I haven’t gone through the time-honored (18 months of honor by time, in this case) tradition of the fisk in quite a while. Perhaps it’s the fact that it tends to angry up the blood, or that my stomach isn’t any longer of the iron quality needed for the appropriate invective, or that my heart just isn’t in it any more.

Or that my pancreas is a bit distended.

Whatever.

The point is, I haven’t had it in me for a while to undertake the mental discipline necessary to gather up the journalistic slop that gushes into our homes via the sluice of media outlets after most (and sometimes all) nuggets of common sense have been expertly sifted out.

That is, of course, if there were any nuggets to begin with. In the case of uncle Noam, I’d be satisfied to find a few dust flakes of the stuff. But then, if you’re looking for reapeated dishonesties, barely concealed hatred against all things even remotely American and pathetic rhetorical tricks that were old in 1970, well brother, you’ve hit the mother lode.

Like a horror movie that’s just so bad it reaches some kind of critical mass of awfulness and suddenly becomes watchable as farce, Noam Chomsky has seen fit to take a dump on the electronic pages of the BBC. No surprise there, as the guy is relentless in his attacks on any and all large scale media outlets as pawns of the global corporate and Zionist conspiracies which seek to squash any kind of dissenting voice whatsoever. He is especially vocal on this point whenever the afore-mentioned dissent squashers graciously offer him the space to publish a thousand or so words of how all the voices have been silenced. However, I for one, never cease to be amazed that the British Ballyhoo Corporation for some reason has apparently decided to offer up their online space to recieve Chomsky’s feculent load as if he were the Golden Goose starting to bend over and getting that strained look on its face. I don’t understand why they would let Chomsky disseminate his ugly propaganda with their willing help, but then, as I’ve said before, I’m not that bright, so maybe I’m just missing something.

So, even though I have of late been hesitant to dive into the turbulent waters of fiskitude, I find that the opportunity presented by the one and only, the Noam Chomsky, offer simply too many vitriolic possibilities to pass up.

Right. So let’s do this thing.

 

You never need an argument against the use of violence, you need an argument for it. And the arguments that have been given for it are not convincing.

 

This is, frankly, a deeply dishonest couple of sentences for Chomsky to use (of course pointing that out begs the question as to when is anything Chomsky says not deeply dishonest), for he seems to suggest that there are arguments which exist that are both for and against an attack on Iraq, and that currently the “burden of proof” for war has not been met. Such a stance presupposes however, that there is such a point at which a reasonable person can say that war is justified. But that proposition is inimical to Chomsky’s most deeply held beliefs, for he believes that all violent action by states (but particulalry Western states, and even more particularly, capitalist states) is unjustified at all times in all circumstances. He’s making it seem as if his position is “not in this situation,” when in reality, it is “never.” Of course he won’t come out and say that here, because it would allow people to see the kind of reactionary loon he really is, when every military action by a Western capitalist state, no matter the context, is always unjustified.

 

There is no debate about the importance of disarming Iraq and indeed other countries that have the capacity to use weapons of mass destruction. That is very important and everyone agrees on it.

 

Chomsky has long been a devotee of the rhetorical school that claims if you simply make a blanket statement like “everyone agrees on that” or “no one seriously disputes this” or “that’s just obvious,” no matter how bananer the actual claim is to which you’re referring, that somehow it’s just going to be accepted as fact, like magic! The really sad thing about it is that, at least among the intellectually lazy Chomsky-ite faithful who follow their pied piper down every path of lies of rhetorical decpetion that he can come up with, too often such bold-faced assertions actually are taken at face value. After all, they wouldn’t want to end up looking stupid questioning something that everyone agrees on.

So you have to sit back and ask yourself: Has there been any debate about whether a nuclear Saddam is a threat? I’m curious then as to what all those people who for months championed deterrence as a solution were doing? What Chomsky sees as a lack of a debate is really just an instance in which the side of the debate he would have backed ended up getting clobbered because its position was laughably untenable. It’s like when Cynthia McKinney cries censorship as a response to people excoriating her for making idiotic statements that she can’t support.

Likewise, those voices that agitated for a return to nuclear deterrence (because gosh, didn’t they think the Cold War just swell?) fell silent rather quickly because they lost the debate. Because it was pointed out to them numerous times that, even when you’re dealing with a reasonably rational foe, deterrence is still a horribly risky game. Is Chomsky getting too old to remember the Cuban missile crisis? And the the case was also credibly made, with no sufficient rebuttal, that even if you’re willing to accept the risks of deterring a rational foe, one cannot even reasonably consider Saddam such a predictable entity, for he has shown himself capable of gross miscalculations and strategic blunders, emanating from deeply personal impulses towards greed and revenge.

But I suppose that discussion flew under Chomsky’s radar beast girl house sitting. Or rather perhaps it is the much more common reason cited for both McKinney Chomsky, in which any loss of the argument means that there actually has been no debate, and that dissent has be supressed. In a decidedly Stalinist mode, the only way that there can be said to be an open climate of debate is for the opposing side that disagrees with them to, well… not disagree.

 

The way to proceed with that is the way that has been done – with careful inspection procedures and efforts to ensure that the US and Britain and others will no longer carry out the policies of the past and provide Saddam with means for developing weapons of mass destruction.

 

Ah, now that’s the Chomsky we all know and love. He started off a bit shaky, but now he’s kicked the mendacity motor up a few hundred RPMs, and is just humming along. See that wonderfully inelegant, completely obvious jab he tried to sneak in? See, we need inspections not to make sure that Saddam isn’t up to any WMD hanky-panky, but so that the US and the UK keep their noses clean. I’m sure that Chomsky is outraged that Hans Blix hasn’t yet rolled up on Los Alamos with his cadre of inspectors and demanded entry to make sure we’re not planning more genocide in countries with brown people. Saddam’s agency is completely brushed aside, and onus of guilt is placed on the US and Britain for every bit of WMD underhandedness Saddam has ever committed.

The fact that we allowed Iraq to import biologic cultures that can be used to create bioweapons speaks perhaps to an increased need for vigilence of those with whom we are pushed into alliances of convenience (like, say, Saudi Arabia today), but the decision to help Saddam (solely in his war with Iran) was based in the ugly necessity of a realpolitik situation that presented two bad choices, with Saddam acting as the counter to a much greater threat. After the Islamic revolution, Iran was the single greatest supporter of terrorism against the United States, and there was good reason to believe that their actions would only increase, with no doubt to the point of getting and using nuclear weapons, should the possiblity present itself. The ayatollahs also had the specific goal of overrunning the entire region with their brand of Islamomadness, cutting off oil supplies and plunging the world into a global recession, and at the time that seemed like a distinct possibility.

Chomsky of course ignores any mention of this slightly more nuanced view. He prefers the wonderfully storybook image of a giant greedy hegemon doling out all manner of WMD for the sole purpose of spreading pure evil to the people of the Earth.

He also ignores the fact that for the last 12 years, the US has been trying to eliminate these weapons from Saddam’s possession as part of the original cease-fire agreement of the first Gulf War. Chomsky would do well to remember that this is what the whole thing is all about, after all. I suppose, however, that it’s too taxing for him to hold all of this inconvenient information in his head when he’s busy focusing on the US in its role as global Sauron.

He also coveniently (or stupidly… maybe he just doesn’t know what he’s talking about) conflates chemical/biologic and nuclear weapons into one big lump. The former are more frightening for the horridness of their effects rather than their strategic capability to deal out large amounts of destruction. A bioweapon scare in a US city might very well public havoc and paralysis from fear, but the chances of some epidemic sweeping the country and killing millions of people are virtually nil. Chemical weapons would be even more difficult to deliver as anything but a highly localized agent. Even a small, crude nuclear bomb, however, placed in any of a dozen urban centers would almost certainly kill millions as a matter of course. While Saddam having chem-bio weapons is certainly nothing to rejoice about, it’s miles away from him having a nuke, and the US never helped him develop such a capability. Again, as mentioned above, all we’ve been doing for the last decade or so is try to pressure Saddam as peacefully as possible into giving up his nuclear aspirations, while countries such as France and Russia gleefully looked the other way, pouring billions into Saddam’s coffers with backdoor economic deals, no doubt fueling his progress towards having a working atom bomb.

 

It is extremely unlikely that Saddam Hussein would use nuclear weapons, which is a recipe for instant suicide – except in a desperate reaction to an attack.

 

Again, how Chomsky attributes this rational sensibility to Saddam is beyond me, though I suppose we should give him credit for not saying something more Chomsky-esque like, “It’s obvious to any thinking person that Saddam would never use a nuke. No one disputes this.”

What with such bizarre acts as the incredibly foolhardy invasion of Kuwait (and the continued refusals to leave certain territories when such a concession would have allowed him to keep a portion of the oil fields he had seized without a fight, ending in net gain) and the attempt on President Bush’s life (a move that would have gained him no pragmatic advantage and only invited the full wrath of the United States against him personally), Saddam himself has already made the excellent case that he cannot be counted as a rational actor who will behave within the limits of a deterrence model Farm Cum.

 

I think that nobody doubts that the world would be better off if he is eliminated. But the means that are proposed are outlandish. 

The means that are proposed are that we should carry out an attack which we understand may cause very severe humanitarian catastrophe and might also lead to the only real likelihood of his using weapons of mass destruction.

 

I’m sorry Noam, but after your accusation that the US was quietly and deliberately planning a genocide of about 4 million Afghans a year ago, your credentials to pontificate about humanitarian catastrophes have been permanently revoked.

And an ordered military attack that would restore order and ensure that no “humanitarian catastrophe takes place after Saddam’s inglorious exit from this world is an “outlandish” scheme? How else would you propose that he be “eliminated,” then? You’re not referring to those CIA death squads, are you? I didn’t realize you had suddenly become a fan of the vast underground conspiracy of the US government to control the world’s nations and flouridate the water supply. For your birthday I’ll get you a subscription to CIA International Conspiracy Beat magazine. I hear they’re going to have a cover story on Rumsfeld. I heard you had a crush on him.

 

There is simply no historical precedent in the history of the United States or of Europe for such overwhelming opposition to a war at this stage – that is before it has even been undertaken.

 

Yeah. There are lots of things unprecedented about this war. For one thing the amount of connectivity and access to information allows all of the fringe anti-war elements to coordinate and set up email lists to gather folks to demonstrate and make their big stinks so they can remind everyone of what they already knew: that the Workers’ World Party (the group that broke off from the Socialist Workers’ Party because those SWP pansies had the gall to oppose the Soviet invasion of Hungary), the Black Panthers, the Wymyn’s International Coalition, and the Open-Toed Brigade for Hemp Production are all against the war. Thanks, we’ll be sure to remember that.

I mean, it’s swell that’s they’re getting their marching groove on and providing some clever puns on comparing Bush to Hitler and all, but it’s not like they’re really reaching out to people and convincing anyone. They’re the usual suspects, just with better networking skills. In the immortal words of Mayor Quimby, “Are these morons getting dumber or just louder?”

Well Diamond Joe, I’m gonna have to say a little bit of both.

 

You can declare victory over the much weaker enemy – but anything longer than that is going to arouse the public which simply is not as willing to accept aggression and violence as Europe and the United States have been in the past.

 

What they are going to accept however, is a quick, very decisive military victory that ends up sending the entire country of Iraq into jubilant cries of liberation. That is, of course, when they’re not asking us, “So, what took you guys so goddamned long?”

 

Whether there will be large-scale humanitarian catastrophes, nobody knows.

 

Christ, Noam, now you’re just phoning it in. You sound like a network news anchor that can’t think of anything to close his report with, so he wimps out with “What will happen next? Only time will tell. And now the weather…”

What, no accusations of a methodically planned genocide? It must be really really “silent” this time, huh? I’m sure it will still be deadly though.

“Silent, but deadly.” Yeah, I like the sound of that.

I think perhaps even Uncle Noam has developed the slightest sense of shame and doesn’t want to be shown to be a complete idiot again when the humanitarian catastrophe that he promises all his eager young followers just slavering for some atrocity whose name can accompany their chants of “Amerikkka!” doesn’t materialize.

 

It is a reasonable possibility and sane people do not undertake actions when they know that there is reasonable possibility that it may lead to a humanitarian catastrophe unless they have enormously powerful arguments. 

The arguments that they have put forward are so weak that there can be no choice about this.

 

See what’s so frustrating sometimes about Chomsky? He posits a general principle that sounds all peachy-keen and sensible, but then applies it in a decidely whacked-out manner in horrendously selective circumstances.

I can imagine him putting forth the maxim that, “People love dogs because they are our loyal companions and should be regarded with respect and affection,” in response to a kid screaming for help because he’s being mauled by a pit bull.

Above, he completely dismisses as the ramblings of paranoids the notion that Saddam would ever get or use nuclear weapons, throwing caution to the wind when it comes to the humanitarian catastrophe that would result from him sending one of his Little Boys flying watching animal sex.

But you’re not allowed to think about these things, because “There can be no choice” about it.

We are the Noam. Resistence is futile.

Meanwhile, the fact that we are able to use pre-emptive action when deemed necessary is a fact of our strength, not weakness
the efforts to find these people and eradicate them, to ferret them out from their cowardly hiding places and vaporize
You try to make it seem as if the Joint Chiefs were lying around on a Sunday afternoon and said to themselves, "Yeah sure,
"approach parody" is too mild. They sprinted towards parody, jumped on top of it and proceded to give parody a spirited
a representative of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was quoted as saying.
University or Diversity
needed now was healing, closure; in short, to "get over it" and "move on."
Well, being the abject conformist that I am, I would like to welcome all new and oldcomers to my new blog, which will
but I hope to do that soon. I also hope to win the Nobel Prize in Kickboxing, and judge each of those things to be of
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
cause, but I,
In fact, the idea of pre- emptive attack depends on fear. It presupposes insecurity and assumes we will always be threatened.
In your face, Space Coyote!
be replacing the old site that was hosted on that evil of evils, that bane of banes, that something-really-awful of
something-really-awfuls, BlogSpot.
way why we're doing all of this, and why, if they still choose to berate us about "root causes" and "birds coming home
care. Just don't let me hear anything about how this bombing that specifically targeted Australian civilians was somehow
If and when you find one, that means that I'll be perfectly willing to advocate an attack against them as well.
During that protest, my girlfriend had to take a midterm in Wheeler auditorium and had to step over the bodies lying in
trying to get an education
Well I wouldn't be surprised if this Wednesday at Sproul there will be similar behavior, and I plan to be there. Maybe
"I said it's being taken care of, dammit. Mind your own business."
By tossing out any reasonable standards of evidence as a prerequisite for military action, the White House puts us in a state
the Feds know about it.
the Feds know about it.
to all of you warmongering neanderthals" tone of voice. She then struck a pose of righteous exasperation when she asked
A taste, just a taste...
Diversity. More than motherhood, it is the one unassailable concept these days. Open any teaching publication, and you will
(or to have their genitalia eviscerated by a rabid Rosie O'Donnell
over the heads of the world's nations as threat so that he can act willy-nilly in whatever new adventure captures his
lap dance.
course grew out of the experience of 9/11.
"Standing in the foyer of the Bounty Hotel, people were just walking in, blood dripping off them, burns to their face, skin
weapons inspections in Iraq represent a good example of how the rule of law has been used, and can be used again, to avert
The Muslim world -- whose support is vital to any real effort to end the causes of terrorism -- is adamantly opposed.
to elicit empathy had been raised considerably since 9/11,
being the reaction described above.
The fact that this is being published in the Chronicle is no small feat. Even more reason for you to go read it.
You mean everyone in America aren't like San Franciscans?
The BBC has a story about the so-called "master hacker", in which it does a good job of destroying the mythos that
"A bunch of people died from terrorism over the weekend? Sure, that's awful, but we all knew this was going to happen
and eastern Europe, Australia and the middle east. Is that not multilateralism?
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
the teacher trying to impress both of them.
one of the most fad-driven enterprises imaginable. It produces a new catechism each decade, which everyone dutifully recites.
When I first heard about the bombing in Bali, my initial reaction was, "Another terrorist attack? Well, of course."
without end is causing traditional friends of the United States to
US: Italy, Australia, Poland, Spain, Qatar, Kuwait and, of course, Britain. I know it's hard to find out this kind of
Now at this point, most people would just say, "let it go, and move on."
So I hereby declare myself Ayatollah Mustardah of Blogistan. From this day forward, I will call down, on any Idiotarian
to prolonged indulgence in luxury and soft, effortless ease, or to the deification of a warped and twisted sentimentality.
psychopathic fancy without fear of retribution.
Heh. Didn't Nostradamus write something about "a bespeckled plague rising in the West..."?
I simply love it when my case is made for me.
"Standing in the foyer of the Bounty Hotel, people were just walking in, blood dripping off them, burns to their face, skin
But anyway, right there you've got yourself eight nations total in the coalition, hailing from North America, both western
I suppose you mean that it's not "multilateralist" unless France says so?
Do you mean the Muslim world that celebrated 9/11, saying the US deserved it all along? Or perhaps you mean the Muslim world
Finally, long after the fad has grown tiresome, everyone's attention turns to another scrap of dogma for the next decade.
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
nothing may stand in our way!
Already, even if the UN thumbs its irrelevant nose at the idea of going after Iraq (and if it actually does, then they'll
only be revealed as more useless than it already seems), there is right now a coalition prepared to go into Iraq with the
But anyway, right there you've got yourself eight nations total in the coalition, hailing from North America, both western
find testimonials to diversity. Flip through any recent social sciences or humanities textbook and diversity pops up with
faith at large, since many of them are peaceful, albeit intellectually stunted, people.
just now. Admittedly they do face significant challenges in carrying out their duties due to their imaginary nature,
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
Sure, it'd be nice to be a leader...
"Standing in the foyer of the Bounty Hotel, people were just walking in, blood dripping off them, burns to their face, skin
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.
trying to get an education
that extended anger and sadness bring, or maybe even from just the fact that my threshold of human suffering sufficient
I tried to present my ideas in an honest and truthful way, and not be seriously offensive, even when he acted in ways
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."
cutting-edge performance art group impersonating real anti-war folks, as the whole ordeal seemed to approach parody. No,
join the majority of the world's nations in distancing themselves from Washington in a fashion not seen since the Vietnam War.
If and when you find one, that means that I'll be perfectly willing to advocate an attack against them as well.
has been built up around Mitnick, a basically curious guy who just as often used old face-to-face (or voice-to-voice)
sloth, or as an instrument to further the ends of despotism or anarchy.
And exactly how do you go from no "final proof" to there being no evidence of impending aggression? The very fact that
really just put Saddam in a better situation than he was before because the presence of inspectors invites complacency and
faith at large, since many of them are peaceful, albeit intellectually stunted, people.
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
War, by three fellows that hail from Global Exchange. You know who I'm talking about. The folks that want to "build an
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
not just "fear," as if we're going to indiscriminantly nuke the floor under our beds because monsters might be hiding there.
some of their cohorts are actually being held accountable by the university for their disruptive, illegal actions at
again soon, didn't we?"
side of the political spectrum... what are they called?
the not-being-a-jerk department.
"What I found personally to be true was that it's easier to manipulate people rather than technology," he said.
"to prolonged indulgence in luxury and soft, effortless ease, or to the deification of a warped and twisted sentimentality"?
morally, that this is the right thing to do.
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
to make the first world poor and make sure the third world stays that way.
occurred, smashing the window of their hotel room.
During the last half of the 20th century, this principle was expanded internationally through the United Nations. The U.N.
A taste, just a taste...
and that it wasn't fair for these people to stop them, the girl started literally screaming at her about selfish she was.
I'll get a chance to ask why they've been glorifying images of Hamas murderers on their flyers.
being the reaction described above.
You try to make it seem as if the Joint Chiefs were lying around on a Sunday afternoon and said to themselves, "Yeah sure,
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
In theory, I was of course angry, but I had a vaguely detatched sense about the whole thing. A large part of that of
some of their cohorts are actually being held accountable by the university for their disruptive, illegal actions at
Wheeler Hall last spring.
For that reason and others, I didn't actually start reading the news coverage until this morning.
Whereas the Cold War doctrine of deterrence and containment rested on strength, the new idea of pre-emption insists on U.S.
he revealed himself to be a seriously dishonest debater (that, or he was so stupid that it wouldn't be safe for him to
serves? As far as I can tell, all they did was take some people who were probably overwhelmingly against the war anyway,
I strongly suspect TR had access to some sort of time machine and traveled into the furture about a hundred years.
Please. I can't swing around a dead Saddam on a rope without hitting this argument these days. At bottom, it's a slippery
Kevin Mitnick will be able to use a computer again in approximately 3 months.
economic stupidity, especially when their ideas would do such a better job of it by themselves. Case in point:
attack against the United States. Even though President Bush acknowledged in his speech that Iraq does not currently
weapons inspections in Iraq represent a good example of how the rule of law has been used, and can be used again, to avert
Diversity. More than motherhood, it is the one unassailable concept these days. Open any teaching publication, and you will
I'll get a chance to ask why they've been glorifying images of Hamas murderers on their flyers.
world that even today harbors and offers succor to the same groups that piloted the 9/11 planes, right?
You try to make it seem as if the Joint Chiefs were lying around on a Sunday afternoon and said to themselves, "Yeah sure,
"approach parody" is too mild. They sprinted towards parody, jumped on top of it and proceded to give parody a spirited
Quite the contrary, Bush's aggressive rhetoric, disregard for international law, and his lack of any vision other than war
he is willing to act aggressively and recklessly and cannot be reasonably deterred and 2) is working to get and use nukes
Now of course I'm sure that these open-toed folks have a flurry of perfectly well thought-out reasons as to why pissing
United States invade a distant country without any evidence of impending aggression.
conflict.
really just put Saddam in a better situation than he was before because the presence of inspectors invites complacency and
predictable frequency. Follow a politician to a school photo-op,
be replacing the old site that was hosted on that evil of evils, that bane of banes, that something-really-awful of
It may be a sad illustration of my lack to find sympathy within myself without reading descriptions or seeing pictures,
a terrorist and an envoy of Iran's supreme leader reportedly called for his death.
curiosity that trumps any sort of legal resriction placed on him, but it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that he's
why she thought there weren't more stories about protests going on in the news, "Well, because the media is corporately
only be revealed as more useless than it already seems), there is right now a coalition prepared to go into Iraq with the
side of the political spectrum... what are they called?
Eventually he got a little ticked off and said roughly, "Get away from me!" I was hungrily anticipating the energetic dissenter
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
the efforts to find these people and eradicate them, to ferret them out from their cowardly hiding places and vaporize
one of the most fad-driven enterprises imaginable. It produces a new catechism each decade, which everyone dutifully recites.
but they make up for any lack of actual existence with pure unadulterated enthusiasm.
be harried by idiots who have full compliments of heads and genitals! With the ranks of my imaginary gnomes rallied,
...but there's no shame in being a follower when those you're following make such damn good points.
looks like a green light, no?
I'm going to be checking the weather channel for reports of snowflakes in Hell, but meanwhile you should go read it now.
To quote a boozed up, cynical and misanthropic individual whom I greatly admire: "Making fun of these people is like
and that it wasn't fair for these people to stop them, the girl started literally screaming at her about selfish she was.
to elicit empathy had been raised considerably since 9/11,
that blatantly called for some rhetorical bitch-slapping.
Heh. Didn't Nostradamus write something about "a bespeckled plague rising in the West..."?
When I first heard about the bombing in Bali, my initial reaction was, "Another terrorist attack? Well, of course."
both at home and abroad, can go heartily fuck themselves, or jump off a cliff, or shoot themselves in the head. I don't
off a bunch of secretaries and other office workers who probably agree with them on the war anyway will further their
off a bunch of secretaries and other office workers who probably agree with them on the war anyway will further their
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
I guess not. The fact that the UN is anything but democratic since the vast majority of countries represented there do not
(or to have their genitalia eviscerated by a rabid Rosie O'Donnell
be replacing the old site that was hosted on that evil of evils, that bane of banes, that something-really-awful of
It may be a sad illustration of my lack to find sympathy within myself without reading descriptions or seeing pictures,
Shiite Muslim clerics in Lebanon and Iran have reacted with rage at the Rev. Jerry Falwell for calling Islam's prophet
going to be monitored so closely that I'd be surprised if he were able to put in a phony name at a porn site and not have
when you apply your own internal calculus of death and suffering and conclude that it isn't something that you need
of fist.
In fact, the idea of pre- emptive attack depends on fear. It presupposes insecurity and assumes we will always be threatened.
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
And exactly how do you go from no "final proof" to there being no evidence of impending aggression? The very fact that
them into a thin paste of protein on a cave wall, to wipe out every last vestige of the disgusting stain they have left
one of the most fad-driven enterprises imaginable. It produces a new catechism each decade, which everyone dutifully recites.
War, by three fellows that hail from Global Exchange. You know who I'm talking about. The folks that want to "build an
it is shoved, in all its detailed horror, right into my face.
"The death of that man is a religious duty, but his case should not be tied to the Christian community," Shabestari,
owned," she pontificated, in that snotty "52% of my clothes are made of hemp which therefore makes me morally superior
"A bunch of people died from terrorism over the weekend? Sure, that's awful, but we all knew this was going to happen
vulnerability.
the not-being-a-jerk department.
without regard to whether the loss is due to the growth of a heartless and all-absorbing commercialism,
Saddam will use these nukes when he gets them, whether that use takes the form of vaporizing a city or merely being hung
By tossing out any reasonable standards of evidence as a prerequisite for military action, the White House puts us in a state
Posted by Mean Mr. Mustard at 09:37 AM | Comments (0)
be harried by idiots who have full compliments of heads and genitals! With the ranks of my imaginary gnomes rallied,
The BBC has a story about the so-called "master hacker", in which it does a good job of destroying the mythos that
United States invade a distant country without any evidence of impending aggression.
anger that is so justifiable -no, demanded- by these despicable acts, but if that must be the case, then from on, I'll be
Well I'm far far far too petty a person to do that.
(or to have their genitalia eviscerated by a rabid Rosie O'Donnell
be replacing the old site that was hosted on that evil of evils, that bane of banes, that something-really-awful of
Many in the global community also distrust the Bush administration's expanding war aims. It is not easy for our friends around
a terrorist and an envoy of Iran's supreme leader reportedly called for his death.
curiosity that trumps any sort of legal resriction placed on him, but it's pretty much a foregone conclusion that he's
Don't you people ever get tired of just pulling shit out of your asses?
of fist.
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
Eventually he got a little ticked off and said roughly, "Get away from me!" I was hungrily anticipating the energetic dissenter
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
Hey, didn't there used to be a city where this smoking crater is?
My sentences, thus decreed, will be subsequently carried out by my elite brigade of Beheading Gnomes, whom I made up
about equal probability.
I wish that I could just be told "Hundreds of people died in a terrorist bombing today," and instantly feel the kind of rage
and the decisions to do so would based on (as in this case) measured calculations of the relative benefits and costs,
to all of you warmongering neanderthals" tone of voice. She then struck a pose of righteous exasperation when she asked
During that protest, my girlfriend had to take a midterm in Wheeler auditorium and had to step over the bodies lying in
For that reason and others, I didn't actually start reading the news coverage until this morning.
vulnerability.
"What I found personally to be true was that it's easier to manipulate people rather than technology," he said.
Saddam will use these nukes when he gets them, whether that use takes the form of vaporizing a city or merely being hung
morally, that this is the right thing to do.
Posted by Mean Mr. Mustard at 09:37 AM | Comments (0)
But it's not really fair to denigrate someone's ideas just because they themselves come from an organization riddled with
I simply love it when my case is made for me.
looks like a green light, no?
Well I'm far far far too petty a person to do that.
trying to get an education
that extended anger and sadness bring, or maybe even from just the fact that my threshold of human suffering sufficient
use grown-up scissors), but nevertheless, even though he really didn't deserve it,
and make them wish that congress had instead passed a resolution authorizing military force against people
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
care. Just don't let me hear anything about how this bombing that specifically targeted Australian civilians was somehow
off a bunch of secretaries and other office workers who probably agree with them on the war anyway will further their
United States invade a distant country without any evidence of impending aggression.
I guess not. The fact that the UN is anything but democratic since the vast majority of countries represented there do not
really just put Saddam in a better situation than he was before because the presence of inspectors invites complacency and
(or to have their genitalia eviscerated by a rabid Rosie O'Donnell
faith at large, since many of them are peaceful, albeit intellectually stunted, people.
50 Ways to Leave Your Folly Common Dreams, that goldmine of general silliness, showcases this piece, The Folly of Pre-emptive
rivals.
"The death of that man is a religious duty, but his case should not be tied to the Christian community," Shabestari,
to all of you warmongering neanderthals" tone of voice. She then struck a pose of righteous exasperation when she asked
to really concern yourself with, except in a somewhat general, theoretical way.
President Bush says he wants to avoid "a future of fear." It's an admirable goal, but one hardly served by this new doctrine.
"The lethal combination is when you exploit both people and technology," Mr Mitnick told BBC News Online.
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
that off my list of things to do. Now, on to learning how to square-dance."
By tossing out any reasonable standards of evidence as a prerequisite for military action, the White House puts us in a state
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:
"Standing in the foyer of the Bounty Hotel, people were just walking in, blood dripping off them, burns to their face, skin
that I hadn't thought of it first!
During that protest, my girlfriend had to take a midterm in Wheeler auditorium and had to step over the bodies lying in
hunting dairy cows with a high-powered rifle and scope."
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
and make them wish that congress had instead passed a resolution authorizing military force against people
psychopathic fancy without fear of retribution.
both at home and abroad, can go heartily fuck themselves, or jump off a cliff, or shoot themselves in the head. I don't
Kevin Mitnick will be able to use a computer again in approximately 3 months.
by both Instapundit and Cold Fury (and probably by sundry others by now):
sloth, or as an instrument to further the ends of despotism or anarchy.
making a point of reading in depth about any such future atrocity to ensure that I don't allow myself to be instantly "over it."
So I hereby declare myself Ayatollah Mustardah of Blogistan. From this day forward, I will call down, on any Idiotarian
I'll get a chance to ask why they've been glorifying images of Hamas murderers on their flyers.
world that even today harbors and offers succor to the same groups that piloted the 9/11 planes, right?
Shiite Muslim clerics in Lebanon and Iran have reacted with rage at the Rev. Jerry Falwell for calling Islam's prophet
cutting-edge performance art group impersonating real anti-war folks, as the whole ordeal seemed to approach parody. No,
When I first heard about the bombing in Bali, my initial reaction was, "Another terrorist attack? Well, of course."
so that he will be better equipped to fulfill point 1). Show me another nation that's like that today.
At the very least, don't let me hear any of these things when you're standing in my presence, unless you want a faceful
Mr Mitnick even had to get permission from his probation officer to use a computer to write his book, The Art Of Deception,
vaunted proof of yours. Then you could be really sure.
really just put Saddam in a better situation than he was before because the presence of inspectors invites complacency and
the efforts to find these people and eradicate them, to ferret them out from their cowardly hiding places and vaporize
morally, that this is the right thing to do.
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
agree that [insert additional badly-forced car metaphor here]!
occurred, smashing the window of their hotel room.
An insightful, well-written and quite simply excellent column somehow found its way in the SF Chronicle's website today.
I see. Did you talk to this "everyone" at your International Socialist Organization direct action planning seminar or
and that it wasn't fair for these people to stop them, the girl started literally screaming at her about selfish she was.
that extended anger and sadness bring, or maybe even from just the fact that my threshold of human suffering sufficient
nuclear weapons. Containment was born out of a realization that we were effectively restrained by our lack of strategic
and make them wish that congress had instead passed a resolution authorizing military force against people
psychopathic fancy without fear of retribution.
Sorry folks, but slippery slope arguments don't hold water by themselves. We're going after Saddam because he 1) has shown
Watching Channel 7 news today (the Simpsons were in a commercial), they reported on a wad of dingbats who blocked access
attack against the United States. Even though President Bush acknowledged in his speech that Iraq does not currently
During the last half of the 20th century, this principle was expanded internationally through the United Nations. The U.N.
Don't worry, I'll sit here with my rifle ready to take out any airborne porcines, should they come flying by.
find testimonials to diversity. Flip through any recent social sciences or humanities textbook and diversity pops up with
Well I wouldn't be surprised if this Wednesday at Sproul there will be similar behavior, and I plan to be there. Maybe
I was already in a state of "moving on" and being "over it" before I even heard about the Bali attacks, with the result
that blatantly called for some rhetorical bitch-slapping.
"approach parody" is too mild. They sprinted towards parody, jumped on top of it and proceded to give parody a spirited
without end is causing traditional friends of the United States to
so that he will be better equipped to fulfill point 1). Show me another nation that's like that today.
Now of course I'm sure that these open-toed folks have a flurry of perfectly well thought-out reasons as to why pissing
United States invade a distant country without any evidence of impending aggression.
satisfy you. I'd be much more amendable to the idea however if you were willing to be a personal eye-witness to this
find testimonials to diversity. Flip through any recent social sciences or humanities textbook and diversity pops up with
Well, being the abject conformist that I am, I would like to welcome all new and oldcomers to my new blog, which will
So welcome. If this is the first and/or only post you can see, it means I haven't imported my archives from Blogspot yet,
It may be a sad illustration of my lack to find sympathy within myself without reading descriptions or seeing pictures,
Iranian cleric Mohsen Mojtahed Shabestari, addressing weekly Friday prayers in the northwestern town of Tabriz, said
going to be monitored so closely that I'd be surprised if he were able to put in a phony name at a porn site and not have
Don't you people ever get tired of just pulling shit out of your asses?
I've been blogging since July 2005, and in that time, I've had a few inter-blog arguments with the folks on the other
which is all about the biggest threat to the security of all companies: their own employees.
You must be triple jointed to be able to twist words like that.
Those people are especially useful when they have access to the core computer systems that hackers would otherwise struggle
that off my list of things to do. Now, on to learning how to square-dance."
way why we're doing all of this, and why, if they still choose to berate us about "root causes" and "birds coming home
slope proposition, claiming that because we go after Saddam, we'll suddenly be all aggro-ed up to obliterate any country
Kevin Mitnick will be able to use a computer again in approximately 3 months.
According to the president, "we cannot wait for the final proof" that Saddam Hussein's government is planning an imminent
obviously they have lost loved ones or friends."
A taste, just a taste...
trying to get an education
The Muslim world -- whose support is vital to any real effort to end the causes of terrorism -- is adamantly opposed.
I was already in a state of "moving on" and being "over it" before I even heard about the Bali attacks, with the result
that blatantly called for some rhetorical bitch-slapping.
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
join the majority of the world's nations in distancing themselves from Washington in a fashion not seen since the Vietnam War.
If and when you find one, that means that I'll be perfectly willing to advocate an attack against them as well.
The BBC has a story about the so-called "master hacker", in which it does a good job of destroying the mythos that
sloth, or as an instrument to further the ends of despotism or anarchy.
anger that is so justifiable -no, demanded- by these despicable acts, but if that must be the case, then from on, I'll be
predictable frequency. Follow a politician to a school photo-op,
Also, I've printed out and made a bunch of copies of some flyers from this site and will be passing them out.
being the reaction described above.
You try to make it seem as if the Joint Chiefs were lying around on a Sunday afternoon and said to themselves, "Yeah sure,
last update : 19-5-2013

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