Wednesday, July 29, 2015

Race, Bland, and the Real Texas (if you can tolerate it)


THE ABSURD TIMES




Illustration: American Symbol.  Supposedly, when we are at peace, the head is turned right, towards the olive branch.  When at war, it is turned right, towards the arrows.  The head is now always pointed towards the olive branch as we claim never to be officially at war -- just kinda engaging in military action in other countries, that's all.



The last edition seems to have been followed with France leading the way.  It may have had something to do with the early history of the "Iran Problem," but I really don't know.  Any way, congratulations France! Toute façon, félicitations France!
The stats a few days ago:

France
1044
United States
236
Germany
126
Russia
93
China
75
Ukraine
24
Romania
9
Ireland
6
Canada
4
Algeria
4



Donald Trump.

Another RW religious publicity seeking candidate says that the Iran deal is deliberating sending Jews to the Auschwitz Gas Chambers.  No, I'm not making that up, you know better by now.

Another Republican candidate says that President Obama is the leading sponsor of state terrorism.  Well, not the way he thinks, in any case.

TEXAS
            I had been trying all this time to get some facts together when I saw them all in one place and that interview is included here.  To paraphrase Tyson, the Astrophysicist, "One nice thing about facts is that they are true whether you believe them or not."
            Now you may want to tell your children to go to bed.  The rest is about Texas.
            I don't see much reason to go on from here, so here is the interview.  Sandra Bland, as you will find, died in the last county in the United States, after the civil war, to give up slavery.  Lots of other bad things happened there as well:

 
MONDAY, JULY 27, 2015

Sandra Bland Laid to Rest; First Black Judge in Waller County Demands Sheriff Resign over Her Death

Hundreds gathered Saturday to remember Sandra Bland at the suburban Chicago church she attended for decades before moving to Waller County, Texas, where she was set to begin a new job but was then discovered dead in her jail cell after a traffic stop escalated into an arrest. The 28-year-old African-American woman’s family members stood before her open casket as they continued to dispute law enforcement claims she hung herself with the liner of a trashcan. Illinois Senator Dick Durbin and Congressman Bill Foster have sent letters to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch calling for a federal investigation into Bland’s death. We go to Texas to discuss the history of racial profiling in Waller County, and police relations with the African-American community, with DeWayne Charleston, who served as the first African-American judge in Waller County, Texas. He also responds to how Bland was arrested and the investigation into her death has been handled, and calls on Sheriff Glenn Smith to resign. Charleston is the author of "The United States v. Waller County, Then Me."

TRANSCRIPT

This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN: Hundreds gathered to remember Sandra Bland Saturday in the suburban Chicago church she attended for decades before moving to Waller County, Texas, where she was set to begin a new job at her alma mater. People filled the church as well as overflow rooms. Many of them wore white, while others wore T-shirts with the message "Sandy speaks." The 28-year-old African-American woman’s family members stood before her open casket as they continued to dispute law enforcement claims she hung herself with the liner of a trash can in her jail cell. Bland’s mother, Geneva Reed-Veal said, quote, "That baby did not take herself out of here." She also vowed to continue calling for answers, saying, quote, "I’m going to take today and relax. I’m going take tomorrow and relax. But Monday, it’s on!"
Illinois Senator Dick Durbin and Congressman Bill Foster both attended the funeral and said they have sent letters to U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch calling for a federal investigation into Sandra Bland’s death. During an interview with ABC’s This Week, Lynch reportedly said she may undertake such an effort. She said Bland’s arrest, quote, "highlights the concern of many in the black community, that a routine stop for many of our—of the members of the black community is not handled with the same professionalism and courtesy that other people may get from the police."
Sandra Bland was found dead in her jail cell July 13th after a traffic stop escalated into arrest when Texas State Trooper Brian Encinia forcibly removed her from her car after she objected to putting out her cigarette when he pulled her over for allegedly failing to signal a lane change. On Friday, the attorney for her family said he believed she was targeted. This is Cannon Lambert speaking on Democracy Now!
CANNON LAMBERT: When I look at Sandy and I see that she is doing nothing more than saying, "I want to be treated the right way, I want to be treated equal," I say, "I celebrate you, sister." That’s the way I see it. I don’t think that there’s anything wrong with making a stand when it comes to being treated fairly. You know, it is hard for me to get beyond the fact that this officer that stopped her made a U-turn right after looking her right square in her face, as she made a right-hand turn to go about her business. She didn’t do anything wrong when she made the right-hand turn. She didn’t do anything wrong when she was traversing down the street. It looked very much like she was targeted.
AMY GOODMAN: For the full interview with Cannon Lambert, as well as Sandra Bland’s sister, Sharon Cooper, you can go to democracynow.org.
But right now we’re going to Houston, Texas, to look at the history of racial profiling in Waller County, where Sandra Bland died, and police relations with the African-American community there. We’re joined by Judge DeWayne Charleston. He served as the first African-American justice of the peace in Waller County, Texas, where Sandra Bland was arrested and later found dead in jail. On Wednesday, he spoke at a Waller County Commissioners Court meeting on Bland’s death and called for Sheriff Glenn Smith to resign. Charleston is author of The United States v. Waller County, Then Me.
Welcome to Democracy Now!, Judge. It’s great to have you with us.
DEWAYNE CHARLESTON: Good morning.
AMY GOODMAN: What did you say in your testimony this week?
DEWAYNE CHARLESTON: Well, I was trying to point out that whatever happened in the jail, Sandy Bland died. And when she was in that jail, she was in the care, custody and control of Sheriff Glenn Smith. And if anybody had hired a babysitter and they come home from work finding their child hung with a trash can liner, they would get rid of that babysitter, that babysitter who they entrusted their child to. And so, all I was saying is that he bears accountability. He bears responsibility. She died in his care, custody and control. And, you know, I believe that he has to go. And it’s after a line of questionable practices that he has undertaken in both his capacity as chief of police of Hempstead and as the sheriff in Waller County.
AMY GOODMAN: Why don’t you talk about that history of Sheriff Glenn Smith, who was first, as you said, police chief of Hempstead, and then, after being fired, was elected to be sheriff?
DEWAYNE CHARLESTON: You know, as I understand it, it was a pretty big media event back then. It was some years ago. When he was the chief of police, he had pulled—among other incidents that he was held accountable for, he pulled some African Americans over. I think he had a couple of his men with him. And they were searched in the street. They were—they had their pants pulled down and underwear pulled down and privates exposed, and they began to strip these guys in public. And there was testimony that he or one of his men began to ridicule the parts of their anatomy. And when it came to the attention of the city council, he was voted to be terminated. This was just part and parcel of their effort to intimidate, ridicule and malign, with an incredible sense of impunity. And I think that what happened to Sandy Bland is just an extension of that culture.
AMY GOODMAN: As the Times put it today, reinforcing what you’re saying about his history, they said, "A decade ago, Hempstead’s only full-time black police officer sued, alleging that Chief Smith had dismissed him on a trumped-up charge after he complained about his supervisor’s racial slurs. An African-American couple also sued, alleging that Chief Smith had turned them away when they reported that a white man had assaulted their 7-year-old son at Pee-Wee football practice.
"Those suits were dismissed, but in 2007 city officials suspended Chief Smith after he pushed a black man who he said had spit on him in the street. The next year, after complaints about officers who executed faulty warrants against black residents and searched a young [black man’s] underwear in public, he was fired."
So, Judge DeWayne Charleston, can you talk about the history of Waller County, which you have been intimately involved with in your years of activism, but going back to—you write in your book that Waller County is the last county in the country to abolish slavery?
DEWAYNE CHARLESTON: Yes. At that time, it was—I think it was part of Austin County. Those counties later separated, but it was that territory. They remained holdouts, those plantation owners. I think it was Groce’ Liendo, Alta Vista. Those plantations remained holdouts after the Civil War.
But even if you go back some 30 years before that, Waller County is where Sam Houston trained his troops during the winter, before they went to San Jacinto and defeated Santa Anna. Before that, Santa Anna and his troops killed everybody, all the men at the Alamo, except for two African-American men. Benjamin Lundy, The War in Texas, writes about it. They freed everybody except the two African-American men and the women and children they spared. And it was that thing that got me really interested, back when I was in college, and I came to find out that it was this preparation of Sam Houston and the defeat of Santa Anna that gave the Southern states the knowledge to know, the confidence to know, that they can secede from the Union. And now, today, because of that defeat of Santa Anna, we’ve got schools named after people who set black people free—people who were fighting to preserve slavery, and yet we malign Santa Anna, who set black people free. So, this was just the beginning.
In 1963—1964, my mother went into labor. My brother, my youngest brother, was born in a utility closet right there in Waller County, Austin County. He was born in a utility closet because they would not allow my mother to give birth in rooms that were reserved for whites. Then, if you go forward another 40 years, there’s a lawsuit because the cemeteries are not integrated. The city of Hempstead will not allow certain people to be buried in certain cemeteries, and they will not maintain the Jewish, the white and the black cemeteries equally, even though they own the deeds and have all of the stuff. They settled out of court and supposedly were supposed to begin. So, from cradle to the grave, from the beginning of time of the state of Texas, the republic of Texas, to now, Waller County has been at the forefront of suppression and oppression of African Americans.
AMY GOODMAN: Now, Judge DeWayne Charleston, you, yourself, was born at the historically black college of Prairie View A&M, where Sandra Bland was supposed to begin working and where she went to school back 10 years ago.
DEWAYNE CHARLESTON: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: It is also key in voting rights in this country, particularly around college students. Can you explain?
DEWAYNE CHARLESTON: Wow! In 1972, a guy named Charles Ballas—he was a white guy—was recruited by the Defense Department to come and integrate the NavyROTC program at Prairie View. Chuck Ballas led a seven-year fight for African-American students—this white guy led a seven-year fight for African Americans to vote in Waller County. It took a very act of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1979, The United States v. Waller County, Leroy Symm, to assure and protect Prairie View college students’ right to vote in Waller County. It was that decision that assured college students all over America that they could vote in the college—the town in which they were living while they were attending college.
Now, since that Supreme Court ruling in 1979, Prairie View students have been under attack. There have been three city councilmen, a county attorney, a minister, a judge, two public officials, all arrested, all indicted, some convicted, after they participated in get-out-the-vote efforts and get-out—and 19 students, I might add, were also indicted, after they all participated in some get-out-the-vote or campaign initiatives. We’re talking about the suppression of voting rights since the Supreme Court assured that right in 1979. There was one district attorney who threatened to send any students to jail if they dared attempt to vote in Waller County. Nothing happened to him. The Justice Department, the district attorney—nobody slapped him with any criminal offense for his intimidation of voting rights. It is a long, storied history.
And, you know, of course, Sandra Bland underscores it. She speaks it up. But Sandy Bland was not an isolated case. She was symptomatic of a culture that has permeated for years in Waller County. She was the tip. And when she told her mother that she had found her purpose, that she was coming back to Prairie View because she wanted to fight injustice in the South, Sandy’s speaking about things she felt, things she saw. And I’m just grateful for the fact that she had an opportunity to highlight that even before she died, and now even more so in her death.
AMY GOODMAN: I want to go back to something we discussed on Friday. You’re talking about the sheriff. You’re calling on the sheriff to resign. But I want to ask you about the DA.
DEWAYNE CHARLESTON: OK.
AMY GOODMAN: In 2014, last year, Waller County DA Elton Mathis was accused of sending threatening text messages after an African-American clergyman asked Waller County to provide data on prosecution rates by ethnicity. Now, this is a man you’ve worked with, Reverend Walter Pendleton, who says—
DEWAYNE CHARLESTON: Sure.
AMY GOODMAN: —after he accused DA Mathis of selectively prosecuting minorities, Mathis texted him with threats. Mathis reportedly told him, quote, "You are too stupid to know what that word means." The prosecutor cited examples of white public officials he had prosecuted, and then texted, quote, "My hounds ain’t even started yet dumb ass. ... When I talk people [will] listen. Keep talking and I will sue your ass for slander," unquote. Now, I am quoting the text of the current DA, the current DA Elton Mathis, who is in charge of investigating the death of Sandy Bland and holding people accountable, perhaps, for example, like the man who arrested her, Brian Encinia, the officer, not to mention the sheriff and those in the jail.
DEWAYNE CHARLESTON: This comment is indicative of the spirit of meanness that African Americans and Latinos and, I presume, many whites are subjected to in Waller County. The fact that he would use such verbiage, the fact that he would imply that he would send his hounds after somebody, the fact that he would refer to a pastor as a dumb ass, and the fact that he would do it by texting shows you the absolute incompetence of this DA. And it would make one question: Why wouldn’t he, himself, remove himself in light of what he has said, so that the family, the Bland family, can be assured of total transparency, the total integrity of the election—I mean, of the investigation, they would be totally confident in that? It’s just like he has got to go, along with the sheriff. And I can’t—I can’t understand the delay with which the Texas attorney general or the Justice Department is having in removing him, so that the general public, and especially the Bland family, would know that there is integrity in this investigation.
AMY GOODMAN: In 2010, Judge DeWayne Charleston, you pled guilty to accepting bribes following an FBI investigation into corruption, which ensnared—also ensnared other public officials in the county. Why do you believe your prosecution was racially motivated?
DEWAYNE CHARLESTON: Well, like I say, I had led several marches. We sent thousands to Waller County. We had engaged the political process. I was empowering students. I was told that Sandy was part of the march in 2008. We were empowering students. We were assuring them that they had the right to vote and that they needed to stand up. I told you early on about the long list of people who had been attacked. The things that I had been saying for seven years were not very convenient for the people who were in power there in Waller County. I needed to be silenced. I totally needed to be silenced.
I pled guilty. It was what I had to do for my family. I was brought into a conspiracy because I had introduced a childhood friend to some people who had, in fact, accepted bribes. And so, I was brought into the conspiracy, based on the legal definition of conspiracy. But the reality of it is, it was really meant to shut me up because I had always spoke. And so, then, in a sense, I was shut up. But then, that’s why I decided I would speak now, because Sandy could not speak. They literally took everything from me but my mouth, and they took Sandy’s life, and so I feel like I have—I still have the right to come up and speak truth to life, where Sandy was violated.
AMY GOODMAN: In your book, Judge Charleston, you write an interesting fact, also going back to 1979, about the Iranian students who stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and the link to Waller County.
DEWAYNE CHARLESTON: Oh, absolutely. There was a gentleman named David Walker, who lived down the street from us, and a wonderful guy, wonderful family. And I remember as a high school student, he flew in from—after they were released, flew in to the White House and came straight to our football game. And I was so proud. But David wanted to go back. He was a true marine. He wanted to go back. I could see it in his eyes. He wanted to go back and continue to protect that embassy, to go back and be there. And that was my first experience with racism, when I saw how Iranians saw David Walker and other African Americans, as they released those women and all of the African Americans, and it had a profound impact on me for many years.
AMY GOODMAN: So they only released, first, the African Americans.
DEWAYNE CHARLESTON: I’m not sure of that. I know they released the women and the African Americans. I’m not sure. But I do know that I specifically remember them releasing—I was 16 at the time, and I remember them releasing the African Americans, saying–and the general consensus was, "We sympathize, we empathize with what African Americans are going through in the U.S." And it had a profound impact. I didn’t know that people around the world empathized with our condition at that time. And I think that was a pivotal point in my life, as I decided to deal with this injustice.
AMY GOODMAN: In our last 30 seconds, what do you want to see come out of the investigations of the death of Sandy Bland?
DEWAYNE CHARLESTON: You know, Sandy, for all practical purposes, was given a life sentence with no chance of parole. She was arrested by the state trooper. She was judged by the state trooper. She was booked in the Waller County jail, and there she died. Those are the facts, and that’s what we do know. And because she was given a life sentence on July the 10th at 4:27 p.m., somebody needs to be accountable for why she was not able to avail herself of this criminal justice system. It needs to be reformed. So that’s the first thing. In all aspects, from racial profiling to the grand jury system, it needs to be reformed.
The second thing is, she died under the care, custody and control of Waller County. They must be held accountable. They are responsible. They had already been in violation of so many different things with respect to the jail standards. They must be held accountable.
And lastly, I think that the district attorney ought to remove himself so that he can assure what the lieutenant governor said would take place, and that is the absolute transparency of this investigation.
AMY GOODMAN: DeWayne Charleston, I want to thank you for being with us, served as the first African-American justice of the peace in Waller County, Texas, where Sandra Bland was arrested and later found dead in jail. He’s the author of the book, The United States v. Waller County, Then Me. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report.


The original content of this program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. Please attribute legal copies of this work to democracynow.org. Some of the work(s) that this program incorporates, however, may be separately licensed. For further information or additional permissions, contact us.

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Sunday, July 26, 2015

[The Absurd Times] Iran and our Species


THE ABSURD TIMES






Illustration: Last Supper by Da Vinci, shown here to point out that humans are capable of doing better than those discussed below, or else as an example of devolution of the species or the descent of man.

SPECIAL EDITION ON THE "ABSURD SPECIES"

by

Czar Donic



            I have simply not been motivated to write anything for some time, but several thoughts have occurred that I'd like to share.  Perhaps the only positive thing about all this is that several counts against Ron Blagojevich have been dropped and a reduction of sentence recommended.  A great step forward in fighting corruption.



            Iran:  It seems the Great Satan (the U.S.) has a deal with the Axis of Evil (Iran) to prevent it from having a bomb. 

            Listen my children and you shall hear,

            Something closer to reality than the B.S. you've been fed for many a year.



            But first, a few other things to mention.



FATWAH

            One of you recently sent a copy of a Fatwah issued by some crazed Wahabbi saying that drinking camel urine is a cure for bad breath.  Now many people replied with gusto and anger, but I simply remarked "Darn.  Not a camel in sight."  This was only because the forum only allowed 127 characters.  What I would have liked to says is "W.C.Fields voice: Godfrey Daniel!  And not a camel in sight.  All these children wandering around with mouths reeking of lollipops and milk and not an ounce of camel urine to pump down their throats!"  Well, maybe I could have achieved a few more unfollows that way. 



REPUBLICAN PRIMARY SEASON

            This is a boon to comedians.  I haven't seen Saturday Night live in a long time, but they have long since lost their edge anyway.  Here is a good laugh: DONALD TRUMP.  See?  It's enough all by itself.  He attacked McCain for only achieving war hero status by getting captured.  Sarah Palin has not come to his rescue.  Trump is ahead of the other 15 in the Republican primaries so far, but so was Michelle Bachmann (remember her, she said she grew up with John Wayne only to learn, or be told, that it was John Wayne Gacy the gay killer pedophile of Chicago who came from her home town.  Anyway, Trump also gave out Lindsay Graham's cell phone number and because of this, John K. of Ohio who announced for President the same day was ignored.  simply ask around and see who knows the name K. and who know Trump gave out a cell phone number and you will find out how well our political system is working these days.



RACISM

            Some people have found out that many white cops are racist.  Sarah Bland who died in Texas after failing to signal for a lane change is simply the last example.  There is only one point to make in addition to this situation, one that has not been mentioned anywhere else.  Sarah was driving to a new job in Texas.  She was driving there from Chicago.  In none of the photos is it clear what license plates she had on her car, but it is safe to assume they were Illinois plates.  Well, if you have Illinois or New York Plates on your car, you can drive to Florida fairly safely, but if you go south and then turn towards the west, through "Dixie," you are a target.  Been there, done that.



YEMEN

            It seems all the donations made in the U.S. are in some warehouse on the east coast.  Meanwhile, the Saudi planes continue to bomb and kill people.  Our media seems to think it's all the fault of Iran.



URKRAINE

            It just keeps getting worse, but the news here ignores it completely.  They did celebrate the one year anniversary of the Malaysian Airliner crash.  Who shot it down and why is still shrouded in mystery since all the Ukrainian weapons at that time were Russian made.   The pro-anti-Putin people in Ukraine prefer, btw, the term Nazi as they do not like the neo part of it all. 



TERRORISM

            Our latest suggestion is for everyone in Anwar Province who is not Daesh or ISIL should leave because we are going to bomb it.  Does the same logic apply to Chattanooga?  I think not but, unfortunately, we are not always dealing with logic here.

            For example, Iran is on our list of State Sponsors of Terrorism.  This is because it supports Assad and Hezbolla, it seems.  Originally, it was because they were Shia.  We started the whole Shia v. Sunni thing, but now what we really have trouble with are Wahabbi nuts, a version of the Sunni wing now gone even more wild than ever.  Most ppl think it is not even Islam at all.  Iran is the only country that has made any progress against ISIS, btw.

            This is no reason to like Iran, of course.  It is also no reason to hate it.  We need to wait and see how Donald Trump will handle it.





ON TO IRAN

            The nuclear talks are mired in idiocy, or rather the conversation over what they mean is.  Republicans and some right-wing Democrats talk about "terrorism," as if Iran is responsible for it and insulting to the U.S. (or Obama is) and poor Israel is now in fear for it's existence.  Let's go back a bit and see how we got here, way back.  At first I wanted or thought to also restate recent history, but then it is clear that most of the post-Shah history is available online.  What is needed is the material that is not easily available.



            The U.S.A. has been called the "United States of Amnesia" as it forgets the past.  The truth is, however, that it is impossible for people to forget things that they never knew.  What follows is information that you will find nowhere else all together, and certainly are not allowed to be taught in school.  So, the American electorate has absolutely no concept of what reality is in this situation.  That, of course, will not hinder them or it from arguing about it.  That's what we call "democracy".  Alternately, we call it "patriotism," which has eloquently been defined as "the last refuge of a scoundrel".  



            We will start in the early 50s, about 20 years after Jimmie Rodgers died (just to include everyone).  We were defending "democracy" against the evils of Kommunism, defined as anything left of Henry Ford.  Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin was finding "communists" in the state department (just like today, it seems), and the military.  He was persecuting writers, especially, with great zeal and continued until a Republican (Eisenhower) was elected.  He accused Eisenhower's brother as being a sympathizer as well as the military, and the rest of the Republican elite just was not going to allow that to happen.



            Still, we continued to support free elections overseas, just so long as we approved of the results of the election.  [Quick question: when Bush insisted on elections for the Palestinians, while hating Arafat, who won that election?  Hamas.  End of that right then.]  Well, at that time, Iran had a free election and a guy named Mossadegh (sp?) was elected.  Since we did not like him, he was removed and the Shah was put in his place by the Dulles brothers with the full consent of our government -- Iranians were not consulted.  The Shah did what we told him to, even supplied oil to Israel, created a savage secret police called SAVAK, and so on.  You know, good ol' fashion democratic government.  The Shah was no Kommunist, not at all.



            The Shah put lots of people in prison and tortured quite a few, but he still adhered to democracy, we were told.  A great friend of ours, he was indeed.  Eventually, during the Carter Presidency (we skipped over Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford as all was well, we are told) the people had enough and began to revolt, both left and religious groups combined in this effort.  Even SAVAK was unable to kill and maim enough people to keep the Shah safe, so he got sick and left the sacrificial goat, Shapur Baktiar (sp, again) in charge.  During the turnover, the poor guy kept staring up to the heavens, out of one prison into another, doubtless hoping a lightning bolt would strike either him or the Shah, but it was not to be.  After a month, but before two months, he was killed and the Ayatollah was established as leader. 



            After awhile, some students took over the U.S. Embassy and the program AMERICA HELD HOSTAGE became a hit, hosted by Ted Koppel (who bore a striking resemblance to Howdy Doody).  Jimmie Carter tried one rescue that failed.  Then Ronnie Raygun's campaign made a deal with the Ayatollah not to release the hostages until he was sworn in.  This came to pass, and eventually we were treated to Ollie North testifying to Congress about the Iran-Contra scandal.  If Raygun was told about all this, he forgot all about it.



            Well, we got more angry at Iran [BTW: not a missle was fired at any country during Carter's Presidency -- one reason he is so disliked by other former Presidents] and sent guns and information to our ally Saddam Hussein.  Later, during Bush II, we said that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and knew it because we had the receipts.



            Now, most of what followed is common enough knowledge that we can stop the nostalgia and focus on the nuclear issue.  Iran signed the IAEA agreement about development of peaceful means, Israel has not, and never will.  80% of the public in the Mideast would feel safer if Iran did have a nuclear weapon, but Iran never seemed to want one.  In fact, the last president, whose name has always been a puzzle, Ackmedeniajad or something like that, said that such weapons were "20th Century" and that Iran was capable of defending itself.  Additionally, for over 200 years, there is no record of Iran invading any other country (and a couple islands nearby claimed by Iraq are merely under dispute). 



            So, who came out on top with these negotiations?  It was a zero sum game.  Further discussion is stupid and those who raise issues over it are the same ones that started us in Iraq in the first place.  We are not pleased and would prefer some good artwork or literature henceforth.
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Posted By Blogger to The Absurd Times at 7/24/2015 10:38:00 AM

Friday, July 24, 2015

Iran and our Species



THE ABSURD TIMES






Illustration: Last Supper by Da Vinci, shown here to point out that humans are capable of doing better than those discussed below, or else as an example of devolution of the species or the descent of man.

SPECIAL EDITION ON THE "ABSURD SPECIES"

by

Czar Donic



            I have simply not been motivated to write anything for some time, but several thoughts have occurred that I'd like to share.  Perhaps the only positive thing about all this is that several counts against Ron Blagojevich have been dropped and a reduction of sentence recommended.  A great step forward in fighting corruption.



            Iran:  It seems the Great Satan (the U.S.) has a deal with the Axis of Evil (Iran) to prevent it from having a bomb. 

            Listen my children and you shall hear,

            Something closer to reality than the B.S. you've been fed for many a year.



            But first, a few other things to mention.



FATWAH

            One of you recently sent a copy of a Fatwah issued by some crazed Wahabbi saying that drinking camel urine is a cure for bad breath.  Now many people replied with gusto and anger, but I simply remarked "Darn.  Not a camel in sight."  This was only because the forum only allowed 127 characters.  What I would have liked to says is "W.C.Fields voice: Godfrey Daniel!  And not a camel in sight.  All these children wandering around with mouths reeking of lollipops and milk and not an ounce of camel urine to pump down their throats!"  Well, maybe I could have achieved a few more unfollows that way. 



REPUBLICAN PRIMARY SEASON

            This is a boon to comedians.  I haven't seen Saturday Night live in a long time, but they have long since lost their edge anyway.  Here is a good laugh: DONALD TRUMP.  See?  It's enough all by itself.  He attacked McCain for only achieving war hero status by getting captured.  Sarah Palin has not come to his rescue.  Trump is ahead of the other 15 in the Republican primaries so far, but so was Michelle Bachmann (remember her, she said she grew up with John Wayne only to learn, or be told, that it was John Wayne Gacy the gay killer pedophile of Chicago who came from her home town.  Anyway, Trump also gave out Lindsay Graham's cell phone number and because of this, John K. of Ohio who announced for President the same day was ignored.  simply ask around and see who knows the name K. and who know Trump gave out a cell phone number and you will find out how well our political system is working these days.



RACISM

            Some people have found out that many white cops are racist.  Sarah Bland who died in Texas after failing to signal for a lane change is simply the last example.  There is only one point to make in addition to this situation, one that has not been mentioned anywhere else.  Sarah was driving to a new job in Texas.  She was driving there from Chicago.  In none of the photos is it clear what license plates she had on her car, but it is safe to assume they were Illinois plates.  Well, if you have Illinois or New York Plates on your car, you can drive to Florida fairly safely, but if you go south and then turn towards the west, through "Dixie," you are a target.  Been there, done that.



YEMEN

            It seems all the donations made in the U.S. are in some warehouse on the east coast.  Meanwhile, the Saudi planes continue to bomb and kill people.  Our media seems to think it's all the fault of Iran.



URKRAINE

            It just keeps getting worse, but the news here ignores it completely.  They did celebrate the one year anniversary of the Malaysian Airliner crash.  Who shot it down and why is still shrouded in mystery since all the Ukrainian weapons at that time were Russian made.   The pro-anti-Putin people in Ukraine prefer, btw, the term Nazi as they do not like the neo part of it all. 



TERRORISM

            Our latest suggestion is for everyone in Anwar Province who is not Daesh or ISIL should leave because we are going to bomb it.  Does the same logic apply to Chattanooga?  I think not but, unfortunately, we are not always dealing with logic here.

            For example, Iran is on our list of State Sponsors of Terrorism.  This is because it supports Assad and Hezbolla, it seems.  Originally, it was because they were Shia.  We started the whole Shia v. Sunni thing, but now what we really have trouble with are Wahabbi nuts, a version of the Sunni wing now gone even more wild than ever.  Most ppl think it is not even Islam at all.  Iran is the only country that has made any progress against ISIS, btw.

            This is no reason to like Iran, of course.  It is also no reason to hate it.  We need to wait and see how Donald Trump will handle it.





ON TO IRAN

            The nuclear talks are mired in idiocy, or rather the conversation over what they mean is.  Republicans and some right-wing Democrats talk about "terrorism," as if Iran is responsible for it and insulting to the U.S. (or Obama is) and poor Israel is now in fear for it's existence.  Let's go back a bit and see how we got here, way back.  At first I wanted or thought to also restate recent history, but then it is clear that most of the post-Shah history is available online.  What is needed is the material that is not easily available.



            The U.S.A. has been called the "United States of Amnesia" as it forgets the past.  The truth is, however, that it is impossible for people to forget things that they never knew.  What follows is information that you will find nowhere else all together, and certainly are not allowed to be taught in school.  So, the American electorate has absolutely no concept of what reality is in this situation.  That, of course, will not hinder them or it from arguing about it.  That's what we call "democracy".  Alternately, we call it "patriotism," which has eloquently been defined as "the last refuge of a scoundrel".  



            We will start in the early 50s, about 20 years after Jimmie Rodgers died (just to include everyone).  We were defending "democracy" against the evils of Kommunism, defined as anything left of Henry Ford.  Joe McCarthy of Wisconsin was finding "communists" in the state department (just like today, it seems), and the military.  He was persecuting writers, especially, with great zeal and continued until a Republican (Eisenhower) was elected.  He accused Eisenhower's brother as being a sympathizer as well as the military, and the rest of the Republican elite just was not going to allow that to happen.



            Still, we continued to support free elections overseas, just so long as we approved of the results of the election.  [Quick question: when Bush insisted on elections for the Palestinians, while hating Arafat, who won that election?  Hamas.  End of that right then.]  Well, at that time, Iran had a free election and a guy named Mossadegh (sp?) was elected.  Since we did not like him, he was removed and the Shah was put in his place by the Dulles brothers with the full consent of our government -- Iranians were not consulted.  The Shah did what we told him to, even supplied oil to Israel, created a savage secret police called SAVAK, and so on.  You know, good ol' fashion democratic government.  The Shah was no Kommunist, not at all.



            The Shah put lots of people in prison and tortured quite a few, but he still adhered to democracy, we were told.  A great friend of ours, he was indeed.  Eventually, during the Carter Presidency (we skipped over Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford as all was well, we are told) the people had enough and began to revolt, both left and religious groups combined in this effort.  Even SAVAK was unable to kill and maim enough people to keep the Shah safe, so he got sick and left the sacrificial goat, Shapur Baktiar (sp, again) in charge.  During the turnover, the poor guy kept staring up to the heavens, out of one prison into another, doubtless hoping a lightning bolt would strike either him or the Shah, but it was not to be.  After a month, but before two months, he was killed and the Ayatollah was established as leader. 



            After awhile, some students took over the U.S. Embassy and the program AMERICA HELD HOSTAGE became a hit, hosted by Ted Koppel (who bore a striking resemblance to Howdy Doody).  Jimmie Carter tried one rescue that failed.  Then Ronnie Raygun's campaign made a deal with the Ayatollah not to release the hostages until he was sworn in.  This came to pass, and eventually we were treated to Ollie North testifying to Congress about the Iran-Contra scandal.  If Raygun was told about all this, he forgot all about it.



            Well, we got more angry at Iran [BTW: not a missle was fired at any country during Carter's Presidency -- one reason he is so disliked by other former Presidents] and sent guns and information to our ally Saddam Hussein.  Later, during Bush II, we said that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and knew it because we had the receipts.



            Now, most of what followed is common enough knowledge that we can stop the nostalgia and focus on the nuclear issue.  Iran signed the IAEA agreement about development of peaceful means, Israel has not, and never will.  80% of the public in the Mideast would feel safer if Iran did have a nuclear weapon, but Iran never seemed to want one.  In fact, the last president, whose name has always been a puzzle, Ackmedeniajad or something like that, said that such weapons were "20th Century" and that Iran was capable of defending itself.  Additionally, for over 200 years, there is no record of Iran invading any other country (and a couple islands nearby claimed by Iraq are merely under dispute). 



            So, who came out on top with these negotiations?  It was a zero sum game.  Further discussion is stupid and those who raise issues over it are the same ones that started us in Iraq in the first place.  We are not pleased and would prefer some good artwork or literature henceforth.
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