Where Are We Going?
The best intentions. I didn't get home from work until after 8 PM last night. I wasn't hungry, just tired. Once again, I decided the need to sleep was boss, and put off the next character work and soak until Wednesday or Thursday. What the Hell, I feel better today. Sunday was a horrible night for sleep. I think I'm getting a snooze fetish. It seems that way at least. Maybe it is just this time of year, struggling against the inclination to vegetate.
Did you see the slough of stories about the Tennessee high school principal who ordered the school paper seized because it had an article about birth control? Many Yankees will make the chickenshit stereotypical, tired, and inaccurate observation that it happens only in the South. Forgetting similar instances in Washington state the last few years, including the Secret Service hauling away a Prosser teen in manacles for daring to create artwork irritating to conservatives.
The censorship in Tennessee is a sign of the times, both depressing and uplifting. The depressing bit is the fact that subjugation through controlling information has become the norm. When a president or principal has no respect or compassion for those they are administering, such predatory behavior is to be expected. This high school assault on freedom seems different only in magnitude from the poorly named patriot act. The uplifting side is we are finally questioning this crap.
Since nobody had anything to say about how foreign headlines reflect the world's perception of the US, here are a couple more for today.
Corrupt Bush ally resigns in shame
Bush ally faces 10 years' jail for $2.4 million in bribes (Ironically, Cunningham was recognized by several law enforcement organisations for his tough-on-crime stance)
I suppose this is more of a commentary of how w is viewed, but since we put the sorry son of a bitch in office it rubs off on all of us. The caught crook's name is not mentioned in the headlines, his affiliation with genghis w is deemed more important. No outraged gasps from fellow conservatives in the articles -- I'd guess they are too busy scuttling out of the glaring light which is suddenly pointed the other way. It must be that it is no surprise yet another of the GOP's gangsters in a tailored suit is caught. He's not even the first to break the cardinal rule, and plead guilty. I guess the protection from Gitfather w's machine isn't so impervious these days.
Today my friend Richard writes of a number instances of US government abuse, planned or implemented, including resurrecting more GOP backed death squads and acclimatizing children to incredibly intrusive attacks on privacy.
Did you see the slough of stories about the Tennessee high school principal who ordered the school paper seized because it had an article about birth control? Many Yankees will make the chickenshit stereotypical, tired, and inaccurate observation that it happens only in the South. Forgetting similar instances in Washington state the last few years, including the Secret Service hauling away a Prosser teen in manacles for daring to create artwork irritating to conservatives.
The censorship in Tennessee is a sign of the times, both depressing and uplifting. The depressing bit is the fact that subjugation through controlling information has become the norm. When a president or principal has no respect or compassion for those they are administering, such predatory behavior is to be expected. This high school assault on freedom seems different only in magnitude from the poorly named patriot act. The uplifting side is we are finally questioning this crap.
Since nobody had anything to say about how foreign headlines reflect the world's perception of the US, here are a couple more for today.
Corrupt Bush ally resigns in shame
Bush ally faces 10 years' jail for $2.4 million in bribes (Ironically, Cunningham was recognized by several law enforcement organisations for his tough-on-crime stance)
I suppose this is more of a commentary of how w is viewed, but since we put the sorry son of a bitch in office it rubs off on all of us. The caught crook's name is not mentioned in the headlines, his affiliation with genghis w is deemed more important. No outraged gasps from fellow conservatives in the articles -- I'd guess they are too busy scuttling out of the glaring light which is suddenly pointed the other way. It must be that it is no surprise yet another of the GOP's gangsters in a tailored suit is caught. He's not even the first to break the cardinal rule, and plead guilty. I guess the protection from Gitfather w's machine isn't so impervious these days.
Today my friend Richard writes of a number instances of US government abuse, planned or implemented, including resurrecting more GOP backed death squads and acclimatizing children to incredibly intrusive attacks on privacy.
4 Comments:
For the record, I'm embarrassed about the way our country is viewed today. This week the EU has issued warnings to it's member states about possibly participating in the U.S. secret Gulag system of prisons. Good for them! But how embarrassing is it for a country to have it's leaders globetrotting the world and lecturing other leaders on freedom and democracy while running torture structures behind even it's elector's backs?
I recall a time when we used to make fun of the Soviet Union for the same sort of things. The difference was that the people living in the Soviet Union knew full well what was going on, but felt powerless to deal with it.
I read that article about the Tennessee school newspaper. Ridiculous crap. When I worked on the college paper, our administration could have censored us a couple of times, but to their credit refused to do so. It taught me a measure of respect for them that I didn't have before then. The leaders of the Tennessee school missed a learning opportunity and a possibility for meaning social discourse and debate. And, you're right, it has nothing to do with Southern stereotypes. Such incidents are rampant in this country. Hell, did you know that it's illegal to dance in a bar in NYC? Talk about your backwards appalachians!
The problem to my mind is when is this going to end? When are people going to tire of this behaviour from both Democrats and Republicans (though I firmly believe the latter are the worst, both sides participate in this mess)?
I was on a libertarian blog today. The discussion was about cops in some cities using scanners and databases to track down people who are late on parking tickets and taxes. Such people have their cars impounded until the fees are paid. The libertarians could think of nothing more than to rant about cities charging for parking and the outrageous behaviour of parking police. When I raised the question of the database owners collecting information on the traveling habits of residents and coallating that data with other habits on citizens and then selling that data, not an eyebrow was raised. In fact, the comment went ignored.
This is a real scenario, by the way. The city of Boston is using a Toronto company to do this sort of thing. In essence, a private company gets the police to track individual's movements within city limits. The company has the license plate and other state information and coallates it with other consumer data available from other sites. The private company owns the data, so the police say there is no conflict for them. The police and city officials get money from increased impounds.
Not even the libertarians thought that this was a bad concept which leads me to believe that it's going to get worse before it gets better.
My bet: the Democrats royally screw up this opportunity by nominating a candidate for president that is Republican-lite on security and privacy issues and favorable on social and economic issues. We'll get better living conditions, but our civil rights and privacy rights will continue to erode. People will feel better about it, though. Ugh! Sorry for the long rant.
I think the bottom line which gets me so upset is actually finding my own government, my country, gives me the creeps. We are so busy field testing the whole absolute power thing, we don't see we are hastening our descent. We won't be the world's only super power for long, at the rate we're going we won't even be a super power for long. If our capitalist style governance doesn't change radically we'll never get closer to the point where both the government and corporations once again serve the people.
It is slow and insidious, so I don't think our one-time knack for courage is likely to be reawakened. We'll keep serving the corporate-state's every whim. Happily forgetting we actually fought a very similar dictatorship to create a new nation, as long as we have walmarts and the cheesiest new video game to keep us distracted. I'm reminded of the addiction experiments in which rats quickly starved to death to get their cocaine or other drug. The food button was there too, in plain sight and never used. The rats kept pushing the pleasure button over and over even when it was empty, not smart enough to try the button with life-sustaining food. Marketing is so intrusive it is easier and easier to keep us opting for our own death as a one time democracy for perceived short term satisfaction.
Genghis Khan was an ethical honorable leader. George W does not come close to deserving his title. My two cents.
I wasn't thinking about his leadership and military genius. Rather the history I remember of him ruthlessly destroying cultures and populations which resisted at all, in order to create terror of him.
Back when I had a few history classes I remember thinking he and Cromwell had a lot in common. Great military strategists and innovators, but what Cromwell's depradations in Ireland (which many consider the root of the current "Irish Troubles") and Kahn's ruthless massacres left behind color the way I look at them as whole persons. I agree absolutely w's leadership can't even be compared to Kahn -- w has no leadership skills. What he is doing to places like Iraq is where I see a similarity.
If I remember correctly, in addition to uniting the Mongol tribes and creating the largest empire in history, Genghis Kahn was credited with many other things like setting up the first mail system. He used silk shirts under armor, so wounds would not bleed as much and not be nearly as likely to infect. I also recall he was credited killing millions, possibly tens of millions, at a time when the earth's population was a small fraction of today's.
I don't really know much more about Genghis Kahn. He was huge. His accomplishments, good and bad, are also huge. I'd be happy to be re-educated.
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