NADA - New American Dark Ages

This Week’s WTF?!

I’ve noticed the nutty Naegele’s writing before. Every loon is free to trumpet, but, of course, a view like Naegele’s inspires violence. peace, mjh

Strong U.S. Military Will Be Next To Go

NOW THAT President Obama has moved to place the U.S. banking and judicial systems under the thumb of international authority, his next undertaking will be the radical downsizing of the U.S. military.

       While, in theory, foreign economic and court systems now could exercise control over their U.S. counterparts, one roadblock remains — the overwhelming power of the U.S. military. The next president, for instance, simply could renege on Obama’s transnational commitments because he or she would be backed by the U.S. military.

       Therefore, Obama must see that the U.S. military is reduced to the glorified national police force so favored by the Europeans — a force that poses no substantial offensive threat. The first thing that must go, of course, is the U.S. nuclear arsenal.

WM F. NAEGELE Albuquerque

ABQJOURNAL OPINION/LETTERS: Talk of the Town

Think Progress: DHS Report

The extreme right — those who are “hate-oriented,” “mainly antigovernment,” or those dedicated to a “single issue” — is a legitimate threat that law enforcement must deal with, according to a new assessment from the Office of Intelligence and Analysis at the Department of Homeland Security. The report, which was coordinated with the FBI and is being given to federal, state, and local law enforcement, warns:

[R]ightwing extremists may be gaining new recruits by playing on their fears about several emergent issues. The economic downturn and the election of the first African American president present unique drivers for rightwing radicalization and recruitment.

Remember: The largest act of terrorism on US soil by US citizens was perpetrated by the Radical Right. Further, the majority of the violence against individuals for cultural or political reasons originates with the Radical Right. Respect their right to speak, write, and assemble, but they can be — have been — dangerously violent time and time again.

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Apocalypto

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I watched Apocalypto tonight. This is a case where the small screen made some things more bearable than they would have been on the large screen. It is a relentlessly, horrifically violent movie that is mostly about our inhumanity, although some would see love and redemption under all the blood and cruelty. Not me. I don’t know how constant Mayan sacrifices were, but this seemed quite a sausage factory.

I imagine pre-Columbian cultures knew more about solar eclipses than Mel Gibson seems to. Sure, the masses might have been agitated, but the priesthood would have seen it coming well in advance. Gibson ignores the hours-long process of an eclipse and then speeds up the fun part. Of course, so did the Simpsons recently. Who has time for an eclipse anymore. (Heroes was worse with total darkness that lasted an hour. I stopped watching after that.) But, Jesus, Mel, how could you show a full moon the night of the eclipse? How have we become so disconnected from Nature.

And what exactly is the danger of a well filling with water, assuming you know how to tread water? I hope Mel never tries to drown himself in a slowly filling bathtub or pool.

Ah, but it’s not a documentary and it is Hollywood, so lighten up, eh? It is wonderful to hear two and a half hours of Nahuatl and to see a semi-mainstream American movie with subtitles throughout. And nothing but brown skin. That’s pretty amazing, in and of itself. And the perhaps subtle message about human-caused environmental degradation was interesting. The market and Coliseum scenes were pretty cool, especially some of the hairstyles. If you need a sampler of piercings and tattoos, this may be the biggest collection available. So what if the climactic beach scene was far less surprising than finding the Statue of Liberty half-buried. It’s only a movie.

peace,
mjh

PS: I’m reminded of a John Boorman movie, The Emerald Forest (1985). I highly recommend that over this, even if it made the central character a white guy. And Chac (1975), the only other all-Nahuatl movie I’ve seen. That one was more mystical and far less violent. Nyacola posh!

PPS: For readers: Daniel Peters wrote three books, one each about Azteca, Maya, and Inca, as well as a more modern story featuring an anthropologist. I liked the Mayan one most (Tikal: A Novel About the Maya). (I couldn’t remember Peters’ name, but I remembered I discovered his books in the library because they were near all the Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters. Ages ago, I read books by the shelf. Back before the Web.)

other voices, WTF?!

This Week’s WTF?!

The signs that were distributed said “Obama Bin Lyin’ IMPEACH NOW”:

impeach.gif

The “tea party” protests nationwide are being coordinated by the conservative public relations firm Freedom Works, which is run by former Majority Leader Dick Armey (R-TX). The tea parties are also being supported by Newt Gingrich, through his organization American Solutions For Winning the Future. Members of Congress, such as Rep. Jean Schmidt (R-OH), have appeared at previous rallies. In addition, Fox News’ Glenn Beck promotes the protests, and has launched a website publicizing the events.

dreams

Old Friends (a dream)

In the dream, I was sitting at the end of a long table in a setting like a library, although it may have been a restaurant. I was talking with a man from Indian. One of us spoke of another person we might both know. Another man from India joined us. (Not the person we had just discussed.)

My Droog, John Merck, appeared nearby, letting his presence be known without interrupting the discussion.

I got up from the table to hug John, who was much younger than he is in real life. When we ended our hug, John said, "You’re wearing potato pants!" I didn’t notice anything odd about my pants and John did not explain his remark.

John began to speak in an odd mock-accent he intended to be funny. I couldn’t understand much of what he said, even when he repeated it, but I knew there was a joke in the message as well as the medium. I was irritated.

Another old friend appeared in young form: Charlene came up with a 10 year-old dark-haired boy. I awoke.

dreams

Struggle (a dream)

In the dream, I heard a woman describe a nearby body of water as too polluted to swim in. At that moment, I found myself standing on a rectangular concrete block a bit more than two square feet. This block was barely covered by water, although, somehow, my feet (socks, no shoes) were not wet. I was standing in the aforementioned polluted body of water, which appeared to be a reservoir. The block was part of a wall or walkway that formed a semicircle curving off to a point to my right about a quarter mile away. I realized I had to walk along the top of this wall to that distant point without falling into the polluted water. I walked, mostly confidently, nervous a few times.

Suddenly, there was an upheaval like a wave and the wall/walkway surged to the right. "It moves?!," I cried out loud with some exasperation. Somehow, I did not spill from my footing even as the wall swept to the right, toward the edge of the reservoir. This edge had a chain link fence atop another wall. I considered that I might be better off crawling along that wall, clinging to the fence, than taking my chances with the movements of the wave-wall.

The wall I was standing on began to move back, as if with a retreating wave and I decided to jump to the fence-wall. I fell into the water but scrambled out. I realized I might be worse off, because this wall had a very narrow ledge I had to stand on while clinging to the fence, but I had no other choice at this point.

I slid along the ledge, clinging to the fence. In places, the wall had pillars I had to squirm around.

In a few places, spiders had nests. These spiders were large, dull-black, and squarish, like badly drawn black widow spiders. I had to watch my movements even more closely as I maneuvered around the spiders.

Eventually, I arrived at a wall that was 90 degrees to the fence. I worked my way around the wall and the last spider. Around one corner I encountered three other people, stuck in similar circumstances. The farthest of the three could not go on, frozen with despair or fear. How was I going to get around this new roadblock?

I took the hand of the person closest to me and leaned away from the wall, my feet still on the narrow ledge. Like a pendulum, I swung out and around the other people and came back to the wall beyond the immobile one. This so delighted them all that hope was restored and I woke up.

other voices

This Week’s WTF?!

Read on for three examples of the meaning of ignoranus:

       THOSE WHO fear Rush Limbaugh wants President Obama to fail, need not worry. Obama is succeeding, succeeding at what he always sought to do — destroy this country. Here is your hope and change, Obama voters. I am sure you will be happy to see America in ruins. — A.V.P.

[mjh: Don’t know how AVP failed to work socialist into this nonsense. As much as I hate the views of people like AVP, I don’t think they are out to "destroy this country." That is in spite of all the damage they have actually done.]

       IS IT TIME yet to claim that the Obama administration is being run by a sinister cabal of “neolibs” whose philosophy is “Don’t let a good crisis go to waste; prolong it”? — B.E.

[mjh: Wait 8 years. In the meantime, STFU.]

       I DO NOT listen to Rush Limbaugh. He’s too liberal for me. — T.K.

[mjh: I do not listen to TK — he’s too scary for me.]

"It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people's minds." — Sam Adams