Something a tad bit different [UPDATE]

probably like many of you, i read multiple articles and blog posts from multiple sources on a daily basis... however, as i'm sure you've noticed, i average only 1-2 posts a day on this blog and occasionally skip days altogether, a distinct departure from the first 4+ years of the blog when i tended to concentrate more on volume than quality... now, generally speaking, the only posts that make it on the blog concern things that strike a particular chord with me, usually because certain items tend to fit into the massive mental picture puzzle i'm trying to assemble in a seemingly endless quest to figure out what the hell is REALLY going on...

anywayz...

the "tad bit different" something i'm initiating here is to post links to things i've come across in my day's reading that i think might be worthwhile to share with others but don't quite grab me enough to bother putting up a dedicated post... i'm not going to do anything as mundane as trying to highlight the day's news (there's plenty of outlets for that), just the things i think might add depth and meaning to the larger picture which, as i admitted above, i continue to struggle to piece together... also, i'm not going to promise to do this every day either... some days there just might not be anything notable going on ("notable" from MY perspective, that is), some days there might be too MUCH going on and i might be drowning in gloom, and other days i just might not feel like working that hard...

so, for starters...

the always-thinking and usually spot-on glenn greenwald looks at more of our so-called news media's subservience to the propaganda of our government and its controlling elites and, in a separate post, exposes more of the blatant hypocrisy of our leaders in dealing with "terrorists"...

if i come across more during the day, i might be moved to post updates...

[UPDATE]

nothing new in the fact that our government pathologically lies to its citizens but worth reading nonetheless...

p.s. thanks to faithful reader, mettle, for his repeated votes of confidence (see comments)...

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Christmas break

off to a big family christmas in the poconos... occasional posting...

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In case my one or two regular readers haven't already figured it out

i've pretty much had it... i've been blogging over four years, something which has required a daily commitment and a constant, enervating awareness of all the ghastly stuff that goes on in the world... ever the optimist, i had some peculiar notion that electing a candidate like barack obama might possibly make blogging a more pleasant experience... ah, well... now that i'm back in the u.s. after over five months outside the country, i'm just not sure i want to keep going with this, hence the unusual phenomenon of four days between posts... anywayz, i'm going to think things over... stay tuned, but don't hold your breath...

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Bloggus Interruptus

due to temporarily overwhelming disgust, frustration and nausea...

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Just so's ya know

yes, my last post was on saturday and, yes, it's now wednesday in both afghanistan and the u.s. (afghanistan is 11 1/2 hours ahead of u.s. pacific time and 8 1/2 hours ahead of u.s. eastern time), and, yes, i haven't put up a post yet this week...

why this shocking dereliction of duty...?

simple... there's absolutely nothing out there that's grabbed my attention... yeah, there's the usual run of depressing crap oozing out from all quarters and, yeah, our boy obama's been making some decent speeches, but no meat, ifyaknowhutimean... let's get some REAL changes, POSITIVE changes, whaddaya say...! my patience is about gone...

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Over four years and 7,750 posts

7,751 counting this one...

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Going to Denver to air your views at the Democratic National Convention? Here's where you might find yourself.

just yesterday on the And, yes, I DO take it personally blogtalk radio show, brother tim and i were discussing the descent of the u.s. deep into fascism territory and tim was bemoaning the fact that when he raises that topic with some folks, they immediately suspect that he's got his tin-foil hat on too tight... well, people, check this out and then tell me how u.s. fascism is an over-the-top point-of-view held only by nutcases and conspiracy theorists...



from raw story...

During the 2004 Republican Nation Convention in New York City, over 1,700 protesters were taken into police custody in one of the most sweeping mass-arrests in US history. Many were held on Staten Island's Pier 57, inside a warehouse which was contaminated with lead and asbestos. Some were held for days, and without proper access to food, water, outside communication or legal counsel.

In Denver, police are preparing what a local political organizer calls a 'concentration camp,' laying in wait for mass arrests anticipated during the upcoming Democratic National Convention.

On Wednesday, a Denver CBS affiliate sent a news crew to crash the police department's improvised detention facility, found in a warehouse owned by the city on the north-east side of town.

"This is a building filled with metal holding cells," described reporter Rick Sallinger, introducing the segment. "We showed up at the facility unannounced today, the doors were wide open, and we managed to shoot for several minutes until a Denver sheriff's captain asked us to leave."

Footage of the warehouse revels tall, chain-link fence capped by barbed wire, and segmented pens each bearing an identifying letter at about shoulder height.

The news crew was not invited, nor welcome. Cpt. Frank Gale of the Denver Sheriff's Department called the facility "a secured area," and worried that information related to the site would be used "by people who are potentially trying to be disruptive."

"Each of these fenced in areas is about five yards by five yards," said Sallinger. "There's a lock on the door. How long those arrested will be kept here is not known. A sign on the wall reads, 'Warning! Electric stun devices used in this facility.'"

"If 300 people are taken to Denver’s temporary detention facility within a short time frame, processing those persons at the rate of 30 to 50 per hour would take at least 6 to 10 hours," notes a letter from ACLU Colorado, sent to the Denver Police Department. "During the Republican National Convention in New York City in 2004, nearly 1,100 people were arrested in a four-hour period. If a similar situation occurred in Denver, it would take at least 22 to 36 hours to process those persons."

Area activists are not amused at the news. CBS carried its footage of the newfound jail to Adam Jung, with Tent State University, and Zoe Williams, a Code Pink organizer.

"Very reminiscent of a political prisoner camp, or a concentration camp," said Williams.

"I mean, that's how you treat cattle," added Jung. "... It's a meat processing plant."

The detention site was supposed to be a secret, said Sallinger.

i grew up in colorado and lived in denver in 2001 and 2002... i would have expected this in other cities but not so much in denver, although, given today's climate, i guess i'm not surprised to see this kind of thing pop up anywhere...

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A Brother Tim Op-Ed

*These opinions do not necessarily represent the opinions of And, yes, I DO take it personally.

"The ugly truth is this: American ideology is now based on barbarism."
Tim O'Donnell

I am both shamed and sickened by the blood-lust of my fellow Americans. Their love of war; shock and awe; death and destruction, saddens me. They are self-deluded cretins, living in a state of denial. Their greed and arrogance has culminated in mass mental retardation. They have an insatiable hunger for war, a hunger that will result in emaciation, and ultimately, their demise.

We love war so much, we use the word at every opportunity. The War on Drugs; the War on Poverty; the War on Terror; ad infinitum, ad nuaseam. Let's be honest and call it what it really is, the War on Peace.

Even Barack Obama, the man who, at one time, gave me a glimmer of hope, has resorted to using terms like 'good' wars and 'bad' wars. Let me give you a news-flash, Senator: War is war. There is no such thing as a 'good' war. The closest you can come to 'good', is a defensive war, which we haven't waged since the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941.

The call is now going out, for us to redeploy our troops from the 'bad' war in Iraq, to the 'good' war in Afghanistan. The Afghanistan war is just as illegal, if not more so, than the Iraq war. We were not attacked by the Afghans (15 of the 19 supposed hijackers were Saudi Nationals), nor was it mandated or approved by the United Nations. In fact, it was contrary to the UN Charter. But in the eyes of America, the UN Charter is just like the Hague Conventions, the Geneva Conventions and Protocols, or the Constitution of the United States; it's just a piece of ....... paper.

I guess I must have been out fishing, or studying my Bible, when I apparently missed the news cycle that reported when God had died, or retired, and relinquished His powers to the ruling class of America. We continue to live under the psychedelic delusion that we are the world's sole superpower, with the self-anointed/appointed authority to dictate policy and lifestyles to the world.

The sad fact is, we are but a schoolyard bully with the temperament of a two year old. We don't pick on people who are powerful enough to bitch-slap us back into reality. We only lord over, or invade, smaller, weaker nations. You don't see us illegally attacking China or Russia. Does anyone wonder why?

We have regressed to being barbaric, to accepting, and even embracing, the raping and pillaging, in a way, considering it to be somewhat noble. To the victor goes the spoils.

We refuse to listen to sage counsel, such as 'What goes around, comes around'; 'Do unto others as you would have them do unto you'; or 'You reap what you sow'. When, not if, we suffer a devastating attack (the magnitude 9-11 was merely a slap on the cheek), Americans will claim victim status. We will be bombarded with all the pseudo-reasons like, 'they hate us for our freedoms', or 'they hate us for our religion', or 'they hate us for our prosperity'. Never will you hear the real reasons. They hate us for our arrogance, aggression, greed, and lack of human compassion and decency.

We like to self-identify ourselves as being a 'Christian' Nation; but where, in the New Testament, does it command, condone, or even allow the things we do? Torture; secret renditions; incinerating cities (Hiroshima and Nagasaki); destroying and decimating foreign lands; poisoning and polluting their soil and air with things like chemicals and depleted uranium? Dropping bombs, firing cruise missiles and the like, to totally level neighborhoods and cities, indiscriminately killing innocents, many of them women, children, and elderly.

Can anyone honestly believe God is smiling down on us, and saying, "Well done, my good and faithful servants"? Does anyone believe He's saying, "Heckuva job, Georgie"?

Unfortunately, what goes around, DOES come around. The chickens are already coming home to roost. The 'lucky' ones that do make it back from these senseless wars, are saddled with lifelong injuries and disfigurements. Many, with severe psychological problems, that we try to explain away as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The truth is, when normal people are trained and ordered to carry out inhumane atrocities, or to be eyeball-witnesses of them; it would be a 'disorder' if they WEREN'T traumatised. Add to that, the horrors of things yet to come. Things like the cancers, health problems, and birth-defects caused by our forces being exposed to, and inhaling the DU dust. It's not only the 'enemy' who will suffer. Did we learn absolutely nothing from things like Agent Orange in Viet Nam?

I am a firm believer in eschatology. We are living in precursory times, and I am but a harbinger of things to come. It may not happen next month, or next year; but America is in it's penultimate stage.

Can we change course? Can we right our wrongs? Can we repent? Do we have the intestinal fortitude? I doubt it.

America will be forced to take on the role of the Phoenix, and arise from it's ashes. How sad. The 'School of Hard Knocks' is an expensive and unnecessary education. Some learn from their mistakes; some learn from others' mistakes; and some never learn at all.

This my country too, and I resent that the obscenely wealthy elite are herding us onto the slippery slope of our demise. And weary, that the intellectually-challenged populace is saying, "Yeah, that's cool............. Honey, bring me another beer, American Idol is gettin' ready to start".

Get out your proverbial wallets, it's time to pay the Piper,
Brother Tim

**Cross-posted at the Blog of Revelation

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Winding down

yes, it's true... the last post i made to this blog was this past saturday...

so, what's going on...?

i've been blogging for two principal reasons... one, to be able to understand the bigger picture of what's happening in the world, and, through providing that search with a means of expression, to accelerate my learning... and two, instead of letting my hard-won insights rumble and fester inside of me, using blogging to aid and abet the process of retaining my sanity by externalizing all that repressed energy... i'm pleased to say that i've been successful on both counts...

so, after three-plus years of blogging faithfully, almost obsessively, every day, putting up posts that i believe demonstrate pieces of the bigger picture, essential pieces of the emergent pattern that's been threatening to stifle everything good and true about humanity, i no longer feel the overwhelming need to add more pieces to that picture...

am i going to stop blogging...?

no, i'm not going to stop... i am, however, not going to continue with the single-minded intensity with which i've attacked blogging since march 2005... days may go by without a post and then there may be only one or two... and, yes, there could also be the occasional flurry... perhaps my co-bloggers will toss in the occasional post or two, but this blog will not be as it has been, unless and until...

"unless and until" what...?

when i start to see signs of real, fundamental, serious, positive, sustainable changes appearing on the horizon, i can promise you, i will come roaring back (and, no, i'm not referring to anything as cosmically trivial as obama winning the election)... what i'm waiting for is to see the dark forces truly on the run, being driven from their lairs in the dark of night by good-hearted citizens with torches, rakes and hoes... i believe that day is coming but, until then, there's little else i have to add...

meanwhile, life goes on as we watch our dark masters strut and fret their final hours on the stage...

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Aw, crap...! Four and half months outside the U.S. and look what greets me when I get back...

for four and a half months, the google ad web crawler "saw" that i was outside the u.s. and inserted banner ads on the blog appropriate to the geographic ip address where i was accessing the site... now that i'm finally back in the u.s., look what jumps out at me when i open up my own blog site...



bite me, mccain...

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The "And, yes, I DO take it personally" radio show is BACK ON THE AIR!

there was a bit of a problem with the past two weeks' shows, namely, we didn't have them... i'll spare you the boring details and instead simply say that you can join me, raphael (profmarcus), and brother tim TOMORROW, Thursday, March 20th, live, for 30 minutes of the "And, yes, I DO take it personally" radio show on blog talk radio, starting at 8 a.m. PDT, 11 a.m. EDT, noon ART (Argentina Regional Time) and 3 p.m. GMT... we'll be kicking around the issues of the day and we'll also hear from a few callers... feel free to call in at 646 200 0056, or +1 646 200 0056 from outside the u.s... we'll have the chat window open if you don't want to use up your long distance minutes or think you might have a little stage fright... in any case, stop by... we don't bite... we promise...!



the above link will take you to the show's page on blog talk radio where you can also listen to all the archived broadcasts or find other great listening material on every conceivable subject...

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Drat...! Problems with the And, yes, I DO take it personally radio show

there was a bit of a problem with last week's show, namely, we didn't have one... i do the show via skype live from here in argentina, but i experienced, for the second time, a weird problem... my microphone ceased working, but ONLY with skype... i'll spare you the boring details of the numerous fixes and workarounds i attempted before FINALLY getting it to work again... now, a new glitch...

i was preparing to put up this post about the show and i decided to check blogtalk just for the heck of it only to find that i hadn't scheduled any shows past last thursday (you can only schedule a month in advance) and it won't let me schedule for the current day... sigh... i have it scheduled for next thursday but didn't put any down for after that because i believe i will be leaving for afghanistan shortly thereafter and have no idea if i will have adequate access or, if i do, if i will be able to access at the right time... since kabul is 12 1/2 hours ahead of u.s. pacific time, that would be 8:30 p.m. there which, if i have decent access where i'll be staying, would be just fine... whatever the access, i'm sure it will be by satellite which also means having to deal with that infuriating 1-2 second delay as the signal goes up and comes back down...

i wrote co-host, brother tim, that, if he feels up to it - and i hope he does - i would be happy for him to do the show himself... maybe he could invite a guest or two so he doesn't feel compelled to carry the entire weight of 30 minutes alone... better yet, any of you readers could also be guests... just make your wishes known in the comments...

in the meantime, join me, raphael (profmarcus), and brother tim NEXT WEEK, March 20th, live, for 30 minutes of the "And, yes, I DO take it personally" radio show on blog talk radio, starting at 8 a.m. PDT, 11 a.m. EDT, 2 p.m. ART (Argentina Regional Time) and 6 p.m. GMT... we'll be kicking around the issues of the day and also hear from a few callers... feel free to call in at 646 200 0056, or +1 646 200 0056 from outside the u.s... we'll have the chat window open if you don't want to use up your long distance minutes or think you might have a little stage fright... in any case, stop by... we don't bite... we promise...!



the above link will take you to the show's page on blog talk radio where you can also listen to all the archived broadcasts or find other great listening material on every conceivable subject...

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Join me and Brother Tim tomorrow for the And, yes, I DO take it personally radio show

join me, raphael, and brother tim tomorrow, live, for 30 minutes of the "And, yes, I DO take it personally" radio show on blog talk radio, starting at 8 a.m. PST, 11 a.m. EST, 2 p.m. ART (Argentina Regional Time) and 6 p.m. GMT... we'll be kicking around the issues of the day and also hear from a few callers... feel free to call in at 646 200 0056, or +1 646 200 0056 from outside the u.s... we'll have the chat window open if you don't want to use up your long distance minutes or think you might have a little stage fright... in any case, stop by... we don't bite... we promise...!



the above link will take you to the show's page on blog talk radio where you can also listen to all the archived broadcasts or find other great listening material on every conceivable subject...

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Reminder: the "And, yes, I DO take it personally" radio show

join me, raphael cruz (profmarcus) and co-blogger brother tim today at blog talk radio for the "And, yes, I DO take it personally" radio program... the is the first edition of the 30-minute expanded version and we're dedicating the program to the demise of the united states constitution and the bill of rights... you can listen live here... you can also call in at (646) 200-0056 - or +(1 646) 200-0056 for those outside the u.s. - or talk with us via the live chat window...

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Reminder: the "And, yes, I DO take it personally" radio show

the regular, "And, yes, I DO take it personally" radio program will air this morning at 8 a.m. pacific time (u.s.), 11 a.m., eastern time (u.s.), 2 p.m. (argentina), and 4 p.m. gmt (uk)... this will be the last fifteen-minute program and, starting next thursday, 14 february (valentine's day), the show will expand to thirty minutes... the show features me, profmarcus (raphael cruz), and my co-host and co-blogger, brother tim, sharing our perspectives on events of the day and the past week...

you can tune in live here via the superb internet radio service, blog talk radio, or listen to any of our past shows by visiting here... if you're listening live, you can also call in at +(1 646) 200-0056, or stop by via live chat...

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150,000

approximately one hour ago, the hit counter for this site clicked over to 150,000... yeah, i know... that's a relatively tiny number compared to the biggies, but, then again, i've never done what was necessary to take this humble weblog to that level... i realized early on that i had to speak with my own voice and was simply not willing to alter that for the sake of readership... so, what you see here, in company with my fellow bloggers, is what you get... if you like it, great... if you don't, that's ok too... anyway, for those who have been around for most of the ride so far, thanks... for those of you just jumping onboard, welcome... and, for those of you who couldn't care less, hey... i can get behind that...

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Today's "And, yes, I DO take it personally" radio show

i just finished today's segment of the "And, yes, I DO take it personally" radio show on blog talk radio... the highlight without a doubt was having co-blogger, brother tim, call in... i would have given him more time if i had bothered to look at whether someone was waiting in the call-in cue, but, hey... i'm still getting used to their system... anyway, you can listen here...

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The "And, yes, I DO take it personally" radio show

some of you may remember that, a while back, i did a show on internet radio that originated out of buenos aires called "cruisin' the blogs..." i don't know what i was thinking, but i had it scheduled for an hour, monday through friday, and, combined with my work and travel, the schedule was a killer... i did it several times live from bulgaria, macedonia, and the u.s., in addition to broadcasting from argentina, and i also pre-recorded segments as mp3's and emailed them in... the segments were also available as podcasts for download...

well, anywayz...

i decided to give it another try, altho' this time, i'm being considerably more sensible about the time involved, plus i discovered a new venue, blog talk radio, that is perhaps the slickest, people-powered, community internet radio option i've yet run across... i'm doing a fifteen-minute segment every thursday at 8 a.m., pacific time, and the show is archived on the site for later listening and/or downloading...

among the features of the site are live chat and guest call-in... i'd like to invite any of the regular readers and my co-bloggers as well to drop by... assuming that listeners increase, i may consider expanding the time and, in any case, would like to add a guest host... if you've got a few minutes to spare, take a listen and tell me what you think... you can access the site quickly by clicking on the blue blog talk radio box in the right-hand column or through the links above...

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