Fighting the War on Two Fronts

Well, dog my cat or something, I inadvertantly stepped on a twitter hornet's nest, and I'm just so sorry that I did. I mentioned in a tweet that I thought the conditions of Bradley Manning's confinement, as I understand them, seemed rather Abu Ghraib-y to me: being kept naked, in solitary confinement. Now, if this is not the case, then I will happily STFU.

If it is the case, I will not happily STFU, and my unhappiness at his being kept in such conditions does not merely include Manning's condition, but extends to anyone who would keep anyone in such conditions anywhere anytime.

I am happy to wage war on two fronts: toward the right wing, and toward the left, when it appears to be supporting things I think ought not to be supported: you know, like keeping one's fellow humans in unacceptable conditions. You don't like it? Meh.

Obama is too timid-centrist for me. Always has been, still is. I held my nose and voted for him, and I'm glad he won. That being said, I don't appreciate a lot of what he is doing, and I don't appreciate a lot of what he is not doing. However, I dislike the behaviors and goals of the rabid right wing much much much much more.

Right wing, left wing, throwing people into solitary confinement, naked, and keeping them in those conditions is unacceptable. Stripping people naked is a form of humiliation, and sexual humiliation at that, and it is not a method to address suicidality. Mental hospitals all across America are filled with suicidal people who, remarkably enough, still have their clothes on.

Rly.



ps.
Here's what Arthur Silber has to say re: Manning. Go fight with him.

Former Nepal PM Bhattarai dies - Central & South Asia - Al Jazeera English

Former Nepal PM Bhattarai dies - Central & South Asia - Al Jazeera English

Notables on Left Don 2L4O T-Shirts to Express Dissatisfaction with Obama

"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Obama's left/liberal critics make a fashion statement of their disapproval of his policies

WASHINGTON, DC, March 1, 2011 — In one sign that Barack Obama has alienated the left, more than a dozen blogs now promote union-made "2L4O: Too Liberal for Obama" and "2L4O: Too Left for Obama" T-shirts. . ."

You can do the same, ladies and gentlemen. Buy one, don, express. (lather, rinse, repeat).

Not calling a spade a spade? For Al-Jazeera & CBS, Rape Is Not Newsworthy

Journalist beaten, sexually assaulted in Egypt.
A story that vaunted "democratic" news source Al-Jazeera simply refused to cover. Not to mention once-great CBS News.

Shh.

OK, I turned it back on again . . .

Very kind of those of you who noticed it had been turned off . . .

Yes, I turned the blog off for a bit

because I felt guilty that I haven't had time to blog. And where did that get me?

There are better blogs to read. See this blog list.

Will blog when/if. No promises.

It's life.

I don't think I even posted my virtual buddhist part of Christmas Christmas tree, either, this year.

Hmm.

Department of HateSpeak, Cause & Effect

"We're on Sarah Palin's targeted list but, the thing is that the way she has it depicted has the cross hairs of a gunsight over our district, and when people do that they've got to realize there's consequences to that action." - Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in March 2010 MSNBC interview

Home-Grown Terror Via Palin's Rabid Right? You Betcha!

Stirling Newberry, at Corrente: Attempted Assassination of Congress Member Giffords of Arizona.

Peace On Earth, Good Will Toward All Sentient Beings

Help thy fellow bloggers here, through the kindness of corrente.

Cow gone: quick! Close barn door!

What were they thinking?

Evolutionary Psychiatry: Magnesium and the Brain

Evolutionary Psychiatry: Magnesium and the Brain: "Time to go back to Eby and Eby. I have an inexplicable fondness for this paper. The information is decent if a touch unorganized, and the..."

Evolutionary Psychiatry: Pleasure, Pain, Wheat, and Psychopharm

Evolutionary Psychiatry: Pleasure, Pain, Wheat, and Psychopharm: "There is something of an addiction theme out in the blogosphere today.  Mark Sisson is talking kicking the junkfood habit, and Dr. BG i..."

Evolutionary Psychiatry: That Tapeworm Ate Your Depression

Evolutionary Psychiatry: That Tapeworm Ate Your Depression: "I'm a little embarrassed that Mark Sisson got to this one before I did.  But I'm sure he has several minions to scan the literature for..."

US diplomat Richard Holbrooke dies - Americas - Al Jazeera English

US diplomat Richard Holbrooke dies - Americas - Al Jazeera English

A real career diplomat, who used his skills effectively, especially in Bosnia. It is, I think, our loss.

Journo to Red China: Have You *Studied* Confucius? [Epic Fail]

An article demonstrating that, when it comes to the brand new spontaneously-arising Confucius Peace Prize, Red China is very confuscshed.

Ya rly. Srsly.

It was an event for the benefit of foreign media. But if the organisers had hoped the Confucius Peace Prize would convince the world China is right, it failed. And, in the opinion of this correspondent, it was an epic public relations fail.

During the question and answer period in the increasingly stuffy conference room of a central Beijing hotel, the Confucius Peace Prize Awards Committee couldn't even bring themselves to say Liu Xiaobo's name, instead circuitously referring to him as "he of the three-character name you mentioned".

When Liu Xiaobo conjures up Harry Potter's Lord Voldemort, the He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, you know some Chinese are experiencing a crisis.

The press conference went from bad to worse, as question after question was asked.

"Jimmy Carter was one of your nominees for the first Confucius Peace Prize. Carter signed a letter asking for the release of Liu. Does this make you a supporter of a supporter of Liu?"

Or, "Doesn't it bother you and speak volumes if Lien Chan, the winner, hasn't shown up? Do you just have a hard time accepting the truth?"

Or this one, by a Hong Kong journalist, "Have you studied Confucius? Because you appear to have gotten the concepts wrong..."

[Pardon my abbreviated blogging of late. Things are ch-ch-ch-changing. Hopefully, for the better.]

Australia blames US for cable leaks - Europe - Al Jazeera English

Hmm. Cui bono resurrecting this story?

What, murdered?

David Kelly?

I'm shocked, shocked.

Yes, let's let them hypnotize America because why not eh?

"Democrats Pressing Pelosi to Step Aside!"


Ooooh, Nancy Pelosi is being dumped by Democrats, ooh!

Lookit the headline! Everybody knowz!

Cuz she's too librul, oooooh!

[Expletives deleted].

Go ahead, people, wallow in the Koch-Rove-fueled propaganda-fest, why don'tcha?

Which Democrats? Are they Democrats?

Because we're waaay too skeered to be progressive, aren't we? Or else we're waaay too purist?

Something's got to explain Coakley and Russ Feingold going down, shouldn't it? Oh, wait, Martha Coakley just got hugely re-elected, with the help of a local Boston Republican paper! Apparently it didn't know about or didn't care about all of Coakley's intentional sueing of Goldman-Sachs! Which she did waaaay before it was fashionable!

So, yuh, sure: bad Nancy! bad Nancy! bad Nancy!


(I am always read to dump progressives under the bus, and I always have very good reasons, do I not?)

Misogynist Minister Sembiring Blames Mrs. Obama For Own Behavior

Oh noes!
Indonesian Minister Sembiring FORCED to touch unrelated female!

"I tried to prevent [being touched] with my hands but Mrs. Michelle held her hands too far toward me [so] we touched,’ Sembiring tweeted.
Footage on YouTube shows otherwise, sparking a debate that has lit up Facebook, Twitter and the rest of the blogosphere."

Note victimized Sembiring's wide sh*t-eating grin and his hand, extended much farther than Mrs. Obama's hand.

Just sayin'.

Die, Healthcare Serf-Slave Mommy! Die! Die!

Yuh, we hear of employers who want to dump providing health insurance for employees.


This worker's dumping work to dump her health insurance provider-profiteer.

Yes, Ms NBFH just quit her job because the insurance her not-quite-ex-employer offers so sucks.

Big-time insurance profiteering company. Cost $12K a year. New plan began July 1 of this year, effects became clear in the past 3 weeks. Same outrageous price, but even worse coverage. If that is imaginable. $12K for family "coverage," with a huge deductible. You get an ultrasound for $525, they pay all of $125, you get stuck with--surprise! A bill for $400! And they tell you if you'd just driven an hour and a half away for a potentially life-threatening condition, they gladly would have picked up more of the tab.

I've been a healthcare insurance serf-slave to this company for years. And it's just not worth it anymore. I will be saving money by not working, because for the last six weeks, every penny I earn there has gone only to pay this crappy insurance company's crappy rates for crappy coverage.

So I'm done.

I can't be the only one who's re-cycling Paddy Chayevsky: mad as hell and not going to take it anymore.

Thus Empire crumbles under the weight of its own stupidity and greed.

Midterms: money changes everything - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

Midterms: money changes everything - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

Spying and lying about the left - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

Your tax dollars at work: Spying and lying about the left - Opinion - Al Jazeera English

The Pleasures of Eating - Wendell Berry | Center for Ecoliteracy

The Pleasures of Eating - Wendell Berry | Center for Ecoliteracy

SNL : I'm not a witch

Nanny Backs Up Maid for Whitman's Let 'Er Eat Cake-Gate

Meg Whitman--a woman who can't clean up after herself.