N. Korean Survivor

So what if a survivor of North Korea's torture camps had a spotty memory? How many of us remember our lives in perfect detail? I suspect none do, and I also affirm that we rearrange our memories without even being aware of doing so on occasion. How likely is it that someone who grew up in a torture camp is going to be completely together upstairs? Give the guy a break. I think most members of the media would be talking to imaginary friends after experiencing even a single day of what this guy went through. North Korea is guilty until proven innocent beyond all shadow of a doubt. A heavy burden of proof must be placed upon the shoulders of any absolute dictator who holds all the keys of power in a State at his disposal, but in particular, a dictator known to be as evil as Kim "Junkhead-Ill," who is ill in the head, having used his own uncle as dog food. The same bar applies to Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, Russia, and Syria. I would not trust anything that issues from the lips of the tools of those systems.

France

I'm glad France is coming together after that stupid nonsense with the fanatics.  If Islam could pop a chill pill, all would be cool. Nobody has a problem with Allah, as long as he can take a joke and roll with it instead of bombing and shooting up the place. An Allah or Mohammed with a thin skin that wants to behead everybody just isn't going to fly. Understand? Assimilate or go back to the Middle East and the Middle Ages.

Mohammed the Pig

The so-called prophet Mohammed was a dirty pig, and his fanatics wallow in his hoof-steps. France pays a heavy price for letting a barbarous cult comprise 8% of the population. Is cheap labor really worth the cost in blood?

The Prophet Mohammed, a dirty pig

USA Today also printed a picture of the Prophet Mo - HAM - MAD (Mad Pig). Their normal policy is to not print such pictures in order to avoid offending Muslim readers. I think Muslims need to have these images broadcast twenty-four hours a day and seven days a week, until they come to terms with the fact they are living in 2014 and not 1014. They need to learn that any violence will be met with violence. If they want to live in a land of censorship, then just move on back to Iran or Saudi Arabia, but do not come to the West.

Meanwhile, a liberal blogger in Saudi Arabia has been sentenced to 1,000 lashes for insulting Islam. Yes, this is happening in 2014, and the reason is Islam and the madmen that call themselves Muslims. The people in Saudi Arabia love torture, hate science and philosophy, hate democracy, love superstition, and worship a mad pig of a demon-god, one that demands blood sacrifice and death. When the Saudis aren't flogging, maiming, or beheading someone, they're denouncing morality, science, or the arts.

The only reason some Westerners defend the Islamists is they are cowed by the numbers and oil wealth of the Muslim world, which is accidental in more ways than one. The cult does not deserve respect, because it embraces death, torture, rape, and other atrocities, and all of this is self-evident to anyone who takes a glance at the news streaming from Muslim nations. That some Westerners pretend ignorance about such matters is curious. There is blood on the ground, and the media spends its time polling whether it is OK to depict the Prophet Mohammed or not, because murder is interesting and generates headlines. There is some kind of sick relationship between the media and terrorists, each feeding off the other.

Apologies to the noble beast, the pig, Sus scrofa domestica, whose flesh I find delicious, whether in the form of bacon, ham, or pork. The pig is actually a fairly intelligent animal and very useful in that one can feed it scraps and harvest wholesome meat. If Mohammed were alive today, he would probably eat pig as well. A case of food poisoning and the runs is the only reason I can think of that Moham banned ham. He heard the Jews thought God was down on pig, and so he tried pig himself and got diarrhea. He didn't understand science and thought Allah was punishing his bowels. Today he might accept modern science and realize the pig he ate was infected. Try a good pig, and there will be no such punishment. Today, we have lots of good pigs to eat, thanks to modern farming methods.

Paris Attack

The Muslim fanatics take advantage of the kindness and justice of Western societies. Mohammed's lies result in yet more human death and suffering.  The Romans dealt with such deeds in another manner than we do. The Romans would have solved the problem one way or the other and not worried too much about the means. The evil fanatics feel safe in the knowledge that France is kind, France is just, France is benevolent, and they take advantage of that, perceiving it as a weakness, rather than a strength. The Romans would have solved the problem forever in a month, and fear would have stayed the hands of any remaining survivors. But in the modern age, we cannot react as the Romans did. I do not understand why Western countries opened their borders to immoral savages and now seem so surprised when savages behave as their nature dictates. Of course, the idle rich classes merely wanted cheap labor and that is the entire reason France invited millions of Muslims, in order to reduce the wages of the native French, but the long-term costs are apparent.

Forcible Chemo

I don't believe medicine should be forced on anyone, with the possible exception of the mentally ill, but our government disagrees, even going so far as to imprison and forcibly administer chemotherapy to a 17 year-old, which amounts to torture and is a grave sin. Rather than forcing a poisonous and painful medicine on one, why not use the same resources to offer medicine to another that needs and wants it, for there are many in the world today that go without medicine due to poverty, including here in America. Of course, the State is insane, and prefers to torture one, rather than comfort another. Compassion ain't in it. Scant regard is given to personal liberty when it comes up against the smug self-righteousness of the fascist State and their scientists. Observe the pomposity of those who think they know better than others and use force and violence to get their way. Perhaps if the judge in the case were imprisoned for seventeen years, for kidnapping and torture by proxy, he might come to understand what a very long time seventeen years is and how much can be learned in that length of time.

Drugs

I've favored legalization of marijuana for as long as I can remember and never favored Prohibition. Toxic brain-killing alcohol is legal, whereas marijuana, which is less toxic than aspirin, is strictly prohibited. This is a symptom of collective insanity. Human beings require medication in order to correct their psychosis. The medication of choice is, of course, marijuana. Perhaps that would put an end to a lot of other nonsense around the world as well, besides just the drug laws.

I think any amount of marijuana is okay, from a ton to a gram. Creating arbitrary amounts that are illegal is silly and points to the ignorance of politicians. Weed is a plant, and it varies greatly in potency, if potency refers to the inebriating principle, which is what folks get their panties in a knot about. Guess what? It is possible for a gram of marijuana to have higher potency than a ton of marijuana. People suffer from ignorance of the plant, which is the same reason that the plant became illegal in the first place. Learn about the plant, and then form an opinion based upon facts rather than prejudice. The same rule applies to everything else under the sun: sexuality, race, gender, religion, philosophy, and so on. People that don't know anything are the main problem with the world today. Without education on simple matters, people make foolish choices based upon fear and prejudice.

There is really no reason to prohibit the possession of any amount of marijuana. Somehow human society survived without Prohibition for millennia, but suddenly nowadays, we are so feeble that the dreaded weed must be banned or else our brains will explode. Collective hysteria and the craving of drama is the reason for cannabis prohibition. People have such easy lives today, without starvation and disease and constant warfare, that they look around for other things to turn their lives into Hell, such as unnecessary laws and imaginary crimes. People heed Thanatos, want to die and want to suffer. This is a basic human need, stronger in some than others.

Regarding other drugs, I am not as certain whether I oppose prohibition. It is easy to make a case for legal pot, but legal meth is another matter altogether. Meth is clearly harmful to the user, toxic, and dangerous. Of course, soldiers used it in WW2, but war is a different can of beans, and we are considering civilian life, not war.

Philosophically, I'm opposed to prohibition of any kind of substance, even meth, on the grounds that the State has mandated compulsory education of its otherwise free citizens. Very well, then, you educated them for twelve long years, and once they reach the age of majority, they are free. Why should they not be free to make their own choices in regards to what they put into their bodies? That seems a fundamental freedom.

On the other hand, there are addictive personalities that succumb to the siren call of terrible things like meth, even though their rational mind knows better. Our desire for freedom conflicts with the nurturing desire to protect the mentally ill, the substance abusers who will consume poison even unto death. Then there is the public safety issue. People high on meth may indeed be prone to violence, and what about the victims? Haven't they rights too?

I believe some substances are so dangerous they should not be allowed to be sold, but mere possession should not be a felony. Drug laws should be lenient rather than draconian, because harm does not necessarily follow in every case following consumption of an illegal drug. Drug crimes are rather different than other types of crimes that clearly cause harm to others.

For a substance to be illegal, it must meet certain criteria. It must be highly addictive and cause withdrawal symptoms. It must be highly toxic and capable of causing an overdose. And it should be tempting, that is, there must be some basis for thinking the substance will be abused. Obviously, not many people are huffing gasoline, and society is not worried about the possession and distribution of gasoline.

Turkey is a Middle Eastern Country

The idea that Turkey can belong to the European Union is a joke. They even arrested a 16 year-old boy for insulting their President. Turkey looks a lot more like Iran than any European country. Maybe after about a hundred of years of self-improvement and reform, they may be able to join the EU on a probationary basis. They need to learn how to run a republic before pretending they can join the other European nations.

The Scum of Mother Jones

One thing that disenchants me about Mother Jones is that their readers and writers have no manners. Everything to them is bullshik this, motherfuch that. They love profanity and ugliness and vulgarity. They hate refinement and civilization. They want to burn the whole world down. Mother Jones has no soul. It is completely grounded in tribalism. It is really no different from Fox News. Everything to them is us versus them. They hate white people, they hate police, and they hate the United States with a passion bordering on fanaticism. Meanwhile, they love tyranny, anarchy, and chaos. They don't understand science and only interpret issues based upon their own selfish needs. I can't really trust Mother Jones. It really should be renamed. Instead of Mother Jones, how about Mother Fuch? I resolve in 2015 to stop reading that site. I'm removing it from my favorites. I need to read something a little higher-level on the intellectual scale.

I deleted all references to Mother Jones that I made in cyberspace. At least I will not be contributing anything to that entity, and that makes me feel better. I don't like contributing to evil in any way. I'm  glad that I never actually contributed any money, even in the form of a subscription, to MJ over the years, at least that I can remember. I can be forgiven giving them links on a temporary basis, due to my incomplete understanding of their moral alignment. Now that I know they are evil, I have removed all links to their site.

Enthusiasm tends to be a problem. Perhaps objectivity is better in the pursuit of truth. However, we are after all animals, and we are subject to passions. To be passionate about something is not necessarily bad. It is, instead, human. I am lucky in that my passion for what is good exceeds my passion for tribal loyalty to any particular brand.

What Mother Jones really needs is a good trojan horse to permit an inside look at the emails and internal documents revealing where their funding is coming from. Unexplained is how that outfit is able to produce so much reporting without much of a subscriber base. I've never known a single soul that reads MJ, let alone subscribes to it, and I seldom find it in grocery stores. I guess screaming "Bullshi-" every other sentence is a turn-off to more people than just me.

Perhaps the editors of Mother Jones suffer from Asperger Syndrome. They lack essential social skills. They think they're fine, but other people, their potential audience, perceive their lack of civility, their rough manners, their ugliness. And that is why Mother Jones speaks to the few rather than the many, and why this will always be the case, until the management of MJ is replaced by competent management.

ISIS and Sex Slavery

There is an article on the revolting sex slavery practiced by ISIS. Because ISIS does not abide by the Geneva Convention, basic morality, nor any of the rules of war, it is morally acceptable to use any means against them, including chemical, biological, and psychological. If an agent can be induced to spread disease among the ISIS fighters, that would be ideal. The savages are lower than animals, worse than any member of the animal kingdom, and make the Nazis look better by comparison.

It's a very good thing they are Muslim, though, and representing Islam to the world. Let the world know Islam through ISIS and only through ISIS. That is the only positive out of their existence. I regard ISIS as the official ambassadors of the Muslim community to the rest of the human population. This is what you get when you follow that path. Death, torture, violence, war.

The Western countries have a responsibility to reduce asylum and immigration from Muslim countries at least ten-fold. The West does not need more Muslims. The Muslims should stay where they are and try to educate their brethren and lift them up from savagery. Learning about morality is a start. That is something they need to learn in their own country, at their own expense and not ours. Their coming over to the West to earn money in low-wage jobs or practice terrorism is not something the West should support. I think our politicians need to be a little bit wiser in terms of immigration policy and exclude those that adhere to primitive and violent cults.

There are enough problems in the world without the distraction of ignorant savages blowing things up and shooting people for no reason but their primitive cult. They remind one of cockroaches, ugly and purposeless. They hate education, hate freedom, and want to turn back the clock to the Middle Ages. At the same time, they breed like rabbits and do not understand the concept of birth control. It's a perfect recipe for the destruction of naive Western societies.

America's Unlikely Defenders

The most devout guardians of our homeland are North Korea and Iran, or had better be, regardless of their bellicose rhetoric to the contrary, because were we ever attacked by nuclear arms, then there is no question but that N. Korea and Iran would cease to be inhabited by human beings within twenty-four hours, and that would be right, and the American public would approve of that response. The idiots heading those incompetent dictatorships may delude themselves all they want, but the instinct for self-preservation may yet stay their hand, as anyone can guess what lies in store for them in the final analysis.

When dealing with such regimes, they are guilty until proven innocent beyond any shadow of a doubt. And even if they are not guilty of a particular crime, they are already proven guilty of other crimes and deserve what they get.

Cheap Oil

Cheap oil is the best thing to happen in the world for years. Let Russia and Iran suffer, as they so richly deserve. Iran spends all its money pursuing a nuclear war with Israel, while Russia spends all its resources invading neighboring Ukraine. Neither country is responsible in terms of the environment, civil liberties, or neighboring countries. Both countries oppress their own citizens most of all.

Mass unemployment and social unrest are perfect medicines for those countries, which labor under totalitarian regimes. The people in those countries need to acquire firearms and use them on State security forces. That is their duty as human beings and that is what they are on this Earth to do. I hope that oil stays at $35 a barrel for the next ten to twenty years. Then Russia and Iran will be forced to confront the reality that they are completely incompetent to do anything. The only reason their people did not starve in the first place is that they happened to score big on the geography lottery and find a hoard of oil under their feet. Lucky for them, but they are stupid and ignorant and lazy, and without high-priced oil, they're sunk. Time to drink the coffee and face the music.

Conservative Liberal Democrats

In Japan, the Liberal Democrats are the conservative party. I'm not sure in what way they are considered conservative, but it probably has to do with the age-old debate between social welfare programs and whatever the opposite is--giving money to the rich, I guess.

Japan also has a Buddhist Komei political party. I don't know what a Buddhist would have to do with politics, but I guess they would favor more temples and less sexual openness. Most religions seem down on sex for some odd reason having to do with our primate origins.

The Liberal Democrats want to expand nuclear power in Japan. I approve in general of nuclear power, but think that Japan should not use it, because that island is so vulnerable to volcanoes, tsunamis, and earthquakes. I think the U.S. should certainly use nuclear power in order to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels that produce greenhouse gases. Yes, there is danger in nuclear power, but our options are limited at this point in time. I believe the U.S. has adequate supplies of uranium in order to fuel nuclear reactors. Most of our major cities, especially those located safely away from the ocean, in the interior, should derive 100% of their power from nuclear reactors.

Where Republicans and Democrats Differ

The difference between Republicans and Democrats is that Republicans are for torture. Democrats believe torture is morally wrong. That single issue defines the political parties better than any other. Nothing more really needs to be said about politics in the United States. If you vote Republican, you believe it is OK to torture a prisoner. Plain and simple, open and shut, end of story.

I believe some issues are pretty simple. Either you possess one moral alignment or another. I think it is evil to torture prisoners for whatever reason. It is distasteful and unworthy and low. It makes us like the stinking Nazis or the filthy Communists. I think that people who would do that, would do a lot of other things as well, and therefore cannot be trusted. If moral considerations of grave consequence can be so easily set aside, if one can so readily inflict immense suffering upon a defenseless human, then one is aligned with the darkness, and evil will result. The servant of darkness may not understand and may think they know better, but that is nevertheless the way.

The issue of torture presents a particularly thorny problem for Christians and may make them quite cross, but perhaps some of those who profess so loudly their religiosity in public, praying and speaking of God at every occasion, perhaps they reason their way around the problem, thinking that after all, they're always right, and God is always on their side, just because they believe such-and-such, and therefore, and what not. They have not reasoned their way out of a paper bag. They are still in the bag.

Cheney defends torture on the basis of its supposed effectiveness. I'm amused that he never really comes right out and says he supports torture. All of these right-wingers are using mealy-mouthed terms like "enhanced interrogation techniques" which sounds like so much BS. Just say torture. Cut the crap, tell it like it is. We will respect you more for 'fessing up. You tortured helpless prisoners, okay? Just say so. Either these torturers feel guilty, which seems doubtful, or they're playing word games for political reasons, which seems likely.

I don't care whether torture is effective or not. It's just ugly. It's going a step too far, and one always wonders, what if the tables were turned? Who among us would want to be tortured? To be killed is one thing. Death does not seem so bad by comparison. I can accept death better than being kept alive only to experience indignities, agony and misery. I have to wonder how Cheney would feel being subjected to the very same torture he assigned to his helpless prisoners.

There is value in maintaining the moral high ground. Cheney sacrificed the moral high ground readily for almost no return. It is as though he sees no value in morality and does not understand why other people do. Perhaps Cheney thinks Democrats are stupid for caring about torture. If good is stupid, then stupid is good. I rather think that Cheney is stupid for failing to comprehend the greater good.

Ban on Books?

I usually think of the UK as enlightened in most matters not pertaining to marijuana, so I was surprised to learn that the meatheads running the prisons over there banned books. Finally, a judge has ruled that the ban is unlawful. The wardens say they are worried about books being used for drug smuggling. Drugs, schmugs. A couple joints getting through is no reason to deny books to everybody in the joint. It's not like a joint is going to blow up the joint. In fact, a little marijuana once in a while should be distributed to prisoners as a reward for good behavior. Learning to love reading really is just the thing to rehabilitate a criminal into a normal human being. Besides, honestly who the hell else is going to buy any books in this video-besotted age? At least keep the prison market open for the starving authors.

Manners

Whether one is right or left on the political sphere, I'm convinced the way to get along in the world is good manners. There is incivility to be found in both houses. I think that social skills are more difficult to grasp than some suppose. So much emphasis nowadays is on technical skills. But social skills are the grease that keeps the engine of society running smoothly.

Terrorism

Every time I read the world news, terrorists are killing people in Africa or the Middle East and sometimes even in a civilized country in Europe or the Americas.

Terrorists seem to think of politics as a numbers game, where the more casualties, the bigger their "victory." When dealing with an immoral, absolutely evil foe with such a medieval mindset, it is important to adhere to a 1000:1 ratio for every single life harmed, with the ratio being filled by the homelands, neighborhoods and hiding places of the terrorists. By eliminating the sources of the terrorists, where they are bred, educated and trained, terrorism is eliminated, both in the present and the future. When no more terrorists are born, then there will be no more terrorism. Terrorism is simply a disease, and the way to eradicate disease is the same employed by the body's own immune system. One finds the source of infection, swarms and destroys, and then disposes of the waste. It's a mystery why governments around the world waste trillions of dollars on never-ending wars that drag on decade after decade, when the solution is rather simple and direct. By treating symptoms merely, and not eliminating the sources of infection, we ensure the problem persists into perpetuity. The Romans knew how to deal with terrorism. We can take a page or two from their playbook and quit playing around with terrorists. If they don't want to observe the rules of war, fine, two can play that game.

GOP Staffer

If you're a staffer for a political party, then you want to stay anonymous, or at least not become known for something boneheaded like this.

Hey, pray for a brain while you're at it. Geez.

Ferguson

Put Ferguson into perspective. In India, the cops won't even investigate a murder if one is from a low caste. I think people forget how corrupt and stupid the rest of the world is in comparison to the U.S. Go and destroy everything, and what we will be left with is a place just like India.

I think Ferguson is open and shut. A cop got too rough with a crook. Period. It's not on the same level as the assassination of Harvey Milk, where the killer got off with a very light sentence by the way. Harvey was shot in cold blood in a planned, premeditated fashion, and he had not committed any crime either.

Open any given newspaper to find an example of a black man with a gun, arrested by law enforcement and facing charges. There are an awful lot of examples of this. I would like to know what is proposed to be done about the real problem, thuggery in the black community. That is a bigger problem than an individual incident or even a series of incidents where a law enforcement agent overreacted. Every once in a while there is going to be a mistake made, but that doesn't mean lose all trust in law enforcement and go riot in the street and tear up things and raise hell. I just don't believe all law enforcement is racist, for the simple fact that there are a lot of black cops. I do believe there are racist cops, but I don't think they represent a majority of cops. When there are bad cops, they should be arrested and put into the justice system just like any other offender.

Where is all the gratitude when a killer is taken off the streets? Where is the gratitude for the peace and quiet and calm that is due to effective law enforcement? I think it is nice to not have to worry about killers running around robbing and shooting people, and that is due to law enforcement, not due to protesters getting upset about an incident they did not witness. I still do not have a clear picture of exactly what happened in that incident, but I do know that the deceased had just come back from robbing a store, and that doesn't put a halo on his head. He and his friend were walking in the middle of the road, going out of their way to annoy and inconvenience other people. I'm willing to believe what the cop and the eyewitnesses say about the actions of the deceased.

If there are enough cops on the street carrying firearms and enough violent incidents, then I think it stands to reason there is going to be a certain percentage of cases where those firearms are discharged in a way that people don't like. Things get mixed up in a tussle, and the logical mind finds it difficult to focus, once the fight-or-flight mechanism kicks in. There is a margin of error and it is something anyone with an engineering background understands. Bring imperfect components together, and eventually there is going to be a certain rate of error. That doesn't mean there's a vast conspiracy against blacks or that racism is rampant. It just means that people are human.


I think Ferguson is much ado over nothing. In Ferguson, you have a lot of outsiders coming in bringing their own agenda, pursued by their own demons and projecting their own past and their own experiences onto a separate incident that did not involve them. The violent rhetoric being tossed around is the product of unhealthy minds, some of which lack any sense of fairness or morality. Minds driven by hate, that is what I see in the protesters in Ferguson. The United States is one of the least racist societies in the entire world, particularly compared to extreme racist African nations like Zimbabwe. A glance at Africa overall makes one glad to live in the U.S., a color blind society, where race does not matter, and it is possible to get ahead no matter what background one is from. No country in the world has the amount of legal protections and opportunities for minorities that the United States does. Go to India, Russia, China, Iran, Uganda. Then come back to the U.S. and say with a straight face that they are any better.

99% of Traffic is Spam

There. I've said it.

99% of all traffic to this blog is generated by spam affiliates from Russia and the Ukraine, the unsavory crime-ridden ghettoes of cyberspace, and other locales in eastern Europe and China.

Why they waste their time scanning this blog probably has to do with mentions of Putin and other keywords, but even before I started blogging about that, they were responsible for at least 50% of the traffic.

Self-promoting Symantec did no one any favors by revealing their discovery of Regin and should be fined several billion dollars or nationalized outright. Symantec did not discover the Regin virus until too late, and its discovery is more in the lines of a confession than a scoop. I do not use overpriced Symantec anti-virus, a system resource hog. Why pay for these ineffective antiviruses that cannot detect viruses, when quiet, effective Microsoft Security Essentials (or Windows Defender) is 100% free?

Russia really needs a lot of  cyberespionage directed at it, and if the NSA is not responsible, then the NSA would be irresponsible. Under Putin, Russia represents evil incarnate, and any means used against it are justified, in the same way that any means are justified against the HIV virus or Ebola. Putrid Putin has the same level of morality, philosophy and aesthetic taste as the Ebola or HIV virus, which is to say none at all, and he has the same influence upon the world. To support Putrid and his Putridity is to be aligned with evil. I hope to see the day when Putrid is put in the ground where he belongs. Dump his carcass in the same pit as his soul-mate Stalin. He murdered Russia's democracy.

Obamacare's Stupidity

The most damnfool thing Obama did was to create a penalty for folks that don't sign up for health care because they can't afford it. Yes, one can apply for exemptions, but I have discovered it to be an onerous, time-wasting experience that can take 40 - 60 hours of paperwork and phone calls with Health and Human Services. Basically, HHS wants about 20 documents proving that one's income is low, and they request almost every bit of sensitive financial information available, opening up the applicant to the horrors of identity theft if that information gets lost in the mails. That is why the Democrats richly deserved defeat in the 2014 election, because they suffered from extreme mental retardation in taxing the poor between $95 - $1000, adding insult to injury to those who cannot afford health insurance due to financial hardship.Why Obama and the Democrats declared war on the poor and the middle class, I don't know, but they did, and I am one of the ones suffering because of the class warfare seeking to further impoverish the already poor. What we don't need in this country is additional paperwork requirements on top of the already heavy burden. Maybe the Democratic elite can afford to sit around all day filling out papers, but those who work for a living have other priorities, such as putting food on the table. The penalty should not exist, was a stupid idea, and let us hope the Republicans have sense enough to tweak that part of the plan rather than eliminating health care altogether. That perhaps may be too optimistic.