C-R-A-Z-Y!
By Stephen Pizzo
Created Sep 17 2006 - 7:36am
Oh hell, I know it's Sunday, and normally I don't bother you on weekends. But some days it's just unavoidable. And today's news makes it unavoidable.

Holy madhouse, Batman. Am I going crazy or is everyone else going crazy?

Day's like this make that more than rhetorical query.

Where to begin?

Moats. Let's talk moats. You know, those ditches around castles and villages that were all the rage a thousand years ago. Well, they're baaaaccck. Yep. Once the first line of defense for medieval castles the moat has now been embraced by the modern world's last remaining super power.

IRAQ: Iraqi officials plan to dig a series of trenches around Baghdad in the coming weeks to seal it off and control movement into and out of the city, The New York Times reported on Saturday... "We're going to build a trench around Baghdad" -- a distance measuring about 60 miles (97 km) -- "so we can control the exits and entrances so people will be searched properly," Brig.-Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf told the Times on Friday in an interview. (More [1])

So, the next time you hear a reporter ask a US official if things are getting better or worse in Iraq, don't waste a single neuron listening to his reply. All you need to know is that ...

they're building a moat around Baghdad.

That's it.

And it raises more questions than just "how we doin' in Iraq?"

The US defense budget will approach half a trillion dollars this year, a goodly portion of which is being spent on high tech missile defense systems, stealth bombers, nuclear subs and such.

Pentagon Report:
U.S. Successfully Pursues the Global War on Terrorism

a.. The fiscal 2005 budget includes robust readiness and acquisition funding, important legislative authorities, and other essentials for winning the global war on terrorism.
b.. Readiness. The request funds the military's training and readiness requirements and sustains prudent readiness standards, e.g., for flying hours. Ongoing initiatives include
c.. Improving metrics to evaluate force readiness, with emphasis on evaluating readiness relative to a full range of missions, not merely the traditional major regional contingency operation.
d.. Fleet Response Plan, adopted in fiscal 2004, expands in fiscal 2005 and will increase the availability of naval assets for duty worldwide. (MORE [2])

And yet, the best the Pentagon has to offer in Iraq is a moat.

I leave all the implications of that to you to sort out.

And since we are on the subject of institutional mental illness, now this:

Pope Offends Muslims

Afghanistan's Taliban on Saturday demanded Pope Benedict XVI to apologise for remarks linking Islam with violence, adding the comment showed the Christian West was waging war against Muslims..."We strongly condemn it," Mohammad Hanif, who regularly speaks to the media on behalf of the extremist insurgent group, said..."We also want the Pope to apologise before the Muslim Umma (nation)," he said...The remarks were "obviously part of a crusader war that the West, chiefly America and (President) Bush, is waging against Islam and Muslims," he said. (More [3])

That story SO dovetails with the moat story. It's as though we've all been dragged a thousand years back in time. On one hand we have the most technologically advanced military on earth building a moat to protect a city from invaders. On the other hand we have a European monarch denouncing Islam because of it's violent expansionist doctrine.

And, in response Muslims rushed into the streets and violently proved the point.

Fools to left of me, clowns to the right. Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.

It's getting to the point I'm afraid to turn the news on in the morning. Is it really global warming that we have to fear? Or could what really end mankind as we know it is that somehow we threw evolution into hyper-reverse?

Can you doubt for one second that the Pope's remarks will spark a whole new Christians v. Muslims/Muslims v. Christians wave worldwide? ("Yo prophet was so stupid that...") Remember that flap over the Dutch cartoons? Well that was nothing compared to this. This one has legs... very, very, very old legs.

So, let's review: We have moats abuilding AND a religious nut in silk robes, who lives in a castle and rules unchallenged, poking a stick in the eye of the Judeao/Chrisitain world's arch enemy, Islam. On one side we have western nations filled with biblically lobotmized citzens, lining up and putting on bullet proof vests (armor). On the other side we have an endless supply of Koranically lobotomized hordes eager to earn their heavenly bones by getting across the moat and killing the guys in armor.

Been there. Done that. And done that, and done that and done that. How many people do you figure have already died over that spat in the last 1500 years or so? Millions? At least.

But don't stop counting. Because, it appears neither side has changed, or learned a thing. They seem to have caught their breath and are ready to for another round.

Thanks for listening. I needed to get that off my chest. Now I must go. I've got a contractor coming over to give me a bid on a moat.
_______
newsforreal.com

About author Stephen Pizzo is the author of numerous books, including "Inside Job: The Looting of America's Savings and Loans," which was nominated for a Pulitzer. His web site is News For Real [4].

--
NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted material the use of which has not
always been authorized by the copyright owner. I am making such material
available to advance understanding of
political, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues. I
believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright
Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107

"A little patience and we shall see the reign of witches pass over, their
spells dissolve, and the people recovering their true sight, restore their
government to its true principles. It is true that in the meantime we are
suffering deeply in spirit,
and incurring the horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous public
debt. But if the game runs sometimes against us at home we must have
patience till luck turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winning
back the principles we have lost, for this is a game where principles are at
stake."
-Thomas Jefferson

C-R-A-Z-Y!
By Stephen Pizzo
Created Sep 17 2006 - 7:36am

Oh hell, I know it's Sunday, and normally I don't
bother you on weekends. But some days it's just unavoidable. And today's news
makes it unavoidable.
Holy madhouse, Batman. Am I going crazy or is
everyone else going crazy?
Day's like this make that more than rhetorical
query.
Where to begin?
Moats. Let's talk moats. You know, those ditches
around castles and villages that were all the rage a thousand years ago. Well,
they're baaaaccck. Yep. Once the first line of defense for medieval castles the
moat has now been embraced by the modern world's last remaining super
power.

IRAQ: Iraqi officials plan to dig a series of
trenches around Baghdad in the coming weeks to seal it off and control
movement into and out of the city, The New York Times reported on Saturday...
"We're going to build a trench around Baghdad" -- a distance measuring about
60 miles (97 km) -- "so we can control the exits and entrances so people will
be searched properly," Brig.-Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf told the Times on Friday
in an interview. (More [1])
So, the next time you hear a reporter ask a US
official if things are getting better or worse in Iraq, don't waste a single
neuron listening to his reply. All you need to know is that ...
they're building a moat around Baghdad.
That's it.
And it raises more questions than just “how we doin'
in Iraq?”
The US defense budget will approach half a trillion
dollars this year, a goodly portion of which is being spent on high tech missile
defense systems, stealth bombers, nuclear subs and such.

Pentagon Report:U.S. Successfully Pursues the
Global War on Terrorism

The fiscal 2005 budget includes robust readiness
and acquisition funding, important legislative authorities, and other
essentials for winning the global war on terrorism.
Readiness. The request funds the militaryÂ’s
training and readiness requirements and sustains prudent readiness
standards, e.g., for flying hours. Ongoing initiatives include
Improving metrics to evaluate force readiness,
with emphasis on evaluating readiness relative to a full range of missions,
not merely the traditional major regional contingency operation.
Fleet Response Plan, adopted in fiscal 2004,
expands in fiscal 2005 and will increase the availability of naval assets
for duty worldwide. (MORE [2])

And yet, the best the Pentagon has to offer in Iraq
is a moat.
I leave all the implications of that to you to sort
out.
And since we are on the subject of institutional
mental illness, now this:

Pope Offends Muslims
Afghanistan's Taliban on Saturday demanded Pope
Benedict XVI to apologise for remarks linking Islam with violence, adding the
comment showed the Christian West was waging war against Muslims..."We
strongly condemn it," Mohammad Hanif, who regularly speaks to the media on
behalf of the extremist insurgent group, said..."We also want the Pope to
apologise before the Muslim Umma (nation)," he said...The remarks were
"obviously part of a crusader war that the West, chiefly America and
(President) Bush, is waging against Islam and Muslims," he said. (More [3])

That story SO dovetails with the moat story. It's as
though we've all been dragged a thousand years back in time. On one hand we have
the most technologically advanced military on earth building a moat to protect a
city from invaders. On the other hand we have a European monarch denouncing
Islam because of it's violent expansionist doctrine.
And, in response Muslims rushed into the streets and
violently proved the point.
Fools to left of me, clowns to the right. Here I am,
stuck in the middle with you.
It's getting to the point I'm afraid to turn the news
on in the morning. Is it really global warming that we have to fear? Or could
what really end mankind as we know it is that somehow we threw evolution into
hyper-reverse?
Can you doubt for one second that the Pope's remarks
will spark a whole new Christians v. Muslims/Muslims v. Christians wave
worldwide? ("Yo prophet was so stupid that...") Remember that flap over the
Dutch cartoons? Well that was nothing compared to this. This one has legs...
very, very, very old legs.
So, let's review: We have moats abuilding AND a
religious nut in silk robes, who lives in a castle and rules unchallenged,
poking a stick in the eye of the Judeao/Chrisitain world's arch enemy, Islam. On
one side we have western nations filled with biblically lobotmized citzens,
lining up and putting on bullet proof vests (armor). On the other side we have
an endless supply of Koranically lobotomized hordes eager to earn their heavenly
bones by getting across the moat and killing the guys in armor.
Been there. Done that. And done that, and done that
and done that. How many people do you figure have already died over that spat in
the last 1500 years or so? Millions? At least.
But don't stop counting. Because, it appears neither
side has changed, or learned a thing. They seem to have caught their breath and
are ready to for another round.
Thanks for listening. I needed to get that off my
chest. Now I must go. I've got a contractor coming over to give me a bid on a
moat._______newsforreal.com
About
author Stephen Pizzo is the author of numerous books, including "Inside
Job: The Looting of America's Savings and Loans," which was nominated for a
Pulitzer. His web site is News For Real [4].
-- NOTICE: This post contains copyrighted
material the use of which has notalways been authorized by the copyright
owner. I am making such materialavailable to advance understanding
ofpolitical, human rights, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues.
Ibelieve this constitutes a 'fair use' of such copyrighted material
asprovided for in section 107 of the US CopyrightLaw. In accordance with
Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107
 
"A little patience and we shall see the reign of
witches pass over, theirspells dissolve, and the people recovering their
true sight, restore theirgovernment to its true principles.  It is true
that in the meantime we aresuffering deeply in spirit,and incurring the
horrors of a war and long oppressions of enormous publicdebt.  But if
the game runs sometimes against us at home we must havepatience till luck
turns, and then we shall have an opportunity of winningback the principles
we have lost, for this is a game where principles are atstake."-Thomas
Jefferson