Election 2012

Romney’s Chinese Investments

Mittens’ blind trust has substantial Chinese investments. Kind of weird for a guy whose campaign is built around China bashing.

Human Rights

Obama and Warrentless Wiretapping

There has been more warrantless wiretapping over the last two years than the previous ten combined. Add this to the pile of evidence suggesting that Obama is worse than Bush.

Secret U.S. Military Docs Brand Wikileaks as “The Enemy”

For those of you not keeping score, this means that Assange — or anyone who supports him, including the present writer — can be thrown in jail indefinitely without charge, tortured or assassinated.

The Terror of Drone Strikes

First-hand accounts of drone strike survivors. An absolute must read for people who still defend the Obama Administration.

Is Obama Detaining American Citizens Under NDAA?

Probably.

Secularism

Russia Shouldn’t Copy Western Values, Says Russian Patriarch

Interesting for those who follow the Eurasianism vs. Byzantinism divide in Russia. One thing is certain: Russia is rising as an independent power with a post-Soviet identity.

Revolution

Italians Wage General Strike Against Austerity

Italy was on my list of countries that were going to go Tahrir Square next. The point is, to win they need to break away from the unions and the official “left” parties, both of which are part and parcel of defending capitalist order in Italy and around the world.

Science

Voyager 1 Enter Interstellar Space

Humanity’s first interstellar probe is leaving our solar system and striking out into the great unknown.

Just Plain Stupid

Penises Are Not Shrinking

Rush Limbaugh can calm down.

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.