Wonderful Matters

The political idiots were out in great numbers today, and while what I saw just about made me want to hock my lungs, I still weep for the abject folly that still sweeps through this land. First, the widely debated Senate immigration bill did not get the procedural vote to move forward. It blows my mind that so many say so much about it, but no one ever says why it failed. I honestly don't think they can because they just haven't the teensiest of clues as to what that could be . I wrote about about what I think it is on my webzine's most recent home page article, which is here . Second, a debate/forum-type thing was held for the Democratic party's presidential nominees at Howard University, a prominently black college. Needless to say the entire tone was about what these candidates would do for "people of color" if elected. The very first question was essentially "What will you do with the issue of race?" and the convenient springboard was today'...

Everyone waited with great anticipation as the Senate today-- pause for suspense-- passed the "Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Motion to Proceed to Consider S. 1639, Comprehensive Immigration Reform"! (Hearty applause from the gallery) Ahem. What this blap does is permit the debate to drag on for what will ultimately be a completely futile effort to manage the immigration issue. Doesn't matter what happens, the bill passes or not, it's pointless. I've devoted my latest home page piece to the real meaning of it all, and if you'd like to look in on it, it is here .

An AP teacher in the College Board's email forum sent this out to everyone. A link to the "U.S. Budget Poster." There it is in all its glory, every discretionary expenditure of the federal government, graphically resplendent for all to see. Note that you can zoom in and peek around. It is at http://www.thebudgetgraph.com/poster/ What struck me is that the very first word at the top left corner, bright and large, is quite the appropriate term for what a World System tribute truly is, a human sacrifice operation in which huge shards of value are hacked off of productive individuals. Do you see it there? That term... DEATH. A bit more on human sacrifice is here .

A recent front page article in the Los Angeles Times featured the efforts of some in the pro-life camp who want to do away with all abortions completely once-and-for-all forever and ever in all cases. They're called the absolutists in the abortion battle. The perception of them is quite common: "Ooo, those evil absolutists , they always think in black-and-white terms about whatever it is they believe in. They're just a bunch of intolerant extremists ." Um, ahem, do you believe that, absolutely ? Is this the extreme version of what you think about absolutism or just the pointless mealy-mouthed one we shouldn't pay any attention to? The article speaks about the minority of pro-lifers who actively denounce the beaming endorsements of such government rulings as the upholding of the ban on partial-birth abortions. They do so for a number of reasons, among them the way the incrementalist approach still condemns thousands of babies to death, and the qualifications in t...

Hooray for Mark Danner! He is a professor at UC Berkeley who so boldly exposed the true nature of political activity in his recent commencement address, reprinted in the Los Angeles Times. Hooray for his honesty! Hooray for his sincerity! And above all, hooray for his folly! His folly ? Well, you can often learn a lot from someone who says foolish things. To his credit Danner elucidates what government is all about, through the glowing transcription of a conversation journalist Ron Suskind had with a Bush administrative aide in 2004: “The aide said that guys like me were ‘in what we call the reality-based community,’ which he defined as people who ‘believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality.’ I nodded and murmured something about enlightenment principles and empiricism. He cut me off. ‘That’s not the way the world really works anymore,’ he continued. ‘We’re an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you’re studying that real...