force him to get a name from his computer for him. Yeah- well- being French she deserved it since she is part of the evil to some extent and no one is innocent in the "beyond world" and besides- the clock is ticking to his daughter's death. Collateral damage. Too bad.
At one point the film just gets simply insulting as when Liam Neeson, not even trying to put on a French accent, walks into the lair of the Albanian bandits and pretends to be a corrupt French police official.
Mills struts about France a law unto himself- a walking dispensary of Justice in a lawless land of vileness and corruption. The authorities in France are just as much an enemy as the sex slavers and Mills treats them as such- having nothing but contempt for them and their country.
At one point, while torturing a sex slaver with electricity Mills explains to his victim that "we" (meaning the American government) "used to outsource this sort of work" (meaning torture) and of course- torture when used by Americans is of course good- because the guys they torture are bad. That pretty much is the limit of the "Debate" on torture in this country. Should we torture total degenerate evil people who might as well be the minions of Satan himself? Not for a second do we ever consider the motives of American torturers. Nope- our government tortures for "good reasons" only! To save white teen beauty queens from the clutches of dirty brown satanists!
The film culminates with a stand off between Mills and a fat Arab Sheik degenerate who was the final sale point of his perfect white teen super model virgin daughter (along with several other virgins that the fat blob Arab stereotype had intended on deflowering all at once before the arrival of Mills onto to his immense yacht.)
The sheik has a knife to his daughter's throat and Mills has a gun pointed at his head. The sheik says "We can talk about this . . " but isn't allowed to finish as Mills just blows his brains out with a well placed shot to the forehead from six paces away. Talk? That is for appeasers! Mills doesn't talk to evil! Mills kills evil! Only weak stupid people talk to their enemies! Not Americans! See "liberals" want to talk to pure evil- but a government agent like Mills knows you can't do that!
Daughter saved. Daddy is loved and ex wife respects him now. Back in the "Homeland"- the world of light and goodness- all is well and right again!
Now this movie is one long trip down our national collective paranoid and increasingly xenophobic soul.
This is already a country that is intensely narcissistic and inward looking and along comes this movie that is, without question, the film world's equivalent of "Freedom Fries".
Now, I know, it is just another movie. Yes- just a movie. Just another piece of cultural fast food garbage that reinforces a sinister and nihilistic sense of American Exceptionalism and paranoia among a public already dangerously far removed from reality.
It is as if the writers of this film set about to confirm the silliest of fears and false perceptions of the most parochial of middle American dimwits who view the entire world outside of fortress bubble America as a twisted evil place of corrupt vile foreigners who want nothing more than to "destroy America"- which is in their minds- the source of and last redoubt of all goodness in an evil world.
I will give the writers of this film this- they know their audience. This isn't a bad film actually. As a piece of cultural propaganda it is even art. Being able to capture the collective psyche of a large swath of the American movie going public- to capture and confirm the prejudices and stupidity of whole masses of people in 90 minutes- to brain stroke the egos of boobs- is what makes a good screenwriter. And it doesn't hurt if you also happen to portray the ruling authorities and government in a good light as well. Both of these writers have statist glorifying pasts. One wrote the military and statist glorifying epic "Gladiator"- a movie that reinforces an increasingly dangerous cultural meme that holds military men as being inherently virtuous and perhaps our only hope to "save us" from ourselves.
The film's "Hero", is Bryan Mills, played by Liam Neeson. Mills is a newly retired US government agent of some type with an implied long career of covert operations in the beyond world- in the darkness outside of the lighted borders of America. For years he was "out there" defending us from evil. In his own words to his daughter he describes himself as a "preventer" as in he "prevented" bad things from happening to America. Ah yes- that's right. That is what the American intelligence "community" does all day long- "prevents" bad things from happening to us. They don't have any other agenda but that- to "protect us". So all the stuff they do abroad? Not for any nefarious reasons, not for self interest on the part of the shadowy interests of an imperial elite. Nope- just constant vigilance to "protect us" from the bad guys- who, as this film makes clear, can be anybody not American.
He was so dedicated to his job, which was saving us from the bad people, that his daughter grew up barely knowing him and his marriage collapsed. Now- in his early retirement at the opening of the film he is trying to re-establish a loving relationship with his daughter. Though there hardly seems to be a reason for this since the film makes quite clear that his daughter loves him intensely and is the daughter of every father's dreams- pretty much perfect in every way from looks, to brains, to talent (she wants to be a singer).
The nagging ex-wife who married money and the daughter want daddy to sign off on a permission slip for her to travel out of the country to Europe for the summer.
Ooooh, wise old Daddy, with knowledge of the "world beyond" doesn't think it is a good idea! He knows things, as a secret agent man for decades, about the outside world that his spoiled ex-wife and naive daughter don't know! He doesn't think it is a good idea for his 17 year old daughter to travel outside the country. Where does the daughter want to go? Some old ex-Iron Curtain country rife with organized crime and barely functioning governments like Ukraine or White Russia? Uh uh. She wants to go to scary dark France- Paris to be precise. Mom doesn't think it is a big deal but Dad knows better. He's been there! He knows things . . . secret things. . . that mere dumb civilians don't know about the beyond world.
Well, as it turns out, wise old Dad was right! Because no sooner had perfect teen model super babe daughter stepped off the plane in Paris than she was targeted by a "spotter" for a white sex-slavery ring run by an Albanian gang so bad that even the really awful and evil Russians avoid them!
Once the spotter had followed them back to the place they were staying at- than both daughter and her friend are kidnapped by the sex slavers but not before Daddy, with perfect calmness is able to coach her on what to expect from her upcoming captivity over the cellphone while she is hiding from slavers searching for her in the apartment. He warns her captors of his "long career" and "skills" that make him a "nightmare" for bad people like them before the phone goes dead.
See, even in Paris, no one is safe because sex slaver rings operate spotters at the airport and they just wait around for nice looking white teens from America to land so they can mark them for capture by dirty Muslim gangs of Albanian sex slavers. Government secret agent Mills knows how bad it is "out there" while dumb civilian ex-wife had not a clue as to the dangers. Man- why don't we just let the government do its job and not ask questions! They know things! Things we don't know!
And as it turns out- the French police allow this to happen because well- they are French and thus corrupt. So the airport of Paris is just a big sex slave market allowed to operate by the corrupt cowardly "Surrender Monkeys" of France. Yes- no one would notice one or two foreign travelers simply disappearing every day in France within a day of arriving in the country- because well- those foreigners are corrupt and just don't care about life like "we" do. What is more absurd? This made up movie storyline that has a gang of Albanians buying off the whole Paris police force so they can kidnap hundreds of girls and for sex slavery or the made up American media storyline that had Saddam Hussein of Iraq "buying off" the entire country of France with some "oil for food" chump change so that France would oppose the selfless act of liberation that was the American invasion of Iraq?
So secret agent Daddy springs into action- marshaling all his connections to get basic intel on the Albanians who captured his daughter and he is able to get his ex-wife's new Husband to provide him with a fast Jet to Europe before the ludicrous and arbitrary "96 hour" window closes and his daughter is "gone forever". He knows that the stepfather has access to corporate jets because well- being a secret agent man he abused his position to run detailed background checks on him and knows pretty much everything about the man. And if he didn't? Then his daughter might well be dead! So there- privacy fetishists! See what your concern over our government knowing everything about us leads to? Death for white teen girls at the hands of dirty moooslim sex slavers! Is that what you want "liberals"? Is it?!
So Secret Agent American Daddy lands in France and you can guess the rest. He runs around killing and torturing numerous people, all who obviously deserve it because they are evil sex slaving foreigners. And the French authorities? Well- they are in the pay of the evil sex slavers and thus fair game as well as when Secret Agent daddy shoots the innocent wife of a French police detective in the arm to force him to get a name from his computer for him. Yeah- well- being French she deserved it since she is part of the evil to some extent and no one is innocent in the "beyond world" and besides- the clock is ticking to his daughter's death. Collateral damage. Too bad.
At one point the film just gets simply insulting as when Liam Neeson, not even trying to put on a French accent, walks into the lair of the Albanian bandits and pretends to be a corrupt French police official.
Mills struts about France a law unto himself- a walking dispensary of Justice in a lawless land of vileness and corruption. The authorities in France are just as much an enemy as the sex slavers and Mills treats them as such- having nothing but contempt for them and their country.
At one point, while torturing a sex slaver with electricity Mills explains to his victim that "we" (meaning the American government) "used to outsource this sort of work" (meaning torture) and of course- torture when used by Americans is of course good- because the guys they torture are bad. That pretty much is the limit of the "Debate" on torture in this country. Should we torture total degenerate evil people who might as well be the minions of Satan himself? Not for a second do we ever consider the motives of American torturers. Nope- our government tortures for "good reasons" only! To save white teen beauty queens from the clutches of dirty brown satanists!
The film culminates with a stand off between Mills and a fat Arab Sheik degenerate who was the final sale point of his perfect white teen super model virgin daughter (along with several other virgins that the fat blob Arab stereotype had intended on deflowering all at once before the arrival of Mills onto to his immense yacht.)
The sheik has a knife to his daughter's throat and Mills has a gun pointed at his head. The sheik says "We can talk about this . . " but isn't allowed to finish as Mills just blows his brains out with a well placed shot to the forehead from six paces away. Talk? That is for appeasers! Mills doesn't talk to evil! Mills kills evil! Only weak stupid people talk to their enemies! Not Americans! See "liberals" want to talk to pure evil- but a government agent like Mills knows you can't do that!
Daughter saved. Daddy is loved and ex wife respects him now. Back in the "Homeland"- the world of light and goodness- all is well and right again!
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Anonymous Sources and FBI Informants
Today, the New York Times has on its front page two recurring motifs. The first one illustrates a mainstay of our Beltway propaganda war against the populace of these United States- the anonymous source. And the second is yet another, "uncovered terrorist plot" in which the FBI itself was the motivator and chief logistical officer of the "terrorists".
In a story about how 1 in 7 Guantanamo kidnap victims and illegally held persons our press calls "Detainees" return to "Jihad" the Times grants anonymity to their sources on a "report" that is supposedly to be released. Now- it doesn't matter if these "sources" are lying or not. The Times will never tell us. If the report comes out and it doesn't show that 1 in 7 "detainees" returned to "jihad" then those sources will be protected and undoubtedly used again- and again- to spread more lies. And by the way? Only 1 in 7 "go back to Jihad" after being held and tortured for years with no charges? I would think that number would be higher.
This "Argument" against release of the GITMO detainees- that they will "go back to Jihad" has always amused me. It demonstrates our collective national sociopath condition quite well. Gee- you kidnap people from their countries- torture them- hold them for years without charges and then- when you release them- you expect them to be thankful and all meek like? They are not going to be mad? They are not gonna want payback? We, as a country, are incapable of empathy almost completely.
The second story is, by now, a template. The body of the story is a form at this point- on a reporter's hard drive ready for use- and all that changes are some names and dates. Four men- a Haitian, and three others with American sounding names the paper alleges "may be of Arabic descent" (I bet that will turn out to be false) but who appear to be African American- were arrested in a "plot" that they neither planned or had weapons for. The scary headline announces that they planned on bombing Synagogues and in the first paragraph of the story intended to shoot down planes with Stinger missles.
Of course- they didn't have either explosives or missles. But guess who offered to get them the weapons and missles? Yep- an FBI "informant". This is standard. We have seen this in a dozen other "uncovered plots". An FBI informant cajoles a group of boobs into doing more than talking tough and then he helps them pick out targets- if not picking them himself- and then offers to get them weapons and explosives.
And there is always an amusing quote like this in each of these stories:
The plot is real I tell you! Honest. The threat is real! Really! It is!
Give me a break. When a government feels the need to actually "underscore" how "real" something is- then you know it isn't real at all.
At the end of the story- that only about 2 percent of the population would ever get to- is this admission:
In other words- just as I described- a bunch of loud mouths were led on by the FBI itself into a plot they themselves didn't even think up and for which they had no means of achieving.
In a story about how 1 in 7 Guantanamo kidnap victims and illegally held persons our press calls "Detainees" return to "Jihad" the Times grants anonymity to their sources on a "report" that is supposedly to be released. Now- it doesn't matter if these "sources" are lying or not. The Times will never tell us. If the report comes out and it doesn't show that 1 in 7 "detainees" returned to "jihad" then those sources will be protected and undoubtedly used again- and again- to spread more lies. And by the way? Only 1 in 7 "go back to Jihad" after being held and tortured for years with no charges? I would think that number would be higher.
This "Argument" against release of the GITMO detainees- that they will "go back to Jihad" has always amused me. It demonstrates our collective national sociopath condition quite well. Gee- you kidnap people from their countries- torture them- hold them for years without charges and then- when you release them- you expect them to be thankful and all meek like? They are not going to be mad? They are not gonna want payback? We, as a country, are incapable of empathy almost completely.
The second story is, by now, a template. The body of the story is a form at this point- on a reporter's hard drive ready for use- and all that changes are some names and dates. Four men- a Haitian, and three others with American sounding names the paper alleges "may be of Arabic descent" (I bet that will turn out to be false) but who appear to be African American- were arrested in a "plot" that they neither planned or had weapons for. The scary headline announces that they planned on bombing Synagogues and in the first paragraph of the story intended to shoot down planes with Stinger missles.
Of course- they didn't have either explosives or missles. But guess who offered to get them the weapons and missles? Yep- an FBI "informant". This is standard. We have seen this in a dozen other "uncovered plots". An FBI informant cajoles a group of boobs into doing more than talking tough and then he helps them pick out targets- if not picking them himself- and then offers to get them weapons and explosives.
And there is always an amusing quote like this in each of these stories:
“This latest attempt to attack our freedoms shows that the homeland security threats against New York City are sadly all too real and underscores why we must remain vigilant in our efforts to prevent terrorism,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said in a statement.
The plot is real I tell you! Honest. The threat is real! Really! It is!
Give me a break. When a government feels the need to actually "underscore" how "real" something is- then you know it isn't real at all.
At the end of the story- that only about 2 percent of the population would ever get to- is this admission:
A federal law enforcement official described the plot as “aspirational” — meaning that the suspects wanted to do something but had no weapons or explosives — and described the operation as a sting with a cooperator within the group.
“It was fully controlled at all times,” a law enforcement official said.
In other words- just as I described- a bunch of loud mouths were led on by the FBI itself into a plot they themselves didn't even think up and for which they had no means of achieving.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Various things: 5/20
This is almost not worth commenting about at this point. I long ago ceased to be amazed at the shear hypocritical audacity our DC elites and their court scribes engage in on a daily basis.
Here is a story about how DC is "shocked" at the barbarism of their erstwhile United Arab Emirate Satrap. Apparently one of the princes of the UAE enjoyed filming himself while engaging in his torture pastime and Washington is simply aghast.
This quote speaks for itself.
Really? Foreigners might think the good Representative from Massachusetts was making a joke- being ironic. But nope. He is quite serious. He sees absolutely no irony at all when he says that.
It is truly a sick government that can sit there and make statements like that while it explains EXACTLY the situation in this country. The only difference being that we just destroy our videotapes of torture and just simply refuse to even look into our own closet- indeed- deny the closet exists- we don't have a closet!
Textbook sociopath behavior.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Meanwhile . . .
Hillary Clinton shows just how utterly clueless our Oligarchy has become. In a blustering display of impotence- Hillary beats the Beltway's chest in proclaiming America to still be a "Pacific Power" and warns how "we" are not ceding the Pacific to the Chinese and Indonesia.
Now what Hillary means by "Power" is state power- DC power- military power. That is all we have left- a big stupid useless life blood sucking military to "project power" with. We can't make a damn thing other than big hunks of military toys that do nothing but cost us further money in upkeep so that is what DC naturally means by "power".
China and Indonesia have other ideas of what "power" is- and it isn't fielding hunks of metal halfway around the world . . .
As the US government gets more and more powerful - the country gets weaker. And the only thing our elite have left are their military toys. That is their "power". That is a sign of imperial collapse. When all we have left are our shiny popguns- the game is over. We lose.
Here is a story about how DC is "shocked" at the barbarism of their erstwhile United Arab Emirate Satrap. Apparently one of the princes of the UAE enjoyed filming himself while engaging in his torture pastime and Washington is simply aghast.
This quote speaks for itself.
"A country where the laws can be flouted by the rich and powerful is not a country that can safeguard sensitive U.S. nuclear technology," Rep. Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) charged after the UAE tape was shown at a meeting of the House's Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission.
Really? Foreigners might think the good Representative from Massachusetts was making a joke- being ironic. But nope. He is quite serious. He sees absolutely no irony at all when he says that.
It is truly a sick government that can sit there and make statements like that while it explains EXACTLY the situation in this country. The only difference being that we just destroy our videotapes of torture and just simply refuse to even look into our own closet- indeed- deny the closet exists- we don't have a closet!
Textbook sociopath behavior.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Meanwhile . . .
Hillary Clinton shows just how utterly clueless our Oligarchy has become. In a blustering display of impotence- Hillary beats the Beltway's chest in proclaiming America to still be a "Pacific Power" and warns how "we" are not ceding the Pacific to the Chinese and Indonesia.
Now what Hillary means by "Power" is state power- DC power- military power. That is all we have left- a big stupid useless life blood sucking military to "project power" with. We can't make a damn thing other than big hunks of military toys that do nothing but cost us further money in upkeep so that is what DC naturally means by "power".
China and Indonesia have other ideas of what "power" is- and it isn't fielding hunks of metal halfway around the world . . .
As the US government gets more and more powerful - the country gets weaker. And the only thing our elite have left are their military toys. That is their "power". That is a sign of imperial collapse. When all we have left are our shiny popguns- the game is over. We lose.
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