Blogs

Heavy blogging, I know. What can I say. Coffee!

But let's get right down to the point, Fuck You, John McCain. I used to like you and your straight talk. I used to think you stood for something, but it looks like you're falling into line, just like every other spineless GOP toadie. Come on man! Listen to this bullshit he got published in todays NYT:

The main contention is that we have not exhausted all nonviolent means to encourage Iraq's disarmament. They have a point, if to not exhaust means that America will not tolerate the failure of nonviolent means indefinitely.

This is complete doublespeak. Nonviolent means resulted in the destruction of hundreds of thousands of munitions and thousands of tons of chemical and biological agents as well as the dismantling of their nuclear program. If we hadn't been using the UNSCOM team to spy for the Pentagon, they might have gotten even more done. Nonviolent means have by no means "failed." Iraq has not attacked America or any other nations with or without WMD since inspections began in 1991. That's success, people.

These critics also object because our weapons do not discriminate between combatants and noncombatants. Did the much less discriminating bombs dropped on Berlin and Tokyo in World War II make that conflict unjust?

Let's ignore for a second the absolutely luidicrous assertion that the military and moral imperative of stopping Nazism and imperial Japan equates with disarming Iraq and remember that what we did to Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Dresden, Hamburg and Berlin were absolutely awful things that may or may not have had anything to do with winning the war. Then let's stop ignoring the fact that the analogy is ridiculous. By Mr. McCain's logic, why not just nuke Baghdad? I know it won't be such a boon to Northrop and Boeing (3,000 cruse missiles is $3 billion in their pockets) but it sure would show those damn A-Rabs we mean business. Again, I can't believe he's actually saying this.

Many critics suggest that disarming Iraq through regime change would not result in an improved peace. There are risks in this endeavor, to be sure. But no one can plausibly argue that ridding the world of Saddam Hussein will not significantly improve the stability of the region and the security of American interests and values.

What? What!? No one can argue that Saddam magically disappearing wouldn't be a good thing. However, there are many many very plausable arguments suggesting that a US invasion could radically destabilize the region in very bad and unpredictable ways. McCain is either grossly underinformed, or is spouting pure and unadulterated lies to rally support for the war.

Isn't it more likely that antipathy toward the United States in the Islamic world might diminish amid the demonstrations of jubilant Iraqis celebrating the end of a regime that has few equals in its ruthlessness?

John, did you let Wolfie slip you a happy pill? I don't doubt that the surviving Iraqis will be glad to be out from under Saddam's thumb, but people don't dance in the streets for you after 3 days of non-stop ariel bombardment. People don't cheer you when you killed their brother/sister/mother/father/grandma/lover/friend. People don't cheer for you when your sanctions regime has resulted in outbreaks of polio because your government isn't allowed to import chlorine to purify the water. And don't doubt for a second that there won't be teams of terrorist recruiters there to photograph all the carnage, or that Saddam won't take steps to make things even worse than they already are. This is not going to make us look good to the rest of the Islamic world.

I used to think John McCain was a straight-talker with a true grasp of military realities. Looks like I was wrong.

(Sorry for all the cursing. It's getting to the point where I honestly feel explitives are needed for me to adequately express my outrage.)

So this war is a permanent knot in my shoulder, yet I'm relatively realxed this morning. She might have something to do with it. I don't want to tip my hand here, but I'm a bit giddy. Smitten, even. I fear that I might start prancing around at any moment. I'll go to the gym and work on a project. Center myself.

The Beasties have dropped a new jam. You can get it for free if you get through, though I'm betting it's all over gnutella by now. I listened to the streamed version, pretty strident. Shout out to A-Stock for the link.

George Bush you’re looking like Zoolander
Trying to play tough for the camera
What am I on crazy pills? We’ve got to stop it
Get your hand out my grandma’s pocket
We need health care more than going to war
You think it’s democracy they’re fighting for?

This is exciting. I hope it gets some top 40s airplay. When popular musicians start making anti-war jams, it will be a good time for the peace movement.

Also, in answer to the $64,000 question, Americans once again proove themselves to be grossly misinformed. Let's all say it together, one more time: Saddam Hussein had no connection to 9-11. He's a bad man and was probably happy that it happened, but he didn't have any involvement in planning it. Maybe if I just repeat this enough people will get it.

In a narccistic hunt for those who've linked to me, I turned up this blog (restlesslord) which seems to be an older gentleman in the UK having a romance with at 20-year-old woman in New York. No idea how he found me, but that's part of the intrigue of the 'net, innit? I was thinking, gee, what a neat little thing to find out until I found in this person's blogroll, the most important thing I ever seen on the internet.

His blogroll contained this site, which (unless it's a troll) is being blogged from within Iraq! Amazing! It seems legitimate and it's the most astounding thing I've found online. Ever. Go read now, and tell all your friends.

This, by the way, is the real promise of the internet, folks: if we can meaningfully and culturally interconnect enough people in enough countries, future wars based on disinformation and manipulation by the elite of one nation vs another should be pretty hard to pull off. Anyone know of any other Iraqi blogs?

Jeeszus fucking christ. The more I read of this the sicker I feel. Check the comments sections. Oh God, what the hell are we doing?

It seems that people are coming around to the fact that the 9-11 justification for war is utter and complete bullshit. There's a nice article in Salon (day pass BS notwithstanding) which makes a rather logical case for diallowing the use of September 11th as any real reason for war, and also makes the salient point that the real people behind this idea (Wolfowitz, Perle, Cheany, et al) have been chomping at the bit to do this for more than 10 years.

Allow me to make a less logical argument on this point. THE USE OF 9-11 AS A JUSTIFICATION FOR WAR IN IRAQ IS AN AFFRONT TO HUMAN DECENCY. IT IS MANIPULATION AT ITS MOST CRAVEN AND MALIGNANT, AND SICKENS ME ON A PERSONAL LEVEL. I've written before about how the way in which the government and media handled the anniversary was not to my liking, but I tend to stay away from how it's specifically being used as a goad for war. I stay away because this tends to stir up very ugly feelings in my heart, feelings of physical violence and visceral hatred towards those who are callous and frankly evil enough to use it as such. I become highly agitated, angry and irrational. Sometimes I feel like crying. No one I know was killed in the attacks, yet I was there. I am a New Yorker, and a part of that tragedy belongs to me. The fact that it is so blatantly and falsely being used as a fear-generating tactic and as an excuse to unleash the horrors of war on an unrelated people literally nauseates me. These lying, murdering motherfuckers have got to go.

Blasts from the past coming through loud and clear. Eric Murray and Sammy Hammonds have websites. The square world trembles and I am transported back in time to that crazy summer between middle and high schools. What a laugh-ridden era that was. Simple scatological humor and an appreciation for timing. Nothing finer for early adolescents.

In other news, God bless the Jurrasic 5.

One of the leading mavens of the technorati blogosphere has a brilliant ready.gov satire. Choice quote:

Going to a fall out shelter is for sissies. And pointless, too as the artificially intelligent radiation will just follow you down the stairs. But if you are just looking to get laid, this is the place, brother.

As things just continue to get worse and worse, I find myself retreating a bit into the world of satire. It's a coping mechanism. Get your fix today.

This Polish brew packs quite a wallop. I had 3 pints.

Savage drunk last night, and reason escapes me. I was about ready to call it a night at 8, but I had to wish J-Mo a happy birthday, and I got started in on some hearty Polish beer. This precipitated an adrenaline-soaked ramble through the midnight streets. The pavement is choppy these days after so much snow and ice and salt, and I'm still a little gun-shy from last weeks accident. Still, this didn't prevent me from simultaniously weaving through traffic, eating a slice of pizza and nodding my head in time to Grisman and Garcia, a new addition to my mellow weekend music mix. Clearly my fear of death has dissapated.

Spinning back down to earth in Brooklyn with a dizzy head, I took a relic of the holiday season -- a charmingly anachronistic Santa -- down off a telephone poll, scribbled what I'm sure was a barely intelligable note and delivered both to the doorstep of a girl. In my impared state, this seemed like my best woo to pitch. To be honest, I'm a little out of my element, up against a challange. I'm also divided as to how and what to chronicle here in public. Romance is sometimes well served by enigmatic behavior. For the first time in a long time, I'm excited, nervous as to how to proceed.

However, the Santa gambit was a success and I have a date for Tuesday. I feel quite high. "...and I stumbled to safety."

I took some ok photos yesterday in the sunshine.

I lead a charmed life, and sometimes great things just drop onto me without explanation. Last night met a scintillating lady at the Publik House. Seems like every time I go there it's a hot ticket. AP chemisty teacher by day, singer-songwriter-bandleader by night, crooked teeth and bright eyes and all done fucking around with life -- I'm still crackling with the energy. Anyway, it was a great evening; I have only one word for y'all: conversation. Since she lives 'round the corner, I found out that brunch at Enids is really fucking delicious. She also showed me a couple great things on the web. First a gut-bustingly funny webtoon: Strindburg and Helium. Second, a hot photo of her I can show off to all my friends -- though I prefer the human reality to the makeup. She peeked at this page and I turned her on to Odd Todd. It was good. We're both nerds. We riffed about a million little things, connections and accumulation abounding. A choice idea, "Learning and putting knowledge to use: the conjoined twins of intellectual fun." Whooo... I'm in a tizzy. I have to go back and pick up my bike now. I'll enjoy walking in the sunshine.

Speaking of the funny, Julia sends this incomprehensable yet amazing link.

I'm on the mend!

On the mend here, though a little psychically disturbed from a morning of watching c-span, but there's not a lot more to say about the situation that hasn't already been said, words spilling forth in accent or crisp translaton and overfilling our minds with senseless and meaningless datum. I'll be personal for a bit.

I feel a shift coming on, though into what I do not know. February was a month of high velocity, something I relish and desire, yet that led to a crash, as life's highs tend to do. The bike thing was a pretty good metaphor for it all; moments of hubris, lapses in judgement, dangers unseen, these things can align in deadly calculus, their formation escaping our notice until we are beyond the point of no return. But the damage is imperminant. I will have no scars, though I might have a slightly crooked tooth for some time. I think it gives my mouth a little more character, to be honest.

Yet I'm plagued with doubts about what is to be next. I'm in hot pursuit of more work for the months of March and April, clawing my way back to fiscal solvancy and aiming for a summer of freewheeling times in the west (Berkeley, Eugene, Black Rock City). It's good for me to have these goals, and yet on some level they fail to obliviate my sense of responsibility toward the world. They fail to address the desire to build "a career" to gain recognition, standing, esteem, to slake my thirst for power in an orgy of revolutionary change. I lust for significance, partly for egotistical ends and partly because of my utter contempt for the people running the show at the moment, but mostly because I want the world to be a better place than it is. It's a mood I've been in for quite some time.

I've been working on a lenthy document that I call "Praxis." It encapsulates some of my ideas about where this wild torpedo is headed and what I might do to ride it the best I can. I've latched on to the word praxis because my life is full of theory but not so full of practice: a little less conversation and a lot more action please. Actually, I'll take conversation -- real conversation, meaning communication about life and souls and meaning and other real things -- over inaction and small talk. Communication is where things start. The document is my strategy, my business plan, my mission statement and my manifesto. I need to put it through another round of addition/revision/reduction and then I need to start sharing it with people. This will be the likely locale for a first premire.