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"Ismail Ax," my ass
Feed us some more baloney, with a side order of BS please...
Cho Seung-Hui and Ismail Ax
by Kurt Nimmo, Another Day in the Empire
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Excerpt: If you believe Cho Seung-Hui is but another random “loner” nut case who suddenly went off on the campus of Virginia Tech with disastrous result, you need to switch off Fox News and CNN and take a closer look at one particularly odd but revealing fact in the case. |
These things do not happen without complicity and within a vacuum
When my father was 15 years old he could walk into K-Mart and buy a shotgun and as much ammo as he could carry, walk right out of the door with it. The difference between then and now is not the quantity of guns available or the ease of purchasing them. It is the mentality of the humans in possession of the guns, knifes, bats, pipes, and whatever else you can kill with, that has changed.
We do not want to talk about that, though. If we opened up that can of worms we would all have to take a good long look at ourselves, and the choices we have made as a society. ... MORE ...
| Robert j.
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Gettin' wiggy
Officials now say Iraqis killed by coalition forces, not cops| |
Excerpt: Three Iraqis who were killed by coalition forces Monday were not police officers, as originally thought, officials said Tuesday.
The individuals had been identified as police by someone who was wounded in the exchange of gunfire between Iraqis and coalition forces, according to officials at Multi-National Force -- Iraq. And the Iraqis had used a vehicle that resembled local Iraqi police vehicles, officials said. |
Whoa. So since they weren't cops it was OK?
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Sounds like John Negroponte's death squads to me. And the article sounds like disinformation.
Of course, having grown accustomed to nothing but blatant lies from the Bush-Cheney administration, I expect anything that smacks of even the vaguest 'good news' will turn out to be another lie.
Helen & Harry
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A danger to themselves or others
Guess what? VT gunman was certifiable| |
Excerpt: Lucinda Roy, a long-time member of the English faculty at Virginia Tech had Cho as a student in a creative writing class. She said Cho seemed so depressed and angry that she contacted the police, student affairs and other university officials, and eventually referred him to counseling.
"All my alarms went off," Roy told NPR. She said she felt a personal responsibility to reach out but that the authorities she contacted believed their hands were legally tied unless the student made threats. Roy refused to disclose what she found in Cho's writings, on the advice of police.
The English department chairwoman, Carolyn Rude, also told Associated Press that Cho had been referred to the university's counseling service. |
This is the problem in a nutshell. It is currently 10 times easier to intervene on a drug addict and/or alcoholic than someone with mental/emotional problems. And even if you can prove they are "A danger to themselves or others" no one, not even the courts can force them to get treatment. You may disagree with me on this, but it is a very sore point with me. We need to be able to be able to be much more proactive with people who are obviously very disturbed.
If we could have been, maybe this tragedy could have been mitigated and Bush would not be president.
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I probably disagree, but your last sentence made me laugh out loud.
I don't think the murders at Virginia Tech are an object lesson for anything, not for gun control, not for enforced mental commitments. I'd certainly want mental illnesses covered by the universal health care America desperately needs, and I do agree that we have plenty of wackos who could use mental treatment. But you'll never talk me into making enforced commitments easier until we've got a functional Bill of Rights in this country.
Helen & Harry
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I have been thinking hard about this and have come to some conclusions. First off... it would depend on the state of the person involved. That is ... is this person capable of rational thought? Do they understand that their current behavior makes them a danger to themselves or others. If not, then initially treatment would need to be forced until they do understand and are rational.
After that, if they chose to stop treatment they would need to be advised that any actions they would take, they would be totally responsible for and would entail consequences. There would no longer be an "insanity" defense. They would be responsible for either staying on treatment or not.
I have bipolar disorder. It is my responsibility to remain on medication. If I choose to go off medication and start "cycling" - anything I do while in this state, I am responsible for.
Now that being said, I totally agree that mental health treatment needs to be a lot more available to those who require it.
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The questions asked are important, certainly, but what's much more important is who’s doing the asking. We're talking about committing people for mental health treatment, against their will, and that's a really dangerous proposition. I'd trust you, or me, or just about any person with a few ounces of common sense and a reasonable respect for freedom, to make those decisions about who needs to be committed and who's safe to walk the streets.
But I wouldn't trust the Bush administration. There's just far too much potential for abuse.
For me, it's not so much about the questions as about the safeguards. I need to see ample reliable safeguards built into the system, with ample watchdogs and redundancies for when the safeguards inevitably fail ...
Helen & Harry
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This is the crux of the problem. Who makes the determination. Clearly not just one or two people. The person who did the shooting at VT was obviously in need of treatment as witnessed by his behavior and writings. What we do not have is a good reliable way to determine who needs treatment or who doesn't. Mental illness and emotional problems are still swept under the rug and too often with tragic results.
My main point is that these days, unlike the 1800s, one person can do a great deal of harm in a very short period of time. Example the twin towers. Just one person hijacking an aircraft can kill hundreds of people.
The question is: Do we want to take the risk of giving people the right to act as crazy as they choose even if it may mean a large number of people could be injured or killed by their craziness ?? Or should their be limits to this freedom ?? Where do we draw the line ?? And when do we intervene if at all ??
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I'd say occasional catastrophes like this are unavoidable, and far preferable to the kind of locked-down state that would be necessary to prevent such killings. I say, lock people up when they're acting in a manner that's dangerous to themselves or others. With ample chances to have such decisions second-guessed and overruled. I'm not much good at drawing lines, but there are probably sensible ground rules already written, just not being followed.
I refuse to pay close attention to the nonstop Virginia Tech coverage, but I couldn't avoid being told yesterday that a court had been asked whether the killer (his name was Cho?) should be confined, but some shrink said no, he's sane and healthy. So it looks like this killer was dancing right on the line, but the line judge blew the call.
Me, I don't want to serve on the committee that reconsiders the ground rules. Sounds like very depressing work, which might make me go mental.
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For private industry and profit
Re Millions of dollars to ease your mourning
~Me too. Also makes me wonder how much the families of the astronauts were compensated for the Shuttle that blew up on TV.
Or for the three who burned up in the capsule during a pre-launch test?
Maybe when the Shuttle program started and non-pilots and scientists began going into space, i.e. for private industry and profit; liability for the astronauts lives became a legal issue?
Funny that journalists haven't in all these years mentioned it -- not the dollar amounts -- but the idea that the wives & kids are entitled to something?
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Mainstream journalism has become a mutant animal, hasn't it? What's newsworthy still makes the news, but it's whispered and then forgotten, while Paris Hilton or American Idol or the Virginia Tech murders are all over the media.
I don't really understand what's up with these payouts to the astronauts' families. Clearly they should get a stipend to cover each family's fairly comfy middle-class existence (same as the families of dead soldiers should get, but don't, because Republican administrations hate the troops), but these multi-million payouts have the odd scent of a bribe.
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A little harsh
Re Strange suicides
I thought your reply to the person from TN whose sister works in a funeral home was a little harsh. I have seen patients whose deaths were ruled suicide or accident when it obviously was not. In one of those cases, the coroner released the body for cremation in less than 24 hours and the police had the apartment where the death "did not occur" steam cleaned in less than 12 hours. It happens. (Ask Herb for some of his stories...).
Hope you guys are doing well. Herb has been in CA with the grandchild for over 2 weeks now and left me his computer to do taxes on which is why you are not hearing much from him (nor am I).
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It's certainly a lot more believable coming from Herb's wife, than from someone we don't know's sister.
We get a steady stream of emails from strangers who tell us fantastic stories -- they've been kidnapped by space aliens, or they've been watching their neighbors closely because they know their neighbors are watching them. A few times we've been intrigued and asked these strangers for evidence and elaboration, and when it's provided and plausible we've published their stories (mostly about crooked local cops). Usually, though, requesting more information leads to an avalanche of nuttiness.
After literally hundreds of such fantastic stories from strangers, I'm probably a little too callous and skeptical sometimes, and Rus caught me at the wrong moment. I'll try to be better (and Rus, try me again).
And thanks for the Herb update, too.
Addendum: Half an hour later, I stumbled across this from USA Today:
Drowned body with hands, legs bound with duct tape ... ruled suicide| |
Excerpt: The body of a college student who had been missing since last fall was discovered in a country club swimming pool when a worker removed the cover to get it ready for summer, police said.
Dental records identified the body as Paul Shuman-Moore, 19, a Grinnell College sophomore from Chicago, police said.
An investigation shows Shuman-Moore killed himself, and the official cause of death was listed as drowning, police said Wednesday. Investigators found the he had bound his own legs and hands with duct tape. |
That seems to me, a tad improbable.
Helen & Harry
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Straight shootin'
Secret Service officer shoots two fellow agents| |
Excerpt: Two Secret Service officers were injured after a gun held by another Secret Service officer accidentally fired inside the White House gate, according to a spokesman, Darrin Blackford. |
Guns are amazingly unsafe, even in the hands of top world professionals.
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Experts: Force increases may not be enough| |
THE GIST: "If the United States is...in Iraq over the next five...years, then the responsible course is...to call for reinstating the draft."
THE COMPLETE QUOTE: "If the United States is going to have a significant component of its ground forces in Iraq over the next five, 10, 15 or 30 years, then the responsible course is for the president and those supporting this open-ended and escalated presence in Iraq to call for reinstating the draft." |
Lullaby of death
Obviously you don't listen too much to the lullaby of death, unlike many. Be advised that there are some hard words coming next. It may sound harsh, but what can you do when no one says a thing about the obviously disastrous state of democracy. A herd of sheep, that's what we are.
Are we led and where and by whom? Take control of your destiny.
by Rio Alto, Guerrilla News Network| |
Excerpt: It is surprising to notice how we see killing one person as a terrible crime but when it comes to killing of millions we lose interest. History books are full of partialities supporting the official truth. Mass media churn out news to support the official version of today’s reality. Our destinies have been decided without asking or telling us, defined in PNAC and meetings secret to unchosen. We live in blissful ignorance about what is to come. The ignorant are a blessing to the rulers since they don’t ask difficult questions. Newspapers and the rest of the media are only tools of manipulation that feed the public with half truths in easily digestible portions. Yellow press tells irrelevant stories about the last stupidities of the celebrities and the television sings its Hollywoodian lullaby of death. |
Is everything under control?
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O.P.
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Millions of dollars to ease your mourning
NASA kept big fat $ettlement in shuttle disaster a secret...
| | I'm used to the secrecy, I guess. Business as usual for Bush-Cheney. ... But I'm a little surprised that there was such a settlement at all. I thought astronauts were, like, you know, knowingly risking their lives, kinda like soldiers or something. And soldiers killed in action sure as hell don't pass a jackpot like this along to their grieving families ...
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If Einstein was right
Re Tasering the newborn
Good point. Too many babies get kidnapped.
I wonder how it is that the baby wasn't also affected by the taser, though? I guess they're built to do that, because it seems like sometimes the cop would be touching the guy he zapped, but I'd think the current would get both. Never wondered about it before.
Last time I was in the hospital, it was a Catholic hospital. They were very nice once I got admitted...the ER was a nightmare... when I left they insisted I hadn't brought birth control pills in with me. Since I was not in need of them at the time [this was when I was willing to take them to help my skin clear up] it was an irritation and threw my cycle out of balance, but it could have been a serious problem had I needed them for the intended purpose. When I couldn't pay the bill, they reviewed my pay stubs and somehow it was paid out of a fund for the poor.
If you're fortunate enough to have insurance and leave against medical advice, though, your insurance doesn't pay anything.
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not unknown, but just in case:
Cell phones to blame for bee colony collapse?
Cassandra
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So many things to choose from, it'll probably take years before there's a consensus. But I think it's clear as cancer and diabetes that human pollutants and impact are ultimately to blame ...
Helen & Harry
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I don't want to sound alarmist, but if Einstein was right, we don't have time for a consensus. Once the bees are gone, the crops they pollinate, and we, are right behind 'em.
I have wondered before if this is the biggest symptom we've seen, bigger than the temperature changes and much bigger than the hermaphroditic and 6-legged frogs. I used to think the frogs were the canaries in our coal mine. Now I think it's bees.
I still haven't noticed a big change in the price of the honey I buy, but when I look at organic or local honey the prices are, comparatively, much worse than organic/local beef. [I don't buy the organic stuff, I just eat meat rarely]. Organic poultry prices were worse than beef the first time I looked, and I know more about practices of poultry factory farming, so I just avoid it.
Incidentally, beeswax candles are horrifyingly priced when one sees them. I sometimes see trips to the grocery or health food store as indicators of how badly the environment is doing, but with gas going so high again [and that just being one other factor] I may have to abandon that. It's too interconnected.
re: yeah, that seems to be the consensus from all that boring science reading i used to have to do
Was that for a job? I've not done any boring science reading, but reading even brief bits of environmental news scares me as much as a good horror novel these days. Although I don't get creeped out about bees when I'm trying to sleep.
Cassandra
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You're right about all this, of course. Not a whisper of contradiction here.
Yeah, it was a job. I used to read science and medical journals, and translate the news of recent studies into plain English for Biology Digest. I'm no expert on such sciency stuff, but I learned enough in that gig to know that there are often unexpected and unknown consequences.
Helen & Harry
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Condolences and questions
You know, part of me wishes that if the average American can feel so much empathy for the murdered students, why can't they feel the same thing for the countless murdered Iraqi civilians? Even if it is just for the 10s of 1000s of dead Iraqi children who are just in the wrong place at the wrong time. I wonder what societal monsters this war is creating for their future today? Do you remember that young man who went on a shooting rampage in the US mall not too long ago? Did you know he was a child survivor of the massacre of Srebrenica?
... tick tick tick tick goes the clock in their brain, then ... the alarm just goes off.
The Canadian
It's only words
Outrageous words, outrageous deeds
by Ralph Nader, Common Dreams
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Excerpt: Where have been the cries of outrage, the demands for removal of these conditions and prosecution of these crooks and defrauders? The abysmal conditions are daily, weekly, monthly. They have been occasionally reported in gripping human interest terms and statistics and maps.
If only the offenders used words, instead of committing these awful deeds. Maybe there would have been action, front page headlines and prime time television and radio coverage. If only they used words! |
This, sadly, echoes my sentiments.
It is at the source of my personal concerns about recent events. It is almost as though people are seeking something to "talk" about, rather than something to "do." So they pick out the issues that are easy, and safe to battle -- all from the comfort of their homes, emails, blogs and telephones.
But what about these issues which take true strength to battle? As the author of this piece says, where is the outcry for these issues that happen far more often than the one the media and the community has chosen to focus on?
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Re You call that a massacre?
As a woman of color, I am disgusted. When someone of color does this, there is no call for a psych evaluation. Lock 'em up and throw away the key is the general cry.
I am with you on this, there is an agenda. It is their way of attempting to take away yet another one of our freedoms‹the right to bear arms. Because the bottom line is this, the discussion of crimes of this nature are NOT equitable‹whether it be in a white community, black community, middle east, Africa or wherever. The same concerns should be across the board, no matter where it happens. For these kids to suddenly require a shrink, when NO ONE else is given this kind of attention, is disturbing to me.
Massacre? Oh please. And what do they call what is happening to the Palestinians?
Insane!
As for the issue of guns, let us not forget that guns don¹t kill people, people kill people. And a person does not require access to a gun to conduct mass murder. In Rwanda, they used machetes, and did far more damage than most people would have ever imagined. People kill people, period.
What I found very odd was that a student (who was supposedly a witness to
some of the events) went about calling ABC to give his/her story. That is
unusual if you ask me. It just seems odd that someone who is terrified
would think to call a news station just like that.
The false American lifestyle
Virginia what? ... haven't you noticed how the controlled press these days so conveniently blows
off any disaster as if it never happened ... so everyone can get back to
their fix ... their addiction of the false American lifestyle ... the great
American whore at its best ... regards
dave l.
Torture didn't keep us safe
France infiltrated terror network, told CIA
about plans to hijack planes prior to 9/11| |
Excerpt: Le Monde said the French report of January 2001 had been handed over to a CIA operative in Paris, but that no mention of it had ever been made in the official U.S. Sept. 11 Commission, which produced its findings in July 2004. |
Surprise, surprise.
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Guantanamo prisoner says he was tortured by CIA| |
Excerpt: Top terror suspect Abu Zubaida told a US military tribunal he was tortured in CIA custody, and now suffers seizures, according to a transcript released late Monday. |
Did the torture used in this man's case make us safe from the VA Tech attack?
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What goes up usually goes down?
U.S. market is losing its appeal, Chinese say| |
Excerpt: At booth after booth at China's main trade fair this week, the refrain from Chinese business executives is the same: the American market is still important, but not as crucial as it used to be.
Chinese producers of everything from socket wrenches to sport utility vehicles say that their fastest growth these days lies in Europe, Africa, the Mideast, South America and elsewhere in Asia. In other words, practically anywhere other than the United States. |
Wig
You call that a massacre?
I hate to admit this but I'm going to listen to Limbaugh. I want to see if there's a pattern going on here, for me to sufficiently write about it later.
Now they just said ''Same Gun'' did both shootings .. Hey! did Virginia police let this guy go? Still a bit confused. I think campus internet news folks had it right and someone is trying to cover their asses.
But that's not the pattern I'm talking about.. All the talk shows couldn't wait to get the shrinks on to analyze this KIND of behavior. Then automatically they would ask if we could in the future be able to detect and predict (more draconian laws and more surveillance) and thus be able to stop a person of this nature going nuts and doing this... Part two, THE GUN ISSUE, you know, ''We wouldn't have this problem if they couldn't get THOSE guns! Your right to protect yourself is down the drain again!
From 1764 to 1991-- 45 gun incidences on our campus's -- From 1992 to 2001 -- 12 incidences -- From 2002 to right now 33 incidences!
Pollish this off with the poor citizens of this Virginia town stating over and over that their town was so safe they didn't even lock their doors.. You see what mean about a pattern?
For now will leave you with this... They are calling and referring to this as MASSACRE..
That's exactly what goes on every day in Iraq and in Israel at least once a month but where are Americans' OUTRAGE ON THAT??
More on this later.. Got a house to clean!
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Listening to WBAI right now -- the caller just said that she never heard of a person shooting himself in the BACK of the head.. It just gets worse doesn't it?
Back on the boob tube, the mourners are cheering "Let's go hokeys!" Are all these people out of their minds? Didn't take them long to get the flag out and bring the military in.
They end it with those last famous words, Why did he do it? The investigation is underway and perhaps we'll never know...
Of course we won't! Go back to work folks. Get on with your lives!
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I'm getting somewhat sickened by what I'm hearing from left and right, just a lot of blather about the right to bear assault weapons on one side and the sudden need for gun control on the other. Nobody's taking my gun away, that goes without saying, but the deaths mean nothing to anyone beyond the dead's immediate circle of family and friends, to everyone else from Randi Rhodes to GW Bush it's just 30-some handy excuses to push their political agenda ...
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Kind words from a lunatic
At last I have found in Unknown News a reputable source for casualty figures in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. Thank you very much. As a published freelance writer on the subject of American foreign policy, it is important for me to have my numbers straight.
However, I was offended by your advertisement of a sticker saying, "No Special Rights for Heterosexuals". I respect homosexual persons but cannot commend their deviant behavior.
Another piece of "unknown news" that I think might be worth reporting is the grassroots presidential campaign of "Average Joe" Schriner. Check it out at www.voteforjoe.com.
Please keep this valuable site running.
Sincerely,
Justin S.
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I've known some delightfully kinky people, people who played with leather, chains, whips, and wax, but it was always just for fun. Yours is a much sicker sexual perversion than any of that. You want to inflict your strange sexual punishment by denying simple civil rights to strangers, based on how they have sex with consenting adults.
In your twisted head, people who don't fuck the way you fuck don't even deserve human rights.
Jeepers, Justin, there just aren’t words weird enough to describe the monstrosity of your mental illness. I sincerely hope you can fuck yourself, so nobody else has to.
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Massacre musings
After reading the right blaming this horrific tragedy on gun laws and permissiveness, the left blaming it on not enough gun control... After watching the video media milk the story for all it's worth and wringing its hands but remaining resolutely silent on the malfeasance of Rove, Gonzales and the WH, I'm getting utterly sick of it.
With the likes of O'Reilly , Limbaugh, Coulter as well as the religious right advocating the murder of those with which they do not agree, is it any wonder that there are people who would think that killing is an acceptable way to express their rage and frustration ??? With the president and nearly all Republicans as well as more that a few Democrats approving of torture and/or murder of Iraqis and illegal immigrants... is it any wonder that we do not have more violent incidents like that which has taken so many lives at Va. Tech ???
Until these things that so many on the right, left and center give their tacit approval to... the violent rap music that the entertainment industry gets rich off of, the gutter mouthed rantings of talk show hosts and kitty puke that comes from so many on the religious right... is no longer permitted by most people -- this will go on and on.
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The culture of violence
by Brett Morris, Collegiate Times
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Excerpt: Since the end of World War II, the United States has been at war almost literally non-stop with one country or another. If Americans could come to terms with our history of violence, would Americans be so willing to accept violence overseas? Would the level of violence within our borders be reduced? |
Lest we forget. It is in the family that people first learn that violence is an acceptable way to express anger and intolerance. From the parents!
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McCain backs gun rights after shootings| |
Excerpt: The Arizona Republican, who was campaigning in this Texas-Mexico border city, said he didn't know the details of the attacks at Virginia Tech.
"I do believe in the constitutional right that everyone has, in the Second Amendment to the Constitution, to carry a weapon," he said. "Obviously we have to keep guns in the hands of law-abiding citizens."
McCain and other presidential hopefuls issued statements expressing shock and grief over the attacks. |
Why is it that nearly all these "Pro Gun" types happen to be white males and nearly all are right wing jerks as well ?? I wish we could round them all up and ship them back to the jungle where they can pound their hairy chests to their hearts content and make as much grunting noise as they want and leave the rest of us who have some intelligence alone.
Chris M.
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I'm of the growing belief that people whose first response to a tragedy like Virginia Tech is to use it as a talking point for or against gun rights are just plain nuts.
Helen & Harry
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Not that bad
The percentages when you divide 1 x 32 dead into 300,000,000, it is almost non existent as far as any kind of nation wide killing spree. I am listening to a psychiatrist on the George Noory Coast to Coast radio program right now and he says he is surprised this doesn't happen more often!
I have said the same thing many times over the last 30+ years.
T Lee Buyea Fla News Service
American bucks for Mexican trucks
Re Fear your neighbors, trust Republicans
How many RepubliCONs are profiting from building a billion dollar "fence" across our southern border ... that will be breached by 18 wheeler trucks driven by Mexican "chauffeurs" granted "immunity" by the Bu$h!t administration????
Blue B.
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Several, I would guess. There's big bucks in illegal immigration, which is why Republicans will never do anything tangible to stop it or slow it, only to feed it and grow it.
Helen & Harry
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Tasering the newborn
Taser used on dad leaving Houston hospital with baby | |
Excerpt: A Houston man has been charged with endangerment after an incident at The Woman's Hospital where an off-duty Houston police officer used a Taser on the man as he tried to leave the hospital with his infant daughter.
William Lewis dropped to the hallway floor after being shocked in the incident early Thursday morning, and his 2-day-old daughter fell from his arms about 2 feet before landing on the floor, police said.
Lewis and his wife today said the use of the Taser was inappropriate. The Police Department said it was necessary because they considered the baby to be in danger, and cited reports of previous threats made by the man.
"If the father had just complied with the rules, there would have been no 'Tasing,'" said Capt. Dwayne Ready, a Houston police spokesman. |
It doesn't sound like the family should have been leaving -- taking an infant from a neo-natal unit at 1:30 am without explanation seems shady -- but this cop really loves his taser and used it on someone holding a newborn. I think it's clear that he should not be allowed to continue as police officer. I think it's equally clear he'll get at most a couple of weeks of paid vacation from the police department [oh, I meant they'd send him home while the situation is 'investigated']. It doesn't sound like the hospital is too concerned since the cop didn't kill the baby when he tasered the man holding her.
Leaving against medical advice means that the patient's insurance won't pay, but if the family lacked insurance they've already got a massive bill. My guess is that the family was trying to leave early for financial reasons, although it's quite possible the man had problems before.
Cassandra
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My guess matches your guess, about why Mom and Dad wanted to leave the hospital. And I hate hospitals almost as much as I hate bad cops -- the last time I was hospitalized I walked out without doctor’s authorization, and they pretty much acted like I was robbing a bank.
And the quote attributed to the cops’ “Captain Ready” sounds like the rough draft for the coming Kafka Bill of Wrongs: Anyone who doesn’t comply with any rule is subject to tasering.
But I’m not so sure about the rightness or wrongitude of this particular cop’s action. I see big gray areas here. Like, I’d assume there wasn’t time to fully brief Officer D.M Boling on the situation. He was probably told the shortest possible version of the facts, which would have been: kidnapping in progress.
In which case, tasering a guy holding a baby might plausibly be better than trying to physically block the guy’s way, or tackling him, or shooting him ...
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Virginia killings
Re the Virginia killings … no word on the shooter's motive as of yet. Wait till they make something up! This smells to high heaven and now the Decider will speak to masses -- WTF?? And of course they shot the shooter or he shot himself, isn't that always the way it goes… How convenient! Did you notice it's taking longer to find out who this guy was, unlike Sept 11th when it only took them 30 minutes to tell us who the hijackers were?? Nah this is more BS!
Hey man, is it us?? Do they have us so messed up, so distrustful, so cynical that we have to question everything that happens? No matter what it is, even if it looks like it might be legit, we just can't accept it. This is how we've become.
I don't trust any thing that happens while these Neocon bastards are in control!
I haven't checked out Prisonplanet.com yet, might as well see what Alex Jones dug up!
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I'm kind of encuriousated and enraged by the campus' authorities apparent decision to send out emails -- in other words, to do nothing -- while a known killer was on the loose. Seems to me the person who made that decision needs to be looking for a new job ...
And then an addendum: In Googling a few hours later, I found an early account of the first killings (but now, of course, it's gone) that quoted an un-named but "knowledgeable source" as saying that the gunman in the first two killings had been arrested.
If I read that right, and some authoritative schmuck told reporters that the killer had been arrested after the first two shootings, then maybe it's reasonable to open the campus for an ordinary day of school...
I dunno. I think there's a natural inclination to want to blame someone, when ultimately there's probably only one person to blame, and he's dead.
Helen & Harry
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Commingling church and state
The NYTimes quoted the Texas Republican Party (with no precise source) as having pledged to "dispel the myth of separation of church and state".
The text can be found indeed at page 31 in their platform, attached in PDF (I took it from their Web site).
This is at least surprising in some parts of the world, where people may still believe the problem with the Taliban was that they didn't like such a separation, either.
Best regards,
Ioana M.
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Between our clunky old computer's technical limitations and our own common sense, we almost never open emailed attachments, but the gist of your note came through with no file manipulation -- thanks. And here's the PDF for the 2006 Texas Republican Party platform, and here's the pertinent part, in its entirety:"Safeguarding our religious liberties -- We affirm that the acknowledgement of God is undeniable in our history and is vital to our freedom, prosperity and strength as a nation. We pledge to exert our influence toward a return to the original intent of the First Amendment and dispel the myth of the separation of church and state." And of course, that's sheer lunacy from beginning to end. It's 100% nuttiness, lies, and delusional, and that little excerpt ought to scare the bejeebers out of any human being who gives a damn about freedom. Anyone who signs on to that way of thinking is an enemy of everything worthwhile America has ever stood for.
And something else that strikes me strange -- and strikes me, bludgeons me, over and over again -- is how this (like so many other items in the "unknown news") has remained "unknown news". Political parties don't keep their platforms secret, so this was known, and if my memory serves the facts accurately, I think we read about this in numerous small-scale independent news sources, and we mentioned it on our own website, in both 2004 and 2006 -- when Texas Republicans wrote their platforms for those years.
But it wasn't news in the mainstream media, I guess, until last week, when the New York Times mentioned it. Ain't that something?
Helen & Harry
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Strange suicides
My sister worked in a funeral home in Roane county, Tenn. She said it was well known that many murders got passed off as suicides. She told of a man shot 14 times in the back, and another whose throat was slashed and they were ruled suicides. this is true. Have you heard of this?
Rus M.
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I'm sure it happens once in a while, where the county coroner is a killer or in cahoots with a killer. But generally speaking, I tend to think you and your sister are full of sh*t.
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The revolution will not be televised
Recently discovered your website and have fallen in love. I¹ve even added you as a link on my blog below. Sharing a piece I recently wrote. Hope you enjoy.
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Oh dang me, you're good. You're a live one. I just spent half an hour on your weblog and the feeling is mutual -- I'm in love too. :) Always terrific to find someone who's awake -- including you, I count eleven so far ...
I'll add a link to your site when I get home.
Helen & Harry
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Causing the postal problem
What a Terrible happening in the USA. We have problems here, terror and crazy people. The only way to stop this is to require that every citizen is required to own a weapon or firearm. If these people had had a firearm they could have defended them selves.
This is not a problem with firearms, it is a sign of the times. Our society is sick. Too many people running over others causing the postal problem. Our Judges and leaders have too much corruption. They care not for the regular people of the USA.
The first thing that Hitler did when he went into office was gun control . He took up all the guns.
We have a problem with our society. We have moved away from in God we trust. Our society has abandoned the ways of our fathers. We kill millions in abortion's each year. How can we expect God to bless us.
It is a terrible shame that each citizen must have a firearm. This need's to be done. In the cities where this has been done the crime rate has dropped to nearly O.
Our leaders need to listen to me. I am not a rocket scientist but even I can see and know what to do.
W.C. Taylor
A Christian American
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If you want to own a gun, that’s one of the first ten amendments and that’s your right.
But I’d say America’s biggest problem is people who remind me of you -- people who’d require all Americans to own guns, or require them not to, or require all Americans to worship your God, or require everyone to make whatever moral choices you’ve made ...
Seriously, stranger, where do you imagine you get this right to tell other people what they’re required to do? When did your God die and leave you in charge?
I'd rather have an America with a lot more freedom, and a lot fewer requirements.
Helen & Harry
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Ticket to rideLearn how to beat your next traffic ticket
Beating tickets may be more important today than decades back, as now Alaska knows about the ticket in Florida, etc. And your car insurance or driver's license can be taken away far more easily, too.
Support these troops
Dramatic increase in Army desertions
These are the only troops I will support!
Idiots in charge
Claims detail grim civilian toll
Didn't candy bars work????
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Officials believe violence will unite Iraqis | |
BAGHDAD -- Spokesmen for the Iraqi government and the U.S. military said Sunday that a recent string of terror attacks against city bridges, Iraq's parliament and a religious site in Karbala bore the earmarks of al-Qaida in Iraq, yet insisted that the violence would unite Iraqis instead of divide them.
"Terrorism has failed. I don't think these car bombs can stop the political process inside or outside the parliament," said Dr. Zuhair Chalabi, a spokesman for the Iraqi government.
"We see what was intended to divide and destroy as being a catalyst for unity," said Navy Rear Admiral Mark I. Fox. |
This non-sensical propaganda leaves me flabbergasted.
Wig
Imprisoned and un-belted
This country lacks skilled labor for $3.oo per hour. You are not going to believe this.
Human trafficking of Indian guest workers alleged in Mississippi shipyard; Contractor defends 290-man camp| |
Excerpt: Signal says they detained the guest workers at the advice of US immigration officials, in an attempt to forcibly deport them following a labor dispute. Though the workers were later released into the custody of community groups, the incident has shed light on a longstanding immigration problem -- the vulnerability of guest workers who travel to the United States on H-2B visas, and their exploitation at the hands of so-called "recruiters" and the companies they work for. |
Oh, by the way, right now I am in New Jersey, the land where the stupid fucking governor would not wear a seat belt. That is why everyone else is not in a hospital and he is. I don't like the fucking thief anyway.
Everyone in the state knows that his entourage was speeding well over the limit, and that they actually caused the accident. That is why no charges were filed against the poor slob who got in their way.
John G.
Alan Dershowitz: Putz, or schmuck?
Alan Dershowitz, defender of murderers like OJ Simpson, Klaus von Bulow and JDL's Sheldon Siegel -- only rich murderers, of course -- and lately a defender of torture, is doing whatever he can to try to destroy Norman Finkelstein, whose book on the Holocaust Industry enraged the Jewish Powers That Be -- mostly because it is THEY who are helping themselves to Holocaust funds -- but in fact, did not even begin to get at the REAL abuse of Holocaust funds. (Just today the Israeli police again questioned Finance Minister Avraham Hirschson, who is accused of stealing money from the "March of the Living", many of which come from the Jewish Claims Conference and are funds meant to be allocated to Holocaust survivors!! Not to mention the head of the Claims Conference, Rabbi Singer, being thrown out from the World Jewish Congress for embezzlement just two weeks ago!!
(And, dear NYT, a man's career is on the line.... that is not exactly a "spat")
A bitter spat over ideas, Israel and tenure
Use our New York Times login unk.news and password unknown | |
Excerpt: Regardless of the outcome Mr. Dershowitz has managed to irritate many people besides Mr. Finkelstein. "Everyone has been offended by the degree of outside pressure," said Michael Budde, the chairman of DePaul's political science department, "which shows no respect for the integrity of our process and institution." On Tuesday the Middle East Studies Association, which represents scholars, sent a letter to DePaul's president expressing concern that this tenure decision had been "unduly politicized."
Behind the ferocious personal animus there is a clash of ideas. In 2000 Mr. Finkelstein, a vehement critic of Israel and the son of Holocaust survivors, published "The Holocaust Industry: Reflections on the Exploitation of Jewish Suffering," in which he argued that Jews in Israel and America have conspired to use the Holocaust to oppress the Palestinians and extort money from Germany. Not surprisingly the book caused a sensation, leading to large sales and vociferous criticism.
After Mr. Dershowitz published "The Case for Israel," Mr. Finkelstein began working on "Beyond Chutzpah: On the Misuse of Anti-Semitism and the Abuse of History," which essentially was devoted to tearing down that book. At one point he accused Mr. Dershowitz of plagiarism and of not having written "The Case." Mr. Dershowitz, a dogged lawyer known for his high-profile defense of O. J. Simpson and others, tried to get the University of California Press to cancel his adversary's book, even at one point appealing to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. He failed, but he did manage to include a counterattack on Mr. Finkelstein in his next book. |
E13
Torture? Ya, sure, youbetcha
Iranian diplomat released in exchange for Brits says Americans tortured him| |
Excerpt:
An Iranian diplomat showed off wounds on his feet Wednesday, and said they were inflicted by drills during two months of detention in Iraq. He said he was harshly interrogated by an American official when he refused to cooperate. The comments by Sharafi came as Iran stepped up complaints over its personnel detained in Iraq, hinting that it might boycott an international conference on Iraq unless American forces release five Iranians detained in a January raid. |
The U.S. is still lying about the fact that we captured this Iranian diplomat in the first place -- they blame anonymous Iraqi gunmen. U.S. officials also say, with a straight face, that the fact that this Iranian diplomat was released the day before Iran released those British hostages is a complete and total coincidence. So when U.S. officials claim that we never tortured Sharafi, you can pretty much assume we did.
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White House can't find anyone to supervise the war| |
Excerpt: The White House wants to appoint a high-powered czar to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with authority to issue directions to the Pentagon, the State Department and other agencies, but it has had trouble finding anyone able and willing to take the job, according to people close to the situation. At least three retired four-star generals approached by the White House in recent weeks have declined to be considered for the position, the sources said. |
So what's the funniest part of this story: the fact that Bush is now looking for someone else to be in charge of the fiasco after six years of puffing his chest out about how Commander-In-Chief-ly he is, or the fact that Mr. Loyalty-Uber-Alles can't find one idiot willing to fall on a grenade for him anymore? Discuss.
Madeline Zane
Quinn & Buckley
I know your reading list is too long so this isn't a recommendation,
[and if I were recommending authors I think you'd like I'd second Dr.
Herb's opinion of Daniel Quinn] but this book looks to have some great
quotes. Called Boomsday: A Novel. I've never read Chris Buckley before, but I'd
have put a request in a the library even if the character didn't have my
name. Wouldn't have sent this but for the quote, 'cause I that's why
there's an unknownnews.
My fellow boomers, time to transition
A blogger named Cassandra advocates that boomers commit suicide to defeat the deficit.
"My, my, my, how very different are the workings of government from what we all read about in books as children. I wonder, do the Founders weep in heaven?"
Cassandra
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It might be a good book, but there's too much bad blood there, literally. A friend/acquaintance has spent years of his spare time delving into the Buckley family history and connections, and occasionally sends me snippets of Buckley lore as he compiles it (he's working on a book). There's just breathtaking evil in that family tree, too many connections to too many outrages, catastrophes, and repugnancies. Before I could give his fiction a fair chance, a son of William F. Buckley would need to start by repudiating his relatives.
Helen & Harry
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Excess baggage
Re Hijackers' lost luggage conveniently solves so many 9/11 mysteries
well this makes sense ... i mean after all they did find his passport, a few blocks away ... Hijackers and terrorists always carry luggage onboard a plane ... cos after their done they plan to go to DisneyWorld. Why is BBC reporting 9 of the Hijackers are still alive? search engine "911 hijackers alive" will bring up the article. ... Now you will have to excuse me while i get some tissue to wipe the tears from my eyes, from laughing so hard.
Weekendwarrior B.
Beyond oblivious
Odd? I find it funny that the news that you spout is apparently not the norm. Last time i checked all major news outlets are controlled by the left wing and the 2nd a republican president fucks up it's national news. However Clinton made so many horrible mistakes but very few ever got publicized. I respect your freedom to say what you want however maybe you should stop calling youself unique because you are infact the mainstream.
Drew D.
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I'll be sending Drew no response. There's no time, no patience, no language to communicate with occupants of his hallucinogenic reality. When someone says the sky is scratchy and tells me his toenails receive FM radio signals in stereo, it's best to just walk away.
Helen & Harry
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Sticks in their craw
Dark of heartness
by David Michael Green, Regressive Antidote| |
Excerpt: These people -- these discarded and existentially exposed denizens of a dying empire - were walking targets for an angry ideology of greed, selfishness and violence. Like so many wandering San Francisco street kids seduced into attending a Moonie retreat, you could see them walking through the door. Mix in a little 9/11 fear and unfocused hatred at this or that brown-skinned foreign race, and these dudes were fully locked and loaded, ready to rumble. If you had to design a set of circumstances in order to sell tax cuts, war, repression and the permanent rule of Wall Street in America, you could hardly engineer a better program. And, to a certain extent, that is exactly how it went down. |
David Michael Green really nails it with this piece. It is as I have said before, the "Conservative Right" is an angry reaction to those things which they feel have been force down their throats. Civil rights, Feminism, Gay rights - you name it. These "Liberal" causes. Especially in the south where it really sticks in their craw. It is also the reason for the rise of "Fundamentalist Christian" churches with the likes of "Christian Coalition" . Simply a convenient and politically safe place to perform their previous hate filled meanness with out risk of going to jail. It's the KKK in religious robes.
Chris M.
Genocide, or defeat
Re Six fallen
I appreciate your sentiment. You were correct in your assumptions. It is time we made a difference or we leave to let someone else's history be written.
We either win at ALL costs, and live with the fall-out, or we go home with our tail between our legs. This is not an issue of revenge, this is an issue of rationalizing a military victory. Personally, this is not a war that a military can win unless you "harvest the land" and repopulate. Alternatively, you negotiate a non-military position. I favor the latter.
No Western democracy of this Century has the fortitude to commit genocide. This is what a military victory in Afghanistan and Iraq will take.
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Ask yourself: Why are the stories of the Moroccan bombings not as widely known as the recent bombings in Iraq and Algeria.
The Canadian
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I used to think people who saw some orchestration behind the news were nuts. Now I think the nuts are the ones who don't think coverage is under some serious controls.
War, I think, ought to be avoided at almost all cost. Ought to be a last resort. What the killing is for, how much killing it'll take to win, what the cost might be to the winner's conscience, are questions that should be answered before the bombs and bullets start flying. Asking such questions four years ago would have made today's insane situation impossible.
Helen & Harry
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Timeline for the future
Re Mountains of mistakes, misinformation, and outright lies
My second oldest project is The Rise and Fall of Star Faring Civilizations
in Our Own Galaxy. According to that research, it's exceedingly rare -- maybe impossible -- for a technological civilization to get much further than the equivalent of our own 2500 AD without going extinct, or else collapsing into such a state extinction would look like the better option (picture a never-ending dark ages where fewer than a million people populate the Earth in basically a bare subsistence agricultural society, fighting over the scraps remaining from humanity's heyday).
In The war for our destiny and Civilization's best defenses against war, terrorism, technological stagnation, and economic ruin I offer up some possible obstacles to armageddon which mankind might construct.
In my timeline, I take an optimistic route, assuming we'll somehow muddle through and continue to make progress -- despite awful occasional setbacks like the resurgence of the Republicans in the US over the past 30 years or so.
Hopefully you can find as much good stuff as bad in the future I describe.
Also, quite a few of us living today may find ourselves living much longer than we expected. Heck: I was amazed myself when I realized I'd made it to my mid-twenties! (much of the extreme risks and violence described in my supercar tales came from real life events) Now here I am, at roughly twice that! Likewise, my parents are still alive and quite active, and well astonished themselves.
The timeline is sort of a documentary. It has a sister sub-site I call perspectives, which is more like a dramatization of how selected personalities/entities might think and behave in various future decades/centuries, and what sorts of environments they'll find themselves living in (Signposts timeline perspectives on the future).
The king of all the perspectives pieces of course in my science fiction novel The Chance of a Realtime, which offers the view of a circa 1972 college student suddenly being exposed to future stuff from decades and centuries ahead.
The future timeline and all the research done for it were originally meant to be for my eyes only: simply preparations for writing my novel. But as it grew, I realized the timeline itself might be far more valuable and interesting for most than my fiction! Ha, ha.
The facts against the fanatics
Top Turkish general calls for a cross-border operation to northern Iraq| |
Excerpt: Turkey's Chief of General Staff Gen. Yasar Büyükanit on Thursday called for a cross-border operation to northern Iraq where around 4,500 Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) terrorists are based, underlining that political will is required for such an incursion. "An operation into Iraq is necessary and will be useful," said Gen. Büyükanit during a one-and-a-half hour press conference at his headquarters. |
Is anyone in Bush Admin awake?
* * *
Baradei calms nuke fears| |
Excerpt: Mohamed El-Baradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), yesterday played down fears of Iran developing a nuclear bomb, saying that it “did not have the necessary elements” to do so. He also said Iran was now cooperating with the agency regarding its nuclear program. |
Will Bush pay attention to this?
Wig
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I don't really think it's a matter of whether the Bush White House is awake or asleep, or stupid or smart. They're just plain bastards. As for Baradei, he's said this before, and Bush-Cheney et al haven't heard a thing. Nothing this White House does is influenced by facts.
Helen & Harry
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They're just plain bastards. LOL!!! I'm cautious about using that type language. My mother might come back to wash my mouth out with soap.
Wig
Egotism and hate
Re A positive outlook
Haha, I wasn't expecting a response but I'm glad my egotism and hate for the power elite made you feel better and also thanks for the "compliment."
Watcher
Lies without end
Despite denials, Gonzales DID have Republican replacements in the wings| |
Excerpt: A Justice Department e-mail message released on Friday shows that the former chief of staff to Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales proposed replacement candidates for United States attorneys nearly a year before they were dismissed in December 2006. The department has repeatedly stated that no successors were selected before the dismissals. |
HUGE surprise that a Bushie lied.... who would have thought????
E13
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This will sound nutty, but ... I'm starting to have doubts about their character ...
Helen & Harry
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pro-peace, anti-Bush,
pro-freedom,
anti-Republican
stickers you won't find anywhere else.
bumper stickers
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