Politics: The Constitution

ICHC

Until recently, we at La Casa de Los Gatos were of the opinion that only the Idiot Son, our Chimperor from 2001 through 2008, had the temerity to refer to the document on which this nation was founded as "a goddamn piece of paper."

But thanks to literacy and the joy of reading, we find that Georgie Porgie was not the first, probably will not be the last, and is almost certainly not the only one among us who has equated this noble document with bumwad.

Which is why we should fund education, and resist the dumbing-down of the nation to which the oligarchs and corporatists among us seem committed.

Here, for your enjoyment, or at least edification, a quote:

"[...] if it is a question of the safety of the country ... the Constitution is just a scrap of paper to me."

*attributed to Asst. Sec. of War James McCloy, as quoted in Lest We Forget: The Japanese and America's Wartime Mistake, Joyce E. Williams and Alice M. Coleman

The issue in question? The forced internment of Japanese (Issei) and Japanese-American (Nisei) civilians in specially built concentration camps, in blatant disregard of Constitutional protections. Since the vast majority of those interned were guilty of nothing more than being of a different race than the majority of Americans at the time, the manifest injustice of their imprisonment required a contempt for the founding document of this country that is still difficult to believe.

Of course, one has to ask oneself exactly what people mean by "the country." Throughout history, a "country" has been variously defined as that geographical location that has been successfully held by one or more strong men (rarely, women), usually related. More recently, countries have been political entities, comprising people of different ethnicities who make common cause for their mutual protection and success. This particular country can be said to comprise those who regard this particular Constitution as a contract between themselves and their fellow citizens. That being the case, treating the Constitution as "a goddamned piece of paper" bears all the logic and clarity of thought of the statement "We had to destroy the village in order to save it."

This type of information — the knowledge that the people who have power over us believe that we have no rights whatsoever — needs to be disseminated far and wide. People need to know that those who climb the ladders of power see the powerless as disposable stepping-stones to that power.

Today, we have a President who believes in listening to his fellow-citizens. This man was democratically elected in free and fair elections by nearly two-thirds of his countrymen. We also have a proportion of certifiable loons talking about bloody and violent revolution to wrest power away from our elected leader. Although they are in the minority they want to violently overcome the will of the majority.

While we agree with Jefferson that the tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants, we don't appreciate idiots like William Kostric conflating the fairly elected and chosen President of two-thirds of his nation with tyrants like, say, Dim Son. Where was this self-proclaimed "hero" and "patriot" as Bush and his cohorts systemically looted the nation and broke its infrastructure? Cowering under his bed? Peeing his pants for fear of the pigment-endowed and hirsute perpetrators of Terra?

Mr. Kostric, since you're fond of quotations, consider these, if you will:

"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel."
-- Samuel Johnson (Boswell's Life of Johnson)

When a true genius appears, you can know him by this sign: that all the dunces are in a confederacy against him.
-- Jonathan Swift

*Note: James McCloy testified in 1981 before the Commission on Wartime Relocation and Internment of Civilians that he did not make this statement.

Stumble It!

Cheney's Executive Assassination Ring

OK, Seymour Hersh is not done with his investigations on this yet but I'd keep my eyes and ears open on this one. I won't be at all surprised to find out how far this goes and just where Cheney had them operating. As if what they were doing internationally isn't bad enough, it sounds like they were doing it here in the good old USA too. Forget about your Constitutional rights, they've been rescinded. Definitely. Dick Cheney, judge, jury and executioner. Jesus.

Stumble It!

World: Natural Disasters

No, we're not referring to the Bush-Cheney Misadministration, for once.

An earthquake measuring 7.9 has killed some 9,000 or more in China and injured thousands of others. The epicenter of the earthquake was in Wenchuan county of Sichuan province. The total number of casualties will undoubtedly increase as relief workers gain access to the stricken areas, a task currently made difficult by damage to roads linking outlying areas to the provincial capital in Chengdu.

The Chinese government has released millions in emergency aid and is rushing food, emergency shelter, and supplies to the affected areas. The earthquake was also felt in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Taiwan, and as far away as Hanoi, Vietnam, and Bangkok, Thailand, according to the Hong Kong-based Mandarin-language channel Phoenix TV.

Will Mother Gaia succeed in shaking off this irritating plague of humans that is drowning her lands, blackening her skies, and destroying the sweet green peace of her light and comely garment of life?

The last serious earthquake in China occurred in the 1970s and the death toll was 255,000. Our sympathies to the Chinese people in their hour of grief.


Meanwhile, in Burma, the death toll from from Cyclone Nargis is expected to rise to 1.5 million. The Guardian has some excellent coverage available here, some of it &mdash be warned &mdash quite upsetting.

The Burmese government has decided to respond to the cyclone by refusing to permit international disaster agencies and workers access to stricken areas; insisting to the rest of the world that timely warning was provided to the people regarding the cyclone (those of us who saw what happened to the city of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina know quite well that warnings are worth shit when the people have no way of implementing an escape. Heckuva job, Georgie!); and asking its citizens to report any person who complains or "spreads rumours" about the slowness of rescue operations to the proper authorities. No doubt they're planning to cosh such unfortunates, or, as we have it in the common parlance, whup them upside the head and toss the bodies in the already corpse-burdened waters now covering much of the country. Heckuva job, Generals.

If our armed forces were not already bogged down in the twin quagmires of Iraq and Afghanistan inflicting unwonted (and unwanted) distress upon millions, we could be using them to implement the functions required by peace and humanity: bringing aid to the suffering. But we're too busy bombing and murdering women, children, the elderly and the disabled.

In other news, tornadoes have killed 23 people in Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Georgia. While that may seem like small potatoes to some, and we are not of the school of belief in the sanctity of human life, still, every person who dies so is somebody's son or daughter, or sister or brother, mother, father, husband or wife, and there is no comparing pain. Is it worse to lose your entire family, or one member thereof? It's all bad. Our sympathies to all the suffering people and beasts, to the whole suffering planet.

Now do you see why we swear and curse and rant and rave? It's all bad, there is so little we can do to help and comfort the living, and the suffering of every creature merits our compassion.


Today we reflect on the Avalokitesvara Boddhisatva, that divine being who gazes down on the world with compassion; who is known to the Chinese as Guan Yin, to the Tibetans as Chenrezig; whose Sanskrit name is Padmapani, holder of the lotus. One of the legends of Guan Yin/Avalokitesvara is that she, through her countless merits, attained enlightenment, but as she reached the threshold of the Realm of the Pure, she heard the cry of the suffering masses and turned back, vowing not to enjoy the fruits of her merit till she had saved the peoples of the world.

No, we're still not a theist or deist or any kind of godbag. As we remarked over lunch today, if there is a god, it is a very stupid one indeed, and guilty of bad aim. It could have taken out the entire military junta of Burma in one fell swoop. Instead, it landed a cyclone on the heads of the weak, the bereft, the poor, the already suffering. The junta is well-ensconced in power, and appears to fear no threat other than the depradations of the high life and old age. A thousand curses on their bones and may their families wither and die as the families of the poor wither and die and may their names be utterly erased from history.

Yes, we're well aware of the irony of sympathizing with the suffering of the poor while simultaneously calling down curses upon the heads of their exploiters. However, irony adds a delicious flavour to life, and since superstition is not our bag any more than god is, we venture to opine that our curses are merely a safety valve to relieve our rage rather than any viable threat to the many worthless scumbags who prey on the weak and the meek. Otherwise those types would already be extinct, given how many curses we have rained upon their heads lo, these many years.

Our meditation upon Guan Yin is simply a hope that the world will respond with compassion to the suffering. And a search for some way of looking at these horrors that inspires internal peace instead of furious rants. It's hard being a cynical yet compassionate curmudgeon.

Stumble It!

World: Slipping Into The Fascist State

Image from ToddAlbert.com

Unlike parodist Jonah Goldberg, we do not throw the term "fascism" around lightly. Like the estimable Dorothy Parker, we would like to throw it aside with great force. Preferably into the rubbish pile of history.

Our dictionary defines fascism as:

NOUN: 1. often Fascism a. A system of government marked by centralization of authority under a dictator, stringent socioeconomic controls, suppression of the opposition through terror and censorship, and typically a policy of belligerent nationalism and racism. b. A political philosophy or movement based on or advocating such a system of government. 2. Oppressive, dictatorial control.

Over in the U.K., Scotland Yard is, presumably at the bequest of the authorities, engaged in electronic eavesdropping of a Labour Party MP whose sole claim to their attentions appears to be a boyhood friendship with an imprisoned constituent who is

accused of running a US-registered website in the late 90's that raised funds for the Taliban and for Chechen militants. He is being held by British authorities pending deportation, although there are no charges against him in that country.

The MP in question, Sadiq Khan, is an activist lawyer who had brought a series of controversial malpractice cases against London police. Khan has campaigned actively against the extradition.

We posit that the actions taken against Khan constitute suppression through terror and censorship, given that the bugging apparently

... violates a long-standing official policy against eavesdropping on members of Parliament.

If there are no charges in the U.S. against the imprisoned constituent Babar Ahmed, why is the British government attempting to deport him? Where are they deporting him? To the U.S.? Have they tried him in a court of law? Of what crimes has he been found guilty?

These questions trouble us. If we are not a nation of laws, if we do not respect our own laws, then what are we?

The movement from democracy and a rule of law to fascism, dictatorship, and a rule of men is a slow slide, not a rapid change. Germans would have risen as one against Hitler if he had immediately proposed a move from a nation grounded in law to a fascist dictatorship. The Munich Beer-Hall Putsch proved that, despite a disillusioned and beaten populace, mass confusion, poverty, and the bleak aftermath of defeat in war, people would not willingly renounce their civil liberties and accept an outright dictator. It took nearly a decade of lies, manoeuvering, chicanery, and an election before the fascistic Nazis could come to power.

We have lived through eight years of rule by an individual with all the mental wherewithal of a shrub. The UK has had his lapdog equivalent in Tony Blair. If we are to halt the slide towards fascism, we - all of us - must speak up and act as best we can.

Stumble It!

World: Pakistan - The Beginning Of The End

Raw Story reports that "Islamic militants" overran Sararogha Fort in Pakistan, close to the Afghanistan border, killing seven soldiers. The military claims that, of troops in the fort, 20 are missing, while 15 managed to escape to another military outpost some 22 miles away.

Of course, the Pakistani military is famous for its assertions of success in the face of defeat. The veracity of the military and governmental spokesweasels is such that anyone betting money on them will be lucky to come home in a barrel, sans shoes, at that. The "Islamic militants," for example, could be resurgent Taliban. They could equally well be Balochs or Pathans in revolt against the hideous oppression that's been meted out to them for some three or four decades. Oppression that has intensified recently, as witnessed by clashes in Balochistan.

In a poignant quote, the reporter states about the military spokesweasel's announcements:

It was not immediately possible to verify the army's claim that 50 attackers died in the assault; in the past the rebels have given much lower figures for their own casualties.

With the recent expulsion of an American journalist, it appears other writers must be more circumspect than to outright call the various apparatchiki liars, as such.

Now Musharraf's spokesweasels announce that he is leaving soon on a trip:

... Pakistan's Foreign Ministry announced Musharraf will travel next week to Belgium, France, Switzerland and Britain to meet with European leaders and attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum.

Meanwhile religious extremist and corrupt tinpot Nawaz Sharif waits in the wings. Sharif's primary claim to fame is that he made Pakistan a nuclear power. That should be real reassuring to the idiots in the West who schemed and plotted and pushed Benazir Bhutto into returning to Pakistan so she could be assassinated, even as they propped up their good friend and "gentleman" Pervez Musharraf to the tune of billions of dollars.

A pertinent quote about Sharif's relationship with Musharraf:

There was personal bad blood between General Musharraf and Mr Sharif, added Hussain. The President was angered that Mr Sharif once refused to allow his plane with 200 other passengers on board to land, until it was forced to make an emergency landing with five minutes of fuel left: while Mr Sharif resented General Musharraf for ousting him from power and throwing him into jail.

Will Musharraf suffer the same fate as other unpopular heads of state who have been deposed in absentia?

Pakistan's fractured condition is the definitive pronouncement on Bush's failures in foreign policy.

Stumble It!

World: Pakistan - How Long?

Auntie Beeb reports that Pervez Musharraf's government has deployed paramilitary troops to guard wheat supplies around the country. Wheat is a staple food in Pakistan, and Musharraf's government is accusing hoarders and suppliers of manufacturing a crisis in the food supply.

Such crises usually occur when a deeply unpopular government gives people reason to fear for their future. People begin hoarding necessities, like food and petrol. Many flee the country or go into hiding. A substantial black market springs up. Prices go higher, scarcities get worse,and eventually, an enraged populace brings the government down. Or another power player decides the time has come to move and engineers a coup.

Anyone who thinks Musharraf will escape from this with a whole skin has another think coming. One of the reasons Musharraf can yawp about not being impeached is, he's rigging the elections. The other, more significant but never discussed, reason is - Pakistan has a history of executions rather than impeachments.

And Benazir Bhutto's assassination has opened deep ethnic rifts in the failed state of Pakistan. The tribal areas of Baluchistan and the Northwest Frontier provinces have been in open revolt for quite some time now - several decades. And the assassination has caused a break between the Punjabi population and the Sindhi population. Musharraf's status as a mohajjir (immigrant from India) plays into this, with no good consequences foreseeable.
Pertinent snips from Auntie Beeb's article:

The state-run Utility Stores Corporation has been selling flour at the official rate of 18 rupees ($0.30) per kg.

However, the BBC's M Ilyas Khan in Karachi says those queuing up outside are often told that the store has run out of stock.

There have been wheat and rice shortages across South Asia in recent weeks and world prices have reached record highs.

Yet, Musharraf claims that posting paramilitary guards at stores will prevent store owners from selling more than the government permits them to sell. Does that sound good - or sensible - to you?

Stumble It!

World: The Assassination of Benazir Bhutto

Ahmed Rashid at The Pakistan Daily Times has an interesting take on Bhutto's assassination - one shared, we suspect, by most people who know something about the history and politics of Pakistan. That would not include our State Department, Condoloser Rice, and the Republicanidiots currently making policy.

It should come as no surprise to anyone, except the aforementioned pinheads, that Pakistanis in general see the U.S. as meddling in their internal politics. The Boy Emperor, impatient to ensure a democracy somewhere (except, apparently, in the US) as a legitimizing basis of his "legacy," pressured the corrupt and power-hungry Bhutto to return to a Pakistan that was ruled by an even more corrupt and power-hungry Musharraf. It is now clear that Musharraf had no intention of keeping the promises he made to Bush even while siphoning off billions of US taxpayer dollars from the Treasury which we placed in the hands of that incompetent fool.

As our banks and financial institutions drown in a sea of worthless subprime paper, as our housing industry and homeowners circle the toilet, as our people lose their jobs, their homes, their health, and their children, the Chimperor keeps paying for goodwill and reaping only rancour.

I'm sure he wonders why.

Meanwhile, the finger is pointing at Musharraf, and there's no denying that if he did not actively plan to assassinate Bhutto, then he knows who did, and probably inspired said assassins.

First, Musharraf's government claimed she was shot. Then doctors at the hospital in Rawalpindi released X-rays purportedly showing no bullets had penetrated either her body or her skull. The government then asserted that she had fractured her skull when she hit a lever in the sunroof of her vehicle. When their hearers responded with disbelief, they amended their story to claim that gunshots had caused Bhutto to duck back into her car, whereupon a suicide bomber detonated his explosives and the ensuing shock wave slammed her skull into the lever of her sunroof with sufficient force to fracture it. At some point, that claim was further amended to allow the possibility of bomb fragments having caused a bruise or scrape on her head that might have then caused a fracture.

Subsequently, they produced what purported to be a tape of an intercepted conversation with an al-Qaeda leader who is congratulating one of his minions on having achieved the death of Ms. Bhutto. al-Qaeda, never shy about taking credit, has denied any involvement. Even if they were involved, it says a lot for the incompetence of Pervy's government that they have failed to capture Osama bin Laden, who is within their borders, for over seven long years now, but managed in less than 24 hours to track a supposed al-Qaeda assassin.

They must think Americans are even stupider than we think they think we are. Either that or their long dealings with Mr. Bush and his coterie of extremely stupid and incompetent lickspittles has convinced them that Americans are no smarter than their leaders.

Musharraf's toadies have also claimed that Bhutto's husband did not permit an autopsy; yet contradictory reports claim that Rawalpindi police halted the autopsy that should be standard operating procedure when a suspicious death occurs.

The Pakistani ambassador to the US has now contradicted the Pakistani government's official claim that they do not need a UN-style inquiry into the assassination. Scotland Yard is already on the scene mounting an investigation at the request of the Pakistani government. A third investigation is being carried out by high-ranking members of Musharraf's cabal.

And now Raw Story informs us that US intelligence officials believe the suicide bomber was targeting the gunman who shot at Bhutto. It was apparently an attempt to get rid of evidence that implicated the actual assassins. Certainly, the Rawalpindi police displayed an unseemly haste in hosing down the area where the assassination occurred. One might wonder if, coupled with their earlier action in deserting their posts when they were supposed to be providing security for Ms. Bhutto, they were not somehow implicated in the assassination themselves.

To quote Frank Zappa, "Questions, questions, questions, flooding into the mind of the concerned young person today."

Stumble It!

Politics: The Lawless Preznitwit

Maru at WTF ably points out how the Deciderer-in-Chief is blatantly breaking laws passed by Congress to ban the sale of milk and meat from cloned animals, to permit Mexican trucks on American roadways (last I heard, it's American taxpayers who pay the cost of maintaining those roadways; are we charging Mexican trucks for some portion of the upkeep?), and to reinstate the mining safety hack who has presided over the mine disasters of the past year.

How much longer do we have to put up with incompetent assholes raiding the Treasury, robbing the taxpayer blind, stealing our investments and homes and jobs and lives?

Meanwhile the Plunderer 'n Thief tells us the economy is solid and strong. Is he insane? The Dow is down by ~257 points, Nasdaq is down by ~100 points, and the S&P is down by ~36 points. Banks and other financial institutions have announced that they will cease paying dividends as a result of the rising loan defaults, which are expected to peak in 2009, with losses totalling up to $150 BILLION.

Job growth is anemic at 18,000 for the month, and unemployment has hit a high of 5%. For a look at the number of jobs we need to create per month, go here.

Oil is at $100 a barrel. And the idiot in charge thinks the economy is strong. Worse yet, he wants to CUT TAXES.

Fucking impeach the motherfucker already before he can destroy what's left of this country, OK? Please. I'm begging heah.

Stumble It!

World: Pinkie Bhutto Update

What a surprise. Not. Bhutto told a supporter in the U.S. via email that if any harm came to her, Musharraf would be responsible for failing to provide adequate security, says Raw Story.

A telling quote from the story:

"Benazir was very concerned by the lack of security that she had on her arrival in Karachi on October 18th," Siegel said. "The circumstances around the attempt on the night of the 18th, the morning of the 19th, was very, very suspicious. ... There was no investigation of that horrendous killing which killed 179 people. She had asked that Scotland Yard and the FBI be brought in for forensic help for the investigation. The government of General Musharraf absolutely refused."

Why refuse top-notch investigators? Unless, that is, you have something to hide.

Raw Story has the video clip of the news program on which this information aired.

Meanwhile, Musharraf's government is now claiming that Bhutto hit her head on a lever in her sunroof while attempting to duck (duck what?), and that caused so severe an injury that her brain oozed out of her skull. Say what? Story's getting less likely by the second, innit?

More interesting -

• Musharraf's security police, who were supposed to be protecting Bhutto, abandoned their posts shortly before her death;
• Doctors at the hospital to which she was taken are now saying there was no evidence of bullet or shrapnel wounds to the head and no bullets in her skull or body;
• No autopsy was performed;
• She is now buried - it may appear that the burial took place with unseemly haste, but it is customary among Muslims to bury as soon as possible after death.

Still, these are some interesting questions, it should be popcorn-worthy to see Musharraf's spokesweasels attempt to answer them.

So far, said spokesweasels have been working hard at drumming up the old bogeyman, al-Qaeda. Sorry, Perv old boy, but if al-Qaeda could assassinate Bhutto when she was under your protection, and in such a public manner, then your intelligence and security people are not doing such a great job at all, don't you think. What's more, why should al-Qaeda target Bhutto now? Much better for them to target you, and wipe her out at their leisure in the ensuing chaos. After all, all she had was a bunch of supporters "willing to die" for her. You have the army, air force, navy, police, ISI, and who knows what-all else.

And, according to Raw Story:

... it remains unclear precisely who was responsible and some speculation has centered on Pakistan's intelligence service, the ISI, its military or even forces loyal to the current president Pervez Musharraf. Rawalpindi, where Bhutto was killed, is the garrison city that houses the Pakistani military's headquarters.

"GHQ (general headquarters of the army) killed her," Sardar Saleem, a former member of parliament, told Shah at the hospital.

Whatever the case, Bhutto's precise cause of death may never be known because of the failure to administer an autopsy. The procedure was not carried out because police and local authorities in Rawalpindi did not request one, according to IBNLive, but the government plans a formal investigation why this was the case.

Perhaps the local authorities were told that they'd better not request an autopsy?

Pervy, we suspect your European and American paymasters - who were definitely backing Bhutto over you, since her corruption merely involved money, not arms, ammo and nuclear weaponry - are not buying your story at all. In fact, since they were working hard and paying top dollar to have her jointly holding power with you, they're probably upset enough to turn the money tap off, old chum. Then where do you go?

Islamic nations are pretty pissed off with you, for sucking up to the Chimperor. And as for the non-Islamic nations, the only ones that have any interaction with you are the U.S. and the U.K. The U.S. is the prime real estate for deposed dictators, but you made little georgie mad, as well as royally pissing off a ton of Pakistani-Americans. Besides, people don't mind paying for the hangman to do their dirty work, but nobody invites him over for dinner.

The jig is up, Pervy. Better get ready for the neck-stretching coming your way. At least we won't have to look at your dreadful rug any more.

Interestingly, the U.S. is beating the drum of al-Qaeda so hard, one can only wonder if the chimperor's people were somehow involved in helping with the assassination. Without telling Dumbwit McFuckpants, of course. I don't think Cheney tells george much of anything, just feeds him the results afterwards and smiles a twisted smile watching the idiot dance as he tries to explain the facts.

Raw Story has some of the details.

Stumble It!

World: Benazir "Pinkie" Bhutto Is Dead

As tempted as we are to say "La Reine est mort, vive La Reine," we'll hold our tongue this once.

Her autobiographical work, "Daughter of the East," tells you all you need to know about the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto. Mangoes from Fortnum & Mason, is all I have to say.

On the other hand, the political situation in Pakistan has been steadily spiraling out of control since Zulfikar Ali Bhutto first came to power. Since then, it's been a succession of militarist dictators, coups, assassinations, judicial murders, and mayhem. We would speculate that erstwhile Bush-butt-buddy Musharraf is now in some serious doo-doo. He had this to say:

President Pervez Musharraf condemned the killing and urged people to remain calm so that the "nefarious designs of terrorists can be defeated."

From Auntie Beeb's news story.

Various political panjandrums have already made mouth-noises of appeasement at the populace of Pakistan, who will now decide what comes next. We expect the mullahs to win out. The various governing entities of Pakistan, much like those of the U.S. of late, have assiduously courted religious extremists in order to prevent true democracy taking hold. They are about to reap the whirlwind. They deliberately kept vast sections of the populace in the grip of a fundamentalist-based ignorance, preferring to let the madrassahs give the people a pitiful excuse for an education. Now those same uneducated, fundamentalist, crazed beasts will rise up to bite the hand that feeds them.

It's sad, but to be expected. Freedom is the right of all people. If their desire for it is perverted, then a perverted freedom is what they will strive for.

Stumble It!

Politics: Impeachment Hearings

Yay for Robert Wexler. He's taking the impeachment resolution to the Web. Wanna impeach but can't because weak-kneed asskissers and weasels in Congress insist impeachment is "off the table"? Put it back on the table with Rep. Robert Wexler.

Raw Story has the details. For those too impatient to bother about the story, go directly to Rep. Wexler's impeachment site and let him know how you feel.

This round it's Cheney. Next round, if the Chimperor hasn't gone yet, it'll be his turn.

Stumble It!

World: Benazir Bhutto Under House Arrest Again

Associated Press reports that Pervez Musharraf has placed Benazir Bhutto under house arrest again. Lovely.

Bhutto's aide, Sen. Safdar Abbasi, said the seven-day detention order was not binding because neither Bhutto nor one of her representatives had been served with the document.

"We will go ahead with the march," he told The Associated Press.

The U.S. and the U.K. have been meddling in Pakistan's internal politics, and the whole mess has now blown up in their faces. We don't endorse Musharraf or Bhutto, but Pakistan is a sovereign nation, with the right to determine her own path. Bush is an utter failure at foreign policy or, indeed, any policy matters. He simply doesn't have the experience or wisdom to formulate policy. His idea of policy is to bind his balls up and strut across the deck of an aircraft carrier. That's not policy. That's braggartism.

Needless to say, all the messes that Bush has created were quite foreseeable to many - no, any - people with a reasonable degree of education and an understanding of negotiation and interaction. You don't win arguments by threatening to beat people up. You win them by understanding that everybody involved in an interaction has to feel like they're winning something, whatever that something might be. If you try beating up everyone else, either they'll join together and beat the holy living shit out of you, or they'll resent you and keep looking for ways to get back at you. And no one wins those prolonged, endless battles.

Well, I guess now that Idiot Boy has fucked up in Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Russia, and "Old Europe," it might be time to send him off to do what he does best - get drunk and clear brush. Impeachment, anyone?

Stumble It!

Human Rights: Burma (Update)

Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the U.N.'s special envoy on human rights in Myanmar (Burma) visited Myanmar's notorious Insein prison today as part of his probe into rights abuses and the actual death toll from the junta's suppression of pro-democracy protests.

Now there's a man with guts. I'd like to see the Chimperor visit any country without full security detail.

Pinheiro will try to meet political detainees and investigate claims of abuses against ethnic minority groups. He leaves Burma on Thursday. He visited the notorious Insein jail outside Yangon for about two hours, according to Myanmar's state television. He was accompanied by UN and government officials, and escorted by police, witnesses said.

That would be Burmese police, of course. Think the Chimperor would dare visit Iraq with an Iraqi police escort? He takes his own security detail to friendly countries, where they foul up the traffic and irritate thousands of ordinary citizens who need to get things done, but must sit in their cars instead as the Lord God High Panjandrum Monkeyface and his minions drive by.

Pinheiro also held talks with senior Buddhist monks on Monday, the UN said, but did not reveal any details.

A Myanmar official confirmed that earlier Monday the envoy visited the Ngwekyaryan monastery in South Okkalapa, a satellite town of Yangon.

According to the Raw Story report on the visit,

Political analysts say the generals have allowed the UN visits to reduce pressure on them ahead of the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, which opens in Singapore on Sunday.

Daw Suu Kyi, the democratically elected leader of Burma, deserves your energies and activism on her behalf and the behalf of her brutally repressed people.


Talk to your political representatives and urge them to do something. The Chimperor is an ineffective and worthless loser, and no one is listening to him. Congress, or your equivalent parliamentary body, needs to do something. Instead of meddling in Iraq where we don't belong, and which we've now set on fire like a careless child with a box of matches, we should have been concentrating all along on Afghanistan and Burma and other such countries. But, no. The chimperor preferred killing your children and other people's children.

It's time to impeach the son-of-a-marsh sponge.

Stumble It!

World: Bhutto Update

Update: Apparently, the U.S. has succeeded in putting enough pressure on Musharraf to ensure that Benazir Bhutto's house arrest has been lifted. Interesting. Less than 24 hours ago, the authorities were claiming it was not a house arrest, but a protective measure for Bhutto's safety.

Now the question remains whether Musharraf will arrange for a convenient little "suicide bombing" the next time Bhutto attends a public event, and how likely he is to be able to actually kill her.

A possible suicide bomb apparently detonated at the house of a Pakistani minister killed four people today, according to CNN. The minister escaped unharmed.

Stumble It!

World: Benazir Bhutto Under House Arrest

Tin-pot dictator and bad-rug owner Pervert Musharraf has now placed Benazir "Pinkie" Bhutto under house arrest. Yah. Smart move, asshole. The militant fundie muslims hate yer fucking guts, the nationalists see you as a sellout to the Western powers-that-be, and you're working hard at alienating the Bhutto followers - the upper classes, the wealthy, the Western-educated elite, the lawyers, the students, the progressive elements. Pretty soon, there won't be anyone left who isn't howling for your head on a pike.

Remember, Pinkie has lots of friends in the West. The Chimperor might be sending you buckets of cash right now, but he's only got a little over a year left in power. He's certainly not going to send any troops to help you out - he hasn't got any. So take your haram money and buy yourself a nice hideout in Azerbaijan, or some place. You're gonna need it.

Musharraf's spokespuppets are denying that the move is a house arrest:

"She is not under house arrest. Only the security has been enhanced," said Additional Superintendent of Police Aftab Nasir.

Mind you, Bhutto is quite the corrupt politician herself. It might be fun to see which of these jackals wins the prize - the benighted country of Pakistan, which is slowly sinking back into the Dark Ages.

Stumble It!

Human Rights: Burma

In response to my post on the abysmal junta in Burma, commenter bourgeois nievete takes me to task, and deservedly:

Bourgeois Nievete said...

Thanks for the idea that Mr. Pinheiro loan one of his testicle to our Democratic Party. I think he could get a few from the Republicans since they aren't using any of theirs on Burma either. Perhaps congress could use a bit more ova too? Any donors?
BTW the Dems are the only ones putting forth any legislation on Burma.
Please check out the Burma News Ladder.

Sir or Madam, you're quite correct. The Republicans ain't even talking about Burma. It's just that I expect Democrats, as the party of something other than frothing mad people, to do more. The Burma News Ladder is a good site to visit if you want to update yourself on the horrors of Burma today.

We must fight this monster. At home and abroad. The Misadministration's abrogation of human rights has shown our allies and enemies, from Israel to Burma, that they can do what we do with impunity. After all, who are we to take them to task? They're doing nothing more or less than what the madmen in power in this country are doing.

Stumble It!

Human Rights: Burma

Pic courtesty of Auntie Beeb

The International Herald Tribune tells us that Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, the U.N.'s special envoy on human rights in Myanmar (Burma) has been invited to that country by the military junta for a discussion next week.

The junta, which seized power in 1988, refused to hand over power to Aung San Suu Kyi's National Democracy League when it won a landslide victory in 1990. Aung has spent 10 of the past 17 years under house arrest.

Things heated up again this year when Buddhist monks led protests against the junta, and the brutal military response caused worldwide reaction. Although the reaction so far has been limited to apparent fainting spells followed by enthusiastic application of fans and smelling salts, one can only hope that eventually governments everywhere will do the right thing (we're looking at you, India, China, Singapore, Malaysia), and let the junta know that its actions are beyond the pale.

According to The Independent, the scale of the protests have the military worried. Major General Hla Htay Win was "permitted to retire," as the junta euphemistically expresses it, for being "too lenient" with protestors in Rangoon. Given that this is the same general who ordered bloody predawn raids on monasteries resulting in the arrest, imprisonment, torture, and beating deaths of many monks, and firing into unarmed crowds of peaceful protestors, one wonders what General Than Shwe, the despotic monster of the dungheap that constitutes the military junta, had in mind.

According to rumours, that worthy (Than Shwe)

... was worried enough as the street protests grew, that he sent his family to safety in Dubai.

"The stories are that he is isolated and that his staff are afraid to give him bad news but we do believe that he is the one to give the orders to crack down, so he is not totally out of touch,'' said Shari Villarosa, the US charge d'affaires in Rangoon.

Meanwhile, Pinheiro, who has been barred from Burma since 2003, had this to say:

... he "welcomes" the invitation to visit Nov. 11-15.

The statement, issued by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva, said Pinheiro noted that the invitation "sends a positive indication of the desire of the authorities to cooperate with his mandate" to investigate human rights in Myanmar.

After getting initial permission last month for the visit, Pinheiro said he would demand access to prisons and try to determine the number of people killed and detained by the military government in September's crackdown on peaceful protesters.

"If they don't give me full cooperation, I'll go to the plane, and I'll go out," Pinheiro said.

Mr. Pinheiro, could you lend one of your testicles to our Democratic party? They seem sadly lacking in that respect.

Stumble It!

World: Martial Law Declared In Pakistan

Pervez Musharraf

AFP is reporting that Musharraf has declared martial law in Pakistan, suspending the Supreme Court and cutting off all land and mobile communication lines. Television channels were also apparently shut down.

Pervez Musharraf had been negotiating a power-sharing arrangement with Benazir Bhutto, a move that had been pushed by the U.S. and Britain, despite the fact that Bhutto and her government have given ample evidence of corruption. Bhutto has warned that her opposition party will not tolerate a declaration of emergency by Musharraf.

Musharraf had originally pledged to step down from power no later than November 17, if he did not win the elections. However, through his ministers, he had previously hinted at the possibility of declaring a state of emergency if the court overturned his election.

The court has announced that it will not be cowed by the ministers' hints.

We continue to support this petty, tinpot dictator - ruler of a regime that houses the infamous A.Q. Khan who has openly provided nuclear technology to regimes hostile to the U.S. A despot who has refused to take any action whatsoever on Khan except to place him under supposed "house arrest," which has not prevented Khan from meeting with representatives of hostile regimes or publishing scientific papers detailing information on nuclear weapons technology.

Musharraf continues to turn a blind eye to the presence of Osama bin Laden, who might be somewhere in the tribal regions between Pakistan and Afghanistan. He certainly is not doing anything about the presence of the Taleban in northern Pakistan, other than attempting to dodge their bombs. Meanwhile he has all but promised to leave the tribal areas of Waziristan alone to continue to provide aid to the Taleban and possibly Osama bin Laden's entourage. All this while, in Baluchistan, Musharraf's army continues to assault and commit human rights violations against a helpless civilian population.

Not that Bhutto would be a significant improvement, with her siphoning off the contents of the national coffers, but why are we supporting this nest of vipers, exactly?
Benazir Bhutto

Stumble It!

Human Rights - Mutiny in Myanmar?

Via Raw Story comes a report from Newsdesk Special that the army in Myanmar is mutinying, refusing to shoot protestors and turning their guns against each other. If this is true, it is good news for this small, troubled, isolated country. The article states, in part:

The organisation Helfen ohne Grenzen (Help without Frontiers) is reporting that "Soldiers from the 66th LID (Light Infantry Divison) have turned their weapons against other government troops and possibly police in North Okkalappa township in Rangoon and are defending the protesters. At present unsure how many soldiers involved."

Soldiers in Mandalay, where unrest has spread to as we reported this morning, are also reported to have refused orders to act against protesters.

It is long past time that this repressive military regime were gone. Let us hope that the Burmese people can resolve their problems in a peaceful way, that the military junta is disempowered permanently, and that Aung San Suu Kyi regains her rightful position as the elected leader of Burma.

Stumble It!

Naomi + Naomi

The Naomi Club is generating so many interesting sounding books! I wrote about Naomi Klein and her new book, The Shock Doctrine, on Monday of this week. And, today, I listened to an interview with Naomi Wolf about her new book, The End of America: A Letter of Warning to a Young Patriot. In it she examines several totalitarian regimes in the 20th century. She pulls out patterns that were common that led to these dictatorships. And ... you guessed it ... the U.S. is following that pattern. Another important read.

I think I'll change my name to Naomi and become more productive and published. Naomi Manitoba. It's got a good ring to it, non?

Stumble It!