Random Rant Thread

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BTW, this is from the Hillary interview by Jeffrey Goldberg:



"That's how I feel!"  With the exclamation mark to boot.

"Maybe this is old-fashioned."

"Old-fashioned"?  What about "fucking bollocks"?

You should expect from a liberal Zionist moron like Goldberg the idiocy of conflating fascism and communism, but Hillary is fully on board with the ridiculous idea that I wouldn't even want to call revisionist.  "Revisionist" is usually a tad more sophisticated than this bullshit.

The US defeated "fascism" when?  When Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan were defeated, "fascism" suddenly disappeared?

The US has been the biggest guardian of fascists all around the world for decades and decades.  And that was justified precisely in the name of "defeating communism".  And it's not even like the US bothered to try to hide that truth.  For example, Jeane Kirkpatrick's famous doctrine under the Reagan administration, which advocated supporting "authoritarian" (= usually fascist) regimes to fight "totalitarian" (= usually communist) regimes, was as official as official could.  It's pretty much part of the official world history about which there is no real dispute.

These people... I almost feel like justifying jihad against these pieces of shit.

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Seriously, all the polls show that the majority of Americans are well to the left of most of the Democrats in D.C. on socio-economic issues, and don't like the US government's foreign policy hawkishness.  Hell, we've even come so far that more young Americans blame Israel than they do Palestinians re: the Gaza war now, according to the latest Gallup poll.  If all the baby boomers disappeared tomorrow, America could actually be slightly pro-Palestine, even.

Yet we have this de facto presidential candidate completely ignoring and shitting on the popular opinions in the first exclusive interview to kickstart her presidential campaign ahead.  She pledges to go more neoliberal and more hawkish than Obama, totally against the popular opinions.  She says that Hamas "stage-managed" the massacre of children on their own, 100% embracing the Netanyahu view, while millions of Americans are horrified by the images and footage of the Palestinian children mercilessly butchered.

And the interviewer who got this honor is none other than Jeffrey fucking Goldberg, who was one of the biggest war-mongering cheerleaders who dragged the US into Iraq War.  He's one of those people who care more about Israel than about America.  If this isn't Hillary's declaration to be a complete neocon AIPAC tool, I don't know what else it is.

This is worse than "disconnect" - those people in D.C. are openly insulting Americans' intelligence.

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And I don't want to hear that "But, but, Hillary is a woman, so she has to say hawkish things to dispel the tacit accusation of female softness/weakness!" excuse anymore.  It drives me nuts.  It's not only a weak excuse, but also utter bullshit.  Women have been such a huge part of the neocon (and right-wing, for that matter) movement that I don't see any reason to treat them with kid gloves just because.  So many of the most vocal war mongers in many parts of the world are women, and Israel is one of the good examples.  Both Jeane Kirkpatrick and Condi Rice are women too, are they not?  Should I attribute that to the "extra pressure" on women to go hawkish?  Really?

OK, if that "prejudice against women" is really the case, don't ever elect a female president then.  It's that simple.  It would be unfortunate, but that little American satisfaction of finally electing a female president for the first time wouldn't be worth the lives of millions of people in other parts of the world.  They and their families don't give a fuck about that stupid self-congratulation.

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The war in Gaza continues with no end in sight...





Oh wait, that guy looks like a very harmless black dude.  My bad, it's America.

From a different angle:



Holy shit.

I don't know about you, but me thinks there is clearly something wrong with the police in America.  You would think it's a Monty Python sketch or something if I didn't tell you that it was real.  That poor dude looks like someone who can't even kill a mosquito.  This excessive militarization of the police force is simply unbelievable.  It's surreal.  I asked this before, and will ask it again: what the fuck is up with that Starship Troopers shit?  Who are they supposed to fight, in Ferguson, Missouri, a Midwest town of no political significance?  The cops look almost more rigorously armed than IDF soldiers, as if they were fighting vicious space aliens.

Seriously, the people in Ferguson, most of whom are African-American (<---- a big clue right there), should ask for a UN ceasefire resolution.  I know, those cops might accuse them of hiding guns in schools and start shooting indiscriminately at women and children.  I know. 

But that looks like a war to me.  Holy shit.

PS: According to the FAA, there's now temporary flight restriction for aircrafts flying under 3,000 feet in Fergusen, MO, which essentially eliminates TV news helicopters flying over the area.  Wow.  Is this Mogadishu, Somalia?

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A society with such income equality and such shoot-first-and-hide-from-questions-later over-militarized police forces is not anyone's idea of the "land of the free, home of the brave". I really have nothing more to say.

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There is an article up @ IPS about Ukraine:

In this column, Frédéric Mousseau, Policy Directory of the Oakland Institute and co-author of the report ‘Walking on the West Side: the World Bank and the IMF in the Ukraine Conflict’, argues that IMF and World Bank aid packages contingent on austerity reforms will have a devastating impact on Ukrainians’ standard of living and increase poverty in the country.

Not exactly rocket science, but Mousseau very concisely explains what's happening there.  And unfortunately, this is the path that Ukraine has chosen by themselves.  Duped by the "West", maybe, but it is what it is.  And I can assure you that many of the oligarchs - 0.0000000121237682% of the population - will be able to make even more money.  No problem as far as that is concerned.  Some money quotes:

Now the goal is to set policies that will benefit Western corporations. Whereas Ukraine does not allow the use of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture, Article 404 of the EU agreement, which relates to agriculture, includes a clause that has generally gone unnoticed: both parties will cooperate to extend the use of biotechnologies.

Our way, or highway.  I love Mousseau's bluntness: "Now the goal is to set policies that will benefit Western corporations."  Straight to the point, no beating around the bush.

By encouraging reforms such as the deregulation of seed and fertiliser markets, the country’s agricultural sector is being forced open to foreign corporations such as Dupont and Monsanto.

The Bank’s activities and its loan and reform programmes in Ukraine seem to be working toward the expansion of large industrial holdings in Ukrainian agriculture owned by foreign entities.

Ah, Dupont.  Monsanto.  Such wonderful companies.

The loan is also a precondition for the release of further financial support from the European Union and the United States. If fully adopted, the reforms may lead to significant price increases of essential consumer goods, a 47 to 66 percent increase in personal income tax rates, and a 50 percent increase in gas bills. These measures, it is feared, will have a devastating social impact, resulting in a collapse of the standard of living and dramatic increases in poverty.

"significant" "devastating"  "collapse"  "dramatic" - you rarely see so many strong words in one paragraph in this kind of a report.  If Monsseau was writing in this thread, he would say, "Ukrainians are fucked, dude.  F-U-C-K-E-D." and be done with it.

Following the installation of a pro-West government, there has been an acceleration of structural adjustment led by the international institutions along with an increase in foreign investment, aimed at further expansion of large-scale acquisitions of agricultural land by foreign companies and further corporatisation of agriculture in the country.

The experience of structural adjustment programmes around the developing world foretells that it will increase foreign control of the Ukrainian economy as well as increase poverty and inequality.

And they lived happily ever after - The End. 

***applause***

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I wasn't going to post this, but that Ferguson incident changed my mind:



It's 40 minutes long, but I can guarantee you that it's more haunting than most mystery novels out there.  I urge you to watch it if you have time.  It's about Israel of course, but you will learn how it's related to Ferguson if you watch it in its entirety.  And remember: this was recorded before Operation Protective Edge.

If you think he's just exaggerating it, well, it's up to you.  But I can tell you it's true that there is no press freedom in Israel when it comes to Palestinians.  The IDF is God over there, and whatever it says becomes official. Inevitably there have been lots and lots of cover-ups. It's foolish to deny that.

Most Israelis, particularly young people, are astonishingly ignorant.  In fact, you are probably better informed about Gaza and the West Bank than them by now.  That's why it hurts me to have to talk shit about their country like this, especially given the tragic history of Jewish people.  I enjoyed my life there so much that I can't believe I have to say all of this.  Israel is a very modern, democratic country - except.  Except.  That ruins everything beautiful about that country.  It's all so unfortunate.  We are no better than them.  Most of us would be as bad or possibly even worse in the same situation.  It's yet another one of nasty episodes that history continues to produce as if there is no God, or as if He is fucking with us - the little rats running confused inside the laboratory that we call "the universe". 

But I can't let it go.  It's not just about these nasty wars; there is the massive human rights violation going on over there every day, and at least as far as I'm concerned, it's an even greater crime than those "operations".  Injustice is injustice. There is no way around it.  And I'm genuinely, genuinely worried about antisemitism breaking out in the future.  No political situation is permanent.  It's a delusion to think otherwise.  Israel is walking on the tightrope, and it will start swinging eventually, shaking them off-balance.  This can't go on forever, and will not go on forever.  There is so much hatred in the air, which contaminates the entire Middle East, and we must find a way to reverse that downward spiral as soon as possible.  If our politicians think that that hatred is nothing but good business, then the effort must come from the grassroots level. 

That's why I support BDS.  I've declared that in real life, too.  If that makes me an "anti-Semite", so be it.  I will wear it as the badge of honor.  I hope they understand people like us, who recognize Israel's faults, will be the only ones who can defend them from real anti-Semites in non-violent ways.  The likes of Hillary Clinton and Jeffrey Goldberg won't be able to, as no one will believe their words.

Incidentally, Eran was arrested recently.

In recent days I was arrested by authorities and questioned about my research regarding the use of illegal weapons in Gaza, my mail and Facebook accounts were blocked, And I received strong hints that my life is at risk and I need to be silent and keep low. But I’m not going anywhere.
They may close my communication channels again,but that does not mean I’m not here, I’ll find a way to get the information out to you,and I trust you will echo it on, go down with it to the streets ,And demand your representatives, your government to stop funding the slaughter in your name,to boycott Israel and to stop the bloodshed in Gaza. The whole world is watching now, history is being made.
I’m counting on you.

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There is something I don't think anyone in the media has mentioned re: the US police that bothers me.

Why do those cops point their guns at civilians (<--- I can't believe I have to use this word to describe what's happening in America) so freely and casually as if that was the most natural thing to do?

If you've ever served in the US military, or any first-world military, you know that they tell you not to point your gun at civilians except in combat situations where it's more or less inevitable.  Yes, many soldiers stretch the definition of "combat situations".  Some don't even care.  But you know that's normal in the military, as you know that there are some psychopaths among you who love to act like kings.  Those bully jocks you had in your high school PE class remain the same bully jocks in the military uniform.  They just bully people, and enjoy the hell out of it.  You even suspect that some of them also like killing people.  You know what I'm talking about if you've ever served.

Nonetheless, this is the rule: you don't point your gun at civilians unless it's absolutely necessary, because you don't want to unnecessarily terrify or antagonize the people.  That's a rule to minimize the "accidents", and also part of the whole "winning the hearts and minds" thing.

Yet, I see so many images of cops pointing their guns at people - even at people who are trying to take pictures.  Why are they allowed to do that, in a decidedly non-combat situation?  Why is something that is a No-No in the military perfectly A-OK in the police?  That makes no sense.  I'd like to know the answer.

And you know what they remind me of?  I'm sure you guessed it right - the IDF soldiers in the West Bank and Gaza.

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I'm in the middle of reading a book written by late Ralph Miliband, the father of Labour Party leader Ed Miliband in the UK.

And it's good.  In fact, I didn't expect it to be so good.  Very admirable thinker, the polar opposite of Tony Blair.

I just hope that his sons inherited at least half of the spirit of their father.  Sons always rebel against their father one way or another, but I don't see anything in his political belief for his sons to rebel against.  He's very close to my ideal image of an European socialist.

I have no doubt in my mind that British politics is a nasty place.  It may be true that Ed Miliband isn't much as a politician.  That's what Brits usually tell me.  But having such a remarkable father ought to count for something.

I just hope it does.

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Lauren Bacall - my first goddess (I was five)

What a goddess she really was. The word "hot" melts in front of her.

RIP

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At the end of the day, we are all nodes floating inside one #platform, swimming through the cracks of informational infrastructure. The #paradigm shift has already happened - we live in the age of Epistemological Information.  What we are spontaneously creating is not a structure - it's more of a #brand.  Yes, a #brand, not dissimilar to Coke or Armani.  And what connects us, one to another, is not "interaction" anymore - that word is so 2004.  No, it's #engagement; it's think-fluencing one another.  The state is obsolete, so is the idea thereof.  It has lost the ability to techno-coerce us into a fixed, atomized state of mind.  Thousands of #hashtags fly around in the cyber space, almost aimlessly, but surely creatively.  Yes, that's Creativity 2.0, and you don't have to update your JavaScript.  We are entering the #NewWorld...


... OK, that was my feeble attempt to imitate those tech utopian creeps' gibberish.  They really talk like that.  You can actually see the hashtags in between the words they utter.  I was so infuriated by a stupid WIRED (<-- one of the creepiest magazines ever) article that I needed to practice it a little bit, how to imitate those idiots.

Just trust me on this: those people are fascists, whether or not they are aware of that themselves.  All of them.  Goddamn creeps.

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10 minutes ago, Obama started talking to me out of the blue.  I have this bad habit of having tabs left open on my browser, and often get sucker-punched by a live video/audio cast activated all of a sudden on one of the 1,374,643 tabs.  Obama starts off his speech with a light topic, saying that his country will be more actively involved in Iraq - very casually, just like that.  I frantically search for the tab responsible for it, as he moves onto the main topic of Ferguson.  Let's step back, and then move forward...  I can already tell that a typically spineless presidential talk is imminent, but I'm here trying to kill the fucker that Obama-pwned me.  I've closed so many tabs now, including the ones I need.  I probably shouldn't have done that, but the guy's monotone voice has been intruding on my awesome Nuspirit Helsinki iTunes playlist.  It's driving me crazy.  It was a tragic incident, but both sides to blame... No, he didn't exactly say that, but I know that's the gist of it.  Barack "Moderate" Obama strikes again, but I have a job to do.  Can't be distracted by that shit.  No journalists should be arrested for doing their job...  Yeah, of course, that's why you support the Egyptian coup government who loves jailing journalists left and right.  Oh man, I see one tab that goes "Did He Make Love to a Goat?", and that's definitely not the one I'm looking for.  I don't even want to know what the fuck it is about, so just kill it.  Now is time for healing, we are American...  I guess he wants everyone in Ferguson to just pack up and go home, back to harassed-and-jailed-by-fascists-for-no-reason-business as usual, but goddamn it, kill, kill, kill, kill.  I've killed so many tabs, so much blood on my hands, and now it's down to one.  Listening to different opinions, understanding the situation...  WTF?  Why the hell is the guy still talking?  I don't see him anywhere.  I guess I have to kill the window now.  Nuclear option, though it's kinda like nuking a place after pretty much flattening the entire area already. 

Click.

We stand united, thank you very much.

Obama is leaving the podium right in front of me, on another window with no tab, hidden behind all along. 

Goddamn it.  Who the fuck opened another window without my permission?  Which page was responsible for this?

Yeah, let's go united, let's go unitard.  I'll have to recover so many pages from History now.

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Seriously, though, Obama's passionless talk makes me suspect that no one in the US government quite understands what happened.

I mean, it's not really shocking to people like me, who know the reality of American law enforcement. One thing those cops are good at is to escalate the situation.   They are also among the most arrest-happy police forces in the world.  Too many racist pigs among them too.  I know that.

But recall the Euromaiden in Kiev.  It was largely peaceful at its early stage.  But even before it got seriously ugly, the protest was more aggressive than the one down in Ferguson.  Then, Yanukovych deployed the riot police and bulldozers, though with no tear gas, no APCs.  What was the reaction from the US government?

Nuland’s highly symbolic appearance in the square came a day after Secretary of State John Kerry issued a strong statement, expressing the United States' "disgust with the decision of Ukrainian authorities to meet the peaceful protest ... with riot police, bulldozers, and batons, rather than with respect for democratic rights and human dignity."

Ouch.  Who do you think is hysterically laughing at America now? 

I mean, rubber bullets at the people?  Even Putin's Russia, at its height of suppressing and oppressing the dissenting views in the streets, didn't stoop that low.

Hell, even "allies" must be secretly laughing.  I have no doubt in my mind that the IDF guys are saying, "Jeez, it's nice they are using the same canisters we tested in the West Bank, but they are doing that to their fellow Yanks.  Retarded, but I guess everyone has their own 'Palestinian' problem, LOL."

Dmitry Kiselyov, the Russian propaganda TV chief, will not run out of jokes to make fun of the US after this.  In fact, back in the Cold War days, bringing up America's brutality against the Civil Rights/anti-Vietnam-War protesters (and African-Americans in general) was a big part of the Soviet repertoire.  "And that, ladies and gentlemen, coming from someone who shoots at the citizens opposed to lynching Negroes" was the punchline whenever the US accused the USSR of human rights violation.

I guess not much has changed since then.

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Quite predictably, Fox News is already talking and worried about the possibility of the New Black Panthers' involvement in Ferguson.

White right-winger/conservatives' Panther obsession is really telling.  Even a small group like the Panthers made them shit their pants back in the days.  They are permanently scared of the scenario where the economic underclass - the majority of whom are African-American - begin to challenge their power for real.  That's why they love police - a symbol of state/government power - while advocating "small government" all the time.

And that's also part of the reason for why the US police forces are so ridiculously militarized.

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I usually just mock Fox News, but they have completely crossed the line this time:



What a sack of puke that "news network" is.  Demonize him, feel threatened by him, murder him, sanitize him, rewrite him, then get his corpse up to monkey-dance for them.  That's basically what the white right-wingers have done to MLK, pissing at his grave.  I'm continuously amazed by the utter shamelessness of American right-wing.