You may be asking "What will replace World Trade Center?" IMHO a twin memorial. One section left in ruins, like the memorial in Hiroshima, and one section a park dedicated to the Fireman, Police, Paramedics and all other Emergency Personell who daily put themselves in harm's way.
You know, we were warned about this day. I'm not talking about Nostradamus, I'm talking about Thomas Jefferson:
The spirit of the times may alter, will alter. Our rulers will become corrupt, our people careless... From the conclusion of this war [for independence] we shall be going down hill. It will not then be necessary to resort every moment to the people for support. They will be forgotten, therefore, and thier rights disregarded. They will forget themselves in the sole faculty of making money, and will never think of uniting to effect a due respect for thier rights. The shackles, therefore, which shall not be knocked off at the conclusion of theis war, will be heavier and heavier, till out rights shall revive or expire in a convulsion.
--Thomas Jefferson, Notes on Virginia
Our liberty is under assault, both from without and within. Those who love liberty are constantly under attack, fighting a war of thoughts and words. Every day, every 24 hours, each one of us is called on to claim our individual responsibility for defending our personal liberty. Each one of us who faces the resposibility squarely, who asks the questions and challenges the authorities, brings the benefits of liberty closer to all of us.
For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
--Ephesians 6:12:: NKJV
The struggle for liberty is not against "flesh and blood," but against the irrational fears and the philosophies based on those fears that hold us in slavery. These are the shackles that Jefferson spoke of. We must face the fact that every day brings a new tyrant, a new prince, a new power, a new ruler of the darkness, with a new philososphy of fear, a new absolute authority, a new host of wickedness.
It is part of the general pattern of misguided policy that our country is now geared to an arms economy which was bred in an artificially induced psychosis of war hysteria and nurtured upon an incessant propaganda of fear.
--Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Speech May 15, 1951
We must not submit to fear. We must not submit to the philosphy of fear that demands obedience to an immaterial ultimate authority and calls for death to unbelievers. We must not submit to the propaganda of fear that demands obedience to a corporeal, temporal authority and calls for posturings of power and strength and unreasoning retribution.
Obedience,
Bane of all genius, virtue, freedom, truth,
Makes slaves of men, and of the human frame,
A mechanized automoton.
--Percy Bysshe Shelly, Queen Mab
Yesterday I spoke against war, but the truth is, we are at war. This is not a new war. This war began when a human mind first conceived of liberty. Every human who desires to live with the benefits of liberty must stand as a warrior to defend that liberty. For liberty to survive this war, it must be liberty for all, and only when each one of us stands to defend our individual liberty will we truly have liberty for all.
Ahmed Shah Masoud, a warrior-intellectual who beat back seven Soviet incursions into his home region in the 1980s, was the victim of a bomb hidden in a television camera or on the body of a man posing as a journalist that went off at the remote base of the Northern Alliance in Khodja Bahauddin, according to Masoud's aides.
Sounds familiar, anyone remember La Penca? Someone stole a page from the CIA playbook.
1:04 p.m.: President Bush, speaking from an undisclosed location, says that all appropriate security measures are being taken, including putting the U.S. military on high alert worldwide. He asks for prayers for those killed or wounded in the attacks and says: "Make no mistake, the United States will hunt down and punish those responsible for these cowardly acts."
Same shit different day. You know, there are places in this world where the bombing of major buildings is business as usual. Terrorism is as old as the Bible. Terrorism is the rage of the underclass. Terrorism is the tool of those who have abandoned rationality and feel they have nothing else left to lose.
From home-grown terrorists like McVeigh to today's attacks, terrorism is what you get when the marginalized strike back at an indifferent elite. Terrorism is what you get when the gap between the "haves" and the "have-nots" grows too big and too fast. Terrorism is the knee-jerk backlash of the undeclared war on human rights that grinds us down day after day after day.
Already the war drums are sounding, listen:
"This is the second Pearl Harbor. I don't think that I overstate it,'' said Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. The Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor killed nearly 2,400 people and drew the United States into World War II.
Johnny get your gun, America's going to war! Look, Pearl harbor was a military action taken by military units against a military target during a time of war. It is an insult to the memory of those who died, both in Pearl Harbor and Manhattan, to compare a military action to this criminal act of premeditated murder. An act not only criminal, but wholly immoral when viewed in the light of any rational philosophy. I have no illusions that these irrationally motivated attacks will be used as a pretext to war, but they are still in essence criminal acts. These acts call for justice, the rationally applied rule of law, not a vigilante mob.
``It's great to be back in the land of the free ... and a country where basic human rights are respected,'' an exhausted-looking Tobin ... told reporters at a press conference in an airport hangar.
Is that a fact, Jack? Wise up, sport. If you had been arrested by federal agents for marijuana possession here, "in the land of the free", you would still be in jail!
BTW, Jack, seeing as how you and your father are such good buddies with Pres. Bush, maybe you could ask him to put a good word in for some other wrongly imprisoned folks here at home?
Salon.com Politics | House to vote on flag protection amendment
The proposed amendment, sponsored by Reps. Randy "Duke" Cunningham, R-Calif., and John Murtha, D-Pa., states simply: "Congress shall have power to prohibit the physical desecration of the flag of the United States."
First, the nit-picking. May I draw your attention the the phrase physical desecration of the flag? Yes? Thank you.
How, pray tell, can you desecrate that which is not sacred to begin with? If there is a religion which regards the flag of the United States as sacred, then the flag is already protected by the First Amendment. Well, at least regarding the flag as sacred is protected, just as the act of burning the flag is protected. Ironic, isn't it?
Thus endth the nit-picking.
So, what makes this piece of cloth so special? Some people tell me it's because men die for it. A piece of cloth? Why? Because of what it represents. Ah-ha! Now, we're getting somewhere. What does it represent? Oh, uh ... Liberty, Freedom, Democracy ... all that stuff. Well! I'll certainly lay my life on the line for Liberty! But, exactly which part of the flag is Liberty, and which part is Democracy? Uh ... that's stupid!
No, it's not stupid, I'm just making a point: the meaning of a symbol (in this case, a flag) is derived from its context, it is not intrinsic to the symbol itself.
Sorry to break it to you like this, but to some people, burning the flag of the United States is the symbolic destruction of tyranny, and act of Liberty. To some people, "desecrating" the flag of the United States is the Democratic voicing of an opinion. Support Liberty! Desecrate a flag today!
For what purpose does society exist if not for the individuals composing it? If it is not for the individual, then he should withdraw from it. If society refuses to look out for his welfare, then he should oppose it. The reason for society is that it gives the individual some advantage that he does not possess alone. But when those advantages cease, then his relation with it should cease.
—Charles T. Sprading, Freedom and its Fundamentals
As a human being, I have certain elements of being which serve to define my temporal existence.
As a human being, I find it in my best interest to keep these aforementioned elements in some functional state. This requires me to meet certain needs:
Now comes the nasty part.
When I present myself to make this exchange, I am forbidden to present myself as myself. The labor of my mind and body, inseparable from my self, is treated as a thing, separate from my self, available to be bought and sold like any other thing. This is "business as usual." It is also an insult to me as a human being.
This constant insistence that I be a thing and forego nearly half my earnings in the form of "taxes" for the privilege, is intolerable. I further contend that the constant grinding pressure of this system that demands that human beings are things is the source of the moral erosion and sudden violence in these United States.
Therefore, while my mind is still demonstratively rational, I withdraw my mental and physical labor from the system, and encourage all rational people to do the same.
BTW: Happy X-Day!
So, what happens when the "three strikes law" collides with the president’s daughter? One more margarita for Jenna and we'll find out. Economist.com takes a good look at the fires being lit for a new American witch-hunt.
(But then again, who cares about the drinking habits of a third-generation spoiled little rich kid anyway?)
In honor of July 3rd, Decriminalization Day, I've added a link to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund to my sidebar.
Warning! This site contains tales that will shock and terrify you! Shudder with revulsion as you witness:
These are not tales for the faint of heart!
And absolutely not for children!
Do you like seeing ads on websites? To vote Yes, scroll over to the ads, click on them, and buy stuff! To vote No, click on the PayPal button. When the donations exceed the revenue from the ads, the ads come off. I estimate that to be about 3 clicks. Take your pick.
Only 3 more shopping days to go! more
For another "drug war" success story visit JustSayBlow.com and let the White House know where you stand on the issue of federal funds and drug abuse.
Hey! Look everybody: "GOP OKs Change to Faith-Funds Bill!" Well, isn't that nice of them. According to the article "Under the deal, participants in social-service programs will be allowed to sit out any religious aspects" How considerate! Now our nation's religious leaders can report the activities of thier clients without a single qualm.
Yup! No more of that messy "confidentiality" crap! No more "silence of the confessional!" Chalk up another great victory for the "war on drugs!" more
The media has been instructed to use the phrase "the worst act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history" and are dutifully pounding the words into our ears (see: Prayers, Quiet As Oklahoma City Bomber Faces Death and McVeigh Apologizes for Deaths in Letters to Paper if you haven't heard the phrase already). I protest this discounting of two centuries of history in a single sweep of self-serving statist propaganda. For accuracy's sake the phrase should be "the worst act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history of the 20th century."
The assassination of President John F. Kennedy might be considered for the top spot in domestic terrorism for the 20th century. In contrast to the Oklahoma City bombing it had better planning and a well-chosen target. Tim McVeigh's planning wasn't too bad, but his target certainly was "the worst" (Gore Vidal suggested a better one.) The effects of the assassination are still felt today, the event was clearly a turning point in U.S. history. But in terms of loss of human life and sheer atrocity, Tim McVeigh's sludge bombs, and whatever other devices were used, take the lead – for the 20th century.
"The worst act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history?" Well, if Timothy McVeigh is to be accepted as the standard then the best choice would be (envelope please ...) John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry, October 17, 1859 – gateway to the United States' Civil War. Like Tim McVeigh's bombing, John' Brown's raid was conducted in protest of a de-humanizing and repressive social institution, the exploitation of human beings by human beings, and the denial of basic human rights. Like Tim McVeigh's bombing, John' Brown's raid targeted a federal building. John Brown scores points over Timmy McV by having the sense to pick a "hard target," a federal armory, and for staging the raid at night when the armory was guarded by a single watchman. As for loss of life, John Brown exceeds Tim McVeigh's numbers through sheer tragic irony, the first man killed in the Harper's Ferry raid was Hayward Shepherd, a free black man riding past the town on a train.
As for the aftermath, John Brown's friend and fellow abolitionist Frederick Douglass asks: "Did John Brown fail? John Brown began the war that ended American slavery and made this a free Republic." while Gore Vidal contends that if McVeigh had blown up FBI headquarters in Washington when no-one was in it, he'd "be a national hero." In terms of historical impact, John Brown is clearly the winner. The Oklahoma City bombing is clearly not the "Harper's Ferry" of the 20th century, but it might be considered yet another bloody skirmish in our current replay of the Kansas-Missouri War of slave-holder vs. free man.
Get Ready! My favorite holiday season is coming up.
Starting with Decriminalization Day, July 3rd! A day to gather with your loved ones and celebrate everything that makes life worth living.
Next, the high point of the season Independence Day, July 4th! Without this day, the rest of the year seems meaningless to me.
Finally we wind it all up with 4XDay, July 5th through July 8th! It's the End of the World, enjoy it while it lasts!
It's getting too depressing in here. Let's lighten the mood.
Dark Planets May Orbit Strange Nearby Objects
According to this article:
"These would be very, very cold planets," said Charles J. Lada, an astrophysicist at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. "They're probably not really great places to have life."
Brown dwarfs emit very little energy, and a world in orbit around one would afford days no brighter than twilight. Any potential life would have to play by biological rules we don't currently know of.
Nonsense! Everybody knows that these planets are ruled by alien hive-mind societies who live in underground cities (because it's so cold outside!) and breed giant monsters to invade Earth with.
Oh, yeah! And they need women. (It's really cold out there!)
You know what this means don't you? Yup! A whole bunch of new, compassionate laws and lawsuits!
Think for a second here: just how long have humans been eating, smoking and even heaven forbid drinking? What fraction of the human race do you think over-indulges in these pastimes? I mean to the point of becoming a "danger to themselves or others?"
Compared to the mass of humanity that manages to get on with its collective life without excessive indulgence, the over-indulgers are a tiny fraction, a true minority.
The most telling sentence in the news story is "The survey found that 59 percent of Americans are at least overweight." 59%? And what is the criteria? "Obesity was determined by finding a respondent's body mass index, a figure derived by calculating a person's weight in pounds by 703 and dividing that result by height in inches squared." Whatever that means.
And where did this information come from? "The telephone survey, which was conducted in 1998, asked 9,585 adults about their weight, height, smoking and drinking habits, income and quality of life. They also were asked if they had any of 17 chronic health problems, including asthma, cancer, diabetes and heart problems." A telephone survey? Public health officials are advised to "intensify their fight against obesity to levels that at least match the public health campaign against smoking." based on a telephone survey?
According to the U.S. Census Bureau the population of the United States is 284,374,349 people. Let's see, 9,585 over 284,374,349 = 0.003% Is that statisticly significant? Is my math wrong? It is 2:30 in the morning ... maybe I'd better let that point slide ...
When I first saw the pictures of the truck-bomb's asymmetrical damage to the [Alfred P. Murrah] Federal Building, my immediate reaction was that the pattern of damage would have been technically impossible without supplementing demolition charges at some of the reinforcing concrete column bases... For a simplistic blast truck-bomb, of the size and composition reported, to be able to reach out on the order of 60 feet and collapse a reinforced column base the size of column A-7 is beyond credulity.
General Benton K. Partin (ret.)
Why does this not surprise me? Former military man takes up radical politics and commits atrocity ... don't tell me ... it's right on the tip of my tongue ...
It's 11:30 from where I'm sitting and I'm wondering if I'm going to have the nightmare again. No, not the old one where I'm melting like swiss cheese, the new one. The one with the doors behind the walls and the black and red earth.
Yeah, well, it's a little confusing, there are these two guys in the entry way. They've been stealing my stuff, I know they have, but they build these mounds of earth so I can't find what's missing.
I pushed one of them through a window. I had to. Don't worry, it was on the first floor. But I bet the broken glass didn't feel good at all.
No sir.
This post is about Tim McVeigh, Ted Kaczynski and the way things can just come apart in your head and instead of hurt feelings and bloody noses you start leaving bodies behind you. Hey, I identify with these guys! Tim McV is the poster boy for "Joe Average!" But somewhere along the way they ran out of the moral force of will that keeps people from blowing each other up.
Matthew Rossi's post on Zero Tolerance at Once I noticed I was on fire, I decided to relax and enjoy the fall... scores a direct hit with me, jabbing steel needles into some of the red, raw nerves of my distant, distant youth.
But in a good way.
His observations on the social constipation closing off our much needed outlets for aggression and frustration really hit the mark. Go read it. Now. I'll wait...
It looks like Blogger is back up! Outstanding!
BTW: if you haven't tried it yet, Newsblogger is a great site! I use it to build a clipping file while I'm researching my Blog.
Next month: Timothy McVeigh and Domestic Terrorism.
The abuse to which the well-meaning establishment of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives will be put outweighs the apparent benefit. The purpose of the OFBCI is clearly spelled out in Section 1 of the Executive Order:
...private and charitable community groups, including religious ones, should have the fullest opportunity permitted by law to compete [for Federal funding] on a level playing field, so long as they achieve valid public purposes, such as curbing crime, conquering addiction, strengthening families and neighborhoods, and overcoming poverty.
Please note the phrase "valid public purposes," the first two of which are "curbing crime" and "conquering addiction." Determining if these "valid public purposes" are being achieved would entail a certain amount of record keeping. In Section 3 of the Executive Order states that a "principal function" of the OFBCI is "to ensure that the efforts of faith-based and other community organizations meet high standards of excellence and accountability." Accountability involves reporting on the participants of the program.
Finally, in Section 4. "Administration. (a) The White House OFBCI may function through established or ad hoc committees, task forces, or interagency groups." Clearly establishing that a community drug treatment clinic would be reporting its clients to the DEA.
Since the founding of the Drug Enforcement Agency by President Nixon in 1973, the DEA has used an extremely liberal interpretation of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1973 to ignore the Civil Rights of U.S. citizens. They repeatedly violate the Fourth and Fifth Amendments to the Constitution. Specifically: "The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated..." and "No person shall be ... deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law..."
Only those "Faith Based and Community organizations" which support the violation of our Civil Rights would apply for the money offered by any government program formed by the OFBCI. This makes the Office nothing more than a funnel for tax rebates to DEA informers.
If the President truly wishes to aid "Faith Based and Community organizations," I suggest a 100% Tax Cut for all US citizens. This action would promote greater acts of charity and community support than any other.
