How can you tell if a politician is lying?

The're speaking.

Lies. They're everywhere. We are inundated by them. We read them. We hear them. We even speak them. Like death and taxes, lies are some of life's few constants.
So why are we surprised when politicos are taking graft and selling a truckload of shit to us?
I used to believe that there were plenty of people who "cared" about what my quality of life could be.
Now I know better.
Outside of our little circles, few could give a rat's ass about our well-being. Even fewer are affected by it.
But that is just fine. It just is. Work with it. Embrace it. Take ownership of it. Then do something about it.

Valentine's Day

Capturing ardor from a distance is quite the trick.
Gotta be in the right Frema mind.

2012

Maybe If the Photos Were From Abu Ghraib

Well, no photos. The Transparent Presidency continues its opaqueness.

Cannot piss 'n moan about the operation, for sure, but it was the military doing what they were trained to do. Kill the combatants.

Still hard to digest though.

10 years. A lifetime. Thousands of lives, in fact.

I continue to marvel at the partisan zero-sum game being played out. "Osama gets bin Laden and Bush couldn't" bullshit. Obama and Bush both deserve credit. This is especially the case when you consider Obama has just continued so many of his predecessor's policies. He even ramped up a few of them. And he did make the smart and tough call. I give him a lot of credit for that. I hope it becomes a trend.

Tap once for "Yes." Tap twice to be sure.

Getting It Out Front

Crossing the Rubicon

The die has been cast. I am past 50. In fact, I am 52.

More scars. Fewer affairs of the heart.

More than anything, I have a clarity I never knew possible when I was a young man. I also know change is a constant companion. It waits for no one.

"The man who views the world at 50, the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life." - Muhammad Ali

That, I would not trade.

"Now, this is shit..."

How many times have we heard this one?

War is bad. Except this one. The intention is pure.

These are good people. I just know that they are. Doesn't matter thatI haven't a clue as to who they really are.

If we just throw more money at it, we can fix it. What's a few trillion amongst friends? How can I be out of money? I still have checks.

Politicians are all bad... except mine because he got me free cable.

***

Really?

A Gora Phobia

Yeah, well...
It is almost time. Hell, it has been for a long time now. It seems like every moment is fraught with obstacles and delay. Sounding familiar?

I am a bit phobic of a few things. I have a medical thingy coming up this week. I am facing economic plunder. The mad sell-off. There is the boxing up to do. There is the donate most of my excess to whichever charitable organization I deem worthy/find first. Last minute visits (long overdue).
Visa. Ticket.
Yeah. Phobia. Ummm. Plenty.
All the while - Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock...

But, as the economic theory goes, what are the "opportunity costs" to this plan of action?

Well, for starters, I am getting rid of a ton of stuff. Good stuff. expensive stuff. Stuff I would like to acquire whenever I settle. But, for now, it just sits in boxes anyway. So what real value does it have? On the other hand, it is like an anchor around my neck. I'm drowning in it all. It has prevented me from moving on.
It isn't like I'm moving a few towns over.
I also have to admit, I kinda dig the quasi-Jesuit lifestyle. It is ridiculously liberating.
Removing that anchor will also make it all very, very real. THAT alone makes me a little nervous.
Tick-Tock...
Well, I'm not joining the Foreign Legion, and it's not a big, freaking tattoo on my face I fear. It is just a newly added frayed nerve. A PTSD on top of my AO-OCD. Am I SOL? WTF?!?!
Tea. I'll make tea. Sikkim will be today's provider.
Everything is better after a cup of tea.

WTF Just Happened?

A year just flew by. An entire year.

Been a helluva year, too. The peaks and valleys have been extreme. Pick a category and there were X-Game chart-busters.

Gonna try and ease my way back into this. I know I said that last few times out as well. Like I said, a helluva year.

Don't mind me, I'm off to look for my snark.

Dystopia

Well I'll have to own up right now. I didn't see it coming. Not in my lifetime.

We have what one may call a socialist in the White House. That, in my estimation, would be understatement. When Republicans act like Democrats and the Democrats act like Bolsheviks, calling the prez a socialist is just being respectful of the man.

We now have a group of people with no political party as such, but who scare the hell out of leftists everywhere. The Tea Party people. It isn't a political party, if you remember your history, it is an homage to an event. It was the moment when a young colony decided that enough was enough and moved to kick the British off American soil. It was just the beginning but, oh it scared the Sherlock Holmes outta the crown.

The movement has not titular head. It is about an agenda of limited government and free market capitalism. It is about the actual Bill of Rights - actual free speech and right to worshp (or not). It is about bearing arms and states rights. Oh yeah, the tax thing. Hmmm. Tea Party. Get it?

I also never thought I'd see the day when there were no Kennedys in elected office. Hell, I thought Teddy would be enbalmed and propped up in his chair. Now there is a Republican representing Mass. in the Senate. There is now a fiscal reformer in the governor's mansion in New Jersey. Democrats across the country are declining to run again after their current term ends.

There was snow on the ground in all 50 states in January. Go ahead. Check for yourselves.

Then there is the Canadian government apologizing for all of those years of Celine Dion. I, for one, shall be putting in for reparations.

Does This Taste Funny To You?

I took many months off as this year took a lot out of me.

First,my health wasn't so hot. Some chronic b.s. to deal with.

Secondly, I was left with premonitions manifesting themselves before my very eyes. The virtual death of the American auto industry, nationalization of capital and health care, and anyone standing in the way being labeled domestic terrorists, radical racists and, God forbid, "teabagging Republicans."

Well, I am a gun-toting, disabled vet, non-Republican, capitalistic, teabagging, well-educated, globe-trotting,socialism-loathing, pro-immigrant, anti-illegal immigrant, "24"-watching, Objectivist-oriented, Libertatian-leaning, quasi-Buddhist/Catholic, who loves his country.

Any objections?

I am a supporter of Club Gitmo. I am a supporter of Israel and its right to exist.

I think that today's France is more hawkish than the U.S. I also know that Sweeden has lower corporate taxes than we do.

I know that this president was chastised by the Vladimir Putin (Russia's leader and former head of the KGB) on our flirting with socialism. We were similarly put on notice by the leader of the People'sRepublic of China (and head of the Chinese Comminist Party).

Notice a pattern here?

I support the Bill of Rights. That means the 2nd and 10th Amendments as well as the oft-miscited 1st.

I note the irony that stems from my blossoming when I live outside of my own borders and that I never feel more American than when I do. At home, I find most people not interested in the world unless that subject has a snarky bumper sticker associated with it.
This has had the effect of causing my heart to be heavy.
We have been sipping from the Bolshevik goblet, pumped full of feel-good about yourself rhetoric and being led with a Stalinist vision.
Drink up Shriners.

Down Low

W. B. hanging with his homies in Crawford.

Liner Notes...

The last few music purchases:
"We Started Nothing" - The Tings Tings
"It's Not Me, It's You" - Lily Allen
"Rain Dogs" - Tom Waits
"Viva La Vida" - Coldplay
"The Best of Steel Pulse" - "
"Far" - Regina Spektor
"Love, War and the Ghost of Whitey Ford" - Everlast
"The E-N-D" - Black Eyed Peas
"Immortalized" - The String Quartet Tribute to Evanescence
"Big" - Macy Gray
"Baduizm" - Erykah Badu

"Cup of Tea, Dear?"

Patriots or Racist Rednecks? I guess it depends on where you stand on the issue of socialism and the notion that the government Juggernaut is out of control. It also has a lot to do with preaching about what free speech is versus free speech itself.

Individuals should decide for themselves what they believe.

One of the greatest lines I've ever heard about American identity and why we believe as we do came from this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mC9X5moico4

"It's not because we're better than everybody else, it's because we are everybody else."

By serendipity, I came across this site - http://dallasteaparty.org/principles/

These core principles are as follows:

Limited Government – As our Founding Fathers recognized, restraint of government is necessary to protect the liberties of the people.
Fiscal Responsibility – Government at all levels must learn to live within its means. To saddle future generations with the crushing burden of our excess spending is unconscionable.
Personal Responsibility – Liberty is unsustainable without responsibility. Each citizen must take responsibility for the consequences of his or her own actions while respecting the rights and dignity of others.
The Rule of Law – Consistent, independent and uniform application of the law is critical to a free and prosperous society.
National Sovereignty – We must maintain a strong national defense, effective security for our borders, and sole control over our land and our laws.
What we won’t stand for:
Personal Attacks – We’re debating positions and policies, not demonizing people or groups.
Unfounded Rumors – The easily verifiable facts are bad enough. Don’t weaken our position by stretching the truth.

And now the DHS says that people like me are a potential threat. Why? I'm a veteran. I lean Libertarian. I believe our borders are called borders for a reason.

I'm mad as hell.

Confucius say...

This particular observation struck me:
"A Man with clever words and an ingratiating appearance is seldom a man of humanity."
'Nuff said

It was 20 years ago today...

This image is burned was burned into my head. the 4th of June, 1989.

I was in Panama wearing a uniform. We were braced for immanent conflict (title of this blog).

That was what I volunteered to do.

Others have shit thrust upon them.

Remember this guy? Yeah. The guy with the briefcase that stopped a convoy of Chinese tanks on their way to Tienanmen Square.

He was fed up. A regular guy who got up that morning, brushed his teeth and whistled on his way to work. Then he found out all hell was breaking loose and did the unthinkable - he put his life on the line in an act of Gandhian non-violence against a veritable juggernaut.

In a nod to the late chairman, he disappeared without a trace. The identity and whereabouts of "Tank Man" are unknown. One editorialist in 1989 called him the "bravest sonavabitch in the world."

I salute this volunteer in the war against tyranny. His small frame towers over the many.

They Didn't Get To Go

They didn't get any burgers and beer this past weekend. Summer has not officially begun.
No beach parties to talk about. No hangovers to regret. No opening the top trouser buttons.
No regrets.
Just because the weekend is over and summer has begun, don't forget those who make it all possible.
Really. This is everything. Those rifles are the things that stand between what we are and the dust heap. They are the best of us.

It's Time

More than sycophantic lip service is required here. Go ahead. Give it a try.

The Teleprompter

Kim Whips Out His Dong

Now that is an impressive Dong.

The North Korean Taepodong-2 missile is thought to have an intended range of about 4,200 miles which, if true, could reach Alaska or Hawaii.

This satellite photograph, taken this week by the Institute for Science and International Security, shows Kim Jong-il's Dong at the Musudan-ri launch site in northeastern North Korea.

The "rocket" is slated for launch sometime in April. This waiting period clearly exceeds 4 out of 5 doctors recommendation that erections should not exceed 4 hours. Clearly, a "Kim's Gone Wild" video will soon be in the offering.

The White House is monitoring the situation but an unnamed source said that the size of the missile was not very impressive. "You know what they say - once you go SAC..."