The Rude Pundit observes ...

Check out this bit if history and marvel at the extent to which our visions of society have changed. A character calling himself The Rude Pundit recently wrote this entry for his blog:

Quote:

"2/21/2011

Abraham Lincoln Would F*** Up Your Conservative Economic Ideology:
Just a quick one before taking a personal day: three quotes from the greatest great great president who's not Ronald Reagan (duh), since everyone's a-pondering what our forefathers and mothers might think of the Wisconsin uprising. These are from Abraham Lincoln, noted quorum-stopper and occasional Republican (whenever the GOP needs his corpse, they dig it up and make it dance, but otherwise, they just let him rot):

1. "I am glad to know that there is a system of labor where the laborer can strike if he wants to! I would to God that such a system prevailed all over the world." - From a speech on March 5, 1860 in Hartford, Connecticut, regarding a shoemaker's strike (which, believe it or not, involved 20,000 shoemakers who were not, apparently, elves).

2. "Inasmuch as most good things are produced by labor, it follows that all such things of right belong to those whose labor has produced them. But it has so happened, in all ages of the world, that some have labored, and others have without labor enjoyed a large proportion of the fruits. This is wrong, and should not continue. To secure to each laborer the whole product of his labor, or as nearly as possible, is a worthy object of any good government." - From his notes about tariff policy, scribbled down on December 1, 1847.

3. "Labor is prior to and independent of capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration. Capital has its rights, which are as worthy of protection as any other rights. Nor is it denied that there is, and probably always will be, a relation between labor and capital producing mutual benefits." - From his 1861 State of the Union address, decrying "the effort to place capital on an equal footing with, if not above, labor in the structure of government."

Hey, patriots, on this Presidents' Day, suck on those stovepipe hats."

Unquote

More of this gent's ramblings can be found here: The Rude Pundit
Seriously adult language is involved, be forewarned.

One spin-off from the Egyptian adventure

This article suggests that Egypt's revolution may have sparked something truly revolutionary in the communications field:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/16/nyregion/16about.html

Imagine communicating with no chance of the info getting to anyone other than your intended audience, and with essentially no chance of the network being shut down by those upset with you having a means to communicate!

An Important Glenn Greenwald article

Read and learn:

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/02/11/campaigns/index.html

A concise description of our current situation wrt governments/corporation/individuals. Guess who loses?

Thought for the Day

Remember, belief in science can fly you to the Moon.
Belief in religion can fly you into skyscrapers.

This from Bartcop.com

Check him out.

Who's your poppa? ...

Here's a reminder of who actually controls where your tax dollars are spent and why:

http://original.antiwar.com/kevin-carson/2011/02/02/american-foreign-policy-promotes-our-interests/

The same principal is applicable in all so-called western democracies.

Fort Lauderdale, January 2011

We took a few days to go south to Fort Lauderdale, and hooked up with some old friends Kathy & Kimber from our Hong Kong days. They had us out for a great BBQ dinner at their estate, where a pretty party pelican prompted one to the poolside patio table. After a few hours, this is how we left their table, after exchanging all the news and gossip, and a few (?, I lost count) toasts, etc.


Next day, we used the water taxi to see the whole city. The picture below is either the Fort Lauderdale version of a tow truck, or the incompetent sailor's way of going for a sojourn on his yacht in the canal system downtown.


We met one of Florida's iconic citizens, but didn't stay for his dinner.


... and this little bird showed up again to remind us about the 17th Delbert McClinton cruise, but we already had our cabin booked.

Christmas Gift

Anna gave me this fun painting by Mary Moore for Christmas. It shows Bob Thompson, me and John Haysom blowing for Standing Room Only during a Tea Dance at the Almonte Old Town Hall.

Vermont tries to save the world

It seems that there are a few sensible people in the US:

http://www.alternet.org/news/149620/vermont_is_gearing_up_to_strike_a_major_blow_to_corporate_personhood,_ban_it_statewide/

Let's wish them all success and hope that the same attitude begins to prevail in Canada, soon.

Truthout.org has awarded Canada ...

The Golden Lemon Award goes to the Conservative government of Canada for shelling out $8.5 billion to buy 65 Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighters. According to Defense Minister Peter MacKay, “This multi-role stealth fighter will help the Canadian forces defend the sovereignty of Canadian airspace.” Exactly whom that airspace is being defended from is not clear.

The contract also includes a $6.6 billion maintenance agreement, which is a good thing because the F-35 has a number of “problems.” For instance, its engine shoots out sparks, and no one can figure out why. It is generally thought a bad idea for an engine to do that. There are several different types of F-35, and the vertical lift version of the aircraft doesn’t work very well. It seems the fan that cools the engine, doesn’t, and the panels that open for the vertical thrust, don’t. Also switches, valves and power systems are considered “unreliable.”

The F-35 is looking more and more like the old F-105 Thunderchief, a fighter-bomber used extensively at the beginning of the Vietnam War. Pilots nicknamed it the “Thud” (the sound the plane made when it hit the ground after failing to clear a runway, a rather common occurrence). One pilot said it had all the agility of a “flying brick,” thus its other nickname: the “lead sled.”

The U.S. is spending $382 billion to buy 2,457 F-35s, although the price tag keeps going up as more and more “problems” develop. Maintenance and spare parts for the aircraft will run several hundred billion extra.

One normally thinks of Canadians as sensible, but the country’s Conservative government is apparently as thickheaded as our own. Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently had a summit meeting on the Arctic and didn’t invite the Inuit (whom most Americans call Eskimos).

Well, the F-35 may not fly very well, but it works just fine for Lockheed Martin: second quarter profits saw a jump from $727 million to $731 million over last year, and revenues rose to $11.44 billion, 3 percent over last year.

Here's a year-end progress summary ...

for your contemplation ( yeah, I know, nobody contemplates anymore...)

http://original.antiwar.com/paul-craig-roberts/2010/12/29/cheering-for-wikileaks-demise-is-cheering-for-our-own/

Buy gold, ... bullion .... if you don't want to pay capital gains taxes.

A glimmer of hope ...

... regarding the insanity of our drug laws:

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/12/british-defense-secretary-time-legalize-regulate-drugs/'

The only possible reason for continuing with our current anti-drug regime is that politicians are being paid off by the 'criminals' to keep laws in place that will result in ludicrous street prices for simple chemicals and herbs which cannot (as yet) be patented by large corporations.

I would really like to see a proper cost/benefit study done regarding our drug policy which gets beyond the 'one reefer always leads to crack cocaine addiction' argument. By the way, what's wrong with having a bunch of addicts buying well-taxed drugs from the state to support their habits? They probably would not be any worse than the alcoholics and pillcoholics with whom we routinely associate (knowingly or not) during our day to day lives.

A petition to support Wikileaks

You might feel like adding your name to this document:

https://sites.google.com/site/wilibeaks/

Wouldn't it be nice if everyone signed it.

Trusting Politicians wrt War

Here's something to consider when expressing support for our government's military adventures:

http://www.fff.org/blog/jghblog2010-12-14.asp

Looking back, were the original goals that were presented by governments to start their wars ever achieved? Discuss this question from the point of view of the aggressor and the "good guys".

If only Wikileaks had been around in the past ... ... how many lives might have been saved? Discuss this question from the point of view of the aggressor and the "good guys".

Discuss who, exactly, are the aggressors and who are the good guys in each war you care to mention.

Oh, yeah, don't forget to support the troops. ... From both sides. You just can't have a war without them. After all, you wouldn't want the rich and powerful to have to actually, physically, fight ( and maybe die or be maimed) for their side in the wars they support, would you?

Assange's sins exposed!

Here is one version of the case against Julian Assange, for those who might be interested in the details:

http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2010/12/07/julian-assange-in-the-honey-trap/

Better to think about this boring puerile BS than the implications of the information that Wikileaks and several world famous newspapers have presented to the world.

Why is nobody declaiming these leaking newspapers in the same vehement fashion that is being used to destroy Wikileaks (seized bank accounts, credit card companies refusing to pay donations made by individuals to Wikileaks, websites arbitrarily closed etc., etc.)?

Persecution of Wikileaks continues

Glenn Greenwald summarizes the illegal war against Wikileaks;

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/12/06/wikileaks/index.html

We are witnessing a truly pivotal time in western civilizations. Do we embrace the thuggery and criminal behaviour of those in power, or do we insist that the rule of law be enforced in our countries?

Could be the beginning of a new Dark Age.

PAKISTAN??!!!??!!! ... PAKISTAN??!!!

WTF?!!

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/?page=2010\12\04\story_4-12-2010_pg1_6

This is enough to make one lose one's faith in our freedom myth.

Where to find Wikileaks

Don't read this if you want to be a friend of the establishment:

http://news.antiwar.com/2010/12/03/wikileaks-registrar-problems-leave-site-difficult-to-reach/

Bookmark the page at the link above so that you can keep up with the latest active URLs for Wikileaks.

This is typical of repressive police states

http://news.antiwar.com/2010/12/03/state-dept-warning-students-not-to-read-share-wikileaks/

If you even attempt to learn what's going on, you are the enemy of the state.

What our government should be devoting its efforts toward:

Read this article (from an unlikely source) and ask yourself why we are pouring money, blood and our reputation into Afghanistan.

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2010/11/20101130181427770987.html

Al Jazeera seems to have a better handle on Canada's reasonable priorities than our government!

State of the confusion ...

Ponder this statement:

"An alert and informed citizenry, valued by presidents from Washington to Eisenhower, is now deemed by D.C. to be a nascent domestic terrorism threat."

Guess at its author. See HERE for the answer

Discuss its relevancy to our current era.