Animal Farm Friday - Super Cats

In honor of that crazy dream I recently had of being overwhelmed by an infestation of cats - including some tigers, I present you this:

Courage Speaks to Power Against Torture!

This type of activism takes courage (and money, too, apparently).

For what it's worth, I will not support an administration that tortures, condones torture, or engages in other extra-judicial tactics, in the myopically misguided assumption that this sort of abhorrent behavior actually makes us more secure. (hint hint: Mubarak's Egypt).

I hope the Obama administration can be inspired by this kind of courage, and step away from the hideous abuses of executive power administered over the past two decades. But if they want to swim in the muck, they can drown in it too.

It will be a great day when mature adults man the helms of leadership in this country. But I believe that wish has been begged for since before the days of Gilgamesh.

When I say US politicians are bought and paid for, this is what I mean

From AlterNet:

When Gingrich won control of the House, he installed what amounted to a pay-to-play system internally, which forced individual representatives to compete to hold their positions on key committees and leadership posts by raising funds for the party. The effect on the House was far-reaching, because the seniority system was already pretty much dead as a result of reforms in the seventies. The movement to limit the terms of committee chairs also worked in this direction, because it meant that more posts were coming open on a regular basis. What happened was that the entire Congress became money-driven.
Positions on key committees, leadership posts — they were all being sold. The money collected then was poured into election campaigns, especially for so-called “open seats,” in which no incumbents were running and in doubtful races. The vast spending and noisy campaigns heated up the political atmosphere in and out of Washington, as the media transmitted the messages.


The Democrats looked at the Republicans’ pay-to-play system and basically decided to copy it. They did this instead of mobilizing their old mass constituencies. Today, as my paper documents, both parties are essentially posting prices for influential committee slots and leadership posts.


The Democrats’ decision to emulate the Republicans and follow the money shifts the system’s center of gravity to the right, as both parties frantically cultivate investor blocs. The result is the weird political world we live in. Behind the scenes, investor blocs and businesses maneuver for advantages in both parties. The system’s center of gravity moves to the right, checked only by the diminishing influence of unions and other mass political groups that retain some resources and influence on the Democrats. You end up with two “money-driven” parties. The parties are not identical, but they have this in common: They cannot possibly campaign only on appeals to investor blocs, so each party reaches out to select public constituencies to scrape together enough votes to win elections, in a sea of public cynicism.


Polarized politics is money-driven politics and political parties are first of all bank accounts, whatever else they do. More precisely, the current polarization of the system is the direct result of the Republicans’ attempt to roll back the New Deal and the way the Democrats responded. I regret to say I don’t see much chance that it will abate any time soon. The Obama administration’s failure to deliver “real change” has given the Republicans a new lease on life. Less than three years after the financial collapse, which handed the presidency and both houses of Congress to the Democrats on a platter, free market fundamentalism is back. Today Republicans look closer to rolling back the New Deal than they ever have. They are unlikely to see much reason to compromise; especially when the Obama administration, in the middle of trying to raise a billion dollars for the 2012 campaign, declines to press a strong defense of investments in people and regulation, not even financial regulation.

It genuinely seems there was no hope for real change from Obama all along. I beg for someone to tell me how the hell we get out of this mess.

Animal Farm Friday - Corgi Flop

Funny Weiner!

I've been away traveling in Syria and unable to post from there, since they block Blogger. I've got some things to say about that trip, but in the interest of this return post being delightful, I present to you this hilarious video from Rep. Anthony Weiner from NY. Really, this IS funny!

Animal Farm Friday - Thumbs up for our new overlords!

Animal Farm Friday - Pussy Charlie Sheen

More Cats Quoting Charlie Sheen here.

Shared Sacrifices? My White Ass!

Animal Farm Friday - The Necessity of Recycling

I can't believe I never noticed this, but I can see why Disney would reuse entire sequences of animation. I find it interesting, nonetheless.

Animal Farm Friday - Puppy vs Cat

A Message to David H. Kock

David H. Kock, relative to your wealth, the pittance you donate for philanthropic efforts is not enough to undue the pain and suffering caused by your efforts to undermine free speech, nor the damage done by your support of 'astroturf' groups like FreedomWorks. Ultimately, the only one you seek to help and benefit is yourself.

For the record, seeing your name at the front of PBS programs you support is sickening, considering the majority of your political contributions go to a party seeking to undermine these very programs.

I would say 'shame on you', but I seriously doubt you are capable of experiencing shame.

Animal Farm Friday - Slo Mo Kitty #2

Animal Farm Friday - Slo Mo Kitty

8 Reasons Global Capitalism Makes Our Lives Worse

Our way of measuring our worth is so twisted says Helena Norberg-Hodge, that when there is "an oil spill, the GDP goes up; when drinking water is so polluted we have to buy it in bottles, GDP goes up. War, cancer, epidemic illnesses -- all of these involve an exchange of money, so they end up on the positive side of the balance sheet."

But there is hope.

Is This What We've Become?

Animal Farm Friday - Stop! Thief!

I am a US Air Force Intelligence Veteran of the War in Afghanistan and I support Wikileaks.

I am a US Air Force Intelligence veteran of the war in Afghanistan and I support Wikileaks.

[...]

After reading many of the Iraq/Afghan/Cablegate logs I am compelled to inform my fellow citizens that I saw nothing in these logs that could endanger our troops or public servants.

Here’s what I did see: I saw Iraq war logs that painted a very bleak picture of the situation there which doesn’t match up with the “improved security” that’s been reported by the “Defense” Department for years. I saw proof of public officials acting dishonestly and abusing their posts. Overall, I saw an out of control government that is in over its head and does more to endanger the lives of its people than any publishing organization ever could.

I volunteered to protect this country under the impression that my government followed the will of the American People and adhered to the US Constitution.

I'm not a Ron Paul supporter, as the writer of this post appears to be, by I am in line with Paul's anti-war/pro-WikiLeaks stance. I also think it's high time for everyone who has taken the oath to defend the Constitution to take a moment and think about it, to think about whether or not their actions are consistent with the Constitution, and whether or not it's time to take decisive action in defense of the Constitution against those who would malign it by breaking their oaths.

We Americans Have No Principles to Sacrifice

To say that most Americans are without principle can only be accepted as a misstatement insofar as there exists no direct data to support the descriptive "most". But all one needs to do is look at the available evidence from innumerable sources to find support for this statement.

As just a few past examples, how many of us Americans who railed against the support AT&T and Verizon gave to the government to illegally wiretap American citizens still give money to these companies for services?

How many of us railed against Obama after he campaigned vehemently against warrantless wiretapping, only to flip-flop and help block legal action against these companies?

And more recent examples, how many of us Americans actually tried to hold Obama accountable for grievously breaking his promise to not extend the Bush tax cuts to the wealthiest Americans, compared to those who gave him a free pass?

How many Wikileaks supporters actually boycotted Amazon, or PayPal, or Bank of America when these companies shamefully blocked off support to this organization, ostensibly at the behest of the Federal Government, justified with spurious claims that their terms of service were being violated, even though these companies still offer services to pedophiles, and the KKK, and such?

How many of us Americans complain against the mistreatments and physical violations thrust upon us by the TSA, yet refuse to stand up against these abuses, but instead choose not to miss our flights?

How many of us Americans complain loudly against climate change and global warming, yet still drive cars instead of taking public transportation, or walk, or ride bikes?

We live in a country where lies are no longer lies, but are simply misunderstandings, or misrepresentations. We live in a country where we all idly stand by and accept that it is okay to send thousands of our citizens off to fight and die in unjust and illegal wars. We live in a country where the vast majority of us can be bought off with a little chump change in order to pump the greatest amount of our national treasure to the least amount of people, those who need it the least, all while our country's infrastructure continues to crumble. We live in a nation where the principles of most of us only extend as far as our tweets and status updates. We live in a country where convenience and our insatiable desire for entertainment far outweigh our ability to take any sort of stand based on principle.

The sacrifices for principle that most of us Americans are unwilling to make these days are not the kind of sacrifices people once had to make. These days, we won't even sacrifice our iPhones or our iPads or our Droids or our Comcast cable or our ability to buy crap from Amazon and pay for it with PayPal for principle.

This is not like being forced to choose between crossing the picket line versus being able to pay your bills. This is not like being asked to choose between the shame of accepting food stamps versus not being able to feed your families. Most of us Americans today are unable to give up something as small and needless as a magazine subscription to stay in alignment with our principles.

Perhaps this is simply because we Americans have no more principles to sacrifice.

Animal Farm Friday - Jingle Goats

Animal Farm Friday on Monday - TED Talks: Life Lessons from Big Cats

This is incredibly important, an absolute must to watch. Be warned, though, it is as heartwarming as it is heart wrenching.