27 June 2007

...and Justice for...everyone except the rich


A short while back, a corrupt sheriff released Paris Hilton from prison, to serve out the rest of her sentence after only 1 DAY IN JAIL! I was ecstatic when the presiding judge seriously reprimanded this "law enforcement" official and ordered Hilton back behind bars, not because I am one of those bonehead "tougher laws and more prisons" bafoons, but because this represented equality under the law. Despite her many millions of dollars and a huge good ole boy network suporting her and her snotty, bratlike ways, justice would be blind. Those tears when she was led back to the clink made me smile.

Now, after spending only 24 days in a lockdown facility, she was "released early due to crowded jail conditions and time off for good behaviour." BBC According to the a paparazzi website (Egotastic), "this is probably the most coverage anyone has gotten for being released from prison since Nelson Mandela. And sadly, I'm pretty sure she's getting more coverage." They also have a video of the little princess being escorted from the compound and acting like she is on "the red carpet."

Although this is only a minor case of bias, it goes to prove that justice is no longer blind in the USA. If you have enough money and fame, you can literally get away with murder (see OJ Simpson). The middle class do not get preferential treatment or leniency, and the poor, well they just get fucked. Freedom and justice for all is supposed to be a hallmark of our society, and events like Paris Hilton getting cut loose early(and probably pampered in a one room private resort inside) is a pathetic example of how screwed up things have become in America.

24 June 2007

Blurring Knowledge

There is truth in life. There is truth and there is perspective. From the beginning of language, selfish and greedy people have used deceipt to blur the truth in order to gain or profit in some way. This is an everyday reality to those of us in America who are subject to Fox News and other 24 hour cable news programs that routinely couple views from a non-biased source and some conservative ideologue and proclaim that as "fair and balanced".

To get to the point, there is a free online dictionary called Wikipedia (link to the english site), an unbiased, scientific site dedicated to truth. As always, conservatives hate that public has access to truth, and have launched their own version called Conservapedia . This propaganda site is dedicated to distorting reality by stating such things as, "Earth is less than 10,000 years old, A increase in the minimum wage is... "a controversial manoeuvre that increases the incentive for young people to drop out of school.", Hillary Clinton may suffer from "clinical narcissism", and Environmentalists...would want to impose legal limits on the use of toilet paper." (source the Star Tribune and LA Times).

Its actually quite an entertaining, albeit scary read.

Energy Bill

The new Democratic Senate seems to be fighting the good fight, even if they compromise too quickly in the recently passed energy bill. Unlike previous versions passed by King George and his Republican minions, this one does not give billions of dollars to the oil industry. Republicans blocked a $32 billion tax package to boost energy efficiency and renewable energy programs, accd to Yahoo! So despite what the people want (and know to be the smart thing to do), Bush and the conservatives are once again bowing to the corporate masters by killing incentives for such things as wind and solar.

The bright side to this energy bill was that for the first time in nearly 20 years (BBC), mandatory fuel efficiency will be increased. Granted, by nothing at first, and only to 35mpg (from the current 22) by the year 2020. We may finally be joining the rest of the worlds industry in promoting minimal standards such as these.

CIA declassified documents

For anyone who is naive enough to put their total trust in their own government, this should be an enlightening article. OK, naive isn't actually in the dictionary (try looking it up!), but I digress.

As a red blooded American, my youthful notions that the USA was not just another country, but the beacon of freedom and justice throughout a corrupt and cruel world. This idea has been fostered by generations in this country, as I'm sure it has in many if not most nations across the globe. In America, it is an easy morsel to digest. Our country broke away from a tyrranical empire, passed a radical piece of humanitarian legislation in the form of the Bill of Rights, fueled freedom and independence movements across the globe for 2 centuries, and appears on the surface to hold itself to a higher standard.

In the aftermath of the great struggle against fascism and for freedom in World War II, things appear to have begun to change however. The military-industrial complex started to take over, pull the strings behind the curtain, and the ideals this country was built on began to erode: freedom, justice, equality, self determination. This was the beginning of the Cold War, a multi-generational struggle against what was stated to be a new form of tyrrany. But this was really the beginning of a covert war of control over the american populace.

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) began betraying the trust of the American people by engaging in acts that ranged from improper to outright treasonous. Of course, these activities were covered up in the interest of "national security", a bullshit formality that ensures they and other conservative fascists will get away with their immoral acts and one which has expanded exponentially today.

None the less, after a pledge in 1990 for greater openness from the agency, 17 years later, they are FINALLY releasing some documents about their activities from the 1950's to the 1970's. According to a story on Yahoo! News, the report includes the CIA engaging in "illegal activities, such as tapping reporters' phones, engaging in surveillance on students, opening mail, plotting assassinations and human experimentation." as well as kidnappings [and] warrantless searches." It continued, "Until now, only a few dozen pages from the file have been declassified, but with heavy redactions."

Surprise, surprise, surprise. Wake up. This is nothing new to us in the US who have our eyes open. In fact, the only surprise from this is simply the timing, that these documents are being declassified during the most extremist right-wing government we have ever had in the history of this nation.

The well paid government spinmeisters are already at work. CIA Director Michael Hayden on Thursday called the documents being released next week unflattering, but he added that "it is CIA's history."

"The documents provide a glimpse of a very different time and a very different agency," Hayden told a conference of historians.


Bullshit. Things have only intensified. Do you think the CIA (or FBI, NSA, ATF, etc.) would suddenly have a change of heart and cease their invasive ways? Again, look up NAIVE. The digital age only makes people more vulnerable to their domestic spying.

19 June 2007

Gaza

Preamble
Having been unable to post for the last 3 months (I was detained), I am proud to announce that I am back at my desk, ready to report and comment on events around the world once again. I apologize for the long delay, but understand that certain events are out of anyones control in this world. From the sitemeter reports, I see that many of my loyal readers kept checking for new posts while I was unavailable, thank you. Without further delay, let us begin...



I love to say I told you so and be vindicated for my predictions, although I hate that it has to be like this. Hamas gunmen have taken complete control of the Gaza strip in an act of defiance to due process and the legally recongnized international laws. I predicted this years ago when Bush (King George) used his immense skills at mismanagement by promoting true democracy throughout the middle east. To reiterate, democracy is normally a good thing, but only functional in a decently educated culture with a strong middle class. Many places in the Islamic world simply have too much fanatacism to handle that type of government, it tends to elect violent radicals such as Hamas, who when they get impatient with the machinery of government, allow their gun toting hoolingans to take physical control of the streets, just as what happened in Gaza.

What next? Well, the simple answer is not a popular one in the Palestinian territories, partition. Deal with the new government of Abu Mazen in the West Bank, encourage a final settlement, normalization, and stability to ensue. Rooting out the Gaza gunmen in the narrow, crowded streets of Gaza would be an extremely bloody affair, so simply keep them isolated for the next few years (assuming they fail to yield to international agreements and renounce terrorism). Maybe allowing Egypt to annex that territory would be a decent solution, especially considering Gaza simply cannot economically support the masses of people within its boundaries. Otherwise, this could represent a second Palestinian state with the possibility of rejoining the West Bank at some point in the future when they discard their violent ways.

Of course, the more likely course of action will be a slow reconciliation with Fatah. In that course of events, too many compromises will have to be made to the Hamas thugs controlling the streets, and will likely not lead to any real peace with Israel for at least another generation.

You think King George learned his lesson in this fiasco? Probably not. Maybe he will inadvertantly push for a Hezbollah takeover in Lebanon next.