2014 archive
War and Mongers of War 0
Dan Simpson wonders who influenced President Obama to authorize increased involvement in Iraq.
It is hard to imagine that he pays any attention to people like Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., or Sen. Lindsay Graham, R-S.C., the Bobbsey Twin advocates of any war they can find. Or, perhaps, more credibly, Mr. Obama is listening to the representatives of the U.S. military-industrial complex who he hopes will help finance the Democratic 2014 and 2016 campaigns rather than having them try to kick out the Democrats in favor of a Republican Congress and then a Republican White House, both of which would love whatever wars they can tee up to improve their profits.
Read the rest.
The truth that Americans don’t want to admit is that we can’t “fix” other countries by force. Choosing war is admitting failure.
Re-Frame-Ups 0
There is a difference between the cause of a situation and the tactics employed as the situation develops.
In Ferguson, Mo., Michael Brown was not murdered by an MRAP or a grenade launcher. He was murdered by a uniformed man with a gun for the crime of being while black.
Steven M. suggests that the discussion of events in Ferguson is devolving into a discussion of the (admittedly outrageously over-the-top) police tactics after Michael Brown’s death, thereby taking attention away from what caused it. He notes that
Conservatives are starting to frame the debate on policing, and racism is being deemed irrelevant.
Racism informed the tactics, as well as the original crime. Does anyone seriously think that a crowd of white folks protesting the killing of a white kid by that same cop would have been met with a mob of cops with armored vehicles and machine-guns?
The whole shebang is infused with white racism.
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Another polite guy with a gun:
Police said the bullet came from a small-caliber handgun carried by a 53-year-old man from Jasper, Ga. The gun accidentally discharged, and the bullet traveled across Helen’s tourist-laden Main Street and struck the woman in the side.
More persons packing heat will, no doubt, prevent such things from happening in the future.
Feeding Time 0
Look closely and you can see the baby’s open mouth in the birdhouse.
H/T to my brother on Virginia’s Northern Neck for the pic.
Everybody Must Get Fracked 0
The stupid, it burns.
Ferguson 0
Jasiri X raps Ferguson. I used to think that they left the “c” off of “rap,” but he has convinced me otherwise. (Warning: Language.)
From the website:
Full lyrics at the link.
“Murder Is Still Murder” 0
“An Armed Society Is a Polite Society” 0
Playdates must be polite.
According to the coroner’s office, Walker died at University Hospital from a gunshot wound to the head.
“We didn’t know for a long time whether he was going to make it or not,” Mohr said.
Police have charged a 17-year-old juvenile with Walker’s murder.
