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May. 16th, 2008 @ 11:56 pm From redslime: Be afraid, be very afraid.


Aside from the rumblings of the earthquakes, or the more spectacular and aurally accessible spectacle of typhoons, it is things like this that speak to a giant, looming, unimaginable power. No, I'm not speaking religiously. I'm talking about brute force. These tiny little displays and wisps of slumbering energy betray such an awesome force that it is indeed most humbling, and the sort of thing which dominated early man's earliest thoughts. It is the sort of thing that drives the imagination or inspires fear. Not simply respect of nature- a quaint notion of an idea somehow claiming a status of equals between us and Nature.

No, there is no respect here. There is the fear of seemingly absolute power that spurs men in their religious expressions. Obviously, I am now speaking religiously. If I ever begin to wonder what it means to "fear God", I will no longer fall back on the niceties of theological tools softening the edges.

If I see the grandeur and might of Nature, even more so should I understand my relation to God, and realize that Fear of the Lord is most certainly fear, with a capital F. The magnitude of such matters is not an arena for our fanciful ideas of "respect". There is nothing but the sheer "overstanding" (as some say) of what one is dealing with.

It is not enough for us to respect Nature. No, we must work to reclaim and find again that bone-gripping, mind-numbing, absolute horror of the powers that we mess with every single day. It will destroy us. And it won't care. We are not talking about things that get tired. Super-storms do not even register as "effort". It isn't a matter of relation that denies us the privilege of respect. We simply cannot even begin to respect Nature, like the ant who can't even begin to fathom what such a thing would mean in relation to us; and the comparison between a man and an ant is only but a whisper of the true magnitude towards which I speak.

I am of the mindset that Nature is God's eternal revelation to man. That if you want to know how or why or what God is doing, that you may just get a bare inkling of a hint when you meditate upon the awesomeness of our Universe.
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wtf?, undercover, animephil2
May. 16th, 2008 @ 09:00 pm Yay for gay.
This is one of those things that qualifies as both "never the right time" and "anytime is the right time." I am too much of a cynic, when my second, albeit stronger, reaction is "Oh great, another court ruling that will energize the conservative base."

Is the country ready? No. It never will be. It never is. You don't "get ready" for change. You reject it or embrace it. The country will "be ready" for homo-love just as soon as it isn't a big deal anymore- by time and by custom.

The country wasn't ready for the emancipation of slaves, the country wasn't ready for women's suffrage, the country wasn't ready for Martin Luther King, Jr. and the country isn't ready for gay marriage.

Tough beans. Get used to it. Get over it. It doesn't matter. We do not make decisions about civil liberties based on some tyrannical, societal gauge of "readiness". Was England ready for free American colonies? Nope, don't think so.

Change comes only by force, in whatever fashion. Yes conservatives, we are forcing this on you. No, it isn't even for your own good. In fact, it has absolutely nothing to do with you.
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wtf?, undercover, animephil2
May. 16th, 2008 @ 10:05 am Postscript
For reference

Private Harrison gave his life in defense of his Corps and his country on November 21st, 1943 on the beaches of Tarawa. Staff St. Harrison was posthumously awarded the Silver Star for valor in the face of the enemy.
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wtf?, undercover, animephil2
May. 15th, 2008 @ 08:19 pm Sigh
The UN is not a peacemaking organization. It is a peacekeeping organization. This is because the UN was a response to the horrors of the industrialist powers engaging in full-scale war. Think about it. The UN does not exist so we can keep Iran or North Korea or anyone else from getting nuclear weapons. The UN exists so as to prevent us from unleashing the martial power of five behemoths upon the world over it.

The UN is working perfectly.

Think about it some more. If we don't want Iran to have nuclear weapons, all we would have to do is absolutely destroy their ability to have one. And this is the beauty of the Security Council. We can bomb Iran and when the UN tries to pass a resolution we say "NO WE HAVE VETO KTHNXBAI!"

The problem people have is that we can't effectively control Iran on our own. So we turn to the UN as some kind of international stand-in for the support and resources we need in order to control Iran, except that isn't what the UN is about.

It already happened with Iraq. We can do whatever we want. The reality of our incapacity inflames us, and so we blame it on the UN, when the UN ain't got shit to do with it.
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wtf?, undercover, animephil2
May. 15th, 2008 @ 07:39 pm Little Woodies
"I think that I am perfectly safe in stating, that the American people, as a whole, sincerely desire and wish to support, in every way they can, the advancement of the Negro race in America."

I defy America to demonstrate to me that our attitude on race has moved one inch from this sentiment some 94 years hence.

Yes, the American people (as a whole mind you), sincerely desire to see the advancement of those other American people (not part of that whole).

"In my view, the best way to help the Negro in America is to help him with his independence- to relieve him of his dependence upon the white element of our population, as he is relieving himself in splendid fashion."

Can anyone show me any substantial difference between this sentiment and the sentiment of conservative America today?

Of course this paternalism is so widespread that is is ingrained into all of us. Even the likes of Bill Cosby, whose solution is to scold, reprimand and discipline the black man so that he may behave. Trust me, the black man has been disciplined quite enough.

If anyone here would care to ignore the inherent violence behind the concept of discipline on societal scales, please find your way back to 1914, or perhaps even earlier. If one cannot recognize the inherent violence of one black man, wearing the robes of the justice system which has disciplined the black man into oblivion, scolding another black man; or if one cannot see within that moment the very echoes of noose and branch, one is a blind blind man in a dark dark world.

So yes, let us continue to wish, as whole Americans, for the eventual advancement of the Negro race by a program of singular discipline upon those other Americans.
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wtf?, undercover, animephil2
May. 14th, 2008 @ 11:19 pm Pardon my french.
So on a lark I decided to Google some things about pro-gay voices for military service. I found a couple of interesting things, like this article talking about how a West Point recruit got honors for his pro-gay paper.

I then looked up this article talking about how Obama's pro-gay agenda would pretty much "destroy everything".

In the first two links I looked at, I got a funny feeling. Who is that bitch Donnelly? Why does she come up so readily? Who the fuck is this cunt?

And what the fuck is the Center for Military Readiness?

Some bullshit partisan organization, that's what. "Military Readiness" my fucking cock in your ass.

This link from Pew shows a 2 to 1 public support for gays in the military.

Anyway, just a little tidbit I picked up on.

Shut up, you stupid fucking bitch.
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wtf?, undercover, animephil2
May. 14th, 2008 @ 06:23 pm J
John Edwards is a trooper. People forget that. They get caught up in the buzz and start wildly extrapolating all sorts of reasons and motivations and fail to listen to his own words. John Edwards is supporting the presumptive Democratic nominee. Whoever it happens to be. Obama is now the presumptive Democratic nominee. He isn't the nominee yet, but it is so presumed. If Hillary was the presumptive nominee, he would've thrown in with her. She isn't. So there you have it.

In the end, nobody has any clue what deals are in the works, and in the end, those deals are secondary to John's decision to stay out of the way. That was his plan, that was his message. He said, "Hey guys, I'm gonna stay out of the way of this one."

And it makes sense. John Edwards has no interest in being the guy who torpedoed either a minority or female candidate. He was going to let that one go to the electorate and the Party. He said, "...get out of the way and let history blaze its path." A bit overwrought, I agree, but that is what he said.

So if you're wondering what difference this endorsement makes, just remember that his endorsement wasn't supposed to make any difference.
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wtf?, undercover, animephil2
May. 14th, 2008 @ 02:52 pm Good advice!
Never argue with a furry.
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May. 14th, 2008 @ 12:04 pm Dick!
Welcome to Turn the Tables with Dr. Phil.
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May. 14th, 2008 @ 01:07 am Link.
Pentagon report I previously posted about.

"Let us learn our lessons. Never, never believe any war will be smooth and easy, or that anyone who embarks on the strange voyage can measure the tides and hurricanes he will encounter. . . . Always remember, however sure you are that you can easily win, that there would not be a war if the other man did not think that he also had a chance." -Winston "Motherfucking" Churchill
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wtf?, undercover, animephil2
May. 14th, 2008 @ 12:46 am Ach laddy, me heart me heart!
Sad face.

Why wasn't I told of this? I'm truly stricken... alas... 'tis the way of things I s'pose me deary... I can still 'member her tho... aye...

It's just kind of spooky to me. I remember her decks, and to think of them down there on the sea floor sends shivers down me spine. I s'pose its ok, she'll make a nice home for the fishes and creepy things that creepeth. Help to make coral too, maybe.
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wtf?, undercover, animephil2
May. 13th, 2008 @ 11:12 pm Cloverfield.
The movie wasn't bad. Pretty enjoyable. I feel guilty though, considering that all I really felt during the movie other than pleasant amusement was the faint pangs of adrenaline associated with the United States military "getting some".

I'm sorry, M1 Abrams tanks are gods of war, that's just how it is. I am an infected man. This does not negate any other negative feelings about the whole issue, but I just have too strong of an emotional and psychological association with them to deny it. Spending several hours on the leading edge of an engagement, and to finally be relieved by fucking tanks that roll up like bad-ass motherfuckers and being able to collapse in the seat of your Humvee and go directly to sleep in complete and total confidence regardless of the fire going on around you engenders a deep and abiding love for such beasts.

There is no lullaby like the comforting sounds of four M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tanks firing in volley in a steady, accurate and concentrated cone of protective death.
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May. 13th, 2008 @ 06:04 pm Martial Legacies
Reading more into the history of the US occupation of Haiti is bonanza of wisdom. Pundits, people and Presidents (past and present) have each in their turns grasped for historical corollaries apropos to our current situation. Imperial policy towards the "Black Americas" was not really predicated on racial lines. Racism certainly enlisted itself into the cause of Empire, but what drove us to Haiti (and subsequently the world) was self-preservation. Misguided perhaps, but one cannot seriously argue that Caribbean intervention was a matter of really caring about island negroes. Fear, once again, played a large role. Haitian instability threatened America in light of Germany's rise to power and war. We may think it funny that Hitler thought he could find an avenue against us through Mexico, but it is an idea thoroughly rooted in German expansionism since the turn of the century. Neither is it really all that far-fetched when you take South America into account, and its connections to German culture, business and power. It becomes even more obvious when one remembers that Napoleon invaded and installed a puppet-government in Mexico.

I am not by any means white-washing America's role and actions in Haiti, but attempting to explain where the desire for Empire begins, and throughout all of history Empire is spurred on by fear of weakness, fear of being out-positioned, and fear of being overtaken. Many historical accounts have done a fine job addressing the arrogance and superiority of racial politics vis a vis foreign policy. What they usually fail to ask is "why".

The occupation of Haiti began in 1915, two years before American entrance into World War One. The US Congress investigated the matter in 1921 and 1922. We pulled out in 1934, leaving only one functional organization in our wake: the military, or the Gendarme. Haiti has experienced a succession of de-facto military rules since that time.

So the question for me is this: given that we were spurred into Iraq by fear and paternalism (the idea that we could help our orphaned little brothers to freedom, even though we were the ones that orphaned them), and given that our only current real goal is establishing a strong and functional Iraqi military, what are we expecting in ten or twenty years time? What political structure will remain in light of an enfeebled Iraqi Parliament and Minister in the event that we do successfully establish their military and then leave?
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wtf?, undercover, animephil2
May. 13th, 2008 @ 11:46 am Can we say lame duck?
The Pentagon has released an analysis calling Iraq a "serious debacle and an incubator of terrorism".

So it is settled then, right Johnny-Boy-McCain?
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wtf?, undercover, animephil2
May. 12th, 2008 @ 12:32 pm War 0201
Since its grinding away in my head, here I go again.

Regardless of the level of technology present in any country, there are resources upon which the people depend for survival. Whatever those happen to be, whether roads, power poles or dirt tracks and wooden carts; these things all suffer in a war zone.

Given a country like Myanmar that produces and relies upon large rice fields in conjunction with livestock, going in "to save the day" will seriously disrupt rice production as well as kill livestock stores as people turn to eating their milk machines instead of rice.

These are basic, simple, environmental costs that one learns when taking up the Art of War. They are the logistical reality of the game. These are not "anti-war" rants. These things are simply the bread and butter of war planning.

So, given that the last thing Myanmar needs right now is less food production, how do you propose to use military force effectively and for the purpose of reducing suffering? Can you explain how? MRE's and water bottles are not acceptable replacements for indigenous capacity.

In World War Two, the ratio of casualties between civilians and military personnel is something like 9 to 1. That is, for every civilian killed, 9 soldiers lost their lives. Today in Iraq, for every soldier killed, 10 civilians have lost their lives. We are dealing with a fundamentally different beast, and I'm tired of arm-chair historians reaching into their vast History Channel learning and coming up with outdated policy proposals that belong, if anywhere at all, in another time.
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wtf?, undercover, animephil2
May. 12th, 2008 @ 02:00 am TV
I would just like to present Exhibit A in the Free Market Doesn't Make Everything Better case.



The consistent quality of British TV, combined with the dreadful, commercialized and catatonic market of the American television industry makes me wish for socialist TV. I have what? Maybe 100 channels and I watch perhaps 3 of them?

Rampant capitalism destroys culture and art. It just does. Brilliance and genius in film, art or craft may be recognized by markets, but they are not effectively promoted, shaped or guided by markets. What you end up with is some miasmatic trough of third-rate products; pared down, cheapened, distilled and economized for maximum profit at a minimum of cost.

What survives? Greatness? No. What survives depends upon some cold, cynical, soulless economic formula that recognizes only earnings on the dollar. Well what if that is what the people want? Fine, I guess. And yet we wonder why we're so soaked in commercial banality, bemoan the lack of true art, and otherwise complain about the shallow morbidity of our leisure pursuits, wistfully pining for some specter of the good old days.

Its called selling your soul.

Our increasingly numb catatonia can only be broken by spastic orgies of charged stimulation- devolving into an increasing spiral of depravity as our stimulant-addled brains require greater and greater heights of putrid vulgarity to shake us from our deadened senses. We're commercial junkies looking for that next hit at any cost. We pump out abortion after abortion of modern art in some sick recognition of our barren state, striving for the greatness we can only barely make out against the haze of our stupefied euphoria.

Grand Theft Auto IV is not the cause of anything; it is a symptom of our cultural poverty, our utter lack of any ideal other than sales. We get used to it like hogs feeding on scraps. We soon forget what once was and content ourselves with tripe, exchanging quality and beauty for quantity and accessibility. We have become fat with slothful works of increasingly cheap and disgusting appeal, resorting to the stench of feces in our desperation for any sense at all.
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wtf?, undercover, animephil2
May. 12th, 2008 @ 12:04 am PSA
MissionFish, in partnership with PayPal, is accepting donations for the Burmese Cyclone disaster. I wanted to let anyone know just in case anyone here is like me and lacks a credit card. Be careful when looking for PayPal donation sites. Go only to PayPal and follow the links from there. There is a huge amount of fraud going on with hucksters setting up scams for Myanmar relief via PayPal that "promise to really really truly send the money to Myanmar" however they lack any sort of receipt or verification process.

Donation link.

If anyone is willing to participate, I will commit to matching 50% of donations up to 50 dollars, upon receipt of an e-mail copy of PayPal confirmation forms. Yes of course, feel free to edit everything personal and secure out.
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wtf?, undercover, animephil2
May. 11th, 2008 @ 11:20 pm Bunny rabbits.
I guess I didn't think of it, but going from Of Mice and Men to Watership Down betrays an unhealthy and insecure need to make sure the bunnies are alright. If I were to write a cross-over fanfic, it would have Hazel, Fiver, Bigwig and the gang living next to Zombie-Lennie's cave, and would involve excruciatingly long narration detailing Zombie-Lennie's comical attempts to get to know the bunny rabbits.

I'm pretty sure Warner Brother's already did that at some point with Bugs Bunny, but anyway...

My fascination with the animal kingdom is a manifestation of my damaged psyche. I find refuge and solace in the simple logic of animal lives. Humans may be smart, but we make a whole mess of rubbish and foolishness. Our pride is not in our logic, of which we are terribly bereft. Our curse is our intelligence, doomed to devise ever more cunning ways to kill each other in the utter absence of logical survival. At any rate, animals are the most logical beings on the planet.

Not that we aren't animals, just that we're the least logical of the bunch. The smartest, yet the most illogical. It is probably an inherent evolutionary trade-off: you can't be smart and logical for some reason.

In any event, I have a newfound interest in American literature (Watership Down isn't American I know, but it didn't get noticed until America noticed it). I guess I just had to mature into it. I had read Watership Down before, but that was a very long time ago.
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wtf?, undercover, animephil2
May. 11th, 2008 @ 12:00 am Wolves in sheep's clothing.
You want to know what a wolf is? Try this Time writer advocating war on the suffering and death of 100,000+ people.

Hey guyz! THEY WUN LET US GIVE THEM WATERS AND FOODS FOR HELPING TIME!

I KNOW WE'LL INVADE THAT WILL HELP!

YES THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT WE SHOULD DO WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

The Effects of War 101:

Wars generally displace large populations of people, straining supply capacity and overwhelming localities with huge influxes of displaced persons.

Wars generally disrupt or destroy resource infrastructure, severely crippling and damaging basic services to civilian populaces.

Wars often precipitate famine in the areas of operation, when usual farming and production work stops and civilians workers seek safety, either by migration or laying low.

All of these factors overwhelm the system, and can all too easily fall into a cascading feedback loop whereby all actions taken to survive the immediate threat of war exacerbate the long-term problem of survival with regards to food, transportation, water and electricity.

HOW THE FUCK CAN PEOPLE SO STUPID GET PRINTED SO EASILY?

As the response to the 2004 tsunami proved, the world's capacity for mercy is limitless. But we still haven't figured out when to give war a chance.

So here this guys writes this tripe while he warms his hands with the heat of two ongoing wars already. Clearly we haven't even tried war. Like ever. Damn, war is so goddamn rare I can hardly remember any!

Do what? Do fucking what? Air drop supplies in? And then what? Watch the Junta take it? And then? What is your fucking plan Major Dan?
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May. 10th, 2008 @ 12:08 pm Pollyticks II
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