The Daily Rant ©

Gobble, gobble! (9.00 / 1)

Now, to be careful not to hit any of their wild brethren and sistren on the way out of the neighborhood today. There's a flock of about twenty roaming around here.

But examination of the available data leads only to the conclusion that the biggest beneficiary of the Bush Presidency is Warren Harding. (Steve Mirsky, "Antigravity", SciAm 10/05)
Lex clavatoris designati rescindenda est. (Latin for All Occasions)

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by: mirrim @ Thu Nov 27, 2008 at 09:26:11 AM CST

There are wild turkeys roaming around some parts of Boston and Brookline also. (9.00 / 1)

The Wild Turkeys of Brookline Hills, and Sully the turkey from Southie are two prominent examples.  (the latter seems to have vanished and no one knows where he went, however.)

Ahhhh....Life goes on.

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by: independentminded @ Thu Nov 27, 2008 at 10:13:02 AM CST

[ Parent ]

I've seen some in Belmont as well <nt> (9.00 / 1)

-deano

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by: dknow @ Thu Nov 27, 2008 at 11:01:28 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Given that Sully was in Southie (7.00 / 2)

I'd vote for his ending up on a dinner table, somehow.

But examination of the available data leads only to the conclusion that the biggest beneficiary of the Bush Presidency is Warren Harding. (Steve Mirsky, "Antigravity", SciAm 10/05)
Lex clavatoris designati rescindenda est. (Latin for All Occasions)

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by: mirrim @ Thu Nov 27, 2008 at 12:12:05 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Yup. (0.00 / 0)

This:

"I'd vote for his ending up on a dinner table, somehow."

is probably true, mirrim.


Ahhhh....Life goes on.

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by: independentminded @ Fri Nov 28, 2008 at 00:15:58 AM CST

[ Parent ]

I like the Spike turkey (7.00 / 1)

who ends the advertisements for their Thanksgiving week marathons by saying:

"Gobble, freakin' gobble,"

"Doubt is not an agreeable condition, but certainty is an absurd one." -Voltaire
Ah, my dear Voltaire, doubt is an acquired and cultivated taste, like Laphroaig Whisky or fine truffles, and quite as exquisite.

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by: Madscientist @ Thu Nov 27, 2008 at 18:29:37 PM CST

[ Parent ]

That video is so bizarre (9.00 / 1)

Anyway, Happy Thanksgiving People!

-deano

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by: dknow @ Thu Nov 27, 2008 at 11:01:01 AM CST

You may know: The Turkey is a truly American bird. (9.00 / 2)

It is native to north and central America.

The Anasazi probably domesticated the turkey. Wherever they still find undisturbed Anasazi ruins (increasingly rarely), they ALWAYS find HEAPS of discarded turkey bones. Apparently, along with "the Wholly Trinity" (beans, corn, squash), turkeys may have supplied essential proteins in the Anasazi diet.

On a related subject, next time you come out to visit, there will be an inexpensive, regular commuter train service between Albuquerque and Santa Fe: RailRunner starts service in just a few weeks. Round-trip from ABQ to the Santa Fe rail yard (think "Thomasita's"): under $10...

For that let us be grateful...  

"I'll hire half the working class to kill off the other half."-- Jay Gould, robber-baron  

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by: konopelli @ Thu Nov 27, 2008 at 11:13:36 AM CST

Really? That's great! (0.00 / 0)

Although I do enjoy the drive between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, a commuter train will save a lot of people from having to rent a car.  Good thing it doesn't just let folks off at Lamy.

In loving memory: Sophie, June 1, 1993-January 17, 2005. My huckleberry friend.

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by: Paul in San Francisco @ Mon Dec 01, 2008 at 14:47:13 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Aye, ye old blog, it ain't what it used to be... (11.00 / 1)

Terrorists kill 100 in wonderfully coordinated attacks in Mumbai, and I don't even see a mention.

In the old days, there would have been by now a half dozen essays blaming the attacks on the USA, and while most of those would be "indirect," at least one would offer that it was done by Bush for some selfish reason, or to make things more difficult for Obama, or to push up the price of oil now that he was going back to private life (one last doff of his cap to his buddies in Big Oil)./

We might have had one that blamed Obama, who may want a crisis to cement his "mandate" as he enters the presidency.  I can see it now,; those who say that he can't do it would be met with the example of his tight shipped and wonderfully organized campaign, as well as the army of Moonie-like followers who are poised to follow him no matter what.

Over on the Muslim boards (I don't even have to look), they are saying that it was Mossad that pulled this off.  After all, who else could succeed at an operation this complex?

But, youse people let me down.  Where is the wingnut rhetoric of old, the absolute love of the improbable so long as it could damn one of one's enemies, like the Jews or America?  Someone should see the CIA in this, the same CIA that we know killed JFK, MLK, and RFK.

Just a while ago, Deepak Chopra was on CNN international asserting that "if it weren't for US foreign policy, attacks like these wouldn't happen."  So there is the bandwagon; jump on.  After all, it's America's fault that Sunnis blew up the Golden Mosque.  

While we're at it, look what American foreign policy has wrought in Thailand.

You see, this is ultimately a jingoist way of seeing the world, which postulates that only Americans can make intelligent decisions, and that all others can only react to America, have no will of their own, and are not responsible for their actions.

Chopra says that the attacks occurred because Amrica does not realize that 25% of the world's population is Muslim, and that it is the fastest growing religion in the world.  As if had Bush had a press conference last week where he repeated those words, the leaders of the Mumbai attacks would have called them off.

Personally, I have my own theory.  I believe that elements of MI5 are behind this, wanting to punish the Indians for their ungrateful attitude toward the benign British colonial rule.  Changing the name of the city from 'Bombay,' and ruining a hundred songs and novels, was just too much.  'Mumbai' just isn't the same.

"Doubt is not an agreeable condition, but certainty is an absurd one." -Voltaire
Ah, my dear Voltaire, doubt is an acquired and cultivated taste, like Laphroaig Whisky or fine truffles, and quite as exquisite.

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by: Madscientist @ Thu Nov 27, 2008 at 18:25:18 PM CST

Mad, (10.00 / 1)

Happy Thanksgiving,

I write to you from the beautiful hills around Santa Cruz.  It is just great to be out of the city and in a place where I can see stars... and deer.

Very nice.

In any case, you will not be surprised, I think, that I agree very much with this:

this is ultimately a jingoist way of seeing the world, which postulates that only Americans can make intelligent decisions, and that all others can only react to America, have no will of their own, and are not responsible for their actions.

I wonder what accounts for such simplicity of viewpoint?  There are all sorts of people who think this way and not just in terms of the US, of course.  It's not just a matter of jingoism, I think, but of seeing the world in a manichean way with weak good people versus powerful, malevolent people.

This dovetails very nicely with your characterization of anti-American / American jingoism.

And although you have often cautioned against mind reading, I can't help but wonder if there is not a psychological component to this.  We're talking about intelligent people, even highly intelligent people, who strenuously see the world through such lenses.

I have no training in psychology, but it strikes me that many of the people who hold to such thinking might do so out of fear of uncertainty and an unwillingness to not appear certain because of ego.

A thought, anyways.

What say you?




Lord of the Karmafishes

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by: Karmafish @ Fri Nov 28, 2008 at 00:13:51 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Mad (0.00 / 0)

I think that Deepak Chopra's statement was to point out how dumb it is to think that things happen in a vacuum.  That this is separate from that.  

Remember a while back DA had question of the day and he ask us to tell about experiences of unintended consequences.  You know that many actions our country has taken to create results we want have ended up having unintended consequences.  Yet the interesting thing about the US is our government tends to be slow to connect the dots. If you start to connect the dots you realize it is all connected and we are all responsible.

One unintended consequence is how we use our power.  Example is having nuclear bombs to control behavior of other countries.  Now every country wants to have nuclear bombs so they can be as powerful and control their neighbors. Now think about all of the unintended consequences of letting that genie out of the bottle.

It is not to say just we are at fault that other countries fight and have wars, however the point is that we have a responsibility to exercise our power by saying enough we are going to stop contributing to this solution as an answer.  We are going to chose a different path.  It is time to connect the dots and see we all play a part in the madness.

All we can control is ourselves and take responsibility for our actions.  The more we push the more resistance we create and so it goes.

It is a matter of life and death, see the documentary Food INC and vote no to corporate take over of our food every time you buy groceries  

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by: Kathleen @ Sat Nov 29, 2008 at 22:15:48 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Give Deepfried Chakra his due. (9.33 / 3)

He seems to have said what he meant and meant what he said. And, from this transcript on Huffington Post it seems pretty straightforward. He does not say that these attacks occurred because America doesn't know how many Muslims there are. Perhaps the mad one could produce the text to demonstrate that claim. Nor, does he say that attacks like these wouldn't happen without our foreign policy; just that there's a pretty straight line between our policy and Muslim extremism such as this appears to be. And, that American petro-dollars find there way into funding this shit. Personally, I think he was pretty right on. Kind of like David Cross when he said:

I don't think Osama bin Laden sent those planes to attack us because he hated our freedom. I think he did it because of our support for Israel, our ties with the Saudi family and our military bases in Saudi Arabia. You know why I think that? Because that's what he fucking said! Are we a nation of 6-year-olds? Answer: yes.

"What fresh hell is this?" -- Dorothy Parker

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by: Curmudgette @ Sun Nov 30, 2008 at 00:14:21 AM CST

[ Parent ]

I happen to differ somewhat. (0.00 / 0)

9/11 happened for a number of reasons, and not for the reasons that lots of people think that they happen.

First of all, while Chakra is right on a number of points, this:

" I think he did it because of our support for Israel"

is a point that I disagree with.  Historically, the rest of the Arab world has displayed little to  no sympathy for the Palestinians, who're the most despised and spat-upon people in the region, and are looked down with the most contempt.  For at least 40 years, the Arab countries (i. e. Jordan, Egypt, Syria) exploited the Palestinians as a political football to make war against the then-fledgling State of Israel (not that Israel's above reproach, mind you), and deliberately kept them in refugee camps, impoverished and angry, refusing them their own state, which is how Israel's occupation of West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem came about.  It's agreed that israel should get out of those territories now, and that the United States
shouldn't be supporting Israel  unconditionally and   allowing them to continue with the occupation.  

However, back to the original topic of this post:
there are several reasons why 9/11 happened

A)  The failure of the United States and the European community to maintain vigilance and to share information about terrorist cells in making.

B)  The cutting of anti-terrorist funding to the FBI by the G. W.  Bush Administration

C)  G. W. Bush's Administration deliberately and knowingly ignored (former President) Bill Clinton's warnings about the vulnerability of skyscrapers and about threats of attacks on United States soil by Al Qaeda.

D)  If the fact that many, if not most places across the Globe at large have/had been hit with some sort of intense, international terrorist attacks even  before the United States was hit is any indication, the United States was bound to get hit sooner or later....and we did.

E)  The fact that the  United States government has spent so much time messing with other people's affairs hasn't helped either, and, sooner or later, somebody was bound to react.

Ahhhh....Life goes on.

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by: independentminded @ Sun Nov 30, 2008 at 10:16:15 AM CST

[ Parent ]

I think David Cross's point (6.00 / 1)

is that terrorists act for political reasons, and their explicit motives are pretty blatantly stated when they take credit for an attack. In the case of 9/11, Bin Laden was no exception. He stated the reasons. You can either take him at his word or invent reasons that treat the entire populace like children, like "they hate us for our freedom." Anyway, A-D are means and opportunities and don't speak to motivation. On E, you're pretty much restating Cross... and Chopra for that matter.  

"What fresh hell is this?" -- Dorothy Parker

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by: Curmudgette @ Sun Nov 30, 2008 at 14:30:45 PM CST

[ Parent ]

That doesn't mean, however, (0.00 / 0)

that terrorist attacks shouldn't be condemned, or that the perpetrator(s) deserve sympathy.  I stand by positions A-D on my post.

Ahhhh....Life goes on.

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by: independentminded @ Sun Nov 30, 2008 at 17:06:20 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Is this an idle observation (0.00 / 0)

or a strawman? I don't think it's been suggested by anyone -- myself, David Cross, Deepak Chopra, Kathleen, etc. -- that any of this is apologia for terrorism. Reasons aren't excuses. And, for the record, I wasn't disputing A-D, so much as pointing out that they weren't germane. Those are security lapses, not motivators of terrorism. It would probably help us in our "war on terra" if we stopped acting like our enemies are cartoon villains.

"What fresh hell is this?" -- Dorothy Parker

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by: Curmudgette @ Sun Nov 30, 2008 at 19:34:06 PM CST

[ Parent ]

So, my points A-D were not idle observations, nor were they a strawman. (0.00 / 0)

Security lapses  increase vulnerability and thus the motivation for terrorist attacks.

Ahhhh....Life goes on.

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by: independentminded @ Sun Nov 30, 2008 at 19:56:39 PM CST

[ Parent ]

No. (0.00 / 0)

Motivation speaks to the reasons behind an attack, not the means by which it is accomplished. That would be the case even if it were something truly imbecilic like "hating us for our freedoms." One can hate us all they wish, but they need the means and the opportunity to carry out an attack, like sloppy security and underestimating their determination, ingenuity, etc. Like when Condi admitted that Bin Laden was "determined to strike in the US" but said no one had imagined that they'd take planes and slam them into the twin towers... in spite of the fact that many people had imagined just such a scenario. That's called stupidity induced vulnerability. But it has nothing to do with the motive. The motives were stated pretty clearly.

And, for the record, I never said A-D were strawmen. I asked if your comment about not condemning terrorism was a strawman.

Whatever. This conversation has officially given me a headache.  

"What fresh hell is this?" -- Dorothy Parker

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by: Curmudgette @ Sun Nov 30, 2008 at 20:32:25 PM CST

[ Parent ]

So... (0.00 / 0)

this conversation's giving you a headache?!?  It seems that you're the one who started it, in the first place.

Ahhhh....Life goes on.

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by: independentminded @ Mon Dec 01, 2008 at 01:14:51 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Enjoy karma!!! (5.00 / 1)

So glad to see you out of the city and into the quiet.

It is a matter of life and death, see the documentary Food INC and vote no to corporate take over of our food every time you buy groceries  

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by: Kathleen @ Sat Nov 29, 2008 at 22:16:15 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Hey Kathleen, (0.00 / 0)

it was nice.

These people live in a place wherein any time you walk onto the back porch there's maybe a 1 in 3 chance that you'll see deer in the yard.

Very refreshing.

My only regret is that I did not bring my fishing rod.

Here's hoping that your Thanksgiving was tasty and delicious.




Lord of the Karmafishes

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by: Karmafish @ Sun Nov 30, 2008 at 20:59:35 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Here's why I'm waiting for more information (0.00 / 0)

From the Deccan Herald (Bangalore).

The arrest of three Pakistani nationals hailing from Multan in connection with Mumbai siege has once again revealed the role of Lashkar-e-Taiba in terror strikes in India after the Akshardham attack in 2002.

Neither al Quaeda (so far), nor Mossad, nor CIA.

Akshardham is a Hindu temple complex in Gujerat (a sister complex by the same name is in Delhi) that was bombed in 2002.

Here is a report from 2005 (ExpressIndia) that provides the tie to Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Either ethnic Hindu-Muslim conflict in Punjab and Gujerat or the continuing Kashmir conflict.  Which one?  Or has Lashkar-e-Taiba suddenly taken an interest in I/P matters?

Want a third party -- 50 states, 210 media market, 435 Congressional Districts, 3080 counties, 192,480 precincts -- Go get 'em

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by: TarheelDem @ Fri Nov 28, 2008 at 14:41:11 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Hey Mad (0.00 / 0)

How are things?  

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by: PHIL. I. STINE @ Sat Nov 29, 2008 at 02:25:07 AM CST

[ Parent ]

trying something (11.00 / 7)

Sadie Yates
RIP
2003-2008

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by: Sadie Yates @ Thu Nov 27, 2008 at 22:38:21 PM CST

BRAYDEN (11.00 / 7)

Sadie Yates
RIP
2003-2008

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by: Sadie Yates @ Thu Nov 27, 2008 at 22:40:16 PM CST

What a cutie!! (5.00 / 1)

Enjoy him!!

Ahhhh....Life goes on.

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by: independentminded @ Fri Nov 28, 2008 at 00:18:47 AM CST

[ Parent ]

Isn't he the cutest baby you've ever seen? (11.00 / 2)

I joined photobucket at the urging of someone here when my dog Holly turned up missing. I have spent all evening trying to get back in, get the password and remember how to use it. The day went very well. The inlaws liked the boyfriend and LOVED the baby. who wouldn't?
life is good. I hope your day was good too!
love,
Sadie

Sadie Yates
RIP
2003-2008

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by: Sadie Yates @ Thu Nov 27, 2008 at 22:43:45 PM CST

Sadie (5.00 / 1)

He's absolutely gorgeous.  I'm so glad your Thanksgiving turned out great, but I'm not surprised that everyone loved little Brayden.

Insert witty quote here.

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by: puzzled @ Fri Nov 28, 2008 at 05:04:18 AM CST

[ Parent ]

OH my God (5.00 / 1)

Sadie what a beautiful baby!!!!
So glad your thanksgiving went well!  What a relief to have that behind you. Life is brighter and brand new!

Hugs to all you you!

It is a matter of life and death, see the documentary Food INC and vote no to corporate take over of our food every time you buy groceries  

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by: Kathleen @ Fri Nov 28, 2008 at 10:29:44 AM CST

[ Parent ]

it is a relief (11.00 / 2)

I feel like a wieght has been lifted off me. it was a wonderful day.

Sadie Yates
RIP
2003-2008

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by: Sadie Yates @ Fri Nov 28, 2008 at 13:32:06 PM CST

[ Parent ]

Good lookin' boy (5.00 / 1)

Sadie...yer girl did good!

"Fascism is attracting the dregs of humanity- people with a slovenly biography - sadists, mental freaks, traitors." - ILYA EHRENBURG

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by: durrati @ Fri Nov 28, 2008 at 12:47:14 PM CST

yep (7.00 / 1)

she was BORN to be a mother...unlike me who had to work at it. ha!

Sadie Yates
RIP
2003-2008

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by: Sadie Yates @ Fri Nov 28, 2008 at 13:32:47 PM CST

[ Parent ]

You'll be a great (5.00 / 1)

Nana, I am sure of it!

"Fascism is attracting the dregs of humanity- people with a slovenly biography - sadists, mental freaks, traitors." - ILYA EHRENBURG

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by: durrati @ Fri Nov 28, 2008 at 13:46:32 PM CST

[ Parent ]