Category Archives: another perspective

Legalizing Vehicular Terror

There is an op-ed in the Washington Post.

The car as weapon is a touchy subject because, of course, before the invasion of Iraq, when the U.S. was still trying to use persuasion to get
Saddam Hussein to hand over some land for military bases (like the ones we have in Japan and South Korea), the local opposition to Saddam’s regime was assisted by the U.S. in their efforts to “de-stabilize” his rule by having the CIA teach them how to make car bombs. Yes, the U.S. introduced car bombs to the Middle East. Where did they get the cars? According to some serial numbers recovered from engine parts, the cars had been stolen in southern California.

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Permits for Charlottesville?

Yes, “the issuance of a permit is not a matter of grace.” So says Justice Kennedy and I agree. Permits are issued for legal activities. The purpose of the permitting process is to alert public servants to the possibility that a greater level of service may be required because, as in this case, for example, a crowd of people may become unruly. So, yes, the city of Charlottesville did not prepare adequately for the presence of a large number of pedestrians. In part that’s because car culture doesn’t like pedestrians much anyway. It is not a coincidence that a person in a car ran down some pedestrians. The number of people killed by cars while walking has been increasing steadily. Bicyclists too. One suspects that people ensconced in metal cages with wheels perceive themselves to be challenged by people perambulating on their own two feet. It may be a subconscious “how dare they step out of line?” response.
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More on Fake News

I should have made this point before. The Cons, who are giving us so much trouble, are, by and large, binary thinkers. That is, their perception of the world is a case of either/or. Moreover, the binary pair are in a state of conflict, contesting with each other. This condition is manifest in an apparent inability to employ modifiers in their diction.
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Email is public

The electronic communications system is a public venue and marking messages “private” does not change that.

The reason Secretary Clinton’s emails drew so much attention was because the elected and appointed bureaucracy were hoping against hope that they were going to be able to secure some communications from prying public eyes. But, it turns out that even top secret classifications have an expiration date. Eventually, what people write will be known.

Even “the dog ate my homework” will be inoperative because electrons are not edible. Electrons are sort of like money — impersonal, but traceable.

Property Rights as a Refuge

The Religious States of America, heirs to the old Confederacy, have tethered their allegiance to a deity, the ruler of all, to the principle of property as a sacrosanct asset and shield from having to carry out their societal obligations. In a sense, they are in a state of separation. Separate and definitely superior. Superiority is what counts. Superiority is the glue that binds the inferior to their lords and masters. Is that a remnant of the difference between the field and house slave?
Imagine that…..accepting inferiority for the chance to interact with a superior.

Lying Perdue

WHY DO OUR PUBLIC SERVANTS KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH LYING TO US? BECAUSE HONORABLE PEOPLE JUST CANNOT BELIEVE THAT THOSE WHOM THEY TRUSTED WILL DECEIVE.
BESIDES, WHEN PEOPLE ARE LOOKING TO GET HIRED, THEY ARE EXPECTING, NOT KNOWING. AFTER SEVERAL YEARS ON THE JOB, THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR MISLEADING. WHAT GEORGIA SENATOR DAVID PERDUE IS SPOUTING IS BEYOND THE PALE.
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