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And, yes, I DO take it personally
Mandy: Great blog!
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"Everybody's worried about stopping terrorism. Well, there's a really easy way: stop participating in it."
- Noam Chomsky
Send tips and other comments to: profmarcus2010@yahoo.com

And, yes, I DO take it personally

Sunday, February 07, 2010

Rest in peace, Brother Tim... You were a good and kind friend...!

Photobucket
Tim O'Donnell
Deceased 1 February 2010


i'm stunned...! i just found out from a comment left on the previous post by betmo that brother tim is no longer with us... i never had the good fortune to meet this fine man in person but we had many a long chat by phone, usually when he was co-hosting my blogtalk radio program... a kinder, more decent human being I can't imagine... bless you and your family, brother tim... i for one will sorely miss you...!

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Tuesday, January 26, 2010

A huge thank-you to Brother Tim

i've been wallowing in a blogging funk this last week and a half... actually, regular readers will note that it's been longer than that... since my "coming of age" to the realities of this world some twenty-five years ago, realities that became almost unbearable during the seemingly endless george w. bush years, each and every dark development that issues from the obama white house is like a stab to my heart...

i don't consider myself naive but i did nourish the brief hope that we would at least see a general change for the better under obama... i certainly didn't foresee that the rape and pillage of our country, the erosion of our civil liberties, the vicious destruction of the middle class, and the full-tilt boogie of endless war would accelerate from warp 2 to warp 8...

so, i've been on a self-imposed blog strike, feeling that, under the best of circumstances, i'm only tilting at windmills... brother tim, in his great compassion, noted the vacuum and generously stepped in to keep the home fires burning... tim, you're a real mensch...!

what i neglected to consider is the plain truth that i never started this blog to make a difference... i'm neither conceited, articulate, prolific, nor ego-driven enough to assume that l'il ol' me could turn the tide... from the outset, i determined to make this an outlet, something to help me retain my sanity in an increasingly insane world... this little vacation has reminded me of that and how much the occasional post keeps me from descending into the hellhole of my own mind...

so, i'm back... not with bells on... not on a crusade... not with anything more in mind than to scratch some really annoying itches...

again, many, many thanks, tim... hang in there, buddy... we're all we've got...

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Thursday, September 18, 2008

This Is Important

John McCain's health records must be released

Watch this short video, think of the startling implications, and then sign the petition. It has been signed by over 47,000 laypeople and over 2,200 doctors.




McCain doesn't have to die for Sarah Palin to take over the reigns of the Presidency.

Think about it.

Cross-posted at the Blog of Revelation.

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Press Or Say.............

Fair use be damned........this is too good not too share in it's entirety.

From today's WaPo.


For a Bailout, Press 'One' . . .

By Alan Neff
Thursday, September 18, 2008; Page A21


"Hello! You've reached the
United States Treasury's automated bailout hotline. Please listen carefully, because our options have recently changed. If you're too big to fail, press or say 'one.' If not, hang up and dial 1-800-FOR-FEMA.' "

"One."

"Great! You've selected Option One. If you're a bank, press or say 'one.' If you're a brokerage firm, press or say 'two.' If you're an insurance company, press or say 'three.' "

"Three."

"You've selected Option Three, which means you're an insurance firm. Did I get that right?"

"Yes."

"Okay, let's drill down a little further. If you're calling because you're besieged by class-action lawsuits brought by take-no-prisoners plaintiffs' attorneys because your large corporate policyholders committed innumerable mass toxic torts, press or say 'one.' If you're calling because you insured billions of dollars' worth of undocumented, nonperforming mortgages, press or say 'two.' "

"Two. No, wait, one. I mean, uh, both."


"I'm sorry. I didn't understand. Let's try something else. If you're the CEO of an insurance company with a servile compensation committee that gave you an irrevocable golden parachute, press or say 'one.' If you've served on corporate boards with
Henry Paulson, press or say 'two.' If you believe in strict market Darwinism for every company but yours, press or say 'three.' "

"Three."

"If you want your check automatically deposited into your company's bank account, press or say 'one.' If you want cash in small, unmarked, used, nonsequential bills delivered to a branch office in Zurich or the Cayman Islands, press or say 'two.' "

[Silence. Thinking. Surge of fiduciary energy.]

"One."

"Okay. Please enter the amount you want using the number keys. Use the star sign for a decimal point and press pound when you've finished."

[Lengthy series of numbers entered, followed by the pound sign.]

"Wow! You are in trouble! Your funds should clear in three business days. When you have another claim, call back. Thank you for calling, and have a great day!"



Alan Neff is a lawyer and novelist. He lives in Chicago.

The convergence of fact and fiction.

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Saturday, August 02, 2008

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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Thursday, March 27, 2008

Another Man-made Disaster

This one by Brother Tim

I would like to apologize for the absence of the And, yes, I DO take it personally Radio Show today.

Although I'm not computer-illiterate, I am often computer-stupid. Profmarcus had tutored me on the procedures to get the show up and running. I had all of my copious notes in front of me, and was sitting at my computer chomping at the bit. I had the radio site up and was waiting for airtime. I called in and was being serenaded by the elevator music. I opened up the switchboard, and it kept telling me 'waiting on host to call in'. I kept hanging up and re-dialing, only to keep getting the elevator music.

After pulling out what little hair I had left, I discovered that the guest call-in number and the host call-in number was one number off. Being somewhat of a speed-reader, I was looking at my notes thinking I WAS calling the right number. WRONG.

So I offer up my sincere apologies to any who may have tried to listen in. I have my head screwed on correctly now, so I hope y'all will tune in next Thursday; as we will be up and running.

Once again, I'm sorry for any inconvenience or disappointment my stupidity may have unleashed.

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A Brother Tim Op-Ed

The Height Depth of Venality

Funk and Wagnall's Standard Collegiate Dictionary

Venal (vee'-nal) adj. 1. Ready to sell honor or principle, or to accept a bribe; mercenary; purchasable. 2. Subject to sordid bargaining or to corrupt influences; salable. 3. Characterized by corruption and venality.

Sadly, this definition is both meet, and befitting, of the vast majority of our politicians; especially the upper tiers of our government. The Executive Branch, the Senate, and the House of Representatives are perfect illustrations of this vile and odious behavior. Who holds the #1 spot (the worst of the worst) fluctuates like the ebb and flow of the tides. If you believe the moon only affects the psychopaths and sociopaths amongst us, look at the effect it has on our national leadership. It happens once a month, except in the event of a Blue Moon; and then it's twice.

But the most prodigiously egregious example right now, is none other than Sen Hillary Rodham Clinton. Her greed and lust for power knows no bounds.

Does she really care about America? Is she honestly concerned about the health and welfare of the Democrat Party? Let's examine a few of her, and her campaign's, actions.

1) Her self-agrandizing exagerations (a form of lieing) about brokering the Irish Peace Accords and dodging sniper-fire on the tarmac in Bosnia, among a litany of other things. She may be 'Ready on Day One' on many things, but honesty and truthfulness are not amongst them.

2) Heaping praise on the presumptive Republican candidate, Sen John McCain, on his experience and capabilities; while denigrating and deriding her Democratic rival, Sen Barack Obama.

3) With her virtually mathematical impossibility (short of Obama stepping into an open manhole or getting hit by a flying pig) of winning the nomination; she insists on staying in the race and driving a wedge between Democrats, weakening the party.

If the Obama/Clinton situation were reversed, Hillary and her campaign would be shrilly harping for Obama to withdraw for the sake of party unity. But no, not her; every week they come up with a new scenario where she can win the nomination.

"We'll use pledged delegate counts" --- Nope, that won't work. "OK, we'll use the popular vote" --- Nope, that won't fly. Then, "It's up to the Super delegates" ---Hmmm, doesn't look like that pig's gonna dance, either. "Well, how about having the Super delegates vote by Electoral College standards" --- C'mon, give it up already. Finally, "Let's forget about the implemented rules we all agreed upon. We don't want to disenfranchise the voters of Florida and Michigan" --- Not mentioning the fact that she was the only one on the ballot in Michigan; after ALL the Democrat Candidates (including herself) signed affidavits stating they would NOT participate (all took their names off the ballot, except Clinton).

As the old saw goes: Actions speak louder than words. What do her actions say to me? They say that she will say or do ANYTHING, at any cost, to be President. She feels privileged and annointed. If she can't have the nomination, she would rather the Republicans win, so she can have another go for it in 2012. It matters not to her if she splinters the Party and sends the country over the cliff under more Republican Tyranny.

That, my friends, is TRUE venality.

What say y'all?

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Wednesday, March 26, 2008

In Kabul




Departure screen
Dubai International Airport
Wednesday, March 26
(arrow indicates my flight)



Welcome sign
Kabul International Airport
Kabul, Afghanistan


it's 3 p.m. wednesday here in kabul, about 3:30 a.m. u.s. pdt, 6:30 a.m. u.s. edt, and 7:30 a.m. in argentina... i've been here for a few hours going through a security briefing which is the first crack out of the box for all the newbies... i'm dead on my butt since i only had 4 hrs. to sleep last night and didn't sleep but an hour and a half of it... the kam air flight from dubai was a 737-800, packed to the rafters, mostly with contractors like me... sat next to two guys, one of whom works for dyncorp (kind of a blackwater-type outfit) and the other for a computer tech contractor, and we had a pleasant chat...

driving around kabul (in an up-armored toyota landcruiser), i can see it's desperately poor, very crowded, exceptionally dirty, and parts are still devastated from the soviet and taliban regimes not to mention the shellacking it took under the "coalition" forces...

i have some pics of the terrain flying in (we flew in over part of iran) and the kabul airport (which includes an azerbaijan airlines, russian vintage, 727-type aircraft... (i've seen 'em before in belgrade... if it wasn't for the tail assembly, you'd mistake 'em for a 727...) i'll be posting some later...

anywayz, i'm safe and sound but won't be good for much of anything until i've had a good night's sleep... besides, i see you've all been in good hands with brother tim...

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Monday, March 24, 2008

I'm off to Afghanistan

some people will do anything for money... ;)

anywayz...

i plan to put up some (hopefully) interesting posts about my observations, and, if security restrictions permit, some photos as well... it will definitely be interesting to see what's happening from a first-hand perspective... in the meantime, brother tim is going to be doing the heavy lifting...

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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

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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Thursday, March 13, 2008

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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Wednesday, March 05, 2008

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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Thursday, February 14, 2008

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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Thursday, February 07, 2008

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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Thursday, January 17, 2008

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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