a good day in Baghdad?

so the shootings in Virginia were sad. one gunman, 32 dead, plus or minus. but frankly I'm a little sick of how special Americans think they are.

they marched into Iraq, killed a few hundred or a few thousand people, and by smashing a state, a society, a culture, opened the door to violence that has taken potentially hundreds of thousands of lives. these lives are 100% the fault of George W. Bush, his henchman, cronies, AND the people who voted for him. one deranged gunman? 32 dead teenagers? Imagine what it would be like to live in a country where a foreign country has destroyed everything your know to be familiar about your life, the good with the bad, and caused the death of that many people--at LEAST that many people--every day. Not once every few years, every DAY. where the soldiers of that country have the right with impunity to march into your house, look in your closet, look under your bed, arrest your mother, slap your uncle, shoot at your car while you're out for groceries, kill you, simply because, well, simply because nothing.

dead americans? dead iraqis? I don't see a difference. do you? are you really sadder today, than yesterday? than tomorrow? the campus at virginia tech is peaceful today. and will be tomorrow. Baghdad? Fallujah? Karbala? Ramadi?

Me, I'm out of tears.

questions on Darfur

okay. so George Clooney--who is a hottie--and Mia Farrow--who is an apparent kook--notwithstanding, I am not convinced that the stories we read and hear about "genocide" in the Darfur region of the Sudan are as black and white as made out. here are my questions.
1. why have well-meaning movie stars become the most important "political" activists on Darfur? what does this say about politics? about americans? do they actually know more on the subject?
2. what exactly do they want to happen? do they want--as first, last, any resort--the u.s. to attack Sudan or intercede in some way militarily?
3. are the numbers of victims of the so-called genocide accurate? what is the population of Sudan? of Darfur?
4. why did the united states bomb the Al Shifa pharmaceuticals factory in the Sudan? was it a "terrorist" factory or a pharmaceuticals factory?
5. what is the relationship of Israel to the Sudan? to Chad? to China?
6. are there exploited or unexploited natural resources in Darfur, elsewhere in Sudan or in Chad?
7. who are the rebels in Darfur? what is their relationship to the u.s.?
8. given apparent Chinese economic dominance in Africa, how does the global competition between China and the u.s. factor in?
9. what did/does the South Sudan Liberation Army, a non-Muslim force, say about Darfur?
10. what does it suggest that near-fascist far-right senator Sam Brownback is allied with numerous liberal spokespeople on the subject?
11. savedarfur.org advocates establishing a "no-fly zone" over Sudan similar to the one the u.s. military maintained over Iraq prior to the unprovoked American attack and invasion. how do they see that enforced?
12. also from savedarfur.org: "Bill Frist, a Nashville surgeon, is a former Senate Majority Leader from Tennessee. Each year he travels to Africa to serve as a medical missionary. This past February, Senator Frist returned to Sudan to see first hand the unfolding humanitarian crisis." That's a pretty misleading way to describe one of the most right-wing politicians in the u.s. ...what is the relationship of evangelical christians and neocolonialist missionaries to this so-called humanitarian issue? do evangelical Christians prosletyze among refugees?

international admiration society

so here's another piece of North Korean propaganda. pretty direct message...without reading Korean it's not hard to imagine what this might say. propaganda is such a fascinatingly visceral art form.

Marketplace of Lies

So senator and presidential hopeful John McCain was touring Iraq with a coterie of republicans. They announced how safe it was to walk around Baghdad, and that the open air market was just like an open air market in Indiana.

I was gratified to read in the New York Times an interview with several of the Iraqi merchants. They complained that the notoriety brought by the descent of a hoard of American politicians was likely to make the market even more dangerous than it already is. They pointed out that the politicians considered it safe only while the market was closed off by a security cordon including hovering air support, in the company of over 100 heavily armed soldiers, and that the americans all wore body armor. Nice day for shopping. The Iraqi merchants shook their heads at the ridiculousness of the publicity stunt. The article also mentions one general buying a small $1 rug, paying for it with a $20 bill, and saying imperiously, keep the change. Hmmm, didn't know you could use dollars in Iraq. Can you say, "neo-colonial occupation"?

It's clear that John McCain is walking down the path of lies laid for him by the current administration. Not sure why he thinks that might be a winning strategy but it sure is evidence, as I have long argued, that he's a nutcase.

In other news Hillary Clinton wants to keep U.S. bases in Iraq after her promised withdrawal, or more properly, wants to keep her options open in case her triangulation team decides she needs a different position. Yeah, keeping U.S. bases in Iraq sounds like a great idea. She is really a monster.

Finally, I heard a wonderful interview with Dennis Kucinich, also running a sadly hopeless campaign for president. His strong and completely hedge-free (listen up, Obama!) views on the need to withdraw from Iraq immediately remind me why I voted for him back in the 2004 primary. Too bad he seems not to have a snowball's chance in American hell.

Paranoid conspiracy theory of the moment: So the republicans seem to be having such a hard time picking a candidate who's not crazy or tarred by inelectibility. What if they killed off Dick Cheney and appointed a Bush-approved veep who could then be annointed as successor in time for the elections? Keep your eyes peeled. Also keep your eyes peeled for the resemblance between Rudy Giuliani and Count Chocula.

lying sacks of sh*t

so I don't have a lot to say on this subject, except the obvious. george bush expects people to believe that his agents will testify on the fired federal attorneys issue only behind closed doors, not under oath, and with no record. such utter contempt for the american people. he belongs in jail, as does alberto gonzalez, karl rove, harriet myers, dick cheney, and his entire administration. after they rot in american jail for a while then they can be sent to the hague for prosecution as war criminals. enough!

...and now fur sumthins verrrry different

swing the cuteness meter over to high, it's lolcats. yeah, no bitching about politics, wars, injustice, or the weather today, cuz cute cute cats are here! thanks to gawker for ruining my reputation and pointing out this uber cute site with its very own syntax and unbelievably kute photos of kittinz and katz. I could look at "excuse me do you has a flavor" all day. yeah, I'm sick. One day I will blog about the backyard cats, tentatively named Willy, Pickles, Scooter, Fraidycat, and Garcia. But I would really have to discuss Henry and Jimmie first, and I have some pride left. Not lots, but some.

Perhaps I can redeem myself by urging contributions to the kill-free shelter where I got my current roommates, the Brooklyn Animal Resource Coalition. Their website seems to be down today but you can find it on the web.

you senators can go fuck yourselves

Okay, sad to report that both Hillary Clinton (who I really dislike) and Barack Obama (who I really like) have massively equivocated on their response to General Pace's remarks. Both senators/presidential candidates refused to say "homosexuality is not immoral" when asked directly to comment on General Pace's statement. Both candidates chose to duck and focus instead on whether it was appropriate to inject personal beliefs into government policy. Both senators have issued somewhat conciliatory clarifications, but neither has said what they need to. Apparently it's okay to take lots of money from gay people, to say to our faces that they support us, but then refuse to stand up for us when we are not the only audience. Hillary, you're beyond redemption. This is probably strike 347. Obama, this is strike 1. Careful. That poster isn't staying up in my window when you get to 3.

senator of the moral?

I was reading in the gay blog Towleroad about the varying responses to u.s. general Pace suggesting gay people are "immoral" and should therefore be excluded from the military. Excluding, for a moment, the obvious question of what the hell kind of morality is that that approves of killing arab children, women and men at will, but opposes human identity, (and for that matter why on earth gay people would WANT to join the military) I'm happy to hear NPR's favorite republican presidential candidate Sam Brownback show his true colors. Brownback has endorsed Pace's ideas and lauded his courage for expresssing his moral convictions. So I wrote Brownback a note on his website. It's a little wimpy. But here it is.

Dear Mr. Brownback:
I have never counted myself one of your supporters. But even I am surprised you would go to the depths of endorsing General Pace's characterizing gay people as "immoral" and lauding him for the courage of his convictions. As a gay man who had no choice in my hair color, eye color, skin color, or sexual orientation, I am hurt that you, in this day and age, would condemn so many people as "immoral". These are backwards, mean-spirited ideas. God creates us each one to be the special individual we are, and that means some of us are gay and some of us straight. Hold whatever politicsl positions you like; oppose whatever you disagree with: I can accept these even as I remain in disagreement with you. But I cannot, and hope the American people cannot, sit by idly while you, a senator of alledgedly all the people--and there are many gay people in Kansas--cavalierly sit in God's chair issuing condemnations and judgments. You owe gay Americans an apology.

I left out the nasty parts floating in my mind. Brownback's politics are slightly to the right of the late Ayatollah Khomeini and I'm actually shocked at how nicely he's treated by the press.

calling all exorcists

So speaking of human sacrifice, according to CNN:

Mayan Indian leaders have vowed to "spiritually cleanse" an ancient site in Guatemala after U.S. President George W. Bush visits on Monday as he works his way through Latin America on a seven-day, five-nation tour.

Apparently the Mayan elders are concerned that Bush will be bringing along too many evil spirits. Perhaps they can smell the same sulfurous fumes that Venezuelan leader Chavez smelled. I can certainly smell them here in NYC. I recommend copious amounts of copal, a resin which is well-known in Central America and Mexico for its spiritually cleansing properties.

So yes, even the remnants of a culture which once practiced human sacrifice are finding Bush and his etheric coterie too horrifying. Perhaps this is because the Mayans had the wisdom to abolish human sacrifice, while Bush still practices it. Daily he offers up the blood of young Iraqi and American men and women to his evil gods. May the day come soon when all people learn the wisdom of the Maya and abolish this new human sacrifice.

I'm going to go burn some copal right now.

victims

The "Dirty Sanchez" fellow may be penalized for all this hou-ha over being a porn marine.

I'm going to say it.

I don't like the US government. I don't like the US marines. I don't like people who like the government. I don't like people who choose to join the marines. I don't like military/patriotic culture. I don't like Ann Coulter. I don't like people who choose to embrace Ann Coulter. I don't like people who go to conservative rallies. I don't like people who support the war. I don't like people who associate with people who think it's okay to use the word faggot in a hateful way. For that matter I don't like the kind of porn that Matt "dirty" Sanchez starred in, all plastic-looking people acting like robots. I don't like people who victimize gay people for who they are.

These people, they all deserve what they get. There are other choices, other paths. Choose an alternative.

propaganda

so I'm fascinated by anti-American propaganda. maybe it's just my mood. here's an OSPAAAL poster I just bought. this poster is gently suggesting U.S. troops leave South Korea "immediately". North Korean stamps also have some amazing propaganda images. I'll post some of those later.

stop the planet, I want to get off

apparently I am an alien who was kidnapped by earthlings and raised among them. however, now I'm hoping the mothership returns to pick me up soon because I'm no longer finding my anthropological studies of earthling behavior very interesting. it seems that earthlings, and a closely related subspecies, republicans, have values, experiences, and identities quite different than my own. I'm grateful to the mothership and the brave alien scientists who placed me here for making sure that the food, water, and atmosphere here on earth was compatible with our own back home on the planet, well, whatever it's called, but they failed to check for other toxic incompatibilities.

one of the blogs I read regularly which is quite interesting, is Joe. My. God. There's been a feature lately about this guy Dirty Sanchez--um, er, Matt Sanchez--a fairly unattractive and very shallow ex gay pornstar now hanging out with the likes of Ann Coulter and Newt Gingrich. this pornstar is a typical mirror-gazing narcissist who is now denouncing Columbia University's student body for being leftist. he's a marine, apparently thinking now that he's spent years shooting jizz for the entertainment of gay men he'd like to go kill some Arabs. with my fellow gay men (and the bears who who are well represented by JMG) I'm horrified by this fellow. but more than that I'm horrified by what he represents. The ridiculous "facercise" exercises, the unappealing pornography, the unappealing over-gymmed body, the shocking right-wing politics, I can only draw the conclusion that I belong to an alien culture and have been accidently left here among this nation of narcissists.

I watched an episode of American Idol. Untalented narcissists caterwauling and whining. Each time I saw someone's so-caled singing praised I wondered how my own idea of actual musical talent could be so different than what America--hmmm perhaps I shoud bring back Amerikkka--seems to enjoy. Surely on my own planet singing is pleasant and tuneful: this alleged talent is apparently overly influenced by some earth-based viral contaminant.

Then there's Bravo TV. Often entertaining. Well, like watching a train wreck or a bad accident on the freeway. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Workout. Top Design. Who ARE these people? How did they get their heads trapped so far up their own sphincters? Do these people live their whole lives thinking absolutely....nothing? Perhaps global warming has overheated their brains and caused irreversible damage?

I could go on and on. I'm not sure if the alien overlords read blogs, but if you do, dear overlords, please send the Mothership soon, and hurry! Beam me up!

why Mitt Romney won't be president

former massachusetts governor and republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has many unfortunate traits. at this early stage of the presidential election his primary liability is seen as his religion: he's a Mormon. I wish his primary liability was seen as his utterly hateful anti-gay bigotry. He's gone out of his way to ingratiate himself to the religious right by offering up gays as a political sacrifice. I actually think Mormons are fascinating, and am happy to say it's not his religion that frightens me. But here's a funny story that makes me think, wow, he really has no chance as a Momon to be accepted by americans.

when I was spending a lot of time in the world of Santeria (I am an initiated priest of Obatala, though completely inactive), I knew this lesbian couple in the religion. They were middle-aged, New York social worker types, very borough, and very dedicated to the religion. Half the couple was of Jewish ancestry, half Puerto Rican. As santeros they were very strict, but they had a lovely house in the religion. One of their daughter's was initiated, and they and their house members were very welcoming to me, a white gay man. One was a priestess of Ochun, and the other, of Obatala.

Anyway, they had recently taken a tour out west. They had gone to Salt Lake City. And described their visit to the Mormon Tabernacle. They said it was lovely. The one telling the tale said, "oh yes, we saw the altar." She lowered her voice conspiratorially, and looked left and right. "You know. The main altar. Where they do the human sacrifices."

So yes, a Santeria Priestess who regularly wrung the heads off chickens and participated in numerous rituals where various barnyard animals were offered up to the Orishas, the gods of Santerias (it's a long story), a priestess of a religion often vilified and misrepresented in tabloid media, this priestess actually believed Mormons perform human sacrifice as part of their religion.

Now maybe it is I who is naive, but somehow I don't think so. So I might wish that Mitt Romney's hateful actions against gay people would disqualify him from being a viable political candidate, but I will have to settle for the misconceptions of the ignorant. I guess either way we win.

Too bad about those Mormons though. They seem like nice people.

american legacy

I remember when Al Sharpton first burst on the scene. He was divisive, abrasive, and the cause celebre which first made him famous was ugly. I won't mention her name here, it's not necessary. But a lot of time has passed and a lot of water has gone under that bridge. In the 20+ years since those days he's run for president, matured his ideals in the crucible of New York and American racial poltics, and become the leader he once only wished he was. His sense of humor is truly refreshing. His positions, such as his views on gay issues, have truly evolved as he embraced the logic of struggle for justice he has bravely pursued. He's still at times bombastic, still quirky, still abrasive, but I find him so much less divisive and I actually really like him now.

So the news has come, courtesy of an investigative investigation by the New York Daily News that his ancestors were once owned as slaves by ancestors of the late conservative segregationist politician Strom Thurmond. The phrase "only in America" takes on new and bitter meaning. On the one hand, how far we have come. On the other, what a bitter legacy to know this country was built on such cruel foundations. It leaves one speechless to consider the implications of such a revelation. The fact that Thurmond remained a staunch racist and that anyone--ANYONE--in this country in this century supported him is such sad witness to how much is undone in the healing of America's most tragic legacy.

Filmmaker Spike Lee's production company is named "Forty Acres and a Mule" after the empty promise of reparation made to freed slaves after the civil war. The news of Sharpton's ancestral lineage should make Americans work to fulfill that promise...not in the literal doling out of land and beasts of burden but in the uprooting and healing of racism and the ugly remnants of America's slaveowner past. All states must repudiate and apologize for slavery, as Virginia has begun to do. The confederate flag must be rooted out, like the swastika in Germany.

Al Sharpton is an American hero.

affiliations

I was browsing around wikipedia, an amazing resource for all sorts of arcane history and was inspired to write the following list of organizations I have been affiliated with. Hmm. Not sure if it's complete. Wow. I'm a weirdo!

Spartacus Youth League/Spartacist League US
The Spark
Gay Revolutionary Discussion Group
Revolutionary Socialist League
Coalition to Stop The Movie Cruising
Lavender Left
Coalition Against Racism, Antisemitism, Sexism and Heterosexism (CRASH)
Christopher Street Liberation Day Committee
sad coalition organizing sad gay march on United Nations, 1984, name forgotten
Democratic Party
Jesse Jackson for President committee, don't remember official name
New Moon New York
Coven of the Middle Pillar
Queer Pagans
Ile Yemaya Asinyabi
United Church of Christ
Unitarian Universalist Association
InDesign Users Group
American Philatelic Society
Metrobears

neo-imperialism at play

some miscellaneous tidbits of "good" news:

While I wouldn't be shocked to learn tomorrow it's all fallen through, North Korea has now been bullied into surrendering energy independence for dependence on polluting fossil fuels and the charity of the west.

I'm heartened to see all the suspicion over the bush regime's pathetic attempt to link Iran to the insurgency in Iraq. Uh, the shi'ites are "our" allies, dude, the government. The insurgents, those would be the ones allied to Saudi Arabia, oh, "our" ally as well. Um, yeah, makes sense. Remember the reichstag fire.

Bombings and assassinations in Lebanon: Um, go watch "Munich" and explain to me why the bombings and the assasinations of the past few years are the work of alleged pro-Syrian elements and not the Israeli mossad?

Imperialist patsy prime minister Howard of Australia says that Al Qaeda would be happy to see Barack Obama win. Hmmm, is Karl Rove vacationing down under? The nerve. As near as I can tell, Obama rocks. Blessed indeed.

the root of all evil

I was gonna write about how I received a fund-raising mailing from the Hillary Clinton for President campaign that shockingly didn't even mention Iraq; shockingly didn't oppose the war, shockingly didn't apologize for voting for the war, shockingly didn't even mention the biggest issue facing this country and how shocked--SHOCKED-- I was and then I learned of Anna Nicole Smith's shocking untimely passing, and seeing that item lead off every news page and blog I click on I think, well, wait, isn't that kind of actually the same story anyway?

We, and by that I do not mean "we" (see below), are fuc*ed.

what do you mean "we"

so this is not a new joke, but it's my favorite one. so now it's preserved for posterity. it dates me, yes, but what the heck, it also has a pretty profound political message.

The Lone Ranger and his loyal sidekick Tonto have been pursued by howling, shrieking Indians into a canyon. bullets and arrows are flying fast and furious.
looking around frantically from the back of his steed Silver, the Lone Ranger
shouts grimly to his Indian friend, "Tonto! I think this is the end! We're
surrounded." Tonto turns to the Lone Ranger and says, "What do you mean 'WE',
white man."

Ah yes. Aside from that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you enjoy the play?

ugly americans

finally the u.s. house of representatives is debating some of the disaster that has taken place in iraq since george bush attacked. I'm torn between being glad that some of the dirty laundry is being aired and being shocked that somehow the internal affairs of another country are now the daily debate in the u.s. government. i wonder what it's like to be a dancing puppet like the iraqi government, especially given their untenable position of one string pulled by the u.s. and the other pulled by iran. In the end millions more people in the world will have even more cause to hate americans.

so here's another scan from a 1971 Chinese children's book. Yes, that shows a little Vietnamese boy throwing a hand grenade and blowing up american soldiers. You would have to hate the united states an awful lot to generate that kind of proopaganda. Saddest of all, "we" never seem to learn.

i restate it: every single death--soldier, civilian, iraqi, american, terrorist, innocent, woman, man, child--is squarely the fault of one man. not osama, not saddam. that one man is george bush. think about it. what are we going to do about it?

and now for a little violent revolution

courtesy of the Chinese cultural revolution. as if.