Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Now where are the bomb dogs?

Please Flipper, come home...

Thursday, September 15, 2005

Don't kiss me with that

Via a pretzelattack comment on Eschaton:
I remember reading somewhere that the Chinese Communists would shoot people and charge the families for the price of the bullets. Now under capitalism they take the skin. Onward and upward.
There was a time when we objected to the Chinese authorities' harvesting of executed prisoners' organs for transplant. Now, according to The Guardian, we have this:
Peter Butler, a consultant plastic surgeon and government adviser, said there had been rumours that Chinese surgeons had performed hand transplants using hands from executed prisoners. One transplant centre was believed to be adjacent to an execution ground. I can see the utility of it, as they have access and no ethical objection, he said. The main concern would be infective risk.
Have we fallen so far so fast?

Monday, September 05, 2005

Stop building the wall

How illegal is it to vandalize a wall if the wall itself has been deemed unlawful by the International Court of Justice? The Israeli government is building a wall surrounding the occupied Palestinian territories. It stands three times the height of the Berlin wall and will eventually run for over 700km - the distance from London to Zurich. The International Court of Justice last year ruled the wall and its associated regime is illegal.

It essentially turns Palestine into the world’s largest open-air prison.




This satellite image (below) of Qalqilya and Israel's West Bank Barrier surrounding the city was taken on 7 June 2003. The progress of construction of the barrier can clearly be seen, ultimately cutting off residents from their surrounding agricultural land.





Banksy hacks the Wall

Sunday, September 04, 2005

At least they understand decadence

Condoleeza Rice, bad lieutenant of the Crazy Bush Gang, goes shopping

Hero Of The Week

Via Bitch Phd

The Exploits Of Jabbar Gibson, from the Houston Chronicle;
The first busload of New Orleans refugees to reach the Reliant Astrodome overnight was a group of people who commandeered a school bus in the city ravaged by Hurricane Katrina and drove to Houston looking for shelter. Jabbar Gibson, 20, said police in New Orleans told him and others to take the school bus and try to get out of the flooded city. Gibson drove the bus from the flooded Crescent City, picking up stranded people, some of them infants, along the way. Some of those on board had been in the Superdome, among those who were supposed to be evacuated to Houston on more than 400 buses Wednesday and today. They couldn't wait.

Unfortunately for Jabbar, he fell foul of the First Law Of Looting and is now in a whole heap of trouble for "an extreme act of looting"

Katrina - Who did it?

Well according to one of the AmTaliban™ (Rev. Bill Shanks, pastor of New Covenant Fellowship of New Orleans), it was God. Their God of course;
New Orleans now is abortion free. New Orleans now is Mardi Gras free. New Orleans now is free of Southern Decadence and the sodomites, the witchcraft workers, false religion - it's free of all of those things now... God simply, I believe, in His mercy purged all of that stuff out of there - and now we're going to start over again.
More of his generous, Christian love can be found here.

This of course is disputed by Christian Zionist Stan Goodenough, who, on August 29th, was willing on Katrina, The Fist Of God to make the Americans see sense;
As today unfolds we are bracing to see wind and water pounding homes, whole communities, into the ground. Is this some sort of bizarre coincidence? Not for those who believe in the God of the Bible and the immutability of His Word. What America is about to experience is the lifting of God’s hand of protection; the implementation of His judgment on the nation most responsible for endangering the land and people of Israel. The Bible talks about Him shaking His fist over bodies of water, and striking them.

Many in America couldn’t have cared less about Jews being forced out of their homes and losing everything they have built. Here in Israel, many Jews will be feeling for the Americans who are now facing similar tragedies, tragedies brought about by the forces of heaven rather than through the political power of men. Can’t you see the link, America? Won’t you see the link?
Answering his critics claim that he was nothing but a vindictive bastard, on 1st September he added a further warning, For the sake of the United States;
Or will someone warn the President, reach his ears with this truth, that for the sake of America, and to ensure that something worse than Hurricane Katrina does not happen to his people, his administration needs to change its policy – supporting Israel’s right to all of the little land that God gave her, and determining to defend this land and this nation, God’s land and God’s nation, from the unrelenting efforts to wipe them out?

May this word reach President Bush. He may not have much time.
via Keld Bach

But if you don't believe in God, perhaps it was the free market?

Black people loot, white people find

Please remember the distinction.

You must be able to see it, Mr. Anderson. You must know it by now

This was CNN's Anderson Cooper speaking to Larry King on 2nd September
King: Anderson Cooper, you were an angry man today, Anderson, at what?

Cooper: I wouldn't say I'm angry, you know. I think I'm tired of hearing the politicians say that, you know, they understand the frustration of people down here. To me, you know, it's not frustration. It's not that people are frustrated. It's that people are dying. They're drowning to death in their living rooms and their bodies are rotting where they drowned and there are corpses in the street being eaten by rats and this is the United States of America. It's not a question of me being angry.

King: Well said.
Anderson was angry after speaking to Senator Mary Landrieu the day before. The video here (from Crooks and Liars) and the transcript here show Anderson gradually losing it as the Senator pats the backs of fellow politicos whilst the population perish.
there are a lot of people here who are kind of ashamed of what is happening in this country right now, what is - ashamed of what is happening in your state, certainly.
Still, by 3rd September, even Landrieu had got the point
But perhaps the greatest disappointment stands at the breached 17th Street levee. Touring this critical site yesterday with the President, I saw what I believed to be a real and significant effort to get a handle on a major cause of this catastrophe. Flying over this critical spot again this morning, less than 24 hours later, it became apparent that yesterday we witnessed a hastily prepared stage set for a Presidential photo opportunity; and the desperately needed resources we saw were this morning reduced to a single, lonely piece of equipment. The good and decent people of southeast Louisiana and the Gulf Coast – black and white, rich and poor, young and old – deserve far better from their national government.

“Mr. President, I’m imploring you once again to get a cabinet-level official stood up as soon as possible to get this entire operation moving forward regionwide with all the resources – military and otherwise – necessary to relieve the unmitigated suffering and economic damage that is unfolding.”

Welcome to endgame

So why have I decided to start blogging?

Many reasons I suppose; frustration, rage, egomania etc.

But mainly because I too have been banned from commenting by the Decent Left™ over at Harry's Place.

What did I say? I merely asked whether their comments box was closed to prevent their buddy Bush getting some bad press over the Katrina catastrophe.

It's not like I referred to them as racist warmongers or anything.

Well I suppose now at least I don't have to moderate my language.