Mickey Z

Cool Observer

Friday, April 06, 2007

U.S. vs. Iran...a Marxist perspective

Posted by Mickey Z on 04/06 at 07:31 AM

Good morning Mickey,
Hope all is going well.
Sending good thoughts for your Mom and family on the healing journey.

canada vs usa
http://tinyurl.com/2ext8v

Posted by frances on from bc 04/06 at 08:40 AM

what if Iran had invaded Mexico?
Noam Chomsky puts the Iran crisis in context
http://tinyurl.com/2zhvwg

Posted by frances on from bc 04/06 at 09:03 AM

Nobody calls this Dick a liar, not even the Pentagon:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17975678/

Posted by JOS on from Oak Park 04/06 at 09:12 AM

Hello all,

I was so inspired by Mickey’s Daily-Kos-interventions that I’ve recently started posting there myself. My posts are, admittedly, not as provocative as Z’s, but I think it’s important that radicals expand their range of political conversation to include those outside of their own radicalized peer group.

Today I posted a short piece on War Tax Resistance in connection with the latest New Yorker cover.

Cheers.

Posted by jason on from Brooklyn, NY 04/06 at 09:59 AM

Wars have been about economics and control...why are they about economics and control? Because people of abusive authority in patriarchal, hierarchical systems are unevolved and barbaric! Behavior is predatory and parasitic. It’s really not any more complicated than that. The journalist was asked the question...is Israel the 53rd state or is Israel the capital of the U.S.?

The answer simply..."the capital” There’s 4 years of bullshit in 1 paragraph.

Posted by Joe of Maine on from 04/06 at 10:12 AM

since everyone is chipping in with articles today here is another one…

http://tinyurl.com/3yyzbz

Posted by michael on from scotland 04/06 at 10:27 AM

nice article, michael. congrats on its publication!

Posted by JOS on from Oak Park 04/06 at 10:43 AM

my mind is going numb thinking about all the killing and torturing for profit
its making me sick
what about the children, orphans
the ones without hands?
a grandmothers lifes work and promise blown
to shreds, tattered in the rubble of destruction.
working for all those decades to make something out of the soil,
something out of her own seed, and for what?
broken promises and lies
this is not a reality i want to invest in.
i dont want any part of it
i want it to stop.

Posted by frances on from bc 04/06 at 10:59 AM

Me too Frances......

Posted by joe of maine on from 04/06 at 11:08 AM

thanks jos

Posted by michael on from scotland 04/06 at 11:16 AM

For Michael from Scotland...Michael, if I decide to exile from the u.s....are you in a position to adopt me?

I have no money, however I do have many bad habits! Thanks, Joe

Posted by Joe of Maine on from 04/06 at 12:59 PM

i am sure i could help you joe. why? where you considering it? and, if so, why were you considering it?!! its very nice over here when the sun shines…

also, i just managed to get hold of an interview bill hicks did on scottish radio years ago and at the end the conversation is like this…

Hicks; “ I’m going home to the desert because i like it there because there are no people.”

laughter…

interviewer (laughing) “are we bugging you bill? we’re people”

Hicks: “you’r e not people you’re disc jockeys”

fin

Posted by michael on from scotland 04/06 at 01:55 PM

Thank you Michael...you ask good questions...as much as I’d like to take a break from certain characteristics, here in the states...ultimately, I dont’ know how much is really different and of real value...metaphysically, consciously...it’s mostly more superficial reasons...initially...certainly a diversion...and I appreciate your very kind response perhaps we should talk more???...joe

Posted by joe of Maine on from 04/06 at 02:43 PM

Mickey...I am sending good vibes to you and your family. Hugs to your Mom for being a great role model for all of us who might someday be fighting the same battle.

Hi Joe, JOS, frances, Jason, and Michael.

Jason...I often think about the responsibility that we all have every time we pay taxes, or just buy a pair of socks or loaf of bread. Participating in the economy in any way supports the war machine. We are all complicit. It is something that I think about every day. It makes me feel like I need to do something to make amends for all of the civilian deaths. I feel very angry, very helpless, and very hopeless. Children are dying so that the arms dealers can be made richer. You can’t get more evil than that. Capitalism thrives on the slaughter of innocent people.

Posted by RMJ on from Churchill 4 Prez Hdqts 04/06 at 03:10 PM

smoking is good for you!

i just stuck my head out the window to have a cigarette and saw the most amazing shooting star i have ever seen in my life. it was nuts - so big i was honestly waiting for the explosion.

spirits instantly uplifted

i am all smiles now!

Posted by michael on from scotland 04/06 at 03:46 PM

Hello Expendables...from a sunny, warm, but not humid Texas. Thanks for all the great comments, links, warm wishes, etc. Welcome, Jason. I like your link and hope you’ll join in here on a regular basis.

Here’s to shooting stars for all of us…

Posted by Mickey Z. on from Dubya Land 04/06 at 06:47 PM

good wishes to the family

Posted by michael on from scotland 04/06 at 07:08 PM

sorry dudes.

scottish elections coming up soon, its been so long it has to be our time soon. i know as well as anyone that the worldwide system we live in usually makes elections meaningless but there is a chance we could get independence ahead of schedule.

Scotland has always been kept tied to England through a combination of force, bribery and propaganda. its going to happen soon. maybe not this time - but it could be, maybe not the next time - but it should be -maybe not the time after that but it probably will be. in other words, 12 years.

not soon enough. don’t believe what the bbc tell you about public opinion.
we want it bad.

only a few bastards sold out in the first place - there was a riot in every town.

please support our independence movement the way you supported the irish…

original scots is first english translation after..

Fareweel tae a’ oor Scottish fame
Fareweel oor ancient glory
Fareweel even tae oor Scottish name
Sae famed in martial story
Now Sark rins ower the Solway sands
And Tweed rins tae the Ocean.
To mark whaur Englands province stands
Sic a parcel of rogues in a nation

Whit force or guile could not subdue
Through many warlike ages
Is wrought now by a coward few
For hireling traitors wages
The English steel we could disdain
Secure in valours station.
But English gold has been our bane
Sic a parcel of rogues in a nation.

I would, ere I had seen the day
When treason thus could sell us
My auld grey heid had lain in clay
Wi’ Bruce and loyal Wallace
But pith and power ‘till my last hour
I’ll mak this declaration.
We are bought and sold for English gold
Sic a parcel of rogues in a nation

TRANSLATION..

Farewell to all our Scottish fame
Farewell our ancient glory
Fareweel even to our Scottish name
So famed in martial story
Now Sark runs to the Solway sands
And Tweed runs to the Ocean.
To mark where Englands province stands
Sush a parcel of rogues in a nation

What force or guile could not subdue
Through many warlike ages
Is wrought now by a coward few
For hireling traitors wages
The English steel we could disdain
Secure in valours station.
But English gold has been our bane
such a parcel of rogues in a nation.

I would, ere I had seen the day
When treason thus could sell us
My old grey head had lain in clay
With Bruce and loyal Wallace
But pith and power ‘till my last hour
I’ll make this declaration.
We were bought and sold for English gold
Such a parcel of rogues in a nation

Posted by michael on from scotland 04/06 at 07:43 PM

my post didnt work there

all i was saying was that i am not asking you to support terrorist organisations cos its not like that here but it is hard fight when you are outnumbered ten to one and the propaganda arm of the english state works strongly.

support us whichever way you can
http://tinyurl.com/25jknv

Posted by michael on from scotland 04/06 at 08:01 PM

Michael.

I’m English, from Liverpool. I always found the debates in the press about Scottish independence strange. I mean, what right do English politicians and elite journalists have to give any opinion about it at all.

For me the bottom line is, if any group of people in the world want to govern themselves, then they can and no one should stop them.

A student of mine here tried to bait me on the Taiwan issue once. She tried to rebut my open attitude to it by asking what I’d do if Newcastle wanted to break away from the UK and be independent. She was utterly confused and silenced when I said “Sure, I’d let them and who am I to let them or not anyway”.

Posted by Andy on from Shanghai 04/06 at 08:20 PM

andy, i don’t know if this would horrify or you not but that is the same argument peter mandelson made.

not buying it, sorry. Scotland has always been kept tied to England through a combination of force, bribery and propaganda.

all of us know that, its just that a few pussies/assholes/cowards/quislings… whatever you prefer… are prepared to put up with it.

most of them live in edinburgh.

Posted by michael on from scotland 04/06 at 08:27 PM

Back from Hiroshima …

Today, nothing is as nauseating in Japan as the postmodern US conquistador, or pomocon, lording it in the main street, especially those who learn Japanese to teach the American “values.”

With equal if not exceeding zeal as the missionaries who exported Christianity, pomocons export American “democracy” completing third conquest of Japan.

Pomocons come in three types:

The “A” group: People from different walks of life who all end up teaching English, despite having no training, or academic background. For every ten carpenters, plumbers, failed DJs… there is probably just one qualified gaijin teaching English.

The “B” group: Mainly the ex-military and high school dropouts, who become English teachers on arrival.

The “C” group: A more “sophisticated” hodgepodge of “professionals” like the Temple University alumni, or anyone with a paper degree.

Stirred on by the starry-eyed high school girls, the pomocon sees himself as savior to the enslaved Japanese women who are crying out for help begging to be rescued.

Japanese women kowtow to HIM because only HE in his “shining armor”—printed T-shirt displaying vulgar sexual innuendos—can liberate them female salves. He sees in himself the exceptional qualities needed for releasing them from their shackles. Historian Howard Zinn calls this attitude “American exceptionalism,” the belief that Americans are superior to everyone else!

On the surface, the pomocon marriage to his Japanese “subject” is comparable with the “nobleman” who breaks off with traditions and over “knocks up” the “serf’s daughter.” The roots of the problem, however, run much deeper. The union carries an undertone of egoistic fulfillment satisfied through symbolic sexual aggression bordering on sadistic violence. It seeks total submission: “We incinerated Japan before punching the last breath out of you with our atom bombs. Then we saved you… Now, I am going to DO you until you’re seriously hurt. Beg me to ease your pains!”

The pomocons try to assert “superiority” at every turn. Just in case anyone is too young to know how Japan capitulated, or dare doubt their superiority in violence, the phantasmagorical episodes of never-ending bloody US “victories” in Korea, Vietnam… and more recently in Afghanistan and Iraq refresh the memory.

I met a pomocon, an extreme “C” type who first struck me as a “freak” because his gender seemed unclear, despite playing “superman” to a “feeble” female. Desperate to spread American values, he made the ultimate “sacrifice” for the Fatherland and became a naturalized Japanese citizen—a process in which the candidate must purge himself of old identity and adopt a Japanese name!

Sinon the perjurer made a similar sacrifice for Greece when he played decoy and deceived the Trojans into taking the infamous wooden horse inside their kingdom…

A “teacher” by default, “R2-D2” [though his effeminate demeanor made him a perfect C-3PO as in Star Wars] assumed a Japanese name to qualify for naturalization.

Imagine the shock when proprietor of a communal bathhouse, or sentō, refused him entry. When he produced his new passport as proof of nationality, he was told in no uncertain terms to tear up the pages and fold them into squares with sharp corners…

Was he barred entry because he looked like the uninvited American soldier with “Born to Kill!” tattooed on his arm, or a male prostitute sampling the countryside?

Could you blame the proprietor? How would you feel sharing your bath making “skinship” with a trained assassin taking a cleansing dip as the blood of Iraqi children drip from his elbows, or an amorous male prostitute?”

As unpleasant an experience as it might be, being barred from a Japnese sentō, especially when you need a good wash, it certainly beats the heck out of being “invited” to the American “foreign relations” center at the Gitmo gulag.

Scorned, R2D2 tried to sue the authorities for the unfavorable decision. Unable to make waves, he contrived an elaborate plot “stalking” them at every turn until he could figure out a way to sue for the breach of human rights or a similar offence and make the government cough up for their sins. To that extent, he now wears his human rights mask mingling among the Amnesty and UN crowds.

As for the pomocons marriage, the B group last the shortest. The “unholy” matrimony usually breaks up in 6-12 months. Divorce ensues after the newlywed arrives in Japan because the pomocon cannot keep his pants up liberating other women.

Unfortunately, the main victim is not the young Japanese “widow” whose American dream is assassinated by “Leonardo DiCaprio,” “Matt Dillon” or “Tom Cruise”; the main victim is the “prisoner,” the Japanese student who is force-fed the American values by the ill-equipped American “prison guard.”

Posted by tm on from 04/07 at 12:00 AM

Andy just reminded me of something I’ve heard time and again which is rather amusing. I’ll be discussing US foreign policy with someone and I’ve heard it time and time again, a variation of: “Well, what if China invaded Taiwan? I bet you’d feel differently about the US military then!”

I’m not sure what the argument there is, really. Supposedly, in the hypothetical, I am supposed to feel grateful for the US military saving my ass here in Taiwan. I think that’s the implication. And, presumably, the logic is that since I would (or should, in their minds) be grateful for the US military in that scenario, I shouldn’t be such a critic of it. I can’t be positive, but I think that must be what people are getting at when they say it.

Anyways, I’ve heard that so many times its kind of amusing.

On MZ’s topic for today, I’ve done a few relevant articles:

As Michael said, since we’re posting articles, here’s a few I’ve written along the lines of MZ’s topic for today:

<url=http://www.yirmeyahureview.com/articles/operation_northwoods.htm>Proposed Pretexts for War: Operation Northwoods</url>

<url=http://www.yirmeyahureview.com/articles/print/splendid_little_war.htm>The Splendid Little War</url>

<url=http://www.yirmeyahureview.com/articles/polks_war.htm>Polk’s War: Taking nothing by conquest</url>

<url=http://www.yirmeyahureview.com/articles/pearlharbor_intelligencesuccess.htm>Pearl Harbor: An Intelligence Success</url>

Posted by Jeremy R. Hammond on from Taipei, Taiwan 04/07 at 12:08 AM

Oops. Sorry about that, MZ. The coding looked fine in the preview. What’s the proper coding in this format for hyperlinking text?

Posted by Jeremy R. Hammond on from Taipei, Taiwan 04/07 at 12:11 AM

@Michael

Hmmn, don;t understand your reply - well, it’s implication regarding my post.

Just to re-iterate:

I believe that any group of people who express wishes to should be able to govern themselves.

I agree with you fully on the methods used by England on Scotland. I am not a fan of England’s imperial actions, both historical and present.

Your reply seems to imply that I disagree that Scotland was kept by England through force, bribery and propaganda. This is a misunderstanding - I agree with you.

I am pretty sure that Mandelson does not share any of my views. Except maybe when lying to gain favour or political currency.

Posted by Andy on from Shanghai 04/07 at 05:49 AM