Oh Say, Can You Hear Me Now?

Tags

corporations, hacking, privacy

Seriously, have I got this right?

First Sony’s emails get hacked and the bodies are strewn across America from sea to shining sea.

Then Sony produces a movie about Kim Jong Un and it  is cancelled because North Korea hacked into their system and threatens to pull out all their fingernails and toenails if they don’t.

I saw the interview with Seth Rogen on the Daily Show, and even I’m scared that they will come after me.

But Sony, what in the hell did you do in a previous life that is bringing down all this upon your corporate shoulders? I know the corporation is suffering, since the SCOTUS has explained to me that corporations are people too and can have religious opinions and political ones, so no doubt they can feel pain and fear as well.

Is this just karma?

Or is that blasphemous itself and really the great white beard in the sky getting back at Sony for some perceived failure to bring good Christian movies to the screen? I mean, I suppose THAT movie, The I N T E R V I E W, (that should confound any hacker), could be considered Christian, but then again, maybe not, since I have not seen it. But I must say that Seth Rogen, (who is an awful interview by the way with a horrid giggle that is super annoying) doesn’t strike me as someone you might see at the local Baptist Church, being Jewish first of all. Maybe it’s his Canadianishness that is the problem, though I don’t recall the Good Lord speaking about Canucks in the New Testament at least, though they maybe those Canaanites with just a spelling error.

By the way, why DO you think that God sports a beard? Did Gillette not get the franchise in heaven?

So anyway, let me just say a word or two about all the hoopla.

First, what possessed Sony to think it was a good idea to make a movie about assassinating a living person? I mean that is really the issue of first import here. I’d be the first to tell you I think His Special Imperialness Kimmy is a screw loose and on the run. Giving that man a nuke is probably not on anybody’s wish list. Still and all, he does qualify genetically speaking as a human being and as such has a right to not expect his very life is made sport of. His life may be supercilious to be sure, but still, it’s the only one he’s got (apparently).

I mean seriously folks, we make sport of crazy people all the time, and we make movies about them, but we call then Prince Crazypants of UZ-beki-beki-Uz-stan. We don’t call-em by name and country. Did Sony fear we couldn’t figure it out?

All would not have happened had they just called him “Jim”.

Beyond that, well, opinions are rampant on both issues. Fear reigns supreme at the present. Sony is “corporately speaking” hiding in the closet, George Clooney is asking why everybody is being such a lady part and having no manly parts? And most normal people go about their business and don’t have much of an opinion, unless it has to do with somehow it being Obama’s fault and therefore a nuke delicately placed up Kimmy’s arse is the ONLY proper response.

Which all begs the second issue, personal chit.

Sony’s other issue deals with hackers who exposed a lot of emails between Sony personnel. They were as you might expect, rather unkind to some people and made jokes at others expense.

What’s new?

I mean that seriously.

We live in a time when the government can hack our phones and listen to our conversations. Corporations regularly have their credit card banks violated. Facebook and my computer monitors everywhere I go, and everyone I talk to, and presents me with “other things I might like”.

While it might be fruitful to make some acts criminal, and a lot more actionable as “violations of privacy”, they cannot be termed unexpected by any sane person any more. They are business as usual.

Whether the government should listen in, it will or somebody else will. And like the rung bell, it cannot be unrung now. The same people who work for the government work for themselves and rogue governments and will do it anyway. If there is a means to profit, people will do it. That has always been the case, and will always be the case.

The fact is, that really smart people choose to do criminal things for either more money, or more thrill. You can’t change that, and so you pretty much gotta live accordingly.

Big brother is watching and so is big sister, and big daddy and mommy.

It’s no use lamenting that fact or pining for the good old days (as we have pointed out, they had plenty enough of their own problems whether you remember or not).  Don’t write down what you don’t want published across public domains. Simple as that. Save your salacious remarks for in-person conversations and check your lunch dates for wires (okay that may be too far).  PS: microphones of any kind are a tell-tale sign that what you say may be heard by OTHERS.

If you are like me, I pretty much don’t care what you know about me, though I would rather you didn’t have my credit card numbers. But I gave up information just a week ago and had to cancel a card and change my passwords, because I acted before thinking it through and was taken in by a website that looked perfectly legit yet on second thought, made no sense. It’s part of life, and with each episode you learn a bit more how to protect yourself.

So, let the media rant and rave about all this business of hacking. Some day, people will find it so normal that we won’t talk of it any more. It will undoubtedly spur new technology to develop “zones” of privacy which will then be the subject of new hacking efforts. And we shall survive it, and on to another level we go.

That’s my take on all this stuff. Sony, I know this will embarrass you, but dude, you were just stupid. Do you feel the pain?

 

 

 

 

Yeah It’s Good For Some

Tags

corporations, drones, economy, Individual Rights, North Korea, Scalia, SCOTUS, wealthy

The Stock Market hit a new high.

Corporate profits are probably at all-time highs as well.

The people who do the work? Not so much.

Between 1979 and 2007 59.9% of gains in income went to the top 1%, 36.7% alone going to the top 0.1%. During that period, gains by the 90%? A mere 8.6%.

Productivity has increased since 1950 by 254%. During that same period, wages went up 113%, and most of that increase occurred by 1975. Productivity, on the other hand, has risen steadily and continues to rise.

The response of the corporate board room to the recession has been to find more efficient ways to accomplish their target goals. They devote their R and D to the purpose of creating a cheaper way to make their product. Cheaper never involves hiring workers. They would make their products devoid of human workers if that were possible. Machines don’t require health care benefits and pensions. They don’t need money devoted to safe working conditions and lunch breaks.

Don’t tell me, please that corporations are job creators. They are profit creators, and hiring is now the last resort to accomplishing that goal. That’s why Wall Street is doing so well, and yet the unemployment figures are still so high. It’s got zero to do with regulations or very little. It’s got very little to do with “uncertainty” about what the buffoons in Congress are going to do. It’s got to do with profit. There is no morality here. It’s not part of the capitalistic model.

Meanwhile, there was this farcical drama in North Korea.

The pity is that the media thought any of this worthy to report upon. Dennis Rodman is a delightful entertainer. As an intellectual, well, he leaves a great deal to be desired.

His “opinion” is about as useful as that of a three-year-old. And I like the dude. He’s had a tough life as a kid, and he’s managed to make a good life for himself. I give him credit.

Kim? Oh good lord, he never got spanked as a child, that is certain. And I’m not much for corporal punishment either.

But he definitely needed spanking. In fact he needs spanking now. He’s always in the middle of a tantrum.

And dude, find a new barber. That haircut is silly. Seriously.

It’s hard to judge this Supreme Court. I’m not sure if we haven’t had this kind of horror before, when the Court was filled with really nutty people who make a mockery of the Constitution.

The Dred Scot Court comes to mind. That must have been an awful one.

But it would be hard to argue that this one is close to the top of the list of really awful benches.

Scalia is an intellectual joke, playing word games about original intent of the Framers, when all it comes down to is his personal disgusting beliefs.

Calling the right to vote a “racial entitlement”. And then suggesting that instead of testing a law against the Constitution, he has a new job–doing the dirty work for Congress, meaning that Congress is too beholden to special interests and can’t do the “right” thing because it might cost them an election.

So Scalia to the rescue. Doing the “right” thing. What a douche.

Let me get this straight.

Some Republicans are all upset at the use of drones against US citizens.

Got that.

No Republicans ever raised this issue when Bush starting using them.

Don’t get that.

In American courts, EVERYone, citizen or not, is gets the same rights.

Got that.

Sulaiman Abu Ghaith is arrested in Turkey. He is moved from Turkey to Jordan (Turkey prohibits the extradition of prisoners to those few countries that still practice the use of the death penalty and we are one of THOSE countries) and then transported from Jordan to the US for trial.

Got that.

Republicans are incensed because he can’t be interrogated properly except at Guantanamo (he was interrogated by an elite force of experts in Turkey and talked to the tune of some 20 pages), and because he is a bad dude and has no right to the rights granted him in our civilian courts.

Don’t get that.

Morality sure winds a crooked course in the Republican mind. And incidentally, in a good many Democratic ones as well.

Just a word about something I care about.

I am now the Sunday morning cat adoption “cleaner” for Pet Smart. I do this through a local adoption group in my area called A.W.A.R.E. What I learned is that Pet Smart joins with local animal groups across the country to adopt out animals. That’s a good thing.

My job is to clean the cages, feed and water where these cats live, and to play with them as much as I wish while I’m there. This is done twice a day, seven days a week, all serviced by volunteers.

My only point here, is that if you are interested in adopting a kitten, think of them as a source. You are not getting a “kitten” mill animal, but one that has been rescued and needs a good home. Prices are typically $50, and all animals are already spayed or neutered and have all their shots. In some cases the animals may come from the local shelter. You will probably get a bit better animal, since these kittens get more socialization than those typically housed in shelters.

I have no agreements of any kind with Pet Smart or A.W.A.R.E. in return for these statements. It’s only because I care about the animals. Perhaps other pet stores do the same. I haven’t inquired.

 

Related articles

• Scalia Calls Voting Rights Act ‘Perpetual Racial Entitlement’ (crooksandliars.com)
• Why Scalia’s ‘Racial Entitlement’ Quote Is Even Scarier Than You Think (thinkprogress.org)
• Voting is no ‘racial entitlement,’ Justice Scalia (tv.msnbc.com)
• Dennis Rodman Puts The New Abnormal Into Absurd Perspective (zerohedge.com)

 

Political Points in Peyton Prospective

Tags

Congress, corporations, GOP, gridlock, John Edwards, John McCain, Michelle Bachmann, Obama, personhood, right wing nuts, Roe v Wade, Sarah Palin, SCOTUS, State of the Union, teabaggers

It’s been a good two weeks of political this and that. Time for everything to marinate, blend, shake out, and the subtle themes and nuances to shake out. In other words. . . .time for a retrospective, Peyton style, of the news. We are after all, a hurry up, short attention span sort of species.

I can only conclude, as I always do, that I have been misplaced again in the universe, for surely I don’t fit in with what I consider to be the majority of Merikans and others around said globe. In other words, they are all nuts, I’m sane, and stop the world, I wanna get off. Preferably on the planet from which I was abducted, and am still Queen in absentia.

First on the docket is the SCOTUS disaster–personhood for corporations. This is indeed a sad day for democracy lovers world wide. It of course makes a joke out of the concept of “judicial restraint versus judicial activism.” As I’ve said, one is either one or the other, depending on whether the Court acts as you desire or not. Surely, no Founding Father could have anticipated nor condoned the idea that a “thing” a corporation would have personhood.

Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission bodes no good in many directions at once. Overruling decades of precedence, the reactionary and activist right, reset the playing field as election politics go. Now, it seems, corporations will be able to flood the market with millions to promote the candidate that best helps their cause of greed. And with a slight bit of finesse, foreign countries will be able to influence and perhaps control elections in this country.

While everybody is bemoaning this state of affairs, I see a much more sinister movement here. Declaring corporations to be persons for purposes of constitutional rights such as free speech, can only embolden those who see to reverse Roe v. Wade. After all, how can you sustain an argument that a corporation is a person, but a fetus (which will grow into a human being in time) is not? I suspect you will be hearing more about this “business” case than you might think.

***

The tea baggers are proving to be about what we would expect from people who have spotty educations and basically little in the way of actual sense. Their convention seems fraught with problems, mostly stemming from the fact that the whole thing is a bit of a scam.

First they start with Michelle Bachmann and Sarah as their two-pronged assault team. These two are enough to make a grown man celibate for life, hoping to stop the generation of any more spawn from these two crown idiots. But Michelle has now pulled out, and Sarah is being impolitely asked to leave by a segment of the tea bagger nation.

The reason? Seems Ms. Moose is not quite right wingy enough to suit the multi-faceted tea brigade. People are also complaining about the exorbitant price for one of the Alaskan Artist’s prized tickets.

How did Sarah get too “mainstream” for the tea bagger cult? Why she’s agreed to stump for one John Sydney McCain, the poor old Senator from Arizona who is having a hard time being right enough against his primary challenger. The tea bag gang thinks McCain is decidedly NOT right enough, and therefore Sarah can’t be either.

Speaking of which, Johnny is sure showing his true colors–“Ideology be damned, I wanna be re-elected!” It seems John has privately at least expressed his mea culpa about hiring on the said Palin express in his failed presidency bid. Yet, when push comes to shove, the ideal-less get going and bring in what might work, much as he privately might despise the woman. So much for John and integrity. But we knew that.

Which all goes to show–picking through the trash just locates trash doesn’t it? A pox on all their house.

***

Obama, following what was touted as a rather brilliant State of the Union speech, traveled to Capital Hill and met with the GOP. As you might expect, the cleaned the floor there too, making the Rethugs look like petulant children. One poor representative, was shocked that Obama had read his bill–though he quickly reverted to the usual handed out talking points that all Rethugs have come to know and love

What is at work here, and what the crazies in the GOP can’t get, is that, much as they try to deny it, Obama is a first class mind. And alas, they are holders of quite ordinary small minds. Thus the shock that he actually reads bills, even those proposed by lowly junior representatives.  I suspect in some sense, they truly cannot “get” him for just that reason.

It also points out just what we and they look for in candidates. It seems the GOP is not big on thinkers, but is very big on those that will faithfully mouth the GOP mantras of big business and low taxes for the wealthy.

***

Last but not least. John Edwards. Oh my, what can we say? To be duped by a sleazeball of this size is really thought provoking. It can cause one to stop in mid-stride. How can I or anyone be so incredibly wrong about our take on the integrity of another human being? It utterly boggles the mind, and contributes again to the belief that politicians are all worthless scum who via for office as a means to personal power.

Can you imagine being his new daughter who will one day have access to the information out there today about what her daddy did to try to stay at arms length from her? From pleas for abortion to substituting another daddy in the breach. What an awful man. Elizabeth, whatever her personal failings (and we all have them), is well rid of the snake.

We Don’t Need No Stinkin’ Socialism

Tags

banking, corporations, economics, government, socialism

A citizen at a McCain mob rally yesterday exploded in anger. “I’m really angry,” he shouted, “and it’s not about the economy. We have got to stop this before ‘they’ turn our country into a socialist state.” Well, it brought a chuckle, since this buffoon obviously doesn’t know a thing about economics or what is going on presently in this country. Worse yet, he hasn’t a clue what is going on in his own party.

Now let me preface all by saying, I know little about economics. I don’t say that with any sense of pride. To the contrary, it is a deeply shameful thing to me at this point. I am more than willing to mea culpa myself to death. I owe myself and my fellow citizens more. I, as a functional adult in the US of A have a responsibility to understand at least the basics of all this stuff.

But it seems to me, given my limitations, that the bailout and others that have preceeded it over the decades (remember Chrysler back in the 80’s or 90’s?), are governmental assumption of bad debt. It seems to me, and please tell me if I am wrong, that the government is now in the business of banking. I’m told that the Bush administration is now considering buying actual shares in these failing banking institutions as a way to control and stabilize them.

Now I may be a tad rusty here folks, but last time I recall reading a definition of socialism, it included “government ownership of the means of production.” Does that not include financial institutions? I mean they are the ones who finance the actual means of production, such as steel and oil and other such tangible touchable industry.

If that is so, then government, thanks to the Republican party is engaged in socialism all ready. And I submit, it appears that the government has been doing this for some time, across more than one administration, Republican or Democratic.

Now our mobster at the rally, seems either not to know this (shame on him) or he only means socialism as it pertains to social programs such as health care and social security (gosh was that socialism?) medicare, Veterans health and education benefits, food stamps and on and on.

In any event, it seems that with regulation or not, the “private sector” seems intent on greed as its central mantra to the exclusion of morals, common sense, or any of the regular expectations that we as humans expect of institutions run by humans. Thus, periodically, the government seems called upon to step in and take on burdens and clean up messes caused by over-reaching humans bent on acquiring until they burst at the seams from their gluttony. The bursting of course spews sewer bilge across this fair land and we have to pay a hefty price as taxpayers to clean ourselves up.

It begins to beg the question. While every politician continues to spout that “free markets are good” much as Gecko spouted that “greed was good,” maybe it ain’t so. If free markets are incapable of maintaining their addiction at a level they can control, and frequently overdose, requiring heroic medical help in the form of bailouts, then perhaps, just perhaps, the rehab approach isn’t working.

Once upon a time, most markets were pretty much confined to the USA. If we sent goods overseas, as I recall, it was pretty much a one way street. There was plenty of competition at home. No more. Today’s markets are global, competition is pretty much gone, having been supplanted by ginormous mega-corporations which sell fertilizer alongside medical supplies, along side dog food, in addition to 5,000 other goods and services.

Big business is not big, its merging into ever greater and greater conglomerates. The recent demise of so many banking institutions will only increase the size of the remaining players. These institutions are now global, having their fingers in more pies than little Jack Horner.

Worse, regulation fails I suspect, to dent their practices. After all, for the most part they are in full control of the “regulatory” agencies. That’s just for starters. They operate, and often headquarter, in places that protect them from regulation and taxation. They buy and sell congress persons at will.

In the end, they behave like the typical toddler who is obedient as long as you are there supervising their every move, but leave the room for five minutes and they are back at doing exacting the opposite of what they were instructed to do. If we are going to have to stay on top of the typical corporation so that it doesn’t start playing with matches, then perhaps it’s just better to own the things outright and protect the other residents of the house from conflagration.

What we have now witnessed, is a group of smart little asses, who figured a way to make a lot of money by playing some game with mortgages. It is all a lot of hocus pocus with risky investments that now every major CEO claims nobody really understood in the first place. And the upshot of all this teenage exuberance, is that the finances of the entire freaking world are toppling into the abyss of hell.

So, I say, maybe it’s time to re-examine this whole socialism thing. Maybe we need to own those industries that are directly tied to the very success or utter failure of a society. The nuts and bolts of what it takes to make a civilization operate. Things like energy and banking, and the raw materials of production.

Maybe the world needs to exhibit a little tough love. “Son you can’t be trusted with the keys, you keep wrecking the car.” Maybe we need to restrict “business” to making golf clubs and cheerios. I dunno, I’m just like you, looking for an explanation and a solution.

Water Wanders Wellsprings Wither

Tags

abstinence, Barack Obama, Bush, corporations, economy, Election 2008, fundamentalism, Gitmo, GOP, Hagee, Iowa, Iran, Iraq, journalism, McCain, Media, Middle East, Palestine, Putin, Russia, sex education, terrorism, Traveling

Francis William Edmonds did this piece called “The New Bonnet.” It was completed in 1858 and can be seen at the MMA.

I didn’t buy a bonnet yesterday, but we sure got a lot of stuff done in town. In fact, we left a bit before 9 am and didn’t get home until nearly 4 pm. Of course the rain had resumed long before that, so it was a sloppy unload of groceries and various other sundry items of purchase. We got some more plants, which still remain in the Bronco, and the garden looks rather bad today with standing water at the southwestern section of it. I have grave concerns for our initial corn planting at least,  and some of our tomatoes may fail as well.

I hope you all enjoyed the Contrarian’s little story about the boar and the sow yesterday. He’s one funny guy as you can see. A nice relief for me as well, as posting daily in the amounts I do is formidable to say the least.

I made the root beer marble cake that I linked to some time back. So far it looks pretty good, but the proof is the tasting of course. Dinner is basic today, pork chops, potatoes and probably broccoli. I’ve not much ambition in that area today. Tomorrow I think perhaps a stir fry.

It seems to have stopped raining for a bit at least, the dogs are getting restless. Yesterday was a wash for them, having to stay cooped up indoors all day, which is highly unusual for them. Today they are moping and sleeping. I’ll rile them to get out at least for a bit, hoping the rain will stay away now.

Anyway, it’s time to see what’s happening in the news. Oh the freaking Redwings lost in triple overtime. I’m fearing they may lose the whole thing now, that was a heart breaker. I gave up after the end of the second overtime. It was after 11 pm by then. Blech, I’m sure it was my watching that jinxed them! LOL.

And we are changing things up a bit here. This blog is just becoming too time consuming and unwieldy as is. Today we are focusing on politics around the world. Tomorrow we will hit the the food, gardening, etc. History and religion will fit in here and there as there is material to justify. I’m hoping this frees me up a bit, and makes for a more intelligible read for you as well.

~~~&&&~~~&&&~~~

The Bushites, apparently aware that both proposed presidential candidates are intent upon closing downGitmo, are going full bore ahead in trying to get those prosecutions going. Amid all the stories about lack of individual rights, and downright illegalities by prosecutors, Bush seems determined to stuff these prosecutions up our collective behinds before he is ushered out of office. Read more at Alternet.

You may not have heard it here first, but you have heard it here before. Corporate conglomerates are insidious in wrapping their tentacles increasing around and within our political system, and if we don’t do something quickly, they will effectively run the country and the world. This rather pointed and important address was given by Chris Hedges, Pulitzer prize-winning reporter and bureau chief for the NYTimes in the Middle East.

The fall out over Scotty McClellan’s book continues today. Frank Rich of the NYTimes argues that McCain will not be able to keep  moving forward as the country seems endlessly interested in learning just how badly our president and his cronies lied to us in the run up to the war. McCain cannot keep claiming that this is old news, and he can’t keep avoiding the book as something he hasn’t had a chance to read. Another great article on the same subject, detailing McShame’s complete and utter agreement with Bush during the run up can be found at History News Network.

Catholic Anarchyreports that several groups have come up with independent estimates of total Iraqi deaths since the inception of our War of Aggression. While Bush and his henchmen continue to downplay these figures for obvious reasons, several independent groups estimate the numbers are nearly a million or more. The so-called Iraqi government doesn’t utter a word in disapproval of the Bushites lower estimates for the same obvious reasons.

History News Network has a long look at McCain and his apparent ineptitude in judging what right wing evangelicals to pick for his camp. So far, he’s gotten it entirely wrong, and has had to dismiss both Hagee and Parsley from his boosters club. This suggests or should suggest that Mr. McSameasBush has almost no clue about religion in general and evangelical religion in particular. This presumably should not be lost on evangelicals themselves. It certainly should prove telling to independents and others who look on.

I seriously wonder at the emotional health of Billy Kristol. He seems intent on professional suicide these days, and it may stem from all the things he’s been so WRONG about for so long. The dude actually is criticizing Obama for his lack of military service. I mean, come on. Kristol did not serve, yet he self proclaims himself as one of the “architects” of the Iraqi war invasion, at least from a political prospective. Did he forget that? If I Ran the Zoo brings us the link to the story, which is actually found at American Blog.  If you want to read Billy’s comments in full, then follow this link to his stupid opinion, “What Obama left out.” What Kristol left out was his brain again, and when it dries after the rain, it keeps shrinking. What is the NYTimes thinking?

From Inside Iraq, we learn the continued sad state of affairs when it comes to basic services. The in fighting between various ministers within the government means nothing gets done, and little changes and the people suffer day in and day out without adequate electricity, water and other common amenities. Read what it’s like to live in Baghdad today.

The Iowa Independent reports that issues of social concern to Republicans seems to be waning in the wake of serious economic concerns. This is typical of us all of course. We tend to vote our pocketbook over our morality. The big difference I would suggest is that Democrats seem to understand this intuitively and don’t get caught up in the holier-than-thou attitude of some GOP’ers who like to shower opposition with taunts of Immoral secularism against God’s good plan for the universe. It’s the hypocrisy that chaffs dear Republicans, not the message.

Things are so bad over at National Reviewthat they have sunk to having movie directors give commentary on this political race between Obama and Clinton. Ronald Maxwell gets just about everything in his silly post wrong, from beginning to end, making it quite clear that he should remain in the movie industry if any place at all. I haven’t seen his movie so perhaps he’s just as incompetent there as well. This is one of those funny ones folks. While I agree that many commentators are biased in their reporting, the same is utterly and more true of Republicans than the Dems just for starters. Fox NoNews virtually actively campaigned against McSame for months before reluctantly shrugging and accepting the inevitable. Have fun.

And, not to be outdone, they stoop even lower to enlist David Klinghoffer to comment and beg McCain to come up with something grand to stand for. Klinghoffer is from the Discovery Institute, (I believe they are the group that tries to disguise creationism and push it to schools in the guise of “Intelligent design.”) It’s a too too sad statement of the fact that McCain does stand for nothing but more war and little else. Klinghoffer begs and pleads that the Old Mac find some inner passion to ignite both himself and the GOP before it’s too late.

Maureen Dowd leads the ever growing cadre of pundits who are leaving the sinking ship of Bush. Read her rousing and thoroughly funny rendition of how “trusting your gut Bush style” turns out badly when there is nothing in there but bile. I don’t often agree with Ms. Dowd, but this time I sure do. I have one point of quibbling. Scott’s remarks of “I had allowed myself to be deceived,” smacks not so much of Victorian romance as a smart quip we could faintly hear from our own Scarlett O’Hara, “Oh, Rhett, say it isn’t so!”

From Palestine we get this reaction to the Dunkin Donuts/Rachael Ray debacle: A pox on the house of donuts! Dunkin says it just doing good business by pulling the ad, but those in the Middle East find the pulling quite offensive.

Another thoughtful piece from American Prospect on the issue of Conservativism. What went wrong, and why it remains wrong. Free-market economy is not the solution as the past eight years has shown us. Giving big business free rein to do pretty much as they wish has just let to extreme excess on the part of CEOs and lots of bad decisions leading to lots of bad things happening. We all know what they are of course, from the mortgage disaster to oil prices, to all the horrors of unsafe medicines.

A Beirut Spring tells us a good deal about Iran and it’s influence in the Middle East. Giving us the Five principles of Middle East Hegemony, we learn what they are doing well and what we aren’t doing well.

Sadly, things seem to be going back to square one in the Kremlin. The old politics of repression seem in full force again, and political opposition voices are continually stifled. Putin continues to rule from behind the trousers of his hand picked successor, and this is the man Bushie claimed was a good man, having seen into his soul. Oh please. Read the sad state of affairs in Russia these days at the Huffington Post.

If you look in your marble box and find a few extra, you might want to contact John Hagee. He appears to be losing a few more of his these days. Now he claims the anti-Christ is both gay and part Jewish. Ain’t it so nice to fling bigotry everywhere you go? This would all be about nothing of course except for the fact that McStupid actively courted this fool.

Wow, it seems there are wars in them there blogosphere lands of the very very important, or self-imposed importance as the case may be. Seems that the Daily Kos and MyDD are at war, and boys and girls, it ain’t pretty. It’s actually quite amusing as these giants (in their own minds at least) vie for bragging rights to who is responsible for turning the Dems around. Course, they are sounding surprisingly like, well, other media outlets now aren’t they? Read this yummy story from the New Republic. I personally dumped Daily Kos because I thought they were misogynistic in their coverage of Clinton whom they quite clearly detest. I have little familiarity with MyDD, but will take a closer look.

While Bush and Maliki have worked out the relationship they want for Iraq and the US, it seems not all of the parliament of Iraq is exactly on board. In fact some of them object to US long range plans to inhabit their country. Some of these folks are coming to Washington and are going to testify before Congress on the issue. I wonder why they don’t like our occupation of their country? Read the article at Washington Independent today.

Watch out folks, another doozy on the way. The PR firm that did the Vets Swift Boating ads against John Kerry, have a new cause. Abstinence only is their new theme and they are trying to push this agenda across the country. First, we are told they are using information that is simply not true. If you didn’t know, abstinence only sex education has a lousy track record vis a vis the regular old fashioned kind of sex education. Secondly the people in charge of NAEA  are reputedly in the anti-gay camp and have other rather questionably backgrounds. Read more at Think Progress.

Another super post from Urantian Sojourn today. Well actually it was from Saturday, and it’s well worth your perusal. Enjoy What happened: The culturing of Deception, written by Propagandee.

If you have ever wondered what the life of a seaman is, one of those who hires himself around the world, you have only to drop by kiwi-at-seato find out. He relates about his last ship from  Glasgow, getting ready to ship out on the Norna. Read of his adventures.

Angry African has an important story to tell, and I hope you will listen. We in the West with all our wealth and power, well, we have a way about us when it comes to “helping” the rest of the world who is not so fortunate. And that way is quite obvious to the recipients of our largesse. He asks some very important questions to all who are givers to those who have not so much. Even on the small scale of just you and your personal efforts to help out, his questions are one’s we need to ponder and ponder deeply.

That’s it for today, a nasty long one again, but I think it will taper off over time. I’m planning on doing politics about 3 times a week, MWF and do the other stuff on TTh. Saturday and Sunday will remain the same. I’ll throw in the humor here and there.