15
Bali-hoo and Nonsense
I continually try to convince myself that thickheadedness isn’t a prerequisite for employment at the Guardian, but (daily, it seems) those blokes keep letting me down. Dammit guys, gimme one day where you don’t fill your comment pages with foolishness and I’ll consider myself lucky. Is that asking too much?
According to Jonathan Freedland, apparently so. I suppose this post is especially apt right now, coming as it does right after my defense of fisking. So let’s get to it then.
The world has every right to feel angry. Not just with the perpetrators of the Saturday night massacre in Bali, but with the governments who vowed to wage a “war on terror” which would make attacks like it less likely.
Of course, no one is accusing our leaders of having a chance to prevent this act of mass murder and deliberately failing to take it. (No one, that is, except the conspiracy obsessives of radical Islamism, already spreading the word that Saturday’s bombers were US agents, seeking to justify and intervention.)
I’d just like to make the point that I highly doubt you’ll find that the majority of people saying this attack was perpetrated by a Western conspiracy are Islamist radicals. That is of course, unless you lump in a vast majority of the population of the Middle East in that extremist category. It would be instructive to remember at this point that government sponsored newspapers all over the mideast, their “papers of record” all “reported” on, and editorialized on the veracity of the disgusting myth that the Mossad had carried out the attacks. This was the most mainstream of mainstream media, and the vaunted “Arab street” believed it wholeheartedly (not that they wouldn’t have anyway without the collusion of Arab media).
I would also like to point out that it was outlets like the Guardian who issued a full-court press, immediately post-9/11, to treat this as a criminal matter, to seek out and capture the members of al Qeada and try them as we would any other criminals. Repeatedly we were told that the idea of a “War on Terrorism” was a foolhardy and unethical affair.
And yet now those same sources are the biggest cheerleaders for prosecuting exclusively the WOT and disregarding any other concern (ie Saddam) as tangential and unimportant, because of course, the WOT is so very important! I hope you will forgive me if I jump to the cynical conclusion that you merely have a knee-jerk anti-American response to whatever action is proposed. I’m a simplistic American, after all.
Onward.
But there is much western governments promised to do after 9/11 which would at least have obstructed the path of the men who plotted evil last weekend. Washington called it a “war on terror” and, with remarkably little resistance, most of the world’s people either signed up for it or acquiesced in it. Prevention of horrors like Saturday’s was the new strategy’s primary purpose. Yet all too little of that “war” effort has actually materialised dog fucking girl.
I beg to differ.
No, actually, I full-throatedly demand differing. First of all, I would like to know in what warped alternate reality does the phrase “remarkably little reistance” refer to constant, repeated, high-pitched criticisms about the conduct and even the very nature of the WOT as initially outlined by Bush? Any statement made by the president was greeted with derision and “enlightened” scorn by our apparent social and moral betters in the EU. Perhaps, considering just how softheaded and generally cowardly the EU is in its outlook towards foreign policy, we can say that it was “remarkable” that they didn’t try to have the US expelled from the UN or declared a rogue state for its actions. Thank you for your cooperation, fellas.
Secondly, what is maybe an even greater insult to reality is Freedman’s contention that the WOT hasn’t really “materialised.” I thought journalists were suppose to like, watch the news, at least once in a while (although I wouldn’t be particularly shocked were it to turn out that the Guardian actually got all it’s ideas from a Ouji board or magic 8 ball). Let’s read a bit more before we go on to say exactly why this apparent phony phantasm of a real WOT ranks so high on the silliness scale.
This new global gameplan was meant to have two core elements at least according to its British advocates. First would be a ruthless, unblinking pursuit of al-Qaida. In the pained weeks that followed the attacks on New York and Washington, citizens in the US and beyond imagined the full force of the state - its army, police and the complete battery of its secret services - deployed against the new enemy. Nothing would be allowed to distract from this goal. If that meant unholy alliances, so be it. If that meant temporarily shelving other foreign policy interests, OK: hunting down Osama bin Laden and his henchmen was to be the sole priority.
On this view, Afghanistan was merely the beginning. Uprooting the al-Qaida bases that had mushroomed there was necessary, but hardly sufficient. The whole terrifying point about al-Qaida was that it was not located in one targetable territory, neatly confined to one set of borders. Instead it had spread like a vapour to as many as 50 countries, with up to 100,000 militants ready for action. Bombing a few camps would hardly reach this enemy at all.
So essentially what you’re saying is that you want to have more big noises and things that blow up real good like in Afghanistan?
I have to admit, a wide-eyed wish for shiny, blood-spattered carnage isn’t the sort of thing I expect a Guardian columnist to be pining for. It’s a weird and wonderous world we live in.
After all, you seem to be saying that there are no more high-profile, Afghanistan-like military campaigns means somehow that we have given up on the WOT exotic animal porn. I don’t suppose you’ve forgotten about that prison in Cuba where there are several hundred guys who used to be cowering in caves now enjoying three squares a day and Muslim services, courtesy of the US Army? I seem to remember you guys were pretty upset about it or something a while back.
We haven’t given up, but what we have done is direct military resources elsewhere since their mass presence searching out Al Qeada would no longer be productive, since we already have shattered thoroughly the main base of operations of Bin Laden’s group. By all accounts, he himself is dead. Vast numbers of his lieutenents have been captured or killed. The ruling entity that harbored them is broken and gone. The operating head of the organization has been cut off, smashed into 50 pieces, burned, and had its ashes scattered to the four corners.
Think of Al Qeada as a toxic spill. It’s a rather simple job of cleaning up the first 95% of that spill. You just send in a bunch of dumptrucks and guys in special suits, and they scrape the shit off the ground and cart it away to like, New Jersey, or wherever. But it’s the last 5% that takes a long time, and getting rid of that is a much more precise and slow process, because now you’re talking about investigations into how much of the stuff has seeped into the ground and whether it has reached the groundwater, etc, etc. This part of the operation is lengthy, expensive and labor-intensive, and not particularly visible. Well, we’re in the 5% stage of the Al Qeada spill now, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it lasted years and we never saw another grand military action like that of Afghanistan. But just because you don’t see lots of bombs dropping and jets going whoosh! doesn’t mean the WOT has stopped, it just means we’ve got a smaller group of guys in white coats quietly and painstakingly doing geological and toxicological analysis rather than a small army shoveling green glowing goop into the backs of trucks.
Which brings us to the second prong of the war on terror many of us thought we signed up to a year ago. This held that if al-Qaida was truly to be defeated, killing or arresting its activists would not do the trick: lopping off a head today would only make another grow tomorrow. Every counter-terrorist struggle in the world, from Algiers to Belfast, had taught the same lesson: in the end, there can be no military victory over an enemy which enjoys even a limited degree of popular support. Instead, there has to be political action. Not an attempt to compromise with the killers - Bin-Laden is hardly demanding roundtable talks - but to win over the constituency that offers them tacit backing: to drain the sea in which they swim.
Hmmm… now this sound suspiciously like the same tired point that’s been beating itself to death since 9/12: the “root causes” hobgoblin horses watersports. Let’s find out…
That meant, among other things, a new alternative energy strategy, aimed eventually at weaning the west off oil. No longer would the US and others need to manipulate the Middle East just to safeguard their petrol supply. They could let the peoples of the Arab world choose their own governments for once. The US would move its troops out of Saudi Arabia, healing one of the sores Bin-Laden most likes to inflame: the presence of “infidels” on holy Muslim soil. And Washington would pick up where Clinton left off, devoting serious political muscle to the Israeli-Palestinian peace process. Genuine movement in that area would instantly rob the Islamists of one of their greatest recruiting pitches.
Excuse me???
I don’t exactly recall Bush (or anyone else who actually had anything significant to do with forming policy) saying anything about defeating Islamists through the use of solar powered-cars. That was your (idiotic) idea, and it was rightfully dismissed as jelly-headed folly. It must be nice to live in a fantasy world where everything you believe is automatically agreed upon and implemented by the powers that be.
Bin-Laden was allowed to vanish,
The way a frog vanishes when you stick a firecracker in its mouth.
…along with the Taliban leader Mullah Omar, who escaped the wrath of the mightiest army in the world on board a clapped-out motorbike.
And he’s been raining holy terror on us ever since, huh?
The jump-suited captives at Camp X-Ray appear too low-level to have much useful to say. Nor do the US intelligence agencies inspire much confidence: they remain at war with each other while their political masters tend to hear only what they want to hear.
I wish I had your complete clairvoyance so that I, too, could see with crystal clarity into the innermost workings of the most secretive government agencies and make generalized pronouncements about them. You’ll never hear about all the terrorist attacks that were foiled by these apparent bumbling fools, because they were, well. k9 porn.. foiled.
None of this is a surprise. For the prosecutors of the war on terror - who promised to focus like a laser beam - have let their eye wander. Like the rulers of Orwell’s 1984, our leaders have urged us to switch our hatred overnight not from Eastasia to Eurasia but from al-Qaida to Baghdad. Now we are to believe Saddam is the urgent, number one priority.
Right.
Of course.
Obviously.
Al Qeada, Bahgdad… equally constructed boogeymen, that’s it and that’s all. Anyone who doesn’t see this LOVES BIG BROTHER.
It’s nice that Freedman doesn’t bother going into any of the arguments that make it very clear that Bahgdad is part of a similar, probably linked, and much greater threat than Al Qeada, cuz then he would have to go through the process of looking stupid for another three or four paragraphs trying to belittle them.
Bali has proved why that is a woeful error. A war on Iraq will win yet more backing for jihadism in the Muslim world, apparently concerning all Bin Laden’s most lurid predictions of a clash of west against Islam.
What’s that I hear? Whispers in the background? They’re saying…. ARAB STREET free beastiality pictures.
Ah… you forget grasshopper, the only way that Bin Ladenism and his bananer claims about a final West v. Islam showdown will seem attractive in the least is if they can produce actual victories, because that’s what will galvanize the Arab street, something that was demonstrated exhaustively in the last year. After the attacks, cheering and rallies. After Afghanistan, silence. All we needed was some tumbleweeds and the picture of the Arab street ghostown would have been complete. The way to dry up Al Qeada’s pool of recruits is to pound it into their thick skulls that taking up Bin Laden’s flag is the fastest road to a quick, painful, useless death.
it is shoved, in all its detailed horror, right into my face.Heh. Didn't Nostradamus write something about "a bespeckled plague rising in the West..."?
obviously they have lost loved ones or friends."
military action to counter the Soviet threat was not possible, because of their equal capacity to destroy us through
but they make up for any lack of actual existence with pure unadulterated enthusiasm.
If and when you find one, that means that I'll be perfectly willing to advocate an attack against them as well.
For that reason and others, I didn't actually start reading the news coverage until this morning.
I finally went and did it.
It is time for a new day to dawn in the Blogosphere, my gnome brothers. A glorious day. A day when no longer will we
What it does not mean however, is that this suddenly signals that we are going to be going after China, Saudi Arabia, Cuba
needed now was healing, closure; in short, to "get over it" and "move on."
military action to counter the Soviet threat was not possible, because of their equal capacity to destroy us through
it is shoved, in all its detailed horror, right into my face.
Peace is generally good in itself, but it is never the highest good unless it comes as the handmaid
We despise and abhor the bully, the brawler, the oppressor, whether in private or public life, but
to penetrate.
I have to admit I'm pretty curious just to see what he's going to do. The guy has shown himself to have an overpowering
to all of you warmongering neanderthals" tone of voice. She then struck a pose of righteous exasperation when she asked
have democratically elected rulers I'm sure doesn't throw any flies into your ointment.
that off my list of things to do. Now, on to learning how to square-dance."
go it alone. What he failed to do was tell us who the members of his war coalition are. Why? Because there is no coalition.
and the UC Divestment folks will be holding a rally for what looks like the primary purpose of protesting the fact that
Posted by Mean Mr. Mustard at 09:13 PM | Comments (4)
Also, I've printed out and made a bunch of copies of some flyers from this site and will be passing them out.
Why are you still here?!
If and when you find one, that means that I'll be perfectly willing to advocate an attack against them as well.
and eastern Europe, Australia and the middle east. Is that not multilateralism?
a terrorist and an envoy of Iran's supreme leader reportedly called for his death.
when you apply your own internal calculus of death and suffering and conclude that it isn't something that you need
And at most, UN weapons inspectors have delayed conflict by a few years, not averted it. In actualyity, I think they have
and make them wish that congress had instead passed a resolution authorizing military force against people
Iranian cleric Mohsen Mojtahed Shabestari, addressing weekly Friday prayers in the northwestern town of Tabriz, said
An insightful, well-written and quite simply excellent column somehow found its way in the SF Chronicle's website today.
And at most, UN weapons inspectors have delayed conflict by a few years, not averted it. In actualyity, I think they have
"I said it's being taken care of, dammit. Mind your own business."
Quite the contrary, Bush's aggressive rhetoric, disregard for international law, and his lack of any vision other than war
to really concern yourself with, except in a somewhat general, theoretical way.
needed now was healing, closure; in short, to "get over it" and "move on."
being the reaction described above.
Anyway, take the new site for a test drive. Take her easy on the clutch and go steady on the hills, and I think you'll
Peace is generally good in itself, but it is never the highest good unless it comes as the handmaid
We despise and abhor the bully, the brawler, the oppressor, whether in private or public life, but
off a bunch of secretaries and other office workers who probably agree with them on the war anyway will further their
agree that [insert additional badly-forced car metaphor here]!
During the last half of the 20th century, this principle was expanded internationally through the United Nations. The U.N.
"The lethal combination is when you exploit both people and technology," Mr Mitnick told BBC News Online.
I figured that was the way to go. But then I read this.
a representative of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was quoted as saying.
without regard to whether the loss is due to the growth of a heartless and all-absorbing commercialism,
agree that [insert additional badly-forced car metaphor here]!
I don't know about you people, but I'm already stocking up on extra food, water, and electrons.
vulnerability.
being the reaction described above.
it is shoved, in all its detailed horror, right into my face.
University or Diversity
Well I'm far far far too petty a person to do that.
be replacing the old site that was hosted on that evil of evils, that bane of banes, that something-really-awful of
slope proposition, claiming that because we go after Saddam, we'll suddenly be all aggro-ed up to obliterate any country
President Bush says he wants to avoid "a future of fear." It's an admirable goal, but one hardly served by this new doctrine.
I strongly suspect TR had access to some sort of time machine and traveled into the furture about a hundred years.
and the decisions to do so would based on (as in this case) measured calculations of the relative benefits and costs,
obviously they have lost loved ones or friends."
vaunted proof of yours. Then you could be really sure.
"I said it's being taken care of, dammit. Mind your own business."
be harried by idiots who have full compliments of heads and genitals! With the ranks of my imaginary gnomes rallied,
Now of course I'm sure that these open-toed folks have a flurry of perfectly well thought-out reasons as to why pissing
needed now was healing, closure; in short, to "get over it" and "move on."
fact that these people are thugs, bullies and liars.
to make the first world poor and make sure the third world stays that way.
by both Instapundit and Cold Fury (and probably by sundry others by now):
vaunted proof of yours. Then you could be really sure.
that off my list of things to do. Now, on to learning how to square-dance."
In theory, I was of course angry, but I had a vaguely detatched sense about the whole thing. A large part of that of
, "I don't believe the American people support this war. Everyone I've talked to is against it!"
But I am thankful that at least for now, I've been able to summon that deep-seated, personal wrath so appropriate to an
Either that, or I now have to admit the existence of clairvoyance.
In theory, I was of course angry, but I had a vaguely detatched sense about the whole thing. A large part of that of
"A bunch of people died from terrorism over the weekend? Sure, that's awful, but we all knew this was going to happen
needed now was healing, closure; in short, to "get over it" and "move on."
fact that these people are thugs, bullies and liars.
to make the first world poor and make sure the third world stays that way.
United States invade a distant country without any evidence of impending aggression.
computer systems.
who like to chant slogans and can't come up with any better rhyme than something that has to do with the number "four" and "war."
curiosity that trumps any sort of legal resriction placed on him, but it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that he's
coming off them. It was really a terrible sight," she said. "You could just hear people crying up in the Bounty foyer -
But I am thankful that at least for now, I've been able to summon that deep-seated, personal wrath so appropriate to an
and that it wasn't fair for these people to stop them, the girl started literally screaming at her about selfish she was.
To quote a boozed up, cynical and misanthropic individual whom I greatly admire: "Making fun of these people is like
You try to make it seem as if the Joint Chiefs were lying around on a Sunday afternoon and said to themselves, "Yeah sure,
Meanwhile, the fact that we are able to use pre-emptive action when deemed necessary is a fact of our strength, not weakness
coming off them. It was really a terrible sight," she said. "You could just hear people crying up in the Bounty foyer -
satisfy you. I'd be much more amendable to the idea however if you were willing to be a personal eye-witness to this
that off my list of things to do. Now, on to learning how to square-dance."
When I first heard about the bombing in Bali, my initial reaction was, "Another terrorist attack? Well, of course."
Already, even if the UN thumbs its irrelevant nose at the idea of going after Iraq (and if it actually does, then they'll
and eastern Europe, Australia and the middle east. Is that not multilateralism?
I was already in a state of "moving on" and being "over it" before I even heard about the Bali attacks, with the result
looks like a green light, no?
Eventually he got a little ticked off and said roughly, "Get away from me!" I was hungrily anticipating the energetic dissenter
that blatantly called for some rhetorical bitch-slapping.
not just "fear," as if we're going to indiscriminantly nuke the floor under our beds because monsters might be hiding there.
During the last half of the 20th century, this principle was expanded internationally through the United Nations. The U.N.
have democratically elected rulers I'm sure doesn't throw any flies into your ointment.
I strongly suspect TR had access to some sort of time machine and traveled into the furture about a hundred years.
Stand up to these thugs This Wednesday, the 16th at noon, an apparent composite of the Students for Justice in Palestine
Wheeler Hall last spring.
Well I wouldn't be surprised if this Wednesday at Sproul there will be similar behavior, and I plan to be there. Maybe
be replacing the old site that was hosted on that evil of evils, that bane of banes, that something-really-awful of
Replace "powerful" with "crazy and armed with nukes" and you'd be right. Otherwise, your statement is nonsense.
coming off them. It was really a terrible sight," she said. "You could just hear people crying up in the Bounty foyer -
we despise no less the coward and the voluptuary. No man is worth calling a man who will not fight
that off my list of things to do. Now, on to learning how to square-dance."
"approach parody" is too mild. They sprinted towards parody, jumped on top of it and proceded to give parody a spirited
some of their cohorts are actually being held accountable by the university for their disruptive, illegal actions at
To quote a boozed up, cynical and misanthropic individual whom I greatly admire: "Making fun of these people is like
that continues to characterize the US as the Great Satan and preach jihad against all things Western? Oh I know, the Muslim
rivals.
University or Diversity
a careful, precise argument, what point is there in engaging them verbally anymore?
(or to have their genitalia eviscerated by a rabid Rosie O'Donnell
but they make up for any lack of actual existence with pure unadulterated enthusiasm.
economic stupidity, especially when their ideas would do such a better job of it by themselves. Case in point:
United States invade a distant country without any evidence of impending aggression.
"What I found personally to be true was that it's easier to manipulate people rather than technology," he said.
we could go and stop the Soviets and all their expansionist hijinks, but then we'd like, have to go all the way over to
rather than submit to infamy or see those that are dear to him suffer wrong.
Why are you still here?!
obviously they have lost loved ones or friends."
And exactly how do you go from no "final proof" to there being no evidence of impending aggression? The very fact that
The article also points to this site, which maintains a running clock of how long it will be until Mitnick can start
democratically decided laws - - not the capriciousness of individual rulers -- should govern human affairs.
for the life of me, cannot see it. The news showed a clip of a guy trying politely to walk around a woman so self-righteous
I'll get a chance to ask why they've been glorifying images of Hamas murderers on their flyers.
Please. I can't swing around a dead Saddam on a rope without hitting this argument these days. At bottom, it's a slippery
when you apply your own internal calculus of death and suffering and conclude that it isn't something that you need
Diversity. More than motherhood, it is the one unassailable concept these days. Open any teaching publication, and you will
"to prolonged indulgence in luxury and soft, effortless ease, or to the deification of a warped and twisted sentimentality"?
and the decisions to do so would based on (as in this case) measured calculations of the relative benefits and costs,
coming off them. It was really a terrible sight," she said. "You could just hear people crying up in the Bounty foyer -
rather than submit to infamy or see those that are dear to him suffer wrong.
I figured that was the way to go. But then I read this.
a representative of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was quoted as saying.
conflict.
No nation deserves to exist if it permits itself to lose the stern and virile virtues; and this
Shiite Muslim clerics in Lebanon and Iran have reacted with rage at the Rev. Jerry Falwell for calling Islam's prophet
democratically decided laws - - not the capriciousness of individual rulers -- should govern human affairs.
sloth, or as an instrument to further the ends of despotism or anarchy.
without regard to whether the loss is due to the growth of a heartless and all-absorbing commercialism,
I strongly suspect TR had access to some sort of time machine and traveled into the furture about a hundred years.
not just "fear," as if we're going to indiscriminantly nuke the floor under our beds because monsters might be hiding there.
Maybe I can't change the fact that I have to be intimately confronted with the death and pain in order to really feel the
that off my list of things to do. Now, on to learning how to square-dance."
psychopathic fancy without fear of retribution.
to all of you warmongering neanderthals" tone of voice. She then struck a pose of righteous exasperation when she asked
Diversity. More than motherhood, it is the one unassailable concept these days. Open any teaching publication, and you will
who has been deprived of food for at least 6 hours - sounds like an unusually cruel thing to do, I know, but I'm sure
way why we're doing all of this, and why, if they still choose to berate us about "root causes" and "birds coming home
Don't you people ever get tired of just pulling shit out of your asses?
To quote a boozed up, cynical and misanthropic individual whom I greatly admire: "Making fun of these people is like
I finally went and did it.
Anyway, take the new site for a test drive. Take her easy on the clutch and go steady on the hills, and I think you'll
off a bunch of secretaries and other office workers who probably agree with them on the war anyway will further their
vulnerability.
world that even today harbors and offers succor to the same groups that piloted the 9/11 planes, right?
to make the first world poor and make sure the third world stays that way.
Peace is generally good in itself, but it is never the highest good unless it comes as the handmaid
superiority.
Now at this point, most people would just say, "let it go, and move on."
be replacing the old site that was hosted on that evil of evils, that bane of banes, that something-really-awful of
without end is causing traditional friends of the United States to
the All Men Are Rapists self defense workshop? Surely that must be a representative sample of the country!
he is willing to act aggressively and recklessly and cannot be reasonably deterred and 2) is working to get and use nukes
that off my list of things to do. Now, on to learning how to square-dance."
be harried by idiots who have full compliments of heads and genitals! With the ranks of my imaginary gnomes rallied,
"A bunch of people died from terrorism over the weekend? Sure, that's awful, but we all knew this was going to happen
And perhaps because of the collective weight of all those accumulated exhortations, perhaps from the psychic weariness
be replacing the old site that was hosted on that evil of evils, that bane of banes, that something-really-awful of
But it's not really fair to denigrate someone's ideas just because they themselves come from an organization riddled with
off a bunch of secretaries and other office workers who probably agree with them on the war anyway will further their
Eventually he got a little ticked off and said roughly, "Get away from me!" I was hungrily anticipating the energetic dissenter
that blatantly called for some rhetorical bitch-slapping.
that boiled up to the surface when I read things like this.
looks like a green light, no?
have democratically elected rulers I'm sure doesn't throw any flies into your ointment.
over the heads of the world's nations as threat so that he can act willy-nilly in whatever new adventure captures his
the Feds know about it.
During that protest, my girlfriend had to take a midterm in Wheeler auditorium and had to step over the bodies lying in
and that it wasn't fair for these people to stop them, the girl started literally screaming at her about selfish she was.
faith at large, since many of them are peaceful, albeit intellectually stunted, people.
both at home and abroad, can go heartily fuck themselves, or jump off a cliff, or shoot themselves in the head. I don't
of fist.
the not-being-a-jerk department.
that blatantly called for some rhetorical bitch-slapping.
lap dance.
when you apply your own internal calculus of death and suffering and conclude that it isn't something that you need
hunting dairy cows with a high-powered rifle and scope."
something-really-awfuls, BlogSpot.
rivals.
looks like a green light, no?
Don't worry, I'll sit here with my rifle ready to take out any airborne porcines, should they come flying by.
Hey, didn't there used to be a city where this smoking crater is?
the efforts to find these people and eradicate them, to ferret them out from their cowardly hiding places and vaporize
care. Just don't let me hear anything about how this bombing that specifically targeted Australian civilians was somehow
a careful, precise argument, what point is there in engaging them verbally anymore?
without regard to whether the loss is due to the growth of a heartless and all-absorbing commercialism,
Heh. Didn't Nostradamus write something about "a bespeckled plague rising in the West..."?
to prolonged indulgence in luxury and soft, effortless ease, or to the deification of a warped and twisted sentimentality.
when you apply your own internal calculus of death and suffering and conclude that it isn't something that you need
satisfy you. I'd be much more amendable to the idea however if you were willing to be a personal eye-witness to this
nuclear weapons. Containment was born out of a realization that we were effectively restrained by our lack of strategic
it is shoved, in all its detailed horror, right into my face.
when you apply your own internal calculus of death and suffering and conclude that it isn't something that you need
occurred, smashing the window of their hotel room.
trying to get an education
"I said it's being taken care of, dammit. Mind your own business."
When I first heard about the bombing in Bali, my initial reaction was, "Another terrorist attack? Well, of course."
some of their cohorts are actually being held accountable by the university for their disruptive, illegal actions at
A taste, just a taste...
go it alone. What he failed to do was tell us who the members of his war coalition are. Why? Because there is no coalition.
sloth, or as an instrument to further the ends of despotism or anarchy.
to get a good smack upside the head (or as I call it, a "hippie hello"), but that was apparently too much for the niggardly
Shiite Muslim clerics in Lebanon and Iran have reacted with rage at the Rev. Jerry Falwell for calling Islam's prophet
democratically decided laws - - not the capriciousness of individual rulers -- should govern human affairs.
weapons inspections in Iraq represent a good example of how the rule of law has been used, and can be used again, to avert
act such as this. In a few days or weeks, I'm sure it will subside to a colder, more focused resolution to continue to
of constant uncertainty and increased insecurity where almost anything could lead to war.
course grew out of the experience of 9/11.
again soon, didn't we?"
and make them wish that congress had instead passed a resolution authorizing military force against people
Watching Channel 7 news today (the Simpsons were in a commercial), they reported on a wad of dingbats who blocked access
information with your heads crammed so far up your asses, so I'll give you a pass.
Well, being the abject conformist that I am, I would like to welcome all new and oldcomers to my new blog, which will
but they make up for any lack of actual existence with pure unadulterated enthusiasm.
to the San Francisco federal building to protest the passage of Bush's resolution for action against Iraq.
you could see stink lines of self-satisfaction coming off her so that he could simply get to his job. She of course started
Hesiod over at Counterspin Central is one such fellow. Not only with myself, but in his conversations with Den Beste,
the world to stomach the imperial scent of our newly enunciated military doctrine that proposes pre- emption of any powerful
...but there's no shame in being a follower when those you're following make such damn good points.
sloth, or as an instrument to further the ends of despotism or anarchy.
Now could someone please tell me what concrete purpose that woman's behavior, and that of her great chanting unwashed bretheren,
Shiite Muslim clerics in Lebanon and Iran have reacted with rage at the Rev. Jerry Falwell for calling Islam's prophet
a representative of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was quoted as saying.
Maybe I can't change the fact that I have to be intimately confronted with the death and pain in order to really feel the
without regard to whether the loss is due to the growth of a heartless and all-absorbing commercialism,
Bush also spoke of an "international coalition" that would disarm Hussein. Bush knows the American public is loathe to
owned," she pontificated, in that snotty "52% of my clothes are made of hemp which therefore makes me morally superior
A taste, just a taste...
Well, being the abject conformist that I am, I would like to welcome all new and oldcomers to my new blog, which will
It is time for a new day to dawn in the Blogosphere, my gnome brothers. A glorious day. A day when no longer will we
Now of course I'm sure that these open-toed folks have a flurry of perfectly well thought-out reasons as to why pissing
In fact, the idea of pre- emptive attack depends on fear. It presupposes insecurity and assumes we will always be threatened.
Well that's not really true. People on a different side of the debate than I are not necessarily jerks, just wrong.
vaunted proof of yours. Then you could be really sure.
Please. I can't swing around a dead Saddam on a rope without hitting this argument these days. At bottom, it's a slippery
After 3000 of your countrymen die in a couple hours, anything less than that is wont to be downplayed in significance
the All Men Are Rapists self defense workshop? Surely that must be a representative sample of the country!
jerkwad I encounter, an order for them to be beheaded with extreme prejudice until the the point at which they are dead
morally, that this is the right thing to do.
course grew out of the experience of 9/11.
President Bush says he wants to avoid "a future of fear." It's an admirable goal, but one hardly served by this new doctrine.
Hesiod over at Counterspin Central is one such fellow. Not only with myself, but in his conversations with Den Beste,
to roost," those sniveling, carping appeasers,
During the last half of the 20th century, this principle was expanded internationally through the United Nations. The U.N.
Saddam is so hot to get his grubby hands on nukes is enough evidence of aggression. What's he going to do with them once
who like to chant slogans and can't come up with any better rhyme than something that has to do with the number "four" and "war."
One of the great advances of the modern era has been the spread of the rule of law. This is the now common idea that
Maybe I can't change the fact that I have to be intimately confronted with the death and pain in order to really feel the
support (in the small, mostly insignificant ways that are possible for one such as myself)
over the heads of the world's nations as threat so that he can act willy-nilly in whatever new adventure captures his
without end is causing traditional friends of the United States to
again soon, didn't we?"
Containment and deterrence were responses to US weakness, you silly-headed dunderpate. It was obvious that using direct
I figured that was the way to go. But then I read this.
One middle-aged woman who looked like she hadn't combed her hair since Jerry Garcia died had this to say, when asked
I mean come on, when you're arguing with someone who's just going to call you a Nazi when you spend 2,000 words making
predictable frequency. Follow a politician to a school photo-op,
I urge anyone in the bay area who has the time on the 16th to come as well and lend credence with your example to the
Anyway, take the new site for a test drive. Take her easy on the clutch and go steady on the hills, and I think you'll
for the life of me, cannot see it. The news showed a clip of a guy trying politely to walk around a woman so self-righteous
The book details the ways that employees can inadvertently leak information that can be exploited by hackers to compromise
and make them wish that congress had instead passed a resolution authorizing military force against people
a terrorist and an envoy of Iran's supreme leader reportedly called for his death.
some of their cohorts are actually being held accountable by the university for their disruptive, illegal actions at
trying to get an education
be replacing the old site that was hosted on that evil of evils, that bane of banes, that something-really-awful of
agree that [insert additional badly-forced car metaphor here]!
looks like a green light, no?
Don't worry, I'll sit here with my rifle ready to take out any airborne porcines, should they come flying by.
and you'll get diversity in the speech by the politician, in the one by the principal who welcomes him and in the one by
The fact that this is being published in the Chronicle is no small feat. Even more reason for you to go read it.
so that he will be better equipped to fulfill point 1). Show me another nation that's like that today.
My sentences, thus decreed, will be subsequently carried out by my elite brigade of Beheading Gnomes, whom I made up
University or Diversity
to get a good smack upside the head (or as I call it, a "hippie hello"), but that was apparently too much for the niggardly
being the reaction described above.
Sure, it'd be nice to be a leader...
United States invade a distant country without any evidence of impending aggression.
You must be triple jointed to be able to twist words like that.
of a lack of imagination or basic humanity; the fact that it's difficult for me to feel deeply for people suffering unless
to the San Francisco federal building to protest the passage of Bush's resolution for action against Iraq.
Well that's not really true. People on a different side of the debate than I are not necessarily jerks, just wrong.
Do you mean the Muslim world that celebrated 9/11, saying the US deserved it all along? Or perhaps you mean the Muslim world
Why are you still here?!
to really concern yourself with, except in a somewhat general, theoretical way.
getting an education. When she tried to talk to one of the organizers after her test about how some people were just
faith at large, since many of them are peaceful, albeit intellectually stunted, people.
to roost," those sniveling, carping appeasers,
If and when you find one, that means that I'll be perfectly willing to advocate an attack against them as well.
getting an education. When she tried to talk to one of the organizers after her test about how some people were just
fact that these people are thugs, bullies and liars.
both at home and abroad, can go heartily fuck themselves, or jump off a cliff, or shoot themselves in the head. I don't
Do you mean the Muslim world that celebrated 9/11, saying the US deserved it all along? Or perhaps you mean the Muslim world
I wish that I could just be told "Hundreds of people died in a terrorist bombing today," and instantly feel the kind of rage
of fist.
The Muslim world -- whose support is vital to any real effort to end the causes of terrorism -- is adamantly opposed.
It may be a sad illustration of my lack to find sympathy within myself without reading descriptions or seeing pictures,
...but there's no shame in being a follower when those you're following make such damn good points.
you could see stink lines of self-satisfaction coming off her so that he could simply get to his job. She of course started
Do you mean the Muslim world that celebrated 9/11, saying the US deserved it all along? Or perhaps you mean the Muslim world
last update : 11-10-2008
