Friday Night Nonsense: Animated Friday

Two very cool animated clips. The return of Simon's Cat and a strange Korean love tale between a rabbit and a cat. Enjoy!

Darn cat!




You like me? Say what now?

McCain Attended Zero Afghanistan Hearings In Last Two Years

From the article:

"The American public believes the war in Afghanistan is far more essential to the war on terror than the war in Iraq: 51% believe the U.S. must win the war in Afghanistan to succeed in the war on terror, whereas only 34% feel the same about the Iraq war."

clipped from www.huffingtonpost.com ABC News reports that McCain has attended zero of his Senate committee's six hearings on Afghanistan in the last two years: It turns out that presumptive Republican nominee Sen. John McCain, has attended even fewer Afghanistan-related Senate hearings over the past two years than Obama's one. Which is a nice way of saying, McCain, R-Ariz., the top Republican on the Senate Armed Service Committee, has attended zero of his committee's six hearings on Afghanistan over the last two years... ...The findings are surprising given the fact that the McCain campaign loudly criticized Obama this week for failing to schedule any hearings on Afghanistan in the last year and a half. Obama chairs the European Affairs Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which has oversight of military operations in Afghanistan.

Rush to make rare TV performance on 'Colbert'

clipped from tv.msn.com NEW YORK (AP) -- Rush will be appearing on "The Colbert Report," and it's not Limbaugh. The Canadian band Rush, which hasn't performed on U.S. television in more than three decades, will play their classic "Tom Sawyer" on the Comedy Central show Wednesday (11:30 p.m. EST). The Geddy Lee-led trio, which is currently on tour, hasn't played on U.S. television since 1975. Rush is only the latest act to perform on "The Report," which has steadily edged closer to "Ed Sullivan Show" territory. With increasingly frequent musical performances, "The Report" has grown a variety-show impulse, evident in other upcoming bookings. The Stephen Colbert-hosted comedy show was originally launched as a parody of conservative political punditry — and shows like "The O'Reilly Factor" do not make a habit of hosting music performances.

	Rush - Tom Sawyer
	Found at skreemr.com

I Had Enough!

I just had enough! I tried but I am out of patience. How can people be stupid delusional? I am not talking about the just plain stupid or the willfully ignorant. No I mean people like this:

And here is a run-down of the last 8 years of history. The US was attacked. The US responded to those attacks in Afghanistan. They now have a democratically elected government for the first time. Also, for the first time, women are being educated in that country. In one sweeping move the US smacked down all the years on inequity and human rights violations in that country. That country now has a future that includes all members of its society.

Iraq is also free from its tyranny. No longer are the Hussein's able to run that country into the ground. TO ethnically cleanse the Kurds or the Shias or any other group of people who opposed his dictatorial rule.

After the Islamic fundamentalist joined into to create havoc in Iraq things got worse for a while. They purposefully stirred up ethnic rivalries in order to cause further chaos in Iraq and the US. They used our own media to turn the tide of the war. Then the President appointed Petraeus and got COngress to agree to allow his new strategies. The Surge has been and UNQUALIFIED success. Now, the oil is flowing the revenues are being shared by everyone and the government has opened the industry to the world's companies. The first OPEC nation to do so.

Remember, a few years ago, Sadaam was jerking around weapons inspectors, invading his neighbors, terrorizing his own people and generally making the middle east as unstable has he could. Now he is dead. His sons are dead. His government is no longer a threat. All Iraqis are able to participate and vote AND (this is astounding if you think about it) IRaq has become the first OPEC country to allow the foreign oil companies to come participate in their market.

This is what history will remember. Not who's fault it was (and it certainly wasn't the Presiden'ts) that FEMA didn't live up to its expectations during Katrina.

Talk about rewriting history! The only plausible explanation for the behavior like portrayed is that the speaker chose to ignore all relevant facts and abandon all reason in order to ensconce themselves in a tightly spun cocoon of myth and fantasy. If you, oh gentle reader, have a better explanation by all means share it with the world. I beg you, please! Barring that I will stick to my own.

Now, if these ignoramuses lived in some isolated corner of the world, like a mountaintop in Antarctica, the above would not a problem. But the rest of the denizens of this planet are not that lucky. These people are our neighbors, co-workers and family members. They vote, consume and live among us, touching our lives in to many ways. Their little worlds collide with reality and their instinct is to convince all of us that we should leave reality behind and adopt their happy go lucky vision of existence. Here are a few examples of this type of reality impaired personality and the effects of said disease on the rest of us:

• They are the dittoheads that listen to talking heads like Rush “His Lardness” Limbaugh, Bill “Falafel King” O’Reilly and Glenn “Chicken Little” Beck. Because of their support O’Reilly’s show is the highest rated cable news show in the U.S. and Limbaugh renewed his contract for the incredible amount of $400 million dollars!
• They are the “base” of the Republican party. The voters that no matter what a Bush and Republican do such as; lie to them, steal from their children and send their sons and daughters to war for personal gain still give their undying devotion to Dear Leader.
• They are the “Right to Life” crowd. Of course right to life means that all children, regardless of the specifics of the situation, should be brought to term. Yet once their born they abandon them. And don’t you dare mention contraception, sex ed or child welfare. For them women exist to spit out babies or condemned to eternal celibacy. In other words kids, once your born, you are on your fucking own!
• They call themselves “Christians” (everybody else be damned). Under their definition of Christianity they give unconditional support to Israel (no matter the cost for both Israelis, Palestinians or Americans), believe that God destroys entire cities to punish a few people marching in a gay parade and other illogical concepts. To them Freedom of Religion does not include freedom from religion. So it is either worship or suffer the consequences.

How can anyone think like that? How come they can not see the obvious contradictions in their lines of thought? They can not see them because they choose not to see them. A vital clue lies in how they define what is and what is not moral. For example:

• Torture is evil, if the torturer is a Nazi, Chinese Communist, a Roman or a member of al-Qaeda. But if it is done on the behest of the highest officials of the Republican party no problem. After all they are simply doing it to protect our freedoms.
• Trusting politicians with tax payer money bad. Paying for welfare, social security and infrastructure is a waste of time. Unless of course the money ends up in the back pocket of mega-churches and politicized churches.
• When foreign religious extremist call for conversion by the sword that is truly despicable, unless it is our NGOs sending missionaries in the wake of our invasions or we claim that entire nations will be destroyed unless they convert before the hour of judgment is at hand.

Notice a pattern? Same actions, different actors. If they do it, it is wrong, if we do it, no problem. That is what I call situational morality, morality decided by who commits the act as opposed to moral value (or lack thereof) of the act itself. And in order for situational morality to work one must put all the acts of the other on the wrong column while the acts of our side lie safely on the right column. We can do no wrong, but they can certainly do. So no matter how reprehensible the acts committed by one side, as long as that side can convince itself that it can’t do wrong it s immune from criticism. The very act of criticizing the actor is a sin unto itself which leads to situations like this: (h/t to Glenn Greenwald at salon.com)

It's true that there are a handful of European rights activists and people on the lacy left fringe of American politics who would dearly like to see such trials, but actually pursuing them would be a profound -- even tragic -- mistake. Our political system works as smoothly as it does, in part, because we've never criminalized differences over policy. Since Andrew Jackson's time, our electoral victors celebrate by throwing the losers out of work -- not into jail cells.

The Bush administration has been wretchedly mistaken in its conception of executive power, deceitful in its push for war with Iraq and appalling in its scheming to make torture an instrument of state power. But a healthy democracy punishes policy mistakes, however egregious, and seeks redress for its societal wounds, however deep, at the ballot box and not in the prisoner's dock.

No matter how illegal or morally bankrupt the acts committed by one side, since that side is inherently good, it is just a mere technicality, a mere difference over policy. So breaking the law is fine unless:

The whole point of the Bush NSA warrantless spying program was to enable the administration to spy on people in secret -- i.e., without the judicial oversight the law required. Thus, the only people outside the Executive Branch who have any real knowledge at all of how these illegal spying powers were exercised are a small number of Senators on the Intelligence Committee who have been briefed by Bush officials, but they are barred by law from saying what they know.

Then the law must be obeyed and enforce to the hilt. Yep, the “law & order” party believes that when they break the law, even if it is the LAW OF THE LAND they should be protected, even praised. Rule of law indeed!

And all of this exists inside a fortress whose walls are built with the bricks of myth and cemented with the mortar of legend and reinforced with copious amounts of self-deception. No fact, logical argument or even the sheer force of reason will pierce the adamantine shell that protects and projects this world view. So much so that they even fail the most basic test of comprehension on purpose:

• Senate report showing that Bush lied about the threat from Iraq becomes “Bush did not lie!”
• Reports about abandoned Iraqi stockpiles of yellowcake uranium lead to banner headlines such as “Iraq had nukes”, “Valerie Plame perjured herself” and “Wilson has yellowcake on his face”. (h/t to Crook & Liars)
  

Never mind that if you read these reports they say the exact opposite. The Phase II report on statements made by the Administration supporting their decision to go to war clearly shows that they took some well established facts and twisted them to sucker a nation to support an unjust war against a toothless enemy. Same goes for the 550 tones of yellowcake uranium. The U.S. and the inspectors knew about the stockpile, a stockpile that preceded the first Gulf War (1991) and remained sealed until 2008! You do the math 1991-2003-2008. And that is the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Don’t get me started on climate change, the Surge, American/World History or a dozen different subjects. I am liable to go out there find one of these motherfuckers and put then out of my misery with a rusty lead pipe. At the very least I can say to the judge that I performed a public service with a straight face.

Yet it is not the politicians or even the talking heads that I worry about. No it is their supporters who keep nodding their heads and agreeing with this stuff. They become the carriers for this disease, amplifying their effects and financing it’s spread. The more they watch, listen and repeat the higher the ratings and the political pandering. It is as if the patients took over the asylum, turned into a fortress and then jammed the airways with their insane ranting.

This attitude has lead to: unjust war, mass murderers’ vacationing on the mountains of “allied” countries, and the shredding of a shit stained Constitution. So I say to them “Good Day!” No longer will I waste my precious neurons in the Herculean task of bringing these walls down. Instead I will fart in their general direction, laugh in their face and deride them every step of the way. I will mock them if for no other reason than to protect my sanity with laughter. The alternative would be a brief moment of satisfaction involving a bloody lead pipe and then spending the rest of my life with a roommate called Bubba!

Truth will out!

Bush Supports Israeli Plan For Strike On Iran: Report

Birds of a feather....

clipped from www.huffingtonpost.com Last month Seymour Hersh of the New Yorker reported that the Bush Administration has stepped up covert operations inside Iran. Now the Times of London, citing information from a senior Pentagon official, says that Bush backs an Israeli plan for a strike on that country's nuclear facilities: President George W Bush has told the Israeli government that he may be prepared to approve a future military strike on Iranian nuclear facilities if negotiations with Tehran break down, according to a senior Pentagon official "Amber means get on with your preparations, stand by for immediate attack and tell us when you're ready," the official said. But the Israelis have also been told that they can expect no help from American forces and will not be able to use US military bases in Iraq for logistical support.

Friday Night Nonsene: Coldplay-Viva La Vida

If this blog had a theme song, this would be it. Now you might not be a fan of Coldplay, if that is the case, your loss. But I am and therefore I celebrate their new single appropriately called Viva La Vida!

Enjoy!




And if you are wondering why this is now the official theme song of this blog, well just look at the title (Ruins of Empire) and then read the lyrics:

I used to rule the world
Seas would rise when I gave the word
Now in the morning I sleep alone
Sweep the streets I used to own

I used to roll the dice
Feel the fear in my enemies eyes
Listen as the crowd would sing:
"Now the old king is dead! Long live the king!"

One minute I held the key
Next the walls were closed on me
And I discovered that my castles stand
Upon pillars of salt, and pillars of sand

I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can not explain
Once you know there was never, never an honest word
That was when I ruled the world
(Ohhh)

It was the wicked and wild wind
Blew down the doors to let me in.
Shattered windows and the sound of drums
People could not believe what I'd become
Revolutionaries Wait
For my head on a silver plate
Just a puppet on a lonely string
Oh who would ever want to be king?

I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can not explain
I know Saint Peter won't call my name
Never an honest word
And that was when I ruled the world
(Ohhhhh Ohhh Ohhh)

Hear Jerusalem bells are ringings
Roman Cavalry choirs are singing
Be my mirror my sword and shield
My missionaries in a foreign field
For some reason I can not explain
I know Saint Peter will call my name
Never an honest word
But that was when I ruled the world
Oooooh Oooooh Oooooh

Iran test-fires missiles in Persian Gulf

Notice how Iranian war games raise alarms and calls for a missile defense shield in Europe (mull that one over for a bit) but Israeli war games explicitly targeted at Iran don't get the same coverage.

clipped from news.yahoo.com TEHRAN, Iran - Iran test-fired nine long- and medium-range missiles Wednesday during war games that officials said aimed to show the country can retaliate against any U.S. and Israeli attack, state television reported. Wednesday's war games were being conducted at the mouth of the Strait of Hormuz, a strategic waterway through which about 40 percent of the world's oil passes. Iran has threatened to shut down traffic in the strait if attacked. The report showed footage of at least three missiles firing simultaneously, and said the barrage included a new version of the Shahab-3 missile, which officials have said has a range of 1,250 miles and is armed with a 1-ton conventional warhead. That would put Israel, Turkey, the Arabian peninsula, Afghanistan and Pakistan within striking distance. The Israeli exercise was widely interpreted as a show of force as well as a practice on skills needed to execute a long-range strike mission.

Secret memo shows Israel knew Settlements were illegal

The argument that the settlements are illegal, stated in successive UN resolutions, and by the International Court of Justice advisory opinion condemning the separation barrier in 2004, is reinforced by such an authoritative source. It strengthens the political case in any "final status" negotiations on borders with the Palestinians for genuinely equitable land swaps of Israeli territory to a future Palestinian state if Israel is to retain settlement blocks.

clipped from www.independent.co.uk A senior legal official who secretly warned the government of Israel after the Six Day War of 1967 that it would be illegal to build Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories has said, for the first time, that he still believes that he was right. The declaration by Theodor Meron, the Israeli Foreign Ministry's legal adviser at the time and today one of the world's leading international jurists, is a serious blow to Israel's persistent argument that the settlements do not violate international law, particularly as Israel prepares to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the war in June 1967. Judge Meron, president of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia until 2005, said that, after 40 years of Jewish settlement growth in the West Bank - one of the main problems to be solved in any peace deal: "I believe that I would have given the same opinion today."