Politics and Poetry: Around the world

A weekend sampler platter from around the world - mind the sassy American fare and the Russian herring - could be cause for indigestion.

Rose Garden Rogue Reporter: Obama announced new immigration laws yesterday that would allow illegal immigrants who entered into the US as children, to stay as long as they meet certain criteria. Many conservatives, and well, Americans in general, are rolling their eyes at this election year "hand out." One such man is Neil Munro, a conservative blogger for the site the Daily Caller. Wearing a temporary press badge, he interrupted Obama while he spoke, asking: "What about American workers who are unemployed while you employ foreigners?" Obama didn't appreciate the interruption and made it blatantly clear, chastising the reporter before ignoring the question and waiting till the end of his statements to respond, saying how much these young immigrants contribute to our country, from building businesses to serving in the military. Once he answered that question, he quickly turned his back and walked away, taking no further questions.
Now, Munro claims that it was certainly not his intention to interrupt the President, that he was merely trying to get a question in at the last moment, knowing how seldom Obama takes questions at these events. He also, however, told CNN: "I have to ask the questions that you all won't."
Now that, I agree with. No one is asking questions here, at least not ones that matter. In a way, Munro's question is kind of a non-starter as well. Here's one I'd like to ask: "What happens if/when this law is overturned by subsequent administrations, as is often the case?" or "Why has it taken this long to come up with something you feel is so obvious - why now, in election year?"
I'd wager a bullshit response for both, but if a question is going to be aired to the nation, those are more valid, I think. Munro's question is a clearly aimed torpedo at the left with "fuck you, from the right" painted on the side. It's more of the same left/right banter and hectoring that always happens in an election year, a 8 or 9 month pissing contest that ends like a bad prom night: broken promises, faded dreams and a lingering hangover.
I'm with Munro on wanting to ask questions regardless of whether the President is ready for them or not. Propriety be damned. This nation needs more action and less pomp and circumstance.

Just a red herring: US intelligence (wait, don't stop reading yet) believes that Russia has deployed a ship with weapons and troops en route to Syria. According to who's who, the ship has been sent to protect Russia's naval base as the situation in Syria continues to plummet into utter disaster and mayhem. The worry is that Russia has other plans for the troops and weapons once in Syria. This news comes after flying fur between Secretary of State Clinton and Russian officials over Russia shipping attack helicopters to the fascist regime. Russia claims that the helicopters are not new and are simply part of an outstanding contract between Syria and Russia. The director of the Institute for Democracy and Cooperation in New York, a Kremlin-backed, non-governmental organization (which means a government backed, non-government backed organization) argues that Russia is opposed to sending troops to Syria, understanding that it would prompt other countries into responding with force, something Russia doesn't want to get in the middle of. Never a dull moment, eh? Here's my problem with this - the two issues are not mutually exclusive. Let's say you send the troops to protect that base, vital to Middle Eastern operations for Russia. OK - let's say that Syria takes that as a threat, or even if they don't, introducing large weapons and troops into that kind of situation doesn't speak of tea parties and sit down conversations. If and when the base is attacked by Syrian forces, Russian forces with fight back. And then, there you have it. They weren't meant to start shit in Syria, but oops, that gun I have just kind of did what it was meant to and here we are now - civil war turned outright international war. Now, I'm not a big fan of our ambiguously spineless stance on Syria but I don't want 18 year olds sent to Syria when they should be at home interrupting Obama in the Rose Garden. The UN has already pulled its observers, there to check on Kofi Annan's peace plan (sorry, but that was a joke from the start). Children are being used as human shields, doctors killed for aiding the wounded. If you're going to show force, show force. Don't send in UN observers, and don't tease a rabid animal with 'protecting your naval base.' Do something or don't. Half assing it does no one any favors, least of all, the dying civilians on the inside.

A mile in our shoes: Egypt will vote this weekend between "the lesser of two evils," a Mubarak man or an Islamist brother. It seems that their democracy is faltering before it has a chance to stand - somewhat like ours, only that ours is crumbling from a self made pedestal. Either way, the lesser of two evils argument is a well known one. Many Egyptians feel that they're back at square one, in fighting and disillusionment rampant as the imminent hand over of military to civilian rule draws nearer. The fear is that the military will not relinquish power, thus forcing a violent end to the attempted democratic proceedings. As polling began Saturday, a third option arose that seemed quite the popular choice: boycott. Still, Egyptians are showing up to vote, one man explaining his choice as "the best of the worst."
Another issue is that polling takes place with no parliament or constitution in place, just the military. The new president has no clear cut role or description, only that he will answer to the military leaders until a constitution is drafted and parliament elected, two things that have no set deadline as of now.
Unrest simmers, but the streets remained relatively quiet in comparison to a year ago. I, for one, hope that unrest doesn't fizzle into apathetic acceptance. Though both our nations can relate to choosing between two steaming piles, at least they seem to be concerned about that predicament.


Democratia

I won’t go where you are leading

Your two faces are deceiving. 

Whip me, beat me with your faith.

Freedom tastes of chains and death.

Bottom line’s your holy scroll

Greed soaked tyrants find a home

Liberty, justice take the stage

Figure heads in your crusade.

Schizophrenic hypocrites

How dare you kill in our name

Democratically insane

We all lose while you few gain

Here we go

Follow me...follow me...follow me

Divide et impera

Democratia fide est

God Bless America

Defend Freedom

Divide et impera

Democratia fide est

Politics and Poetry 2

• The Cradle will fall: The mayhem in Syria reached epic heights over the weekend. A massacre in the town of Houla left 109 victims dead, mostly women and children - 49 under the age of 10 hacked to death with axes and knives. The men of the town were demonstrating at the town mosque and claim that while they were away, government forces ambushed the town, killing innocent civilians. The government has claimed that this is the act of rogue terrorists. Kofi Annan of the UN sat down with President al-Assad today to make clear the international weight of these decisions. Several countries, including the US, also expelled Syrian diplomats in protest to the weekends events. All this to say...well, just to say, really. According to Annan, he "appealed to him [Mr Assad] for bold steps now - not tomorrow, now - to create momentum for the implementation of the plan."
So he spoke to him sternly about having spoken to him about at some point doing what he had spoken to him about originally.
Meanwhile, people in Houla fear another attack: "Military reinforcements have been brought in, and artillery, and we are afraid that the massacre will happen again," Mahmoud Al Houli told CNN reporters. "Four checkpoints have been set up around the town, and nothing can enter -- no food or medical supplies can come in. The electricity has been cut off. Things are desperate."
He closed with this piercing remark: "You have seen the bodies on television, on the computer, but we see them in real life."
So true. And yet, we discuss these images, these lives as if no one had to see them in real life.
If we're going to take an interest in the slaughtering of humans in other countries, we have to take a real interest. Hanging a carrot in front of desperate people's eyes is cruel and superfluous.
If we are going to stay out of it, stay out of it. This half ass bullshit is about as useful and philanthropic as standing in front of a homeless man, waxing poetic about the ills of poverty while counting your money. Come the fuck on!

Fear, fear, fear: While many of us reflected on the meaning of Memorial Day, perhaps remembering family members or saying a silent thank you to those who felt our country was worth a fight...Mitt Romney was enjoying a heaping bowl of fear with his BBQ.
At a speech in San Diego, CA, his message was clear: "The world is not safe."
"We can follow in the footsteps of Europe and shrink our military smaller and smaller to pay for our social needs...and they of course rely on the strength of America and hope for the best. Were we to follow that kind of course, there would be no one that could stand to protect us. The other is to commit to preserve America as the strongest military in the world, second to none with no comparable power anywhere in the world. We choose that course - not so we just win wars but so we prevent wars, because a strong America is the biggest deterrent to war that has ever been invented."
Let me just attempt to wrap my head around this one...military is more important than our social needs? What is your damage?! I'd like to see him give this speech at the WTC memorial - or how about to a bunch of school kids who don't know how to read but already know to hate Muslims.
And Europe relies on us?! You've got to be fucking kidding me. Even with the teetering Eurozone, there are only 4 European countries that have worse national debt than the US...guess ole Mitt was too busy polishing his gun to study up on some fucking common sense and hard facts. Good lord.
I'm no fan of Obama, but the more I hear this jack noodle talk, the more I'd like to see him pushing pens at a dead end Pentagon job - love the military so much? Go serve 'em. They deserve it.
Meanwhile, this pro-military spending loony tune is the same guy who recently said:

"You have to have a government that doesn't get too big."

What's bigger than the biggest military in the world?...


Call or Draw:
 

We crawl here on our knees and fear

Gagged and tied

lady liberty has died

call or draw

And in this mess you

wave the flag and bless

all the ones who

rape your rights for fun

call or draw

coming round that roulette wheel

coming round that roulette wheel

kill your innocence and ignorance

you can’t use them now

build your common sense,

intelligence

they won’t show you how

give it up like

virgins in a truck

all your rights in your country’s name

call or draw

are you blind?!

freedom ain’t a right you know

and those who lead

spin these lies for bribes

call or draw

coming round that roulette wheel

coming round that roulette wheel

kill your innocence and ignorance

you can’t use them now

build your common sense,

intelligence

they won’t show you how

Faith breeds Hate

Well, Terry Jones just couldn't help himself. After promising that "not today, not ever" would he carry out his dumb shit ploy to burn the Quran on the anniversary of September 11th, Terry Jones, like any good man of God, broke that promise. On March 20th, he put the Quran on "trial," found it guilty and then through a multiple choice questionnaire, found that it should be sentenced to burning.
No, I'm serious. About 30 people attended the event live, where Pastor Terry Jones supervised Pastor Wayne Sapp burning the Quran, after finding the holy book "guilty of crimes." But wait, it gets better: apparently, just to be fair, there was a Dallas Imam present at the burning to act as the defense for...a god damn book. Surprisingly, he didn't win, and members of Jones' congregation chose from four sentences, after deliberating for less than 8 minutes: burning, shredding, grounding or firing squad. I personally think firing squad would have been more creative. Would they have gotten a little blindfold for the book? How many people would have been in the firing squad?
As it happened, they just doused the little fucker with kerosene and set it on fire with a grill lighter - how charmingly southern. At the time, there was no media coverage of the event, leaving it to Jones himself to spread the word about his hateful extracurricular activities. Having his actions condemned by everyone from President Obama to General Patreus, and defense secretary Robert Gates, stating that such a stunt could risk the lives of NATO forces in the Middle East, Jones went ahead and not only burned the book but put it up on facebook, YouTube and any other social media site he could find. Thus forcing his escapades onto the international media stage, and so surprisingly, causing an uproar in the Middle East.
On Friday, hundreds of demonstrators marched towards the UN headquarters in the northern Afghanistan city of Mazar-i-Sharif. Aside from burning effigies of Jones and the American flag, the protesters stormed the UN building, killing 10 foreign staff members, beheading two of the victims, and killing five Afghans. At least 24 people were injured.
Meanwhile, Jones takes no credit for the violent uprisings in Afghanistan, saying that "We find it very tragic any time that someone is murdered but we do not feel any responsibility for that. It definitely does indicate that there is a very radical element of Islam."
Hmmm...I wonder what Terry Jones calls his "element" of Christianity...
Bottom line, both sides have radicals. Actually, every religion with a book as contradictory as the Bible, Quran or Torah will house extremists from both sides. And as I've said before, the violent, insane extremists tend to make the most noise and the most trouble.
Take this for example, from the Bible:
"Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you"
(Luke 6:27-28).
Awww, how sweet.
How about this, also from the Bible (also of the Torah) (and ironically also the home of the 10 commandments, of which one is Thou Shalt not Kill): "and when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them, then you must destroy them totally. Make no treaty with them, and show them no mercy" (Deuteronomy 7:1-5)

Hmmmm...confusing.

From the Quran: "If thou dost stretch thy hand against me, to slay me, it is not for me to stretch my hand against thee to slay thee: for I do fear God, the cherisher of the worlds. (The Quran, 5:28)
Also from the Quran: "Fight them (unbelievers) until persecution is no more and the religion of Allah reigns supreme.”
(The Quran 8:39)

Hmmmm....getting some mixed messages here too.

However, having read most of all three texts (New and Old Testament and the Quran), I have to say that the Quran is the least violent of all. The bible enjoys reveling in violence, relishing each detail. For example, there's no passage in the Quran detailing the night long gang rape of a girl. There is in the Bible. And in the Quran, the prophet Muhammad, prohibited the killing of women and children. Interestingly enough, if Jesus were around to ask, I don't think he'd be a big fan of it either...but therein lies the trouble.
All of these books are so hypocritical. They solemnly declare one thing and then completely contradict it only a few passages later. They allow people to pick and choose what to believe, what to take as gospel and what to cast aside. They leave room for do-gooders and terrorists, casual believers and violent extremists.

When a news anchor asked Pastor Terry Jones if the Bible doesn't say to love thine enemy, Jones agreed that it did, but that that had nothing to do with this event.
And there you have it. Islam, Christianity, and Judaism base their religions on books that see-saw back and forth, making it nearly impossible for a free thinking, well educated mind to be fully ensnared by their doctrine - because no one can fucking agree what that doctrine is! Should I kill, or not kill? Should I forgive or not forgive? Judge or not judge? Sell my daughter as a slave or stone her to death?
I mean, come on people - what the fuck!?

If we're putting the Quran on trial, we should sure as shit put the Bible and Torah up there too. But instead of burning them, why don't we read the damn things - cover to cover, then decide that they're all fucked, and put 'em snugly in the Fiction section along with Lord of the Rings and Compassionate Conservatism.
Knowledge is not a danger. What is dangerous is when we use stories, unsupported by fact or truth, as an excuse to create laws, start wars and judge other cultures and people.
Faith breeds hate - not because of these stories, but because they are absolute, because they employ no use of the human mind, of logic. They cast that aside and rely fully on emotion and faith to wield their message. And that, is dangerous, very dangerous. It means that neither side can win, for nothing will ever be able to kill faith. The more bombs you drop, the more resolute they are. Governments will fall, but faith, blind, stupid faith, will endure as long as there are people to endoctrinate. It will breed hate for the "others" and intolerance for "enemies." It does and will continue to breed hate.

I'm over trying to convert. Since there is no logic in faith, that argument will never be won. People must see for themselves the evils incorporated in religion, and move away of their own volition.
What I'm interested in now is educating. The quotes up there are but a minuscule example of the hypocrisy in our beloved holy texts. Take a look, read through those books, educate yourselves on what people hold as gospel, so that you and your MIND can argue against blind faith.

And finally, burning books doesn't prove any point other than bigotry and intolerance, something we could all use a little less of. And whether Jones wants to admit it or not, he has blood on his hands and not a shred of decency in his soul.
Books, no matter their genre, are meant for reading, not burning. Read, do not blindly accept. Research, do not blindly hate.

Now that you've seen...

Can you tell which one is Syria? Libya?

Wanna know who's burning that flag? That would be Libyan students condemning the Western air assault on Libya...so much for winning hearts and minds.

Guess we're just too damn good at breaking hearts and raping minds of not only our own people but the people of the world - sharing is caring.

And that other picture of Libyan rebels praying on a road side, I just put that in there to show how little we understand our supposed friends and enemies. We educate ourselves in the art of destruction, corruption and profit. We do not look into the circumstances we fly into. We do not take time to understand the situations we fire upon. This is not our war.

Meanwhile, in Syria - protests continue with security forces firing on their own people, killing and wounding demonstrators. According to Syrian authorities, demonstrations of any kind are strictly prohibited, due to 48 year old emergency law...a cozy dictatorial decree.

Despite the iron hand of the Syrian government, even bigger protests are planned for this coming Friday.

So...should we march in there too? I mean why the fuck not? Obama doesn't even go to congress before sending troops so really all it takes is a laid back phone call from the Oval Office and you've got more little green men suited up and ready to go - taking their corporate check lists with them: profit, kill, profit, kill, profit, kill...you get the two-step.