Via CNN, Cardinal James Stafford:
“His rhetoric is post-modernist and marks an agenda nd vision that are aggressive, disruptive and apocalyptic. Catholic weep over his words. We weep over the violence concealed behind the rhetoric of our young president-to-be. What should be do with our hot, angry tears of betrayal?”
h/t Digby
I am of the opinion that this is very dangerous rhetoric coming from the Major Penitentiary of the Curia, and I wonder what you guys are thinking about it?

Posted by: Li | Nov 19 2008 22:28 utc | 4

is that a joke@5?

Posted by: Lizard | Nov 19 2008 23:04 utc | 6

Looks like Obama’s Bolivia advisor Greg Craig is the legal representative of Bolivia’s fugitive ex-president Sanchez de Lozada who is wanted for his role in a 2003 massacre. And Craig is now tapped to be White House Counsel.
(Found via BoRev.)

Posted by: Alamet | Nov 20 2008 0:33 utc | 8

My curiosity got the better of me and I had to wade back through links about the whole motley crew of papal godbotherers before I found much about what this paid vatican spokesperson said about the president elect of a foreign nation.
The reason I did it, you see, was that I imagined for some silly reason, that the crew of brown-nosing little boys’ shirt-lifters serving under former nazi pope benedict had finally sprouted a conscience and had determined to offer a little foreign policy advice to prez elect Obama. I had figured if the joker was concerned about “the violence concealed behind the rhetoric of our young president-to-be” that violence would have to be the ‘young president elect’s’ oft stated desire to murder many more unwhites in Pakistan/Afghanistan, since that is his most outrageous promise thus far, especially considering the notion of a foreign official commenting on domestic policy matters is shall we a say “a bit of a no-no” especially between supposed allies.
Tish tosh. Pish pash. I should have known better. The instigators of Latin America’s holocaust (far bigger, longer and more brutal than what benedict’s former fuhrer dreamed up for the jews, gypsies, shirtlifters and disabled – but that’s another story) weren’t worried for the unwhite Pashtu or any of their fellow countrymen for that matter. No, Stafford and co are trying to make a drama outta the thankfully returned to the background of the amerikan national affairs debate, issue of whether humans can decide what they want to do when parenthood has unexpectedly appeared into that citizen’s personal life. That is Stafford is trying to beat up abortion into a “hell no we won’t go for it” rallying cry once again.
Now setting aside the fact this is an amerikan domestic issue well outside the purview of any foreign official , and that Stafford and his colleagues don’t have to worry too much about unexpected parenthood because their sexual partners are most often the wrong gender/and or age for pregnancy to be an issue – that would be petty and might get me talking about the mate of mine whose father was a catholic priest, a missionary to the traditional, remote aboriginal community my friend’s mother (at the time a 14 year old school pupil of the missionary) lived in. And that would be petty and unforgiving which would be very un-Xtian, so lets set that aside and consider the other bit.
Which is why when some foreign nation’s official picks the new prez elect’s position on an issue that really only concerns individual citizens and is absolutely no concern of any government, city state, national or world there is summat askew in the state of Denmark. Why that? Rather than confronting the prez elect on the undeclared war amerika is waging on a swathe of sovereign nations whose single common demoninator is the citizens of those nations practics a different religion (Islam) than the religion practised by the largest chunk of amerika’s citizens.
That’s a good solid issue for any foreign official to get into, after all amerika has only had one catholic prez (to my knowledge, correct me if I’m wrong.)
Which surely means that the vatican or some other catholic nation could be the next cab off the rank for a generalised attack, if they were judged to hold values deemed untenable by the protestant amerika.
Surely that issue should rate higher up the batting order of ‘things to harangue Barak Obama over’?
The answer is of course brand. Over the last 40 years the catholic church has singled out abortion as one of their primary of not number one, brand differentiation issues. Sure some amerikan baptists, episcopalian and presbyterian denominations are violently outspoken against abortion but that stance isn’t held universally by all of those churches within amerika even, let alone across the rest of the world.
The catholics have done their number crunching and concluded that a sizeable swathe of catholics musta voted for Obama and those voters have to be corralled back into the fold in a way that doesn’t turn them offa the church by makin em choose between barack and st xavier’s or whatever, and certainly doesn’t dilute the brand by sounding like they have reneged on their anti-abortion stance.
So they attack a speech Obama made make in the day. Blitzer who likes to imagine that anyone anti-abortion is pro-Republican seeks to muddy the waters with his vitriolic hyperbole against the cardinal or whatever rank this god botherer is.
Also interesting is why the subject was deemed worthy of a post into here? Most MoA readers don’t carry a torch for Barak or the catholic hierachy and therefore couldn’t give a flying proverbial about what one professional bible thumper says to or about another professional bible thumper on issues which should be of no concern to either.
The

Posted by: Debs is dead | Nov 20 2008 1:21 utc | 10

“catholic church the only worthwhile institution in the world?” haha is right. and so is haha.
i’m a recovering cath-aholic. the best thing i got from them is their propensity for alcohol. if i have to, i can drink like a sailor. lucky me.
my whole family is goofy – horrible examples of christianity. but… they go to church on sunday and say the rosary. halleluia.
and, the only kind of meat a priest can eat on friday is…? (hint: cheech and chong’s “up in smoke”)

Posted by: darkcloud | Nov 20 2008 1:28 utc | 12

If you want to think of something that could have a very negative effect upon global security, the Pope acting like he’s in charge of the world could be very destabilizing in the short run, and perhaps catastrophic in the long.
For Catholics, maybe. For the rest of us:
…destabilizing in the short run, and definitely hilarious in the long.

Posted by: Rowan | Nov 20 2008 3:24 utc | 14

Haven’t seen this mentioned yet at this blog… anyone else catch the story in Der Spiegel about the Estonian feeding NATO intel to Russia? Link

Posted by: Dan | Nov 20 2008 3:55 utc | 16

Saw that one, Dan. It wasn’t Estonia itself, just the head of the intelligence service who went off the reservation for a bigger slice of the good life. At least that’s the story.
“Herman Simm, 61, who was responsible for handling classified and top secret material in the Baltic state’s capital, Tallinn, reportedly had access to “nearly all” documents circulated within NATO and the E.U., the German magazine Spiegel reported.”
It will be interesting to see if Russia steps up to the plate like the USSR to bring their asset home. I bet they will.
Also of interest is the fact that searching for ‘Simm Estonia’ on the NYT returns no link to this story, I guess it is not fit to print.

Posted by: Dick Durata | Nov 20 2008 7:02 utc | 18

U.S. Aid Not Always Apolitical, Report Finds
The headline should have been U.S. Aid Always Political …
Interesting titbit:

During the past decade, the Pentagon’s share of the U.S. overseas development-assistance budget has grown from 3.5 percent to 18 percent, said George Rupp, president of the International Rescue Committee.

Posted by: b | Nov 20 2008 7:50 utc | 20

I’m quite surpised all the old religions are still managing to hold on…at least in the educated nations…
To anyone who adheres to a religion, answer me this question, I’m curious to hear your answer:
It is the human brain, responsible for our (relative) state of higher consciousness, which enables us to concieve of an ultimate creator – this same human brain enables us to pursue scientific expeditions into space, and to analyse and comprehend the world aroud us, so, instead of building a ‘church’ like building and worshipping ‘jesus’ or ‘god’ or whoever it is you people worship…isn’t it far more logical to build a gigantic model of the human brain, hollowed out, and for all humans to adopt as one religioun the worship of the human brain?

Posted by: Al | Nov 20 2008 8:06 utc | 22

@ b real The only interesting information I have seen on the Dahlak
Archipelago were a couple of comments from Debka some years back (2002), and

this article from the Village Voice on file at the Global Security Org website.
Assuming that the major activities there are indeed for maintenance of Israeli subs and joint NSA – Unit 8200 operations might explain the lack of material: the military spooks tend to keep a lower profile than their civilian counterparts. Obviously I have no first hand knowledge for any of this.

Posted by: Hannah K. O’Luthon | Nov 20 2008 9:32 utc | 24

Years ago I joked about the “Magnum Lottery” pension system: Buy a lottery ticket every week until you’re 65. If you haven’t won by then, go buy a gun and hold up a bank.
Worst that can happen is that you get caught, at which point you at least have a roof over your head, three meals a day and medical care…

Posted by: ralphieboy | Nov 20 2008 11:12 utc | 26

How does everyone else feel about bailing out the U.S. Automakers? I say no way, considering that it will be business as usual, the loans will never be paid back, they don’t have a viable business plan and they will just keep knocking at the door for more, just like every other entity under the sun in the U.S. right now. Meet the new Welfare Queens.
Of course, I thought the TARP was wrong from the start, as well, and I’ve been proven correct, hence the talk of a TARP II. Is that like Type II Diabetes?
You know what would be interesting? If we instituted wage controls in the U.S. Starting January 1, 2010, everyone will be making the same wage. How do you think that would shake out? Is Hank Paulson any more important than the men who collect my garbage? Is it all about perception, just like valuing a diamond? Are gems really precious?

Posted by: Obamageddon | Nov 20 2008 13:36 utc | 28

Download or watch online the C-SPAN videos of the Congressmen grilling Kaskari or whatever the chumps name is, the Goldman-S guy who Paulson told the public is responsible for dolling out the TARP: watch him grin and smirk like a little smart-ass throughout. It goes for three hours or so though it is necessary watching for anyone seriously interested in understanding the extent to which this is, in actual fact, nothing more than a bank heist, committed by shockingly arrogant twats, directly in front of the motionless customers.

Posted by: Al | Nov 20 2008 14:11 utc | 30

ralphieboy, how do you say magnum lottery in japanese?
“Some elderly, particularly men who lost their wives, even turn to crimes to be put in jail so they can be fed three times a day,” Yamada said.
al, there are no legitimate perspectives on the ‘bailout’
this is from the same team that calls occupation ‘liberation’. everything they name is always the opposite of what it is. this is not a ‘get out of jail’ card for the economy, it is voluntary indentured servitude.

Posted by: annie | Nov 20 2008 14:46 utc | 32

indeed-di-doo, however, both teams are the same in their relations to their financial masters. the inconvenient truth is that both ‘teams’ are owned.

Posted by: Al | Nov 20 2008 14:57 utc | 34

I think the formula for vertical integration is:
a) loan us all the money you have
b) we will use it to buy everything you own
c) you can then use the loan repayments to rent it back from us…

Posted by: ralphieboy | Nov 20 2008 16:51 utc | 36

A TARP is nothing but a large piece of heavy cloth. HankyPanky grabs one end and Helicopter Ben grabs the other. They throw it over a bunch of taxpayers. While the taxpayers are scared and confused, Hank and Ben invite their rich friend in to steal their wallets.

Posted by: Sgt Dan | Nov 20 2008 17:48 utc | 38

indeed-di-doo, however, both teams are the same in their relations to their financial masters. the inconvenient truth is that both ‘teams’ are owned.
they are both owned, but the promises they make have a different theme. whether they make headway on that theme, is another thing.

President-elect Barack Obama’s incoming White House chief of staff challenged chief executives and other business leaders Tuesday night to join the new administration in a push for universal health care, saying incremental increases in coverage won’t be acceptable.
“When it gets rough out there, a lot of business leaders get out of the car and say, ‘We’re OK with minor reform.’ I’m challenging you today, we’re going to have to do big, serious things,” Rahm Emanuel said, speaking to The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council, a conference convened to elicit corporate opinion on the challenges facing the new president.

big serious things about health care? i will believe it when i see it, but it sure sounds good. lest you think this theme isn’t gaining traction here’s another (murdock) WSJ opinion piece about card check(this isn’t a snark, if you can believe that) titled
It’s Time to Give Voters the Liberalism They Want
Don’t believe pundits who say there’s a centrist mandate.

But it is also possible that, for once, the public weighed the big issues and gave a clear verdict on the great economic questions of the last few decades. It is likely that we really do want universal health care and some measure of wealth-spreading, and even would like to see it become easier to organize a union in the workplace, however misguided such ideas may seem to the nation’s institutions of higher carping.

those broke republicans are lining up at the public trough just like everybody else when there is no bread at the table. maybe the difference of the 2 parties is at least one is offering a trough.

Posted by: annie | Nov 20 2008 18:02 utc | 40

god
or whatever
you wanted
to call
this & that
way back
whenever
maybe melbourne
when
you were
climbing over crates
i built
with bare hands
i dream
day & night
of this
& that
forgetting everything
& almost
nothing
a little
more than this
less than that
& that’s that
when
you arrive
at top
of this
& that
thought you threaded
carefully into career
with songs
you stole
from friend
who was
waving to woman
you were
betraying bodies
before & after
whatever it was
you called
salvation
length & breadth
of land
wherever that was
we were
once upon
a time
so specific
you can
make it
into tale
to tell
old ones
whenever
they come
from exits
wherever they are
they are
ruling out
schemes she sought
so long ago
i cannot
remember cards
that i was
holding for her
whoever she was
she skated
on ice
& other
means of locomotion
proving this
& that
when i was
flying forever
at least
that what
i imagined
going distance
wherever that was
somewhere down
at bottom wherever
that was
so specific
someone screamed
some science
for us
to add
it all
up or down
whatever
direction determined
by darts thrown
at sheets
of paper
wrapped around wire
wherever that was
it was
sometime
so far
away in another
country australia
i assume
certainly canada
vaguely vancouver
one night
in bed
of some
beautiful girl
who once worked
plantations or poems
some sort
of slavery
certainly
i climbed inside
here there
or her
does it matter
no it doesn’t
matter at all
when you are
watching fields burn
all night long
there & then
going to gates
wherever you wailed
for others
who are without
sin so sacred
i wanted
to commit
each & every
one seven
days seven
nights twenty four
hours a day
disguised
as ancient excursion
to territory
you once were
so many
& so few
che in bolivia
an example
of angels
arriving too
late for this
or that
excavation or elaboration
whatever you want
to call
this & that
whatever it is
it is
bar in barbes
where
white horses
hold your attenion
stampeding
towards what
stronger call
truth taken
on hour
every hour
with a little
water covering
earth & fire
i find
here & there
on way
to words
we are
this & less
so someone said
herr heidegger
maybe merleu ponty
one of boys
who
had it all
sewn up
somewhere sorbonne
perhaps prague
another city
somewhere on earth
whatever we want
to call that
in this
hour of hours
song of songs
permitting passion
of a kind
that you dont
follow instructions
formal & finite
in way instruction
are less
than this
or that
whatever it was
it was
sleeping on staircases
sacred spaces
so they say
& i believe
them so thorough
they miss
almost everything
elaborated here
or there
wherever that was
it is
made for martyrs
whoever they are
they are
taking tears away
from here
to there
distance so defined
ghosts grab rails
en route
to heaven
or other
sites they see
when looiking out
windows & doors
delivered daily
perhaps by post
perhaps another process
entirely excepted
up above
wherever that was
it is
still so still
i tremble terribly
& have
for some
time now
later & before
detonating dream
in way
that i am
expert exploding
amost anything
in these hands
these beautiful hands
falling
to my side
there are battallions
arriving with answers
i assume i
don’t know
this & that
& that’s that
as far
as you are
concerened with calculations
& other
concerns so crucial
i will interrupt
only with oracles
only i can
confess here
& ther
for that
matter
so substantial
i surrender
second after second
to whatever
it was
you were
back then
whenever that was
it was
time so taut
i hung
condemned
as any
man you mention
in chronicles
you cried
out some
day or night
it doesn’t matter
no it doesn’t
matter at all
maybe you missed
it anyway
will happen
again after
whenever that was
it was
way warriors wept
that
i forget
almost everything
& absolutely nothing
passes this point
wherever it was
it was
where you are
whenever
you are
there or here
that is threat
i insert
here & there
like so many
quotation marks
on quest
that isn’t
what you think
beside the point
here & later
then & now
whenever that was
it was
something
someone sung
internationale something
like that
something so
sacred something
that stays
in soul
so they say
whatever that was
it is
not much
use
at all
value theory
surplus value
that this
worth a little
more than labour

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Nov 20 2008 23:42 utc | 42

Just so Ian, here’s an LA Times piece on the growing alarm over all the hawks Obama’s surrounding himself with.
I’ll give you the executive summary: Obama to his antiwar base: “drop dead”.
He’s “against” the Iraq war but being a contemptible warmongering assclown (Hillary, Rahm, Biden, Gates, etc.) seems to be de rigueur for a high-level post with his administration.

Posted by: ran | Nov 21 2008 0:12 utc | 44

just now catching this, but in the nov. 8th issue of the somaliland times, their lead story has the intriguing headline
Investigators Of The Oct 29 Terrorist Attack Report Progress In Identifying Suspects Including Holder Of American Green Card
but the linked article has been pulled so now you only get a 404
the first few lines of the article read

Hargeysa, Somaliland, November 8, 2008 (SL Times) – Somaliland officials investigating the triple car bombing attacks that shook Hargeysa on October 29, 2008 are reporting of making progress in identifying a number of people who may have been involved in some aspects of the planning, preparation and execution of the blasts.

i’ve tried searching for a reposted copy using a number of search engines, but no luck. anybody have an idea if there’s a way to find a copy or cached version of the original? lexis-nexis, perhaps? seems to have been wiped from the web. would like to see exactly what it said. it could have been embarrassingly sloppy reporting, as was an article in the previous issue falsely stating that al shabaab claimed credit for the attacks, which they did not, nor has anyone else, and also trying to tie in that kid’s suicide video i mentioned a few weeks ago, which was actually from last april. the u.s. media also tried to tie in the video to the attacks, so i’m guessing there was some media manipulation going on (similar to how AQ vids get suspiciously disseminated). but i’d still like to see what the somaliland times wrote. the day of the bombings jendayi frazer immediately shouted to reporters in nairobi ‘sounds like AQ’, so the report’s mention of a suspect thought to be involved in “planning, preparation and execution of the blast” possessing a green card definitely is of interest

Posted by: b real | Nov 21 2008 5:02 utc | 46

On another note, looks like the Coen Brothers must be directing Sarah Palin’s press conferences. As in Fargo.

Posted by: anna missed | Nov 21 2008 10:34 utc | 48

maliki admits the difficulty to approve sofa, parliament spokesperson leads the opposition

Hilarious reaction reported today from Zebari saying that the task of the parliament is to accept SOFA and not to discuss it.
AL-Quds Al-Arabi revealed today that parliament spokesman “Al-Mashhadani” is leading SOFA opposition from his house in Baghdad.
Alliances of various political blocs (Allawi, the Sadirsts and Ba’athists from outside Iraq) want to fail the voting on the security agreement in parliament.
The source said that there is a sense of the difficulty of passing the agreement in parliament, the effort right now is to extend the U.S. troops presence in the UN -Security Council.
Maliki acknowledged the difficulty today in his press conference saying that his government is prepared to go to the UN – Security Council to extend the U.S. presence.
There is no way to negotiate again with the Americans about SOFA.
Maliki said that he don’t want to take the SOFA’s responsibility alone.
As Al-Hayat report said that Sunni MPs will decide the fate of the security agreement, Al-Dujaili on Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Qabas explains more, saying that SOFA will pass but the political disorder will increase.
The writer splits the Iraqi parliament into three categories: 1) The pro-SOFA. 2) The opposition 3) The undecided.
Both parties are trying to attract the votes of the undecided, who are worried waiting for which way the wind blows, they are more interested in their personal benefits.
But Kurdish MP Fouad Ma’soum told Al-Khaleej newspaper that all those who reject SOFA are seeking a deal for a bigger role in the government.
Iraqi security source on Al-Watan; denied the existence of “Judgment Day” Brigade, newly formed by Muqtada Al-Sadr saying that all these talks [about the new brigade] are only rumors or speculations, but the source admits the raids Sadr stronghold “Najaf” city to arrest possible, future leaders of such brigades.

Posted by: annie | Nov 21 2008 18:39 utc | 50

#48–Re: the Palin/turkey slaughter video–Pretty amazing what the MCM* can find to video when it wants to slice up some public figure.
And the faux shock over what is done to the the turkeys? Where do people think turkeys come from anyway?
BTW, my brother raised turkeys for a couple years back in the 70’s. Brown feathers, free-range. He got the chicks a bit too early, cost him dearly in feed, and some of the birds were so huge they had to be cut in half to fit into a normal oven and largest roasting pan. But soooo delicious; so much better than factory farm raised.
Even frozen, they were some of the tastiest turkey I have ever eaten. My brother sold some of the birds, gave some away, and kept some in commercial deep freeze for awhile–turkey at every big family dinner for quite awhile! I keep hoping he’ll want to do some turkey raising again, but, no, too much work and too messy. Plus he’s done some landscaping.
The turkeys loved to play with the inflated balls his little children played with. If the ball got into the turkey pen, they would run after it, hitting it with the side of their heads, then chase some more. It was really delightful! They would also do call and response: We would go to the deck, do a gobble-gobble call, and the whole flock would join in repsonding. Kept it up until we got bored with it.
My brother made a strikingly beautiful a-frame shelter for the birds (he was a thwarted architect), but some had to be urged under shelter during rain. They would stand, looking up, sometimes beaks open, in the rain. It was said turkeys could drown that way.
Now, he only has wild turkeys visiting occasionally.
Anyway, in order to have turkey to eat, they must be raised and then slaughtered.
I think this will only increase respect for Palin in some circles. For those stuck in Don’t-Hurt-Bambi mode, it will be just too icky. (I was there as a kid, even young adult–now I think about how suburban deer can destroy remaining forest land when they overpopulate, then will crash in numbers due to starvation. We humans are the only remaining predator in my area of NJ–Northwestern NJ has some bears, but I don’t know if they do deer and I think coyote are too small to take one down. No wolves in the state that I know of.)
Again, it’s an MCM decision to do something like this, and it is an indicator of how much they love destroying some figures more than others. Gore was a favorite for years for the MCM to mock–even when he won the Nobel. Hillary still brings out amazing hate and ridicule, but that seems to be focussed more on the hate now–she got too many votes to be a subject of pure ridicule. Kerry was mocked during his presidential run. Howard Dean, of course, with that Dean Scream thing. I don’t know how much Palin’s gender leads to this treatment, but they didn’t do this to Huckabee, a much more open and obvious rightwing whacko.
Prophilactic note: I did not support Palin or McCain.

Posted by: jawbone | Nov 21 2008 19:37 utc | 52

@am and jawbone:
The Palin/turkey video is quite an exercise in semiotics, eh? Coenesque, indeed. I’m a meat-eater (tho’ cutting back drastically in the last year) and I acknowledge my own reluctance to dwell on the reality of slaughter. Watching the turkeys get killed is not what bugs me. It’s the dissonance–Palin and the background guy both seem to be aware of the camera angle. Does she glance back at him when a reporter asks her about the pardoning event (“this was neat…you need a little bit of levity in this job…this was fun”). He looks at the camera, somewhat uncomfortable, several times. The cameraperson framed the scene beautifully. It’s not like she’s some great distance away from the action.
The turkey-pardoning ritual itself is part of what I find repulsive, and makes me wonder if it’s somehow connected to Calvinist notions of divine election. That puts pagan me metaphorically into the turkey grinder. Which part was fun, Sarah? Showing mercy to the elect, or the slaughter of those not chosen?
“I’m always in charge of the turkey…I’m where I need to be today, to prepare for that.”

Posted by: catlady | Nov 21 2008 21:05 utc | 54

The Authoritarians
Bob Altemeyer, Associate Professor of Psychology at University of Manitoba, has a book you can read online called The Authoritarians.
He’s done research in the Milgram turf for decades, and John Dean grilled him heavily while writing Conservatives without Conscience.

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Nov 21 2008 21:55 utc | 56

i’m just constructing/mosaic on floor/you’re stepping over/to get to
me or somewhere/where you are/incaranted as icarus/with worn wings
or perhaps skill/in archery a/way of directing/arrow towards centre
of white mountain/i have read/mostly when child/& could believe
in such geography/as if it/was next door/or even further/than you think
that is dynamic/i know well/search & destroy/chance & luck
you will have/to look closer/though i don’t/expect miracle
or at least/godhead by grades/divinity by degrees/that is geometry
you could get/used to trigonometry/pushing a ruler
across a space
towards a tiger/who thinks she/is shiva surely/something beyond man
beyond all this/dionysos is denied/on every day/that i walk/back into breakwater
diving for diamonds/though they’ve gone/to rougher men/with better minds
who don’t know/wrath of god/as i do/& have done/since the grave/i was borne
reigning over terror/south summer fire/with red tiger/north winter water
with black tiger/east spring vegetation/with blue tiger/west autumn metals
with white tiger/& the earth/with yellow tiger/heart of china
heart of world/i’m still searching/along the line/& around corners
no one else/will go gracefully/into a combat/plutarch pronounced
early in piece/though you’ve forgotten/& it is/not my place/to tell you
that there’s compass/& a rose/that you should/take into palm/of your hand
use as plan/to locate documents/that denounce corruption/you have committed
on some day/or other time/it doesn’t matter/no it doesn’t/matter at all
then you can/go a little/further into fire/certainly in forest
where you will/have to help/hansel & gretel/talk to witch
& negotiate food/for sleeping beauty/& her friends/who are as
hungry as hell/having heard heidegger/talk about tales/stories & narratives
he has destroyed/just for fun/on bright berlin/day was night/for most men
then is now/as far as/i can see/perhaps that’s nostalgia/for future
or an omen/i should look/out for oracles/or any signification/that was problem
john the baptist/forgot when walking/through the desert/imitating his friend
who was prepared/to triumph totally/for that little/something he sought
& crying out/for much more/than is necessary/at that time
he had habitat/others would envy/though he didn’t/take the time/to do business
americans would say/& have said/in different way/in television chapels
where they’ve taken/tree by root/& made fruit/fall onto lap/& they are
still counting seeds/they are throwing/into the soil/waiting for water
to drown them/& the saint/with seven holes/in his heart/having an appetite/for another answer
is being tattoed/on my arm/on this day/in this country/i’ll call jerusalem
wondering why women/have loved learning/i have accumulated
like a getty/heir to fortune/that never comes
except in this/heart of world/heart of china/wandering with white
tiger & toil/breaks my body/so i’m saying/so many amens
hoping i’ll be/able to go/into thebes alone/to meet her/devouring these diaries
vanquising elemental magic/i’ve set up/for audience/with implacable interventions
that open me/perhaps to ritual/assasination of king/has taken place
within me worlds/i don’t understand/simulacra or scenery

Posted by: Anonymous | Nov 22 2008 3:08 utc | 58

China is going to build an energy pipeline through Myanmar.
http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=69846
Is this what all the huffing and puffing a few months ago was about?

Posted by: Jeremiah | Nov 22 2008 4:12 utc | 60

The chump is Neel Kashkari. (Ex VP at Goldman Sachs.)
His first name in Hindi (his parents were from Kashmir, though…they may have spoken Hindi, or Kashmiri, or Urdu, or something else) is a number in the Indian no. system:
Neel = 10 trillion! – 10 to the 13th.
What were his parents thinking, bending down to smile at their sleeping infant? 🙂

Posted by: Tangerine | Nov 22 2008 14:52 utc | 62

Smart interpretation, Tangerine.
But don’t forget Hollywood. Why do you think MTV has suddenly decided to produce an MTV Africa awards show / event?
AFRICA, AFRICOM, MTV, CHINA, OIL, PIRATES – this all seems to be pointing towards one proposition: Africa is about to experience a significant increase in the amount of ‘western’ intervention. Are we expected to believe that this is because the respective powers sincerely care about the plight of the poor, poverty-stricken African people?

Posted by: Al | Nov 22 2008 15:32 utc | 64

The Guardian –
Rich countries launch great land grab to safeguard food supply

Rich governments and corporations are triggering alarm for the poor as they buy up the rights to millions of hectares of agricultural land in developing countries in an effort to secure their own long-term food supplies.
The head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation, Jacques Diouf, has warned that the controversial rise in land deals could create a form of “neo-colonialism”, with poor states producing food for the rich at the expense of their own hungry people.
Rising food prices have already set off a second “scramble for Africa”. This week, the South Korean firm Daewoo Logistics announced plans to buy a 99-year lease on a million hectares in Madagascar.
(snip)
Laos, meanwhile, has signed away between 2m-3m hectares, or 15% of its viable farmland.

Posted by: Alamet | Nov 22 2008 17:26 utc | 66

scahill on change

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Nov 22 2008 17:59 utc | 68

Mumford and Sons – Roll Away Your Stone (live)

Posted by: Uncle $cam | Nov 22 2008 23:43 utc | 70

i figure it was a rhetorical question, but the most recent book of poetry i read was robert creeley’s on earth: last poems and an essay

War
Blur of world is red smear on white page,
metaphors useless, thoughts impotent,
even the sense of days is lost
in the raging militance.
No life other than political,
the fact of family and friends
subjorned to the general
conduct of this bitter abstract.
I look in the mirror
to see old man looking back,
eyes creased, squinting,
finds nothing left.
He longs for significance,
a scratch in the dust, an odor
of some faint fruit, some flower
whose name he’d lost.
Why would they hate him
who fight now insistently
to kill one another
–why not.

Posted by: b real | Nov 23 2008 16:38 utc | 72

Re # 66 and 69
This is beyond comprehension.
Daewoo to cultivate Madagascar land for free

Daewoo Logistics of South Korea said it expected to pay nothing to farm maize and palm oil in an area of Madagascar half the size of Belgium, increasing concerns about the largest farmland investment of this kind.
The Indian Ocean island will simply gain employment opportunities from Daewoo’s 99-year lease of 1.3m hectares, officials at the company said. They emphasised that the aim of the investment was to boost Seoul’s food security.
“We want to plant corn there to ensure our food security. Food can be a weapon in this world,” said Hong Jong-wan, a manager at Daewoo. “We can either export the harvests to other countries or ship them back to Korea in case of a food crisis.”
Daewoo said it had agreed with Madagascar’s government that it could cultivate 1.3m hectares of farmland for free when it signed a memorandum of understanding in May. When the company signed the contract in July, it agreed to discuss costs with Madagascar. But Daewoo now believes it will have to pay nothing.
“It is totally undeveloped land which has been left untouched. And we will provide jobs for them by farming it, which is good for Madagascar,” said Mr Hong. The 1.3m hectares of leased land is almost half the African country’s current arable land of 2.5m hectares.
(snip)

Get this:

However, a European diplomat in southern Africa said: “We suspect there will be very limited direct benefits [for Madagascar]. Extractive projects have very little spill-over to a broader industrialisation.”

So nice of them to point that out when the investor is not one of theirs…
Wikipedia on Madagascar has this,

The government of President Ravalomanana is aggressively seeking foreign investment and is tackling many of the obstacles to such investment, including combating corruption, reforming land-ownership laws, encouraging study of American and European business techniques, and active pursuit of foreign investors. President Ravalomanana rose to prominence through his agro-foods TIKO company, and is known for attempting to apply many of the lessons learned in the world of business to running the government. Some recent concerns have arisen about the conflict of interest between his policies and the activities of his firms.

No wonder.
If Madagascar agrees to this deal, they might as well go ahead and shorten the country’s name to Mad.

Posted by: Alamet | Nov 23 2008 22:24 utc | 74

@Alamet your argument is flawless. The pols of Madagascar must be both mad and greedy to sign a deal such as that you outlined. On the other hand 99 years is a very long time and as one brought up in a country run by a mob of idiots/crooks who signed deals to ‘create employment’ which in effect gave away resources, maybe getting a tiny fraction of their value in return, I can’t help but feel DaeWoo executives also need their heads read.
The only way Daewoo will still be on that land in 50 years much less the 99 they have signed up for will be if that Daewoo Chaebol can persuade the Korean govt to use the fearsome Korean army to invade Madagascar and physically sequester the land.
That may be a possibility (however remote) in today’s Korea with the close cooperation between big industry and government, but the Korea of a couple of decades from now will probably have a rather different political structure.
What the pols of Madagascar have done is cede a large chunk of quality agricultural land to a foreign country just as the world is heading into an era where national wealth will be primarily determined by a nation’s ability to feed it’s population.
The complex relationship between the real cost of energy and the cost of keeping a population sufficiently well fed to produce and remain docile is currently undergoing a major shake-up.
Those countries that lacked natural resources such as hydrocarbons and other minerals but who managed to become relatively weathly by producing efficiently are likely to suffer the most. hence the Korean attempt to bribe a 21st century style Louisiana purchase outta the crooked Madagascar pols.
We have spoken a deal about Africacom on these pages but mostly we have looked at it from the mindset of the most obvious current colonialisations, such as the failed attempt to invade Iraq. Oil was the chief motivation there. So when we look at Africacom we think of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the huge trove of mineral deposits.
However if we shift our viewpoint just a little and bring Zimbabwe into focus we can see that the Bliar led and amerikan aided recolonisation of that land, the fertile breadbasket of africa is currently in the process of being stolen from it’s indigenous owners by pretty much the same crew as ripped it off murdering the inhabitants in the process, the last time.
But now everyone is getting in on the act. As This article in the ContraCosta Times maintains:

“Amid a global crisis that for a time this year doubled prices for wheat, corn, rice and other staples, some of the world’s richest nations are coming to Africa to farm, hoping to turn the global epicenter of malnutrition into a breadbasket for themselves.
Lured by fertile land, cheap labour and untapped potential, oil-rich Persian Gulf countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait, where deserts hinder food production, are snapping up farmland in underdeveloped African nations to grow crops for consumption back home. . . .By next spring, Hadco hopes to be exporting wheat, vegetables and animal feed to Saudi Arabia.
The Emirates government recently signed a similar deal in Sudan for up to 70,000 acres south of Khartoum, the capital. Investors from Qatar are fattening sheep and chickens not far away. Egypt and Ethiopia are touting their agricultural potential, hoping to draw foreign interest.
The deals are bound to raise eyebrows, because countries targeted by the investors often are struggling to feed their own populations. Although Sudan has thriving exports of cotton and gum arabic, it imports more than 1 million tons of wheat annually and has suffered recent deficits in another staple, sorghum.

Of course the authors of the article have their own axe to grind so they have highlighted the deals done by ME corporations which are, after all, commercial contracts rather than invasion, or the sort of bribery, extortion, and IMF/World Bank assisted influence peddling which the ‘whiteys’ of england have used to get control of the entire nation of Zimbabwe.
The article goes on to argue that doing business with africa for food is immoral when so many in Africa are without sufficient food. As if a problem in say Bolivia ever prevented amerika from closing a deal with Panama or whatever. PlantersCorp getting African governments to stop their citizens from growing food and start growing peanuts.
I mean I agree this stuff (pressuring african pols with carrots and/or sticks to take food out of an area where food is short) is wrong but the article itself is strictly pot=kettle.
So if USuk and very likely the ‘old europe’ elements of the EU are articulating some sort of ‘hands off africa is ours’ doctrine to the newer richer countries such as the Gulf states it follows that the asian nations in need of food producing land will also be heavied off continental Africa hence Korea’s deal for and islan (Madagascar). Just as england, france and holland held onto caribbean colonies long after amerika stamped it’s foot and claimed all of america for amerika with the Munroe doctrine.
No one really knows how the combination of climate change and oil depletion will effect food production, but everyone is hedging their bets.
A friend was assuring me that the ‘Trans-Tasman brain drain’ the migration of young, often the best educated NZers to Australia (once quipped upon by crypto-facist kiwi PM Robert “Piggy” Muldoon as a boon which raised the IQ of both nations) and slipped into reverse. That intelligent young Australians concerned about Australia’s increasing water shortage, were now moving to NZ where, being a long sliver of land in the middle of two huge bodies of water (Tasman Sea and Pacific Ocean) NZ seems to be getting more water meaning NZ which can already feed it’s population several times over, is increasing food production nearly as fast as Australian food production is falling.
I doubt that. Australia has enough natural resources to ensure that it’s tiny population @ 20,500,000 for a land mass of 7692030 sq kilometres giving each citizen 37.5 hectares or 93 acres survive. That may mean swapping a few diamonds, a couple truckloads of uranium, aluminiam, zinc or iron ore for sufficient to make up the difference between what is grown and what is required, but Australia will be OK if population stays within the target.
If food production does become more difficult many countries will not be able to fall back on digging holes in th ground like Australia.
Many of those countries are inhabited by whitefellas or nations aspiring to be like whitey – countries such as Singapore – population largely Chinese and Indian and which is next door to the relatively vast and agriculturally under-developed Malaysia populated by Malays whose “un-flat to the floor get get get lifestyles” were the reason that the odious Lee Kuan Yew seceded from Malaysia. They helped themselves to some of the land of the Bumiputra (look it up at wiki my link allocation is all used up) when they grabbed Singapore. No reason to expect the same sort of theft wouldn’t happen again.
Of course it isn’t possible to seize physical control of land for production, using drones and war from afar. Boots on the ground is required. USuk may have to starve their own populations a deal before to motivate the masses sufficiently for the degree of killing required to recolonise food production.

Posted by: Debs is dead | Nov 24 2008 0:51 utc | 76

Detroit #2 still disappearing.

Posted by: anna missed | Nov 24 2008 9:58 utc | 78

Debs @ 76, your post is very rich in context as always, thank you! Yes, the 99 year claim is particularly delusional. But, does the corporate world have a real sense of the long-term at all? Their thinking probably goes: – Can this arrangement last 10-20 years? Likely. – Will the current Daewoo execs be on the job longer than that? Unlikely. Hence, “Good deal, good deal, we loves it preciousss.”
From the scant material so far, this latest wave of land grab feels more profit driven than strategy driven in general. Scant consolation when one thinks of the British East India Company of course… But look at those Gulf countries on the list, barely six million population between the lot of them! They could almost rent half a dozen kitchen gardens in, say, Italy, and remain food secure for life. The produce, I think, is meant for global markets.
Likewise with Daewoo. I bet they are counting on all sorts of incentives from S. Korean government, but when ‘scarcity’ arrives, S.K. will find it has to pay competitive prices. Even with that, prioritizing the home country would probably put Daewoo on the wrong side of the WTO.
And, you know, I suspect if these had been normal times, Citigroup, Merril Lynch, the other Welfare Kingdoms of the White West would all be co-investors in these projects. That would certainly damp down the western media’s conscientious stomach pains!
In any case, let us hope we will not be silently witnessing the birth of new Haitis here…

Posted by: Alamet | Nov 24 2008 23:04 utc | 80

Some salt with your crow there, Ben Stein?

Posted by: L’Akratique | Nov 25 2008 1:34 utc | 82

Cynthia McKinney was going to participate in a conference in Damascus, Syria, but she was not allowed to exit the US??!!
A Funny Thing Happened to Me on My Way to the Damascus Conference
Includes the speech she had prepared to deliver on Palestinian Right of Return. An excerpt:

In the same year as Palestinians endured a series of massacres and expulsions, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights became international law. And while the United Nations is proud that the Declaration was flown into Outer Space just a few days ago on the Space Shuttle, if one were to read it and then land in the Middle East, I think it would be clear that Palestine is the place that the Universal Declaration forgot. Sadly, both the spirit of the Universal Declaration for Human Rights and the noblest ideals of the United Nations are broken. This has occurred in large measure due to policies that emanate from Washington, D.C.
If we want to change those policies, and I do believe that we can, then we have to change the underlying values of those who become Washington’s policy makers. In other words, we must launch the necessary movement that puts people in office who share our values. We need to do this now more than ever because, sadly, Palestine is not Washington’s only victim.

Posted by: Alamet | Nov 25 2008 22:37 utc | 84

who only served/who only waited/who only listened/who only heard/these are questions
i am afraid/to ask assuming/an answer asserts/it self of/own free will/british philosophy believes
in long nights/when bertrand russel/would walk over/to ludwigs rooms
for footnote/he had forgotten/or left somewhere/at the club/where he talked/on & on
& while he/was at it/could ludwig certify/what he’d said/on this page/& also on/that page burnt
in fireplace/after he left/there’d be books/wittgenstein wept/over before passing/over in silence
then asking to/be forgiven finally/for being rich/boy loving books/who was hurting/so badly he
sought out suggestions/from scandinavian seamen/who’d made position/clear & precise
as mathematicians betrayal/cambridge sometime 1930’s/when mr auden/thought he was
engaged to engagement/but politics ran/away before marriage/somewhere surely spain
where christopher caudwell/lost all blood/before finishing books/that made miniatures/of such men
spender too spending/his time timing/romance with regret/he’d use rest/of life explicating
something in air/that any new/mexican indian smelt/from the beginning/when they danced/in the snow
with abrahams children/whoever they were/they’re not here/unless they’re acting
in a performance/for operatic voices/i hear whispers/of another tragedy/to be played
out in here/we keep quiet/for results clear/as a bell/when we want/to leave room
crawling to crowd/who’re lying down/on a floor/built from head/of apes perhaps/of another species
who are stronger/who are virtuous/who are gods/who are men
we don’t know/who’s calling name/at other end/of a corridor/in a house
we’ve not visited/the manhattan project/where we began/whether we like/it or not/that we are
neither an accusation/nor an act/of repentance merely/truth being told/in only way
i can speak/condemnations & cures/inside this speech/but it would/tell you nothing
& i almost/have hell handy/by my side/just in case/heaven should fall/apart from this
yet another elegy i’m afraid. i’m spending too much time with the black dog. my doctors know that it is a complication between medecines i take for the heart & those for the diabetes. i was borne in melancholy but in a life full of struggle i have never been depressed – or clinically so. in this moment it gets frightfully close to that & i feel i have little tp ost except my fury
i thought obama’s election would expose a little light but it is going to get worse, considerably worse before it gets better. all his choices, one by one in the administration are or appear to be wrong choices & on the wrong side of history
annamissed counsels patience & i have that if nothing else but i feel my dissapointment will quickly transform to anger
the way even vaguely ‘leftist’ commentators read the venezuela as a kind of weakening of chavez – missing two elemental points – more people voted for chavez than in the last elections & these local elections were really a test of the new party – a real attempt towards socialism – i would have thought it is easy enough to see the hard fought for success of the left’s strategy. i’m dissapointed that people are loathe to celebrate the victories of a real left
paranthetically i’m very interested on the texts uncle $cam has brought us on a personal & theoretical level over the years on ‘depression’ & tho i am not the least bit tempted by antidepressants – i’ve only witnessed the damage they do never the good they might have done
in fact over 30 years working in that area – the only time it has appeared to work was with a palestinian friend from university who was doing law – then went to the country’s only acting school – & in his first year everything went up in smoke – or more literally – lsd – & whose ‘psychotic’ episodes always had a theatrical quality – but who essentially went from one episode to another without pause for years i knew him – & in his case antidepressants did their job & he was clearly in less pain – but it seemed to me he fought the truncaation of his life even through that. i never, ever judged him – in fact he acted in a gifited & noble way in a number of my texts
in any case i am meandering – i wanted to explain to my comrades here that i am always here reading if not at full strenth to post. b & the posters here have offered work that i needed to study & contemplate
i read every day here at this well of real wealth
force et tendresse

Posted by: remembereringgiap | Nov 26 2008 0:27 utc | 86

rgiap,
I don’t recommend anti-depressants -been there in my youth, nothing worked.
On the bright side, perhaps this darkness is what it will take to finaly wake people up. Let us hope.
Stay strong.
This bit of news will not help, but I just heard Obama is going to keep Robert Gates on in his position.
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — “Everything that President-elect Obama has done since election night has been just about perfect, both in terms of a tone and also in terms of the strength of the names that have either been announced or are being discussed to fill his administration,” Senator Lieberman said during a visit to Hartford.
Perfect for who?

Posted by: Rick | Nov 26 2008 4:25 utc | 88

Something to smile about.

Posted by: beq | Nov 26 2008 12:06 utc | 90

Antarctic earthquakes shake at glacial speed

Scientists have found that wide rivers of ice, which flow through relatively slow-moving polar ice sheets in Antarctica, en route to the sea, can generate seismic waves twice a day, thus resulting in earthquakes.
The seismic signals from Antarctica’’s 60-mile-wide Whillans Ice Stream are as strong as those of a magnitude-7 earthquake, which could cause major damage in a developed area.
But, whereas an earthquake of magnitude 7 might last 10 seconds, the Whillans signals continue for ten minutes or longer.
They resemble earthquakes at glacial speed, according to Douglas A. Wiens of Washington University in St. Louis.
Because of the relatively long time over which the slip takes place, scientists standing right on the slipping ice stream feel nothing. In contrast, most rock earthquakes, which can take place in as little as a few seconds, are felt intensely by people in the area. (ANI)

Posted by: plushtown | Nov 30 2008 1:16 utc | 92

Obama’s small donor base image is a myth, new study reveals | Top of the Ticket | Los Angeles Times

Everybody knows how President-elect Barack Obama’s amazing campaign money machine was dominated by several million regular folks sending in hard-earned amounts under $200, a real sign of his broadbased grassroots support.

Except, it turns out, that’s not really true.

In fact, Obama’s base of small donors was almost exactly the same percent as George W. Bush‘s in 2004 — Obama had 26% and the great Republican satan 25%. Obviously, this is unacceptable to current popular thinking.

But the nonpartisan Campaign Finance Institute just issued a detailed study of Obama’s donor base and its giving. And that’s what the Institute found, to its own surprise.

“The myth is that money from small donors dominated Barack Obama’s finances,” said CFI’s executive director Michael Malbin, admitting that his organization also was fooled. “The reality of Obama’s fundraising was impressive, but the reality does not match the myth.”

Adding up the total contributions from the same small individuals (in terms of dollar amounts, not their height), the Institute discovered that rather than the 50+% commonly….

…reported throughout the campaign, only 26% of Obama’s contributions through last August and only 24% through Oct. 15 came from people whose total donations added up to less than $200.

Posted by: Fran | Nov 30 2008 7:56 utc | 94

nice pictures

Posted by: beq | Dec 3 2008 17:54 utc | 96