July 9, 2008 archive

1. The LA Times reports Six people are dead in attack on U.S. consulate in Istanbul. “Gunmen today attacked the U.S. consulate here, sparking a gun battle that left three Turkish police officers and the three assailants dead… It was the most serious attack in several years on a foreign diplomatic mission in Turkey.”

   According to the Washington Post, the American ambassador to Turkey, Ross Wilson, call the attack “‘an obvious act of terrorism’ … ‘This was an attack on the American diplomatic establishment here,’ Wilson said in an appearance before reporters in Ankara, the Turkish capital. ‘… Our countries will stand together and confront this, as we have in the past.'” Abdullah Gul, the president of Turkey, also describe it as a terrorist attack.”

   “Neither U.S. or Turkish officials would speculate on who was responsible for the attack… Turkish Interior Minister Besir Atalay told reporters late this afternoon there still was no claim of responsibility. He said all of the attackers were Turkish nationals.”

2. The NY Times reports the Federal Reserve sees economic turmoil persisting deep into next year. “Ben S. Bernanke, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, publicly indicated on Tuesday that he believes the problems will persist into next year when he outlined a series of steps the Fed is considering in the coming months… Bernanke also recommended that Congress grant the Fed broader authority to monitor and supervise the financial markets to assure greater stability in the future.”

   The economy will continue to do badly for all the known reasons: cratering housing market, skyrocketing oil prices, and titanic federal debt brought about by the worst president ever and his wars.

   The Washington Post reports that “Some outside experts argue that changes such as the ones Bernanke advocated yesterday could create more problems than they solve.” No doubt. The Fed wants more authority to clean up the mess they made and fed. This economic misery was done on purpose to shock the system in order to increase liquidity for easier looting. Do not trust Bernanke or Bush Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. The bailouts are and will continue to be for the wealthy.

Four at Four continues with the unmitigated missile threat to airplanes and Guantanamo appeals.

As we wait for the many coming books, I’m sure more will be surfacing, as many try to cleanse their souls, of these last eight years plus, in seeking their higher kingdom, we might have the time to take this seemingly telling descriptive tale into the fold of good reading. We could even make the copies a collective item reminding us, in a comfortable way, of what we’ve been put through, us and the rest of the world. Comfortable because it might not enrage as we read and study the pictures, like the hard reality of the history will.

That is, truly enjoing the Onion‘s 3 July 2008 Green Issue: “Our All-Paper Salute to the Environment.”

Well-done satire provides a painful window on the soul of an issue.

And, the Onion specializes in that well-done satire.

This issue pulls together some top environmentally-oriented satire from the past decade. Lets take some bites of that green onion …

But, first, some related breaking news …

So, there I was one day last week, in a funk.  Nothing about the world was right. GWB and his rethugs were (are) still up to their dirty deeds plus all kinds of other things were just going wrong.  Decided to do something positive.. like maybe taking some time to wash out the bottles and cans for recycling.  Into the kitchen, up to my arms in soapy water.  Scrub, scrub.. ooh, getting things nice and squeaky clean.  Oh shit!  Sliced (gashed really) the hell out of my thumb on a tin can.  And it is bleeding like a stuck pig… I mean a LOT of blood.  Quickly pressed it with my other thumb and stuck both hands in the air.  Standing there saying, “Oh, this can’t be good.”  Slow bleeding enough to dial the phone … reach the mister.. “Get home NOW”.  Two minutes later he’s pulling down the driveway.  We look at it, it’s still bleeding but not gushing now.  Get it bandaged and put it back up in the air.  Discovered that it’s next to impossible to type one handed.. CAPITAL letters are a real problem.  Ok, time to go outside and sit down to watch the birds and chipmunks.  There I sat, under a tree, arm still in the air.  Suddenly felt something on my leg… A bird had shit all over it.  Started laughing like a fool.  It was then I realized just how stupid life can be and what my place in it really is… bird shit!