OOOO...Fun

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via Tripp

Why Should We Attack Thee

Let me count the ways

Yep, the above link is a list of only 9 of the reasons we went to war.

This administration can not decide why the hell we are there, so they keep changing the reason. They would not have to keep doing that if we would not have gone in in the first place.

Even that first reason we were given, seems to be made up.

I am so sick of all this shit. I was talking to a guy last night who has just finished his tour in the Coast Guard. He was telling me about his Marine buddies that are either over there now, or have recently returned. Tears were coming down this kid's face. A face which was red with anger. And eyes that were those of a person whose entire world has been a lie. He told me how his friends over there are fed up with being lied to. He told me about his friends that are over there who are so tired of living on the edge because they do not know what they are supposed to be doing. He told me about his friends who have returned, but they are not his friends who went over there. He told me about his friends that have the stare of an old man seeing his life go past him, and they are only 24. He told me about his friend who grabbed his arm and would not let go because he wanted to hold on to something that was not steel. He told me about his friends, brave Marines, who just burst into tears for seemingly no reason.

We have an arrogant president and administration that will not admit they screwed up. We have a president and administration that will not call upon us to sacrifice. I would be willing to forgo some niceties if it means people come home faster and safer. We have a president and administration that will not call those who support this war to arms. We have supportors of this war who are not willing to go and fight themselves. To them I say, put up or shut up. There are those who support this war, and yet they say they are not dumb enough to enlist to go over there. There are those who say this is God's will, but it doesn't include me.

Piss off.

[This rant was uninteded, but I guess I just needed to vent.]

Pay No Attention To The Men Behind The Microphones

Do not pay attention to what the right-wingers are calling Sen. Durbin. They (Hannity, Rush, Drudge) claim he has called out troops Nazi's. As usual, this is the right pulling comments so out of context that they make no sense. Durbin, (pdf) in a floor statement,was reading from a memo supplied by the FBI and then made some comments. If the brain trust on the right really listened to what our Senator said, they should feel ill instead of self-righteous.

When you read some of the graphic descriptions of what has occurred here [at Guantanamo Bay]--I almost hesitate to put them in the [Congressional] Record, and yet they have to be added to this debate. Let me read to you what one FBI agent saw. And I quote from his report:

'On a couple of occasions, I entered interview rooms to find a detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor, with no chair, food or water. Most times they urinated or defecated on themselves, and had been left there for 18-24 hours or more. On one occasion, the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold. . . . On another occasion, the [air conditioner] had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room well over 100 degrees. The detainee was almost unconscious on the floor, with a pile of hair next to him. He had apparently been literally pulling his hair out throughout the night. On another occasion, not only was the temperature unbearably hot, but extremely loud rap music was being played in the room, and had been since the day before, with the detainee chained hand and foot in the fetal position on the tile floor.'

If I read this to you and did not tell you that it was an FBI agent describing what Americans had done to prisoners in their control, you would most certainly believe this must have been done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime--Pol Pot or others--that had no concern for human beings. Sadly, that is not the case. This was the action of Americans in the treatment of their prisoners.

How about these folks pay attention to the fact that what he was saying is that there is severe mistreatment of detainees goingon at Gitmo? How about they see that, even though, these folks down there may have hate towards our country, they are still humans? How about they stop defending and start paying attention? They should listen to what the Senator has to say:

"The President could declare the United States will apply the Geneva Conventions to the war on terrorism. He could declare, as he should, that the United States will not, under any circumstances, subject any detainee to torture, or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment. The administration could give all detainees a meaningful opportunity to challenge their detention before a neutral decision maker. Such a change of course would dramatically improve our image and it would make us safer. I hope this administration will choose that course. If they do not, Congress must step in."

What really irks me about this whole situation is the fact that people from both sides of the aisle are calling for reforms, if not closure, of Gitmo, and yet, you have these ass-clowns on the right wing airwave who take any criticism of our dear leader as an attack on the very fibers that this country stands for. I wish they would open their eyes and realize that disagreementand opposition to, instead of blind loyalty, are the very fibers that our country is built on. Going all the way back to Hamilton and Jefferson.

If we are to become, again, the beacon of hope to the world, then we must realize that smearing those who criticized the leadership is not what we are about. We are about: holding our leader accountable, with respect; we are about challenging authority; and, we are about showing dignityto those who are opposed to us and showing the world that we respect our enemies as human beings eventhough they despise us...we are better than that.

(Cheers to Daily Kos for alerting me to this and Talk Left for the scoop.)

1700

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Is it really worth it?

WARNING* Gratuitous Crackers

HumpDayCrackers, originally uploaded by CelticWander.

Happy Hump Day...

This picture made me spit out my coffee this morning.

HOOO HOOO

Pleased to meet ya. Hope you guess my name.

Interactive blog time.

I have had Sympathy For the Devil stuck in my head for like...shoot...I don't know...3 days...I am going crazy. Here is a cool article about the song.

Help me here...please. Must.......get......new.......song....in.....my.....heed.


(what do you currently have stuck in your heed?)

Disgusting

There is something SO WRONG about our market system when you read things like this:

General Motors was among the Dow Jones industrial average’s biggest percentage gainers, jumping 1.6 percent after its CEO told shareholders it will cut thousands of U.S. jobs and close more plants over the next few years.

25,000 people are loosing their jobs and people are rewarding this by snatching up stock. Think about this a second. That is a quarter of my hometown. A third of my college town. 10x Mae's hometown. That is an overflow crowd at The United Center.

People are profiting from this. I feel Ill.

I Know I Am A Geek

when I yell at the streaming video of CSPAN on my computer at work.

These people are drive me nuts. The debate is about Justice Brown for the Appellate Court in DC. The dems bring up relevant material. It took Sen. Boxer 15 minutes to read the list of Civil Rights organizations that opposed the Justice's nomination. But I hear the same three things from the republicans...she is the daughter of share-croppers, she got 75% of the vote for retention and our favorit...upperdownupperdownupperdown that is all Frist says.

The think that cause me to yell at the computer was the who 75% thing. It sounds like a lot, but she was unopposed. They say there were 4 other justices on the ballot and she got the highest...her name starts with a B it was on the top of the list...we all know how people vote on judges...how many? Ok. Punch 1,2 and 3

grrrr

A Hero

"We must recognize the full human equality of all our people - before God, before the law, and in the councils of government. We must do this not because it is economically advantageous - although it is; not because the laws of God and man command it - although they do command it; not because people in other lands wish it so. We must do it for the single and fundamental reason that it is the right thing to do."
Day of Affirmation Address, University of Capetown, South Africa, June 6, 1966

Yesterday was the 35th anniversary of the murder of Robert F. Kennedy.

I have always admired RFK. A complex man. A broken man. A man of honesty.

His views on the world seem so radical, right now, amidst all of the conflict and apparent hatred. His view of equality amongst all peoples of the world. His hope for tomorrow. His quest for social justice.

His concern for the "right" in our nature stikes a cord that resonates to all people. We all seek the right. We seek the fullness of humanity: the love of our brothers and sisters, and to love our enemies. His views were put so simply, "[I]t is the right thing to do."

"Bay of Pigsgate, Teapot Domegate, Slaverygate"

From Crooks and Liars:

Here is a clip from The Daily Show's take on Deep Throat...sort of goes with the below quote.

Quote of the Day

I just heard this blurb advertising tonights Majority Report re: all the Deep Throat hooplaa, "...[W]hile we watch the mainstream "liberal" media filling up with convicted felons bemoaning the lack ethics of a whistleblower."

I find this truly amusing.

Step Right Up

HIM, originally uploaded by CelticWander.

This is the show I am working on right now. Here is ticket info:

WHERE:
Viaduct Theater, 3111 N. Western Ave., Chicago, IL 60618 Street parking and under the viaduct; CTA accessible (Western and Belmont bus stops)
WHEN:
Opened Thursday, May 26, 2005, at 8 PM. Runs Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 PM, and Sundays at 7 PM through 6/25/05
TICKETS:
Viaduct Theater Box Office, 773.296.6024 (open 7-10 PM Thursday – Saturday, and 6-9 PM on Sunday) HotTix
$15 on Thursdays/Sundays; $18 on Fridays/Saturdays Half-price on Thursday, 6/2 and Sunday, 6/5 for industry members with headshot/card.
Call for group rates.

Here are reviews:

Chicago Sun-Times: Hedy Weiss
"A "curiosity" in both concept and execution, this rarely produced work, now in an elaborate and ingenious production by the Viaduct Theater, also serves as a reminder of how Chicago theaters still will dance out on a limb to experiment.”

“Anchoring the play are brief, revealing, well-acted scenes between the artist, Him (David Schultz), and his insightful if admittedly bourgeois wife, Me (Julia Siple), which unfold in a tiny parlor seen from different angles thanks to clever set changes. There is love between these two but also a certain disconnect. And interspersed among their intimate scenes (which have some Eugene O'Neill-like echoes) are stylized routines exposing the human comedy: two clowns who burst each other's balloons; a sweaty carnival barker and snake-oil salesman (terrific work by Paul D'Addario) who thrives on lies, and the three Miss Weirds (Ariel Brenner, Christine Cummings and Marssie Mencotti), who nearly steal the show with their hilarious, verbally brilliant riffs on men (and other strange creatures). Best of all is a circus sideshow (applause throughout for set designer Robert Whitaker, whether for his vintage folk art-style cutout curtain with openings for human heads and appendages) or his magenta burlesque stage.
Cheers, too, for Alison Siple's marvelous costumes. Director Whitney Blakemore (working with Sheri Reda), and TS Henry Webb, the funky conductor of an onstage band, has staged "Him" with great invention. And her large cast captures the spirit of the piece.


Chicago Tribune: Chris Jones
"Whitney Blakemore's astonishingly expansive production, which gives the work all the sets it needs and, at the core of the staging, seems to understand both its style and its pain. And, indeed, for fans or students of cummings in particular, or the literature of despair
in general, this heavy work has all kinds of interest. The language is dazzlingly rich. And you'll probably not get the chance to see it again around here anytime soon.”

"You have to admire the Viaduct for attempting this almost impossible play - which requires some 20 actors, a live band, a re-creation of carnival oddities and a constantly changing set and frame of reference."