Mickey Z

Cool Observer

Friday, October 06, 2006

Running with the bulls

Posted by Mickey Z on 10/06 at 04:19 AM

I gotta have some more cow bell!

Well, I guess today’s lesson is that we gotta get out there and start goring us some matador!

30 years ago today, a Cubana Airliner flight was bombed, killing all 73 aboard. Luis Posada Carriles, one of the terrorists wanted by both Cuba and Venezuela for the bombing, received training in the Army and was a CIA asset. Declassified documents show that it was known in the U.S. that Cuban exiles were planning to blow up a Cubana Airlines flight. Posada is now in the U.S., which so far has refused to extradite him to be tried on charges of terrorism. More. (Or here for a version without typos! [I think])

Posted by Jeremy on from Taipei 10/06 at 06:12 AM

Merry Friday, Expendables. Have I missed the induction speech for NaNoWriMo? It’s only 25 days away....

National Novel Writing Month, for the folks new since November 2005 and the lurking public, is a 30-day crazy rush to think up, write, and finish a 50,000-word novel between 11/1 and 11/30...midnight to midnight. Last year the Expendable participants (by and large) used the word “Expendable” in their profile names. I am doing it again this year as “Mudge the Expendable” and hope we’ll get folks here (RMJ? Joe?) who didn’t participate last year to join the fun. It really is, BTW...fun that is.

Off to work.

Posted by Mudge on from Austin, Texas 10/06 at 08:02 AM

I sometimes have difficulty in controlling the urge to charge at a flash of red.

I always root for the bull.

Anyone remember an old cartoon about a young bull (Pedro?) destined for the ring who’s preference for smelling the flowers in the pasture (two daisies would fly up and plug his nostrils at his intense sniffing of their fragrance) gets him in trouble with the big strong fearless fighting bull who’s to guide him into adulthood?

As a small girl that was my absolute favourite...once a year we’d rent it and it’s film projector and a screen from the library and I could watch it over and over. Can’t find anything online (tried just now) about it at all.

Feeling nostalgic now that I had that little time warp.

Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 10/06 at 08:10 AM

MZ, your article “NBA Says No To Leather” reminds me of the book “A Civil Action”, about this town that started having increased cancer rates, attributed to contaminated water. One of the culprits was a leather tannery. It’s a novel, but based on a true story. I can’t attest for its accuracy, but it was a great read.

Posted by Jeremy on from Taipei 10/06 at 08:57 AM

Nice catch Jeremy. Seems the US is a safe haven for Latin American terrorists, as long as they serve corporate interests. Anyone else from south of the border is unwelcome, apparently, and a massive fence is about to go up to prove it.

Posted by Keir on from The Hague (Jackowski election hdqts) 10/06 at 09:10 AM

Hey Ameleo,

I think your talking about the old Disney Cartoon “The Story of Ferdinand” Came out about 1938. Even won an academy award that year for best animated short.

http://www.lyfordtreks.co.nz/ferdinand.html

http://www.bcdb.com/cartoon/6314-Ferdinand_The_Bull.html

In answer to your question Mickey. I think we would end up with a lot of dead bulls and matadors. If the bulls kept it up they would just start breeding dumber bulls or in the great American tradition. “Fix the Fight” hehe

P&L Every-Expendable
Luna

Posted by Luna_C on from the Delta 10/06 at 10:12 AM

Doh!

The Disney cartoon is “Ferdinand the Bull” the Book it’s based on is “The Story of Ferdinand”

Get it right next time,
~luna

Posted by Luna_C on from the Delta 10/06 at 10:15 AM

Ack! Sorry for the multiple postings.

There was a follow up about Robert Anton Wilson that I thought I would share. If there are fellow expendable fans out there that helped out, this one’s for you. If you haven’t read his books locate a copy of “Cosmic Trigger” immediately and give it a whirl, he really is a very intriguing writer.

http://www.boingboing.net/2006/10/05/note_from_robert_ant.html

As always Peace and Love in any order.
Luna

Posted by Luna_C on from the Delta 10/06 at 10:23 AM

Mick, the answer to the question in your post is about a week, except for the fact that people would figure out a way to make sure the bull always loses. They do so already, I am sure...the right drug here, the right cut there. The goal of this culture is total domination over all plants and animals, those that fight back are obliterated.

Posted by JOS on from Chicago 10/06 at 10:36 AM

Good morning everyone…

This morning’s headline at CNN.com, “Air Tests Ease Fear Over Chemical Cloud:”

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/10/06/plant.fire/index.html

I wonder if the people in NC should believe them. I sure as hell wouldn’t.

Posted by JOS on from Chicago 10/06 at 10:44 AM

JOS,
And it won’t stop! “They cannot stop!” “They’re robbing us right this minute. They are powerful because they dominate every aspect of our lives, because they’ve taken control of all the major social, political, economic, and communication systems in the world. These systems were designed to increase their wealth and power by taking both from all the rest of us.”

“But, we are not children, and they are not our parents. We’re not little people and they are not big people. We’re not insignificant and they are not significant. In fact, we do not need them.”

“They are very few and we, here in the US alone, are roughly three hundred million. We don’t need to rush out to tell the few that they are abusing the many. They already know that. We need to stand upright and walk out to tell the many that they are being slowly devoured by the few, for—incredibly, they (the 300 mil.) do not know… We need to tell the truth to each other—for we are the answer.”

Posted by dw on from ohio 10/06 at 10:48 AM

Luna! That’s exactly the story I had in mind - Thank you.

Yes, I too think there’d be little time spent to find a way to ensure the bull lost. I’m sure there already exists a special niche in the pharma industries devoted to such manipulations of natural behaviour; after all humans take shit like that on a daily basis to ‘help’ them.

Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 10/06 at 11:16 AM

Not suprisingly, the chemical plant explosion is being reported somewhat differently outside the US: http://tinyurl.com/o44dz

Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 10/06 at 11:36 AM

Hello Expendables...from a cool, damp NYC. I’m afraid I share your pessimism, re: the success of a potential bull revolt...but as metaphors go, there might be a lesson in there for us bipedal mammals.

Mudge: You jumped the gun on me. I do plan to spread the word about Novel Writing Month soon.

Does anyone realize that DW is quoting from an article in #11? An article, btw, by none other than Expendable Joe from Oregon (http://tinyurl.com/kdvbk)? What’s up with that? Perhaps DW is not who/what he/she seems...?

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/06 at 11:42 AM

Just a second here at lunch-- I’m going to this tomorrow, anyone up for it:
http://www.joespub.com/caltool/index.cfm?fuseaction=detail&performanceID=2359

A Once in a Lifetime opportunity…

Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 10/06 at 11:46 AM

Hmmmm…

Now there’s a mystery I would like to solve. What’s the deal, dw? Do you know our good friend Joe from Oregon? If you do...tell him to get his ass over here.

Posted by JOS on from Chicago 10/06 at 11:48 AM

Why would that be, MZ? I think it is a good article, simple as that.

Posted by dw on from ohio 10/06 at 11:49 AM

I’d love to go, James, but I’m too far away. Man, I am starting to miss NYC.

Posted by JOS on from Chicago 10/06 at 11:51 AM

I’ll Burn down the House for you and try not to get too Crosseyed and Painless thinking of how far away you all are…

Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 10/06 at 11:53 AM

Hello everyone...I am late today because I have been without power again. This time it was a planned outage in order to try to solve the squirrel problem. There were tree crews and electric company crews here since early this morning. I hope that this attempt works but even the guys on the crew said that usually the squirrels win in the end. I think that they’re right.

Too many good comments here today but Jeremy #4 brings up a “Civil Action”, a great book and a very good movie. It was based on the truth. I saw the lawyer interviewed on TV. I think that he is now practicing in New Jersey. Not many lawyers like him around these days.......Also about the usa being a haven for terrorists. Yep, but it is even worse than that. The usa trains them in Georgia. That’s the location of the School for Death Squads.

Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 10/06 at 11:53 AM

Sorry, CatLady, but $25 is a bit much to see fake Talking Heads.

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/06 at 11:54 AM

I’d figured dw was quoting (") gave it away ;)
I just wish he’d linked to the source in the first place so the rest of us could enjoy it.
(and yes, I find it peculiar all ‘round)
Thanks for your detective work Mickey.

Joe suggests something that Youngfox does very often:
"Want to change the world? Tell the truth to the plumber. Begin with the lady who hands you the stamps at the post office. Talk with the check-out people at the grocery store. Chat with the waiter at your favorite café. Speak with the cops who sit down at the next table. Gab for a few minutes with the guy who changes your oil or with the elementary school teacher with whom you’ve been discussing your child’s future. Lean out of your window while stopped at the light and tell the truck driver some truth he’s certain to recall and ponder. “

I usually get flustered with the responses (seeing red - see my first comment of the day) so I tend to be an observer in those scenarios.

It most certainly is the way to go - sometimes it’s a pleasant suprise when the young check out girl says she can’t wait to vote (ok, back to sisyphus there) or even just that they have ANY considered opinion.

And...JOE! Stop by, would ya?!

Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 10/06 at 12:09 PM

I find what goes on here to be very peculiar actually. I think it goes w/o saying that I’m all for support, comrade, cheering each other on and all of that. But I’ve found it difficult to tell what’s going on in here a lot of times. The mood swings a lot, from optimistic to pessimistic. Sometimes there’s a lot of hope and joy and then sometimes a lot of cynicism and bitterness. And sometimes that’s all within a matter of hours. Plus, the language gets very obscure at times, which makes it more difficult to tell what someone might be feeling. I felt very welcomed initially. I’m not tearing your web site down, Mickey Z. The topics discussed on here are excellent. I’m thankful for all of you. But they’re also very heavy topics so I can understand where focus would be a difficult task to master. At any rate, I remain an ardent optimist about the real potential we have at this very moment. That causes a lot of problems, even here. As I’ve said before, once one gets a bad taste in his mouth it’s very hard to remove it. If I am an unsavory taste then I will gladly bow out and there will be no hard feelings on my end.

Posted by dw on from ohio 10/06 at 12:46 PM

DW: stick around, diversity of opinion rules, but try to go a day or two without making self-referential comments.

Posted by Keir on from The Hague (Jackowski election hdqts) 10/06 at 01:04 PM

Oh, Rosemarie: I misread your comment (#20) and thought you said it was a planned power outrage, and I was like “so what’s new?”

Posted by Keir on from The Hague (Jackowski election hdqts) 10/06 at 01:07 PM

dw, two questions for you and statement:

are you saying the topics discussed here are too difficult for us to master therefore we lose focus easily and use obscure language?

How does the subject of you staying or leaving come up on a daily basis when everyone here has told you to stay?

No one can be kicked off here, it is impossible to do without shutting down the comments entirely. No one wants you to leave. Everyone here is human, we have our ups and downs...that’s normal isn;t it?

Posted by JOS on from Chicago 10/06 at 01:32 PM

Keir, why do self-referential or self-righteous comments make people uncomfortable? (I’m not from the Christian Right.) The ability to be this way is my exact point. It’s not that I believe I’m better than all others, ha, ha, ha. This isn’t at all what I mean. It’s much deeper than that.

Posted by dw on from ohio 10/06 at 01:35 PM

Some thoughts for “DW”.
I am somebody who posts here very sporadically. I have been doing so for quite a while.
I have found that a few people respond to what I say and to this day others have and continue to absolutely ignore me.

If you say something of interest to somebody they will respond and perhaps engage your thoughts. If what you say is of no interest to anybody you will get nothing.
If you badger, cajole, flap your arms and yell, “look at me, love me, tell me I am oh so smart” generally somebody might intervene and tell you to “chill out and glide” in a rudimentary or eloquent fashion.

I suggest that you opine with regard to the articles Mickey posts or perhaps introduce your own points of interest, but constantly begging for critique of your words, affirmation of your intelligence or any other unearned attention will cause you to be relegated to the status of buzzing mosquito or nagging crotch itch - a time sucking noise maker.

As far as I can tell from my time here nobody is looking to be psychoanalyzed or is soliciting a review of the format or direction of the comment board.
It is a network of various types of thoughts and interests sharing and occasionally offering didactic “bloviation”, personal experience, op-ed, links of interest, ardent humour, and an open and accepting exchange on an unlimited range of themes.

You could endear yourself to the expendable nation with your wit, your considered perspectives or a panache for the written word but bleating, stabbing and niggling with a palpably needy angst will never work.

Please allow me to re-welcome you to forum in which everybody is a stranger until they aren’t.
Grow it - don’t blow it.

Posted by Youngfox on from freakshow 10/06 at 01:37 PM

JOS, “are you saying the topics discussed here are too difficult for us to master therefore we lose focus easily and use obscure language?” Absolutely not. Not at all. To your second question: there have been a few comments aimed in my direction that I wouldn’t consider as just pulling my chain. I don’t think any of those have come from you.

Posted by dw on from ohio 10/06 at 01:41 PM

Keir...Maybe that is the answer that we have been looking for, A PLANNED POWER OUTRAGE !

dw...it is not that you or anyone else is being ignored. Sometimes I don’t list the names when I say “hello” for fear of missing someone and hurting their feelings. It is the total range of optimism and pessimism---outrage and acceptance, that makes this such a special place. No matter what your thoughts and feelings are on any one day, you will probably find someone here who is feeling the same way. Hang in there. You could not be with a nicer group of kindred spirits. Did you know that for every day that you spend here at Mickey’s, your IQ goes up by 10 points. Honest.

Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 10/06 at 01:56 PM

Youngfox,
Your reaction and opinion is not unexpected. It’s a typical response. I feel the same way about those types. However, I am not that guy. I see something here and I’m commenting on it as I’ve observed. I see this ‘network of various types’ as more than a passing novelty. I’m not trying to win anyone over with my wit nor am I begging for attention. Moreover, I am not trying to absolve myself from any past criticisms or strange and ‘peculiar’ rants. I’ve been of one mind and one perspective from the beginning.

Posted by dw on from ohio 10/06 at 01:58 PM

I don’t know what all the fuss you’re making is about dw - I just know that conversation should sort of just happen, and right now the conversation’s all about what’s happening in your head, or not, but you’re the only one in there.
Since you’ve been so persistent, here’s my 2cents: I think you’re asking us to gaze at your navel with you just a little too often. That said, you are welcome here...feel free to join in the conversation or for that matter to describe the nooks and crannies of your navel to us, just don’t get all bent out of shape if you’re not always personally and specifically responded to by someone or anyone...it happens to all of us.

So...how ‘bout them bullfighters?

As Mickey said earlier I agree there’s a lesson there and you know, sometimes the bulls just go right over the rails and into the crowd. :|

Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 10/06 at 02:24 PM

(There was some simultyping going on there for awhile.)

There’s no fuss Ame. Go back and read what’s been said.

Posted by dw on from ohio 10/06 at 02:30 PM

Thanks anyway DW, I’ll pass.

Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 10/06 at 02:34 PM

Hey Youngfox, I don’t want to get all semantic on you, but I genuinely do not ignore anyone...at least not on purpose. There are days I simply cannot read every comment and offer a reply...but most days, I do read every comment but can only reply to a handful at best. My perception of this situation has been (and remains) that the Expendables certainly have no trouble carrying on without me anyway. Of course, if someone was to feel I have slighted them, I do hope they’d let me know.

Which brings me to…

DW: Your behavior, to me, has crossed over into troll territory. If others wish to engage you in conversation about where you fit in here, there, or anywhere, that’s fine with me. But to echo Empress Amelopsis, “I’ll pass.”

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/06 at 02:47 PM

Hello everyone.

Neat idea to expand on the matador analogy. Referring to what we hit on yesterday, perhaps talking in metaphors and parables is one way that we can communicate things which “shall not be mentioned” across the heavily monitored internet. I mean, that approach turned out pretty well for Jesus!... erh, uh, nevermind.

I don’t really have much else to comment on today, as I really don’t have any earthly clue what’s going on here right now. Hope it all works itself out positively though!

Posted by Banta on from Inner Circle of Hell 10/06 at 02:52 PM

I don’t like bullfighting but I do like Ole Bull: http://tinyurl.com/nl4tz
listen to samples here: http://tinyurl.com/oankz

Posted by TM on from 10/06 at 03:08 PM

Your first link didn’t work, TM...but I get your drift. I don’t like bullfighting, but I like Raging Bull.

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/06 at 03:14 PM

I wonder if they’ll make Expendable Dolls one day too?

Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 10/06 at 03:14 PM

first link didn’t work http://tinyurl.com/lsq4g

Posted by TM on from 10/06 at 03:14 PM

oops - simultyping...was thinking of Banta’s suggestion when I posted #39

Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 10/06 at 03:15 PM

Amelopsis and all concerned:
I had forgotten about Ferdinand and his flaring nostrils. His was definitely a tale vis-à-vis the triumph of ones better angels.
Bullfighting on the whole is a form of “bread and circuses” that sickens me to the core.
It has all the glamour of peepshow booths combined with the basest savagery that man can muster.

Micky:
Damn baby, you’ve given me far more attention than I ever deserved as have many here.
My point in indicating that thought was that it should never be a problem for someone coming to exchange thoughts in a free forum.

And a final word to DW:
“Your reaction and opinion is not unexpected. It’s a typical response.”

Yeah, I’m a pretty typical guy.
It is my blessing AND MY CURSE!

“However, I am not that guy.”
Then I must say you are a brilliant master in the art of deception.

I have observed your attempts to garner attention, not through any modest contributions or interaction but by gratuitous self observation and persistent goading while scrabbling to steer the direction of the place.
I am sorry to have given in.
I just thought I would offer some friendly advice based on my own experiences here and nothing more.
I hope that you do not deign to absorb anymore consideration of the matter of your self- contained universe from me because I have the patience of a machine gun toting ferret on speed.

Unbridled hubris never really holds my attention.
I’m sure others here are far more charitable and tolerant.
Best of luck with your “experiment”.

captcha sez “peace”

Posted by Youngfox on from no 10/06 at 03:15 PM

As I’ve said before, no worries. good luck - Cheers

Posted by dw on from ohio 10/06 at 03:16 PM

Hey, all of this bull fighting talk reminded me of something I had not thought about in years. When I was stationed at Lackland Air Force Base in Texas, one of the places on the restricted list that we were not allowed to visit when we were on “leave” was the bull fights. The thinking was that people in the usa military should not be exposed to any violence.

Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 10/06 at 04:00 PM

RMJ: Huh? Are you kidding? I don’t understand this at all unless you’re cracking a joke?

Posted by Amelopsis on from Canada 10/06 at 04:07 PM

Amelopsis...that is the honest truth. Maybe things are different now but that’s the way it was back then. The ironic part is that none of us saw the contradiction. Our brain washing was very effective...the brain washing that took place in school before we even got to Lackland.

Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 10/06 at 04:27 PM

RMJ that reminds me of Arlo Guthrie being denied in the draft due to being arrested for littering and he was dismayed at being declared not moral enough to go overseas and kill people… Alice’s restaurant.

And yeah, $25 does seem pretty steep. I don’t know, maybe I’ll just stay home and watch Stop Making Sense for the umpteenth time.

Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 10/06 at 04:43 PM

Thanks, James. I did not know that about Arlo.

OHhhhhh my captcha word is “husband”! Do I want one or not??????

Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 10/06 at 05:31 PM

Hello again, everyone.

Empress: My doll already exists.

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 10/06 at 05:39 PM

Hi MZ and all: I jumped the gun, so sorry! But I wanted to lay the groundwork for an idea...my writer’s group here in Austin has decided that we’re opening the group a new front, and I will (subject to MZ’s approval and permission) post that idea in this space a little later on. I am going to be working with our Austin NaNo Municipal Liaison to get some publicity for NaNo here this year, so I’m looking for ways to make the NaNo event more newsworthy...and participants in the Austin contest from, oh well picking locations out of thin air, Canada Korea/Scotland Taiwan Barcelona Den Haag Sweden Queens Vermont et alii, sure wouldn’t hurt.

Anyway, watch this space.

Posted by Mudge on from Austin, Texas 10/06 at 07:28 PM

Great post, Mickey! Too bad that Hitchens has become a spectator of all sorts of unfairness and is now backing GWB (almost) all of the way.

And ‘hi’to all you expendables from an unseasonably warm Daylesford. Have a good weekend!

Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 10/07 at 12:30 AM

I don’t have a doll but Keir Dullea played one in The Thin Red Line.

RMJ (44). . . that US military personnel weren’t allowed to go bullfighting because of violence reminds me of something Michael once mentioned here or at mine: that US WWII pilots weren’t allowed to write “####” on their bombs. . .too obscene!

Hey Helga: is it really called “bulldusting” in Australia?

Posted by Keir on from The Hague (Jackowski election hdqts) 10/07 at 03:00 AM