21 September 2006

The truth about the military....

I wish this video had been available when my nephew was planning to enlist in the late 1980's into the Marines. I wrote him a long letter, trying desperately to dissuade him. But his parents, both Right-Wing Christians, supported his decision and signed the permission papers, as he was only 17.

He wasn't sent to war, but emerged from the military a wrecked man nonetheless. He was discharged early (I'm not sure why) and has been a total mess ever since. Can't hold down a steady job. Drifts from place to place. No friends. Never in a relationship. Holds scary extreme right views. He's fascinated with guns, knives and survivalist views.

Clearly, I can't blame the military for all his troubles. But (a) if he was that emotionally vulnerable, he should never have been allowed to enlist, especially as a teenager; (b) something happened, in basic training or during the couple of years he served, that sent him completely over the edge; and (c) the military could give a damn that they discharged a broken man back into society who can't cope, holds extremely anti-social views, and has advanced military training.

His latest attempt to pull his life together? More military training, this time under the auspices of a private contractor, and two tours in Afghanistan.

In other words, he's become a mercenary.



(H/T Red State Son.)
Oh my god....

I've been trying not to think about this, as the mid-term elections approach and my trip to the US nears. God save us, if Bush escalates this to a full-scale invasion of Iran. (H/T to AlterNet.)


Yep, that's him...!
...Rich draws a quick but brilliant sketch of Bush as a lazy, entitled boor, lacking in any real ideology beyond crony-capitalist Republicanism, who above all wanted to win and was accustomed to winning -- because he had always played with a rigged deck.

[snip]

"...Iraq was just the vehicle to ride to victory in the midterms, particularly if it could be folded into the proven brand of 9/11. A cakewalk in Iraq was the easy way, the lazy way, the arrogant way, the telegenic way, the Top Gun way to hold on to power. It was of a piece with every other shortcut in Bush's career, and it was a hand-me-down from Dad drenched in oil to boot."
Brilliantly apt description from a review of The Greatest Story Ever Sold, by Frank Rich in today's Salon. (Requires subscription or ad viewing.)

20 September 2006

Another clever ad....

Ok, this is for alcohol. But loving the ocean the way I do, I find it really appealing.

Lovely vibrator ad....

I've been finding world events a bit much lately. It's all I can do to follow the news. Darfur. Gaza. Iraq. Afghanistan. An Inconvenient Truth. Bush at the UN. Bird flu.

Time to turn to You Tube again!

And what better place to start than this charming, faux-retro, pro-lesbian vibrator ad?

19 September 2006

Go, Keith...!

Keith Olbermann at MSNBC has been on fire lately on the subject of George W. Bush! Too bad his mettle is so rare among American journalists.