Assad torturing Syrians?

If Bashar al Assad's regime is responsible for this, it deserves to fall. That the Syrian government dropped its bid to join the UN Human Rights Council is telling.

Animal Farm Friday - Dogboarding

My kind of sport!

Animal Farm Friday - Fetch!

Poor doggy wants to fetch, but that stick is going nowhere!

Animal Farm Friday - Dub Parrot

Little birdie likes the dirty beats!

Dropbox's new security policy implies that they lied about privacy from the start - via Boing Boing

I really have little or nothing to hide, and I also have little or no belief that anything I think should be hidden could not be discovered by any truly clever agent with the right tools. But being lied to in this manner by a company I trust with my data is inexcusable. Like Amazon, Paypal, and several other services, I've discovered that life goes on perfectly well without them.

I hope this article is more sensationalist than substantive, but otherwise, it looks like I may be saying farewell to Dropbox very soon.

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?