Mickey Z
Cool Observer
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Meet the new boss...
Sorry just stopping by quickly. Very pressed on time this week. Spotted two great cartoons today…
...and I thought MZ and Jeremy in particular would dig this.
Posted by Keir on from The Hague (Jackowski election hdqts) 11/14 at 07:18 AMit´s my birthday on the 28th Mickey, thanks for remembering. My girlfriend is going to bring me to watch Mike Patton yowl and grunt with John Zorn in a local theatre - I guess she must really like me.
Posted by owen on from schmarcelona 11/14 at 08:02 AMMorning everyone,
If we’re sharing cartoons, here’s one that made me laugh ( a despairing laugh to be sure, but still...)Posted by Mew on from london 11/14 at 08:34 AMHello Expendables. It’s overcast but kinda warm for November in NYC.
I didn’t get the “cartoon day” memo but I do enjoy the posts so far. And Owen...we all really like you.
Captcha sez: done
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/14 at 10:52 AMThis is so goddamned wrong, don’t know where to start:
http://animalrights.meetup.com/7/boards/view/viewthread?thread=2409191
Posted by James on from Hell's Kitchen 11/14 at 01:39 PMBe careful, Cat Lady. With that new law on its way, you might get in trouble just for opposing it.
More:
http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Oct06/Hall31.htmCaptcha knows...it sez: bad
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/14 at 02:02 PMAnd I am also stopping by, Mickey! So you think that the new boss won’t be different at all from the old boss? There’s a depressing thought although I suspect you might be right - unfortunately.
And ‘hi’ to Keir, Owen, Meir and James from a slightly wet Daylesford - we really need the rain, though, and there might not be enough.
Auf Wiederemailen ..
Posted by Helga Fremlin on from Daylesford, Australia 11/14 at 04:15 PMGood rainy afternoon to one & all.
Mickey, I know you feel the Republican & Democratic parties are more or less the same, but don’t you feel just a wee bit more optimistic since the mid-terms?
Posted by Canadian Observer on from 11/14 at 04:15 PMHi All...Canadian Observer, I’m sorry to report that I am less optimistic because the dissent is now diminished. Is ANYONE calling for the immediate withdrawal of all troops from all foreign bases? The dems cannot even call for Impeachment because the Congress is complicit. Bush has no planes, bombs, or guns until the Congress authorizes them. Bush never pulls the trigger or drops the bombs. We, the ordinary people, are complicit because we give the parades to honor those who do pull the triggers and drop the bombs and that encourages others, to join in the killing.
Keir and Mew...those cartoons are amazing.
Owen...HAPPY BIRTHDAY, a little early.
Mickey, James and Helga...HI....Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/14 at 04:46 PMHello Helga, CO, and RMJ.
CO: I concur with RMJ: “I am less optimistic because the dissent is now diminished.”
Posted by Mickey Z. on from Astoria 11/14 at 04:58 PMSorry Canadian Observer.I did not really mean to be so grumpy. There is some good news but it has nothing to do with the election. Germany, and maybe soon Italy and Spain, will be bringing war crimes charges. I have said here before that change will have to come from outside the usa. The usa is saturated with too much misinformation. That will keep the numbers of those who want change to be so low as to be ineffective.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/14 at 05:04 PMRMJ
Yes, I heard that Germany might bring charges against Rumsfeld. How exactly does that work?
Can he refuse to participate?Posted by Canadian Observer on from 11/14 at 06:28 PMIt will be a facinating case. I am not up on all of the details but I believe that one prime witness for the prosecution will be Gen. Karpinski. Remember her? She was the officer in charge of the prisons in Iraq. The usa did not join the ICC because it was well known that war crimes were being committed. That does not really give the usa immunity from prosecution because in International Law there is a Principal of Universal Jurisdiction. That means that some crimes are so horrendous that they can be prosecuted by any nation that wants to. I have been waiting for this. It is the one light at the end of the very dark tunnel. A long time ago, I predicted “encirclement”... other nations would join together in opposition to the usa, in trade, etc. The prosecution of usa leading war criminals is just one phase of the plan. Finally, I am smiling.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/14 at 06:50 PMRMJ has hit the nail on the head and I’ve been saying the same thing for a few years: the rest of the world will have to teach the US lessons, because it is too fogged-in here.
War crimes charges from Europe are good, but the real kickoff is when the US runs out of options for propping up the dollar which, when one digs deeply enough, is where the madness of the last 10 years begins. [We have exported our economy amidst a huge orgy of speculaton, then progressed to foreign invasions and domestic crackdowns to run interference with political reality. 9/11 was an enabler for this process of distraction, blown insanely out of proportion.]
China, whose massive economy can easily exist without US participation, will likely lead the way on this. When the economic wheels come off, which could happen in 48 hours or 4-5 years, watch for John Q. Patriot to react like a cult member roused from a long stint in the dark.
Canadian Observer, for a better look at the social processes happening in the US, William Shirer’s “The Rise And Fall Of The Third Reich” remains the benchmark work for fascist/corporate takeover of a Western government.
Cheers!
Zen ProlePosted by Zenprole on from Urth 11/14 at 06:51 PMForgot to say....no I don’t think that Rumsfeld will participate(I hope I’m wrong here). It might be sort of like the Kissinger situation, where all of our war criminals have to stay in the usa in order to avoid arrest.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/14 at 06:58 PMZenProle....we were symultyping. We just might have Nuremberg replayed in our lifetime, and to think that it could be happening in Germany!!!
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/14 at 07:04 PMRMJ- ‘symultyping’? I can almost guess at what this means, but could you enlighten me?
Re: Nuremburg: that happened in the occupied ruins of the leading criminal state of the time. Today, Washington has enough poverty but I think Detroit would be a more fitting place (though emptying the Supreme Court and using that for trials is a close 2nd).
Other: Netflix has Channel 4’s “The Road To Guantanamo,” a powerful docudrama about four young men subjected to torture and other crimes.
Posted by Zenprole on from Urth 11/14 at 07:18 PMZenprole...your comment reminded me of a question that I was asked during the campaign. I was asked about what to do with the nuclear waste from the Vermont Yankee Power plant. I said that it, along with the waste from other plants, should be stored in that center portion of the Pentagon....not serious, I know that there are many disadvantaged people who live in that area, but it does a heart good to think about the Pentagon glowing in the dark.
Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/14 at 07:40 PMRMJ
I like your answer re #13. But I would add that it should be no surprise that Germany, and maybe soon Italy and Spain will be bringing war time charges because those countries plus Belgium are currently the only ones in which this particular version of the principle is upheld in national legislation.
Posted by Fiona on from san diego 11/14 at 07:44 PMFiona...you make an important point, that some nations have provisions in their own law for the prosecution under the principle of Universal Jurisdiction. But this is from the Amnesty International site....
“....Since the Second World War, more than a dozen states have conducted investigations, commenced prosecutions and completed trials based on universal jurisdiction for the crimes or arrested people with a view to extraditing the persons to a state that will prosecute. These states include: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Israel, Mexico, Netherlands, Senegal, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States.....”Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 11/14 at 08:16 PMThanks, Zenprole, Fiona, RMJ, for the background info.
Unfortunately, with our current Conservative government being pro-military, I doubt very much if Harper will join the other countries in implementing the Principal of Universal Jurisdiction.
Posted by Canadian Observer on from 11/14 at 08:42 PM
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