So-Called Islamic State

All the commentary or reporting about ISIS on NPR uses the adjective "so-called" or "self-proclaimed" before the word Islamic state. The other way you might here it described is "ISIL or ISIS or so-called Islamic state." In this way they covertly diminish any legitimacy and refrain from acknowledging the movement as having real territory or institutions or popular consensus. Because to do so would be tantamount to admitting they have totally botched their analysis for the last year and a half. One of the few analysts who actually got it right was Loretta Napoleoni and her book The Islamist Phoenix is must reading. If you actually care to know. Obviously the State Dept. and media have no interest in the facts on the ground and if the hawks get their way we may soon see "Boots On The Ground" once more. It worked out so good last time, after all. What could possibly go wrong?

Remember The Alamo

So who are you going to believe? Chuck Norris Texas Ranger and Alex Jones or Barack Obama and NPR? We know whose story Ted Nugent buys. Because down there in Texas, where the true Patriot lives on, they know you can never be too careful when it comes to the Federal Government. Remember, the Second Amendment is not about the right to hunt! WalMart Fema camps seem like a stretch? Well you can never be too careful. Up North here we have Agenda 21, The plot of One World Government takeover and if that's not enough to worry about think about the INNER City erupting and all those Negroes With Guns! This is what Democracy Looks like, voting for the best candidate based on our own investigation into their positions. Of course it's not a Democracy, it's a Republic, as our friends down in Texas, with their yellow roses and long-horned steers, are quick to remind us. Like Ronald Reagan, Chuck Norris is not acting. He is Real, a real projection of our repressed, disavowed, Fantastic Desire.

Impunity

Bibi Netanyahu has realized something important about the post -Post-Modern moment. There is no longer any need to pretend, to play the old game of whispers and winks. Israel can now say out loud that the plan is, and has always been, to confiscate all the land on the West Bank and drive out all the Arabs. And all the US can do is promise more weapons and more aid and more "loans". There is no longer any need for an AIPAC to exist, really, because Israel can now nuke Iran and all they would get is a frown from Obama. Where is Beakerkin, by the way? Because this is certainly his Moment. Bibi can be the stereo-type of the "untrustworthy, conniving Jew" and leer as he does so, because The Holocaust, right? and he can come talk to the Republican Zionists because his invasion of Iraq (through his proxy army) was such a smashing success. Right? And the other great Democratic Ally, Turkey, has also quit with the whole subtle candor bit and openly supplies ISIS and jails dissidents with NATO support. Remember how just a short while ago you had to feign fear and hatred of The Chinese (while investing billions)? Now the CEO's and Christian Conservatives have lunch at Communist Party Headquarters and laugh about the old currency disputes. Because what you see is what you get. There is no alternative so why hide motives?

Job Numbers

What they call a "good" jobs report this morning, The Economy added 295,000 new jobs. What puzzles the pundits is why there have been no significant wage gains. Huge mystery. Why not ask your boss for a raise? It's just one big head scratcher for the commentariat. What if we looked at unionization? Oh, that's right, to be free, a worker must be an individual free agent.

Imagine

Imagine there's no energy markets Is it so much to ask? No market for coal or oil Or fract natural gas? Imagine all the people Deciding on the price This is the one John Lennon missed, being a little over-focused on the mystical, as was his bent. He only saw working class heroes in their representational form, fetishized and sentimentalized.

Remember Iraq?

What with ISIS and the Ukraine and those Boka Haram boys and Charlie Hebdo, poor old Iraq is buried back on page six. You remember Iraq, the country we liberated from the dictator? Sure you do. Well, bombings that kill 35 to 50 people don't even rate a mention now that we have extricated ourselves, now that The Troops (that Everyone Supports) have come home. Brian Williams takes heat for stretching the Truth about his "experience" and Jon Stewart's departure makes the front page two days in a row. You know what? All we can do is liberate them and if they can't take that ball and run with it, well, must be something wrong with their culture. Or even deeper, something wrong with their genetic make-up. Which brings us to poor John Kerry. a tragic figure for the ages. Thank God he did not become president, I mean everything he touches turns into a disaster. See the photo of the global leaders after the Ukraine deal? Who is not there? See the Israeli/ Palestinian Peace Process big John was going to facilitate? Kerry doesn't even have their phone numbers. Our great pals the Egyptian regime, our great pals in Turkey, he never saw the Islamic State as a real actor, never saw anything really. So sad. In Chapel Hill parking is at a premium. In Georgia Justice Moore looks to biblical law. Naomi Klein would have us believe climate chaos "changes everything" but when you look around, nothing is changing, really.

Another Irritating Canadian

So then they send their Premier of Alberta down to do some PR work, trying to move in on OUR exceptionalism, saying how we are all North Americans and shit. We could kick their ass with one hand tied behind our back! Talking about the Free Trade Agreement on NPR, now that his economy is shrinking and currency going to pot. Neolib Jim Prentice has obviously been pounding the Thatcher koolaid, telling us : "whether Canadian oil carried by Market Forces will be transported by train or pipe..." bend over baby because Market Forces don't stop for nobody! He continues: "Under the Free Trade Agreement this is a Free Market Product that is moving across the continent one way or another." What right do you puny humans have to stand in the way of these supernatural forces? The next story on the radio is about the effect the shrinking loonie is having on Northern Montana business and the owner of a car dealership says: "Canadians aren't allowed to purchase new vehicles in the states due to marketing agreements." But surely this can't be that Free Market the Premier was so worked up about? Can Jim salvage this failed ideology? Will Obama tell him to pond sand? Will the Canuks take us to the World Court for interfering with their profit? Stay tuned.