06/14/08
YOU KNOW WHAT'S BETTER THAN BURNING MAN?

...having an intelligent conversation.

04/18/08
BLOOD TAX

Another name for "the draft" is "conscription". 

Another name for "conscription" is "blood tax".

I often hear commentators, talk show hosts, weekend radio news magazine opinion essayists advocate for a national draft.The argument is that if we had a national draft, then the fear of being sent to Iraq, or Iran (Iraq 2) would mobilize young people, and their parents to political action to stop the war.  While I am sure a draft would spark a more vocal outrage against the war, I would like to make the following points.

First of all, most or all that I have heard make this point are all comfortably beyond draft age.  To them I say let us propose a "total war" draft, that drafts all citizens below legal retirement age.   Let liberal radio talk show hosts Tom Hartman and Ed Schultz  put their radio careers on hold, shave their head, suffer the indignities of basic training, get broken down and built back up, and lend their shoulders to the weel.  Their experience and expertise probably has value in numerous capacities in the war effort. 

Aileen Mory, who wrote a piece for NPR's "This I Believe" graciously offered her two sons, rapidly approaching military age, for the blood sacrifice.  She feels this gives her some moral authority to advocate for a draft.   She works in adminstration in industry.  Her skills could be put to use in military logistics.  Her essay argued that we don't share the sacrifice as a society, for the war we as a society have decided to engage in, or at least consent to by our silence. 

Though it is difficult to tell from her exposition if she is anti war and thinks the fear will mobilize an anti war movement, or that she is pro war/ resigned to war and feels that we should ALL pay a sacrfice.  Whichever it is I have this suggestion.Aileen Mory, since you are more than likely too old to volunteer for the military, and since you so graciously offer your children like Abraham without question, then here is my suggestion to you. 

Protest.  Join a peace group.  Write a letter to your senators and representatives.  Organize at your work place.  There is a ready made pool of potential anti war agitators at your fingertips.  Maybe you could spend some of your hard earned money, buy alot of stamps, spend some time writing letters to elected officials, then hand them out to your friends, postage paid and ready to sign.  You could sell everything you own, take your 401k and the vacation fund, cash in your life insurance policy, rent a van or bus and fund a 24 hour sit in on the capitol steps to draw attention to your anti war cause. 

The fact is you still want SOMEONE ELSE to sacrfice.  In this case your kids, and other people's kids.  As George Carlin said, "Morally committed religious people in southeast Asia know how to stage a fucking protest!"  Of course he is referring to Buddhist monks setting themselves on fire.  You should set yourself on fire, not your children, or other people's childeren.

There are people who have served who advocate for a draft.  They feel that they did it everyone else should have to.  I appreciate that there are good people in the military, who serve out a sense of duty and loyalty to country.  I appreciate that there are men and women who WOULD fight to the death to protect my freedom. 

I would argue that every war fought since WW2 has not been a fight for my freedom.  Perhaps the Cold War was a struggle of totalitariansim vs. democracy, but the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, the invasions of Panama and Grenada had nothing to do with preserving freedom and democracy.  Indeed they were wars of political and financial gain for a select group of private interests.  The adventure is Central Amercia, and our involvement in Columbia now have absolutely no bearing on my freedom or your democracy. 

Nothing listed above ever was or ever will be a threat to you and me.  Further more everything listed above brought death and suffering and hardship to millions of innocents, with no gain for anyone, but a small group of private political and financial interests.

If the Ruski's or whomever were crossing the Willamette River, marching on South East Portland, who WOULDN'T join the military.  I would love military training.  Dicipline, physical fitness, professional training, would be of enormous benefit, and ultimately not insufferable.  Who wouldn't want to be part of an elite team.

Unfortunately the military is often called upon to engage in immoral and illegal action and until that situtation gets worked out, I wish all soldiers of the world would lay down their arms in protest.  Militarism has been disasterous to all who have engaged in it.

Of course that will never happen.

04/02/08
the prez

why does president bush always start a sentence strong and fast but then...uh...thinks about what he's going to say....uh....like he knows something you don't...uh....had it just right......but uh.....thought about it for a second.....and uh....realized there was either a better way to say it....uh....or that there's no way you could possibly....uh....UNDERSTAND what he understands? thanks dad!

03/19/08
STYLE OVER SUBSTANCE or ARE TRUCKER HATS STILL IN?

Ever since I was a young lad in grade school and beyond, I recognized that style was given more value than substance.  As a 31 year old sophomore in college, studying modern Chinese history (1860's-present) I started to realize there was nothing new about this.  I'm sure one can find it in any history.  Even in more distant Chinese history it seemed to me that one could replace the names and the dates with modern, present ones and the narrative would remain largely the same.  There is always a small group self interested greedy liars who think they're bettter than everyone else trying to seize all the power, all the resources, and even control the minds, control the history, control the opinion.  On the other side there are always a small group of intelligent, literate, thoughtful, perhaps even most outrageously, CARING group of people risking exile, execution, imprisonment or perhaps even most outrageous, marginalization by suggesting that maybe we ought to do what's best for everyone and not what is best for just a few.  And then there are those caught in the middle.  It is truely a luxury to be in either of the small groups.  It is difficult to judge the masses in the middle.  Who's fault is it anyway?

I get pissed that people with their heads stuffed up their asses vote for George Bush or apologize for his political positions because of style over substance.  He's a Christian, he believes in lower taxes or a strong military.  Simple easy sentences to repeat that are the political equivilent of donning a trucker hat while it's fashionable and switching to the tweed little reporter hat when that comes into vouge. 

No matter how you dice it, we killed MILLIONS of Iraqis.  We plunged their country into the stone age.  We summarily sentenced generations to suffering.  They will hate us forever. 

George Bush has ruined our country.  The dollar is plunging.  The banks are failing.  Our infrastructure is crumbling.  Our education system is pathetic from lack of funds and over politicization.  Our credit and credibility in the world is trashed.  We can't even win in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Our military is broken.  He's doing just fine, thank you very much, and so are his "base" the "have more's".
Nice trucker hat you got there.

Then some pastor says something TRUE about our country and he's to blame.   Guess he put on the trucker hat a few months too late.  Dude, haven't you heard?  We're wearing duct tape on the chin now.  Everyone in Seattle is doing it...right?

Now go play on our myspace.

01/28/08
General Anthony Zinni

I listened to a lecture by former General Anthony Zinni USMC retired. 

It was part of Duke University on iTUNES Terry Sanford distinguished lectures.  Yawn.

The title of the lecture was Iraq Failures Realities and the Future.

I'm up on the news, and current events.  I have critical thinking skills.  I am skeptical of everything, even/especially that which lines up with my own opinions, which I have plenty of strong ones.

The overall arc of the narrative told by the good General was generally known to me:

We went into Iraq on cherry picked intelligence, with insufficient number of troops to provide security and civil services needed to pre-empt a disintegration into civil war.   People hired to rebuild Iraq were political appointees picked because of their radical free market ideologies, with little experience in "nation building" or concern for the real people who were shocked and awed by our invasion.

We all know this, even those smarmy Bill Crystal, FOX news types, and republicrat presidential candidates who pretend not to know. 

But General Zinni was there.  He was a high level commander on the ground from the first Iraq war through this latest one.  He was super critical of the war and the occupation and the administration.

What set his lecture apart was how he brought it down to practical details.  First this happened and I did this and was told that and ordered to do this tactic or pursue this strategy.

I was hanging some sheetrock while listening to this madness on my iPod.  It's one thing to say I hung some rock.  To describe whether or not I did a good job.  In six years i'll be able to say it stood the test of time, or it cracked and buckled, and the paint peeled.

But what if I were to say that I took a measurement.  I decided to run the 8 foot sheets perpendicular to the rafters, all 16 inches on center.  I drew a line on the face of the rock, then scored it with a box knife, broke along the fault, then cut the back.
I then screwed it with one and a half inch black ceramic screws until perfectly dimpled....YAWN.  But it's a clear tactical narrative.

The lecture by General Zinni was as such.  He said what happened.  In clear plain English, with little opinion or ideology injected.

I wish all 5 of you who read my poor li'l blog will find this lecture.  It's on iTUNES.  Type in General Anthony Zinni, or Duke University on iTunes.

I truely wish all the horrible right wing ideologues would listen to this lecture, about clear tactical and strategic failures of this war, this administration, this congress, and US.  I would love to hear ANYONE dispute this man point by point. 

I'm against militarism.  It has always failed and brought catastrophe to all who engage in it.  I think the Vietnam war was a crime.  I think Gulf War I was a crime.  General Zinni fought in both.  But listening to the man and you can hear that he is honest and cares for his country, the world, the Iraqi's, the Saudi's, the Iranians, the Turks, you and I.  What did he say that was a lie.  What did he say that was unclear, or untrue.

It's sad that we live in American Idol.  That a bunch of idiots get to decide who's lying and who's not with no regard to evidence and the truth.

01/22/08
PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS CONSERVATIVE

People like George Bush say things like, "Tax cuts will improve the economy." or "capping malpractice awards will bring down the cost of health care."

Is there some reason we can't write that directly into the legislation?

Ok, cap medical malpractice awards, and if what you say DOESN'T happen, then it sunsets.  If you're so fucking sure that we'll find weapons of mass destruction, we'll be greeted as liberators, oil revenues will pay for the whole thing, the insurgency is in its last throws, the surge is working, modertates in the region will be empowered, militants will be marginalized, democracy will take hold, the sunni and the shiite will be able to get along etc etc and so forth, then when it doesn't happen, AS IT HASN'T HAPPENS, then your policy sunsets.

And right now as the economy tanks, the dollar falls, and globalization fails us, can it not automatically sunset.

PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOUR MOUTH IS.

If you're so dammed sure of everything than you certainly shouldn't mind making it "interesting".

jackasses!

01/17/08
CLASS PRESIDENT

Maybe you had a positive high school experience.  In retrospect mine was not terrible and let's face it, millions, nay billions would kill to have had mine, and would have appreciated it.  I guess I was just like my cat, who doesn't realize there are other cats on porches eating dry food and mouse carcasses not high quality dry food punctuated by tuna, chicken, maple syrup, and brown sugar (yes she eats all of those things...CRIES for them). 

But I do remember the bullshit.  I remember the utter lack of logic, vision, compassion, spirit of cooperation.  I remember the politics and I'm not talking about class president. 

The plain level of discourse in presidential politics is embarrasing.  These people are applying for the top job.  Take a few choice quotes from any of the top candidates, ESPECIALLY on the republican side and ask yourself if you could say any of those things at any job interview you've ever had.

Fuckabee, who I have to constantly punch myself in the nuts to NOT like, like Captain Christopher Pike held captive on Talos IV had to stay angry so the Talotians couldn't read his mind, was making a joke about frying squirrels in a popcorn popper in college.  Look it up.  He said it.  Think about every and any job interview you've ever had in your life, even the cheesy fast food or telemarketing job.  Did you make any jokes?  Did you joke about killing anything?  I know it's a LITTLE different, being on late night comedy shows, but I don't think they should be on those shows.  If we are in a generational war, which we're NOT, it's a phony war, then the commander in chief should be solemn and grave at all times.  And frankly the rest of us should be too.  And we should expect it from our prospective employees.

01/16/08
MULTI TOPIC

First up, my Dad has a blog.  It's a movie review site.  He's been sending me movie reviews for years.  I've been bugging him to share them with the world.  The link is on my LYNX page, but here it is:

http://bigjimsmoviereviews.blogspot.com/

Next, I'm sure you've heard as I am no cutting edge journalist or blogger but Huckabee said the United States Constitution should be ammended to "God's" standards.  He's not the first in history, nor in this election cycle to propose theocracy.  What is frightening is the he's NOT RUN OUT OF TOWN ON A RAIL for such.  This isn't an ammendment to ban butt sex, but to remove AMMENDMENT NUMBER ONE! 

I used to listen to a podcast called LOGICALLY CRITICAL.  It was an amateur cast, but high comedy and very thoughtful critical thinking on a variety of subjects.
One cast was on 10 commandments vs. 10 ammendments.  The basic upshot was only one commandment is really IN U.S. law and not really in the constitution.  But the funny part was his LOGICALLY CRITICAL analysis of the FIRST 10 ammendments (known as the bill of rights to you folk too young to remember or too old to care).  He said if you were driving down the road, and the kittly litter was spilling out of the bag in your back seat, AND there was a fire in your back seat, which would you address FIRST.  The answer, of course, is you would address the most important.  In this case that would be the fire.  After the constitution was written the founders addressed the MOST IMPORTANT details and NUMBER ONE was freedom of speech, assembly, and RELIGION.   Clearly Huckabee doesn't feel the FIRST AMMENDMENT to the Constitution is important, and he should come right out and say it.  He should be pestered by reporters who phrase the question in this way.

I hate myspace.  Truly I do.  I wish it would die.  Some jackass, probably some friend of mine I don't know by their "handle" posted some anti-femminist rant on his blog.  That's fine but then he posted and reposted bulletins begging readers to get offended.  Well I obliged.  It was horrible tripe about how terrible that this country has become a country of...gasp...women.  His academic citations were how even the most liberal women thought George Bush was hot in the flight suit, and how he surmised that Donald Rumsfeld gets "fly pussy".  This is what is on myspace and why I hate it.  It should be clear that George Bush is responsible IN PART for the decline of our empire, the death of millions perhaps, and that rich sicko's like Rumsfeld will always have enough money to take advantage of desperate but attractive young women.

I wish that blogger were deseperate and poor and faced with the prospect of having to suck some crusty old industrialist off and come back to me with that kind of rant.  Pathetic!

On a lighter note...I found a website that has EVERY SOUTH PARK EPISODE in its entirety.  Send me a cute li'l email and i'll send you the link!

Love Shag!

ps. http://bigjimsmoviereviews.blogspot.com/

01/05/08
Primary colors

Obama and Huckabee eh?

I can see the attractions to Obama, but Huckabees a fucking nut!  I guess that's his appeal.

So Tracy asked me who of the big three Dems would I pick.

I said Edwards, based on his populism and the other two's corporatism.

Tracy pointed out that I picked the white man over the black man and the woman.

I SHOULD like Obama, just to fuck with people, and HEY, he's a billion time better than anything the Republicans can dig out of the ashtray, and a million times better than Hillary Clinton.

I would like to see a woman, or african american make the leap.  But they just aren't radical enough for me.  Fuck, in the best of all worlds Kucinich would be too right wing for me (he did propose a flag burning amendment...shame!).  But I try to live in the real world, and hope for the lesser of evils.

I should like Clinton because i LOVES THE LADIES! and couldn't find love in a man's hairy ass.  Tracy assures me Obama's ass is SMOOTH!

01/03/08
Y2K+8

Ok, so there seems to be some kind of Y2K thing going on with my Blog.

Newest entries usually appear top o' the page, front and center.

When I posted my Shagifesto today, it went to the bottom.  Rather than bug my web guy on such trivia, I decided to axe them all. 

I've wanted to do that for a while now, partially for national security reasons (as in the NSA dossier that I'm sure will be JUST incomplete enough without last year's insane rants to render me to a black site in Albania) and because I did a gig at Marshall High School where I "bumped" another local musician who had "adult content" on HER website.  I repeatedly, jokingly but truthfully asked, "And how did I not get bumped?"  Especially with Crusher and Pardon My French (aka Bullshit) posted there.

Anyway, anyone (of you four who actually reads this) who would like copies of anything, feel free to contact me and I'll be happy to provide you with your selections, for a nominal fee, or a picture of yourself in a garter and teddy.

Love Shag
ps. i know there is at least one boy who reads this blog, no need for garter pic bud.

01/03/08
NEW YEARS MANIFESTO

You've been waiting, and here it is, day two and all is well...

MANIFESTO:

1 NO SMOKING (except on my birthday and xmas)
2 NO SWEETS (except birthday cake at someone's birthday)
3 NO TV (dvd, movies ok)
4 NO SPENDING (strict budget committee oversees all spending, no sport shopping)
5 WRITE!  EVERYDAY!  SOMETHING, ANYTHING!  songs, screenplays, etc

GOALS:
attend my friend's Kajukenbo class, start taking Judo at Sellwood, record more music, make more money, work out much more, be all things to all people, exciting 3 ways, exciting 4 ways, go to europe and china, get a real job, be a good uncle, brother, son, friend, bandmate, kungfu teacher, get more bass students, stick it to the man!