Merry Christmas and Pass the Ammo
Editor
Editor@TheIndependentDaily.com
“...in America, the person most likely to kill you...is you.”
Here in Arizona most of us see Guns as an inherent right: Something inexorably granted to us by a freely interpreted Constitution, without much thought or consideration for the consequences.
We’re hardliners here tending to see things as either black or white. We don’t want to be told what to do. Ironically, we pride ourselves on our deeply-rooted American values while we shop freely at Walmart and at the other purveyors of Chinese products to ensure continued under- and unemployment of Americans.
Let me get this out on the table immediately: I sometimes carry a firearm. I have a permit to do so. I have been cleared by the Federal government on many levels throughout my life for various reasons. I have no criminal record. I am a graduate with a significantly high GPA from a Catholic University. I have an Honorable Discharge from the military. I very rarely consume alcohol. I am an “Older” American by definition, and even I don’t trust myself to carry a firearm in some situations, and anyone who says they do under all circumstances is naïve, foolish, and believes in his own infallibility.
I am a supporter of Gun ownership. But I believe that there is a time and a place. I think, though, that we’ve allowed our fears to over-reach logic, and that’s what this rather lengthy article is about.
As Americans we scratch our heads wondering why violence is so prevalent in schools, at offices, and in our neighborhoods, yet everyday as a country we condone violence on a global level through our military and glorify those deeds in film and television. We don’t show the underside of war…the deaths of the innocents.
As an example, following the horrific event at Sandy Hook where 26 children and adults were killed in a violent fusillade of gunfire in 2012, the group known loosely as the Sandy Hook Mothers took to the media to denounce the availability of firearms in America: They wanted them banned. They – Guns – had killed their children. The causality of this dreadful occurrence escaped them completely, as it did many Democrats and Republicans – most of whom failed and fail to see the clear link between what we as a country do to others, and, thus, what we have learned to do to each other.
Diane Feinstein for one was a vocal supporter of the Iraq war and the devastation that led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of women, children and noncombatant men, and yet she purports to be against gun violence and gun ownership by Americans. She is not alone: Hypocrisy and truncations in logic abound in America today.
We wring our hands in frustration and confusion over neighborhood crime while allegedly Liberal Hollywood loves nothing better than to cast America’s Black people into the roles of felons, miscreants, sex-crazed punks, gangsters and pimps, with the possible exception of one-out-of-three Denzel movies. Middle Easterners fill the balance of on-screen mix in their roles as Terrorists, fueling impressively high anti-Muslim hate crimes on our streets in small-town and metropolitan America.
Our children learn through violent gaming that conflict is vanquished by might. They spend hours upon hours on Social Media sites mingling unfettered with friends, acquaintances and a slagheap of predators and social misfits who are guaranteed anonymity by virtue of the medium.
Like in Arizona, a large part of America is taught, and believes, that it is not only a God-given right to own a firearm, it is also a survival necessity. And that, sadly, has become a self-fulfilled prophecy. (read Entire Article here.)
Obamacares Deeply About Alcohol
Warren-Hill
@WarrenHillFilms
The Associated Press’ Alonso-Zaldivar released a brief yet informative article describing a little-known clause within Obamacare likely to blacklist millions of Americans from the law’s provisions – effectively pricing them out of the market – and insurance coverage.
It’s a provisional penalty for those who smoke. Not for the obese, like most Americans, and most importantly, not for those who abuse alcohol, like far too many Americans. You can catch the article online at AZ Central, here. Unfortunately, the article stops short. Here’s the rest of the story:
Every year alcohol-related automobile accidents kill 25,000 Americans. 700,000 are injured requiring medical attention, from cursory to life saving.
The total annual cost for healthcare in alcohol-linked medical care is more than 170 Billion US Dollars for the alcohol abuser, only.
This does not include billions of dollars in medical expenses for the victims of drunk drivers and victims of violence, domestic and otherwise.
It does not include the cost of law enforcement time and equipment in response to alcohol-related incidents: traffic, domestic violence and otherwise.
It does not include the cost of adjudicating drunk drivers and those who commit domestic violence.
It does not include the cost of incarceration, probation and parole for violators.
Nor does it include the billions of dollars in lost productivity and opportunity in America’s factories and offices, and very importantly,
The untraceable cost and the irrevocable harm done to America’s families.
For smoking the total cost is about 120 Billion US Dollars. While not pocket change, on a comparative basis it pales to near-translucence when held next to the sum of costs for alcohol abuse today: By most estimates, far in excess of two trillion dollars.
Well how can this be? Given these irrefutable facts, why would Obamacare not place a greater emphasis on those who abuse alcohol?
Political Action Committees (PACs) are those organizations that "contribute" money to Congressional Representatives. During the period 2011-2012 the top PAC contributors in Alcohol-related industries were (in US Dollars):
National Beer Wholesalers Organization, 2,884,750
National Restaurant Association, 3,595,097
Joseph E. Seagram and Sons Inc. (a distiller of alcoholic beverages), 3,518,684
Anheuser-Busch Co. (a beer and beverage maker), 2,473,220
Brown-Forman Corp. (a diversified alcoholic beverage maker), 1,433,980
Wine and Spirits Wholesalers of America, 1,182,500
Harrah's Entertainment Inc., 982,741
Outback Steakhouse Inc., 951,350
Distilled Spirits Council of the United States, 834,378
Chili's Grill and Bar, 725,400
Et cetera, et cetera...That’s how.
Obama Affirms Feinstein’s Federal Hunting Limit on Children
Warren-Hill
@WarrenHillFilms
“...to continue killing more than ten (10) children, as an example, (he) must change out (his) magazine...” - Barak Obama and Diane Feinstein
This week President Barak Obama approved Senator Feinstein’s proposal to limit the number of “Kills per Weapon” to not more than ten (10) children without requiring a shooter to change out a magazine or revert to a second or subsequent weapon, failing once again to understand that it has nothing to do with the firearm.
The proposal advanced by Senator Diane Feinstein, California, and Manchin, West Virginia (both supporters of the Iraq War), is very reminiscent of the long-expired Assault Weapons Ban, a law which did nothing to curb violence in America (see the Shepherd’s Billy Club, column left).
Under the provisions of this legislation, weapons (or the magazines that feed them) may not have a capacity in excess of 10 rounds. Ipso facto, if any given shooter is a qualified marksman he will thus be limited to not more than 10 kills per magazine or weapon. Thereafter to continue killing children, as an example, “the shooter must change out the magazine and replace it with a fully charged magazine...”
As an alternative, the law will clearly imply that he may, “...at the shooter’s own discretion, carry a separate, 10-round weapon hence obviating the need to re-charge the firearm previously so depleted...” (“Optionally, the shooter may avail himself of as many additional weapons as needed of said capacity.”)
In this way, Feinstein and our other Congressional members may avoid having to confront the issues of violence in our society: Please read, Connecticut, Why Are You Shocked, elsewhere in this issue. Likewise, no single Senator will be required to generate any original thoughts that might raise the ire of our friends at the National Rifle Association, the NRA.
As well, and foremost, to admit that our societal ills lay (at least in large part) at the feet of a government that promotes and condones violence on a global basis is tantamount to having pulled the trigger on the children of Connecticut. Thus both Feinstein and Manchin, who dually supported the 2002 resolution to invade Iraq are manifestly culpable in the murders of those 20 children.
...Reagan decided that providing help to the mentally ill was an unnecessary expense...
I suppose it goes without saying that likewise are Obama, Bush, and a host of other ne'er-do-wells, or as we theorize in an article appearing on this page, “Kill ‘Em All”, Lunatics.
Historically, culpability extends to the late 1960’s when then-Governor of California, Reagan decided that providing help to the mentally ill was an unnecessary expense, releasing people who otherwise would have benefitted greatly from mental health treatment: Fortunately, and seemingly, most have found their way into the US Congress.
We cannot legislate good behavior. We cannot legislate civility. We can only teach our children that violence is not an end in itself, and then, practice what we preach.
Fake Environmentalism
Ricardo dela Luna
You Cannot Call Yourself an Environmentalist
and Shop at Walmart!
I was turning left to move further down a main street waiting patiently in the turn queue. In front of me was a new, small fuel-efficient hybrid car with far too many bumper stickers: Two or three Obama stickers; Anti-war slogans; Dire warnings about Global Warming; The World is a Village sort of thing, and on and on. You could barely see the back of the car.
I deduced, quite astutely I might add, that the driver, a woman maybe in her late fifties, was a left-leaning liberal, of which we don’t have many in Arizona.
From the left turn lane queue she moved to the right lane, and from there into what I consider to be one of, if not The greatest contributors to the downfall of American industry: Walmart. That got me thinking…
Like many Americans I was born when forty percent of American jobs were in the Manufacturing sector: four of ten of my Dad’s friends participated in the making of something. This was always considered a good thing, because making things meant that these things we made were hopefully sold to people somewhere else in the world and that put money into the system that didn’t exist before in the US economy.
This also helped something called the Balance of Trade, a thing we talk a lot about today but really pay no attention to. China has a very positive Balance of Trade with the United States. Through the latest statistics available from the US Census Bureau, China exported billions of dollars more in goods to us than we exported to them.
The very good news is that, owing to our prolonged Depression, China’s exports have fallen off somewhat, because Americans don’t feel like spending as much as they did.
Over the years, the same as most consumers, I saw reduced prices as the focal point of my consumer duty. Of course, back then Sam Walton promoted Walmart and Sam’s Club as safe harbors of American made products. Poor Sam died, though, and that left the operation up to his kids. Anyone who is a parent knows that children are greedy little bastards, and Sam’s kids and all of the shareholders of Sam’s Club and Walmart became greedy little bastards too, just like our children and grandchildren are - or will be - but certainly not anything like we were when we were children.
Cost, Quality, and Availability are the variables in anything we buy. No one can argue the cost-effectiveness of Chinese made products: substantially low labor and transportation costs have led to an absolute glut in Chinese made products around the globe. As a result Availability is assured.
For a time we lived not too far from the main east-west artery of the Burlington Northern Railroad. From several vantage points we could watch traffic in both directions. On the eastern route, stemming from the Port of Los Angeles, (railroad) car after car after car (ad infinitum) laden with cargo containers bearing the names of shippers from the Far East rolled onward to their retail destinations. On the western route, as rail cars lumbered back unfettered by the weight of merchandise and containers, one couldn’t help but notice the absence of American made product moving to super-happy consumers in China, Japan or elsewhere.
This leaves us passing the buck: If six of us get together and we have one dollar between us we can all agree that we’re in deep (crisis). For quite awhile now, that’s what America has been. If one of the six of us was any good at whittling and we were able to sell whatever it was that he or she whittled to someone outside of our circle, presumably through the Lehman’s website since our whittler would undoubtedly be Amish, we would add some level of wealth for every object sold.
The problem with America is we don’t whittle anymore. We have become literally a bunch of people passing a single dollar around to one another, placated by the imported crap we buy at deep discounts, all of which salves our need for immediate gratification.
But, that’s not the point of this little piece. This is about people who profess to be environmentalists shopping at those places, and buying those things, that are made in those countries, by those people because of the appearance that they can buy more, or just what they need for less money.
So, the second issue is Quality. I have no product quality statistics to share: only personal observations confirmed by many other people. I used to shop at Walmart, K-Mart, Target and all the other places of similar merchandising. I stopped for several reasons, not the least of which was product Quality. It seemed that every time I bought (and re-bought) a shirt the sleeves became frayed, or the thread snaked out, or the buttons broke before the third washing. Every “Comfy” pair of pants suitable for sleeping gave way to ripped seams with virtually no effort on my part. Every pair of shoes irritated my feet in one way or another and fell apart after a few wearings. Every wrench I ever bought that said, “China” was good for one twist. Every broom fell apart; each screw stripped; saw blades didn’t; electric drills wouldn’t and the list is endless.
Why am I buying this crap? I thought. I just have to buy it over and over again. How true. Yet, it takes just about as much energy to make a bad product as it does a good. Here’s an excerpt from the International Herald Tribune, by Joseph Kahn and Kim Yardley, published way back in August 2007:
“No country in history has emerged as a major industrial power without creating a legacy of environmental damage that can take decades and big dollops of public wealth to undo.
“But just as the speed and scale of China's rise as an economic power have no clear parallel in history, so its pollution problem has shattered all precedents…
“Public health is reeling. Pollution has made cancer China's leading cause of death…”
So, there are probably thirty different reasons to shop for a comparable American made product, not the least of which is to buy a product that has to only be made once, thus preserving the environment.
In 1950 about four of ten jobs were higher-paid Manufacturing jobs, leaving only six of ten to the dregs of the Service sector. Today? Fewer than one out of ten jobs is involved in manufacturing to some extent. NAFTA has only further tipped an already slippery slope. Only a part of American Made has to be American Made. So, we’ve reached out to our neighbors South of the Border and Up North and have combined forces to insure our mutual failure.
Until America decides it’s going to enter the world economy the Sierra Club can forget about me as a new member. And, if I see that woman turning into Walmart again I’m going to slit her tires. Of course, she’ll probably just replace them with Cooper’s, which are nowadays, made in China.
The Syncretic Party
Is On The Rise
Editor
Editor@TheIndependentDaily.com
There is a new political party: One I’m giving serious consideration to joining. It’s not Utopian: it’s just a synthesis of the many disparate voices around us today - Democrat, Republican, and even a little Teabagging thrown in for balance. Today, we’re regressive: We’re de-evolving. It’s time to take a different and higher road. A road of Plurality.
The Syncretic Party regards all of our nation’s people (and people throughout the world) as equals and deserving of our respect.
It does not promote violence except as a final and last resort when all other systems have failed, and then limits the use of nation-violence to that of defense, in its simplest definition. War will no longer be used as a tool of Greed. As a result, the need for Homeland Defense will all but be negated.
The Party’s leadership unfailingly weighs their decisions and actions against the good of all. They balance the wealthier of society with the less-advantaged. They are regarded as the leaders of progressive thought by the rest of the world.
The Party’s primary tenet is to foster personal growth and achievement at the expense of none and to the benefit of all.
The Party’s adherents urge that everyone – all members of society – ought to do all they can to assure society’s success, and that no one ought to consider him- or herself entitled to anything other than the honor of being a productive member of society, and the gratitude of others for being so.
If a member of society is in earnest physically or mentally unable to contribute as an active member, they are cared for in a manner that is dignified and respects whatever contribution they are capable of making.
The Party believes that truly affordable Health Care ought to be available to everyone through his or her own financial resources, balancing ability to pay against cost.
Also, the Party believes that the attainment of personal goals is critical to the success of all, yet sees Greed as in conflict with this principle: Thus, Philanthropy is the rewarded ultimate end of attainment, resulting in greater funding for the Arts and Sciences, and recognition for its benefactors.
Through the Party’s leadership we will come to embrace all religions and beliefs as essential – Muslim, Jewish, Christian, Atheist – all are critical to a homogenous society where the value and fulfillment of life is held paramount.
The Party often displays the message, To Lead an Unfulfilled Life, is to Spit in God’s Eye, at the bottom of its various messages.
Because of the unceasing efforts of the Party’s leadership, and by the examples clearly illustrated through the lives of those who lead, all of our society’s members will be as productive and determined as they can be within the scope of what for them is possible, and, so, Homelessness and Hunger will not exist. Violence will be nearly eliminated. Hatred will be controlled and neither articulated nor acted upon. A profound sense of freedom will engulf us, and we will become far more than we ever thought possible.
If we could just take Humans
out of the equation.
Premature Ejaculate
Editor
Editor@TheIndependentDaily.com
Per favore scusarci. We’ve left the below article intact in the event that Berlusconi does prove to be the eventual victor in Italy’s (now) highly contested seat as the country’s top official. Our readers ought to recognize, please, that we were in good company, with the BBC and other international journals drawing the same premature conclusion. We all experience this sometime in our lives: There is nothing to be ashamed of.
The Merkin of Venice*
La Parte Due
Warren-Hill
@WarrenHillFilms
Fare attenzione delle signore! È ritornato!
Immediately to mind comes the expression, What were they (the Italian electorate) thinking? Perhaps. Perhaps not. In either frame of reference, the Dow didn’t respond well sending the index plummeting on the heels of the announced results. (A few other factors, like a crumbling US economy, may have played into it, too.)
When considering Berlusconi, though, it’s important to remember that no country’s electorate has a monopoly on truncated logic, or, as they say in the world of academia, Dumbness.
Recall the 1992 election during which the American electorate voted into office a known philanderer and tax and spend Democrat. Undeniably, his accomplishments were many, two of which immediately come to mind: 1) A level of peacetime economic expansion hitherto unseen in our history, and 2) A clever alternative to curing a good cigar in cognac, rum, or brandy. Overall, although certain to manifest great rebuke from some of our readers, President Clinton more than met the expectations of the office, and certainly of what I expected him to do: Philander.
A little further back and we find a Hollywood B-grade actor finding his way to the most powerful position in the world. A freewheeling Capitalist and sometimes confused and arrogant man, under his leadership the US economy skyrocketed and we were all rolling in it. Most of us, anyway. Admittedly, there were losers in the equation, as well. And, during his term we learned to refer to our wives by the sobriquet of, Mommy, which is not the same as asking, Who’s your daddy?
So, why would the impact of Berlusconi’s return carry such international significance as to knock the pegs out from the Dow? No one knows. Those who profess to understand the markets’ myriad personalities are, of course, Bullshit Artists. Keep that in mind while you surf the channels seeking an answer for your losses.
My guess is that it was an excuse to extract profits following the massive run-up the markets had enjoyed. It’s called, Greed.
Who paid for the billions lost today? The small investor. Large portfolio managers and investors set the theme for the day. They are the players and rarely the losers. So...
In an earlier article (archives) we asked, What future within the EU will Italy have if the Merkin of Venice (our coinage, by the way), who maintains sufficient voter appeal in Italy among the male of the species, as well, mounts both a teenage model and a successful campaign?
There is neither rhyme nor reason. I guess we’ll just wait and find out. (*Our apologies to W. Shakespeare.)
Haggling Over Hagel
Editor
Editor@TheIndependentDaily.com
The Middle East is nearing ignition point. An even-eye and a more holistic approach is what the region desperately needs to circumvent the certain calamity awaiting all of us just over the horizon.
Mr. Hagel promises to bring a sense of reason and fairness to the international arena in dealing with Israel and Iran in a more meaningful and effective way than any of those who have hitherto served in the position of Secretary of Defense. Striking an equitable balance in an emotionally charged and highly complex region such as the Middle East, he will bring an improved level of equanimity to an otherwise disintegrating and chaotic circumstance, the result of which is likely to overshadow anything we have witnessed or felt the brunt of to-date.
So, why isn’t everyone onboard?
Although unraveling daily, being replaced by far more independent-of-thought news and opinion venues, the vast majority of control of today’s popular media still rests in the hands of those more Israel-friendly politicos and financial leaders in America. Thus, one who is not devoutly pro-Israel is often colored by deprecating innuendo, insult, and fallacious charges. Those who do their bidding are thus a forceful and vocal group, our own John McCain among them.
Mr. McCain’s interests and thoughts appear to be cloudy and festering with confusion. In all fairness, though, the majority of his constituents here in Arizona are much like those in any conservative state, the bulk of which spend little or no time understanding events beyond their backyard.
Shallow of mind and incapable of voicing opinion, save for those issues on the base level of a Maslovian scale, such as guns and immigrants, every two, four, or six years they lodge an opinion at the voting booth (if then) and default on their responsibility for the rest of their elected official’s term.
Once keen of mind and dedicated to his country, McCain today is muddle-headed and reactionary. While Lindsey Graham, who ought to be far more progressive in his views, continues to vote on behalf of his financial backers like a 90 year-old, 10-term Senator who tenderly wipes a tear from his eyes when recalling the days prior to Abolition.
Consider the issue of Iran and their nuclear program: From where does our inherent distrust of Iran’s intentions come? Are we as a government concerned about Iran’s potential use of nuclear arms against its neighbors, most specifically Israel, because we see Iran as less stable and prone to terrorism than those who direct the strategic goals of Israel?
Israel’s track record on all counts is deplorable, yet they control a nuclear arsenal thanks largely to us, that has yet to be used other than through the perceived threat it represents to Israel’s less acquiescent neighbors.
Israel is a country that has continued to ramrod further settlements, in violation of international mandate, into the West Bank and Gaza without regard to the human suffering and death they have caused daily at their ever-expanding doorstep. It is a country that has exported terrorism throughout the world, but we trust them with the most destructive weapon ever known.
And yet the furor over Benghazi continues, too, but only as a truncheon with which to beat Obama over the head into some level of submission. A very few Americans died in Benghazi. Outraged Republicans find that unacceptable. 6,000 Service Men and Women have died in Afghanistan and Iraq. We have, by any standards, bankrupted the country fighting two historically unwinnable wars to sate our need for Oil. (If you believe it was for a higher, more transcendent goal, you are a fool.)
McCain opposes the man who was one of the voices of reason at a time when so few of us expressed dissent while caught in the trappings of manufactured Patriotism and media-hype.
McCain, who spent years incarcerated in Hanoi while a Prisoner of War, supports the victors of that war every day in the Senate. He is a staunch supporter of trade with Vietnam, yet he vigorously opposed that enemy 40 years past. Why has his position changed so radically?
Follow the money…
It’s time to confirm Mr. Hagel and get-on with the business of bringing America back from the fiscal and moral precipice about to destroy whatever remnants remain of our once-great country.
It’s time for a better world, so put down your fiddle, Nero.
Fritters and Gabby
Warren-Hill
@WarrenHillFilms
While frittering away your time on Gun Control, the US Congress has managed to divert your attention from several key issues:
Our National Debt Ceiling has been raised by $650 billion bringing the total each of us owes to about $53,000. (Even our children owe that much, each, and they’re still busy with Sesame Street learning how to count to “10”.);
Actual Unemployment, although we’re all slapping ourselves on the back otherwise, is 22,400,000, or about 14.5% per the US Government;
No progress has been made on the forestalled Fiscal Cliff catastrophe awaiting us in March. And, although Hillary Clinton bid us, Farewell and announced that we live in a safer world today (because of her)...We’re just not certain if we’re safe from ourselves.
Appearing Nationally via the Senate Judiciary Hearing, our former Congresswoman Giffords begged the panel to effectively change the way guns are bought and sold in the US, and to better control the types of weapons available, such as by banning High Capacity Magazines and Assault Weapons.
Voted by the NRA as a “C” Congressional member when sitting for re-election three years back and before being shot in the head, Giffords has found her voice in her newly formed organization, called, oddly enough having failed to reference the Shakespearian Dictionary of Really Inappropriate Acronyms, Americans for Responsible Solutions, or ARS. (A “C” Grade is just as it was when we were children in school: You got a dime. About the best you could do was buy a candy bar and steal a bottle of pop to wash it down.)
The NRA’s Wayne LaPierre followed Ms. Giffords at the lectern and made several cogent comments regarding the lack of enforcement of the thousands of existing gun control laws, arguing that added laws will change nothing.
LaPierre concluded his remarks by saying that the NRA was going to mark Giffords down to an “F” and, “...Miss Gabby should go home and think about why she received such a bad grade, and write a 500 word essay to Mr. LaPierre telling him how she will do better next time.” LaPierre hinted that severe brain injury is no excuse saying, “...Anybody can get shot in the head...this is America, after all.”
On tour, Ms. Giffords’ intent is to heighten awareness of the dangers of firearms, rather than the dangers of people behaving insanely toward one another.
As a fellow Arizonan, this is more than a bit dismaying given that Arizonans, notwithstanding the abhorrent act perpetrated against her and the saturation of firearms in Arizona, behave quite well. (Read, Somebody Just Shot 20 Children: Don’t Answer the Phone, elsewhere in this issue.) I hypothesize, as do others, that we Arizonans are overly polite because we are overly armed.
More clamor…more distraction: There are other, far more important National and Global issues with which
to concern yourself.
¡Quid Pro Quo Mexico!
Mexico: The 51st State
Warren-Hill
@WarrenHillFilms
While thinking about driving to the former British Honduras, currently known as Belize, we plotted a jaunt south from northern Arizona through the heartland of Mexico where some 2,500 miles later we would find ourselves crossing the border from Chetumal, Mexico into northern Belize. Corozal District was to be our initial destination.
Why would we drive 2,500 miles through Mexico? The adventure of it, really. And from time-to-time we’ve considered relocating to another country. The United States has sunk so low in international standing in Education, Productivity, Quality of Life, Government Invasiveness, Homelessness, Poverty, and is generally so rife with corruption and greed, that living here is much like living in a Banana Republic anyway, thus why not enjoy the benefits of warmer weather, much lower taxes, and a location central to the Caribbean while living under the same conditions?
Setting aside the issue of Belize’s current state of potential flux, given the pending referendum on its territorial dispute with Guatemala, her first language is English, so that makes it immediately attractive. Kriol follows, an interesting mix of English, West Indies, and other patois of varying origin that in its written form looks very much like the way most Arizonans in Mohave County write (see, Mohave.Craigslist.org).
Belize’s communities of expatriates run the gamut of society, from the very wealthy to the very modestly financially capable, and, until most recently, John McAfee of software-virus-murderer-international-fugitive fame.
Homes are not that cheap in Belize, but taxes are very low, for now. The cost of living, overall, is somewhat less, but from our research so far, it appears that most expats spend on rum what they save on other things. Drunk driving is, therefore, a major cause of injury and death on Belize’s few highways. So is Narco-Trafficking and Robbery, Rape and an assortment of other opportunistic crimes afforded the Belizean (and other) criminal as a result of those who ought to be more careful, or not be there at all. And that is why we studied the route through Mexico before launching off on what could potentially be a Highway to Hell.
Departing Nogales on the Arizona-Mexico border is the logical starting point for any road-based excursion through Mexico, given our location. So, using the US State Department’s guidelines, which can be found here, we referenced the latest of the reports for travel advisories.
Using the State Department’s guide, we see that once leaving Nogales we would head south until we encounter the first probability of being murdered some three miles from the US Border. Surviving that, we would motor confidently along another six miles until being abducted and held for ransom by a group of Narco-Traffickers whose primary English expression, Chut up or I gunna puck you up goooood, leaves us in doubt as to our scheduled arrival time.
After losing my left ear, and both of us being repeatedly raped one might think that our next stop might be for a nice lunch and a cerveza or two, which it would be. Afterwards, checking our GPS we see that we’ve travelled about 28 miles from the US Border and are ready to take on the next leg of the journey…
Federales greet us warmly at our next unscheduled stop seeking compensation for their time and trouble some 42 miles south. Three hundred dollars later we’re on our way to Belize again, feeling the euphoria of having escaped three years in a Mexican prison where every inmate is guaranteed a fresh bowl of warm piss to be served three times a day.
Checking the guide we see that we have no way to move any further south owing to convincing descriptions of Government, Cartel, and Civilian Gang abominations perpetrated against Gringos (and Mexican citizens!) who think that motoring through Mexico, or even visiting Mexico anywhere today is a good idea, which brings us to the point of this brief piece: SB 1070, Arizona’s attempt at immigration control, and maybe a little about Joe Arpaio, Maricopa County’s highly controversial sheriff, for good measure.
First, given Mexico’s present state – overall and in every way imaginable – we cannot suppose why any law-abiding, hard-working Mexican (particularly those with a family) would want to live there any longer. Over our many decades of life, the aforementioned description applies to the vast majority of Mexican nationals we have known.
Second, considering this no BS assessment, why would we Arizonans enact a law that would retard the progress of the good people of Mexico who wish to emigrate to the United States to avoid what by any standards is a hostile existence fraught with dangers, death, and persecution?
Third, and most importantly, if our goal during Bush’s administration was to truly liberate a country in order to advantage from the Oil and Mineral wealth therein, which it was, why did we not invade and liberate the Mexican people? We would have destroyed the Narcotics industry, substantially reducing crime and incarceration in America (we’re Number 1 in the world); We could have availed ourselves of additional Oil reserves; Mexico’s proximity to us would have facilitated invasion, conquest, and nation-building at only a small fraction of the trillions of US Dollars spent in Iraq; Our troops would not have been absent from their homes and families for years on end; We would have – truly – stabilized an important region in our hemisphere, and lent greater intransience to the rest of Central and South America.
Fourth, the citizens and government of Arizona, including Joe Arpaio, would be more inclined to treat those illegally-entering our State with greater kindness and less as a quid pro quo for the abominable treatment received by Americans across the border, often resulting in torture, extreme abuse, and death. So, rather than eyeing Iran, Somalia or other nether regions of the world as prospective next targets, why don’t we concern ourselves with our immediate and most pressing situation?
Or, is doing away with Narcotics detrimental to the economics of our Law Enforcement, Judicial, and Prison industries?
About 17% of the 318 million of us are Hispanic. We’re distributed, according to the Census Department, throughout the US.
There is no good argument against Mexico becoming a single, or multiple additional states, to the US, thus allowing for a higher level of self-governance, greater safety for (current) Mexican citizens, a reduction (or potential elimination) of Narcotics and Human trafficking, more equitable border demarcations and processes for passing between regions, increased market opportunities for America’s manufacturers and retailers, and improved economic conditions overall.
The United States is not in the same position it was thirty years ago when the wage difference for the average worker between countries was so extreme: we have nearly reached the point of stasis. The symbiotic benefits of this solution are too great to ignore.
Tens-of-thousands of innocents are being murdered in Mexico every year from either being caught in the cross-fire of Cartels and Gang Warfare, or as targets of opportunity: The violence will find its way here to our doorstep soon enough if we continue to ignore it.
Go Fu(nd) Yourself!
Crowd Funding
Editor
Editor@TheIndependentDaily.com
TID’s Jack Shepherd, The Shepherd’s Billy Club, is seeking funding through the much trafficked GoFundMe: a website which collects contributions made for both (allegedly) charitable and not-so-charitable causes. From the gifted proceeds, 5% is removed by GoFundMe, and another 2.9%+ for the financial arm of the company. So, about 91 cents of every dollar reaches the recipient: Not too bad, given that for every dollar donated to United Way about three cents reaches the intended target. GoFundMe, though, follows the Walmart philosophy, “Make up for the margin with volume.”
In the true spirit of pursuing the derelict American Dream, most of the causes on GoFundMe are reminiscent of electronic versions of cardboard signs on your way into a supermarket parking lot or on the median of a highway off-ramp. Plausibility does not come to mind. Unfortunately, many of the people who choose to plead their cases by attaching photographs to their websites don’t realize the detrimental effects of their act. Our Jack Shepherd had the good sense to use a photograph from his days in the Marine Corps many, many, many years ago.
Among the mundane are pleas for money to cover catastrophic losses owing to medical illnesses and surgery; People who have been partially blown up; Car accident victims; Children who are allegedly suffering from strange illnesses…
I am compelled to use the word, alleged, because one cannot help but read some of the situations described and mutter, “Sure…” It’s a tough one: Who knows? 100% of those requesting assistance may be genuine and in genuine need. But, knowing the American public, I doubt it.
Some of the stranger causes? AnaMorphics 30th Birthday celebration where one donor promises to “Snog” her at the event itself. (I have no idea what that means.) The 2013 SJSU Sexual Diversity Event the theme for which this year, they proclaim is, Embracing Sexual Diversity. (This may not be literal.) And, Make My House a Mardi Gras Float, a request for donations being made by Levy Easterly so that he may, res ipsa loquitur, make his house a Mardi Gras float.
Jack Shepherd’s Cause? He is seeking a few million dollars to mine gold in Alaska.
I should mention that the link-up in GoFundMe is primarily driven by Facebook, so that, in itself, ought to give you some sense of the foundation on which many of the causes are built. As well, their search engine is very poor, so if a friend or relative has a cause to which they would like you to donate, make certain to get the exact http reference, because you’ll never find it otherwise…And, given that most or all of the donations come from friends and relatives, why not put another 9% in their pocket by just sending them a check?
And, if you find it annoying when people hit you up for money for something that sounds pretty bogus, remember what I always say when people ask me for money: Go Fu(nd) Yourself.
(If you live in northern Arizona and would like to see Jack leave town for several years, his GoFundMe site is at http://www.GoFundMe.com/22iauw.)
The Merkin of Venice
Warren-Hill
@WarrenHillFilms
Today’s news on Silvio Berlusconi reveals that he will pay about 36 million (USD) to his soon-to-be-former wife. Aside from his record-breaking philandering, Berlusconi’s recent Cannoli-Fallout with an 18 year old model at her 18th birthday party, no less, resulted in much indignation on the part of his lovely wife. Hopefully she will find some solace in the annual endowment from her once-husband, who promises to run for PM again, next year. For one-half the annual payment we’d be pleased to write her a yearly letter of consolation...she’ll do fine; Italy won’t:
What future within the EU will Italy have if the Merkin of Venice (our coinage, by the way), who maintains sufficient voter appeal in Italy among the male of the species, as well, mounts both a teenage model and a successful campaign? Italy is finally on the road to recovery: Greece, hobbled as it is, may surge from the quagmire nearly completely releasing Germany from her supportive role. We urge Berlusconi to remain fulfilling his primary life’s objective…and to leave politics to those more discretely prone to adventure.
The US and the majority of the world’s economic strength, including Asia, are girded by many things, not the least of which is the prolonged downturn in Europe. A Berlusconi (re)election will only exacerbate conditions. (Our apologies to W. Shakespeare.)
Singing in a Shitstorm, or
Sympathy for...
Warren-Hill
@WarrenHillFilms
...the devil we know is far more preferable to the one unknown. In various articles in 2003 this is what we attempted to communicate prior to our invasion of Iraq, to deaf ears. The first article was entitled, The Exploding Brain, an imagery intended to convey the illogical nature of our impending act: the invasion of Iraq.
Certainly not a candidate for the Nobel Peace Prize (or perhaps he was, given the awarding of this prestigious honor for traditionally, tireless effort toward the goal of World Peace, to Barak Obama) Saddam Hussein was a known commodity through whom a much larger region of the world was held in check. Removing him for personal and financial reasons, as was the sole motivation for George Bush (see, The Abduction and Trial of George Bush at no charge online) was certain to result in regional disaster: Any 8th Grader with a fundamental understanding of History might have easily deduced this, thus leaving most of America’s television-viewing audience (and our government) in-the-dark.
So, it happened. Saddam is a distant memory; a once-advancing nation, Iraq, has been reduced to the 16th Century; We, America, continue to be embroiled in a war in Afghanistan that is, was, and forever shall be unwinnable (again, please see any History text); We, America, have murdered more than one million Iraqis without even the slightest grievance filed by the international community (since in their silence lies culpability); In short, we have irrevocably destabilized the Middle East, and we must now be prepared to accept the consequences: This is the message from Yemen today.
America, embroiled in many – far too many – wars in the last 60 years, has had to do battle with people who fight for principles and beliefs, however subjectively right or wrong to Westerners, while we fight them solely to kill, for the pure fundamental glee of killing, for the bloodshed.
We do not fight any longer because we believe in a truth. We do not do battle because we believe in the transcendent nature of our existence, and by combatting those who oppose us we presume to find our reward on a higher plain. We do not strike out at those who take the name of our collective god in vain. We fight for Walmart, Shell Oil, Exxon-Mobil, and the rest. Thus, we do not evoke commitment on the part of our troops: we evoke bloodlust, and in return for the many, many thousands of innocents we kill we add to the numbers of those who despise us. We do not win hearts and minds: we destroy them.
“…for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”
While quoting scripture (Galatians) is not a common practice for the authors, the depth of these simple words ought to be at the forefront of the minds of every American in the coming months, for we are about to reap that which we had sown.
We have destabilized a large part of the world; Those we have not killed have become our enemy; The convoluted and hypocritical messages of the current administration have only deepened the abyss; The psychotic ramblings of the Israeli government only fuel the hatred further and will flashback directly at us with a ferocity that is likely to leave us dumbfounded. This is what awaits us as we enter the Age of Aquarius: Not the rosy picture I had hoped for decades ago.
Connecticut:
Why Are You Shocked?
Warren-Hill
@WarrenHillFilms
In March of this year, Staff Sergeant Robert Bales walked to two villages nearby his billet in Afghanistan and opened fire on children, women, and unarmed, noncombatant men murdering 16 innocents, nine children among them. Unfortunately, this is only one example of the many atrocities committed by us during the lengths of the Iraq and Afghan wars. Total dead: more than one million in Iraq alone.
We are a society that has become far too accustomed to killing and death. We value life not at all. Every day we export violence around the world illustrating our commitment to apathy. The tired argument about popular media glorifying violence stands true, yet we continue to permit our children to watch and learn, while our government funds a one trillion dollar a year military and ignores and vilifies the troubled, the hungry, and the homeless.
…So, what did you expect?
We, the authors, were not taken aback. We were not shocked. Our expectation is that until we become a different society, less steeped in violence, less hateful of those within and without America, we will continue to see an escalation in horrors such as the Connecticut shooting.
We will continue to see increased episodes of random and planned violence. We will continue to read in resignation and sorrow about the deaths of children and innocents who parish at the hands of the many deluded people in America who have learned that violence is a solution to all things, and who continue to support our efforts to inflict violence on the rest of mankind.
I distinctly remember the day My Lai hit the world’s media: You see, we’ve been stewing in this broth of insanity for decades.
It’s not about firearms: The authors have been around firearms all of their lives and neither have considered using one unnecessarily and would only under the most critical and dire of circumstance. It’s about understanding that everyone is not our enemy, regardless of what the popular media and our government would like you to believe. It’s about valuing human life.
In another, earlier article (on this page), Singing in a Shitstorm, the authors quoted Galatians, “…for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” We need to start sowing peace so that collectively we may harvest something other than hatred, here and abroad.
We have only one last question: Did Obama or Bush weep for the thousands of children murdered in Afghanistan and Iraq? To the authors, a child is a child: White skin does not make their loss more tragic. Ask any of their mothers.
Self-Loathing: It Used to be Just a Jewish Thing
Jos. Warren
In all fairness it’s been ascribed to Italians, too, and probably to other nationalities and groups as well. Its manifestations vary in range and severity from mere self-deprecating comments through the spectrum to near-suicidal actions. I can think of no other reason Barak Obama would continue to perpetuate the prosecution of that damnable internecine war in Afghanistan, and yet still, in Iraq, as well as consider launching “new and improved” violence against other predominantly Muslim countries.
Running over tough times during his initial election, owing both to his cultural and familial history, Barak Hussein Obama has probably by now collapsed under the weight of the assorted plagues that have lived-on through the first term of his presidency, along with the more personal attacks regarding his background and possible country of birth, unrelenting through the first months of his second term.
Is it his Muslim heritage that makes him so intractable in his views regarding the need to corral, cajole, and continue pursuing Muslims nearly everywhere in the world? Is he turning his hate for his father, perhaps, outward through an expression of disdain that has cost us dearly in lives and undermined our financial well-being in this continued struggle initiated by his predecessor, GWB?
Or, is there something else at work?
The Muslim community of the world continues to be disparaged by the Media on a daily basis. Notwithstanding their level of faith, Muslims throughout the world are falling victim to slanderous ranting, Hate crimes, and to deliberate attacks by US Drones violating international law and practices, such as in Pakistan. The only other country capable of sustaining an international footing amid such intentional disregard for the rule of law is, Israel.
Both Barak Obama and Bibi Netanyahu might be well-advised to seek out psychiatric counseling. Personally, I’m ready for a more peaceful world: A world directed at solving the seemingly insurmountable problems humanity faces today. Need I itemize?
We ought not hate Muslims: We ought to hate the irreparable harm we are doing to our planet. We ought not hate Jews: We ought to be striving to find a way to end our world-over dependence on Oil through alternative, renewable resources. We ought not hate Guns: We ought to hate the violence so prevalent in our world, and seek ways together to teach our children to deal with conflicting opinions in other constructive ways. We ought to be doing so much more than we are...
Yet Another Militia
Warren-Hill
@WarrenHillFilms
Occasionally the editors are the recipients of emails from people who wish to make their book, political views, or group’s activities known to us for publication: Free Thought expressed through Free Speech.
Right-Wing militia groups designed to “protect America from enemies both foreign and domestic” outside the parameters of already existent law enforcement and military forces, are experiencing another resurgence in enlistment, apparently. And we are occasionally beckoned to embrace a group’s ontological platform. On the contrary, if we were likely to subscribe to any militia point of view, it would be one more reminiscent of the more romantic Left-Wing liberation forces operating at any time in the distant past in Cuba, Bolivia, Guatemala, Peru, Mexico, or any other country that had, or is, laboring under the weight of traditional imperialism and oppression. Sadly, all Left-Wing organizations of today choose to only gather around and sing songs of yore while wearing t-shirts emblazoned with the image of Ché, without recognizing how much contempt Ché would have held for their passivity.
One such recent seemingly Right-Wing correspondence was from, www.usCrow.org this last week, submitted by the group’s Commander, one Runick Lanesra, which must be an anagram or some type of code, the meaning of which is only revealable to its membership – rather like the Masons. At any rate, the website exists and we took a moment to peruse its content: Dark rhetoric and veiled foreboding images, but interesting nonetheless. The site is more “Prepper” oriented describing the necessities of life, post-Armageddon, including weapons, supplies – both medical and otherwise, and everything else one ought to have at the ready: Just in time for making up your Christmas shopping list!
For the unschooled, a Prepper is one who is prepared for what the Prepper sees as either the inevitability of vast hardship and conflict soon to follow in America (such as those who operate the above-mentioned website), or those who suggest that such a series of events may happen, could happen, or for the editors who have a sound grasp of history, can happen regardless of how indestructible a society may appear to be: notwithstanding how complex and seemingly concrete things may appear to the docile masses. But, we are not Preppers, although our off-the-grid lifestyle is very reminiscent of the Prepper doctrine. Nor do we belong to a militia.
God only knows, though, that if one wished to seek out and join a militia in America today there are innumerable organizations from which one may select.
Depending upon the resource, America’s militia group count has spiraled from several hundred (the Anti Defamation League (ADL.org) suggested 750 organization in the 1990s) to more than 2,000 today, much owing evidently to the repeated election of President Obama, a growing xenophobic response to increased immigration - legal and not, in concert with ever-increasing debt, worsening financial conditions, and for many of the groups’ members, the increased political influence of undesirables in American society. (An undesirable is a not too subtle code name for minorities and others, rather like Commander Runick Lanesra’s name.)
In Arizona we just have oodles of them: as many as 20 known and perhaps an equal or greater number of unidentified groups operating with impunity. We have one group, the Mohave Militia, who is even civic-minded and sponsors an Adopt-a-Highway sign for litter remediation. Here in the remoteness of northern Arizona, it’s rather like paraphrasing Matthew 18:20, “Wherever two or more pudgy white males in fatigues gather in the name of preserving the Constitution…there is Militia.”
We are not condemning of the individuals and their groups: they are symptomatic of what has gone vastly wrong in America today. As a country we are standing still, facing upward on a Down escalator. We’ve nearly reached the edge (See Forget the Fiscal Cliff: We’ve Been Doomed for Decades, column right).
Often (mis)quoted, George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” The past dictates that revolution may occur everywhere, at any time, when the conditions are either disposed to revolution, or when they may be made so by an influential group or amalgam of groups. Revolt is the most common tool of change, the outcome of which may be either good or bad. America has no immunity from this prescription of history.
До свидания Russia
Editor
Editor@TheIndependentDaily.com
President Putin has very recently implemented restrictions on Internet access for his fellow citizens: We’re sorry to hear this. Every month thousands of pages of this journal are downloaded by Russian Federation readers, and still more in the Ukraine.
Although we infrequently hear from our readers in the Other Europe - we know from past correspondence that most read The Independent Daily because they find the opinions expressed largely very different (as in unique, and not part of the mainstream view), thus difficult to categorize in traditional Two-Party terms: how the European reader views America’s political landscape.
Through this journal, I hypothesize, they gain insight into America’s less chattled thinking.
Some of our American readers have difficulty pigeoning us into a set of circumstances consistent with traditional media as well, and that makes them nervous and they feel a sense of discomfort reading this journal because they have difficulty reconciling how our writers, as an example, may simultaneously express abhorrence at violence and yet promote the sanctity of America’s Second Amendment protecting firearms ownership. It doesn’t fit within the logic set they’ve been told are the only two acceptable ways of thinking: Binary, if you will, across the spectrum of issues - Yes or No, Red or Blue, Zero or One, On or, most importantly, Off.
This feeling sometimes arises I imagine, because thoughts expressed by our writers (and by me) are not governed by Political Party Rhetoric or acceptable Schematics, but by Deduction, Syllogism, and Analogy. In Nausea or Troubled Sleep, I honestly don’t remember which at the moment, Sartre would have referred to this as the frictional relationship - imbalance - occurring when one considers what is, to what might be. We prefer the latter.
Refuse Your Daily Meds: Turn Off Your TV.
It’s time to wake up.
Redux: Cowboys and Palestinians
Warren-Hill
@WarrenHillFilms
(Based on a recent email from a reader, I was reminded of the importance of this earlier article. Given our situation today in the Middle East, perhaps one might take away a few words to consider regarding the possibility of peaceful co-existence. -ed.)
When I was a boy roaming my neighborhood streets of Los Angeles many decades ago one of our favorite games was Cowboys and Indians – for the unfamiliar, a game whereby a group of boys (and girls) choose sides and become either a Cowboy or an Indian. Given the life expectancy of an Indian, I was always amazed at how many took on the role of (expected) underdog and opted to be defeated in play.
A few basic rules were: Cowboys had guns and Indians didn’t; Indians could hide and surprise a Cowboy; Indians were supposed to lose. Alas, the outcome was not so certain in play. In historical fact, though, it was.
At the beginning of European settlement in North America there were from 1.3 to 3 million or more aboriginal people co-existing (relatively) peacefully on America’s “Fruited Plains”, mountains, and deserts. The concept of Manifest Destiny (variously interpreted in American history as, “Divine Destiny” or, “Obvious Destiny”) didn’t come into popular being until the 1840’s, yet the thought and actions of its adherents predates that time by nearly two centuries.
The Settlers approach (italics added for a reason) was to begin a slow, methodical push: to displace, to move, to contain, and eventually to control the Indian population. Control was popularly interpreted to mean eradicate or destroy, and so they were, leaving few more than 250,000 by the conclusion of the so-called Indian Wars in the 1890’s.
As the Indians were moved off of their lands the invaders claimed absolute domain and ownership. They destroyed villages, they built homes, tended the land, developed towns consistent with their cultural heritage, and through this simple means, combined with aggressive armed enforcement by both settlers and militia (and the US Army), and the infusion of alcohol into tribal culture, and by stimulating dissension between tribal groups thus preventing a united defense against the aggressors, turned what by today’s standards might appear to be a genocidal rampage into nothing more than a forgettable historical footnote, except to the hundreds of thousands of American Indians who today live in poverty and destitution.
Why forgettable? Of those Americans today who are not thinking about acquiring some new and important thing or how to keep from losing the things they have, the remaining are mostly divided on the Israeli-Palestinian issue, thanks in large part to the popular media which spoon feeds predigested brain pabulum for most Americans through carefully scripted dialectic, devoid of any true controversial matter or fact. It’s controlled. So, the historical lesson is lost.
To illuminate the lesson history has to teach us, let’s rewrite the second paragraph up above to the following by substituting the names of the principals involved:
As the Palestinians were moved off of their lands the invaders claimed absolute domain and ownership. They destroyed villages, they built homes, tended the land, developed towns consistent with their cultural heritage, and through this simple means, combined with aggressive armed enforcement by both settlers and militia (and the IDF) and the infusion of alcohol and drugs into tribal culture, and by stimulating dissension between tribal groups thus preventing a united defense against the aggressors, turned what by today’s standards might appear to be a genocidal rampage into nothing more than a forgettable historical footnote.
Having some difficulty with this analogy? Allow us to clarify: Imagine that East Jerusalem and the West Bank were the indigenously-occupied lands, and that the Israeli settlers were the invading Europeans, which, oddly enough in many cases, they were and are, having no claim to the land other than that which was manufactured or, as Newt Gingrich likes to say, “Invented”.
Since 1948 the number of Palestinian homes destroyed by the invaders is estimated at far more than several tens-of-thousands. The number of Palestinians driven from these homes shortly after the conclusion of the Arab-Israeli War by most estimates exceeds 800,000. Today nearly 5,000,000 refugees are concentrated in camps where food, medical, educational and all other basic human-needs are only marginally met or not met at all.
According to Mona Alami writing for Now Lebanon (http://NowLebanon.com) in an October 2011 article, “Drug use runs rampant in many Palestinian camps in Lebanon, where poverty and unemployment create a prevailing sense of despair among the youth.” Some, whether rightly or otherwise, have speculated that the availability of drugs in the Palestinian Refugee Camps can be tied specifically to Russian organizations with Israeli ties, suggesting something akin to the USA’s wholesale drop-shipments of Cocaine and Heroin in US ghettos in the 1960’s: the real Opiate of the Masses is actually Opium…
In the West Bank, according to many sources and much to the chagrin of the United Nations, gun ownership is seen by Israelis as an inherent right and obligation. Localized militias are well armed and serve to protect the intruding West Bank settler. Combined with police and Defense Forces, a committed and formidable contingent exists today in occupied territory.
Through a truncation of logic that defies rational thought, to be against Israel’s abhorrent and damnable treatment of the Palestinian is to now be tainted as anti-Semitic.
Division within various Muslim branches of the same faith continues to fire controversy and conflict. Those sects that are more West-leaning and localized in oil rich regions of the Middle East may be agents in this continued derision insinuating themselves into camp politics and stimulating dissent. (As an aside, in America it is sometimes speculated that the outcome of the Indian Wars may have been decided much differently had the great leader Tecumseh been successful in uniting, at least regionally, the American Indian.)
Division within the global community of the current state of affairs in the Middle East, and in particular with respect to Israel’s pogrom against the Palestinians, is kept alive by threat and intimidation.
Through a truncation of logic that defies rational thought, to be against Israel’s abhorrent and damnable treatment of the Palestinian is to now be tainted as anti-Semitic. This response defies logic on so many levels that if it weren’t so pitiable it might be laughable: Criticism of a government’s treatment of a people is criticism of its practices and policies. To be critical of the United States is not to be anti-Christian. To be critical of Mexico’s policy regarding civil rights, as another example, is not to be anti-Catholic. How does this mythological relationship between criticism of a Fascist government and that of the religion practiced by less than half of its population perpetuate?
You’d have to ask those who control the media for an answer…
Inauguration:
Time for a Purge?
Associate Editor
@WarrenHillFilms
From the BBC, “The House of Representatives voted 398-1 on Wednesday (December 5, 2012) to strike the term, “Lunatic” from all federal legislation, after the Senate did the same in May.
“The measure is designed to remove language that has become outdated or demeaning from the US code.”
It remains, however, legal and correct to use the term in the following context, “The Lunatics running this country ought to be (insert verb of choice).” -ed.
A house divided: The American electorate – the few who vote, and the majority who do not – continue to bemoan the lack of coordinated progress toward resolving those cataclysmic issues portending bleak days ahead. Many of us don’t seem to have the common sense to understand that a house divided will generate no significant progress, yet a majority continue to vote in a way that sets America up for failure: how might we best deal with the continued impasse chronic within the system (other than to urge a greater number of Americans to vote, and to vote wisely)?
Well, Stalin did it, and so did Mao. Hitler did it for years, and through Guevara, Castro successfully jumpstarted his Agrarian (and other reforms) without much in the way of (lasting) dissent. Perón loved it, too, as have most newly evolved leaders over the millennia in Europe, Africa, Asia and elsewhere.
Looking to history – that thing we care so little about – we might garner from various successful dictators that the foremost method for accomplishing anything on a national level when the possibility exists that there will be dissenting views is to effect a Purge at the beginning of any new leader’s term. Left or Right, this method has been employed successfully following the overthrow, or collapse and presumption of leadership, of any number of regimes or political systems, in nearly every country, throughout history.
The process is quite simple and forthright, without much preamble, and allows for all final judgment to be made extrajudicially: that is, without requiring strict judicial review by a competent court of law.
Here’s how this might work for us: In January, shortly after Barak Obama takes his second oath of office, any member of the Legislative and Judicial Branch, Popular Media, and Local and State Government, (and any others) harboring or having demonstrated a dissenting view, as determined by either President Obama or any of his closest advisors (requiring many people to be empaneled given the rather extensive list of likely suspects) is placed in front of the Vietnam Memorial Wall (or any wall of sufficient height and depth to prevent the accidental shooting of someone who happened to be standing on the other side of the wall, rather than of an issue) and shot dead. Done. Dusting our hands off we might say, “That was easy.” And so it was.
Vacancies are filled by the willing masses anxious to participate in the freshly assembled government. Dissent is silenced. Discord is nonexistent. Harmony suffuses the halls of government, the extent of which hasn’t been seen since the second term of FDR (if then). The Fiscal Cliff is avoided. A budget – either balanced or not, yet with all in agreement on its terms – is passed into law. President Obama spends the balance of his Lame Duck term throwing back beers with selected, compliant “normal” people. There isn’t a Lunatic in sight…four blissful years of things getting done.
And in 2016, if there’s a change in the prevailing political philosophy based on the winning candidate, we’d bet that any concession speech is made by cellphone from an obscure town in the remoteness of the Paraguayan mountains (or Kenya), and the new leader would be well-advised to count the White House silverware.
