The Blueprint - Volume 1: Seeds - PART FOUR: "Perpetual Patterns of Power? Puh-leeze!"

He who smelt it dealt it.

He who said it smelt it.

He who dealt it smelt it.

He who dealt it stealth it...

(...)

"Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."
- Lord Acton

(...)

Historian Lord Acton (1834-1902) issued epic warnings that political power is the most serious threat to liberty.

Born in Naples, he was educated in England, Scotland, France and Germany, developing an extraordinary knowledge of European political history.

While he never wrote the history of liberty he dreamed about, his essays and letters abound with memorable insights. For instance: "Liberty is not a means to a higher political end. It is itself the highest political end...liberty is the only object which benefits all alike, and provokes no sincere opposition...The danger is not that a particular class is unfit to to govern. Every class is unfit to govern...Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

In his inaugural lecture as Regius Professor of Modern History at Cambridge University, Lord Acton told students: "I exhort you never to debase the moral currency or to lower the standard of rectitude, but to try others by the final maxim that governs your own lives, and to suffer no man and no cause to escape the undying penalty which history has the power to inflict on wrong."

SOURCE - http://www.libertystory.net/LSTHINKACTON.html

(...)

Cookies...

On the top shelf...

I'm not supposed to have any...

That's why they're on the top shelf...

But they are sooo yummy...

And easy to get...

Hmmm....

(...)

"I am the Lizard King! I can do anything!!!"
- Jim Morrison, The Doors

(...)

The Sweetspot: When Do You Keep The Found Money?

A) < $5?

B) < $10?

C) < $50?

D) < $100?

E) < $1000?

F) > $5?

G) > $10?

H) > $50?

I) > $100?

J) > $1000?

(...)

Copping A Please

"Fuck Tha Police!"
- N.W.A., "Fuck Tha Police"

"I ain't sayin'--
I hate cops,
'Cause that's--
Bullshit!

But--
When they step outta line,
We push'em back--
A bit!"
- Black Krishna, Song: "When You Ride With The Justus League"

(...)

Any police force that says they don't need civilian or other oversight is lying.

For thousands of years there have been good and bad officers of the law, and any large powerful organization saying they'll be the first one in history to wield that much power without drifting towards corruption, is lying.

It's not even a legitimate argument.

It's not even "the other side."

It's utter nonsense to fight against ANY restriction or check on power beyond ones own sense of propriety without realizing it sets an insane standard for any powerful organization that they cannot possibly reach, and thus in good conscience should not promote they are capable of.

(Or, we shouldn't accept the argument as valid. It's unfortunate, but people have been given a licence to print bullshit, and that's a licence to print money...)

I even tell girlfriends I'm pretty good at the ol' argy-bargyin', so feel free to press for explanations or seek the counsel of third-parties to whup my ass. Y'all can check with whomever, it's worked a bunch in my favour so that's cool too. Mebbe I'm missin' something? If so I'd like to know... why not? Mebbe it makes our world better?

I mean, who's right 100% of the time?

(...)

March 21, 2005

Soma Nation
A Threat Greater Than Terrorism
By PAUL CRAIG ROBERTS

Delusion has settled over America. Washington cannot tell fact from fantasy. Neither can sycophantic media nor nothink economists.

The Bush administration is the first government in history to initiate a war based entirely on fantasy--fantasy about nonexistent "weapons of mass destruction," fantasy about nonexistent "terrorist links," fantasy about "liberating" a people from their culture, fantasy about a "cakewalk" invasion, fantasy about America's omnipotence.

SOURCE - http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts03212005.html

Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Reagan administration. He was Associate Editor of the Wall Street Journal editorial page and Contributing Editor of National Review. He is coauthor of The Tyranny of Good Intentions.He can be reached at: pcroberts@postmark.net

(...)

The Star Wars Missile Defence Program: Will It Work For You?

Will it work?

YES!

blahblahblahblah...

(yawn)

...

NO!

blahblahblahblah...

(yawn)

...

HOW MUCH $$$ WILL IT COST TO FIND OUT?

???

(yawn)

...

Ahhh the age-old debate...

Will it work or not...

How the hell should I know?

How the hell should you know?

How the hell should we answer that?

How the hell are WE asking it?

How the hell...

(WARNING: BULLSHIT ALERT!!! SPOILER AHEAD!!!)

Okay, you got Johnny Rocket Science, a spiffy-in-a-jiffy Large Professor in class training other Johnny and Jackie Rocket Sciences of the Future to...

What?

To send rockets into space and 'ting'n'ting, ya heard?

So...

If they've sold out, they're working for Da Man.

If they haven't, they're working for Da Love.

So...

There should still be less of a scientific community credibility gap between perfectly reasonable and pitiably impossible when the safety of the world is at stake. (And when we slackassedly choose one or the other in tones of mournful ignorance.)

But...

Instead it piggybacks other political views...

And no one notices the $hell Game...

Throwback Term: Military Industrial Complex

Imagine if your company made Death Machine Motor Oil, Death Machine Widgets, Death Machine Soothing Lubricant, and had a Pimp My Death Machine reality show on Fox hosted by Coolio.

Well hell son, your balance sheets would be in the Death Black for the next 20 years with billions of taxpayer-dollars funding the indefinable project...

Just slice off a few hundred million, who's gonna notice?

And minding that credibility gap...

How long will it take?

How much will it cost?

As long as it takes.

As much as it costs.

To make the world a safer place.

(Damn, that last one was goood.)

Still...

You ever wonder HOW THE HELL enough nuclear weapons were created to destroy the world 10,000 TIMES OVER???

(Dope!)

Heh-heh...

We sure showed them Russkies...

Boy, if they ever attacked us...

I mean...

We'd show them...

I mean...

You ever buy 500 ice-cream cones on a hot day?

Just kinda stand there eating two at a time? Maybe toss a few after a few licks? Jump on 'em and roll around until you have an ice-creamgasm?

I mean...

(...)

The Red herring is back minus the Red menace, because Brown is the new Red.

We don't know much about Brown, but we are learning that they are trying to destroy us, and "before that smoking gun becomes a mushroom cloud" we're got to prepare for anything... which due to the many Non-Proliferation Treaties and economic relations between sovereign states mainly includes rag-tag groups of marginalized rebels building thermo-nuclear facilities capable of launching Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles we've got to pick-off from space.

(Just like Cobra Commander and Dr. Evil do.)

How much will it cost?

How the hell should I know?

(But from here, it looks like one of the biggest cash-grabs in history.)

(...)

"And you can't stop, and you don't stop, and you won't stop..."

(...)

"Nearly all the world’s nations are party to the nonproliferation treaty, which was ratified in 1970. It states that only five countries — the U.S., Britain, France, the Soviet Union (now Russia), and China — are allowed to have nuclear weapons. No other member-state may build them. The five nuclear states are required to work towards reducing and eventually eliminating their stockpiles. Progress is reviewed every five years."

“Progress needs to be made on the disarmament side or the nonproliferation side won’t go anywhere,” says Zachary Allen, executive director of the Middle Powers Initiative, which works with major non-nuclear nations pressing the U.S. to take disarmament steps. “The U.S. and Russia still have 30,000 nuclear weapons. You can’t make progress on nonproliferation without making progress on disarmament.”

"After the Sept. 11 attacks, “the Bush administration seized on that opportunity to advance this very aggressive, militaristic, unilateralist ‘war on terrorism,’” Cabasso said, and has distanced itself from the 2000 agreement. For example, in 2002 the Bush administration put forward its “National Security Strategy” that advocates nuclear strike against non-nuclear states, a violation of the NPT."

SOURCE - http://www.pww.org/article/articleview/6891/1/267/

(...)

"Do the cap fit, let them wear it..."
- Mos Def quoting Bob Marley, "Talkin' To U"

(...)

"The conspiracy is cracking the counter-conspiracy."
- Black Krishna

(...)

Should Gay People Be Allowed To Get Marijuana'd?

Let's just say it all made sense...

"It" being everything...

Life, death, love, hate, joy, pain...

That would be boring.

BUT...

Let's just say the rules and laws made sense...

So no one really complained...

And only the rights of those who we've universally damned are taken away...

I mean, honestly, how many people would really defend the rights of pedophiles?

(Besides the hundreds at Jacko's creepisection.)

John Stuart Mill's "Harm Principle" allows me to relax, I don't mind it at all: Dowhatchawanna unless you are hurting someone else.

Sounds fair.

But wait...

What if there was a group that could tell small groups of people what to do even if they aren't harming anyone?

What if they had arbitrary and absolute power?

What if everyone else saw that being used on the small groups?

What does that do to everyone else?

Looks like we know who's in charge around here...

In fact...

If everything just made sense, we'd hardly notice 'em...

Like a good referee...

But, since things don't make sense...

It's even more powerful a statement...

Looks like we know who's in charge around here...

(...)

If I Die 2 Nite
Tupac Shakur
Me Against The World

"A coward dies a thousand deaths, a soldier dies but once"

(Tonight's the night I get in some shit)

They say pussy and paper is poetry, power, and pistols
Plottin' on murderin' motherfuckers before they get you
Picturin' pitiful punk niggas coppin' pleas
Puffin' weed as I position myself to clock Gs
My enemies scatter in suicidal situations
Never the witness to wicked shit that they was facin'
Pockets is packed with presidents, pursue your riches
Evadin' the playa-hatin tricks, while hittin switches
Bitches is badmouthin', cuz ballin' motherfuckers is bold
But trust me holms, the game should be sold
Sick of pscyhotic society, somebody save me
Addicted to drama, so even mama couldn't raise me
Even the preacher and all my teachers couldn't reach me
I run in the streets and puffin' weed with my peeps
I'm duckin' the cops, I hit the weed as I'm clutchin' my glock
Niggas is hot when I hit the block, what if I die tonite...

(Chorus)

What if I die 2 nite?
If I die 2 nite...
What if I die 2 nite?
If I die 2 nite...
2 nite's the night I get in some shit

Polishin' pistols, prepare for battle, pass the pump
When I get to poppin', niggas is droppin', then they done
Callin' the coroner, come collect the fuckin' corpse
He got hit by a killer, preoccupied with bein' boss
Revenge is the method, whenever steppin', keep a weapon close
Adversaries will overdose, over deadly notes
Jealous niggas and broke bitches equal packed jails
Hit the block and fill your pockets makin' crack sales
Picture perfection, pursuin' paper with a passion
Visions of prison where all the pussies that I blasted
Running with criminal, individuals with no remorse
Try to stop me, my pistol posse using deadly force
In my brain, all I can think about is fame
The police know my name, a different game, ain't a thing changed
I'm seeing cemetary photos of my peers
Conversatin' like they still here, if I die tonite...

(Chorus)

If I die 2 nite...
Scared to die nigga, is ya?
If I die 2nite...
Never fear, never will I fear
If I die 2nite...
2 nite's the night I get in some shit

Pussy and paper is poetry, power, and pistols
Plottin on murderin' motherfuckers before they get you
Pray to the heavens, .357s to the sky
And I hope I'm forgiven for Thug livin when I die
I wonder if heaven's got a ghetto for thug niggas
A stress free life, and a spot for drug dealers
Pissin' while practicin' how to pimp and be a player
Overdose of a dick while drinking liquor when I lay yah
Pistol-whippin any simps, for bein' petrified and lame
Disrespecting the game, praying for punishment and pain
Going insane, never die, I live eternal, who shall I fear?
Don't shed a tear for me nigga, I ain't happy here
I hope they bury me and send me to my rest
Headlines reading "Murdered to Death", my last breath
Take a look, picture a crook, on his last stand
Motherfuckers don't understand, if I die tonite...

(Chorus)

Nigga
If I die 2 nite...
No fear nigga, never worry
If I die 2 nite...
Bury me a motherfuckin G, closed casket, fuck death
If I die 2 nite....
You know

Kill, kill, kill
Murder, murder, murder...

(...)

World Terror Attacks Tripled in 2004 by U.S. Count

Yahoo! News
Tue, Apr 26, 2005

World Terror Attacks Tripled in 2004 by U.S. Count

2 hours, 48 minutes ago World - Reuters

By Arshad Mohammed

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. count of major world terrorist attacks more than tripled in 2004, a rise that may revive debate on whether the Bush administration is winning the war on terrorism, congressional aides said on Tuesday.

The number of "significant" international terrorist attacks rose to about 650 last year from about 175 in 2003, according to congressional aides briefed on the numbers by State Department and intelligence officials on Monday.

SOURCE - http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=574&ncid=574&e=3&u=/nm/20050426/wl_nm/security_usa_terrorism_dc

(...)

get ready to get scared...

"Guess who's back? / Once again? / Zarqawi's back! / Tell a friend!"

Yahoo! News
Tue, Apr 26, 2005

Official: Al-Zarqawi Eluded U.S. in Raid

Tue Apr 26, 9:13 AM ET Middle East - AP

By JOHN J. LUMPKIN, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - U.S. forces in Iraq believe they just missed capturing most-wanted terrorist Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a February raid that netted two of his associates, a senior U.S. military official said Tuesday.

The official, who discussed the operation on the condition of anonymity, could provide no details on how Zarqawi escaped. U.S. forces recovered a computer belonging to Zarqawi, the official said, although he did not say how it was obtained.

Iraqi officials announced the Feb. 20 raid at the time but did not say Zarqawi was the target.

Al-Zarqawi, who has a $25 million bounty on his head, is believed to have orchestrated a relentless wave of car bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and beheadings across the country.

(...)

"Aw crap..."

"They won't tell us much even when they don't tell us who they are, so we'd better print what we can find when we can find it."

"Wait-- "

"You got something?"

"What is it boy?"

"Holy crap! That's a lot of stuff!"

"I thought they didn't know nuthin'!!!"

"You sure about ANY of this?"

"I mean the last guy just said they didn't know nuthin'..."

"And don't they get in trouble if they say stuff they ain't supposed to?"

"So how come... oh, nevermind."

"Print it."

(...)

He was on his way from Fallujah to a meeting in Ramadi when he caught wind of U.S. troops in the area, ABC News reported late Monday, citing an unidentified senior military official. Troops with a covert military unit were reportedly in place to arrest the fugitive.

The official said that just before the meeting was scheduled, a car was pulled over as it approached a checkpoint. A pickup truck trailing the car then turned and headed in the opposite direction.

Officials believe Zarqawi was in the fleeing truck, but when U.S. teams pulled the vehicle over several miles later, he was not inside, ABC reported. The official told the network that Zarqawi apparently jumped out of the vehicle when it passed beneath an overpass and hid there before escaping.

Inside the truck, the official told ABC, U.S. troops found Zarqawi's computer and about $104,000.

NBC, quoting U.S. military sources, reported Tuesday that among the items seized with the laptop were several small plug-in hard drives. Numerous pictures of Zarqawi were found in the computer's "My Pictures" file, the network said.

Captured in the Feb. 20 operation was Talib Mikhlif Arsan Walman al-Dulaymi, also known as Abu Qutaybah, an Iraqi government announcement said at the time.

Qutaybah "filled the role of key lieutenant for the Zarqawi network, arranging safe houses and transportation as well as passing packages and funds to al-Zarqawi," the government said.

It said Qutaybah was a known associate of other al-Zarqawi lieutenants already held by coalition forces, including Abu Ahmed, an al-Qaida-linked insurgent leader in the northern city of Mosul, who was detained Dec. 22.

During the same raid, Iraqi forces captured another al-Zarqawi aide who "occasionally acted as his driver," the government said. He was identified as Ahmad Khalid Marad Ismail al-Rawi, who also helped arrange meetings for al-Zarqawi. He also is known as Abu Uthman.

A few days afterward, Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told Fox News Channel "we've been very close" to capturing Zarqawi.

(...)

SOURCE - http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050426/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq_terror_suspect

(...)

"You say, Fallujah,
I say, Zarqawi,
You say, Fallujah,
I say, Zarqawi,
You say, Fallujah,
I say, Zarqawi,

Let's call,
The whole,
Thing off..."

- Black Krishna, Song: "Bomb Dropping Shenanigans"

(...)

"And if you go to Europe and talk to some of the intelligence people there and some of the people in the Middle East who are our friends — we have many friends, who are very sad about what’s happened to America, are praying for the next election — they will tell you even the stuff you’re hearing about Zarqawi — Zarqawi, excuse me, Zarqawi is mister everybody, he’s never liked bin Laden, and it’s not clear that the person that we claim responsible for all those acts is he. Some of the people who know the Arab world very well and very carefully and listen to his statements. He’s a Jordanian, and many of the comments that have been alleged to have been in his name are not made by him. In other words, the suggestion is that he’s a composite figure. He’s very convenient."

- from Seymour Hersh's ACLU Keynote Speech, July 15, 2004

(...)

SOURCE - http://www.pastpeak.com/archives/2004/07/post_1.htm

(...)

BONUS: SNITCH CITY

Students Rewarded for Tattling at School

Tue Apr 26, 9:26 AM ET U.S. National - AP

By DOUG GROSS, Associated Press Writer

ATLANTA - For a growing number of students, the easiest way to make a couple of hundred dollars has nothing to do with chores or after-school jobs, and everything to do with informing on classmates.

Tragedies like last month's deadly shooting at a Red Lake, Minn., school have prompted more schools to offer cash and other prizes — including pizza and premium parking spots — to students who report classmates who carry guns, drugs or alcohol, commit vandalism or otherwise break school rules.

"For kids of that age, it's hard for them to tell on their peers. This gives them an opportunity to step up if they know something that will help us make an arrest," said James Kinchen, an assistant school superintendent in Houston County, Ga., which earlier this month started offering rewards of up to $100 for reporting relatively minor crimes like vandalism or theft and $500 for information about a crime, or plans for a crime, involving a gun.

Critics call them "snitch" programs, saying they are a knee-jerk reaction to student violence. Some education professionals fear such policies could create a climate of distrust in schools and turn students against each other.

"There are very few things that I can think of that would be more effective at destroying that sense of community," said Bruce Marlowe, an education psychology professor at Roger Williams University in Bristol, R.I.

SOURCE - http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=519&ncid=519&e=11&u=/ap/20050426/ap_on_re_us/school_tattling

(...)

BONUS: AGAIN?

It's Official: There Were No WMDs In Iraq

In other news on Iraq - it's official -no weapons of mass destruction have been found in Iraq. On Monday the Iraq Survey Group published its final report on the hunt for WMDs. The group concluded that a two-year search had uncovered no nuclear, biological or chemical weapons stockpiles in Iraq. In addition the US investigators reported they had found no evidence that any weapons of mass destruction were moved to Syria before the war.

SOURCE - http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/04/26/1354259

(...)

The Blueprint - Volume 1: Seeds - PART THREE: Fuel-Spectrum Dominance

Hmm...

Jon Stewart has 20 million viewers.

Wow.

That's 20 million more than I have for this blog.

Hmm...

I wonder what he watches?

Yeah.

Besides his own show I mean.

Hmm...

(...)

The Blueprint - Volume 1: Seeds

PART THREE: Fuel-Spectrum Dominance

(...)

Boozers (can) look down on potheads.
Potheads (can) look down on cokeheads.
Cokeheads (can) look down on heroinheads.
Heroinheads (can) look down on crackheads...

...and when they finally came for the crackheads, there was no one left to light.

(The crack-pipe.)

Cue violin music, throw in some of that sweet-sweet-Schindler action... oh yeah, that's the stuff. Now, add some crack-rocks-a-poppin'... oh, I don't know, somebody go next door and buy some pop-rocks...

(...)

The middle (can) look down on the Soft-Left.
The Soft-Left (can) look down on the Hard-Left.
The Hard-Left (can) look down on the Socialists.
The Socialists (can) look down on the Communists.
The Communists (can) look down on the Trotskyists.
The Trotskyists (can) look down on the Anarchists...

...and when they finally came for the Anarchists, there was nobody to tell anybody what to do.

So, they engaged in interpretive dance.

Cue the thrashing guitars... yeah, that's it. Now, throw in some of that sweet-sweet-Schindler action... oh yeah, that's the stuff...

(...)

Liberalism is a gateway drug: it can lead to freedom.

(...)

PROJECT FOR THE NEW AMERICAN CENTURY

Established in the spring of 1997, the Project for the New American Century is a non-profit, educational organization whose goal is to promote American global leadership. The Project is an initiative of the New Citizenship Project (501c3); the New Citizenship Project's chairman is William Kristol and its president is Gary Schmitt.

SOURCE - http://www.newamericancentury.org/

Our aim is to remind Americans of these lessons and to draw their consequences for today. Here are four consequences:

• we need to increase defense spending significantly if we are to carry out our global responsibilities today and modernize our armed forces for the future;

• we need to strengthen our ties to democratic allies and to challenge regimes hostile to our interests and values;

• we need to promote the cause of political and economic freedom abroad;

• we need to accept responsibility for America's unique role in preserving and extending an international order friendly to our security, our prosperity, and our principles.

Such a Reaganite policy of military strength and moral clarity may not be fashionable today. But it is necessary if the United States is to build on the successes of this past century and to ensure our security and our greatness in the next.

Elliott Abrams Gary Bauer William J. Bennett Jeb Bush

Dick Cheney Eliot A. Cohen Midge Decter Paula Dobriansky Steve Forbes

Aaron Friedberg Francis Fukuyama Frank Gaffney Fred C. Ikle

Donald Kagan Zalmay Khalilzad I. Lewis Libby Norman Podhoretz

Dan Quayle Peter W. Rodman Stephen P. Rosen Henry S. Rowen

Donald Rumsfeld Vin Weber George Weigel Paul Wolfowitz

SOURCE - http://www.newamericancentury.org/statementofprinciples.htm

(...)

FULL-SPECTRUM DOMINANCE

Joint Vision 2020 Emphasizes Full-spectrum Dominance

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, June 2, 2000 -- "Full-spectrum dominance" is the key term in "Joint Vision 2020," the blueprint DoD will follow in the future.

Joint Vision 2020, released May 30 and signed by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Henry Shelton, extends the concept laid out in Joint Vision 2010. Some things will not change. The mission of the U.S. military today and tomorrow is to fight and win the nation's wars. How DoD goes about doing this is 2020's focus.

Full-spectrum dominance means the ability of U.S. forces, operating alone or with allies, to defeat any adversary and control any situation across the range of military operations.

While full-spectrum dominance is the goal, the way to get there is to "invest in and develop new military capabilities." The four capabilities at the heart of full-spectrum dominance are dominant maneuver, precision engagement, focused logistics and full-dimensional protection.

These four capabilities need the full capabilities of the total force. "To build the most effective force for 2020, we must be fully joint: intellectually, operationally, organizationally, doctrinally and technically," the report states.

SOURCE - http://www.defenselink.mil/news/Jun2000/n06022000_20006025.html

(...)

For three-minute amazingly animated analysis of the Project for the New American Century and Full-Spectrum Dominance, please feel free to visit:

http://www.knife-party.net/flash/barry.html

(...)

Well then, that's that.

The sun shall never set on the Full Spectrum of the American Empire.

(...)

"Ohhhhhhhh... What the hell was that???"
- Krusty the Klown

(...)

It's almost embarrassing how well they work together, in jack-booted lock-step marching towards a glorious future, trading off lessons in cooperation you just can't help but teach a 5-year old future fascist in kindergarten.

We just can't cooperate, and we're supposed to be the good guys.

(...)

FUEL-SPECTRUM DOMINANCE

What does Jon Stewart watch?
What does Michael Moore watch?
What does George Strombolopoulous watch?
What does Green Day listen to?
What does Bruce Springsteen listen to?
What does Eminem listen to?
What does Maureen Dowd (NY Times) read?
What does Noam Chomsky (MIT) read?
What does Sy Hersh (The New Yorker) read?

Perhaps they carefully stay within the narrow sliver of political thought their respective niches can be categorized into.

Perhaps rabbit.

Perhaps that's the dumbest thing I've ever written.

Perhaps they carefully test the waters, slightly deviating to the Left and Right of their preferred public political personas to examine the spectrum a bit.

Perhaps rabbit.

Perhaps that's the second dumbest thing I've ever written.

Perhaps they carefully run wild on the internet, perhaps diving into books and articles and music that give them both the information and inspiration to produce stirring works of their own, perhaps harder-Right for analytical anger, and perhaps harder-Left for the unsaid that needs to be said but can't be said until someone finds a newer and better and more mainstream-palatable way of saying it.

Perhaps rabbit.

Perhaps you're on to something...

(...)

On the Spectrum of the Left, we are all "fueled" by information further Left than we are. Perhaps Fahrenheit 9/11 or Eminem's "Mosh" or The Daily Show with Jon Stewart inspired you to have a meaningful passionate political conversation that you may have never had.

"Inspired you?"

What, you thought it "reminded you?"

Perhaps rabbit.

Perhaps rabbits flew out my butt.

(...)

Fuel-Spectrum Dominance is the key to rationalizing and embracing the existence of those on the Left who do not share the exact same political views, but who are inevitably working towards the same pluralist political ends against the same small group of fascist political enemies.

Once we realize we already do this, we will be ready.

(...)

Go!

"Obesity a problem? Hell no! We've got $600,000 that says that's a lie!" (But... for some reason we "could not say" who we are.)

Top Stories - Reuters

U.S. Ad Blitz Dismisses Obesity Threat as 'Hype'

Mon Apr 25, 5:36 PM ET Top Stories - Reuters

By Nichola Groom

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A group backed by the U.S. food and restaurant industries on Monday launched an advertising campaign aimed at dismissing as hype concerns about the large number of obese Americans.

The full-page ads in major U.S. newspapers were inspired by new government data questioning government assertions that obesity causes nearly as many deaths as smoking, according to the Center for Consumer Freedom, which paid for the ads.

The group, based in Washington, does not disclose names of its donors, though spokesman Mike Burita said casual dining restaurant chains "are predominant sources of funding for us."

A spokesman for Darden Restaurants Inc., the nation's largest casual dining company and owner of the Red Lobster and Olive Garden chains, could not say whether Darden was among contributors to the group.

Applebee's International Inc., another major casual dining chain, also could not say whether it contributes to the group, a spokeswoman said.

The group spent about $600,000 on the ads, which appeared on Monday in the New York Times, Washington Post, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, USA Today and the Chicago Tribune. Ads are also to run in Newsweek magazine and on billboards in the Washington-area metro system.

SOURCE - http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=564&ncid=564&e=2&u=/nm/20050425/ts_nm/food_ads_obesity_dc_2

(...)

If you don't like something, just disagree.

There are two sides to every debate.

They are automatically equal in moral and ethical value.

They have to be (even if one is invisible).

Anything less is just impolite.

Right?

Gods, Guns, Gangsters, Girls... and FCUK the Fockers too.

Where is your line?

And...

Who's line is it anyway?

(...)

"Conservatives clearly see the way the world is, and how by following the rules one can succeed. Liberals see the way the world should be, and work around the rules towards that."
- Black Krishna

(...)

MARV: One gets in more trouble for saying stuff than doing stuff I reckon, it's always easier to fake innocence than to explain away guilt.

(gulp)

MARV: Mah, it's no good anyways. When they wanna call someone bad and you're a dame shy of the devil, your number's up.

(gulp)

MARV: Time to shine... do what you do.

(gulp)

MARV: Sometimes, it ain't amount to much.

(gulp)

MARV: And sometimes, it means killing a whole lot of people.

(gulp)

MARV: And sometimes, that ain't feel bad.

(gulp)

MARV: Sometimes.

(gulp)

(creak)

MARV:

(...)

"They shootin'!
-- Aw, made you look!
You a slave,
To a page,
In my rhyme book!"
- Nas, "Made You Look"

(...)

Anybody know what FCUK stand for?

I bought some of their hair stuff in Thailand once, it was aiight. (The Thai writing was cool too.)

But... what's the big deal?

Misspelling a swear word becomes a big hit?

I guess it does.

So, it's definitely more acceptable to wear FCUK in 4" x 8" inches on your chest than to curse "Fuck!" under your breath.

(Crazy. Is it just the noise? The familiarity? Isn't it one of those words that different people use in different ways? Where the ones who never use it seem to have a real hate-on for those who do that's not reciprocated?)

(Who cares?)

Do we know what the shirt's "not" saying? Do we care?

I'm sure some do... but not that many, not enough to complain much.

(...)

"(That's why we gonna be)
Burnin' and a-lootin' tonight;
(Say we gonna burn and loot)
Burnin' and a-lootin' tonight;
(One more thing)
Burnin' all pollution tonight;
(Oh, yeah, yeah)
Burnin' all illusion tonight."
- Bob Marley, "Burnin' and Lootin'"

(...)

Meet The Fockers.

Focked up fun little flick.

(Dustin Hoffman Focken rocks.)

The cut the scene where she said she wanted to be "Martha Focker".

That's the worst one.

But the rest...

No Fockers were messed with.

The Fockers had crazy back-up though: Dustin Hoffman. Robert DeNiro. Barbara Streisand. Ben Stiller.

Would you look at that.

Those Fockers.

Who knew?

(...)

"Bright light city gonna set my soul
Gonna set my soul on fire!
Got a whole lot of money that's ready to burn,
So get those stakes up higher!
There's a thousand pretty women waitin' out there
And they're all livin' devil may care
And I'm just the devil with love to spare
Viva Las Vegas, Viva Las Vegas..."

- Elvis Presley, "Viva Las Vegas"
(words & music by Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman)

A Daily Dose of Yahoolishness Remixed

Yahoo! News
Sun, Apr 24, 2005

U.S. Prison Population Soars in 2003, '04

2 hours, 53 minutes ago U.S. National - AP

By SIOBHAN McDONOUGH, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON - Growing at a rate of about 900 inmates each week between mid-2003 and mid-2004, the nation's prisons and jails held 2.1 million people, or one in every 138 U.S. residents, the government reported Sunday.

2 million people...

i guess that's about right...

By last June 30, there were 48,000 more inmates, or 2.3 percent, more than the year before, according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

48,000 people...

sure...

The total inmate population has hovered around 2 million for the past few years, reaching 2.1 million on June 30, 2002, and just below that mark a year later.

While the crime rate has fallen over the past decade, the number of people in prison and jail is outpacing the number of inmates released, said the report's co-author, Paige Harrison. For example, the number of admissions to federal prisons in 2004 exceeded releases by more than 8,000, the study found.

so... we're getting worse at this?

Harrison said the increase can be attributed largely to get-tough policies enacted in the 1980s and 1990s. Among them are mandatory drug sentences, "three-strikes-and-you're-out" laws for repeat offenders, and "truth-in-sentencing" laws that restrict early releases.

1980s?

1990s?

ahh... so we ARE getting worse at this...

"As a whole most of these policies remain in place," she said. "These policies were a reaction to the rise in crime in the '80s and early 90s."

rise in crime?

Added Malcolm Young, executive director of the Sentencing Project, which promotes alternatives to prison: "We're working under the burden of laws and practices that have developed over 30 years that have focused on punishment and prison as our primary response to crime."

ahh... 30 years of evolution... brilliant...

He said many of those incarcerated are not serious or violent offenders, but are low-level drug offenders. Young said one way to help lower the number is to introduce drug treatment programs that offer effective ways of changing behavior and to provide appropriate assistance for the mentally ill.

oh sure, they're not serious or violent...

yeah, right...

let's just see what prison does to 'em...

i've seen OZ...

According to the Justice Policy Institute, which advocates a more lenient system of punishment, the United States has a higher rate of incarceration than any other country, followed by Britain, China, France, Japan and Nigeria.

"we're number one! we're number one!"

There were 726 inmates for every 100,000 U.S. residents by June 30, 2004, compared with 716 a year earlier, according to the report by the Justice Department agency. In 2004, one in every 138 U.S. residents was in prison or jail; the previous year it was one in every 140.

how many residents does it take to fit into a gated community?

In 2004, 61 percent of prison and jail inmates were of racial or ethnic minorities, the government said. An estimated 12.6 percent of all black men in their late 20s were in jails or prisons, as were 3.6 percent of Hispanic men and 1.7 percent of white men in that age group, the report said.

wha--???

oh c'mon, i mean there's hardly any racism anymore!!!

look at Jamie Foxx!!!

look at BET!!!

look at all the Bling!!!

On the Net:

Bureau of Justice Statistics: www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs

SOURCE - http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050425/ap_on_re_us/prison_population

(...)

"And how'd we get money,
To build, bigger bombs?
And yet, we're too broke,
To feed, single moms?

Got, a generation of kids,
Under, no supervision,
At 18, their pissed,
So, we build bigger prisons,

Then hide in the 'burbs,
Behind, our own bars,
Keep a gun under pillow,
Keep a gun in your car,
Keep a gun in your waist,
To stop, violent crime,
But 10 times out of 9,
Can't stop, Columbine...

- Black Krishna, Song/Poem: "How Do We Stop The Next Columbine?"

(...)

Insurgent Bombings Leave 21 Dead in Iraq

46 minutes ago Middle East - AP

By THOMAS WAGNER, Associated Press Writer

BAGHDAD, Iraq - An emboldened Iraqi insurgency staged carefully coordinated dual bombings in Saddam Hussein's hometown and a Shiite neighborhood of the capital Sunday, killing at least 21 people. Lawmakers loyal to the new prime minister said he was ready to announce a Cabinet that would exclude his interim predecessor, Ayad Allawi.

An American soldier was killed in a separate attack.

SOURCE - http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050425/ap_on_re_mi_ea/iraq

(...)

"You say, Fallujah,
I say, Zarqawi,
You say, Fallujah,
I say, Zarqawi,
You say, Fallujah,
I say, Zarqawi,

Let's call,
The whole,
Thing off..."

- Black Krishna, Song: "Bomb Dropping Shenanigans"

(...)

New Pope Stresses Bonds at Installation

uhh... he's being "installed"?

Sun Apr 24, 9:09 PM ET Europe - AP

By BRIAN MURPHY, AP Religion Writer

VATICAN CITY - In a broad message of outreach to formally begin his papacy, Pope Benedict XVI stressed his church's shared bonds with Jews and other Christians and promised followers Sunday he would not ignore their voices in leading the world's 1.1 billion Roman Catholics.

um, Your Popejesty, i think the Muslims could really use a shoutout too...

(and frankly, the rest of us wouldn't mind a friendly "what's up"...)

The pope's first major homily in St. Peter's Square also was noteworthy for what it left out: no mention of any current political issues or direct overtures toward Muslims although he paid respects "to believers and non-believers alike."

aw c'mon, see even the AP-dude is like "aw c'mon!"...

SOURCE - http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050425/ap_on_re_eu/pope

(...)

"Jesus Christ!
These Muslims--
Are fucking like rabbits!
Let's give'em smokes, and drinks,
And teach'em, other bad habits!
Chill 'em out, a bit,
Soon, they'll see it our way,
Try the new McDonald's,
"You deserve a break today!"
All that jihad, and bombing,
Now what, was that for?
So what, if half your people--
Are stuck, dirt poor!
Learn to be like us,
And you won't, even care,
We just stick 'em in ghettos,
Wanna see?
You don't dare!

- Black Krishna, Song: "What Really Happened Today?"

(...)

"Brown is the new Red."
- Black Krishna

(...)

Bush Seeks Relief From Record Oil Prices

2 minutes ago White House - AP

By JENNIFER LOVEN, Associated Press Writer

CRAWFORD, Texas - President Bush is seeking relief from record-high gas prices and support for Middle East peace as he opens his Texas ranch to Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer.

of course he is...

Bush said he'll make clear Monday that it's not in Saudi Arabia's interests to keep oil prices high. "If they pinch the world economy too much, it'll affect their ability to sell crude oil in the long run," he said in a television interview last week.

of course, and if "the rapture" wasn't coming that may have been an issue...

The president also said he's looking for "a straight answer" on how close the Saudis are to reaching production capacity. "I don't think they're pumping flat out," Bush said.

of course, with "the rapture" coming they damn well better be...

Bush's goal of spreading democracy across the Arab world also faces a difficult test with Saudi Arabia, a longtime ally ruled by absolute monarchy. Traditionally Bush holds news conferences with visiting foreign leaders, but there will be none during this visit because Abdullah rarely talks with reporters.

of course, with "the rapture" coming it's really just random ass-kicking...

SOURCE - http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=4&u=/ap/20050425/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_saudi_arabia&sid=84439559

(...)

"Halliburton’s been paid-off,
Let’s get’em all, laid-off!
‘Cause now they breakin’ records,
At makin’ such a waste,
Drivin’ round in circles,
And leaving trucks in haste,
Takin’, all-the papes,
Cheney’s got the loot,
Soldier-suckers, on-the run,
Pullin’-guns, so they-can shoot..."

- Black Krishna, Song: "Bomb Dropping Shenanigans"

(...)

GOP Stressing Constitution in Judge Battle

uh-oh, that wacky old "separation of church and state" idea is rearing it's ugly head...

crap...

it's time to pull a Will Smith and "Switch!"

19 minutes ago Politics - U. S. Congress

By DAVID ESPO, AP Special Correspondent

WASHINGTON - Buffeted by poor poll numbers, Senate Republicans are stressing the Constitution rather than religion or retribution against activist judges as the reason to deny Democrats the right to block votes on President Bush's court nominees.

"Switch!"

"What I do not want to do is cross the line and say those who oppose these nominees are people who lack faith," Sen. Lindsey Graham (news, bio, voting record), R-S.C., told "Fox News Sunday." "I don't believe that. I don't think that's appropriate."

not appropriate indeed... in public!

HA!

Graham spoke several hours before Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist told a group of social conservatives he wants no part of retaliation against sitting judges.

ah, the old "good cop/bad cop" routine, eh?

"When we think judicial decisions are outside mainstream American values, we will say so," he told a rally dubbed "Justice Sunday — Stopping The Filibuster Against People of Faith." "But we must also be clear that the balance of power among all three branches requires respect — not retaliation."

yeah... we demand respect for the system we redefine!

"I won't go along with that," he added in implicit rejection of recent comments by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Frist made no mention of religion in his four-minute taped appearance.

good distance... good accuracy... curved left a bit... a solid drive...

Instead, the Tennessee Republican, Graham and other GOP senators said repeatedly Sunday that their goal was to assure fairness for Bush's controversial nominees — a yes or no vote in the Senate.

hmph, fair... oh, you mean like "Fair and Balanced" Fox News?

"If these senators are not prepared to fulfill their constitutional responsibilities, then why are they here in the first place?" said Frist.

dammit, don't you know it's your JOB as a Senator to represent the Will of the President!

The Republicans framed their rhetoric several days after receiving the results of a private poll that showed only 37 percent support for their plan to strip Democrats of the ability to filibuster judicial appointees. Opposed were 51 percent.

GOP damn son!

this was a PRIVATE poll???

what the hell does the country really think?

The same survey indicated only about 20 percent believe the GOP claim that Bush is the first president in history whose court appointees have been subjected to filibusters, a tactic in which opponents can prevent a vote unless supporters gain 60 votes.

only 20% believe the GOP???

GOP DAMN!!!

SOURCE - http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&e=5&u=/ap/20050425/ap_on_go_co/senate_judges&sid=84439559

(...)

"You, don't, get God,
You, don't, get God,
You, don't, get God,
You, don't, get God,

Who would Jesus bomb?
Who would Jesus hate?
Who would Jesus rape?
Answer me, red-state?

You, don't, get God,
You, don't, get God,
You, don't, get God,
You, don't, get God..."

- Black Krishna, Song: "You Don't Get God"