Saturday, May 19, 2007
Gulags
In Gord's post today, he touched on a museum exhibit about gulags. That got me thinking about our trip to the Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp just over the border from Germany in France a few years back.
It was an experience that touched my soul deeply, for these were my people who wrought this horror and as Gord points out, my people are doing it again in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo.
I posted some pics here and here.
It was an experience that touched my soul deeply, for these were my people who wrought this horror and as Gord points out, my people are doing it again in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo.
...
Left wing or right wing, commie or Nazi, Stalin, Hitler, or Bush, when you start lockin' people away who don't agree with you, it's bad. We're not at that point yet, but the exhibit was a reminder and a warning, if only to those of us to whom such things matter.
...
I posted some pics here and here.
You thought they cared?
Wow! No shit? Contractor deaths are up in Iraq? Whoda thought it? NYT.
Now, regular readers know how I feel about 'contractors' making big money doing jobs our troops used to do, or doing jobs our troops still do. Of course, the foreign (non-American) contractors are generally exploited by the big American companies making profit hand over fist.
And of course, profits are everything, and safety cuts into profits. Like the young Republicans who work in the Green Zone, those who've come to Iraq to make money off others' suffering realize it isn't all it's cracked up to be.
That's right, honey. Don't let it hit ya in the ass because there's a hundred other assholes waiting in line for your job who'd probably do it for less money. Halliburton doesn't care if you're safe, just that you can drive. Same way the Chimp doesn't care about our troops once they're too injured to carry a rifle.
Casualties among private contractors in Iraq have soared to record levels this year, setting a pace that seems certain to turn 2007 into the bloodiest year yet for the civilians who work alongside the American military in the war zone, according to new government numbers.
...
Now, regular readers know how I feel about 'contractors' making big money doing jobs our troops used to do, or doing jobs our troops still do. Of course, the foreign (non-American) contractors are generally exploited by the big American companies making profit hand over fist.
...
Many contractors in the battle zone say they lack the basic security measures afforded uniformed troops and receive benefits that not only differ from those provided to troops, but also vary by employer. Weekly pay ranges from $60 for Iraqi translators and laborers to $1,800 for truck drivers to as much as $6,000 for private security guards employed by companies like Blackwater. Medical and insurance benefits also vary widely, from excellent to minimal.
...
And of course, profits are everything, and safety cuts into profits. Like the young Republicans who work in the Green Zone, those who've come to Iraq to make money off others' suffering realize it isn't all it's cracked up to be.
...
Conditions in Iraq are harsh, and many civilians who arrive there, drawn by patriotism, a sense of adventure or the lure of money, are overwhelmed by the environment. If they raise questions about the 12-hour workdays, the lack of armor plating on trucks or the periodic shelling of bases, supervisors often tell them to pack up and go home.
Cynthia I. Morgan, a Tennessee trucker who spent more than a year in Iraq as a convoy commander, said that the common answer from her bosses to such complaints was, "Aisle or window, chicken or pasta" — meaning "Get on the next plane out of here."
That's right, honey. Don't let it hit ya in the ass because there's a hundred other assholes waiting in line for your job who'd probably do it for less money. Halliburton doesn't care if you're safe, just that you can drive. Same way the Chimp doesn't care about our troops once they're too injured to carry a rifle.
Whore together with the band*
It's Saturday and that means the next chapter of my novel The Fourth Estate is up at The Practical Press.
*Apologies to Pete and Roger.
Santa Monica
Yesterday, we backtracked a little way to Independence, pop. 574, county seat of Inyo County. It's kinda famous for having had the Manson Family in the county jail in their Death Valley days, and also for mistreatment of the local Paiutes in the 1860s.
We went to go visit the Eastern California Museum. Pretty good little country museum, but we got a surprise on top of it - a traveling exhibit on the Soviet Gulags. Sponsored by Amnesty International and the National Park Service, this small museum out in the middle of effin' nowhere is the only West Coast venue, so most folks who get to see it will just kinda stumble onto it like we did. That's too bad, but most folks don't give a shit about stuff like that.
It's an entirely appropriate choice of venue, because the museum is six miles north of an American Gulag.
I sorta mentioned to the nice lady that ran the joint that they could fold the exhibit up and put it away as soon as this administration is gone or in jail. Her response was a sorta nervous laugh.
Left wing or right wing, commie or Nazi, Stalin, Hitler, or Bush, when you start lockin' people away who don't agree with you, it's bad. We're not at that point yet, but the exhibit was a reminder and a warning, if only to those of us to whom such things matter.
We're in The People's Republic of Santa Monica now, at the Pico Travelodge. It's in the downscale end of an upscale city, so it's expensive, at least to this, er, thrifty, yeah, that's the word, old soul.
Since the joint is pretty much right downtown, parking is a little cramped. The desk clerk warned me that the parking lot for the pet-friendly rooms was so small I couldn't turn the rig around in it and would have to back out onto the street. A very busy street, too, I might add. While the lot was pretty empty, I got the Tacoma turned around OK so I could pull straight out. I went back and told the manager about turning around in his lot, "Nothin' a make-out knob and an E-brake won't handle, buddy!". I think the desk crew thinks I'm a little odd...
Did I mention that we've had to be just a little bit creative with two healthy dogs in a concrete and blacktop environment? So far, so good.
The motel is across the street from the world famous McCabe's Guitar Shop. Me'n Mrs. G have been to many concerts there in years past.
It's breakfast with my old friend Bill this morning, and my reunion tonight. Later.
We went to go visit the Eastern California Museum. Pretty good little country museum, but we got a surprise on top of it - a traveling exhibit on the Soviet Gulags. Sponsored by Amnesty International and the National Park Service, this small museum out in the middle of effin' nowhere is the only West Coast venue, so most folks who get to see it will just kinda stumble onto it like we did. That's too bad, but most folks don't give a shit about stuff like that.
It's an entirely appropriate choice of venue, because the museum is six miles north of an American Gulag.
I sorta mentioned to the nice lady that ran the joint that they could fold the exhibit up and put it away as soon as this administration is gone or in jail. Her response was a sorta nervous laugh.
Left wing or right wing, commie or Nazi, Stalin, Hitler, or Bush, when you start lockin' people away who don't agree with you, it's bad. We're not at that point yet, but the exhibit was a reminder and a warning, if only to those of us to whom such things matter.
We're in The People's Republic of Santa Monica now, at the Pico Travelodge. It's in the downscale end of an upscale city, so it's expensive, at least to this, er, thrifty, yeah, that's the word, old soul.
Since the joint is pretty much right downtown, parking is a little cramped. The desk clerk warned me that the parking lot for the pet-friendly rooms was so small I couldn't turn the rig around in it and would have to back out onto the street. A very busy street, too, I might add. While the lot was pretty empty, I got the Tacoma turned around OK so I could pull straight out. I went back and told the manager about turning around in his lot, "Nothin' a make-out knob and an E-brake won't handle, buddy!". I think the desk crew thinks I'm a little odd...
Did I mention that we've had to be just a little bit creative with two healthy dogs in a concrete and blacktop environment? So far, so good.
The motel is across the street from the world famous McCabe's Guitar Shop. Me'n Mrs. G have been to many concerts there in years past.
It's breakfast with my old friend Bill this morning, and my reunion tonight. Later.
War Czar = Scapegoat
I spoke on this the other day:
This morning, I see Commander Huber has the same opinion:
And the talking point you'll hear is "you have to give the new War Czar a chance ..." blah, blah, blah and by that time it'll be a Democratic President who gets us out of Iraq.
I say, he's just another asshole with a sign on his back saying 'SCAPEGOAT' (see: Deputy AG McNulty)
This morning, I see Commander Huber has the same opinion:
...
Lute's real function is twofold. First, he will provide another layer of distance from the Bush inner circle and its profound failures in Iraq and Afghanistan. Second, he is the down payment on the next "Friedman unit." A "Friedman" refers to multiple iterations by New York Times of the sentiment that in "the next six months we're going to find out…whether a decent outcome is possible" in the Iraq war. [my em]
...
And the talking point you'll hear is "you have to give the new War Czar a chance ..." blah, blah, blah and by that time it'll be a Democratic President who gets us out of Iraq.
Springtime for Chimpy
From the All Spin Zone:
And the thing that got me was this:
As I said a little over a month ago:
...
Today, the newspaper of record, the one which was the blunt instrument of destruction of the Nixon administration, has finally placed George Bush in the crosshairs. In consciously invoking a play on some of the most damning words of the Watergate scandal, the Bush administration has been put on notice: the end is near.
Somewhere, Katherine Graham is smiling.
...
And the thing that got me was this:
...
"And so we will put in place programs to protect the American people that honor the civil liberties of our people, and programs that we constantly brief to Congress," Mr. Bush assured the country yesterday, as he brushed off requests for a more detailed account. But this is exactly the point of contention. The administration, it appears from Mr. Comey's testimony, was willing to go forward, against legal advice, with a program that the Justice Department had concluded did not "honor the civil liberties of our people." Nor is it clear that Congress was adequately informed. The president would like to make this unpleasant controversy disappear behind the national security curtain. That cannot be allowed to happen.
As I said a little over a month ago:
By the way, as Spring arrives, do you catch a faint scent of Watergate on the breeze lately? Heh ...
Great thanks to Skippy for the ASZ link.
Friday, May 18, 2007
What they're driving ...
The other day, Lurch looked at the Stryker. Today he has a post up on the MRAPs. Another mixed blessing ...
Lone Pine
We spent last night at the Best Western Frontier in Lone Pine (That is the most all-purpose link I've ever seen!). Very nice motel. My dogs loved it. Well, they liked the cow pasture full of cows across the street!
Also across the street are the Alabama Hills and Mt. Whitney. I went and stood in the footprints of probably thousands of travelers at the edge of the parking lot and got a picture of the whole panorama, but I didn't bring the get-it-out-of-the-camera cable, so I'll post it when I get home.
The Alabama Hills are famous as a movie location. You've seen them, trust me, in everything from westerns to "Gunga Din" to episodes of "Star Trek: Whichever". The motel has movie cowboy pictures everywhere. Like over the beds, fer chrissake!
We're easin' our way toward L.A. and will be in Santa Monica this afternoon. I wish my high school had the sense to have their reunion in Lone Pine!
Also across the street are the Alabama Hills and Mt. Whitney. I went and stood in the footprints of probably thousands of travelers at the edge of the parking lot and got a picture of the whole panorama, but I didn't bring the get-it-out-of-the-camera cable, so I'll post it when I get home.
The Alabama Hills are famous as a movie location. You've seen them, trust me, in everything from westerns to "Gunga Din" to episodes of "Star Trek: Whichever". The motel has movie cowboy pictures everywhere. Like over the beds, fer chrissake!
We're easin' our way toward L.A. and will be in Santa Monica this afternoon. I wish my high school had the sense to have their reunion in Lone Pine!
Blinded by the Rudy
MSNBC's John Harwood has swallowed the 'Rudy Myth' hook, line, and sinker:
Watertiger, a fellow NYer also closely touched by September 11th, calls it exactly right.
The Cattle Dog slept in and the Mrs. is away on business, hence I'm late for work. See you in the afternoon.
...
Just stop it, Mr. Harwood, you blinkered pantywaist. It wasn't enough that 9/11 was used so cynically as a cudgel to launch a preemptive and illegal war against a country that, despite Ron Paul's well-intentioned but off-the-mark comments at the debates on Tuesday night, did NOT attack us. Now you want to conflate Vietnam War draft dodger Rudy Giuliani's exploitation of 9/11 with "justifiable" cheerleading for waterboarding? I think this country has had quite enough of "President Jack Bauer," thankyouverymuch.
And no, Mr. Harwood, Rudy Giuliani cannot "lay claim" to 9/11. He no more owns the tragedy than any other New Yorker, like my shellshocked neighbor who, when I met him up on the rooftops to watch the rest of the horror of that day unfold a mile south, recounted in an eerily detached monotone about fleeing WTC1 and seeing people hitting the pavement from ninety stories up. Or the friend of mine who broke her ankle trying to scramble out of the way of falling debris. Or the woman who battled back from the edge of death after she was engulfed in burning jet fuel as she rushed from the buildings. Or the families of the restaurant workers who had been starting their day at Windows on the World, way up on the top floor. Or the 9/11 widows so snidely and cynically mocked by the War Whores on the Right who accused them of pimping the tragedy for their personal benefit.
...
Watertiger, a fellow NYer also closely touched by September 11th, calls it exactly right.
The Cattle Dog slept in and the Mrs. is away on business, hence I'm late for work. See you in the afternoon.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Later, asshole ...
Wolfowitz is out.
Now if the rest of neocons get the same treatment, things will start looking up.
Embattled World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz will leave office June 30 amid a controversy over his handling of a pay package for his girlfriend, a bank employee, the institution's board of directors announced Thursday.
...
Now if the rest of neocons get the same treatment, things will start looking up.
Quote of the day
TomPaine on Falwell:
That's the first line of a piece you should go read.
He was, of course, a monster.
That's the first line of a piece you should go read.
Firsts
Pic courtesy of WaPo.
After having lived near the DMZ for a little over 3 years of my life, this story does me good:
Two trains from North and South Korea crossed the heavily armed border on Thursday, restoring for the first time an artery severed in the 1950-1953 fratricidal war and fanning dreams of unification.
It took the two Koreas 56 years to send the trains -- one starting in the South and one in the North -- across the Cold War’s last frontier for the one-off runs of about 25 km (15 miles) one way.
...
It's incremental but it's something. You wouldn't believe how many families were separated by that war and the ensuing armistice. A divided Korea should go the way of a divided Germany.
Off to the shop ...
Refining the target
Seems the NJANG needs some remedial ground attack training. As I sit here and watch the NJ Pine Barrens burn on my TV, thanks to a couple flares popped off by an NJ F-16 on a training mission, I consider myself lucky that I never had to call in air from these guys:
Real good, fellas.
...
Lt. Col. James Garcia, a spokesman for the New Jersey Air National Guard, said it was believed a flare dropped from one its F-16s may have started the blaze, though an investigation was ongoing.
The range was the same facility from which a National Guard jet accidentally strafed an elementary school with large-caliber rounds in 2004 during a training exercise.
...
In 2001, an errant Air National Guard practice bomb caused a fire that burned more than 1,600 acres in the Pine Barrens. [my ems]
Real good, fellas.
War of the Buttplugs
Yes indeed. The makers of the "Bushplug" (This President will really f*** you up the butt. You’re already familiar with the sensation, so why not REALLY FEEL IT with our exclusive Presidential Pooper Plug.) have served the makers of the "George Dubya Tush" with a cease and desist order.
Seems there's no room in the anal stimulation business for two likenesses of the Chimp. Why do I even post this?
1. Because I'm a man and even though I'm 45, I have the maturity of a 15 year old. I'm giggling my ass off.
2. Because Brother Lurch gave me the heads up in an email. Like Gord, I'm beginning to wonder about that boy. Heh ...
Seems there's no room in the anal stimulation business for two likenesses of the Chimp. Why do I even post this?
1. Because I'm a man and even though I'm 45, I have the maturity of a 15 year old. I'm giggling my ass off.
2. Because Brother Lurch gave me the heads up in an email. Like Gord, I'm beginning to wonder about that boy. Heh ...
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
New, improved ...
Body armor for the troops. Sort of. You know with these assholes running the show there's always a 'sort of':
...
Awright! Good deal! A slightly better chance for a few young Americans to survive Mr Bu$h’s ego-war and come home alive.
Not exactly.
...
More Jerry
Yes, I'm gonna dance on his grave some more. Why? Because it gives me great joy. I have to agree with the Rude One, who has an excellent post on Falwell himself:
To wit:
Update:
Sometimes you forget how exhilirating Christopher Hitchens can be when he's on your side.
To wit:
"The empty life of this ugly little charlatan proves only one thing, that you can get away with the most extraordinary offenses to morality and to truth in this country if you will just get yourself called reverend. Who would, even at your network, have invited on such a little toad to tell us that the attacks of September 11 were the result of our sinfulness and were God's punishment if they hadn't got some kind of clerical qualification? People like that should be out in the street, shouting and hollering with a cardboard sign and selling pencils from a cup."
Update:
Tinky Winky say "Buh-bye, Jerry."
Look, Ma! No Hands!
Our pal Lurch sent me this. Sometimes I worry about that lad...
I think the emcee is Thomas Lennon who plays the somewhat sexually amorphous Lt. Dangle on Reno 911!. I could be wrong, but it looks and sounds like him.
I think the emcee is Thomas Lennon who plays the somewhat sexually amorphous Lt. Dangle on Reno 911!. I could be wrong, but it looks and sounds like him.
"...don't forget to pack your asbestos undies."
Jurassicpork has a few choice words about the thank God dearly departed:
Go read the rest. Enjoy.
I had a student ask me, "Could the savior you believe in save Osama bin Laden?" Of course, we know the blood of Jesus Christ can save him, and then he must be executed. - The Reverend Jerry Falwell
No doubt Hillary Clinton will be breathing a sigh of relief while John McCain has been cut adrift from a major wing of Crazy Base World. The Devil's problems, however, will be just beginning since God will obviously be foisting him off on his former archangel just for old time.s sake.
So I'll shelve the sackcloth and ashes for the infamous televangelist who'd founded the Moral Majority, the well-dressed snake handlers who'd slithered their way into Reagan's White House and helped establish the foundation for the Christopathic movement we see running the government today.
I could spend all day digging up outrageous quotes of Falwell's that would get most liberals drawn and quartered live on The 700 Club because, frankly, finding normal quotes by Falwell that don't involve eternal damnation are scarcer than college Republicans in Iraq. But that would be a waste of time.
Instead, my peroration will be about the dangers of falling for bloated snake charmers like Falwell, someone who spoke in tongues that only other Muslim-hating, racist misogynists could possibly understand, a dog whistle language that appealed to anyone who had the English-Christopath dictionary that seems to have supplanted the Gideon Bible in American motel rooms.
You created people like Jerry Falwell, America, just as the Germans created Hitler, just as the Russians created Lenin and Stalin, just as we had created and enabled to unforgivable degrees people like George W. Bush. Jerry Falwell is the price we pay for complacence, for tolerance of hatred and its intolerance and for outsourcing our brains and letting them be supplanted by avaricious maniacs that make up the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition and Focus on the Family.
And, if God is as intolerant as Jerry Falwell was, then Hell just got a lot fuller. Have a nice trip, Jerry and don't forget to pack your asbestos undies.
Go read the rest. Enjoy.
"...this small dim man..."
Typically low-key, enjoyable Garrison Keillor:
I stepped off a precipice once in pitch dark. Actually it was a street level retaining wall and I fell about eight feet into Donner Creek. Luckily, it was running low and there wasn't anything sharp sticking up. I didn't get hurt, just wet. I hope the Repugs aren't as lucky.
Note: the article is at Salon. I got to watch an ad for Pan's Labyrinth, which I really want to see.
The French have a new president, the British will soon have a new P.M., and we envy them as we endure the endless wait for this small dim man to go back to Texas and resume his life. His party is coming to see that it must figure out how to tell the truth about him if it is to compete in 2008, but so far nobody has stepped forward and wound up to throw the pie. Their clock is stuck in the fall of 2001. They are sleepwalking toward the precipice.
I stepped off a precipice once in pitch dark. Actually it was a street level retaining wall and I fell about eight feet into Donner Creek. Luckily, it was running low and there wasn't anything sharp sticking up. I didn't get hurt, just wet. I hope the Repugs aren't as lucky.
Note: the article is at Salon. I got to watch an ad for Pan's Labyrinth, which I really want to see.
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