Bombing Disneyland

It's The Happiest Place on Earth!

I love days laden with a special irony Like today: the 53rd anniversary of the opening of Disneyland and the 63rd anniversary of the detonation of the atomic bomb in Alamagordo, NM. Perhaps it's the juxtaposition of the two that makes America seem so...schizophrenic. Unbridled love and unrelenting hate. One is more fantasy than reality while the other one is more reality than fantasy. And America not only revels in the dichotomy, it SELLS it! We build love-filled theme parks in other countries while selling missiles to their potential enemies. "Crazy Americans," used to get a jovial laugh, but now it instills fear and distrust.

Here is a very insightful snippet from the reaction to 9/11:
From the Shalom Center. Org

"Are they bombing Disneyland?": The Children's Truth

By Ched Myer

A friend of mine who teaches in the local public school reported that this was the first question asked her by third graders the morning of September 11th, as the news of the terrorist attacks filtered out across the social landscape of America.

Reflecting on that throughout the following days, I concluded that once again the children have pointed us to the truth.

Insofar as "the magic Kingdom" can stand in as a preeminent metaphor for the insular fantasy of American innocence and denial — our myth of the nation as Adventureland, Fantasyland and Tomorrowland all at once, the happiest place on earth — then Disneyland truly did suffer indelible destruction. But what world lies outside our shattered dream of ourselves?

But even more penetrating is the quote from Chalmers Johnson included in the piece:

"Terrorism strikes at the innocent in order to draw attention to the sins of the invulnerable. The innocent of the twenty-first century are going to harvest unexpected blowback disasters from the imperialist escapades of recent decades. Although most Americans may be largely ignorant of what was, and still is, being done in their names, all are likely to pay a steep price — individually and collectively — for their nation's continued efforts to dominate the global scene."

Imperialism, however, can be apolitical in the sense that it can be a dream of theocrats. Yes, I'm bringing Reconstructionists into the picture because they go hand-in-hand with imperialism.

Pat Robertson once said "There will never be world peace until God's house and God's people are given their rightful place of leadership at the top of the world."

Sounds like imperialism to me.

Disney's Concept Art for Pirates of the Carribbean

The above graphic and accompanying rhetoric was posted on Flickr.

I just read the Guardian and feel sick again!!!!!To all the FUCKING love&peace&no-war-morons.FUCK your FUCKING worldview....This is not DISNEYLAND,this is the REAL life!!!!

"Some People Do Bad Things"

...And Just Who Is Responsible For Them?

From The Washington Independent:

Feith, the former undersecretary of defense for policy, testified that he was an ardent proponent of the Geneva Conventions, even though he approved of interrogation policies that no international lawyer has ever argued complies with Geneva protections. These "enhanced interrogation techniques" included 20-hour questioning sessions; the physical contortion regimen known as "stress positions"; the use of dogs for interrogations;
Man being "interrogated"
for wearing "non-Islamic
dress"

removing a detainee’s clothing, and exploiting detainees’ fears. He claimed that official administration policy was that detainees should never be tortured—though he conceded that under certain conditions the techniques approved by then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld could constitute cruel, inhumane and therefore illegal treatment. Feith conceded that detainees in U.S. custody had been tortured and, in some cases, murdered, but denied that there was any connection between that behavior and official policy. "Some people do bad things," he said.

Now Comes The Case of Omar Kadr: (from Rolling Stone)

His name was Omar Khadr. Born into a fundamentalist Muslim family in Toronto, he had been prepared for jihad since he was a small boy. His parents, who were Egyptian and Palestinian, had raised him to believe that religious martyrdom was the highest achievement he could aspire to. In the Khadr family, suicide bombers were spoken of with great respect. According to U.S intelligence, Omar's father used charities as front groups to raise and launder money for Al Qaeda. Omar's formal military training -- bombmaking, assault-rifle marksmanship, combat tactics -- before he turned twelve. For nearly a year before the Ab Khail siege, according to the U.S. government, Omar and his father and brothers had fought with the Taliban against American and Northern Alliance forces in Afghanistan. Before that, they had been living in Jalalabad, with Osama bin Laden. Omar spent much of his adolescence in Al Qaeda compounds.

... [Upon incarceration] At that moment, Omar entered the extralegal archipelago of torture chambers and detention cells that the Bush administration has erected to prosecute its War on Terror. He has remained there ever since.

There are radical fundamentalists on both sides of this war. We hear the term used only in the Islamic context, and we certainly can not ever imagine equating even our most extreme Religious Right with the strictest tenets of Islam.

We've heard it said that a popular preacher has stated that America was created to "destroy Islam" It's the word "destroy" that carries just violent visions. On both sides, men are telling other men to kill.

Just a thought.

To Obama: Taking Responsibility In Our Own Lives Is Not Just for African Americans

It's For Today's "Christians" Too!

"If we're serious about reclaiming that dream, we have to do more in our own lives. There's nothing wrong with saying that," Obama told a crowd estimated at 3,000. "But with providing the guidance our children need, turning off the TV set and putting away the video games; attending those parent-teacher conferences, helping our children with their homework, setting a good example. That's what everybody's got to do."*

He added: "I know some say I've been too tough on folks talking about responsibility. NAACP, I'm here to report, I'm not going to stop talking about it. Because as much I'm out there to fight to make sure that government's doing its job and the marketplace is doing its job, ... none of it will make a difference — at least not enough of a difference — if we also don't at the same time seize more responsibility in our own lives."

Responsibility

That's something the other guy has to have.

At least, that's what the Religious Right thinks about Obama and his ideals. Let HIM talk about responsibility: he's not talking to us because we're "perfected." What if Obama were talking mano a mano to Ann Coulter(geist)? Or worse, Michelle Malkin. She would counter in such a vicious attack, it would make Washington swoon. She'd sure as hell send him to an internment camp! Or personally attack him with one of her ancestor's machetes. (Oops, that's something she doesn't like to talk about).

Christians - Progressive or Regressive - have to take responsibility for hate speech; the Progressives have to shout against it louder and the Regressives have to stop it. Of course, it does seem to be genetic in some cases: there have to be some Christofascists who had hate speakers in their family tree. One currently comes to mind: Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham. Fortunately for Billy, his rhetoric has slowed to a mellow crawl: everyone, it seems, can go to heaven whether or not they are Christian. It is obvious that Franklin doesn't agree with his father:

(from wikipedia)

• "I believe that God created one man and one woman. He gave sex to us, God did, and sex is to be enjoyed and is to be used within the bounds that God created.... In sexual behavior outside the parameters that God created, we're at high risk, and we're seeing the evidence of this with HIV/AIDS. We're outside of these parameters, and we have a huge global problem now."
• "But let's use the weapons we have, the weapons of mass destruction if need be and destroy the enemy." (CNN, September 14, 2001)

Now THAT'S good hate speech!

Franklin Graham, as only a true Christian would, also refused to be a part of the negotiations between Sudanese Muslim and Christian fighting factions in 1995.

O.K., what IS the responsibility of a good Christian these days?

Maybe it's to help as many people around the world survive as best they can. To go person-to-person, help him or her, then move on to the next person. I was tempted to say "then SHUT UP and move on to the next person." But that's asking a little too much from the few people who have political/proselytizing voices to be heard. After all, proselytizing=money, ah, souls.

Yes, the Religious Right Christians have responsibilities too.
Just not the kind they keep preaching about.
Love thy neighbor? What's that?

Just look at this rant:





*I was going to say something about Rod Parsley's 20,000 righteous teenagers - "Battle Cry" - in San Francisco, but I think everyone knows now that the only thing San Francisco can't tolerate is intolerance.

This Goes for Christians As Well

K, the Christian Alphabet Art Monogram
Originally uploaded by Marketseq

Hate speech is something we all have to live with. The ultimate hypocrisy comes from the people who say that it isn't hate speech: "It's my religion. And I'm entitled to it." Rather cowardly, wouldn't you say?

People who defend hate speech either hide behind religion or "free speech". Fine. But they have to know - and admit - that their kind of speech kills. If just one death is caused by a preacher from the pulpit, doesn't that negate the purpose of the sermon in the first place?

Between now (the time I'm writing this) and the time you're reading this, thousands of people will be bashed or killed because of horrible things said about them in the pulpit, and no manner of "Love the sinner..." will erase it.

July 14 - Blood, Art, Morality and War - Just the Legacy a President Might Want

Except Maybe For The Art

"No President wants war."

July 14th is a very rare date: of course it's Bastille Day, but it's also the date the Crusaders occupied Jerusalem in such a savage manner that more than one chronicler said the knights' horses were knee-deep in blood. On July 14, 1798, The Sedition Act was passed, making it illegal to write or speak disparagingly about America. July 14th was also the birth date of James McNeil Whistler (1834) and Gustav Klimt (1862) and the death date of Alphonse Mucha (1939). It is also the birth date of Rev. Franklin Graham (1952), son of Rev. Billy Graham. And the death date of Adlai Stevenson (1965).


Don't ask me how it came to mind (I couldn't tell you), but George Bush's legacy - the real one - came to mind in researching July 14th. Oh, conspiracy theories abound involving Bush with 9/11 and the war in Iraq. The reason one tends to consider them is that Bush's presidency has been so secretive about so many things. I'm sure that he and his staff have invoked executive privilege more times than any other administration. At the very least, his non-admission of mistakes has made him suspect to most Americans. America is a very forgiving country when it comes to its leader's mistakes, so when errors in judgment are made and the President doesn't admit them, people tend to ask "Why didn't you tell us?"


Bush's legacy, as I see it, involves an intense desire for war, to the exclusion of national concerns coupled with an unwillingness to listen to advisers and the public. It involves trying to appease the Religious Right who helped put him into office - twice. It involves lack of strategy as well as lack of diplomacy. It involves furthering an agenda few people supported. It involves the "don't worry" philosophy of his father attached to "I'll take care of things." It involves so many things: when his father lost the Presidency the phrase was "it's the economy, stupid." With George W. it might as well be "It's everything, stupid."


There are so many unanswered questions: how much did he really know about 9/11? Did he target Iraq for oil or vengeance? Has he purposely alienated other countries? Has he been just paying lip service to the Religious Right? Is he as obstinate as staffers have portrayed him to be? How deeply is he involved with big business?

And what will he be doing once he's out of office?

The last piece of art comes from a 6th grader via a caring Flickr.com fan. Here was the accompanying text:

“I made the flag like this because I think America is like waves of blood. That’s because America has so many killings, like war and all of the gang killings”
--Student artist’s own words.

This art was exhibited on a bulletin board of a gifted and talented magnet shool in the US. I won't name the school for fear that it might alert federal agents to investigate and intimidate the teacher or the school for being "anti-american".

PS: July 14 is also the day (1798) that the Sedition Act was passed. It was hard to enforce - they didn't have cell phones then.

Dead_because_of_george_not_katrina

Dead_because_of_george_not_katrina
Originally uploaded by AlicePilgrim

This picture was also captioned: The Face of Compassionate Conservatism: Dead Bodies in our Streets.

In a way, the title is fitting: George Bush's apathy for the infrastructure of the nation caused many deaths. Bush was too focused on Iraq at the time to pay any attention to what the nation needed.

Sarah Bernhardt and Alphonse Mucha

La Dame aux Camelias
Originally uploaded by aeillill

What a Pair of Artists!


Few people know that it was Sarah Bernhardt who helped advance Mucha and his "decorative" Art Nouveau. She commissioned him to do a poster for Gismonde and once she saw it, she immediately signed him to a five-year contract to design her posters, costumes and even her sets. Once this information got out, Mucha was "the toast of Paris". He remained in demand for two decades. He designed furniture and jewelry as well. He recognized, however, that his work would be outmoded after a time and concentrated on his supreme artistic love: painting "The Slav Epic." It consists of about 12 vast canvases. He continued to do public art in Prague, (e.g. a stained glass window for St. Vitus Cathedral), but his heart was never far from "The Epic". It is shown completely in his little home town, Ivancice, Moravia.


Picture of Mucha, dwarfed by his "Slav Epic"