Blowback: The unintended consequences of covert operations.
Cautionary Tale
by beq
(full size)
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August 12, 2005
Friday Art: Blowback
Comments
No blowback yet over at the Broken Spoke for Rangers and Pioneers.
You want cole slaw with them ribs, Senator? I see the illegal overt and covert operations haven’t dampened their appetites any, reckon?
Not when they’re paying $1,000 a plate.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/08/12/bush.friday.ap/
Posted by: tante aime | Aug 12 2005 19:58 utc | 1
Yup, 9,000 dead American troops don’t hurt the Neo’s appetite any.
http://iraqwar.mirror-world.ru/article/52345
Posted by: Ivan Cole | Aug 12 2005 20:02 utc | 2
I don’t quite get it beq but my psyche seems to think it does. Tante & Ivan seem to. Brian Harring’s 9000 dead Americans? Cindy Sheehan’s courageous stand. My mind picks details; the viper pin pricks on the finger, the lusty dragon, the hints of blood (red) around some edges, blowback(?). I’m sure if I incubate a dream tonight I’ll find fertile ground.
Your art captivates me beq.
Posted by: Juannie | Aug 12 2005 20:32 utc | 3
Found myself explaining to a newly found old friend why I’ve left the US and given up my citizenship… thought it fits in rather well here…
I gave up my citizenship once I realised that I was never going back there other than to visit (about 1996, 10 years after I left), and got tired of being hassled by the US government for being a US citizen overseas. Probably fair to say that there was some element of disillusionment in there as well. At the time I didn’t see any productive discourse about the national debt, handguns, litigation and the underclass; and didn’t see any reason to condemn my kids to that.
My layman’s view at this stage is that the US founders made a big mistake not specifying the allowable behaviour of the country towards other countries. They were reasonably good internally (for white males etc. but that has improved), but the constant screwing with other countries has now “blown back” to pressure the internal liberties. The US had its cake and ate it too. I don’t think US citizens realise the extent to which the privileges they enjoyed internally relied on this external duplicity and extortion over more than a century. I’m not confident that they will now trade the colonialist living standard for peace and justice. As in Germany in the late 30’s they may rather accept a police state.
Mark Twain had a pretty good grasp of both the situation and it’s consequences.
I fear now that either or both of two things will happen – the US experiment in a citizen-driven, law-regulated democracy will end (or has ended aside from rear-guard actions); and the US hypocrisy abroad has engendered a backlash against market economics and international law globally which will foster global leadership by regimes like Russia and China which don’t have a tradition of answering to their citizenry or anyone else. For most of the world, how much worse can it be?
And all shall have prizes.
Posted by: PeeDee | Aug 12 2005 22:06 utc | 5
The red characters in the upper left corner say “A Cautionary Tale”. The writing in front of the dragon’s mouth (on the left buttock of the yakuza) says “To ask for death; the fate of temptation”.
Just in case anyone is interested …
@PeeDee, where did you go & how is life there? How was the transition?
Posted by: jj | Aug 13 2005 0:27 utc | 7
beq- goes straight past the rational (izing) mind.
thank you, Jape. the inscription gives it an entirely different frame of reference for me.
Cloned Poster, some information about
Bakuto (gamblers) had a much lower social standing even than traders, as gambling was completely illegal. Many small gambling houses cropped up in abandoned temples or shrines at the edge of towns and villages all over Japan. Most of these gambling houses ran loan sharking businesses for clients, and they usually maintained their own security personnel. The places themselves, as well as the bakuto, were regarded with disdain by the society at large, and much of the undesirable image of the yakuza originates from bakuto. Many bakuto had tattoos on their body called irezumi, meant to be displayed when bakuto dealt cards or rolled dice half naked. In modern times, tattooing has become the exclusive practice of yakuza in Japan. Folklore states that the bakuto also originated the yakuza tradition of finger cutting (yubitsume) as a way of offering penance, because this would weaken the holding of the dice box which they used to deal in dice games.
Posted by: fauxreal | Aug 13 2005 3:59 utc | 9
One observation……do Chinese sumo wrestle?
The ritual and sport of sumo is Japanese, but the sport so simple that it wouldn’t be surprising if something similar once existed somewhere in China. The Mongolians have a similar sport, still practiced — there is a wrestling coliseum in the center of Ulaanbaatar, built after Mongolia broke with Russia. In fact, the strongest sumo wrestler in Japan at the moment is a Mongolian with the sumo name “Asashouryuu”. A recent run he had of over 20 straight wins was broken by a young wrestler from Bulgaria, of all places. Japan doesn’t internationalize easy, but the sport has been improved (in my ill-informed eyes) by central Asian and European participation.
Sumo wrestlers don’t do the tatoo thing. That’s strictly for gangsters. In fact, many sports clubs and public baths ban people with body tatoos altogether, because the tatoos are, apart from being amazing works of art, a form of intimidation.
@JJ- Where did you go & how is life there? How was the transition?
I worked around Europe & Asia for a few years and ended up in Australia for a decade. Moved to NZ six years ago; have citizenship in both countries now and would happily live in either.
I was a fifth generation Northern Californian, and that is a pretty nice part of the world; but I like it here better. Life is very, very good for me and my family; and, it seems like most people here have a decent life. NZ is blessed by being far away and almost empty, with no resources that anyone wants to pillage. It’s only 3-4 million (reasonably well-educated) people – so the problems seem more tractable and get dealt with in real time (other than ongoing national soul-searching about whether the Maori were taken advantage of historically or vice versa in the present day). Democracy here is not broken, it is in hyper-drive and all the same issues with market economics vs social values apply. The legal system is different – less is explicit it seems – but common sense seems to carry the day. There is a medical and financial safety net, which costs but is wonderful from the point of view of not having basket cases in the community. No handguns. Little military. Budget surplus.
Transition was mostly weird arbitrary stuff like power plugs and driving on the other side of the road. A lot of boot/trunk type language transpositions. The main mental change is learning to see the US from the outside, ie. without my tinted glasses. Still happening and a real shocker, but it’s not like the information wasn’t there. Like global warming, it’s not something you can ignore no matter where you are.
PeeDee
Posted by: PeeDee | Aug 13 2005 8:21 utc | 11
Ok, right off the bat, I fully understand that Alex Jones IS A WHACKO. Having said that, he has more often that not posted some incredible imformation that I haven’t found anywhere else.
Further, everything he posts is usually backed up by legit sources. And madmen can be insightful too.
As they say, take what you can use and leave the rest”.
Four Star General Fired For Organizing Coup Against Neo-Cons?
Reporter suggests Brynes discovered plan to turn nuke exercise into staged terror attack
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Aug 13 2005 11:10 utc | 12
Amendment XXVIII – Amendment XXVII repealed
1. The twenty seventh article of amendment to the Constitution of the
United States is hereby repealed regarding Congressional pay increases.
2. No law, increasing the compensation for the services of the Senators
and Representatives, shall take effect, unless and until the compensation
of the People shall also have increased proportionally and in kind.
3. No law, increasing the sharecropper status of Americans, or through
its actions rendering them into vassals, wage slaves and paupers of the
Corporate-State, shall be passed, unless and until the compensation
for the services of the Senators and Representatives shall have also been
likewise reduced, in proportion and in kind. This amendment shall also
apply to the re-election campaign funds of the Congress, which shall
be held in trust for the People, and which, if unexpended after the elections
are concluded, shall revert back to the People.
4. No law, increasing the disbursement of or debt held against the common
estate of the People of the United States to foreign states, foreign powers or
foreign corporations, shall be passed, unless and until the Senators and
Representatives shall have been first tarred and feathered, and carried
around the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool on a tarred cross by the People,
which shall then be burned in effigy, and the Congress member’s name
purged from all public records and history books as having never existed.
5. No declaration or war, or police action, or unlawful decree, sending the
army, navy and militia forces of the United States beyond the 200-mile
territorial limit of America, shall be passed without the services of the eligible
members of the families of the Senators and Representatives having first
been pledged and enlisted to serve for the duration of that action.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –
If anyone really believes that the high price of peak oil isn’t radically affecting
their local economy, their local and state government, the value of their property,
the level of taxation they will be called upon to pay, and the likelihood their jobs
will be terminated and outsourced overseas *even faster than before*, then
Goebbels was proven correct. You can make the People believe that a blue
square is a red circle, simply by rounding the corners off a little bit every time,
and shouting “The Corporate Confederacy Shall Rise Again!!” over and over.
Everything you expected of your local and state government is about to be cut,
and you are about to be gas-taxed, toll-roaded and property-taxed up the ass.
Across the country, officials are cutting operating and capital budgets *in half*.
At the same time, the elites continue holding $M birthday parties and weddings
at their private resorts around the world, dancing in white linens around a frozen
statue of David pissing twin streams of Glenmorangie single malt whiskey and
Rothchild’s champagne, thus proving that while David may have won one round,
it’s a global Corporate Goliath who still rules.
All courtesy of our Founding Fathers, George, Bill, George Sr, and Ronald,
who first stumbled upon “high yield” government policy at Carl Icahn’s knee.
Thank you, Carl! And thank you, Karl! You’ve made wage-slaves of US all.
Posted by: tante aime | Aug 13 2005 17:29 utc | 13
@Tante Aime, would you pls. elaborate on yr. last paragraph. Not being financially literate I can tell it’s interesting, but not what you’re saying. Thanks.
Not sure where to post this today, as threads all seem to be swirling about one vortex; posting here in response to Uncle’s post.
This has some significant bits:
1) All Army & Air Force leaves cancelled after Sept. 7, according to several reports from people w/friends/family in military.
2) “Homeland Security” folks came into draft board office & installed bulletproof glass & iron bars in windows.
3) You prob. heard that CNN w/Blitzer just started a new gig in a so-called “Situation Room”. This says that it’s from NORTHCOM HEADQUARTERS. Can anyone confirm that? Anyway, here’s the link
Posted by: jj | Aug 13 2005 21:03 utc | 14
beq, I love the implicit sex that beckons with both pleasure and consequence — in your work.
Posted by: anna missed | Aug 13 2005 21:11 utc | 15
Don’t forget Alan Greenspan tante aime.
Thom Hartmann’s book review
(http://www.buzzflash.com/hartmann/05/07/har05007.html if link doesn’t work)of “Greenspan’s Fraud” presents a synopsis of the his contribution. In short, to buoy up government obligations after Regan’s tax cuts for the wealthy, we the wage earner’s Social Security taxes were almost doubled to be put into a government savings account. Obsessively of course, so there would be funds for us when we retired. Before that SS contributions were used to fund payouts. Now, Greenspan told us, the savings would be needed to pay ourselves when we retired. Guess what happened to our savings? They have been replaced by IOU’s to the tune of Trillions of dollars.
In the 60’s & 70’s & 80’s I resented SS because I didn’t think I’d ever see it. In the 90’s & 00’s as I approached retirement age I began to think I actually would get to draw SS. Today, one year and two months away from full vestment in SS, I’m beginning to think my thinking of the last 10 years has been naively optimistic.
But maybe my concern about the actuarial soundness of SS in the coming years is just more naivety. We may never make it that far. New Reports Indicate Newsweek To Run With Story That Bush Plans To Fire Chicago Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald ( http://www.arcticbeacon.com/articles/article/1518131/31079.htm if link doesn’t work.)
Reporter Tom Flocco and now long time “judge buster” and judicial reform advocate, Sherman Skolnick of Chicago are reporting a grand jury “true bill” for obstruction of justice and perjury has been voted against Bush and many of his cronies, including unindicted co-conspirators sitting on the U.S. Supreme Court.
Flocco reported last week that Fitzgerald’s grand jury voted out “true bills” or federal criminal indictments against President Bush, Vice-President Cheney, Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, former Attorney General John Ashcroft, former CIA Director George Tenet, Presidential Senior Advisor Karl Rove, Presidential Chief of Staff Andrew Card, Vice-Presidential Chief of Staff I. “Scooter” Libby, imprisoned New York Times reporter Judith Miller and Vice-Presidential Senior Advisor Mary Matalin.
“Shown also as unindicted co-conspirators are two Judges on the U.S. Supreme Court, William Rehnquist and Antonin Scalia, who are among the “Gang of Five” also in Bush versus Gore. Because of the horrendous consequences involved, the indictments are suppressed and there may be an extended delay until they appear on the Chicago Federal Court open records.
This also has raised even more concern. Sounds like the WH mafia has stolen most everything if there is any validity to this report. If anyone could debunk it I’ll breathe a little easier.
BUSH SECRETLY PERMITS QUEEN TO STEAL U.S. GOLD (“http://www.cloakanddagger.de/media/S_284_S/Middle%20Finger%20News/middle_7_28.htm if link doesn’t work.)
I Previewed and links don’t work but the cut and paste of addresses do.
Posted by: Juannie | Aug 13 2005 22:25 utc | 16
“Tom Flocco reports”
I needed a good laugh. But, hey, we can dream it was all true.
Posted by: slothrop | Aug 13 2005 22:53 utc | 17
beq – in total accord with anna missed on your art – but perhaps that it is a little too much on my mind in this moment of our catastrophe
Posted by: remembereringgiap | Aug 14 2005 0:34 utc | 18
beq-
do you have a webpage where we can see your previous art including those that you had posted here? Hubbie is interested.
-gylangirl
Posted by: gylangirl | Aug 14 2005 1:15 utc | 19
beq
love the dragon… heard of “chasing the dragon” and “chasing tail”
Excellent as always
Posted by: dt | Aug 14 2005 19:03 utc | 20
Sorry to be slow. I’ve had computer difficulties at home and been incommunicado on weekends.
Thanks for backing me up Jape. Ever since this I’ve had doubts about Babel Fish.
A tinge of red on the dragon’s tooth doesn’t quite come through in this reproduction but I wanted that to be subtle.
Thanks Juannie, r’giap, fauxreal, anna missed, and dt.
gylangirl: a webpage is on “to do” list.
Scroll up here
here
here
and here are the things bernhard has kindly posted on the Moon.
tante aime, I agree with your thinking and appreciate your expression.
Posted by: beq | Aug 15 2005 12:00 utc | 21
beq
in the moment of our darkness – beauty has reasserted itself ; for the greater part of my life -my principal obligation in creating was to destroy, to deconstruct & to interrogate – myself included but more & more – beauty sometimes i think even great beauty begins to appear in my work as if on its own legs & i am more comforted & consoled by beauty than i would have been even ten years ago
perhaps it is because our world has become a butchershop with blood & brains spattered everywhere – but i know in music & painting – i deisire deeply the truth & beauty has becomes a kind of formal necessity
perhaps not a notion of beauty that others would concur but for example in the work of anna missed i find great beauty in the ghostliness of the apparitions/disparition & in ours the boldness & the subtlety
in anna – it is that you do not have to divorce yourself from politics to create that beauty – on the contrary it affirms it – proletarians are also capable of mystery & obliqueness. in your work – the body – & tho i might not believe in its redemptive powers – i do believe in its capacity to transform & to become a centre o resistance within itself
in brief any art which helps to destroy the disassociation capitalism creates is worth the breath in doing it
Posted by: remembereringgiap | Aug 15 2005 13:36 utc | 22
r’giap – We need to use all the resources we command, whatever they may be. [And as I said before, anna missed can do it all.]
Truth & Beauty? Cindy Sheehan. May she open the eyes that can’t see and save something for this benighted country. They make her stand in a ditch but to see her we must all look up.
Posted by: beq | Aug 15 2005 17:09 utc | 23