one war down

one war down and the people of Gaza can really relax and let their hair down.  only (1 x googleplex) to go.  actually it's googolplex.  i had to google that to find out, while really it's google's fault in the first place for displacing the word they were word-playing in in the first place.  lots of places goin nowhere .. 

ANYWAY.  what was i talking about.  ahh WAR, yes war.  all kinds of wars happening, it's an exciting planet.  mama never ever told me there'd be days like this.  the latest war, or MY latest war, is economic.  cause we got all kinds of people making all kinds of money in all kinds of ... well really it's mostly in banking, weapons and lobbying.  and guess who gets the IRS audit?  me.  yes, me.  it's like some kind of a joke:  when 200 of America's biggest companies pay NOTHING in taxes, companies that are worth more than most countries, they come after me instead.  why?  because they define the system.  and they'd rather come after me for a few hundred dollars that i don't even owe them.  but from now on, from the money i DO owe them, i will deduct my own "war tax" a la Thoreau.  do i want to pay for dead lives across the globe?  i think not.

then there's the banks.  ooohh the banks.  the same people charging 20% interest, $35 late fees, and the poorer you are, the higher the fees.  these same people get BILLIONS in bailout money.  

so ... lets break this down.  the IRS comes after me, someone who lost a bar business (thanks Hillary) and now works freelance in music and other odd occupations and clearly rests in the lowest income bracket possible.  they audit and come after me, i pay my measley hundreds of dollars in taxes (but there are millions of us), they then GIVE the money to the bankers who make millions and caused the crisis + bailout in the first place.  hey free market! -- nice lesson learned!  millionaires who fuck up get bailed out!  great.

so my broke-ass money goes to millionaires who now have incentive to not only NOT fix a thing, but to create another crisis!  alright, but if that wasn't bad enough, these same bankers come after my debts, adding charges, increasing interest rates, basically kicking a man when he's down.  is that right?  is that just? all those billions they took from us and they still come back for more?  they really need to get paid from all sides?  so that they can compensate themselves $20 BILLION?  wow!  

there is, as usual, no justice in the system.  in a free world, money rises to the top.  this is not a free world, thank god, or we would all be enslaved, quite literally.  we are still all enslaved though, figuratively.  because the system couldn't possibly sustain all of us -- it's not meant to.  wealth = debt = slavery.  only those at the top will survive, the rest of us will hang on for dear life while some will randomly fall off of this machine powering itself into the darkness.  this is the way it is.  and until the rest of us rise up and demand a new system, this is the way it will remain.

bye bye Bush

America has a shameful foreign policy record, but her history could get no worse than these last 8 years. In the past, her horrendous actions were mostly covert. But Bush didn't give a damn. he rewrote and re-interpreted the laws to execute atrocious policies that brought America's dirty behavior out into the open for all to see. "Of course we need to torture these people and deny them any rights to a trial, they're terrorists". "Of course we tapped all your phone calls, domestic and foreign, we're at war here".

So it's fitting for this same guy to leave office in a fireball. Yesterday, in his farewell address, he spoke of "America's moral clarity" and that "murdering innocents to advance and ideology is wrong every time, and everywhere". (choke-cough!) what?? was there a day in your entire presidency that you DID NOT murder innocents to advance your ideology? maybe in the beginning, before 9/11, when all you did was play golf and vacation. we were outraged back then, but boy did we have it good. it amazes me that this man, whose vision is so parochial that he cannot see that he is all that he hates, got voted into power. twice!

Meanwhile, back in Gaza, a starved people are being bombed into oblivion. this is no war, this is an American supported massacre. and while supporters of Israel repeat the mantras of the Israeli media campaign about rocket fire and terrorists hiding among civilians, it's mostly innocent civilians that are dying. As usual, nothing can seem to stop this. it's a sort of black comedy when Israel denies using white phosphorus on the ground (illegal and melting their victims to the bone) but then hits a U.N. building with it, causing 3 injuries and burning their supplies of food, water and medicines. I was in Lebanon in '06, and this current war in Gaza makes that other war look like a disney film.

Power is everything, and America has the power. We have the power. and while our congress voted 390-5 in favor of a resolution supporting this war, i find it hard to believe that 99% of Americans support it. especially any informed American who get their news from the BBC or better. if you're one of these Americans who does not support this war, then you should tell your congressmen. here is a link from Amnesty Int'l to do just that: TakeAction.

If you do support this war and stumbled upon this page, i will need to say to you that i am NOT anti-Israel. I am anti-war. Unfortunately, this sound-bite nation requires that i say this. And if i learned anything from Bush and Israeli leaders, i should probably repeat this over and over again. i am anti-war. i am anti-war. I AM ANTI-WAR!

goldi

OBAMA NOW!

here at Gshack it all seems the same these past years.  America says:  "we're for peace, freedom and democracy, but we like this war, which is for the greater peace of the (fill in region) region".  Funny how war is always the answer towards a "lasting" peace.  

Amnesty International was kind enough recently to email me Condoleeza Rice's address, and i was delighted to write her an email.  Actually i've been DYING to write her an email for years. My question to her:  "How can you say the same thing year after year and cause so much bloodshed without feeling guilty to the core of your existence?  How can you cause so much suffering?  If I were in your shoes, I'd try to do the right thing for once in these last days in office."

I'm not expecting a reply anytime soon, but i am expecting many civilians to die in the latest western-declared free-fire zone called Gaza.  It's the modus operandi for the USA (and by extension, Israel), and there aren't any things on this planet more disgusting than killing everything in your "free-fire zone".  Drop a pamphlet, warn the people, then kill them.  Nice America.

Our only hope is a sensible Obama administration.  Maybe, just maybe sense will be restored to this bloody planet..