Sunday, December 31, 2006

First, do no harm (to whites)

The Dark History of Medical Experimentation on Black Americans From Colonial Times to the Present
By Harriet A. Washington


If race is the haunted house of American history, Harriet Washington opens the door on the torture room in "Medical Apartheid," her blood-spattered history of black America's long and frequently nonconsensual relationship with experimental medicine.

Full Review, SF Chronicle, December 31, 2006

Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis and Opposition in Globalizing California

A new book by Ruth Wilson Gilmore:


California may lag behind many other states in high school graduation rates, welfare benefits and investment in public health, but when it comes to punishment, we rank at or near the top. We've crammed 173,000 convicts into the nation's largest prison system, designed to house at least one-third less. Our prison suicide and recidivism rates approach twice the national average. And we have one of the most extravagant penal systems in the country, costing taxpayers about the same as the state spends on higher education.

Full book review, SF Chronicle, December 31, 2006

Creatures

"Of all the creatures, man is the most detestable. Of the entire brood, he is the only one that possesses malice. He is the only creature that inflicts pain for sport, knowing it to be pain. The fact that man knows right from wrong proves his intellectual superiority to the other creatures; but the fact that he can do wrong proves his moral inferiority to any creature that cannot." --Mark Twain

Excluded

"If you have men who will exclude any of God's creatures from the shelter of compassion and pity, you will have men who will deal likewise with their fellow men." --St. Francis of Assisi

Friday, December 29, 2006

Systems

"The idea of creating systems designed to threaten, coerce, and kill,
and to imbue such agencies with principled legitimacy, and not expect
them to lead to wars, genocides, and other tyrannical practices,
expresses an innocence we can no longer afford to indulge."
--Butler D. Shaffer
Professor, Southwestern University School of Law, June 9, 2003

Thursday, December 28, 2006

Multitude

"To act without clear understanding,
to form habits without investigation,
to follow a path all one's life
without knowing where it really leads --
such is the behavior of the multitude."

--Mencius [Mengzi Meng-tse] (c.371 - c.288 B.C.)
Chinese Confucian philosopher

Tolerence

"Tolerance implies a respect for another person,
not because he is wrong or even because he is right,
but because he is human."
--John Cogley
Source: Commonwealth, 24 April 1959

One

"Whosoever wishes to know about the world
must learn about it in its particular details.
Knowledge is not intelligence.
In searching for the truth be ready for the unexpected.
Change alone is unchanging.
The same road goes both up and down.
The beginning of a circle is also its end.
Not I, but the world says it: all is one.
And yet everything comes in season."
--Heraclitus (c.540-480 BC) Greek philosopher

Monday, December 25, 2006

Peace On Earth

"I am not unmindful of the fact that violence often brings about momentary results. Nations have frequently won their independence in battle. But in spite of temporary victories, violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem; it merely creates new and more complicated ones. Violence is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends up defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers."
--Martin Luther King, Jr., Nobel lecture, 1964 www.nobelprize.org/peace/laureates/1964/king-lecture.html

Saturday, December 23, 2006

Tiger

"When a man wants to murder a tiger it is called a sport, when the tiger wants to murder him it is called ferocity."
--Geroge Bernard Shaw

Friday, December 22, 2006

Common

"When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world."
--George Washington Carver

Thursday, December 21, 2006

Chaos

"One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star."
--Nietzsche

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Automobiles

"If the automobile had followed the same development cycle as the computer, a Rolls-Royce would today cost $100, get one million miles to the gallon, and explode once a year, killing everyone inside."
--Robert X Cringely

Miss America

If I make a fool of myself in public, cry, admit
I'm a troubled alcoholic, go into rehab and kiss
Donald Trump's ass, can I be Miss USA, too?
I have it all down but the ass-kissing part.
--Jenn McNanna
Source: The Top Five humor list

The Price Of "Aggression"




I received an email this morning about two dogs who were dumped by their former guardians and who will likely die in one of the LA deathcamps because of supposed "aggression issues"--even though both dogs are getting along fine in the deathcamp with people, which was the main complaint (West Valley Animal Care & Control Center, (818) 756-9325).

Gee, and to think Bu$h, Cheney, and the rest of the Fourth Reich, are profiting incredibly, being waited on hand-and-foot, and are set for life, for actual, indeed extreme, aggression.


TLC

Knowledge

"The restriction of knowledge to an elite group destroys the spirit of the society and leads to its intellectual impoverishment."
--Albert Einstein (1879-1955) Physicist and Professor, Nobel Prize 1921

"It is the absolute right of the state to supervise the formation of public opinion."
--Joseph Paul Goebbels (1897-1945) Nazi Propaganda Minister
Source: Speech, October 1933

"The American people should be made aware of the trend toward monopolization of the great public information vehicles and the concentration of more and more power over public opinion in fewer and fewer hands."
--Spiro Agnew, U. S. Vice-President, November 13, 1969

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Blissful Ignorance

"I don't need art to help me see the world. I want to see the world as I know it."
--The Salina [Kansas] Journal's anonymous Extension 333 call-in line, December 17, 2006

Monday, December 18, 2006

Bush proposal would cut Medicaid drug payments

The Bush administration today will propose sweeping reductions in payments to pharmacies as a way to save money for Medicaid, the health program for more than 50 million poor people.

Bush administration gags scientists again

Continuing what some have termed a "war on science," the Bush administration has announced new rules that will further restrict the ability of government scientists to speak out about research that contradicts official policy.
Full Article, Salon's "War Room", December 18, 2006

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Cautious II

"If one is forever cautious, can one remain a human being?"
--Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn (1918- ) Russian Writer

Concealed Carry

Kansas allows almost anyone to get a permit and carry a concealed firearm.

The following quote, from The Salina Journal's anonymous Extension 333 call-in line, reminds us that Salina Kansas and Eureka California really aren't that different:


"Talk about citizens carrying guns. Some of the cops in this town shouldn't be carrying them either."

Friends, Not Food

The black babies are from the Barbersville Rescue. The spotted baby is from a local rescue/breeder/hoarder situation. He is with his mom in some of the pics.
--Elaine
________________

Watch the slideshow...

and have yourself a Very Vegan Christmas!

TLC

Saturday, December 16, 2006

Scales

"I have spent all my life under a Communist regime, and I will tell you that a society without any objective legal scale is a terrible one indeed. But a society with no other scale but the legal one is not quite worthy of man either."
--Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn (1918- ) Russian Writer

Friday, December 15, 2006

Independent UK: Diplomat's suppressed document lays bare the lies behind Iraq war

The Government's case for going to war in Iraq has been torn apart by the publication of previously suppressed evidence that Tony Blair lied over Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.

A devastating attack on Mr Blair's justification for military action by Carne Ross, Britain's key negotiator at the UN, has been kept under wraps until now because he was threatened with being charged with breaching the Official Secrets Act.

Full Article, Independent UK, December 15, 2006


More truth you won't see in the U.S. corporate media...

TLC

Thursday, December 14, 2006

Ordinary

"I can't believe that God put us on this earth to be ordinary."
--Lou Holtz (1937-, American football coach)

Bullet The Chow-Chow


Someone concerned about the fate of Bullet the chow-chow wrote:

"I also think the D.A should be made aware of just how poorly this dog was treated by its owners. He was clearly abused."
_____________________________________

Brief recap: Bullet is a chow-chow who was abandoned by some drug users at a house they used to inhabit. It took many calls before Contra Costa County California "Animal Control" bothered to pick Bullet up. Calls were made to the Contra Costa County Sheriff, but it is unknown whether the Sheriff ever did anything.


Prosecuting junkies won't change anything--even if they get before a Judge, nothing is going to happen. The Judge won't slam them in jail for any meaningful time period--if at all--and any "treatment program" is almost certainly going to be the same old game of some business raking in money at the public trough rather than actually providing genuine treatment that works. The drug abusers are just "human garbage"--it would cost too much money to salvage their lives, so they are treated as nothing more than expendable pawns, as "things" that certain interests can profit from.


If you want change, get the news media involved--or get creative and find other ways of getting the word out--and let the world know what a crappy job that "Animal Control" and the "Sheriff" did. Get people involved, get them off their asses, get them thinking, doing, get them writing letters, showing up at government meetings, get them phoning the government officials who are in a position to do something. For those in the Contra Costa County area, who have already done so much trying to help Bullet, make sure you get video of Bullet before he is murdered. And make no mistake, Bullet is going to die because someone at the facility is going to kill him, because we as a society refuse to stand up and say, "Thou Shalt Not Kill". Let Bullet be a symbol of the deep sickness that exists, and perhaps in death Bullet's life may have meaning.

If anyone would like to perform a miracle for Bullet, A318373, as of December 14, 2006, he is at the Contra Costa Animal Shelter, 4800 Imhoff Place, Martinez, CA 94553,
(925) 335-8300.



TLC

Not All Kansans Are Sadistic Killers

Two people from Abilene were hurt in an accident involving a deer.

According to the Kansas Highway Patrol, just before 6:00 Wednesday evening a car was eastbound in Interstate 70 a little over a mile west of the Dickinson Geary County line when the driver swerved to miss a deer. The car entered the south ditch, went through a KDOT fence and came to rest in a dry creek bed.

The driver, 20-year-old Jessica Scofield, and a passenger, 15-year-old Tony Breedon, were injured and taken to Abilene Memorial Hospital where they were treated and released. Three other teens in the car were not injured. All were from Abilene and all were reportedly wearing seatbelts.

Source: KSAL Radio, December 14, 2006

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

Civilized

"No people is wholly civilized where a distinction is drawn between stealing an office and stealing a purse."
-- Theodore Roosevelt(1858-1919) 26th US President

Brutality

"Truly man is the king of beast for his brutality exceeds theirs. We live by the death of others. We are burial places."
--Leonardo Da Vinci

Tuesday, December 12, 2006

Heroes

[Beginning in 2002, Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) has done a Christmas show in December for the troops in Afghanistan or Iraq, often visiting other troops along the way such as those hospitalized in Germany.--TLC]


Last Thursday [December 7] at 1PM Baghdad time while WWE staff and other volunteers were setting up the ring and arena to tape the 'Tribute to the Troops' Christmas Day edition of RAW, three mortars were fired in the street less than a block away reports WWE.COM. While a number of people were injured, none were from the WWE staff as the troops on hand quickly protected the WWE staff, even giving them their own armor for protection.
--Source: Wrestling-Online Newsletter, December 11, 2006

Sam & Fred

"If Sam Brownback runs for president, his runningmate could be his buddy, Fred Phelps. Their bumper stickers could say 'Sam and Fred, hate in '08.' "
--The Salina [Kansas] Journal's Extension 333 anonymous call-in line, December 11, 2006

Splendid

"Never forget that life can only be nobly inspired and rightly lived if you take it bravely and gallantly, as a splendid adventure in which you are setting out into an unknown country, to meet many a joy, to find many a comrade, to win and lose many a battle."
--Annie Besant

Monday, December 11, 2006

William Jefferson's Reelection

Tim Grieve over at Rolling Stone is dismayed over the reelection of William Jefferson.

My Post in the Comments section:

Tim, I think you miss the distinction between a politician that ALLEGEDLY (we are still in America, aren't we? Or did that too get revoked under the Patriot Act?) takes payoffs and screws his or her constituents, vs. a politician that takes care of their constituants and doesn't take them to the proverbial cleaners.

Epidurals And Pain Relief During Labor & Breastfeeding

A good article at Salon on the pain suffered by women during labor and breastfeeding, covering a report by the BBC. However, it left some issues alone, thus my Posting at Salon, Subject "Insist On Safe Pain Relief":

A good report as far as it goes. What's even more important is the long-term effects on the baby that has no say in the matter. And the "big picture" issue is the unrelenting pressure of the pharmaceutical drug cartel and their sales representatives masquerading as "doctors", who salivate at the prospect of cradle-to-grave doping and addictions of another generation.

There are many non-chemical alternatives for pain relief. Nursing mothers, alas, are increasingly left on their own to find answers that provide pain relief while doing no harm to themselves or their child. They should, indeed must, reject the claim that they must either medicate or suffer. Although somewhat time consuming, that is an investment in the future of an innocent child, one well worth undertaking.

TLC

"Jesus Camp"

A surprisingly detailed article in The Salina [Kansas] Journal, December 10, 2006, about hard-core religious brainwashing of children. Check out also the AllMovie Guide's review, and that of the Internet Movie DataBase.

TLC

Objective

"The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
--Marcus Aurelius

Saturday, December 09, 2006

Castles

The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the forces of the Crown. It may be frail -- its roof may shake -- the wind may blow through it -- the storm may enter -- the rain may enter -- but the King of England cannot enter! -- all his forces dare not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement!
--William Pitt "The Elder Chatham", 1708 - 1778, British Statesman

Friday, December 08, 2006

HP Hush Money For The Government Mafia

HP to $14.5M Settlement in Boardroom Spy Case

In California, Hewlett-Packard has agreed to pay $14.5 million to settle charges over its surveillance of journalists and board members in an attempt to discover the source of information leaked to the media. Five Hewlett-Packard officials – including former chair Patricia Dunn – have been indicted on criminal charges. Prosecutors say the settlement will go towards funding investigations into privacy rights and intellectual property violations.

Source: Democracy Now, December 8, 2006

_____________________

My email to Democracy Now:

When will DN! start pointing out the Rackets game being played by most branches of government?If you or I were to commit wrongdoing, and attempted to bribe the government, we would be prosecuted.

But when a corporation does it, it's just another cost of doing business, part of the Protection Racket that government has become.

How much of the $14.5 million will go to the victims of Hewlett-Packard's crimes?
None.

How many HP officials will be prosecuted for their deliberate, intentional, illegal conduct?
None.

When Democracy Now and the rest of the news media is silent, do they not become co-conspirators?

TLC

"What is on the Table is Continued Control at a Reduced Political and Military Cost"

Short but right-on interview with British political analyst and antiwar activist Milan Rai on Democracy Now, December 8, 2006. Full Transcript/Audio/Video.

O'Reilly: U.S. may have to "level cities like Tehran"

O'Reilly: U.S. may have to "level cities like Tehran"

Summary:

On the December 5 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Bill O'Reilly asserted that "we may have to" "level cities like Tehran, kill hundreds of thousands of people," which, he explained, the United States has "already done in Germany and Japan." O'Reilly then argued that such a move would be necessary, for example, "[i]f Iran takes over Iraq and then fosters a revolution inside Saudi Arabia ... and gets control of all the oil and says we're not selling to the USA, we are going to level that country, because you ... need gasoline to live."

From the December 5 edition of Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly:

O'REILLY: The United States will never be conquered by Muslims -- ever. But you don't want it to reach the point where, we have to, example, you know, level cities like Tehran, kill hundreds of thousands of people, which we may have to do -- which we have already done in Germany and Japan. OK? We have already killed hundreds of thousands of people on one day. Now, do we want to do that again? Of course not, but we may have to.

Example: If Iran takes over Iraq and then fosters a revolution inside Saudi Arabia, which Iran wants to do, and overthrows that kingdom and gets control of all the oil and says we're not selling to the USA, we are going to level that country, because you, [caller], need gasoline to live. See? Now that's the biggest example I can give you.
— R.C.

Posted to the web on Wednesday December 6, 2006 at 1:12 PM EST


Source:
http://mediamatters.org/items/200612060008

Think II

"If you truly don't think, you may still BE, but you won't be much."

_________________________

"To the person who called 333 to ask, 'I don't think, therefore am I not?' The answer is no: you're not. And if you fell over in the forest, no one would hear you either."


--The Salina [Kansas] Journal's anonymous Extension 333 call-in line, December 8, 2006

Thursday, December 07, 2006

Risk II

"Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinion of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth."
--Katherine Mansfield

Geniuses

"All the people we call ‘geniuses’ are men and women who somehow escaped having to put that curious, wondering child in themselves to sleep."
--Barbara Sher

It's The Imports, Stupid

"Hey, I just bought some Kansas lottery tickets and noticed they were printed in Canada. What's wrong with that picture?"
--Salina [Kansas] Journal anonymous Extension 333 call-in line, December 7, 2006

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Younger

"You are younger today than you will ever be again. Make use of it for the sake of tomorrow."
--Norman Cousins, editor

Circuit City: Judged By The Company It Keeps

Circuit City sent out an email on December 5, 2006, delightfully announcing they were doing a live webcast with former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani. A short while later Circuit City sent a second email claiming that, "Regrettably, we will not be able to bring that event to you in a live Webcast due to technical problems beyond our control.". Supposedly, a webcast of that event, "will be available on firedog.com in the coming weeks." I'm not holding my breath on that one, just my nose.

My email to Circuit City, which never bothered to respond except for an autoreply promising, "One of our Customer Support Coordinators will get back to you within the next 24 business hours":



Why are you supporting a sicko who stated the following?


"There is something deranged about you ... this excessive concern with little weasels is a sickness ... you should go consult a psychologist or a psychiatrist with this excessive concern, how you are devoting your life to weasels. You need somebody to help you. There are people in this city and in this world that need a lot of help. Something has gone wrong with you."
--New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani on his radio show, to a ferret advocate, after imposing New York's 2001 ferret ban


Source:
http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2006/12/05/giuliani/

Penance Through Truth

The Associated Press carried an article repeating one of the Big Lies about President Al Gore.

My letter to the New York Times and various other newspapers carrying that item:


Dear Editor:

Your article on the Iraq Study Group states, as to the 2000 Presidential election, that Al Gore is, "the Democrat who narrowly lost to Bush".

Reality check: Al Gore received more popular votes in 2000 than the Current Occupant. Only with the help of his brother, massive corruption in Florida's and Ohio's electoral processes, and a Republican-stacked Supreme Court, did the Thief-In-Chief become the Occupying Power in Washington D.C..

Reality check: The carnage in Iraq is directly due to the 2000 coup d'état in the United States, and that fact too is conveniently ignored by the Iraq Study Group and the mass media.

Joseph Goebbels observed that, "If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." It long past time that newspapers in America start telling the truth again, that they being to repair the damage they have caused during the past six years by being propaganda mouthpieces for the Bu$h Regime.

Sincerely,

Terry L. Clark

Flattened

"A man flattened by an opponent can get up again. A man flattened by conformity stays down for good."
--Thomas Watson Jr., executive

Tuesday, December 05, 2006

The True Cost Of "Repairs"

UPDATE: Letter Published in The Salina Journal, December 23, 2006. Merry Christmas to me, and to the thinkers of Salina!


I have previously commented on the attempt in Salina Kansas to build a $25 million Expo Center, focusing on how taxpayer dollars are used to lobby the taxpayer to spend more money.

My latest letter to The Salina [Kansas] Journal, on a different aspect of that fiasco:


Dear Editor,

When I saw the title of Mr. Bell's editorial, "Repairs Undone Are Costly", I initially thought he must have been referring to the costs of fixing the existing facilities in Kenwood Park. After years of neglect, repairs will be far more expensive than if they had been taken care properly in the first place (a lesson most children learn about their toys by the age of three). And whatever limited credibility there was with the Saline County Commissioners who have been hellbent on building a $25 million boondoggle has been lost. Whenever people justifiably lose faith in their government, there is a high price to be paid.

Fortunately, a Recall will go far toward paying that price, and establishing a competent governing body that will protect those it represents.

Sincerely,

Terry L. Clark

Monday, December 04, 2006

Impossible

"In order to attain the impossible,
one must attempt the impossible."
--Miguel De Cervantes (1547-1616, Spanish novelist, dramatist, poet)

Dealing With Those Pesky Masses

"The measures adopted to restore public order are:
First of all, the elimination of the so-called subversive elements. ...
They were elements of disorder and subversion.
On the morrow of each conflict I gave the categorical order to
confiscate the largest possible number of weapons of every sort and kind.
This confiscation, which continues with the utmost energy,
has given satisfactory results."
-- Benito Mussolini (1883-1945), Italian dictator during WW2
Source: Speech delivered by Prime Minister Benito Mussolini before the Italian Senate, June 8, 1923. Reproduced in Mussolini as Revealed in His Political Speeches (London & Toronto: J.M. Dent & Sons Ltd., 1923), pp. 308-309.

More Proof That AO!L Is A Lousy ISP

For those who have America OFF! Line (AO!L) and think they get all the emails their friends and others send--or that you at least have the chance to check your spam filter to see what you're missing...it appears you and other AO!L victims don't. Tonight's bounce message from AO!L:

Hi. This is the qmail-send program at yahoo.com.
I'm afraid I wasn't able to deliver your message to the following
addresses.
This is a permanent error; I've given up. Sorry it didn't work out.
:
[IP Address Omitted--TLC] failed after I sent the message.
Remote host said: 554-: (RLY:BD)
http://postmaster.info.aol.com/errors/554rlybd.html
554 TRANSACTION FAILED

____________________________________

And when you follow AO!L's link to their website, they provide the
following excuse:


EXPLANATION:

This error indicates that your message has been blocked. The
characteristics of your message match those of spam reported to AOL.

SOLUTION:

Please have your ISP or server administrator contact AOL for
assistance. The mail administrator should request a feedback loop that
will alert them to reported spam from their network. You can submit a
request online using our Feedback Loop request form .
_______________________________________

Good ol' Time/Warner/AO!L: Doing your thinking so you don't have to! Serving up their own special blend of Purple Kool-Aid...

TLC

Think Your Cell Phone's Private? Guess Again...

Great Op-Ed in the Eureka [California] Reporter, December 4, 2006, on how easy it is to eavesdrop on cell phones, and how cell phones can be used as microphones to broadcast everything you say--even when you think they're turned off!

TLC

Meet The Real Rudy Giuliani

"There is something deranged about you ... this excessive concern with little weasels is a sickness ... you should go consult a psychologist or a psychiatrist with this excessive concern, how you are devoting your life to weasels. You need somebody to help you. There are people in this city and in this world that need a lot of help. Something has gone wrong with you."

--New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani on his radio show, to a ferret advocate, after imposing New York's 2001 ferret ban

Source, and much more: Salon, December 5, 2006

Sunday, December 03, 2006

Conformists

"No one can possibly achieve any real and lasting success or get rich in business by being a conformist".
--J. Paul Getty

Peace

"Now I can look at you in peace; I don't eat you any more."
--Franz Kafka

Friday, December 01, 2006

Shut Up & Starve

The Salina [Kansas] Journal, December 1, 2006, had a brief news item:


Man to go to court on begging charge

A Salina man who allegedly asked customers of Wal-Mart, 2900 S. Ninth, for money Wednesday was issued a notice to appear in court on a charge of aggressive begging.

Deputy Police Chief Mike Marshall said Wal-Mart officials had asked Curtis Jackson, 21, 314 N. Kansas, not to ask customers for money.

Workers called police Wednesday afternoon after seeing Jackson allegedly approach a couple of customers after being told not to do so.
______________________________________

My letter to The Salina [Kansas] Journal, with the Subject, "Welcome To The 'New Economy'" :

Dear Editor,

How appropriate that a young person, perhaps unable to obtain employment sufficient to provide a decent living because of all of the U.S. manufacturing jobs being lost to China thanks to corporations like Wal-Mart, is arrested there for begging--one of the few available activities that still allows him to eke out the kind of income that used to be provided by those lost U.S. factory jobs.

Sincerely,

Terry L. Clark

Pain

"Pain is temporary, Glory is forever!"
--Anon