Fair thee well, Geraldine Hoff Doyle

As the old year fades, we look forward to the new day, obviously. However, it is also time to take a moment to think about and honor those not with us for the dawn of 2011. I lost two friends this year, and another with very poor prognosis. Death is just as much a part of life as being born, though.

However, this isn't about personal goodbyes; this is a nationwide farewell to the 86 year old Geraldine Hoff Doyle, who passed away last week. You've never heard of her personally, she was a retired housewife to her dentist husband, Leo Doyle. But, Geraldine was --like so many other women in the War Generation-- invaluable to kindling the can-do spirit of the ladies who made the economic and war engine run.

 And, she was a world class beauty to boot...

See Geraldine was working one day at the GE munitions factory in Michigan (her home state), when a young UPI photographer snapped a photo of her, hard at work pressing sheet metal...

I don't understand why men wouldn't want this in the workforce 

An in-house graphic artist loved the photo so much that he thought he'd use a stylized version of it, perhaps make it a bit spiffier, to give the ladies at the munitions plant something to be proud of, to be motivated for. What he created, and what Geraldine and others took inspiration from, is as iconic an image of Americana as you will ever see. You, of course, know that painting as Rosie the Riveter.

 Yes, yes you could.  And did.

Later adopted as a signpost of feminism, gender equality, GLBT issues and many many others, Rosie's face has graced everything from toilet paper to toothbrushes; tee shirts to torpedoes. But, while it's too often used for movements based upon otherness or issues that are divisive (wrong-headedly, I add), let's think for a moment about what this really was: A time when we really did band together to save humanity from the horrors of true fascism and of true tyranny, and millions upon millions more dead (no matter how loosely we use those words today, we have no idea what the face of evil looks like; our grandfathers saw those faces).

Hubris aside, we owe Rosie, Geraldine and all of the others far more than we ever paid back. Let's start by adding a few words to your dark prayers. 

 Fairwell, Geraldine Hoff Doyle, the hero to millions of Americans, for more than one generation and more than one cause.  

Dead at 86.

 -d.s.

Perhaps Boston University and Columbia University could read the law?

"Legal administrators" should read the law that they cite when bullying students in an attempt to discourage discussions of the Wikileak cables.

The letter sent from BU administrators to law students (and ditto at Columbia), referenced
Executive Order 13526.

Well, what does the prefatory language of the Order state?

Sec. 1.7. Classification Prohibitions and Limitations.
(a) In no case shall information be classified, continue to be maintained as classified, or fail to be declassified in order to:
(1) conceal violations of law, inefficiency, or administrative error;

(2) prevent embarrassment to a person, organization, or agency;

(3) restrain competition; or

(4) prevent or delay the release of information that does not require protection in the interest of the national security.

What do we know right now? Some illegal actions, such as contractors paying for boy prostitutes in Afghanistan/Clinton spying and obtaining UN employees' DNA. We know some embarrassing things, such our "partners" in the Middle East aren't worth a shit: from Israel to Saudi Arabia to Pakistan.

What then is the logic of classifying these documents, when, by the terms of the Executive Order used to threaten students, there simply does not appear to be a "national security" perogative? There's not; that's why. It's just the shibboleth invoked by a lazy, secretive government hell-bent on lying to us.

We are not mushrooms: You can't keep us in the dark and feed us shit.

Monday has got some redass

Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.

Ditto with the Wikileaks cables. Once released, the needle and the damage done, know what I'm saying. Yet, as I'll discuss a bit later, the Gov't is doing its damnedest to create a class of offenses and designate them as a mindcrime. We have psy-ops, infowars, and Orwellian doublespeak filtering down to us from on high, where the content of the disclosures aren't being repudiated by the gov't, rather, that citizens are accessing them, and discussing the contents, is the official worry.

Disgusted.

-d.s.

Welcome to the "first serious infowar"

Happy Sunday: I don't usually post on the weekend, but it's too hot for golfing --yes, I do that because it's fun, and, I love sanctioned drinking and driving. And, I am really kind of worried about my world. I apologize in advance for the length of this, as I usually just get in/get out, and then let you minions sort out the meaning of it all, on your own, in an uncaring silent Universe (Hey! I didn't realize that I might be God?!).

If being bummed/frightened/unsettled isn't your thing, then please accept this offer of boobies...there's many more on this site, I promise, Otherwise, enjoy the offering of boobies then proceed.

 We can all agree that boobies make everything better, right?

Welcome to the first serious info-war.

Does that sound like Alex Jones' craziness? I admit, it does to me. However, that statement is not the histrionics of a conspiracy-obsessed blogger. No, this seeming bit of hyperventilation comes to us via Electronic Freedom Frontier (EFF) president, John Perry Barlow, who stated that "the first serious infowar has been engaged", referring of course to the administrative, corporate and governmental response to the Wikileak'd cables.

The effect of this statement is staggering. EFF is not a fringe 9/11 truth-er movement, or a tea-bag rightist fantasy camp. No, EFF is a well-respected major player in the realms of electronic privacy advocacy and all other issues affecting the intersection between humanity and computing. They bring suit, complaints and file amici on everything from eBay TOS to DMCR to extra-governmental snooping in your bank records, to the RIAA's punitive allegations of file-sharing and copyright. Barlow's release, then, is akin to the ACLU telling all 374 million of us that Congress has declared a literal war on American citizens and their rights. (In fairness, Barlow has issued some awfully hyperbolic statements before, but this one on behalf of EFF, is professional, not personal).

Okay, we get your point; we should be paying attention.

What is this info-war? Specifically, it's the war being waged on Wikileaks, a non-profit entity, by some of the most powerful nations on the planet, some of the largest online businesses, right down to the smallest DNS providers. Here's the rundown:

November 28, Wikileaks begins to release cables from the U.S. functionaries, containing highly embarrassing name-calling by diplomats, and revealing other embarrassing "secrets", such as Pakistan is close to a failed state, Saudis admit their citizens bankroll terrorists, Merkel doesn't know her ass from a hole in the ground, Sarkoszy is thin-skinned French wanker, the Russian mob and the Italian mafia are in cahoots, Putin and Buerlusconi are as crooked as the day is long. To which one can only say "No shit. We already knew this stuff". Anyone who reads the major papers of records such as PakTimes, NY Times, Pravda, BBC News, Le Monde, etc could have told you all of this...without blinking.

Yet, this information is deemed "damaging". And, that same day so-called "massive" denial of service attacks, effectively shutting down the site's Swedish servers. Private hackers and hacktivists have claimed credit for the attack, yet, there appears to be evidence of state-sponsored involvement in shutting down Wikileaks.

So, after suffering nearly 1/2 million attacks per minute on its own servers, Wikileaks then moves to Amazon. Predictably, Amazon pussies out, citing a non-existent violation of their TOS, and shuts down the site. Daniel Ellsberg, the hero who released the Pentagon Papers and thus set up some of the most profound First Amendment doctrine, has predictably struck back at this corporate censorship. His open letter to Amazon is powerful stuff. 

So, Wikileaks is on the move again. This time to "wikileaks.org" in the U.S. and Wikileaks mirrors in France. Fast-forward to December 2, 2010, where Wikileaks announces that it has a massive dump of documents that will absolutely destroy the veil obscuring the shady dealings between the U.S. and multi-billion dollar giant Bank of America.

Still following? Good, because shit is about to...Well, you know.

Anyone paying attention to the role of corporate influence in the U.S. can figure out what happens next: The war begins in earnest on Wikileaks. It is only after this disclosure that Amazon removes the site citing an undisclosed term of service. What about Wikileaks.org? EverDNS, the Vermont-based server for Wikileaks.org in America pulls the site, also citing a trumped-up violation of TOS.

Fine, you say, there are still European servers, right? Places where free expression and whistle-blowing/gonzo journalism are still taken seriously? You'd be wrong. First, France pulls Wikileaks' main site on the basis of no established French law. Fine. Move on the mirror in Switzerland, wikileaks.ch. Only problem is, now the Swiss have pulled the site as well, again, citing to no violation of law; information just goes down the memory hole.

Meanwhile, Assange is the apparent victim of trumped-up "rape charges". Swedish authorities have, since the Afghan/Iraq war dump stated that he's wanted for rape. After declining to prosecute for nearly a year, they now are attempting to re-file the charges. But, was there rape? Ummmm, no. The basis for the sexual assault charges are now apparently "sex by surprise" in having "unprotected sex".

And, on the homefront, American corporations are still fighting the BoA release tooth-n-nail. For instance, PayPal today announced that it will no longer permit donations to Assange's operation. And, it appears as though Twitter and Facebook are about to silence Wikileaks as well.

Sounds like an Infowar to me...

While all of these governments/agencies/corporations are shutting down the site in advance of the lending documents' release, the U.S. Government has apparently decided that a spoke truth can be obliterated if you just don't talk about it; and that the words/actions of our nation didn't occur if only they don't mention it by name, or try to ham-fistedly deny access to the documents. 

For instance, the Library of Congress, the largest repository of human knowledge in the world, has denied access to any site which could potentially discuss/release the cables. As the NY Times reports, the Government has jumped the shark in a more pernicious way, by ordering employees not to discuss the contents of the cables.  I shit you not. Government employees, many of who's work went into formulating the policy and actions described in the cable, cannot discuss, even amongst themselves, what work/words/actions actually got released.

As though administratively-required amnesia has ever worked.

The most recent head-in-the-sand, Orwellian approach is threatening grad/law students not to discuss this information that is already in the public sector. As Above the Law wrote today, several law schools are assisting the government in chilling, unconstitutional prior restraint of free speech. The pre-emptively bullying reads as follows (from BU School of Law):

Today I received information about Wikileaks that I want to pass on to you. This is most relevant if you are going to apply for or have already applied for federal government positions. Two big factors in hiring for many federal government positions are determining if the applicants have good judgment and if they know how to deal with confidential/classified information. The documents released by Wikileaks remain classified; thus, reading them, passing them on, commenting on them may be seen as a violation of Executive Order 13526, Classified National Security Information. See Section 5.5 (Sanctions).

For many federal government jobs, applicants must obtain security clearances. There are various levels of security checks, but all federal positions require background checks. As part of such checks, social media may be researched to see what you are up to, so DO NOT post links to the documents or make comments on any social media sites. Moreover, polygraphs are conducted for the highest levels of security clearance.

I have not yet heard any fallout about specific individuals, but we wanted to give you this take on the situation.

Maura Kelly
Assistant Dean for Career Development and Public Service

Ladies and gentlemen, this is an info-war. Rather than asnwering the fucking question, such as why the U.S. State Dept ordered spying on the UN; rather than discuss our uncomfortable ties to the Saudis; the failings of our policies in the Middle East; the torture that created hundreds, if not thousands, of new Jihadis, our government would rather silence the voices, pretend the words were never spoken, and then threaten and bully its citizens in any means at its disposal.

Chilling doesn't do this justice.

Perhaps our "leaders" would be better served by actually going back and reading the words of some of our Founders with respect to information, the press, and an engaged citizenry. In fact, a guy named Thomas Jefferson once said "Where the press is free and every man able to read, all is safe."

Good advice, what else did he have to say?

"The light which has been shed on mankind by the art of printing has eminently changed the condition of the world... And while printing is preserved, it can no more recede than the sun return on his course." --Thomas Jefferson to John Adams, 1823. ME 15:465

"Our liberty cannot be guarded but by the freedom of the press, nor that be limited without danger of losing it." --Thomas Jefferson to John Jay, 1786. 

"Our citizens may be deceived for awhile, and have been deceived; but as long as the presses can be protected, we may trust to them for light." --Thomas Jefferson to Archibald Stuart. 1799.

 

It's about time we fucking listen, I'd say.

In our failing democracy, we can at least count on boobies, Katherine Zeta-Jones' incomparable beauty, and the two combined.

 

 

-d.s.

Wikileaks: One in picture and one sentence...

Like everyone else, I'm still trying to digest the incredible diplomatic fallout from Wikileaks.

It's been interesting watching the roaches scurry now that the lights have been thrown on. So far, nothing seems to damaging: typical diplomatic name-calling, and our duplicity actually revealed. Although, even as far as the latter are concerned, anyone paying attention could tell you 3/4ths of the unstated policy aims of the American Empire without these cables.

For the nonce, until I can more fully ponder it, this lil' cartoon sums up Wikileaks detractors within the U.S. the best...

Yep, that pretty much sums it up...

-d.s.

Global Law/Politics Dump for the Hoi Polloi

In Japan, a Justice Minister is in trouble for joking that his job is not that difficult, especially given that all he says is  "I won't comment on individual cases" and "I'm acting in accordance with the law and the evidence".

Shadow's Reaction? LULZ. Pretty funny shit, and, as it happens, pretty true as well. Who cares the guy fessed up to speaking Bureaucrat-ese? He's not hired to try the damned cases, rather to be an administrator. And, they all speak like that.

Get that paper, lawya'

 * * *

In Iowa, the ethanol subsidies are set to expire Dec 31st of this year, all but ensuring the tens and tens of billions of dollars we spend subsidizing ADM and the Corn Belt will become a heated political topic. My take, after spending 6 years in the flyover? We don't need to subsidize large argri-businesses. Family farms are all-but over. Moreover, ethanol is carbon +, and requires more energy to make a gallon of gas than actually is yielded back. Finally, why on god's green earth would we pay tens of billions of dollars to actually raise our food prices (which ethanol subsidies do, by artificially inflating demand)?

Shadow's Reaction? Expand to crops we can use, have actual demand for, and which show the most promise for maintaining the integrity of the family farm. E.g., hemp, wineries, wheat, soy, etc.

Sorry, Great Plains. Time to get another job.

 * * *

In Illinois, Outgoing Republican Ingilis (R-Ill) absolutely blasts the tin-foil climate change deniers. And, according to Think Progress 86% of the incoming freshman GOP are full-on Climate Deniers.

Shadow's Reaction? These guys aren't going to listen. They never have; never will. The same 23% of the American population has been fucking it up for the rest of us since 1776. Hopefully, the first famine reaches them and theirs.

* * *

Finally, a moment of sadness please, for all American High-Schoolers who ever dreamed of going to Amsterdam for a tour of the Hash cafes.  Sad, sad story here "The Dutch government said on Wednesday it wanted to ban tourists from buying cannabis in "coffee shops," where hash is on sale legally, as part of a national crackdown on drug use."

Shadow's Reaction? Visit the Deep South or Hawaii, where the stuff is strong, feral, and literally a weed. Smoke your brains out while you're in college, because I guarantee by the time you're 25, reality sets in, responsibility flourishes, and you just don't have a whole day to hit the honey bear, eat Doritos and play XBox.

Well, it was fun while it lasted.

d.s.

Congress out of touch? Absolutely.

You mean this isn't Afghanistan?

We all lament how Congress is out of touch with the concerns of regular Americans. It's as if the American people have some ideas what we want, and how to accomplish it, then Congress will do the exact-damned-opposite. And, in the rare cases when they do get off their asses, the sausages they tend to crank out have ridiculously long implementation times, they sunset or terminate, and -usually- only half ass the job.

 Member of Congress listening to his constituents' concerns....

It's one of the many reasons why I've supported a basic Common Sense test for prospective members of congress:

• How much is a gallon of milk
• What is minimum wage
• How much is a gallon of gas
• What's the difference between ground round and ground chuck
• Name two fast food restaurants with a dollar menu
• What is the name of your community public school (magnets not included)
• Is it cheaper to buy a whole chicken or cornish hens
• What's the best commercial barbecue sauce
• If you don't bake, what kind of bread do you use
• How many miles is it to your public library
• Does your neighborhood have a used book store
• What is the internet

The Candidate's inability to answer  of any of these questions automatically disqualifies him/her from representing "the people"...

 Can't we just form a committee to investigate these troubling issues?

However, we didn't know how pitifully, painfully out of touch these knuckleheads were until the Senate began debating a cap on fees for ATM transactions. As anyone in America with a bank account knows, if you go to get cash from another institution's ATM machine you are charged $2-3 bucks for a $.36 transaction...on top of what your own bank charges you. 

Are you sitting down? Please, I hope so, because this is what  United States' Senators had to say about ATMs. Per the Omaha World Herald

Sen. Mike Johanns, R-Neb., who said he has used ATMs five or fewer times in his life, likened the Harkin proposal to government price controls -- and he opposes it. “I just worry about that kind of entry into the private sector,” said Johanns, a member of the Senate Banking Committee.

“I've never used an ATM, so I don't know what the fees are,” Nelson said, adding that he gets his cash from bank tellers, just not automatic ones. “It's true, I don't know how to use one.

“But I could learn how to do it just like I've . . . I swipe to get my own gas, buy groceries. I know about the holograms.”

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said he hadn't thoroughly reviewed the proposal. Asked outside the Senate chamber whether he uses an ATM card, he said, “I've got a credit card, but I don't use it for cash.”

 Pictured: Senator Ben Nelson's version of grocery stores...

So, there you have it. One Senator doesn't know the difference between a fucking credit card and an ATM/debit card; another one (on the Banking Committee no less) has used an ATM card less than five times in his life; and, yet another thinks bar codes are holograms...and, more damning, is going to vote on ATM fees, when he's never used an ATM card, and has no idea what these fees are. 

It's definitely time to wipe the slate clean folks.

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你好, Salut, Hallo, Ciao, おはよう, 안녕하세요, Privet, Hola

Hello, in other words.  Just a quick site update: About 1/2 of my readers come from areas outside of the U.S., and in many locations that don't speak English as a first language.

To that end, I've updated the site with a Google Translation feature. If you look over to the left, just below my lil' Devil, and above the Archive, there is now a feature to translate this site into: Mandarin, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Russian and Castillian Spanish.

O

 All that's required for detente is the removal of clothing.

One day, I'm running off to Kiev, Ukraine. If there is a city with per-capita sexier women, I've yet to see it.

 

Welcome citizens of the world, and feel free to drop me an email anytime you wish: You are also encouraged to send unmarked bills (US currency please, or British pounds), designer drugs, dark beers and slightly-soiled undergarments.




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Who loves Pan-Hellenic Anarchist Pooches?

Trick question, obviously, since everyone loves Greek dogs, no matter the cause, who flock to Anarchist riots.

L

Let's all dress similarly, then -at the behest of some higher ups appearing on the same websites we all read- gather in a large conglomerate to protest the exact same thing...that will teach them that we mean business when we say that organized social structures are antithetical to individuality.

Anarchists: The Left's shameful answer to the Right's equally shameful Libertarians.

What about this dog you say? What's hi name? This little fella (perhaps two), goes by the name of Kanellos, and, looooooves, riots and demonstrations of all stripes.

A mystery mutt turned up at every major demonstration in Athens for the past two years and earned iconic status.

"I've seen him many times on TV," wrote one admiring blogger. "He doesn't seem to get scared of tear gas, explosions, petrol bombs and people screaming all over. He actually seems to enjoy himself a lot!"

In recent photos, the dog was seen showing solidarity with hooded rock-throwers and barking at cops in riot gear during anti-austerity protests.

Unbeknownst to most people, Valdimir Putin has a cheerful little Spitz named дорогой (Precious) that is the Crypto-Communist answer to Kanellos. However, when дорогой won't play with Valdimir, Putin gets ticked and orders Medvedev to kill a few journalists.

Kanellos (a/k/a Theodorus?) has attracted quite a following; including his own Facebook Page for Riot-Dog (hell yea, I friended him), his own Wiki entry, his own Blogspot blog

...and some painfully earnest Folk Music tributes to "our Comrade, Kanelos"...

That 30 hour Greek work week gives you a lot of spare time, and this is what you do with it?

But, irrespective of how silly the bloggerati and fauxnarchists fawn over Cinammon (Greek trans of Kanelos), I suspect that he just digs running with the pack; besides everyone knows that only herding dogs have the cognitive capacity to get past post-Marxist Hegelian analysis and move towards anarchism...

Your doctrinaire subordination to the centralized, mixed-market economy totally ignores the human and environmental toll of globalization. Pwned!!!

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Monday is a new day in America...

Yes, that is partially what we were voting for. Good job. Now, let's go get some more stuff done.

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Shouldn't Saturday be sleeping in?

Killing Joke. Brilliant, that is all. Carry on. This track is particularly prescient.

Lyrics go now:

You have a choice, we are your voice
Red, blue or yellow.
We will blow away the green
Another five lane motorway
(You'll never get a referendum anyway)
Funny handshakes. insider dealing
Et in arcadia. arcadia ego
Backhanders and salamanders
A powerhouse that is morally
Mechula

I'm sorry democracy is changing
I'm sorry democracy is changing

I'm not a slogan or a badge
Or a cross in the ballot box
Neither values or objectives
You do not represent my deepest
Thoughts and wishes
Education in obsolete skills
Stereotyping and media projection
Industrial psychologists
Plan a campaign that is financed by
Big business

You have a choice, we are your voice
Red, blue or yellow.
We will blow away the green
Another five lane motorway
(You'll never get a referendum anyway) 

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I want to find this Wendy's

The land where chicken nuggets are, apparently, quite tasty, but the mean fry girls won't let ya' holler.

This has to be a joke. Please.

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12 Things wrong with the Last Supper.

And, I try not end on an angry/despondent/serious note.

Which brings me to this point: A lot of people have emailed/commented, and it is though they are expecting me to be sevens-and-eights to the goth-trough.

Fuck that. Seriously.

It's called "Gothlaw", because that is who I am, and that is my occupation. It's not called that because I'm going to be Glenn fuckin Greenwald on 'Luudes, or regurgitate oh-so-clever analysis. This is my therapy. There are many like it, but this one is mine.

So, if you want to know what happens when the black t shirts are exchanged for a black suit, when the red lipstick yields to a red power-tie, this is it. Questing alone. Finding friends as I can, and loves as they appear.

RANT OVER. Have fun with this one....

You gotta' click this, it's sooo, sooo wrong for reasons other than its title, "Redneck Last Supper".

Why is this wrong? Primarily, because:

1. Most rednecks I know don't drink Coors Extra Gold; that shit is far more expensive than Miller Lite.

2. Ditto, the Wild Turkey in place of "Heaven Hill", "Old Crow" etc.

3. There's not a single gun here

4. Where's the "supper"? 

5. Those look like 'neat' glasses you would pour an apertife into.

6. There's no cleavage, burns or bruises showing on the Magdalene

7. Who freely gives away Marlboros?

8. Why are there Marlboros instead of "Larks" etc...

9. Who serves fresh fruit in place of dead pig?

10. There's only one trucker hat

11. John the Baptist seems to have well too-coifed a beard for my taste...and, where are the greasy mullets?

12. Simon has an unrefrigerated 6 pack in front of him...wrong. Just wrong.

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State of Our Disunion.

From BigFatWhale.com, an excellent liberal/left cartoon, comes the following posted last night in anticipation of President Obama's State of the Union address...

Vince Offer just might take you up on that...

You can look at it several ways. 1. probably harsh words for the new Corporate-acracy we are left with the wake of last week's SCOTUS ruling (and he did); 2. Promises for what we, as a people need (health care, jobs, etc)...and he did ; 3. or, if you're more cynical, just more old hope-peddling...and, yes, the Republicans went there, as well. BUT....

Trying here, guys...

No matter what though, and despite my desire to turn my back on all things politic, I just can't give up after a mere year. The problem here, people, is not the agenda; it's fucking Congress (especially the Senate) who have stymied the entire legislative agenda,  effectuated the most tremendous bait-n-switch on the American people I've ever seen in my lifetime...

Uh, yeah. Fuck these guys.

 Which brings me to my last point. No matter how dark things occasionally seem, you don't have to go very far back in time to realize that it is the dread of dread, the fear of fear, and the uncertainty which sew rancor and which will undo us. To become disaffected may be the goal of the military-police-corporate elite, but it's not American. And quitting is not, nor should be, in our collective makeup.

Confidence thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection and on unselfish performance. Without them it cannot live...And, when you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.

Thanks FDR, we needed those words...and people think Obama is glib with a phrase?

. 

 

That seems about right...

Ever wonder why Americans are dumb?

Damn you iPods and cellphones for displacing books. More folks in law school walked around with these things in hand instead of texts or notes or stacks...

Sigh, myself included.

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Monday has seen the mountaintop...

If you've never heard the original, this is considered one of the 20th Century's finest oratorical moments. Note, that the demands were never just for enfranchisement, but also access to the job market and fair housing.

Happy Holiday.

The economy has people scared...

Idle hands, and all that....

The economy, as you undoubtedly know, has everyone terrified and scared. Losing your job, your home, your transportation, your health care, trying to make ends meet, trying to put food on the table, all of that can be real-life, for-real-ass scary stuff. Oh, you weren't talking about the 1/6th of Americans without work, or the 40% without insurance, or the 1/4th in poverty or the 20% on food stamps?

  

Might want to put those Benjies away, son....

No, it seems the people that are scared now are precisely the ones who ought to both be afraid, and deep-down disgusted with their cupidity, stupidity and greed. Seems some enterprising people, royally fucked over the by the Capitalist lie, are taking wealth redistribution into their own hands. 

A Los Angeles lawyer who had represented a failed subprime mortgage lender is found dead outside his home, having been shot in the head.

Three men allegedly invade the home of a former subprime lender, and are arrested after reportedly injuring three people inside.

Vandals target the home of the former CEO of the Royal Bank of Scotland, smashing windows in the banker's home and car.

This isn't good folks, but it's what happens when you play fair in a world of bastards that don't. Ever heard of anomie-strain theory? Life kicks the shit out of you, and you have very few options to kick back, and eventually people explode. It's only going to get worse from here people: Explosion, thy time is now.

It might not get you out of foreclosure, but apparently it makes you feel better....

 

Attack of the Vatican

That's nice...If ostentation is your thing.

The Catholic Church, the gray lady, she just hasn't been the same since the Reformation. The Church is still somewhat stinging from the Theses nailed up by Martin Luther, the loss of Latin liturgy, the loss of power in the clerical class with the publication of various vulgate editions of the Bible, and -in America, the rise of the Protestant Awakenings.

Also very pretty. Does it come in English?

But now, it appears that Mother Church has devised a plan to get back some of those Protestants, at least in England. Ironically, it revolves around the Anglican Church -the Church of England that Henry VIII founded to excuse his wives' somewhat unfortunate habit of dying, and thus sanctioning his new marriages and/or divorces.

Sure, we say we like women...but, are we willing to start a brand new religion just for a divorce?

The rightist Anglicans in Britain are in revolt over liberalizing social policies. And, to hear the Vatican talk it was the Anglicans who came to Rome, not vice versa.

The number of Anglicans wishing to join the Catholic Church has increased in recent years as the Anglican Church has welcomed the ordination of women and openly gay clergy and blessed homosexual partnerships, said Cardinal William Joseph Levada, the head of the Vatican's Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith...."The Catholic Church is responding to the many requests that have been submitted to the Holy See from groups of Anglican clergy and faithful in different parts of the world who wish to enter into full visible communion," Levada said.

So, there you have it. Hundreds of Anglicans at a time, keeping their rituals, becoming Catholic priests, and -predictably- even getting their own saints. This will only Balkanize the schism between right and left in the Christian community*, as it drives the Catholic Church further toward the right (particularly in Europe) as an alternative to global progress and the advance of human and civil rights.

You'd think Christ's Vicar on Earth would be a lot less creepy, a lot less like Nosferatu, and a helluva lot less of a Nazi (literally...he was in Hitler Youth and Luftwaffenhelfer).

*Not that it matters one whit to me; superstition is superstition no matter how much money or pomp you wrap it up in.

V reminds you that it's all a lie...

Remember, remember the fifth of November,

The gunpowder treason and plot,

I know of no reason

Why the gunpowder treason

Should ever be forgot.

"Strength through Unity, Unity through Faith"... There's a reason Moore used that phrase in "V"

Guy Fawkes day is here upon us again. For those that don't know the official story, Guy and his confederates attempted to blow up Parliament whilst it was opening its session at the Palace of Westminster, thus displacing the King and the King's lackeys in Parliament. This was known as the "Gunpowder Plot".

Distrust everything your government tells you about the word/will of God and the nation's exceptionalism in the eyes of a creator.

While it is the latter actions which are revered by anarchists, and celebrated by the far left, it's the intentions that need to be looked at. The Gunpowder Plot was only nominally a political dispute, rather it was very much a religious by-blow of the Reformation.  Fawkes and his co-religionist Catholics were  protesting the heinous treatment being given to them by the neo-Calvinist protestants who then governed England (think Pilgrims...a more stultifying instance of Christianity has yet to be articulated). 

Well, the King escaped that evening of Nov. 5th, 1605, and the conspirators captured. They were, predictably tortured until confession, at which point they were taken to the square and drawn, quartered and hanged. For some ghastly reason, the British now celebrate this evening with fireworks, not for the indomitable spirit of man, but -for all fucking reasons, the escape of the King. 

In fact, trust nothing.

Tuesday Eurotrash: Oi! Oi! Oi!

Cockney Rejects discussing their favorite topics in Oi! Oi! Oi!: Street fightin, football hooliganism, and skin girls. Please note that at this time (in 1977) 'Skins were not white supremacist pieces of shit, but rather were just a disaffected urban movement encompassing botht white hooldums and Jamaicans (a/k/a Rude Boys). Ergo, do your research before the email death threats, m'kay?