Lords Of Secrecy

Why did 4X deferment Dick Cheney allow Pakistan's evacuation of key Al Qaeda operatives from US jurisdiction? And other outrageous and essentially unpublicized and unaccounted for acts of complete security insanity...

Happy Earth Day!

UPDATE:  Watch A Fierce Green Fire (in its entirety)...

Photo © S.Banos

Reality/And The Lack Thereof...

Two loyal readers and very competent photographers in their own right sent me two interesting posts this week, one photo-related, the other not. Both should have had the element of surprise, even shock, if it wasn't that both are thoroughly logical... coming from their particular schools of thought.

Eric Rose alerted me to this particular affair; but at this point, I'm more just plain exasperated than infuriated. These people have neither shame nor scruples, they translate lack of wealth simply as lack of moral integrity (coupled with zero work ethic)- it doesn't matter that they either inherited their wealth, or that they "work" pushing numbers around while taunting and degrading those they steal their money from, those who have far less than them and actually do have to work for a living. Of course, this is what they do to celebrate and excuse their inexcusable actions! And whether some actually meet to conspire in top level secret meetings of the Illuminati no longer concerns me, whether they do or don't- they get their evil done, their agenda gets pushed through, regardless...

I'm too jaded at this point. That's why it takes someone like a Snowden to do what he did. Young enough and still wet behind the ears enough so that the extent of the malfeasance he unearthed rocked his very world and... shocked him into action! That's why we need the influx of informed youth, and why they do everything to keep ours, ignorant, underemployed and imprisoned!

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Dave Reichert alerted me to this interesting Burtynsky article citing the prevalence of staged photography that has currently taken hold (see below). I suppose one can put forth a number of reasons for such an overwhelming prevalence, and while I certainly don't travel in those circles... I certainly can't see every illustrious university with a photo program training their grad students in how to advance their careers through journalistic endeavors. Everyone knows that kite's no longer flying- they have to sell a much stronger drug. They're teaching them to be artists of the highest caliber- and you certainly have to create (and live in) your own separate reality these days to believe that you are actually going to succeed in the photo art world once you  graduate. They have to delude themselves into believing that- that's what their money's buying them...

You know it already, so how do you say something new about it? It locks us into a cliché, or a genre of understanding. We immediately understand it, so there’s nothing there.

I just came back from a conference on the future of photography, where we had an interesting conversation around this. One of the curators of a museum in Switzerland had invited students from any art school, anywhere in the world to submit work to be included in a survey of photography of the new generation. The one thing that was consistent in 1,200 submissions was that not one of the students was showing anything that had to do with spontaneity. Spontaneity was gone completely.

There were no pictures with light coming through the glass on the table or a Robert Frank kind of street photograph or a decisive moment photograph—nothing like that at all. It was all very staged and all very deliberate—not photography as the act of seeing the world or reacting to seeing the world, but rather a photography of crafting things in the studio. We didn’t find one that varied from that, which I thought was fascinating.

We were wondering, why this is? In school, are they teaching that all the possibilities for taking photographs of reality and interpreting reality and reacting to reality in a spontaneous way have all been done? There seemed to be a feeling that there is no new narrative that can be found by pursuing that avenue of representation, and that they have to move into creating their own world.

The First 9/11

One of the major differences one can draw between Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda, and Henry Kissinger and the CIA, is that bin Laden first warned the US of dire consequences to come should they not withdraw their troops from his native country. Kissinger (or Nixon) gave no such warning- nor was any transgression against the US ever made by Salvador Allende's Chile.

We installed and supported a terrorist who killed thousands of his own people, and decades later attacked yet another country whose leader, interestingly enough, we first supported, and then tired of- all before we decided to kill hundreds of thousands of that country's men, women and children, for no reason whatsoever.

And yet to this day, we continue to call others "TERRORISTS" without shame, without hesitation, without the slightest pretense of self awareness...

Our Legacy of FREEDOM!  (because... Freedom isn't free)

The Invisible War

This can be fixed to a very large extent if the will is (ever) found- instead of stonewalled, denied and obfuscated. In the meantime, it is a travesty of monumental proportions inflicted on its survivors, and a shame upon us all. Not that women are perfect, but my own sex really does sicken me at times...

And it's certainly not just about India- or the military....

Leave The Fuckin' Sharks Alone Already!!!

And Steven Spielberg- you who did more than anyone on earth to demonize this animal as a supernatural killer from beyond should lend your voice and a few of your loose millions to help publicize and stop this wanton slaughter. The rest of us should, at the very least, express our supreme displeasure at this hideously cruel practice. We must shame and enlighten China to desist from this barbaric, slow death that they inflict on the animal kingdom- and we're not even talking... dogs! I've started a Petition (please sign and FB), in the hopes of getting the big guy's attention- China is not the only entity that needs to be shamed and enlightened into doing what's right...

Over 100,000,000 sharks are killed every year, that's 190 sharks per minute.

It is estimated that in 10 years sharks will be extinct...

PBS: We Know Better & We Look The Other Way

Because it's all about the $$$, don't ya know. And we at the Petroleum Broadcasting System will take it any way it comes, from whoever wants to give it- no matter how red their hands run with the blood of their victims. Because... it's all about the $$$, don't ya know!

So give us your tired, your poor chemical conglomerate and worldwide petrochemical corporate dollars; we don't care what you've done, how you've done it, and who or how many you've done it to. Shit, we don't care if you're even still doing it! We swallow our pride with the best of 'em- in fact, we do it better than anyone else 'cause, fact is, we know better (and unlike FOX- so should our audience).

A few dead villagers here or there- no problem, entire local economies or environments devastated for generations... hey, the cost of doing business! How else would we bring you our wonderful nature programs, if not through the support of the very people who do so much to actively promote its destruction?        

We're PBS-  Happy Holidays!!! 

PS- This whole tirade resulted from watching the vomit inducing Chevron commercial promoting their feel good Nigerian AIDS program on PBS. The latest in the continuum of corporate killers they enthusiastically court and profit from so they can green wash themselves of their sins on our public airways.

Republicans Are Out Of Their Minds...

Out of their ever lovin'  minds... (except for the ones who actually orchestrate and propagate that madness) like evil genius extraordinaire Lee Atwater (Karl Rove's mentor- 'nuff said), who first incorporated the hordes of Evangelical Christians into the Republican fold- all the while mocking and ridiculing them behind their backs...

Republicans' Romance With Slavery

There's never been any doubt in my mind that if many of your more "Conservative" Republicans (and granted, that caveat may be a tad redundant) had their way, they would magically snap their fingers and transform this country back into some more slightly "modern" version of feudalism slavery. And now some are actually starting to give voice to their repressed, age old romance with that particularly peculiar institution of yore.

If slavery were so God-awful, why didn’t Jesus or Paul condemn it, why was it in the Constitution and why wasn’t there a war before 1861?  -State Rep. Loy Mauch (R-Bismarck)

See... The Bible says so- and the Constitution! Just the natural order of things...now tell me ol' Loy wouldn't cut one helluva handsome figure with a Confederate officer's hat firmly atop his fair skinned head.

Hate Speech Pure And Simple!

Scheduled to go up in NYC subways this Monday!?!?!?!!

And shouldn't the federal judge who ruled on it have recognized it as such, declared it as such, and banned it as such? Isn't this the worst kind of pornography? Haven't we had enough hate speech, disguised or otherwise, in this country against Blacks, Gays, Hispanics, women, Asians, Jews and Indians to last us a goddamn lifetime? Will Pamela Geller be held responsible for anyone who gets hurt or killed because she chooses to purposely incite hatred- has she apologized to or helped the victims of the anti-Muslim propaganda film which she helped fund?

"The point is any war on civilians is savagery..." - Pamela Gellar

The hypocrisy of that statement from that person is beyond any and all measure- although perhaps not beyond the measure of the thousands of Palestinian civilians (many women and children) that have been maimed and killed by very civilized Israeli tanks, planes, missiles, bombs and small arms fire both inside and outside their homes- the survivors herded into walled in camps and ghettos with no means of support... learned behavior from another "civilized" people in history.

I hope there is, in fact, a special corner of hell reserved for those who delight in the suffering of others, those who dedicate their lives to maintaining, fomenting and increasing hatred, strife and blood lust-  as if their cause was in any way noble.

Obama Sanctions CIA Murderers...

On this day when we recall the atrocity done to us, it's also good to reflect on what can "inspire" others to commit such heinous actions...

It would also behoove us to keep our eyes on the ball, instead of bearing false witness...
"In response, the C.I.A. prepared an analysis that all but pleaded with the White House to accept that the danger from Bin Laden was real."

Compliance- Reality vs Disbelief

People walked out during screenings of this movie because "nobody could be that stupid." Apparently, they either knew nothing of the the facts, or were not as finely attuned (as they themselves thought) to what human nature is capable, or incapable of... I myself thought there were several times where the film probably took "artistic license" simply to advance the original premise of the escalating (and increasingly unbelievable) storyline.

Compliance was made on a shoestring budget, and at times it shows; and perhaps in part, because it did, in fact, choose to so closely adhere to the actual facts of the case, is not likely to go down in the annals of iconic film making. The facts that inspired it however are both compelling and undeniable, and what they reveal about us as Americans, and as human beings, are less than complimentary. For that insight alone, Compliance is well worth the look.

Political Gun Advocates- Paid To Be Insane

Interestingly, Sen. Johnson is also a friend to pedophile priests.

We can have laws regulating safety restrictions concerning cars, food, drugs- you name it... But there is no way, no way in hell that we can ever tolerate any restrictions whatsoever on how many guns we can own and how lethal we can make them! Cause everyone knows that if every American had an assault rifle, an RPG, and a different handgun for every day of the week (along with limitless ammo on demand), we would all be infinitely safer! Every god fearing American above the age of two knows that this great country was forged on the backs of those brave citizens able and willing to purchase high capacity 100 round magazines for their automatic weapons!!!

PS- Not to worry, all the media attention (what little there is and won't be) about having fewer guns in our lives will be over in... two weeks. Guaranteed.

Embarrassing...

As a Puerto Rican, it was both embarrassing and infuriating to see this sellout of humanity allowed an open forum to sell his credo of wanton opportunism and barbarism- especially since he should damn well be aware of how the country he tortured for, tortured his own people...

The Evil Men Do...

I really can't think of a more wretched, miserable position to be in- or a more blatantly evil practice to promote...

A Brief History...

...Of African Stereotypes- John Edwin Mason breaks it down for us step by step- the myths, the stereotypes, the long forgotten and deeply buried truths that pervade history well into the present. And the promise of more to come!

Redemption Song

OK, like Yahoo, I too got suckered into that 1% tip shit- so here's the "long awaited" redemption story.
(via Welcome Back To Pottersville)

Of course, the main point of contention here is-- why aren't the myriad of stories like this not major news items? People in expensive suits rob us of hundreds of millions each and every damn day, and for some reason, the only people we ever see in a perp walk time and time again are the nickel and dimers wearing hoodies and sneakers...

This is the reality we live in...

(via Tywkiwdbi)

KKK Good, Reality Bad...

During my fifty six years of living in the U.S. of A, I have repeatedly witnessed how our clean cut, respectable Republican sons of bitches methodically erode and undermine the rights our citizenry have selflessly sacrificed, fought and died for. They've effectively dumbed us down by eviscerating and abandoning a once world class public education system and then eliminating tuition free higher education. They've wantonly shipped out the manufacturing jobs that formed the backbone of our once prosperous middle class (with the eager support of their Democratic brethren from the other side of the very same coin), and you know they're just itching to destroy the last vestige of our so called safety net by driving a stake into the still beating heart of Social Security. Make no doubt, these heartless bastards will not stop until the white majority is a silent, compliant work force of scared shitless drones, ever thankful for being that one small whisper above the enslaved brown skinned masses this nation was built on.

Having wrecked the proverbial American Dream with endless war while promoting mindless consumerism under ever decreasing wages, they happily continue to play us one against the other, and should any of us stop to ponder and complain- they sanctimoniously exhort... Class Warfare! Unsatisfied with poisoning our present and sabotaging our future, their bountiful, limitless greed now seeks to delude and divorce us of our very past, so that we no longer acknowledge their sins and just revel in their fanciful, shameless machinations...

Vile Beyond Imagining- 73 Million...

I had no idea, no idea that such an atrocity was being inflicted on numbers this vast. Not to mention the multitude that have been hunted and slaughtered for sport, fun and "vengeance" ever since the fictional movie blockbuster some thirty plus years ago...