Wall Street Bailout cartoon roundup

all cartoons property of their owners and courtesy of Cagle's Political Cartoon Page (see sidebar link)

Thoughts on Iran

This rant on Iran has been a long time coming. More specifically, this rant on double standards as they apply to US policy on Iran.

Ok, we have here a case of Israel making threatening moves on Iran. Threatening talk, too. And Iran responds by testing long range missiles that could threaten Israel. For this the US State Department condemns Iran.

Imagine two hypothetical countries. One country is allowed to achieve nuclear weapons. The other country, nearby, now feels unsafe unless they can get nukes too. Country 1 feels threatened by country 2's attempt to get nukes. We allow country 1 to attack country 2, but we don't allow country 2 to retaliate or even defend itself. Country 2 sees its fears confirmed and works harder to get nukes. We allow country 1 to attack country 2, but we don't allow country 2 to retaliate or even defend itself. Country 2 gets really mad and starts making threats. We call them foolish and crazy. And terrorists.

Meanwhile in countries 3-85 leaders are organizing campaigns to rape ethnic minorities into extinction, starve the political opposition, steal the entire GDP and run, and scores of other atrocities.

The nuclear cat is out of the bag. It's not going back in. Get used to it. The number one state sponsor of terrorism (Pakistan) has it. Why not encourage Israel to take care of them? They're a hell of a lot more dangerous than Iran. Leave Iran alone.

I don't even support sanctions. Making the Iranian government feel victimized only makes them more paranoid. The Iranian people aren't some backwards tribesmen. They have, or want to have, everything we have. Much of it has to be hidden from the government, but only part of their government is elected. The religious guy who sits at the top (Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei) is the real problem. Iran's got a lot of unemployed young men and Khameni's a good "grassroots organizer". He can whip up a riot in mere hours in response to American or Israeli actions. Normal people trying to lead normal lives have a hard time getting rid of a guy like that. Especially when the evening news is talking about Gaza and the West Bank. Everybody's upset about Israel.

In fact, there's only 3 ways they will ever get rid of him and his ilk.
1. Things get so bad the people have nothing left to lose by taking to the streets against him.
2. All the young men get jobs and get wives and kids.
or
3. Some great inspirational person or event broadly changes public opinion.

Obviously this does not address outside intervention, but if history teaches us anything, it teaches that overthrowing governments often has unintended consequences. In fact, that's how Iran got into the mess they're in now. We overthrew their government in the 50's and the guy we left in charge got overthrown by the current bunch back in '79. The regime change thing is very tricky. Best to let each country work out its own government.

Which brings us back to the nuclear issue. Israel has the bomb. That makes the Supreme Leader nervous. US support of Israel's policies against the Palestinians makes the Iranian people mad enough to support their government sometimes. Can we blame them for wanting nukes? We've shafted them for decades and given them a neighbor that can nuke them unchallenged. A neighbor widely seen in the region as a bully.

We're not the only country allowed to exploit our natural resources. We're not the only country allowed to pollute. We're not the only country allowed to exploit our workers. And we're not the only country allowed to have an arms race. Even if we beat everyone else to it by decades.

George Carlin dead...

This is terrible.

At least he went quickly. He didn't suffer for years. He was active right up to the end.

Oh god. This is terrible.

Is technology the whore of capitalism?

From Huffington Post comes a movie review for War, Inc. that asks a fascinating question.

The promise of technology was to relieve us of onerous labors, leaving us more time for delight and relaxation. Instead, technology has provided new onerous labors to replace the old, placed greater production demands on the laborer, or left unemployed and poor those it has rendered unnecessary to production.

What the hell, Technology? Why did you break your promise?

Come to think of it, where did you get off making such a ludicrous promise in the first place? How exactly was free time going to be redistributed in a world of every-man-for-himself capitalism?

What da hell wuz you thinkin'?

Here's his thought provoking answer to his own question

Did technology really think we would all be socialists by now? Silly goose. Is that why it made those promises it couldn't keep?

Read the rest. It's an interesting idea.

He speculates about the influence of technology in the development of capitalism (and war). Technology makes it cheaper to produce with fewer workers but that savings disappears into a capitalists pocket. Our ancestors seemed to think that technology would encourage social equality. A lot of technogeeks today would agree. So far it doesn't seem to be working. Instead technology encourages capitalism. Which encourages inequality. Which encourages war. Which encourages technology...

I never realized that my lost leisure time has been out making war.

goodies from Cagle's cartoon page

Doc Savage!

Talk about serendipity. I've been reading The Black Lizard Big Book of Pulps recently and really enjoying all the tough guys and sharp broads and all the other fun cliches you only get in that kind of detective fiction. Normally I'm a sci-fi/fantasy reader, but detective stories are my first fallback so it makes sense that I would enjoy Doc Savage. If you haven't read any, DO. They're more fun than anything on TV. World-famous detective, also world-famous band of sidekicks, techno-toys, James Bond type villians (long before Bond), Doc Savage has everything. Think of a cross between Batman and Buckaroo Banzai. So when I found this marvelous site that reads, reviews, and rates the Doc Savage books I was like a kitten with a new toy. Now I know what to get when I finish the Black Lizard.

cash or credit?

Peter Schiff, president of money manager Euro Pacific Capital, warns that after years of profligate spending, the "chickens are finally coming home to roost".

"Our whole phony standard of living is imploding," he said. "We have borrowed and spent ourselves into oblivion."

"It's amazing that people can't figure out that America is broke."

courtesy of reuters

The World Wants To Know

Last night I went to Nashville to see the opening show of the Polyphonic Spree tour. With me were my boyfriend and a new convert. We waited almost 2 hours at Nashville's City Hall, a big brick room that promised plentiful echoes, for the show to start. The concert opened and closed with new songs, which made up about half of the material. From the moment the full band kicked in I couldn't have noticed echoes if there were any. Although I counted only 14 people on stage the sound was bigger than anything I'd ever heard. The smallish but happy crowd listened attentively to the new songs and jumped and waved for the older, familiar ones. It felt as if the band had played about 6 songs when Tim called last song and very soon the stage was empty. The encore was everything I had hoped for. The 05' tour robes were back, the band resumed the stage by parading through the crowd, and the extended set of older material left us much happier than the somewhat ambiguous ending of the show proper.
If anyone made a bootleg of the show I'd love to know about it. I'll be looking for video clips on youtube.
If the Spree are coming to your town or anywhere within 5 hours, GO!

Thank you Tim and company. Thank You.

Into the Great Wide Open

Indiana sucks.

My front yard is a soybean field.

"these are just simple farmers, these are people of the land, the common clay of the new west. You know . . . morons."
Mel Brooks, Blazin' Saddles

One strange thing-there's a Tibetian monastery here. There was a Krishna temple back home, but I never expected to find the Dali Lama's brother running a restaurant in Indiana. I wonder if he had as much trouble settling for it as I am. I'm sure he would tell me it was all temporary anyway so why worry about it.

Zappa is still dead

Frank Zappa, the eminently sensible man, is featured in Ifilm's top 25 viral videos of 2005. The 1986 Crossfire episode is well worth watching.

I wondered if Frank were alive, would he support John McCain? Frank's small government conservative politics might line up well with McCain's .

Where did big government Republicans come from? It seems to me that conservatives, by definition, should want as few rules as possible. Social Darwinism of a sort. Then the liberal political philosophy must try to level the playing field; imposing rules to protect the weak.

I heard someone recently on Public Radio say that the founding principle of every major world religion is compassion. Perhaps that too is the liberal impulse.

god... I've got to do better

The president spoke tonight. A number of FARKers were pissed that he preempted The Family Guy. Just reading comments on it made me want to go get a beer. I can think of a lot of countries I'd swap governments with right now... England... Italy... Poland.

My bandwidth is otherwise occupied at the moment, so not many links.

I can't believe the president confirmed the New York Times story about his illegal wiretaps. Cheney must be rolling in his coffin. On the other hand, as long as we're "winning in Iraq", what do we have to worry about. Once Adam Felbers explains the Iraqi election process you'll understand exactly how much we've gained.

Since we've got the civil liberties taken care of in Iraq and America, I figure it's time to address some real problems. Since Richard Pryor has died, we'll be needing a new Secretary of Education (Gil Scott Heron , The Revolution Will Not Be Televised). Any suggestions?

Is it just me or does Pakistan need some serious help? Earthquakes, weapons, Islamist society, military dictatorship, harboring terrorists, A Q Khan, take your pick. The fact that they are our ally must surely be a case of keeping our friends close and our enemies closer. Like Saudi Arabia.

Long Time Gone

I've been moving, and just got my dsl back on. Hello to all new readers. The tirades will resume shortly.

I do want to say a few words that have occurred to me about the hurricane. First, I've heard some of the folks who were sheltering in the convention center say they thought they were being left to die. Because they were poor and black. I don't know if they were right, but what does it say about our country, the state of Louisiana, and the city of New Orleans that they could even think that? It reminded me of some of the rumors coming out of Iraq. Have you heard the one about US soldiers planting a bomb in the back of an old man's vegetable truck. They were trying to make it look like he was a suicide bomber. Also, there were a whole lot of poor white people in Mississippi and Alabama getting ignored too.

Second, I want to welcome the guests at Camp Dawson. Our KKK was more against Catholics than blacks. We've never had enough black people here to merit racism. Instead, the charges of "stealing our jobs" and "criminals" were laid on the Italian, Polish and Eastern European immigrants. One of them is Governor now.

Third, was the delay in the federal government's response to the disaster because Cheney had to give his buddies the (no-bid) "reconstruction" contracts? Did you know that Halliburton got a big piece of those contracts?

And finally, everyone seems to have forgotten what was going on when I last had dsl. Namely, KARL ROVE OUTED A SPY. Ask John Roberts about that.

Republican Strategy

The Bush administration is working to increase polarization in America. It isn't tied to party affiliation. The goal is simply to create a strong "us" (moral people) and
"them" (LIBERALS) mentality.

Here's the talking points:

Radical ideas like birth control and global warming don't reflect the beliefs of the "majority of Americans". People who believe such radical ideas must be LIBERALS or they wouldn't want to weaken America with immorality and socialism (especially during a war). Many LIBERALS don't believe in God, which means they have no morals. LIBERALS don't support the President. LIBERALS don't support our troops. All LIBERALS do is delay and debate. The LIBERALS will take away your guns. etc.

Thus we see the LIBERAL joining the terrorists as enemies of America.

Pity the LIBERAL Congressman up for reelection in 06'.

Khalid Jarrar in Iraqi custody

I was introduced to this blogging thing by reading Salam Pax in the runup to the war. He introduced me to Riverbend and Raed. They and the Iraqi bloggers they've led me to have provided a much needed counterpoint to the US propaganda machine. Now the "liberated" Iraq has jailed one. Not a radical one, either, an intelligent young man who's family has a history of humanitarian work. If you want to sign the petition to the Iraqi embassy in DC for his release it's at

http://www.thePetitionSite.com/takeaction/820522461

We the undersigned demand that the security forces that have detained Khalid Jarrar immediately release him, and that a full scale investigation be conducted into how it came to pass that an individual can be held captive for the sole reasoning of expressing their views. It behooves us as American citizens whose troops are occupying Iraq to demand that Iraq be adminstered in a fashion that protects individual rights.

Personally I think this petition (and most others) is a waste of time, but it's cheaper than going over there and getting things straightened out personally. Unfortunately, personal contact is the best way to understand other people's situations.

To honor Khalid and his blog Tell Me A Secret I add a personal confession. Before 9/11, before Election 2000, back when Rush Limbaugh was screaming about Clinton's sex life I knew America was going to attack Iraq. I knew this horrible, wasteful war was coming and I failed to stop it. I warned everyone who would listen. I voted Democrat. I encouraged others to vote. My failure will cost me every day for the rest of my life, both emotionally and financially.

Now there's a secret that should make The Man afraid.

I know Karl Rove smells like tasty blood...

... but we really need to stop this feeding frenzy. My inner predator is just as hungry as anyone else's, but we're scaring the silent majority. Let the law take its course and take your angry side over to The Rude Pundit for some fun.
I'm fairly pleased with the special prosecutor so far. He's being careful and methodical, without showboating. Only by remaining as square and level as a Mason can we hope to bring this administration to justice. Now is the time to study the Tao.

As for him who is highest,
The people just know he is there.
His deputy's cherished and praised;
Of the third, they are frightened;
The fourth, they depise and revile.
If you trust people less than enough,
Some of them never trust you.

He is aloof, as if his talk
Were priced beyond the purchasing;
But once his project is contrived,
The folk will want to say of it:
"Of course! We did it by ourselves!"

Spontaneous Welcome for President Bush

There's already some good blogging being done on the protest in Morgantown WV yesterday. We neither saw nor heard anything of the President. He was keeping his noble distance. Without further ado, here's my pics. Here's someone else's pics.




















Marching to Shibboleth




just getting started




Batman and MAD Men






I really love this sign


and this one






Brazilian bikini wax?


these folks in front here make me proud of my state




oh, look honey, they're protecting us from terrorists


are you sure? maybe they're just making sure that the wrong people don't see the President


Barbara










a reference to WV Dem. Sen. Robert Byrd, an outspoken opponent of the war up for reelection soon


US World Domination! surely not!


NBC called us unpatriotic


The man with the ponytail on the left was shouting like an Old Testament prophet at passing Republicans. "You're killing your children!"


This Republican didn't seem to agree that dissent is patriotic.


He referred to protesters as "cowards". I took up that cry, saying "blow up the cowards!" and "they might know where Osama is hiding".


poignant


Grandma and Aunt Becky hate the president!

Are People Really That Stupid?

I recently read something on Faiza's blog A Family In Baghdad that made me laugh. The following describes the current conditions in Afghanistan.

The rebels come from the school, (madrasa), inside Pakistan, which was established since the times of the Soviet Union fighting, when the later used to occupy Afghanistan… these schools were financed by the United States government, and some of the Islamic governments, which helped Bin Laden to go to Afghanistan, making him a religious hero to fight the infidel communists … there was a strong campaign in many Arabic countries, supported by governments, this campaign was led by the clergy in those countries, in cooperation with the governments, they waged the campaign of Jihad (struggle) against the enemy in Afghanistan, brain washing the minds of thousands of Arab young men, pushing them to go there, (at the beginning of the 1980s), paying for the fees of their transports, study, and arms training in camps belonging to those religious schools that teach Jihad.
What is Jihad, according to these schools?
It is fighting the non-Muslim only, training to kill them.
Those young men, whether Afghani or Pakistani Muslims, they do not understand what the Holy Quran says, but read it only, not understanding the meanings, and their teachers instruct them that killing the non-Muslim is your sure way to heaven.
Of course, then the enemy was an infidel communist, who do not admit to religion, so, the story is reasonable; kill your infidel enemy, and not only an infidel, but an occupier…
So, those young men, young in age, experience, knowledge, and education, were exploited, forming an effective weapon to push out the Soviet Union out of Afghanistan…
But the problem is that those schools are still there, giving the same lessons, spreading the same poisons in to the minds of simple people, telling them that Islam is a religion of violence, killing, and terror against all non-Muslims…without understanding the Quran, and what's in it, of a great humanitarian message, of peace, and love.
How come that we, Arab Muslims, have lived since thousands of years with Christians and other religions, in our countries in peace, without violence?
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict isn't religious, but they tried to put it in the guise of religion. (Muhammad was Arabic, living in our land, the books talking about him are many, clear and comprehensible.
The Holy Quran is Arabic, and comprehensible.
Why weren't we terrorists all our lives? Why was a deformed picture of Islam sent there? Why did the American government support manufacturing that deformed picture? Why was that picture used in the Media, so that whenever the word "Islam" comes into the news broadcast, we hear words like "extremist" or "fundamental" with it? As our British teacher…..from South Africa says?
Why weren't we, the Arabs, with the message of Muhammad living among us, implemented in our lives, the sample of Muslims in the Media?
Why was Islam deformed, making it the enemy No.1 after the fall of communism?
Why do we see, since 1990, that most conflicts in the world have an Islamic party? And it wasn't like that before the fall of communism?
Even the war between Iraq and Iran, two Muslim countries, started by the devising and encouragement of the American government to Saddam Hussein.Even the backwards government of Taliban, that deformed Islam, assumed power in Afghanistan by the support of the American government.
Do the people are stupid?? (my emphasis)
When people come to our countries, they find out the amount of peace in the hearts of Muslims, and the amount of mercy. The Arab and Islamic people still honor the guest, respecting and welcoming, even if he was a citizen of a western country whose government is an enemy, and their history is full of injustice against us…
But Al-Zarqawi and Bin Laden are the deforming children of Islam… they are the children of the American government; she produced them, raised them, and then turned them into bombs, planting corruption, destruction, and evil, in the name of Islam….
Islam is innocent of all that….
And one day, the truth shall be revealed to all….

Yes, Faiza, many people are idiots. They neither know nor care what anyone else thinks. They're lucky to be able to form an independent thought. In my country they voted for Bush twice. In your country they're blowing things up. It's scary what fear can make people do. President Franklin Roosevelt told the truth when he said "We have nothing to fear except fear itself".

But then again, perhaps we do have something to fear. President Bush will be within sight of my house in little more than three hours. I live in a small town, with well under 30,000 people. He was here during the campaign, but at that time I was sticking to the moral high ground. Now I'm so pissed off I would love to make a big scene.
(for future legal purposes, I have no intention to kill or maim the President)

Having said that, if I could make him slip on a banana peel I would.

Does it seem a little wierd to anyone else that President Bush never goes near Americans who don't already agree with him? No wonder he was so proud of his "mandate". In his mind it was unanimous. Dissent has been ignored. He still implies that Iraq had something to do with 9/11.

More of the Republican Trick. When faced with the truth, stick to your lie. Call the truthteller "unamerican" and/or "liberal" and the stupid people fall for it every time.

The Republican Trick

Could it be that the difference between Republicans and Democrats is that Democrats feel bad when they lie but Republicans have no sense of shame. Democrats are willing to admit that they make mistakes. Republicans get offended if anyone implies they make mistakes.

President Bush will be appearing in my current hometown, Morgantown, WV, on July fifth. I bet they won't let me within half a mile of him.

RIP Terry Schiavo

STFU Dr Frist.

''Yes, I would do it over again," the senator told reporters.

However, this does not entitle anyone to an apology. Mob mentality doesn't apologize.

Also, Bob and Mary Schindler, STFU. Don't you remember giving her away at the wedding?

I must say I'm glad the Democrats have a man like Howard Dean in charge. He won't be afraid to use this fiasco against the GOP. Kick 'em when they're down then kick 'em again!

I wish I'd said that

Sunday mornings at Casa de Rude Pundit are quiet affairs, generally consisting of the brewing of a large pot of coffee, the disposing of a stray condom or two, the placing of the half-empty Chopin vodka bottle back into the freezer, and the grabbing of a bowl of Cap'N Crunch before jumping onto the couch to catch one damn Sunday morning talk show or another. Yesterday was no different, tuning into Tim "Behold My Glorious Pumpkinhead" Russert and his splendiferous Meet the Press. Still half-asleep, still waiting for the caffeine and processed sugar to kick in, the Rude Pundit heard former CIA agent Gary Schroen say this about the hunt for the 9/11 masterminds: "He did ask that once we got bin Laden and killed him, that we send his head back in a cardboard box on dry ice so that he could take it down and show the president."

reprinted from The Rude Pundit


"I was just going to cross the street but I remembered I should buy the carrots" He spoke rapidly, "So I stopped by that guy who sells vegetables and just as I was buying them- a big BOOM and a car exploded and the one next to it began to burn... If I hadn't stopped for the carrots..." The cousin began waving his arms around in the air and I leaned back to avoid one in the face.
My aunt gasped, stopping in the living room, "The carrots saved you!" She cried out, holding a hand to her heart. My cousin looked at her incredulously and the color slowly began to return to his face. "Carrots." He murmured, throwing himself down on the sofa and grabbing one of the cushions, "Carrots saved me."

reprinted from Riverbend


It all comes down to “proving a negative.” Logically speaking, you can’t. As I’ve noted before, if I asserted that the universe was created by a gigantic, multidimensional lobster, you wouldn’t be able to prove me wrong. Even if you produced a handsomely-bound billion-year-old tome entitled “How I Did It, by God Himself” which featured a dust-jacket photo of the bearded, white-haired Deity in a contemplative pose and several flattering blurbs from other celestial beings (like “This guy really did it - Vishnu,” and “Makes me wish I’d written it - a real page-turner! - Lucifer”), even then I could ask you to prove that this “God” fella wasn’t Himself created by a gigantic multidimensional lobster, and we’d be back to square one.

reprinted from Adam Felber's blog Fanatical Apathy