Name the Leftist Killers ...

I was reading Eric Boehlert's "Media Matters" article about Crazy Glenn Beck and his supporters, and at one point he started talking about murderously deluded sad sack of shit Jim Adkisson who's brain was fried from reading Michael Savage, Sean Hannity, etc., (pukes).

Anyway, ... has there been a genuinely left-wing political killer in Canada or the United States over the past 10 years? 20? If so, how do our numbers stand up against the Adkissons and the Poplawskis?

Rogues Gallery: "fergusrush"

As always, I'd like to type things more substantial but life keeps getting in the way. So, in the absence of the time to discuss anything substantial, I thought I'd type about the insubstantial intellectual abilities of internet troll "fergusrush" who has been grinding my gears at Dr. Dawg's blog lately.

The Afghan Wife-Rape Law

Brian over at The Canada-Afghanistan Blog must be getting a little tetchy. He has the unmitigated gall to refer to Dr. Dawg as an "idiot" when he's more than willing to accept praise from the sputtering, cowardly gas-bag Terry Glavin.

The fact of the matter is, I don't think Brian is an idiot for supporting his cause. (I do think he's willfully deluded himself in order to ignore the absolute scuzziness of the Western powers which undermines the whole notion of this being a benevolent policy.) I certainly don't think Dr. Dawg deserves to be called an idiot for the nature of his criticisms of the Afghan occupation.

Brian does bring up an interesting point about the significance of this wife-rape law:

As far as I'm aware, a law with the consequences outlined above would not be constitutional nor would it comply with the international treaties signed by the government. Let's keep shedding light on this matter, but hold off on the cries of 'betrayal'.
If there is such a law, it will be struck down. If it is struck down, it will be a tribute to what we're fighting for: universal human rights backed up by the rule of law.

Let's see if he called that one correctly.

And Brian, try to stay a bit more classy. H'okay?

Couple of Things in the Works

But right now I'm swamped.

So a quick observation. Apparently, Barack Obama is shutting down the torture base at Guantanamo Bay. HOOORAY!! But he says that the prisoners at Bagram in Afghanistan have no rights. So, "Moved to a Different Location."

And he's a servant of Wall Street and his economic advisors are all Wall Street cronies, attempting to use taxpayer dollars to prop-up their failed investments.

While all this is going on, the right-wing shithead brigade (typified now by "Crazy Glenn Beck") are shrieking conspiracy rants about the "socialism" threat that Obama represents.

Don't get me started about the fucking pukes governing Canada.

Okay. Bye.

Good Johann Hari Editorial

I've got a few minutes to post something and I wanted to say something BIG. Because I'm so disgusted with the times we live in. With the deluded capitalist politicians of the G-20 meeting in London to yammer about a crisis they don't understand attempting to prescribe more of what has brought us to this point. I'm disgusted with the serial atrocities of the harpercon minority government, and the dismal disgusting behaviour of the RCMP at the Braidwood Inquiry.

The very first article at www.commondreams.org was from Johann Hari and it was exactly what I was hoping for. Something BIG that I could recommend for your perusal.

Why We Should Listen to the Protestors:

Many commentators seemed bemused that the protesters focused on the climate crunch as much as the credit crunch. What's it got to do with a G20 meeting on reviving the global economy? Why wave banners saying 'Nature Doesn't Do Bail-Outs' today? Because both crises have their roots in the same ideology - and both have the same solution.

We are facing a collapsed economy and a rapidly warming world because an extreme ideology has dominated world affairs for decades. It is the belief that markets aren't just a useful tool in certain circumstances; they are an infallible mechanism for running human affairs. If the economy ebbs, the market will put itself right by punishing wrong-doers. If the climate begins to unravel, business will rectify its own behaviour voluntarily. Now we know how well this market fundamentalism works.

Indeed.

I'm really not interested in the science of ecology. It's a failing of mine. I suck at math. Bureaucratic forms put me to sleep. All the while I'm tortured with the full realization of the importance of math, science and keeping all my pieces of paper neat and tidy so that I can do my taxes and pay my bills. I'm just not mentally equipped to really appreciate the science.

But any idiot can tell you that we're on a trajectory towards suicide. The accumulations of pollution and chemical alterations of the planet, the mass-extinctions that are just beyond the next hill, ... you'd have to be deliberately deluded to pretend otherwise.

And that's why we need to seize this moment. The system has failed even by its own measuring stick. It is a sick, inhuman system that, as a system of political-economy, is supposed to support human life, and which has failed.

We can do anything we want to. So far, the people in charge are shallow greedheads, mental incompetents, power-hungry maniacs, and this revolting mess is what they have produced. We need a system of political-economy that serves everybody and which doesn't treat the planet as an "externality."

The capitalists have been allowed to follow their delusions long enough. It's time for them to step aside and let the rest of humanity take control.

Politics is a Full-Time Job

Heck. I don't necessarily want to lobby politicians. Wine them and dine them and get their support for things that will benefit me.

I'd just like to have the time to work on a serious article. Or throw a rock through the window of an MP whose party is gleefully leaving a fellow citizen stranded in the Sudan. Or get people to sign a petition demanding an inquiry into accounts of child rape by the Afghan security forces. Or to keep an eye on genuine lobbyists and their attempts to game the political process.

Alas, alack. There's 3 things that didn't get attended to today. And I don't want to sacrifice family for politics. Then there's groceries, dinner and dishes. And then there's the fact that I'm a weak man who needs lots of bed rest.

Corporate Canada has well compensated hucksters and promoters. And they pay for 'em with our money. It comes out of what they over charge us for goods and services. Bank fees and the like.

Have a nice day.

More Reading on the G-20 Summit

A couple of days ago I was moved to write something caustic about the upcoming G-20 summit and the idea that our deluded political elites could come up with anything substantial to deal with the economic crisis.

Since that time, I've read Walden Bello and Marc Lee on the subject. Neither of them are optimistic either.

Bello:

The Group of 20 (G20) is making a big show of getting together to come to grips with the global economic crisis. But here's the problem with the upcoming summit in London on April 2: It's all show. What the show masks is a very deep worry and fear among the global elite that it really doesn't know the direction in which the world economy is heading and the measures needed to stabilize it.

Lee:

A draft of the final G-20 communiqué leaked to Financial Times reinforces my view that the consensus agreement will fall short of what is needed given the seriousness of the economic crisis.
...
The major shortcoming of this G-20 meeting will almost certainly be the lack of commitment to an aggressive and coordinated approach to fiscal stimulus. It doesn’t look like the IMF 2% of GDP target will be part of the agreement. Most major industrialized countries including Canada have fallen short of the target. Canada is singled out by the OECD as one of the countries that can afford to do more, but is unlikely to do so.
The inadequate international fiscal stimulus response to date misreads the seriousness of the crisis. The priority now is for Governments to act together immediately to aggressively pursue expansionary monetary and fiscal policies.