War

NATO Mulls Early Afghanistan Withdrawl

There is increasingly the stink of Saigon ’75 in Afghanistan. File this under “Nick Pell was right.”

Russia Warns NATO on Syria

The situation in the Middle East is getting increasingly frightening. Anyone who says otherwise isn’t really paying attention. I admit that some part of me just wants war to break out. The waiting is killing me and I can’t wait to see the Obamaton Army talk about how this is the best foreign invasion ever!

Human Rights

A Call To Arms for the Wealthy to Protect the Right to Vote

Apparently someone in the ruling class believes the plebes should be allowed to have a say.

NYPD Gang Task Force Using Social Media

Interesting, as gang members are often pretty flagrant about their affiliations online. However, being in a gang is not, in and of itself, a crime.

Just Plain Dumb

Noam Chomsky Shills for Democrats Again

Anarcho-liberal and frequent Democracy Now! guest Noam Chomsky doing what he does best: Acting as left cover for American imperialism.

David Blaine Will Hopefully Be Electrocuted in the Next 72 Hours

Er, I mean “David Blaine is performing some awesome new public stunt.”

Scientology

Scientology Threatens Vanity Fair

Scientology threatens Vanity Fair with a libel suit after VF publishes a story about Tom Cruise’s beauty pageant.

Human Rights

Gay Football Player Cut From Team After Kissing Boyfriend

My money is actually on football as the major sport where an active player will come out first.

State-Sponsored Race Riots in China

The Chinese government is stirring up race hate against the Japanese.

Election 2012

Mitt Romney Says What He Really Thinks

I really do think that this is what people like Romney think of the rest of us. In any event, his candidacy is effectively over. 2012 is now a “down ticket” year and the generational Democratic majority continues.

War

Joint U.S.-Afghan Exercises Ended

Afghanistan is going to look like Hanoi ’75 real soon.

American Marines Go to Yemen “Temporarily”

Something that has gotten comparatively little coverage in the corporate media is Obama’s expansion of the War on Terror in general and operations in Yemen in particular. Ground troops are a significant escalation of Obama’s unmentioned war.

Just Plain Stupid

Mormons Posthumously Baptized Barack Obama’s Grandmother

I don’t really get why I’m offended by this, but I am.

Wikileaks

No Assange DNA Found on Broken Condom

There is every reason to question the veracity of Assange’s accusers. This is yet another reason to do so.

Civil Liberties

Obama White House Fights for Indefinite Detention

Once again proving that Democrats will vote for anything provided that the Republicans can produce something theoretically “worse.”

Over 100 Arrested at Occupy Anniversary

I think Occupy is basically a spent force, but I’ll always defend the basic democratic right of assembly. More evidence that the United States is not a democracy in any meaningful sense.

Election 2012

True The Vote Attempts to Intimidate (Mostly  Black) Voters

Election Shifts to Obama

Two articles from the WSWS detailing how, on the one hand, the ruling class is lining up solidly behind Obama and, on the other, Romney backers are doing anything they can to steal the election — with Dem complicity.

Mitt Romney’s Campaign Sucks

Mittens’ campaign increasingly has the stink of Dole ’96 / McCain ’08 on it.

Afghanistan

Eight Women Killed in a Drone Strike

Too bad they aren’t male. Obama could say that they were terrorists who got what they had coming.

Just Plain Stupid

Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwiches a Sign of “White Privilege”

Racial identity politics manifesting in laughably stupid ways.

DNC

Elizabeth Warren’s Wall Street Money

Elizabeth Warren receives beaucoup bucks from Wall Street lawyers and the DSCC, the latter a wholly-owned subsidiary of Wall Street banksters.

Native American Democrats Not Keen On Elizabeth Warren

It’s curious to ponder how Dems would react to a Republican lying about her ethnic heritage for personal gain. Elizabeth Warren is a charlatan and demagogue of the worst kind, exactly the type of vile creature that the Democratic Party’s increasing reliance upon identity politics creates.

World Socialist Web Site on the DNC

Always worth a read, the WSWS cuts through the BS to the heart of issues, particularly with regard to the Democratic Party and “the left.” This article is no exception and a welcome breath of reality.

Animals

Vietnamese Elephants Almost Completely Exterminated

As a vegan, I obviously find this very troubling and sad. Without any intention of diminishing any person or group’s experience, I don’t understand why the world reacts to this differently than it would genocide.

War

U.S. To Retain Role As Afghan Jailer

The American government will continue to oversee prisons in Afghanistan for the foreseeable future. The atrocity stories should start trickling in any second now.

Libyan Alleges C.I.A. Waterboarding

Remember when Barack Obama started an illegal war and liberals didn’t care? Well, it wasn’t as clean and surgical as the self-appointed PR men claimed, surprise of surprises.

Names of the AfPak Dead

The names of the war dead aren’t something I seek out, but I will always repost when I see them. My position isn’t some nationalist “respect for their service,” but a desire to humanize the perverse waste of this deeply unpopular 10-year war.

Secularism

Circumcision Limited But Not Banned in Berlin

Proof that if you say “God commands it” you can get away with anything.

Russian Social Conservatives Emboldened By Pussy Riot Verdict

Pussy Riot’s conviction have emboldened the Russian ultra-right, who are now behaving in a decidedly fascistic manner.

Police State

Police Work With Apple To Block Transmission of “Sensitive Data”

Apple, America’s favorite toy maker, are working hand in glove with police departments on a device that would disable cameras during protests, etc., in any attempt to curtail police brutality footage.

Literature

Bret Easton Ellis Attacks David Foster Wallace

The thousand monkeys in a room known as Bret Easton Ellis projects hard, calling David Foster Wallace “the most tedious, overrated, tortured, pretentious writer of my generation.” Harsh words about the dead from a man who wrote one good book almost 30 years ago.

Odds and Ends

Stanford Study On Organic Food

Organic food is a marketing gimmick. Get over it, hippies.

Are Attacks On Clint Eastwood “Ageist?”

Mostly wanted to post this to point out the absurdity of using -ist / -ism to explain and analyze everything. This is a paradigm that can literally be applied to everything from hair color to what kind of car you drive.

L.A. City Pot Ban Blocked

Add this to the long list of “toldyasos” I have clocked.