Say Anything Blog

Mass shootings are the type of things that a majority of the population are willing to take things away from other people over. In the wake of the recent Virginia Tech shooting, we have heard renewed calls for the banning of firearms. In addition is has also been suggested that the shooter was a adherent to the opposition’s ideology (in one way or another) from just about every side of American politics.

Its true, many Americans are messed up and the shooter clearly was also a very messed up individual. Furthermore, he used a gun to kill and so we have heard fervent denunciations of guns. One thing that has not drawn the ire of the lets-ban-everything-we-are-afraid-of crowd is South Koreans. Like guns, there was a South Korean involved in the recent shootings at Virginia Tech. Furthermore, unlike a gun that cannot shoot things without an operator manipulating it, the South Korean clearly has more causal responsibility in the shooting than the gun does. Clearly if there is something to ban here its South Koreans. Logic, and our hearts, tell us this is true.

/sarcasm

Moral of the story: Watchout for other people's ‘logic’. It’ll strap you down something mean.

disclaimer: I do not really endorse the deportation or banning of South Koreans in any way shape or form.

We’ve all heard the story behind Corzine’s recent car crash. Unfortunately Corzine was injured… he wasn’t wearing a seatbelt and was breaking the law. Whenever one doesn’t wear a seatbelt, they put their own life at risk.

What’s more reprehensible than putting one’s own life at risk is putting others’ lives at risk. Going 91 mph to a speaking engagement is clearly public endangerment - there is no emergency and there is no reason to put countless other lives at risk so the governor can make a speech on time.

Whether it was the trooper chauffeur or Corzine himself, or both, who thought the speed of 91 mph was justified, clearly it wasn’t. As far as I am concerned they are both guilty of public endangerment.

...let’s blame the gun manufacturers for the Virginia Tech shooting. They have nothing to do with the shooting, as far as causal or moral responsibility are concerned, but its a great chance to go after one of my political foe. How better to honor the memory of these students that died than taking advantage of a mass-murder and the pain involved in 30 college students dieing to my own political advantage?
Tragedies are compounded in this country when it is time for us to pull together and people use these things and our proper emotional reactions to manipulate us for personal gain, political advancement, or the consolidation of power. It happens on both sides of the aisle and its not only blatantly obvious and perverse, it further entrenches the deep cynicism I feel towards politics in America nowadays.
The tragedy at VT is just that. Its not something that is the left’s fault or the right’s fault. It was a very very confused individual. An ‘outlier’. No amount of politics is going to alleviate the fact that the world is amazing, complex, man eating, and often inherently evil place. Seeking personal or party advancement with this type of event as the emotional prybar is wrong. Period.

Wow! Now that’s service!

Original here.

In what could prove an embarrassing new setback for embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales on the eve of his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, a group of influential conservatives and longtime Bush supporters has written a letter to the White House to call for his resignation.

“Mr. Gonzales has presided over an unprecedented crippling of the Constitution’s time-honored checks and balances,” it declares. “He has brought rule of law into disrepute, and debased honesty as the coin of the realm.” Alluding to ongoing scandal, it notes: “He has engendered the suspicion that partisan politics trumps evenhanded law enforcement in the Department of Justice.”

The letter concludes by saying, “Attorney General Gonzales has proven an unsuitable steward of the law and should resign for the good of the country… The President should accept the resignation, and set a standard to which the wise and honest might repair in nominating a successor...”

Fein, speaking for the signatories, told TIME that Gonzales’ planned testimony to Congress tomorrow, the text of which has been released by the Justice Department, was a “terrible disappointment” that left unanswered key questions on which his job may now depend. “Gonzales testimony before the Judiciary Committee resorts to a truly Clintonesque defense of his own previous false statements,” says Fein. “In fact,” he says, “Gonzales’ latest declarations really do call into question the forthrightness and honesty indispensable for America’s chief law enforcement officer.”

Killington, Vermont - Noon on Saturday. That is not manmade snow either. The last two thurs/fris up there have yielded 24” and 18” respectively. Currently that area is about 8” into a 30” dump scheduled to end sometime tomorrow. The skiing on Saturday was f**king brilliant. The only thing like this I can remember recently was 2001 when that area got approx 48” during the first week of April. Anyone on the eastern seaboard who skis - Monday/Tuesday might be a sweet time to come down with a ‘48 hour flu’. Wink wink.

In Vermont, not wearing one’s seatbelt is currently a ‘secondary offense’ meaning that one cannot be pulled over for not wearing a seatbelt, but if one is pulled over for something else and the officer finds one is not wearing a seatbelt, its ticket-able.

The Fed wants to make it a ‘primary offense’, they want it to be something that one can be pulled over for. Vermont, for whatever reason, wants it to remain a secondary offense. Kudos. I agree.

Now the Fed is threatening to withhold highway funds for the state because of this. Blackmail. They take our money and force laws down our throats with threats to not give us back our own goddamn money that they took. Fuckers. No other word.

The 10th amendment, a ‘quaint’ amendment to say the least states simply, “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved for the States respectively, or to the people.” I don’t recall the constitution saying anything about seatbelts, do you?

Furthermore, the highways are for citizen use, but also for military use. God forbid they need to move military around on those roads. Whose fault is it going to be if Vermont tells the Fed to screw off and the highways fall into disrepair? The Air National Guard in Vermont run the airborne patrols of the entire eastern seaboard… There is also a lot of radar and other installations in the rural areas of northern Vermont. Furthermore, if Vermont stands up for itself and funds its own highway maintenance, can they then tell the Fed to screw off when they want to use the highways? Probably not. A joke.

The question is this: When the hell are politicians going to realize that we do not elect them because we think they know the best way for us to run our own lives? We elect politicians to preserve and protect our ability to run our own lives, however poorly we do so. That’s freedom!

Oh, and apparently some uber-Dem just got a little banged up while not wearing a seatbelt. I'm pretty sure New Jersey, where one needs a letter from the sheriff to buy a BB gun (literally, look it up), classifies not wearing a seatbelt as a 'primary offense'. Typical hypocrite action? Does the Governor have some overriding desire to not wear his seatbelt? To exert his freedom he should have but doesn't? Or is it merely thinking one is above the law?

**Update:** Here's an editorial from a local 'flaming Dem'. Notice the chauvinism. He clearly knows whats best for everyone.

This bill will save lives and prevent injuries. Education is not enough. New Hampshire's House of Representatives understood that when its members passed a primary seat belt law last week.

Oh thanks, Rep. Chen. I know lots of things that may save lives and/or prevent injuries too... doesn't mean all of them should be made laws. If we lock up every Vermont resident in a padded room, it will clearly save lives and prevent injuries... it doesn't then follow we should make it a law. Notice he says its not enough just to educate us and let us decide. It must be forced. He knows better than all of us.

Some legislators worry that Vermonters will object to this bill, considering it an unnecessary intrusion. Poll after poll proves otherwise. Americans and Vermonters favor initiatives such as standard enforcement of our seat belt law.

Oh, the polls. Who gives a shit? It is an unnecessary intrusion. Clearly. I know Mr. Chen. I am cordial with him, however he DOES NOT GET MY VOTE AND NEVER HAS.

Its bad enough one can't even buy a car nowadays that doesn't beep or flash if you don't buckle up... now this.

...and I thought God loved all his ‘children’. Damn, I’m pretty naive I guess… I can just see this Donnie guy fingering an altar boy. Just the type. When are all these Christian hypocrites going to STFU? After all, this guy is a 'reformed gay'. Self-hatred much?

Original here.

By Ian Baldwin and Frank Bryan

The winds of secession are blowing in the Green Mountain State.

Vermont was once an independent republic, and it can be one again. We think the time to make that happen is now. Over the past 50 years, the U.S. government has grown too big, too corrupt and too aggressive toward the world, toward its own citizens and toward local democratic institutions. It has abandoned the democratic vision of its founders and eroded Americans’ fundamental freedoms.

Vermont did not join the Union to become part of an empire.

Some of us therefore seek permission to leave.

A decade before the War of Independence, Vermont became New England’s first frontier, settled by pioneers escaping colonial bondage who hewed settlements across a lush region whose spine is the Green Mountains. These independent folk brought with them what Henry David Thoreau called the “true American Congress”—the New England town meeting, which is still the legislature for nearly all of Vermont’s 237 towns. Here every citizen is a legislator who helps fashion the rules that govern the locality.

Today, however, Vermont no longer controls even its own National Guard, a domestic emergency force that is now employed in an imperial war 6,000 miles away. The 9/11 commission report says that “the American homeland is the planet.” To defend this “homeland,” the United States spends six times as much on its military as China, the next highest-spending nation, funding more than 730 military bases in more than 130 countries, abetted by more than 100 military space satellites and more than 100,000 seaborne battle-ready forces. This is the greatest military colossus ever forged.

Few heed George Washington’s Farewell Address, which warned against the danger of a permanent large standing army that “can be regarded as particularly hostile to republican liberty.” Or that of a later general-become-president: “We must never let the weight of [the military-industrial complex] endanger our liberties or democratic processes.” Dwight D. Eisenhower pointedly included the word “congressional” after “military-industrial” but allowed his advisers to excise it. That word completes a true description of the hidden threat to democracy in the United States.

The two of us are typical of the diversity of Vermont’s secessionist movement: one descended from old Vermonter stock, the other a more recent arrival—a “flatlander” from down country. Our Vermont homeland remains economically conservative and socially liberal. And the love of freedom runs deep in its psyche.

Vermont seceded from the British Empire in 1777 and stood free for 14 years, until 1791. Its constitution -- which preceded the U.S. Constitution by more than a decade -- was the first to prohibit slavery in the New World and to guarantee universal manhood suffrage. Vermont issued its own currency, ran its own postal service, developed its own foreign relations, grew its own food, made its own roads and paid for its own militia. No other state, not even Texas, governed itself more thoroughly or longer before giving up its nationhood and joining the Union.

But the seeds of disunion have been growing since the beginning. Vermont more or less sat out the War of 1812, and its governor ordered troops fighting the British to disengage and come home. Vermont fought the Civil War primarily to end slavery; Abraham Lincoln did so primarily to save the Union. Vermont's record on the slavery issue was so strong that Georgia's legislature resolved that a ditch be dug around the "pestiferous" state and it be floated out to sea.

After the Great Flood of 1927, the worst natural disaster in the state's history, President Calvin Coolidge (a Vermonter) offered help. Vermont's governor replied, "Vermont will take care of its own." In 1936, town meetings rejected a huge federal highway referendum that would have blacktopped the Green Mountain crest line from Massachusetts to Canada.

Nor did Vermont sign on when imperial Washington demanded that the state raise its drinking age from 18 to 21 in 1985. The federal government thereupon resorted to its favored tactic, blackmail. Raise your drinking age, said Ronald Reagan, or we'll take away the money you need to keep the interstates paved. Vermont took its case for state control to the Supreme Court -- and lost.

It's quite simple. The United States has destroyed the 10th Amendment, which says that "powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."

The present movement for secession has been gathering steam for a decade and a half. In preparation for Vermont's bicentennial in 1991, public debates -- moderated by then-Lt. Gov. Howard Dean -- were held in seven towns before crowds that averaged 230 citizens. At the end of each, Dean asked all those in favor of Vermont's seceding from the Union to stand and be counted. In town after town, solid majorities stood. The final count: 999 (62 percent) for secession and 608 opposed.
....
We secessionists believe that the 350-year swing of history's pendulum toward large, centralized imperial states is once again reversing itself.

Why? First, the cost of oil and gas. According to urban planner James Howard Kunstler, "Anything organized on a gigantic scale . . . will probably falter in the energy-scarce future." Second, third-wave technology is as inherently democratic and decentralist as second-wave technology was authoritarian and centralist. Gov. Jim Douglas wants Vermont to be the first "e-state," making broadband Internet access available to every household and business in the state by 2010. Vermont will soon be fully wired into the global social commons.

Against this backdrop, secessionists from all over the state will gather in June to plan a grass-roots campaign to get at least 200 towns to vote by 2012 on independence. We believe that one outcome of this meeting will be dialogues among different communities of Vermonters committed to achieving local economic vitality, be they farmers, entrepreneurs, bankers, merchants, lawyers, independent media providers, construction workers, manufacturers, artists, entertainers or anyone else with a stake in Vermont's future -- anyone for whom freedom is not just a slogan.

...and before everyone starts whining that this 'leftist trash' I would point out that Frank is definately not a 'leftist' at all. I don't know the other guy, Ian.

As for secession I think imagining a second Vermont Republic is a worthy intellectual exercise. (The first Vermont Republic lasted fourteen years; we deftly played global politics with other European nations, other American colonies, and the Continental Congress before joining the Union in 1791.) When I look into the future of my children's great-grandchildren—on a good day—I see a world where nations as we know them today are gone, where the sovereign boundaries of places like America have been subsumed by a global commonwealth. To let this happen, indeed to gently encourage it, will be America's greatest challenge in this century and the next. But we must lead with our ideals and use our might to maintain the peace while these ideals take root and grow. Could Vermont "go it alone" right now? The arguments that point to a "yes" are so powerful it is downright scary. As for me I am too old and my passions are too firmly set. As I said in a recent interview in the Vermont Quarterly "I couldn't sit around and let a bunch of crazy Vermonters like me tear down the American flag. My heart would break."

Original here.

I found a list of the top ten beer destinations in the world and was surprised to find Burlington, Vermont coming in at #4. I lived near there from 2001 until early 2005 and, coincidentally enough, I have actually traveled to, and had plenty of beer at, each of the top four cities. I like travelling… and beer.

1. Amsterdam

Cozy, neighborhood watering holes serving beer (or pils as the locals call it), the Dutch way – with exactly two fingers’ worth of foam on top – aren’t hard to find in this city. Heineken, Grolsch, and Amstel are three of the best-known native brews, but a sampling of artisanal blends and witte (wheat) beers from neighboring Belgium are also on the menu at Amsterdam’s cozy “brown” bars, so called for their antiquated, nicotine-stained walls. If your interest in hops goes beyond consumption, take a tour of the Heineken Experience, where tastings are encouraged.

Oh yea! We did the Heineken tour at 11 am one ‘foggy’ day… It culminates in a half hour tasting during which they refill one of those itty bitty 8oz European beer glasses as fast as you can empty it. My buddy and I probably put back 13-15 of those each. Let’s just say I’m usually in better shape than that at noon on vacation. If you do visit Amsterdam, make sure you imbibe in all the local products and schedule an hour and a half nap into each afternoon. I don’t care how much coffee you drink… its unavoidable. I also recommend dabbling in some ‘philososphers stones’, or psilocybe tampensis, while in Amsterdam, if you have some real mental fortitude. Unfortunately, we didn’t have access to one of these and made some miscalculations. Woah!

2. Berlin

Is there any place on earth better to sip Berliner Weise (beer with woodruff or raspberry juice) than in its city of origin? The city boasts more then 20 beer gardens where you can enjoy this local favorite – along with hundreds of other frothy ales. Though the city is a haven for beer lovers all year round, August in particular stands out, when the first week of the month is devoted to Bierfestival, and the city center turns into a 1.2 mile-long beer garden hosting 240 breweries from 80 countries, representing 1,750 different brands of beer.

I spent about 10 days in Berlin. I highly recommend it. We met an alcoholic French chef right off the bat who brought us on the rounds of all the best watering holes and for cheap meals out of the backdoor of many a gourmet kitchen. One can get a 6 pack of 9% alcohol ‘Bok’ in Berlin for about $3 or $3.50 USD. Need I say more?

3. Brugge

Slightly smaller than the Belgian capital of Brussels, Brugge is renowned for its fine lace, Godiva chocolate – and beer. Indeed, this tiny city is, amazingly enough, a prime place to sample over 450 unique varieties of Belgian brew, each served in its own specialized glass. You’ll find a preserved pub that dates back to 1515, breweries that still use antiquated brewing techniques, and even museums, like De Gouden Boom Brewery Museum, where beer has been produced since 1455.

The guy I stayed with in Belgium is a real beer freak. From day one we were drinking Chimay, Orval, and many other monk brewed, hair-on-your-chest beers. Brugge is very beautiful - they have canals, geese, many very old buildings and a huge tower that offers an amazing view if you can hack 366 steps.

4. Burlington

Set between two beer-bustling locales – Montreal to the north, and Boston to the southeast – Burlington, Vermont is a university town with one of the best brew cultures in New England. Home to the quirky micro-brewery Magic Hat, visitors can do as the locals do and sample homegrown brews such as #9, Fat Angel, and Blind Faith IPA to name a few. Church Street, a four-block pedestrian-only zone buzzes with vibrant bars with top-notch beer on tap, including Vermont brewed Otter Creek and the Long Trail beer collection, whose specialty beers change seasonally.

Like Amsterdam, many of the local products or top notch. Almost every pub and bar brews at least a few of their own beers. At ‘3 Needs’ downtown, not only can one taste multiple in-house brews (including a kick-ass Hefeweizen), they also have ‘Duff Hour’ on weekdays from 4p-6pm. The Simpsons is on and the Duff (actually Saranac from upstate NY) is $1/pint. Watchout for that! At the Magic Hat brewery, one can have a ‘growler’ filled on the cheap. Long Trail is also highly recommended - they have a 7-8% alcohol brew called ‘Double Bag’. This stuff is serious! We used to break in the new arrivals from NJ or other points south by playing drinking games with this stuff. Sobriety quickly changes to a happy confident buzz which, in turn, changes into the bizarre sensation that the entire universe revolves around your saturated brain. That is generally quickly followed by deep sleep or a very religious communion with the ‘porcelain gods’. Once, at one of my friends house near a ski area, we got some guy from NJ so messed up on ‘Double Bag’ that he managed to puke in the toothbrush cup in the bathroom (among other things). That earned him a quick trip out the back door and a nice nights sleep in the back of his beatup Honda in O degree weather… he lived. Other local breweries in Vermont worthy of the road trip to visit include Rock Art Brewery, Long Trail, Trout River, Otter Creek (which is also 'Wolaver's' east coast satellite brewery and home of the kick-ass 'Stovepipe Porter') and the Shedd Brewery. Shedd makes some seriously strong stuff - on par with the Double Bag. Dark, dark, dark and very strong. Mmmmm. Beer.

One of my friends made this video in an effort to win $25,000 from TurboTax. Its very funny, so give it a watch, and vote for him here so he can win $25K. Simple. Oh, and check out the ‘General Lee’ car.

One issue currently dominating the discussion of contemporary political theory is how to deal with cultural diversity and the claims: moral, legal, cultural, linguistic or religious made by various actors (Kukathas Handbook 250). One proposed way to deal with these issues falls under the heading of politics of difference – equality of participation and inclusion of all groups sometimes requiring that disadvantaged or oppressed groups be given differential treatment in social policy (Young Justice 158). This position is a reaction to a form of liberalism that assumes basic individual human rights would resolve the claims of national minorities. Advocates of the politics of difference argue that human rights cannot resolve contentious issues such as what language should be recognized publicly, whether there should be funded public education in the minority tongue, or if minorities should be allowed to form their own local regions (Kukathas Handbook 251). The politics of indifference takes a different stance and recommends that liberalism resist the demand for recognition (Kukathas Indifference 687). Liberalism, according to the politics of indifference, takes no interest in the character or identity of the individuals, or their collective projects or group preferences (691). It maintains that the state is only concerned with upholding the framework of the law within which individuals and groups can function peacefully. (more...)

Men fight for liberty and win it with hard knocks. Their children, brought up easy, let it slip away again, poor fools. And their children are once more slaves.

-D. H. Lawrence

The use of sanctions and tracking terror supply networks is a tricky. In the international scene, arms dealers abound, perhaps none as infamous, wealthy and nefarious as Viktor Bout.

Known on both sides of the Atlantic as the “merchant of death,” Bout has been implicated in running guns and missiles to combatants across the world, from the Taliban and Northern Alliance in Afghanistan to the UNITA rebels of Angola and the teen-age army of Liberia’s former tyrant, Charles Taylor.

This image of Bout, one of the few in existence, was taken by a Belgian photographer secretly on an airstrip in the Congo. Bout is standing off to the left.

He has long been known to be able to supply any variety of technical arms, including planes and jets, anywhere in the world, provided there’s a buyer with money.

But now the Bush administration has hired at least one company tied to Bout’s network for the war effort in Iraq. Records obtained by Mother Jones show that as recently as August, Air Bas, a company tied to Bout and his associates, was flying charter missions under contract with the U.S. military in Iraq. Air Bas is overseen by Victor Bout’s brother, Serguei, and his long-time business manager, Richard Chichakli, an accountant living in Texas; in the past, payments for Air Bas have gone to a Kazakh company that the United Nations identifies as “a front for the leasing operations of Victor Bout’s aircraft.”

Chichakli has since bought a one way ticket to Moscow, after skipping bail in Texas, and has set himself up to take over operations in the event that Bout is unable to perform at his current capacities.

“The US Army and other defence agencies insisted they had no responsibility to scrutinize 2nd tier subcontractors. .... In April 2005 assistant treasury secretary for terrorist financing ... put economic sanctions against 20 of [Bout’s] companies and said no US businesses could deal with him. ... In Jan 2006, Irbis Air [one of Bout’s companies] bid on a contract with Halliburton in Iraq. ... Bout has saturated the Niger River delta in Africa with arms, causing the value of an AK-47 assault rifle there to drop from $250 to $70 over the last 18 months.”

-’The Merchant of Death’ by D. Farah & S. Braun from Foreign Policy Journal Nov-Dec 2006

In May 2006, when 200,000 AK-47 assault rifles went missing in transit from Bosnia to Iraq, one of Bout’s airlines was the carrier.

Personally, I think Bout is a very smart businessman. He is able to provide services like no other, elude capture, and even deal with the US Gov’t who is actively trying to capture him (yea right). I think the are lots of delightful anarchic cracks opening up with all the globalization and the repressed Hobbesian tactics of the current administration. It also strikes me as kind of funny that many people who rail against terrorist supply lines turn around and defend Halliburton’s bid fixing and subcontracting despite the fact that Halliburton hires people who willingly and knowingly supply terrorists.

His criminal profile in the public eye reached a high-water mark with the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon. Bout supplied weapons to the Taliban, which has close ties to al-Qaeda, which, presumably, orchestrated the attacks. This placed Bout on a top-priority list for U.S. officials.

Obviously!?!

...the power of these allegations brought Bout out of invisibility and into a Moscow radio station on February 28 for a live two-hour interview. An Inter-Fax news bulletin arrived during the interview and was read over the air:

"The Russian bureau of Interpol has announced that it has been seeking Victor Bout, suspected of having supplied weapons to the Al-Qa'ida organization, for four years. Spokesman Igor Tsiroulnikov declared: 'Today we can say with certainty that Victor Bout is not in Russian territory.'"

On March 4, the Russian Federal Security Service issued a short correction: "There is no reason to believe that this Russian citizen has committed any illegal actions."

With the end of the Cold War, single actors in the illegal arms trade have been less restricted by the ideology of their clientèle. Bout's air transport services are equally as lucrative as the illegal arms they often move - he has been known to supply arms to both sides of conflicts in which cease fires have been agreed upon... and then fly in international peace keepers to monitor the situation. Despite travel bans, Bout was reportedly recently spotted in Lebanon, no doubt selling his wares to less than savory individuals.

Original found at 10 Zen Monkeys.

Sex laws around the world are as diverse as indigenous spices — an acceptable Scandinavian method of grinding genitalia together might get you barbarically executed in another region of the globe.

Globetrotting seducers (<-- funny link mine) and seductresses should exercise caution when they indulge in international orifices — flesh in one foreign harbor might be contraband in the next. Be sure to memorize local codes before you frolic with the natives.

(more...)