Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Friday, November 04, 2005
Stealing Veteran's Day and yours truly announces some NYC events
always loved that quote.
its a good idea to have a day like that but if you counter-programmed it against the veterans day it would instantly get a lot of bad press. maybe a different day would be best?
BTW was looking trhu some blogs and came across this. a couple of people thought it was serious.
it is funny...i wonder of anyone has tried to order one…Posted by michael on from scotland 11/04 at 07:39 AMGreat article, Mick. That guy is a true hero, as are RMJ and the rest. I like your idea of celebrating the Anti-War Veterans, instead of a group who are essentialy (some against their will) murderers.
Wow, that quote at the end is pretty hardcore… which means I like it, of course.
Morning all.
Posted by JOS on from The Island of Enchantment 11/04 at 07:41 AMThat is too funny, Michael.
Posted by JOS on from The Island of Enchantment 11/04 at 07:43 AMG’morning, Michael and JOS. I like this line from the Baby Cage folks: “Be sure to ask us about our new electric confinement solutions!” The mentality of someone believing this is true and actually ordering goes a long way in explaining why America tolerates—and even supports—Gitmo.
As for the Diderot quote, Bill Blum sent it to me in an e-mail yesterday...so I just added that to the main post. Don’t want credit if I don’t deserve it.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/04 at 07:47 AMGood mornin’ Michael, JOS, and Mickey.
Mickey. Congratulations with the success of the book and the possibility of the C-span taping. If you can have ANYONE record it, local public access channels will be able to air it. I can do that up here if you just give me the tape. The Feds are trying to mess with the system, but I believe that it will be quite awhile before they destroy public access TV completely. In the meantime, a lot of people up here would appreciate what you have to say.Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/04 at 08:41 AMMornin’ RMJ…
I just saw Mick’s wordcount: 16605 / 50000 words.
Posted by JOS on from The Island of Enchantment 11/04 at 08:44 AMlet us all know if it gets put on the net somewhere. if it isn’t getting put on the net somewhere then use your martial arts training to make sure someone does put it on the net.
no joke - my captcha was ‘england’
at some point will tell some of the jokes we tell about our neighbours to the south.
i bet owen has a few good ones too.
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/04 at 08:56 AMSome interesting reading on-topic with things and people we have been discussing lately:
http://tinyurl.com/cdn9g
http://tinyurl.com/albheand something off-topic (which is totally cool in my book), did you hear about the latest high-value Al-Qaeda target that was arrested recently in Pakistan, turns out our leaders may have been BSing us again, big surprise:
Posted by JOS on from The Island of Enchantment 11/04 at 08:58 AMBeing a veteran I’m totally down with honoring veterans of the anti-war movement. If didn’t read 50AR I would have no idea the Bonus Army is responsible for my G.I. Bill. My friend’s mom will be receiving a copy for festivis this year!
Posted by Rich on from between here and there 11/04 at 09:03 AMWelcome, Rich!
Posted by JOS on from The Island of Enchantment 11/04 at 09:21 AMBelow is something that I just tried to post at Amazon. I don’t think that it worked. I will try to see what I did wrong and try again later.///////
Mickey Z did it again!!! This book is a must read, especially if you have a loved one in the military, or a student in your family. This is the perfect gift for holidays, birthdays, etc. This is the gift that will keep giving. I am suggesting to the students that I know to use 50 AR the next time their teacher gives the assignment to write about the American Revolution. We all can ask, “Which revolution… the one in the text books or one of the many others that are rarely studied in our schools?”. Come to think of it, this is the perfect gift for every teacher on my gift list.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/04 at 09:27 AMCapitalism:
http://www.tomdispatch.com/index.mhtml?pid=33201
Posted by JOS on from The Island of Enchantment 11/04 at 09:33 AMAnother link, and a good one. A recent interview of Dahr Jamail with a quote in the introduction that will go down as one of the great lines of all time concerning our latest invasion and occupation of Iraq from a detainee from Abu Ghraib, “the Americans brought electricity to my ass before they brought it to my house.”:
By the way, I love that picture of RMJ…
Posted by JOS on from The Island of Enchantment 11/04 at 10:01 AM“Man will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest.”
—Denis Diderot, France, 18th centuryOOOO OOOOO OOOOOO! Can I please please please be the one to strangle Bush the 43rd with the entrails of Pat Robertson?!? Can I huh can I can I?!?
JOS, ALL pictures of our blessed RMJ are beautiful and worthy of our love, as is the lady herself. I’m thinking of making some yard signs for Anti-War Veteran’s Day from the old security complany ads my mother peppered her yard with. Knew I kept ‘em for a reason.
Similar topic, we here in dear morally dead Texas have a proposition on our 11/8 election ballots to enshrine in our state constitution a legal prohibition against gay marriage or any condition similar to marriage, and to reject recognition of any such evildoin’s as might be perpetrated elsewhere. Never mind there’s already a law on the books saying the same thing. We must ENSHRINE our hatred of them Godless Commie fags. A local religious wingnut group is passing out cutesy-poo signs that look like they were drawn by kids instead of a major media firm in support of this crassness. I have, being the evil little conservative-hater that I am, been walking around the neighborhood plastering “HATRED IS NOT A FAMILY VALUE” bumper stickers I have left over from a campaign I volunteered for a few years ago riiiiight over the “Vote Yes on 2” part of the signs.
Funny how they come down quick when this is noticed.
heeheehee “himself”
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 11/04 at 10:41 AMMZ, anything I write about 50AR has to have a discalimer that I not only know you but had a professional relationship with you and that makes any praise I heap upon your deserving-if-bald head suspect, and the project itself suspect. Of course if I heaped contumely upon you, and the readers of said contumely knew of the prior relationship, it would give my nastiness real weight. Humans are weird.
I want so much to help in a real way, and I can’t see how I would be effective in doing so! Does anyone have any idea how I can remain true to my ethical sense and give Our Host of the Dimpled Chin a boost? Help, please!
PS: I hate you for having over 15,000 words written. HATE.
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 11/04 at 10:50 AMI forgot to comment on the new bio, Mick...I think it’s dead on accurate and I especially like the first line.
Posted by JOS on from The Island of Enchantment 11/04 at 11:02 AMHello Mudge…
Didn’t Austin recently have some sort or rock music festival? My brothers went and had a great time. Is it really so dead and dear?
Posted by JOS on from the happiest place on earth on 11/04 at 11:06 AMHi Rich....Mudge, maybe because you have a professional relationship with “Dimples”, your evaluation would be even more valid.
Here is another quote that I like. I bet no one could say who said this, “...citizens must choose to hold their governments accountable...” Those words, which were ignored by the media, were spoken by GW Bush, 2/21/05,Brussels, Belgium. We should follow the advice of our president!Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/04 at 11:12 AMOwen, I’m pretty grim-jawed about JOS, too; simply not ready to hate him yet because I haven’t read his stuff. I know how good MZ’s stuff is and when I think of how fast he creates it...! I labor and sweat and scream in agony to create dreck, and not much of it. THis is what chaps my lily-white one.
Ah me...I must visit with my dogs, I need something to “feed” my ego.
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 11/04 at 11:13 AMThat brings up the question...are we sharing these 50,000 word novels with eachother when they are finished? 50,000 seems like such an excessively high number, don’t it?
By the way, I’ve been writing notes on this “novel” for years, which helps alot with the word count. You will not be seeing similar word count explosions from me for a while.
Posted by JOS on from the happiest place on earth on 11/04 at 11:21 AMJOS, I will provisionally keep speaking to you despite your NaNo word count...yeah, there are music festivals here often. I’m not that interested in music to begin with, and music whose volume I can’t personally control is excruciating to me. Austin City Limits is the name of a PBS show that’s been goin’ on for 30 years now, featuring major national talens (Tracy Chapman, Phish, Willie Nelson) and bizarre and/or local bands. A few years ago the dimwits who run the show thought to make a live festival out of it. Whoopee for those who like it.
Completely off the main topic...when I’ve been to Peru, I was unable to get any lunch or dinner served to me without someone SINGING TO ME!! They would delay serving the meal, never a good idea when I’m around, until someone somewhere could be found with an instrument, who would perforce be dragged before even a crowd of ONE HUNGRY IRKED UGLY MURRICAN to sing at him while he ate. I learned on my first trip there to take a tranq before eating lunch or dinner or I would hurl plates and curse everyone around me in bad Spanish and good English.
I believe this is the major reason I don’t move to Peru.
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 11/04 at 11:24 AMNo wonder “they” call you the Curmudgeon.
Posted by JOS on from the happiest place on earth on 11/04 at 11:28 AMRMJ, I wish it worked that way...but praise from friends is akin to being fluffed in the book world. Mainstream consumers report to the ABA (American Booksellers’ Association) in polls they take that excessive use of blurbs by the author’s friends has made them suspect the whole practice of blurbing. It’s always been harder to convince folks to believe praise than blame, in general, but the cynical manipulations of Murdoch and his icky ilk have truly fouled the national consciousness now.
Maybe it’s time to overdose on Tylenol. They can’t fix that one. >sigh<
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 11/04 at 11:42 AMHello again everyone. I sure hope you don’t expect me to respond to everything you “covered” above. I will say THANKS to anyone who buys the book or helps with PR...no gesture or effort is too little. RMJ: If I make it onto C-Span (we won’t know till last minute), I will surely get you a tape or DVD.
As for my novel, I will never keep up this pace and most of you will pass me soon. JOS: Good question. Personally, I’d love to read all the Expendable novels but I’d need a year to do it.
Lastly, good to see Dubya take some licks: http://tinyurl.com/dla7m.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/04 at 11:44 AMhello rich (fresh fish fresh fish - only kidding)
and all elsegoing to get started on the nano thing on monday. have a wee plan now but have guests over the weekend so cleaning furiously at the moment (first the flat, then me!)
a joke… don’t get the wrong idea about this - i am a non religious person…
An english dies and goes to heaven (could actually juststop it there haha) and he goes to get the customary interview by st peter. he is wearing a top with ‘england’ written on it. st peter says
“i don’t fancy your chances of getting in with that on”
the english guy says
“but i am a nice guy. i worked hard for my wife and kids and we had a good home and there was a telethon on last week and i gave 100 pounds - i am a nice guy!”
st peters eyes him up for a moment and says
“wel-l-l-l, i will go and have a word with the boss”
he enters the gate and comes back out twenty minutes later and says“right, theres your 100 pound back. now #### off!”
p.s. - mudge (or anyone else) have you read the ragged trousered philanthropists?
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/04 at 11:46 AMWelcome, Rich. If I remember correctly, you’ve posted here before.
Nice joke, Michael. Have you ever heard Bill Hicks’ routine about religion?
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/04 at 11:50 AMIndeed, JOS, I have earned every syllable of that epithet of unknown etymology. I am curmudgeonly.
As to NaNovels, I’ll show you mine if you show me yours. MZ has my email, but I don’t mind sharing in general:
“Perhaps” you’ll even like it. One doesn’t know until one tries, eh what?
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 11/04 at 11:53 AMthe bit with the cross and JFK etc. yeah - funny.
the guests i mentioned are english!
will have to do a blog at some point explaining the friendly not so friendly scotland england thang (most of braveheart is not true).
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/04 at 11:55 AMMichael, I haven’t read the Ragged Trousered Philanthropists becasue I was unaware of their existence until this good moment. I shall investigate forthwith.
I’m off to grocery shop now that I have my Food Stamps. “Later”
Posted by Mudge on from Dear, dead Austin 11/04 at 11:58 AM‘The ragged trousered philanthropists” by robert tressel. 1911. its stunning.
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/04 at 12:00 PMJOS -RE: above and your comment. its a book - and a big fat one at that
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/04 at 01:31 PMthanks Michael. We’re talking about Michael’s latest post over at thumpingthetub.blogspot.com
Mudge, I am all for sharing when we’re done, my email is
By the way, I don’t think this quote I posted earlier today got the attention it deserved:
“the Americans brought electricity to my ass before they brought it to my house.”
- former Abu Ghraib prisoner
I think he (or she) said it all about Iraq AND somehow manages to keep a sense of humor.
Posted by JOS on from mi orgullo, Puerto Rico 11/04 at 01:56 PMthumpingthetub.blogspot.com
I’m not sure why that didn’t automatically post as a link…
Posted by JOS on from mi orgullo, Puerto Rico 11/04 at 01:58 PMbrilliant quote
u need the http.. btw
Posted by michael on from scotland 11/04 at 02:11 PMhttp://thumpingthetub.blogspot.com
I’m just a link machine today...here’s one that I thought was interesting because it shows dissent on a primetime television show:
Posted by JOS on from mi orgullo, Puerto Rico 11/04 at 02:17 PMA fact that is not widely known is that the Vietnam War came to an end, in the end(!), because the US troops refused to out on missions especially in the northof the country i.e. they mutinied.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this figures largely in the thinking to drop the idea of a conscript army. This being the case, it would also explain the apparent reluctance of the gummint to bring back the draft.
Isn’t it interesting that Hugh Thompson’s heroism isn’t widely known?The Diderot quote reminds me of a similar one by Voltaire.
What is it about Frenchmen and anarchism?Cheers,
JimPosted by Jim on from 11/04 at 03:16 PMJOS...the link was to Boston Legal. That is the only program that can grab my attention away from C-span. Every episode that I have seen deals with a timely left wing issue and they usually present it with a lot of humor.
Mudge, maybe a little fluff would improve the book world???Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/04 at 03:26 PMHi everybody - I’ll not go through the list, as I’m always paranoid about forgetting to mention someone…
What a great bunch of people here at this place, MickeyZ! What a wonderful place in which to pause for a while. ( And the coffee is good and strong, and the smoking rules are suitably lax! )I’ve read that Austin has more live music than anywhere in the US, including NYC and LA… It’s reputed ( or was reputed ) to be one of the world’s great music centers…
JOS - I’m reluctant to admit this, but my wife and I sometimes watch Boston Legal. We watch because of James Spader’s character. He’s created a guy who is completely amoral; a weird, selfish, incredibly bright and agile and sure-footed outsider who is willing to fight anyone at any time. I’m just fascinated by the character.
Many of the shows, of course, are a complete waste of time, just trash, which is another reason we watch - to sit down together and veg out with some popcorn or some ritz crackers, and forget everything else…
However, like the show you’ve linked to, some are amazing. Last fall, they did a show about Spader going to Texas to argue against the scheduled execution of a very poor, “not-quite-retarded” black guy who had been convicted of murder. (My wife tells me there was a very similar, real life case, in Texas.) The guy was almost certainly completely innocent, and the court almost certainly knew it. James Spader told them so, in no uncertain terms, and just blasted them. Of course, they executed him, anyway.
That episode was nothing less than a direct attack at the Texas Legal System, pleasantly disguised as entertainment. The show just disappeared, then, until a few weeks ago… Which I thought was interesting.
Anyway, I hope I’ll be forgiven for watching such drivel.Michael, your tub-thumpings are consistently superb. You and Mickey should co-author a non-fiction piece of some sort. You two could create an incredibly powerful, incredibly important book. ( Hey, it can be done. Look at Cockburn and St. Clair… Chomsky & Herman, etc...)
Mudge, I shall soon stand up here in the garage and sing you a song. BTW - hatred certainly WAS a family value in Schenectady, NY, in the 1950’s, and I’m certain it’s an important part of some sections of the community, to this day.
Mickey, I very much enjoyed your piece about Veteran’s Day. I read it a couple days ago, but I’ve been a bit more disoriented that usual, of late…
Anyway, great piece. Thanks.Rosemarie - a hug and a salute from all of us!
Posted by joe on from wherever YOU are 11/04 at 03:34 PMRMJ, I’ll have to check that show out. James Spader always does interesting work, anyone seen The Secretary?
Jim, it certainly is interesting that Hugh Thompson’s bravery wasn’t widely publicized, interesting but not surprising, sadly enough. The mutiny by troops in Viet Nam is something I haven’t heard that much about, good for them. I am sure there are plenty of AWOL troops right now that we don’t hear much about either.
Posted by JOS on from mi orgullo, Puerto Rico 11/04 at 03:45 PMThere you are Joe…
Like I said, Spader always does interesting work and the character you describe from Boston Legal sounds a lot like the one he played in Secretary...perhaps without all the S&M though.
Posted by JOS on from mi orgullo, Puerto Rico 11/04 at 03:49 PMGreat idea Mickey - let’s honour veterans of the anti-war movement on Veteran’s Day, and not only in the US!
And please give us the link to the relevant C-span program if they decide to film one of your book events.
A happy weekend to you, Mickey, and all you MZ’ers! It will be a warm one in Daylesford, Australia - around 86F.Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 11/04 at 04:26 PMThanks Joe, Hugs and salutes to all of you. I agree with what Joe says about the James Spader character except for one thing. His character seems very moral, not amoral, to me. He is always on the side of the underdog. I would describe the character as being very sexually obsessed and very compassionate. Passionate and compassionate and always marching to a different drummer.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/04 at 04:45 PMHi JOS & Jim and Helga -
Helga, are you being mean to us?
JOS doesn’t do that, though he could.
At least throw in a couple of cloudy, chilly, rainy days, so we can feel better…JOS - haven’t seen it, but I’ll check with Suzanne about renting it. ( She has vast veto powers! ) Spader is an amazing guy. He’s really come into his own, in recent years - now that he’s no longer just a “pretty boy.”
Jim - thanks for your post.
I read once that the revolts within the military were the single most important impetus for ending the war, far more so than the street demonstrations going on all over the country.I’ve known a lot of guys who were in the Nam. There were little revolts all along. There are probably similar revolts, even now, in Iraq. When people are facing death, lots of things change, and the “chain of command,” becomes a lot less significant and immediately meaningful.
My friend Legs wrote me from Chu Lai, in 1967, and told me that, when the officers were demanding that the men do something insanely dangerous, they’d all argue, and sometimes the regular grunts would point their rifles at the lieutenants and offer to “settle this dispute, right now...” Oftentimes, he said, the officers backed down, and the incidents were never discussed when they got back to base.Posted by joe on from coming to a theater near you! 11/04 at 05:01 PMJoe,
I would NEVER be mean to you. I don’t like heat btw - my ideal temperature is somewhere around the 76F mark (25 Celsius).
And like JOS, I like the photo of RMJ - and the news about ‘the high-value Al-Qaeda target that was arrested recently in Pakistan’ who turns out to be not high-value at all does not surprise me one bit!Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 11/04 at 05:50 PMAnd Mickey, can you send me a DVD of your
book appearance as well if one comes out? I’d pay for it of course ..Mudge, I LOVE ‘Hatred is not a Family Value’!
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 11/04 at 06:02 PMHello Gang. Anyone have trouble logging on here? I did.
Anyway, I saw “Jarhead” today and it fits in nicely with the discussion. The insanity of war and and all that. I’ll post more about this soon.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/04 at 06:51 PMHi Mickey, everything opens fine, here. Usually when the web bugs me, it finally traces back to my computer. A restart or two usually clears everything up. Tho, last week I posted here, and a page came up telling me the post was ! rejected: “You must wait 30 seconds between posts!” (It had been an hour or more, and it did it again, after 2 restarts...)
Jarhead looks good to me, Mickey. I’ve been wondering about it. Will look forward to your post.
My son just gave me a short story he printed out for me, while at school:
Chickamauga
- by Ambrose BierceSo far, an astonishing anti-war ( Civil War ) tale. About 7 pages long, for those of you pressed for time…
Hi Rosemarie - Yes, you’re right. Spader seems to be developing quite a moral compass… He was introduced to us, though, as a lawyer who’d just been fired for fraud and legal / ethical infractions too numerous to list. Of course, when confronted with that list, and asked if he had in fact committed those crimes, Spader looked calm and happy and stated bluntly: “Yes!”
I don’t like heavy heat very much, either, Helga, though it would be a joy to feel some sunshine on my face right now. It’s been dark, with quite heavy rain, for several days without letup.
I’ll see you out on the lawn in a few minutes…Posted by joe on from in the sun, near Helga's house 11/04 at 08:36 PMI’ve never seen “Boston Legal,” so I can’t add anything on that. As for “Jarhead,” it’s a depressing flick...perhaps a bit too long. The message is powerful but may be “way” too subtle for all audiences. Still, with “Lord of War,” “Good Night, and Good Luck,” and “Jarhead,” Hollywood’s on a roll.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/04 at 08:58 PMmy wife and I went to try and see Jarhead tonight but were late and it was sold out. It’s based on a book, right? There’s another Iraqi vet named Colby Buzzel that Vonnegut seems to really like, he just had an article in Vanity Fair in which he speaks of the joys of blasting a Mosque, but in the end has an interesting conversation with an Army official who tries to threaten him into re-upping for another tour, but he refuses. He had a blog while he was in Mosul on the front lines that I followed for a while. He’s a big Bukowski fan. He’s got a book out now, which I haven’t read, but his website is cbftw.blogspot.com (the ftw stands for #### the war).
Posted by JOS on from Calle Colón 11/04 at 09:37 PMJOS - During the Vietnam War, “FTW” could be seen almost everywhere. It was the graffiti of choice…
Here’s a happy bedtime tale for you guyz back east…
There’s a guy in Britain being prosecuted for refusing to go back to Iraq. He’s an air-force medical officer who has 2 doctorates and has served 2 tours, one in Afghanistan and one in Iraq. He’s been decorated. His name is Kendall-Smith ( That’s his last name… Those British, they have such snappy surnames. )Anyway, he’s considered a serious dude and a serious patriot, and they don’t want to tangle with him, but they MUST tangle with him, so they’re in a bit of trouble. He’s argued that the war is illegal - obviously, provably illegal, and that his Royal Air Force Law Manual compels him to refuse all illegal orders.
It looks like he’s struck a nerve around “the island.” Related to this case, a very powerful British Admiral just commented that he does not think the British Military hot-shots could avoid war crimes charges, if someone were to bring them. He added that the brass would immediately place every ounce of blame with Blair and the big dogs in the government....
Posted by joe on from none known 11/04 at 10:14 PMThanks, Joe.
We “must” hope that more and more soldiers (and family members like Cindy Sheehan) wake up to the realities about this war...and all wars. Wasn’t there a movie with a title like “What if they had a war and no one showed up”?
G’night, all. I’ve got a long, wacky story in store tomorrow.
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/04 at 10:24 PMYou’re welcome, Mickey, and good night to you…
Mudge & Jim -
I just peeked at last night’s ramblings to see what I might have missed. Many sincere thanks to both of you for your comments about the essay…
I’ve received a couple dozen letters from all over the place. Some of the people call me “Sir.”Jeez.
Posted by joe on from right here, behind my eyes... 11/05 at 12:40 AMYou’re very welcome, Sir! I look forward to you next literary foray. You’re good!
Cheers, JimPosted by Jim on from 11/05 at 05:10 AM
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