Saturday 20th of April 2024
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musings from our pet goat .....

‘The news is full of little else than the foiled terrorist plot to blow up a number of airliners in midair. Every official who can possibly justify it is popping up before the cameras with something to say, including, of course, the president.

Does Mr. Bush ever consider that, perhaps, he has become so accustomed to glib platitudes that he has actually come to believe them? I just saw him emerge from Air Force One and tell us, with appropriate solemnity, that Islamo-fascists (as distinct from Red-State-fascists?) are again trying to destroy us because we are free.

Wake up, George!

If they are trying to destroy us, it has nothing to do with our nominal freedom, but the fact that we are supplying Israel with the bombs, napalm, missiles, etc., with which they are destroying Lebanon, as we have destroyed Iraq, and occupied Afghanistan. If they are trying to destroy us, it just might be because we ARE destroying them! At some point, wouldn’t it be appropriate to consider that?

Of course, the terrorist destruction referred to is that of six, or ten, airliners, mostly, but not necessarily exclusively, American.

Details are sketchy.

But is that the plot? Quite possibly.

But maybe the plot is simply to inconvenience as many people as possible for as long as possible. That can be done with virtually no effort or expense on the part of the terrorists, and the cost, to the U.S. and Britain, must be staggering.

Reports are that 400,000 people have had their travel plans disrupted by this plot. More precisely, they have had their travel plans disrupted by the reaction to the plot!’

Bombs & Baloney

and on the subject of “fascism” …..

‘Since, Mr. Bush, you have chosen to put the issue of fascism before the public, it begs a broader dialog on fascism's role in our lives today. I accept the challenge to enter that dialog. Frankly Mr. Bush, many Americans refer to you as a fascist. There really isn't any other way to state that than bluntly. Blowing up an airliner full of passengers is barbaric and completely unacceptable, regardless of the objectives of those involved, but it really doesn't fit the definition of fascism.

From Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language:

FASCISM: A system of government characterized by rigid one party dictatorship, forcible suppression of opposition, private economic enterprise under centralized governmental control, belligerent nationalism, racism and militarism, etc.

That's really the heart of the matter now isn't it, Mr. Bush. One might wonder if you are troubled by by the specter of fascism in your inner thoughts when you cast the accusation wildly into the public discourse.

What would the people of Iraq say about fascism if asked? But then they haven't been asked, have they - they've been liberated, of course.

What would our founding fathers say about detention without due process, without end?

Electronic surveillance of all Americans, without regard for the law?

What is democracy if the citizens have no confidence in the integrity of their elections?

Our military hurls five-hundred pound bombs all day and all night. They land on whom they land on. It is not an isolated act of madness, it is a coordinated act of state. All the while private corporations profit wildly.

Fascism, Mr. Bush, is not your strongest card. You should change the subject again.’

Fascists Of All Varieties

and, dear traveller, whilst the “great decider” enjoys his endless vacation, struggling to understand the sequel to My Pet Goat, the rest of us can only wonder about his endless war on terra …..

‘When unsmiling agents at the airport take away your contact lens solution, your toothpaste, and your cologne or after-shave, remember Osama bin Laden. Remember the real war on terrorism that the Bush administration and its allies decided not to fight, preferring cowboy-style military adventures.

The revelation yesterday of the elaborate plot to blow up airliners over the Atlantic Ocean with liquid explosives reminds us of the real threats we face - as opposed to the phantom threats that George W. Bush and Tony Blair have conjured to justify their disastrous war in Iraq.

The airliner conspiracy seems to have all the hallmarks of an al-Qaeda extravaganza: careful and sophisticated planning, the intent to shock the world with simultaneous detonations, cold-blooded determination to murder innocents by the hundreds, and a timeline that comes suspiciously close to the fifth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Sending a cascade of Boeings and Airbuses into the frigid ocean would have had the kind of theatrical impact that al-Qaeda always seeks.

But it doesn't really matter whether the plotters were al-Qaeda soldiers taking orders from bin Laden or just a group of like-minded admirers working on their own.

The plot demonstrates that al-Qaeda lives on, either as a functioning organization or, even more chillingly, as an inspiration to jihadists around the world.’

The War Bush Isn't Fighting

high farce .....

‘Terrorists are "rolling around the caves of Pakistan, laughing" at Britain's response to the terror threat, an airline boss said last night as he gave the government a seven-day deadline to relax restrictions or face legal action.

Ryanair boss Michael O'Leary described some of the security measures as "farcical, Keystone Kops-like and completely insane and ineffectual".’

Airline Chief: 'Terror Leaders Laughing In Their Caves'

History repeating itself, like Roman reflux

"[http://friesian.com/romania.htm#text-3|Rome] casts a long shadow. I am writing in the Latin alphabet. I am using the Roman calendar,with its names of the months. I use Roman names for the planets in the sky. Sentences I write contain borrowed Latin words with some frequency [e.g. sententia, continêre, Latinus, frequentia , for example -- exempli gratia ]. Nietzsche said, "The Romans were the strongest and most noble people who ever lived." But this is just the problem. What Nietzsche admired was unapologetic power, conquest, and domination. This no longer seems so admirable, and the Empire founded by Julius Caesar and Augustus, as a form of government, does not look like an advance in the course of human progress. Even to Machiavelli, the despotism of Caesar was a grave retrogression in comparison to the Roman Republic. While a thoughtful Emperor, like Marcus Aurelius, expressed ideals adopted from Stoic cosmopolitanism, the unity and universality of Rome soon expressed itself as the unity and universality of a state religion , Christianity, whose intrinsic exclusivism and intolerance became characteristic of the Middle Ages. This is also no longer to be regarded as admirable. Nevertheless, the very success of Rome makes us, like it or not, her heirs, in countless matters great and small (like monogamy, which has no Biblical basis). Indeed, the Romans were rather more successful than is usually thought. The corpus of Roman law, let alone Greek literature, was not preserved at Rome, but at Constantinople, Roma Nova . What most people would probably regard as an obscure footnote to Mediaeval history, the Byzantine Empire, was in fact still the Roman Empire, known to Western Europeans, "Latins" or "Franks" at the time, as Romania, already the name of the Empire in Late Antiquity.

In the Middle Ages, the Greeks used their own word for "Greeks," Hellênes , to mean the ancient pagan Greeks, as in the Bible. They were themselves always Romans, Rhômaîoi . The Latin conquest of Constantinople in 1204, and then refugees from the fall of the City to the Ottomans in 1453, rather crudely, but effectively, brought the heritage of the Roman East back into the hitherto poorer Mediaeval civilization of the West."
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Gus translates into modern reflux:
Washington casts a long shadow. I am writing using the US spellcheck. I am using US invented computers. I believe the first men on the moons were Americans. Sentences I write contain borrowed [credit] US words with some frequency [e.g. dude, yo, root, moron for example -- free of charge? Bugger that, we'll send you the bill later ]. Most say, "The Yankees are the strongest and most noble people who ever lived." But this is just the problem. What they admire is unapologetic power, conquest, and domination. This no longer seems so admirable, and the present state of the Homeland founded by Thomas Jefferson and Washington, as a form of government, does not look like an advance in the course of human progress. Even to Leonisky, the despotism of George W. Bush is a grave retrogression in comparison to the Democratic Republic. While a thoughtful Emperor, like Bill Clinton, expressed ideals adopted from Sexy cosmopolitanism, the impunity and monoculture of Washington enforces itself through the starlet syndrom of Hollywoodian filums ... Christianity, Jewry and Muslimry have intrinsic exclusivism and intolerance that are characteristic of these Extreme Ages. This is not to be regarded as admirable. Nevertheless, the very success of Washington makes us, like it or not, her accomplices, in countless matters great and small (like tightarsery and wars, that have no Ethical basis). Unfortunately, the Yankees are rather more successful than is usually thought. The corpus of corrupt law, let alone Mafia gangsters signatures, is not only preserved in Washington, but in New York and Chicago, US plunda da world. What most people would probably regard as an obscure footnote to Bushit history, the Bushit Empire is in fact the Bullshit Empire, known to Western Europeans, "French" or "Germans" of our time, as Bullshitia, already the name of the Empire in late twentieth century.

In these Extreme Ages, the Geeks use their own word for "Geeks," BillGatese , to mean the ancient "Apple" Geeks, as in the computers. They were themselves always Americans, Yankees. The Jewish conquest of Lebanon (themselves) and Iraq (using a dummy in Washington), and then refugees from the fall of these countries to the Hizbollah and insurgencies, rather crudely, but effectively, brought the petrol price of the Yankeeland back into the hitherto high-deficit Mediaeval neo-civilization of the West wing.