Ukraine, We Kraine, EVERYBODY KRAINE or Squirrels and Nuts Day 3 of ????

You betcha!

A comment about the Blind leading the Blind comes to mind.

There is an old Saw about stopped clocks being right twice a day that I am pretty sure everyone has heard some version of in their lives. Other versions include Blind Squirrels finding nuts, Blind hogs finding truffles and more variations than I care to go into at this point in time. Needless to say (Even though I am about to say it, go figure.), the adages indicate that even the slowest, mentally and socially incompetent person can occasionally be right usual by blind chance.

Which naturally brings us to Sarah Palin. Now, IMNSHO (In My Not So Humble Opinion for those who are coming in late to my blogs and aren't up on the lingo.) Mrs. Palin is a Blooming Moron with delusions of adequacy. She received her fifteen minutes of fame when Sen. McCain blindly chose her to be his running mate. (No seriously folks, he had never met her before and chose her based off the data his people gathered about her. I am not saying that the rumors of him choosing her simply because she had lady parts is true, but he knew nothing about her before choosing her.) Since they Lost to Obama, she has been doing everything in her power to keep milking that brief moment of fame and power with mixed success. Her reality TV series (anyone actually remember it?) flopped and her book sales never really took off, but she did manage to snag a seat on Faux News so 1 out of 3 isn't bad, right? You betcha!

Now as you may have surmised, I am not particularly fond of Mrs. Palin. I think her narrow minded/single minded attitudes about...well pretty much everything are symbolic of pretty much everything that is wrong with America/American Politics today. But in this article, we have come, not to bury her, but in our own humble sideways way to praise her. Buckle up folks, this is not going to be pretty.

So in 2008ish, Mrs. Palin went on the record as saying that if Obama became President then Putin and Russia would seize upon him being a weak, namby pamby leader and invade the Ukraine. The assumption (and you know what they say about assuming anything right?) was that Obama's presidency would so weaken the good old US of A that the evil Russian Empire would feel free to pillage and burn without fear of retribution. Yessir, you betcha!

Now fast forward four or so years and one election later. The Ukraine is in turmoil! Pro-West forces have taken over the country and Pro-Russia groups are complaining about it. The Pro-Russia groups have petitioned to Russia (This includes the elected President of the country just as a reminder) for help and protection just in case things go South. There is even talk of the Pro-Russia sections breaking off from the other part of the country to form their own nation. (As a maybe interesting historical note here, the Pro-Russia section that is making noises? Crimea is an autonomous parliamentary republic within Ukraine. In other words, Crimea is essentially already its own little country that just happens to currently be attached to the rest of the Ukraine and that Russian Speaking section has Always been Pro-Russian. Okay historical aside over, on with the drivel!)

 

So on the very shallow (It is Palin we are talking about here) surface, Sarah Palin does indeed have the right to crow about how she was right 4 years ago when she said Russia would invade the Ukraine. Course dig even a little bit below that shallow field and her statement becomes nothing more than a happy coinkydink.

See, Russia's military actions in the Ukraine have absolutely nothing to do with Barack Obama being a weak spineless leader or even anything to do with the USA at all. Well unless you buy into the conspiracy theorists who claim that the CIA caused the unrest in the Ukraine in a blatant attempt to gain military bases in that area. Which sadly is one of the more believable conspiracies I have heard lately.

Russia had moved into the Ukraine for two simple reasons. One is kind of noble and the other is a tad greedy, but both have nothing to do with O being president. The Pro-Russian forces have actually asked that their friends in Moscow step in to help protect them from any future violence AND well, Russia is having night terrors about losing another section of its allies to Western Forces. In this situation and the disasters that led up to it, Any US president would have had very little if any influence on it all. Without sparking another World War, there isn't much that could be done besides saying a few stern words and wagging our fingers.

So yes, Palin was technically right and I will give her chops for that. Obama became President and Russia invaded the Ukraine. Accept your kudos from all the folks who are a tad too shallow to look past that. BLIND SQUIRRELS RULE!

Ukraine, We Kraine, EVERYBODY KRAINE or Crimea a River Day 2 of ????

Send in the clowns!

Hokay, now it is officially official, Mama Russia has taken an active military stance in reaction to the hullabaloo in the Ukraine. Color me...not shocked at all. Anyone who thought that Russian wouldn't stick it's steel toed boot into the mess is prolly still working on their first cup of coffee. Russia has staged military interventions in places half way around the world from them, so the odds of them not taking arms in a next door sense is somewhere between slim and none. Anyone else remember Georgia and I ain't talking about the home of the Braves?

So now that Russia has moved into Crimea to “protect” Russian Interests, what happens next? As I pointed out in a previous blog, where does the rest of the world stand when one group starts doing what the previous group did? To explainate further, this whole thing started when Pro-EU forces essentially ceased control of the government because they felt that their destinies were better with the EU than with Russia. Now the smaller section of the Ukraine which favors closer ties with Russia want to split with the Ukraine and stay with their buddies. The majority of Crimean people support staying with Russia instead of tossing their lot in with the EU and Russia is making moves to support them.

So how does the rest of the world react? If you believe it is the God given right of any people to rebel against a government that they feel is unfair and that does not represent their best interests, then how do you react when a group tries to rebel against the rebels that started the rebellion that you for the most part supported? I mean, if it is okay for your side to do it, shouldn't it be okay for the other side to do it too? Sauce for the goose...well lets just say both gooses get cooked in sauce.

Oh I hear the naysayers screaming about the evils of Russia and how many different countries they have invaded. However, I am quick to point out that the ongoing Military situation is not technically an invasion for two reasons. Reason 1 is that the man who is still the duly elected president of the nation in question has requested help from his Russo Buds to make things better in his beloved homeland. Reason B is that the people in the area in question (Yah know the actual people who live there?) are calling for help from Russia. In short, they want the Russians to come in. Hells they are begging for it.

So we have to ask the question (well we don't HAVE to ask it, but if we didn't I couldn't finish the blog.) of “Where the fugg does the powers that be go from here?” What do we as a world do? Do we send troops and supplies to the Ukraine to help them combat the Russians? Do we word stern letters of disapproval (That one is always popular.) which do nothing? Or and this is the big one, do we simply do nothing in what is essentially an Internal Conflict between two separate factions within the same nation?

If Crimea truly and honestly wish to stay allied with Russia, then they should be allowed to. It is their choice, just like the rest of the country wishing to be allied with the EU. Just because we don't like that choice does not make that choice bad nor does it give outsiders the right to interfere. If things truly go to heck in a handbasket with pogroms and murder in the streets, we might have a responsibility to step in, but right now we should just leave it all the fugg alone.

End of Rant

Just some random thoughts on a not so random conversation.

So if there is one thing I can count on from my Friends and Family, both ones I have met and others that I only know through Facebook, is that there will always be some very rousing conversations going on on their FB pages. They can range anywhere from history to philosophy to Gods only knows what else. The most amazing conversations come into being because someone posts something or says, “Hey what if?”

So my friend JB posted the below picture:

Now I am not going to go into whether Muhammad was a good guy or a bad guy or even whether or not he was an actual Prophet of God. I am not going to go into how badly the teachings of pretty much any religious leader (Well maybe not Buddha) have been perverted over the centuries. This is more of an observation on Human Nature.

In the dialogue mentioned above, several of my friends claimed outrage because Mohammad was “Not a teacher of peace.” They, correctly, mention that many of his teachings and proclamations were more than a tad extreme. They point out that Jesus never taught such things as proof that Islam is the religion of hate and violence while Christianity is the nice religion.

While they are technically correct, these claims completely ignore the first half of the Christians' Holy Book. Another newer but just as dear friend pointed out multiple passages in the Bible that are just as grim and violent as anything taught in Islam. Murder, Genocide, Slavery, Adultery were all performed by the Great Men of the Bible. The Old Testament reads like a laundry list of crimes and sins.

Christians love to ignore these horror stories. Their attitudes range from “Well, those stories are only meant to be parables not to be taken literally” to “Sure those things happened, but then Jesus came along so none of that stuff counts anymore.” Sure God was a real prick in the Old Testament, but once his kid showed up, he really mellowed out.

If you have to discount half of your holy book because the things in there make you uncomfortable then you pretty much invalidate any arguments you might have against other religions no matter how off kilter they may be. I always kind of felt like that is the reason you only see New Testaments in Hotels because they really don't want people to see the nasty stuff.

As a final thought before I end this rant, I'd like to point out one thing. In Christian Mythos, Jesus was the son of God so supposedly he had his own mind and his own thoughts on pretty much everything. So even if God was a bit of an Ass in the OT, Jesus could preach and teach a message of peace that was different than his old Man's actions. Muhammad was Not the Son of God. If you believe the Koran, he was simply the Prophet from who God handed down his laws and orders. So it would be more accurate to compare Muhammad to the OT Prophets than to Jesus. So if you use that comparison, then the injunctions passed down by him pretty much line up with the ones of God from the OT,

No matter what religion you believe in, no matter what God you follow there is one inescapable fact. Even if you believe that your religion's teachings started out as the absolute truth and the most accurate when he or she first put them forth, the moment that Man got his greedy little paws on those words the truth was lost. Modern day Imams corrupt the words of the Prophet to suit their own needs. Modern day Priests/Preachers corrupt the words of the Bible to support their own arguments. Until someone discovers that time machine and we can go back in time to listen and see for ourselves, no one will know for sure.

End of Rant

Ukraine, Wekraine, EVERYBODY KRAINE! Part One of ???

We were talking about military and I grew up with PacMan so it seemed to fit.

Not Russian troops, just some heavily armed well equipped masked men who happened to invade after a Rebellion!

 

Before we start this little verbal Tango, let me state once again just in case people missed it the last dozen or so times I said it that I am NOT a Political Commentator. I have a rather extensive knowledge of history and literature, but my studies of the folly that is Politics is fairly limited. This is why my forays into the Death Zone of Politics is generally comedic in nature not serious. The few times I have made serious commentary (relatively speaking) it has been purely my opinion and not the results of any in depth studies. I am merely a loud mouth with a blog trying to entertain my readers. Now, having said that...CHARGE!!!!!

Now anyone who has access to a newspaper, Interwebz, tin cans and string, smoke signals knows what is going on in the Ukraine right now. Depending on your source, it is either “Freedom Fighters have overthrown a brutal Dictator and freed the people from his regime” or “Rebels have ousted the legitimately elected President of the country and promoted Anarchy across the country.” I lean more towards a “Mind controlling Squids from Planet Kudzu have invaded and taken over in the first stage of their plan for global domination” but everyone thinks I am crazy.

(As a historical note here, I am reminded of the Japanese Emperor and other Monarchs who were thrown out of their kingdoms, but liked to pretend they were still rulers when I see the Ex-Ukrainian President sitting in Moscow claiming that he is still president and in control of the country. Reality Check, Dude. If you are sitting in a hotel room hundreds of miles away from the country you are supposed to be in charge of while a standing arrest warrant is in state if you ever return, you aren't in control. Sure, you may regain control if things go your way, but history kind of shows the chances of that are between slim and none.)

But hey this little rant isn't about who is in charge or who did what to who (whom?). This is more an observation on human nature. See the Ukraine is split between the side that really wants to play nice with Russia and keep close ties with them and the side that wants to join up with the EU and play stick ball with the Big Boys. There is a concrete danger of the country being split into two smaller countries with one side Pro-Russia and one side Pro-EU. You know kind of like a modern day East/West Berlin. (Well okay not exactly since East Berlin wasn't exactly pro-USSR but hey this is my blog right?)

Of course, the Pro-West Side doesn't want this to happen. They feel that the country must remain whole and united even if some people would rather drink Vodka instead of...Gee what do people in Europe like to drink besides Warm Beer? There have even been veiled threats of military action by the current rulers of the Ukraine if rebellion is attempted.

And folks, that is where the Knee Slapper rises up. You have just succeeded in overthrowing the duly elected rulers of your country through insurrection because you felt that you were being treated unfairly and now you want to rise up in arms against people who might do the exact same thing? That is HIGHLARIOUS! So it is okay for Group X to say Group Y SUCKS and do some serious damage to overthrow them . However, when Group Z screams that Group X is baddy bad bad and makes noises that they might do something about it, then it HAS TO BE STOPPED! Man, contrary much?

I am reminded of a great quote from the excellent musical 1776 (If you haven't seen it, you should. It has great music and funny lines and teaches a little history when you aren't paying attention.) where Ben Franklin talks about rebellions. “A rebellion is always legal in the first person, such as "our rebellion." It is only in the third person - "their rebellion" - that it becomes illegal.” The same thing happened during that rather unpleasant business between the States a ways back. (Please keep in mind I am not saying the CSA's reasons were all valid or that Slavery was an institution worthy rebelling for.)

The States that would become the Confederate States of America felt that the Union was being grossly unfair and threatening their livelihood and well being so they threatened to rise up in rebellion against an oppressive government. The Union screamed no no you can't do that and well that is when the fight started. Of course, this is a mite funny because only a century or so before, the people screaming No Rebellion had pretty much done the same thing. Now in the Ukraine, one group wishes to secede from the other because they don't like the way the country is headed and the newly appointed leaders don't want it to happen. Seems a tad silly if you ask me.

Now, before I close this rant, take a peak at the link I provided. Even though Moscow denies it, it seems pretty obvious that our Soviet buddies are taking an active role in what is going on in the Ukraine. Subtlety has never been their major strong suit...well at least as far as military actions are concerned. So that raises a rather tricky question. Corrupt or not, Nutzo or not, the Man Formerly Known As President (Hey it worked for Prince.) is the duly elected, official President of the Ukraine and at least part of his country supports him and close ties with Mama Russia. So the question arises, If Russia invades the Ukraine to either “restore stability” and replace the MFKAP or If they simply move in to help support the splinter section that is Pro-Russia, what will the EU do about it? No ponderings on that at this point, just tossing it out as a final question.

 End of Rant

Use your words very carefully

Warning: Offensive Language and Offensive Video (No joke this time)

Wow, really?

"Media, news, and information for White people against White genocide."

 

Now folks, anyone who has known me for any period of time (Or who has read more than a couple of my blogs) knows that I just ain't right in the head. I am a major oddball who seldom sees the world the way most other people do. Most people look at a situation and think Duck. I look at it and think Gizzards. As my Daddy might have said, “I'm a bit teeched in the head.” This often leads me to strange thoughts or tangents that make a lot of people go, “Who da, What da, HUH?”

Take the above article link. Now the actual story is a sad one where a man essentially beat another man to death and got off with a minor slap on the wrist. The article itself is more than a tad racist, but what do you expect from a website called The White Voice? I mean it sells books like Murdering Multiculturalism and has the tag line of “Media, news, and information for White people against White genocide. “ I shift you not. It uses the rather graphic term “African Beast” to describe the attacker. Now most people with any self respect would be up in arms over the combination of African and Beast. Not little old me.

I have always had problems with people being described as “beasts” or “monsters” or even “inhuman.” We use these terms to describe men and women who do things that completely and utterly shock us to the very core of our being. We do this because we simply cannot imagine any human being committing the kinds of atrocities we have seen done over our history. We paint them as something other than us to help us grasp what was done.

The problem with this is it gives both them and us an out. A man who had millions murdered isn't a man, he is a monster. We can feel better about ourselves because no true human being would ever do such a thing. Making them something less then human makes us feel better about ourselves and our race.

The problem lies in the simple fact that they are human, just like you or me. They aren't demons sent from the bowels of Hell to do horrendous things in the world of man. They aren't shadowy beasts flitting at the edges of the light killing over and over again. Hitler, Stalin, Dahlmer and all of the other bloody figures that haunt our nightmares were all 100% human beings.

Calling them Monsters and such gives us an out. We don't have to imagine us doing things like that because we are humans and they are Beasts. We can shrug our shoulders and shake our heads thinking, “Well, what do you expect from monsters?” We can politely ignore the elephant in the room that carries a flag that reads, “Whups, no they are humans just like you.”

People that commit atrocities are horrible people and they should be despised, but we have to understand that despite their crimes they are still humans. Until we understand this, we run the risk of even more evil being done. We need to stop hiding behind descriptions and start working on the problems. 

End of Rant

Help the Animals and Get a Book!

      Help the Animals and Get a Book!

     I am working on a new project designed to help the numerous groups that help rescue and take care of all the animals that cannot take care of themselves and that have no home to call their own.  All proceeds from the sales of the books will be distributed to various animal rescue organizations around the world to help them do more to help.  Your help and support is always appreciated.

They took him back to Wal-mart.

Have I gotta a deal for you!

Clean Out Aisle Nine, Clean Out Aisle Nine.

Now as most of my friends and many of you readers know, my past is somewhat colorful and more than a little checkered. I often joke that I could never write an honest Autobiography because people would think it was all fiction. I mean, “Willing suspension of disbelief” only goes so far, right?

One of the many colorful aspects of my earlier years was the fact that I was an accomplished Dishonest Type Person. Picture any sort of larceny that doesn't involve violence and I have probably done it. Not something I am particularly proud of 35 years later, but it is a part of who I am so I don't avoid the issues. Among my many “talents” was the fact that I was an accomplished Con Man. I was taught by one of the best in the business and have at one time or another ran pretty 90% of the classic cons. From the classic Double Bag Switch to the Alabaster Shuffle, I did them all at least once.

So even though I have been an honest person for a long time now, I still appreciate the beauty of a good con, especially one that is simple but effective. I also chuckle when I see Con Artists break the NUMBER ONE rule of the con, “Don't get greedy.” So when I read the above article, I felt both a twinge of admiration for the young Con Man and shook my head at his stupidity.

His con was simple and elegant playing peoples' reluctance to question authority AND their inattention to details. He even switched out the aspects of the con from one mark to the next. With nothing but a Wal-Mart vest and name tag, he successfully stole nearly 40K before he was caught. At his age, $40K would have tided him over for quite awhile and up until his final attempt, no one suspected him of anything. He had literally gotten away free and clear. Then he got greedy.

The way most inexperienced/stupid Consters get caught is they get over confident. Things are going so well that they think they can't get caught. They think that the con they are running is so perfect that no one will ever figure it out. They forget or never learn that Someone always figures it out. ALWAYS.

In this case, our budding criminal decided to go for JUST ONE MORE strike using the techniques that had served him well the first two times. I am sure he had very little fear of being caught because his previous experiences had shown him that people were pretty much dumb. I mean, he put on a vest, walked into a store and convinced people he was supposed to be there to the point where he was left alone in a room filled with money and in the second case was actually put on a cash register by some member of management. You can understand why he felt he was safe.

However, another truism of the Con is “Not everyone is as dumb as you would like to think.” Even if you assume that 90% of everyone who works some place is an idiot, there still leaves 10% who aren't and if you keep playing the odds just remember that the House Always Wins in the end. This kid got greedy and played the odds and he lost.

End of Rant