On May 1, 2003, President George W. Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq. Since then, hostilities and death tolls continue to rise. Tensions between the once dominant Sunni minority and Shia majority also continue to escalate--From the CRS Report For Congress: Iraq Milestones Since The Ouster Of Saddam Hussein, updated June 19, 2007.
A nation of sheep will beget a government of wolves--Edward R Murrow
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06/30/2008

From behind the mantle

When I was a kid, a very young kid, my father tore down a mantle in our old house on the South Side. It must have been during one of his domestic periods. There were very old artifacts that had slipped behind it, probably propped up, leaning against the wall.
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Here are the only two left in existence. I happened to run across them in an old box of photos that for some reason I hadn't looked in since it was put away after my mother died.
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The one on the left is an advertisement for a book and shoe store dated 1883, the second, another advertisement, shows an October, 1988 calendar page. Funny how they both have calendars and dates incorporated into their theme. It's as if they wanted to be found 100 years later and saved as a reminder of the past.
 47cc79d470b6dd84ab9d2cd0ba5d3d62.jpg
Here's the original sales agreement for the house I was raised in, dated 1871. 
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Are you letting the bastards grind you down?


podcast
Acrobat-U2

Don't believe what you hear
Don't believe what you see
If you just close your eyes
You can feel the enemy
When I first met you girl
You had fire in your soul
What happened your face of melting in snow?
Now it looks like this
And you can swallow
Or you can spit
You can throw it up
Or choke on it
And you can dream
So dream out loud
You know that your time is coming 'round
So don't let the bastards grind you down

No, nothing makes sense
Nothing seems to fit
I know you'd hit out
If you only knew who to hit
And I'd join the movement
If there was one I could believe in
Yeah I'd break bread and wine
If there was a church I could receive in
'Cause I need it now

To take the cup
To fill it up
To drink it slow
I can't let you go
I must be an acrobat
To talk like this
And act like that
And you can dream
So dream out loud
And don't let the bastards grind you down

Oh, it hurts baby
What are we going to do? Now it's all been said
No new ideas in the house and every book has been read

And I must be an acrobat
To talk like this
And act like that
And you can dream
So dream out loud
And you can find
Your own way out
And you can build
And I can will
And you can call
I can't wait until
You can stash
And you can seize
In dreams begin
Responsibilities
And I can love
And I can love
And I know that the tide is turning 'round
So don't let the bastards grind you down

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06/29/2008

Hannity shows his stuff

Watch weasel dick Hannity completely reverse himself on our recent nuclear disarmament treaty with North Korea. First, he hails the agreement as a victory for the Bush administration then asks, "Will the press report it that way?" After Bolton contradicts him and calls it a victory for North Korea, Hannity does a 180 flip, stutters and then shamelessly gives Bolton a full body tongue bath hoping to erase all evidence that he started off praising the agreement .

From Think Progress » Trying To Appease John Bolton, Hannity Flip-Flops On North Korea Deal In 30 Seconds:

On his Fox News show last night, right-wing pundit Sean Hannity originally hailed the agreement as “a clear foreign policy victory” for Bush. But Hannity’s guest John Bolton — a fierce advocate for war over negotiations — disagreed, arguing, “I think it’s actually a clear victory for North Korea.”

Hannity promptly attacked the agreement, reversing his position in less than 30 seconds. After first heralding Bush’s “clear victory,” Hannity concluded by declaring himself to be “perplexed” by Bush’s naiveté:

HANNITY: The news today brings a clear foreign policy victory for the Bush administration. But will the press report it that way? Joining us now for analysis, former ambassador to the U.N. and a Fox News contributor, John Bolton. What do you think this means?

BOLTON: I think it’s actually a clear victory for North Korea. They gain enormous political legitimacy…In return, we get precious little. I think this is North Korea demonstrating again that they can out-negotiate the U.S. without raising a sweat.

HANNITY: Boy I tell you they’ve done it time and time again, and I’m sorta perplexed, Mr. Ambassador, to understand why we keep going back to the well knowing that they haven’t kept the agreements in the past. Whatever happened to Reagan’s “trust but verify”?

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This isn't how it's supposed to work, or, Declare victory and leave

Crisis grows in Iraq over U.S. raid that killed Maliki relative

 By Hannah Allam | McClatchy Newspapers

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Senior Iraqi government officials said Saturday that a U.S. Special Forces counterterrorism unit conducted the raid that reportedly killed a relative of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, touching off a high-stakes diplomatic crisis between the United States and Iraq ... Read more: McClatchy Washington Bureau | 06/28/2008 | Crisis grows in Iraq over U.S. raid that killed Maliki relative

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06/28/2008

A happy ending for Dcup

http://politits.blogspot.com/2008/06/panic-or-something-l...

She ran out of gas a little over halfway to work. She was broke, busted and disgusted but she had the presence of mind to know that if she sat in her car it would get worse. Her mind would dwell on the impossibilities of her and her family's situation. She got out and started to walk, claiming control of the one thing she still could, her body.
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As if on cue it started to rain. She was a wet, homeless, jobless, ground-up, useless piece of humanity. She thought about how bright her expectations were when she was younger. Hell, she wasn't old but she figured she might as well be for all the good she was doing for herself and her family.
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She kept walking and it helped, luckily she wore reasonable shoes but no matter how far her mind wandered it always came back to the here and now. She squeezed her eyes shut and stopped. She waited for a sign knowing none ever came. The cars whizzing past, the rain, and then her mother's voice, "Don't forget to take an umbrella" ... Her mother.
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She let an image of her mother come forth. "Mom she said, How did you do it?" Her mother looked pensive. "Please mom," her inside voice begged. Her mother's image smiled and said, "Life is never easy and sometimes it's downright unbearable." "Thanks mom," she said. "But remember when you were little and you were scared over something that today you would laugh about?" "Like the boogeyman?" She said. Her mother nodded and laughed. "But mom, I'm not little anymore and this is real." "What did I always tell you?" She tried to remember but couldn't. "That tomorrow was another day, that the sun always rises.  Go to the next house you see and ask for help." With that, her mom's image vanished.
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She saw the farmhouse across the field. She walked up to the door and knocked.
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The farmer took her and a 5 gallon gas can back to her car. They talked along the way. He told her about farming, about all the times that he wanted to throw in the towel but didn't. About his family's long history of farming and how he'd be damned if he'd be the one to quit. He smiled and put 20 dollars in her hand, "Don't think, just take it."
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She made it to work a few minutes late. She still had a job, thank God for small favors. She made up her mind about one thing, she wouldn't go down without a fight.    Gene

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06/27/2008

Bob Dylan and me

Subterranean Bullshit Blues,
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Oh damn, I have to write bills, damn, damn, damn. HELP! I'm being squeezed and squeezed and squeezed.
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Actually I squeezed myself: relatively new car, an old car, a car in New Jersey that my daughter drives, payments on fines for a certain person to keep them out of the Big House, a huge loan to another certain person so that they can keep their house, cable TV, complete with the same old movies that they've been recirculating forever, consolidation and renegotiation to the point of transferring balances so that I keep paying on shit forever, Cell phones, computers, a second-hand-store Jones, an ATM for family members, Government taxes, property taxes, insurances, medical copays, food, sundries, Christmas, birthdays, graduations, no black market drugs, no booze, no Wednesday night dinners at our, soon to be forgotten, favorite restaurant, no new clothes, no new shoes, keep it going, keep it running, fix it, please him, tease her, don't steal, don't lift, 57 years of living and they put you in the shit can.
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And this from the guy that, yesterday, wrote about being frugal!   Gene
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06/26/2008

A short meditation

*Siddhartha was asked. "What can you do?" He replied, "I can fast, wait and think."
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Inside every man and woman should reside a tiny inquisitor. Am I doing the right thing? Am I prepared for failure? Is it worthwhile? Where do I stop and they begin?
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However, since I've become familiar with the mind numbing effects of paralysis due to analysis, I understand the existential philosophy of committing one's self to something as if all things were equal.
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We escaped the dark ages not because we knew the way, but because the unsuccessful ways ended in blind allies.
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To take the overview and banish absolutes is a Herculean task worthy of much courage, for certainly, man and man made systems, will thwart any effort to change and the ones that may change the system will also have to resist the lure of becoming a system unto themselves.
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Frankly, it's impossible to explore this labyrinth of possibilities that we call the world and pass through unscathed. We do not understand detachment and we must be prepared to negate ourselves with the long view or at the very least, negate our desires. Failing this, we have the one last chance to contribute to the world and the future; become frugal.
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A frugal man is a wise man, he was weighed the word and it's promises. He believes and doubts. He holds both the good and bad within his purview. Like Siddhartha he is not a leaf in the wind but sinks like a stone.
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Although we rage and rage, our battle is still an inner one.
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06/25/2008

White and might make right

What to do, what to do?
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Bush has bogarted the joint for the last eight years, time to spread some of that "happy money" around. There's none left? He got ripped off or was part of the rip-off? George, go to your room and don't ever come out again.
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Wait what about his friends? They made lots of money ripping us off, frozen bank accounts anyone? Hell let's not bother to freeze them, let's raid them. Drop hundred dollar bills from transport planes....oh, wait, then inflation would kill us.
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Hmm, how are we going to put their money back in our pockets without fucking things up even worse? I know, make the bastards pay us a living wage so we can afford vacations, so we can afford higher education and so we can afford to live in this country like we belong here and not like someone's doing us a big fucking favor by letting us stay and work, that is if we can find a job.
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Hey, create jobs by outlawing all those products made in sweat shops by cheap foreign labor.
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Hmmmm, but how are we going to make them do all that? Let's see there's a presidential election coming up and if we put McCain in office we'll probably get more of the same.
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And then there's Obama. Damn, what a shame he's not perfect. I guess I'll have to vote for McCain because... he's white.    Gene

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John McCain, a man for our times

Hi, I'm John McCain and I approved this message.
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My friends, In the past somewhere I've probably said something to please everyone or, more properly, anyone. That's really what I am; a universal appeaser that will say or do anything to sit on the most powerful throne, er, hahaha, seat in the world.
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Being a POW that was tortured, I know the horror of being tortured, and even though I stated countless times that torture doesn't work, being a POW that was tortured, I still support it, or rather I was away when congress voted on whether or not it should become part of United States policy. See, I had a clear opportunity to put my vote where my mouth was and I didn't because I was afraid it would hurt me politically.
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And that's what you get with a John McCain; someone unafraid to pander and flip flop.
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We live in harrowing times and harrowing times call for harrowing action, harrowing, defined as, extremely distressing. And if you don't think my actions have been "extremely distressing" you are a good American, good American, defined as, only as informed as you need to be to function at a very low level.
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That's why I appeal to the little people because I was never one myself. I don't know whether you drink coffee or tea, whether or not you live in houses or Teepees, I especially don't know how to act around you. I smile a lot and say dumb boiler plate stuff and like clockwork it always works.
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I'm looking forward to the day when someone makes me so mad that I punch them, just like you America, I'm a time bomb waiting to explode.
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I'm John McCain and I approve this message but only if you do, if not, I have lots of positions on lots of things, stick around until you hear the one you like.  

12:50 Permalink | Comments (1) | Email this

Indulge me one more time

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