A ONCE-A-WEEK (or so) LIST OF WHAT I GIVE A DAMN ABOUT. WITH 10 = MOST IMPORTANT; AND 1 = NOT SO MUCH
There is a theme and there are variations on that theme.
As hard as I try, I cannot seem to veer from my increasingly abject horror at observing the bizarre farce represented by Cirque du Santorum-Romney. "We must educate, engage, evangelize and eradicate.”
Eradicate?
QQ: 1. I WANT TO BE A MACHO MAN
I prefer my political clowns to be French or Italian. These passionate, Mediterranean macho men have no need to hide their hedonism in a cloister or a closet.
I like a French leader who enjoys a good Cuban cohiba, identifies with his Hungarian heritage and marries an Italian super-model-heiress. My Italian presidents on the other hand take it one step further. They know how to party down and party hard regardless of party affiliation. Bunga Bunga.
QQ: 2. CHUTZPAH
There are other leaders we can only hold in unbrideld awe for their boundless chutzpah.
Stephen Harper, the benevolent dictator of Canada, holds the contents of one of the world’s largest quarries in his slippery hands. The proposed Keystone pipeline will transport Canadian oil across the USA to facilitate the more economically viable route to China. The issue is not the pipeline itself. The problem is the environmental repercussions of mining and refining the tar sands from whence the oil cometh.
The earth will pay us back one-thousand fold for this criminal incursion. If we thought nuclear waste was a problem, this takes pollution to a whole new level.
Beyond that 'Our Dear Leader' Harper promotes Canada's continuing export of asbestos; the defunding of Universal Health Care; the re-districting of electoral regions in his favor; the establishment of police with unfettered powers and the spying on all private communication. The fourth estate has failed us. Oh Canada!
Another exciting show to watch is the Shakespearian power struggle in Australia between sparring leaders Gillard and Rudd. Just like Canada, it's all about the stuff in the ground that they want to sell to China. Rudd even speaks the lingo.
One thing in Ms. Gillard‘s favor is the fact she is unmarried and co-habits with her male partner in Australia's ‘White House’. The Aussies don't see this as a problem. Could we ever imagine such a travesty in the good old USA?
QQ: 3. IS TAIL-GATING A RELIGION?
France and Italy are predominantly Catholic countries. Australia's religion is beer and surfing. Canada's religion is beer and Hockey. Any time remaining is used to keep warm. In France, Italy, Australia and Canada, it occurs to me that the electorate is not concerned about the frequency of Julia Gillard's attendance at mass. In Canada, we would be much more disturbed by Stephen Harper missing a hockey final than his not showing up for church on Sunday, especially on a snow day.
What has happened in America that has made fundamentalist, religious affiliation to be such an enormous part of the political agenda?
QQ: 4. JUST ASK FOR VINNY
If my only choice was to choose from a two-way race between Mitt Romney and Dickless Santorium, then I choose Newt Gingrich.
Calling these demented, mentally-deranged, power-addicted morons 'clowns' has ceased to be a joke.
There is something wrong in the state of the church, and these guys stand at the entrance leading the way to a hell of their design. We are presented with a choice between Bishop Romney and self-appointed Catechist Dick Santorum. These religious megalomaniacs have determined the universal moral code and will impose it on us whether we like it or not.
Let's begin with women's reproductive rights. They are an easy enough target. Clearly, condoms are a barrier to man's direct communication with the about-to-return messiah and must be left to the individual states to control. Some states will then determine that we will be closer to God if we ejaculate freely. Some states will embrace Satan and permit the unholy use of prophylactics, only, however, with a doctor‘s prescription. Imagine, it could be like Prohibition. Al Capone and Joe Kennedy could join forces to bring illegal rubbers across the Mexican frontier and sell them at speak-easy pharmacies where there's a sliding panel in the door and you have to ask for Vinny.
QQ : 5. HANGING CHADS
The most disturbing aspect of the Romney-Santorum circus is that it comes to us from a nation and a people who have given these guys their power, their support and their dollars to the tune of about half the voting population.
Romney did not become a state governor by decree. He was elected. Santorum did not appoint himself to elected office. He was voted in. Then again, Justin Bieber has about 60 million YouTube hits. Numbers like that could get him elected president.
I think I'll change my mind about the Gingrich alternative and vote for Justin.
I have a feeling he's OK with condoms. Although, there were recent rumors of a paternity suit. Maybe he’d consider adoption. I’d be willing to call him dad and he could call me John Bieber-Qapek.
The world has gone gaga.
QQ : 6. NO CHEESEBURGERS FOR YOU
The problem is not religious custom and ritual. We need these things to bring us together as community. We do not live in isolation on this planet.
The problem is clearly the literal interpretation of long-forgotten, tribal mandates as God‘s Word.
It is Written
I believe that we can express our gratitude for the earth‘s bounty and for all things good, without worship. Worship implies an exchange. It is a primitive, unscientific, baseless concept. The larger imperative, it would seem to me, is the need for acknowledgement.
As fleeting, human occupiers of the planet, we should absolutely acknowledge the fundamental aspects of life that promote our survival and the quality of that survival.
We should treat each other as we would like to be treated.
We should acknowledge our powerlessness over our mortality.
We should treat the earth with respect and leave it in better shape than the way we found it.
Our creativity is our most treasured gift. Honour that gift.
Maybe four commandments are enough. Qapek’s Quadralogue
QQ : 7. WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS
What then explains America's reversion to a fundamentalist and primitive interpretation of ethics and morality. This step back into 'Dark Age' rigidity is not just about Romney-Santorum. There are larger, cultural forces in place.
I attribute part of this cultural shift to a reversion to a territorial, circling-of-the-wagons mentality. We are afraid. We fear the unknown and our misinterpretation of the known. One could say that the Crusades never ended. The historical timeline tells us of the siege of Damascus in 1140 by the Crusaders that continues to this day, symbolically, by proxy and as a reality for the larger region. Damascus continues to be a headline one thousand years later and we are encouraged to intervene. Damascus is under siege.
The more damaging aspect of our reversion, I believe, is racially based.
I suggest that the Civil War was never really resolved and this country continues to be radically divided on racial and subsequent economic areas. These divisions are so severe they have led to the circling-of-the-wagons for protection at every level and strata of society. We accept the imposition of a racially based prison industrial complex.
This is not an America-centric issue. Europe and its underclass of workers from the East is equally implicated. Apartheid lives. Our segregated societies are separate and they are unequal.
States‘ rights are a great, idealistic concept when it comes to economic structuring. States‘ rights, pertaining to ethical and moral dictees have no place on the political agenda. The idea that a woman could get an abortion in New York, but not in Alabama is patently ridiculous. This concept plays out racially and economically. You can carry a concealed handgun in Nashville , but not in Chicago. I just can't decide. Mandating the teaching of creationism is beyond the pale. The Monkey trial happened in 1925. The issue is still undecided.
Let states figure out how to build bridges, fix highways and provide public transport that is unique to their geographical and urban needs. Let states determine how best to utilize and protect their natural resources. But the idea that you can legally hire a hooker in Vegas, but not Chattanooga should not be a state issue. We should not look to the State to dictate the moral agenda on any level. Either it is a crime or it isn’t. The larger issue is human trafficking and the exploitation of children. That is and should be a federal crime and not something to be determined piecemeal by individual states. What quality of human trafficking is OK in Alabama, but not in Nebraska? What aspect of child exploitation will be better determined in Texas for Texans?
Furthermore, we should not allow the State to impose an acceptance of slavery. Individual state-imposed legislation that bans worker representation; accepts and supports the mistreatment of farm workers; restaurant workers and hotel maids is a state that has gone beyond fundamental human rights to the continuation of the battle of Gettysburg.
A state that imposes individual identity checks and imposes its own interpretation of federal immigration law has gone beyond its legal bounds.
"Your papers, please". Ring any bells?
“We’ll always have Paris”.
QQ : 8. A LINE IN THE SAND
Super PACS, Iraq, Israel and the larger conspiracy are worthwhile areas to explore.
Conspiracies do exist. Conspiracies do occur. The Holocaust was not some hidden deceit. Of course it was known while it was happening. Jews just fulfilled their traditional role of scapegoat. America's invasion of Iraq, based on fake evidence was a blatant conspiracy.
Perhaps the current, threatened bombing of Iran could be a larger conspiracy of usually opposing forces for the purposes of political and economic expediency.
We are presented with an out-of-control, insane, warlike Iran with ambitions to rebuild the Persian empire. This scenario would require a larger military and economic basis that Iran could possibly muster. Germany, prior to WWII, and Russia during the Cold War had tremendous, viable war machinery with a powerful, economic base.
What if, hypothetically, there were other advantages for the current US administration in a conspiring partnership with the GOP Mullahs, Israel and Europe to take on the Iranian problem. There is oil, there is Greece and there is deep unemployment across the board. With the winterizing of the Arab spring, Israel needs to make a definitive statement of "do not fuck with us". In that statement, there is no other cohesive territory to take on with as much symbolic power as Iran. They make the perfect target.
And the economic bounty pays off at every level. The GOP Mullahs can support the crusade and the Israelis send the necessary message. Barry Obama becomes a war hero and Greece is saved by the thriving economics of war as we busily re-tool the German armament industry. I hear that Mykonos is up for sale.
The problem is that regardless of the Ayatollahs and media portrayed madmen who currently run Iran, there would be an unhappy Iranian populace. They are the ones we should fear and consider before unleashing the fire. We as primitive humans are fundamentally, territorial. The Iranian populace has marked its territory and will react regardless of the hats that their leaders wear.
I will not send my son to fight this Persian crusade.
QQ: 9. THE BUCK STOPS WHERE?
Follow the money. The song says "Money can't buy me love". So where is all that dough?
The invention of financial ‘products’ has created an industry unlike anything that has ever existed. Money buys money that borrows more money that bets on borrowed money being lost in an investment gone bad that has insurance against that loss with more leverage.
The manipulators and algorithms move non-existent billions from place to place in nanoseconds generating bonuses and profits from mystical sources that have no solid basis or foundation. Where is this cash? Greece could use some, the employees of Foxconn could use some and so could I.
It was interesting to watch the dispersion of unlimited financial resources that were unleashed in Australia by BHP and Rio Tinto when their interests were threatened. They brought down the Prime Minister. The two biggest mining companies in the world are far beyond the vicissitudes of the democratic process. They have a larger agenda. There is money to be made.
Similarly, the superPACS currently distributing infinite mountains of coin in the USA to manipulate the outcome of the forthcoming 2012 election presents a fun piece of theater. There is a new currency in the USA. It is the Koch-dollar. K$1 = 1 GOP vote.
Oh, I get it. There's the money. I found it.
QQ : 10. IF YOU THOUGHT SARAH PALIN WAS GREAT, (THEN...)
Ten Reasons to vote for Dick Santorum:
1 His endorsement by Megadeath's lead singer
2 His nickname is "Rooster"
3 His role in deregulating the World Wrestling Federation from federal drug laws
4 His support of a ban on the free dissemination of weather info
5 He supports enhanced interrogation.
6 He believes in an Islamic-fascist agenda to conquer the western world
7 He does not believe in the right to privacy
8 He supports the construction of a fence along the Mexican border
9 No amnesty for illegal immigrants
10 He believes that left-wing, liberal culture caused Catholic priests to abuse young boys
The word according to Dick:
We are in a war and theology is its basis. Just like we were in a war against Communism and ideology was its basis. We need to understand that.
“What must we do to win [against Islam]? We must educate, engage, evangelize and eradicate.”
Revelation 2:23 “I will strike her children dead. Then all the churches will know that I am he who searches hearts and minds, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.“
Editing: Batsheva
Sent from FirstClass with my iPad
No comments:
Post a Comment