Lou Dobbs, the “Independent”

This is hilarious. Lou Dobbs paints himself “independent” only because not even the most rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth conservatives have a place for him. He’s so far to the Right that he qualifies as “infra-” or “ultra-” something, yet to be defined but definitely over the far reaches of the Right’s ledge.

In my opinion, he shouldn’t appropriate the “independent” adjective all for himself. I’m almost certain that most “independents” do not share his views, or come even close.

Lou Dobbs: Issues, TV, Radio, and Books – CNN.com

Commentary

“Word Magic” and mavericking votes

While feeding my Yijing OCD of reading all I can get my hands on related to it, I found the following passage in Richard Smith’s latest book, “Fathoming the Cosmos and ordering the world”:

A certain “word magic” gave early hexagram line statements social and psychological power. Long ago the anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski pointed out that word magic could be found not only among so-called primitive peoples such as the Trobriand Islanders, whom he had studied, but also among Westerners in his own time. Advertising slogans, political campaigns, and legal formulas, for example, al provided illustrations for Malinowski of the magical power of words. They represent, more or less, what more modern scholars describe as “performative” utterances, statements that have the ability to create what they refer to, such as the seductive phrase I hereby promise.

Word magic, as Malinowski observed, can describe conditions that are “objectively” false but subjectively true. That is, language is capable of reflecting a kind of “pragmatic” truth that is “reasonable” in terms of addressing certain psychological needs of the individual and “sociologically true in the sense that it affects intentions, motivations and expectations.” Much of the appeal of the Yijing as an explanatory device can be understood as a product of this sort of word power, specially in a society such as traditional China’s, where plays on words were so powerful and where the written language exerted inordinate social influence by virtue of its seemingly intrinsic magical qualities.

All of a sudden, “maverick,” “9/11,” “terrorism,” “change,” “country first,” “fight with me,” “McCain,” “Obama,” “Biden,” “Palin,” started making a different kind of sense to me.

By the way, it was interesting to find out that “maverick,” as a transitive verb, means:

1 West : to brand and take possession of (an animal) as a maverick

2 West : to obtain by dishonest or questionable means

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Commentary, I Ching

Sarah Palin taking cues from Bill Clinton’s…

…book of propriety… Of course, she didn’t inhale either…

It reminds me of the tale of the “confirmed straight man;” you know, the one that tried sex with another man and confirmed that he wasn’t gay because he didn’t like it…

Sarah Palin – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Details of Palin’s personal life have contributed to her political image. She hunts, eats moose hamburger, ice fishes, rides snowmobiles, and owns a float plane.[12][54] Palin holds a lifetime membership with the National Rifle Association. She admits that she used marijuana when it was legal in Alaska, but says that she did not like it.[9]

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Soledad O’Brien’s shoddy reporting of the DNC

I posted the comment below in Jack Cafferty’s blog. I’ll post it here, just in case the “moderation” works against me…

Cafferty File: Tell Jack how you really feel Blog Archive – What can Obama say to get your vote? – Blogs from CNN.com

August 28th, 2008 2:19 pm ET
Your comment is awaiting moderation.

He already has my vote. He could say or do something stupid and lose it though. A strong possibility with any politician, mind you.

Now, I couldn’t find a blog for Soledad O’brien so I’ll post an opinion of her work as daytime host for the DNC coverage right here: Could somebody ask her to stop being tendentious and leading in her questioning of the panel commentators and field reporters? Seriously, at least with you, Jack, everybody knows you’re a masterful cynic (cynic as in the M-W: 2: a faultfinding captious critic; especially : one who believes that human conduct is motivated wholly by self-interest) and with you is expected and oftentimes very cute. Soledad, on the other hand, is not there yet and needs to attend your school for at least another 30 years to graduate at your level. With her, the result is not the least funny, it is self-serving and, even most important, it is bad reporting.

Unless, of course, she’s vouching for a seat right next to Glen Beck and Lou Dobbs. Sad prospect, IMO…

Update

Indeed, the comment was never approved. It is good I posted my opinion here.

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The other pieces on the board of Russia’s thoughts…

IndianExpress.com :: As Russia shows Georgia its iron hand, a look at the love-hate relationship it shares with Soviet Union’s former ‘republics’ since USSR’s dissolution in 1991:

As Russia shows Georgia its iron hand, a look at the love-hate relationship it shares with Soviet Union’s former ‘republics’ since USSR’s dissolution in 1991:

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Well, duh!!

One only has to hear McCain talk yesterday…

Asia Times Online :: Central Asian News and current affairs, Russia, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan

What is playing out in the Caucasus is being reported in the United States media in an alarmingly misleading light, making Moscow appear the lone aggressor after it sent troops into the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia following a Georgian offensive on that territory.

The question is whether President George W Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney are encouraging Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to force the next US president to back the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) military agenda of the current Bush administration. Washington may have badly misjudged the possibilities, as it did in Iraq, and there are even possible nuclear consequences.

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Master chess players…

It is hard to fathom such an amount of stupidity on the part of a supposedly “Western leader” like Saakashvili. What was he thinking? There are very few random things that happen in geopolitics. This was a (mis)calculated move by the Georgian president to launch a “take control of the dogs in the backyard” to coincide with the opening of the Beijing Olympics, hoping the Russians would look the other way or at least wait until the games were over. By that time, it would have been very difficult to wrench the Georgians out of South Ossetia. Russia, on the other hand, which has a history of not giving a crap about what anybody thinks of their actions, launched a clean-up and punitive campaign against the Georgians. Was that unforseen by Saakashvili? Really? Now, what kind of gambit was Saakashvili playing? Was he promised an unconditional back-up by the U.S.? (yes, I see Dick Cheney’s and Co. fingerprints in this)? Was he given the green light–not that he needed one, mind you–to launch such an attack on its own rebel provinces? Provinces which, by the way, have been bristling with Russian “Peacemakers” for, what?, at least 16 years. For crying out loud, what was the logic of it? What forced that hand?

Looking at the future, I agree with Debka’s assessment of what’s “next”. The Russians, like it or not, do call the shots in the region. Bear no illusions about it being different. The Cold War never ended; it was paused. The thing is, there many hands itching to press the “Play” button. Perhaps it’s being done already.

DEBKAfile – No Caucasian Ceasefire until Russia Achieves its Aims

After severing South Ossetia and Abkhazia from Georgia, four follow-up Russian steps may be postulated:

1. The two separatist provinces will proclaim their independence, just like Kosovo.

2. Russia will continue to exercise its overwhelming military and air might to reduce the pro-American Saakashvili to capitulation.

3. The Georgian president will not be able to face his own nation after losing two regions of his country and causing its humiliation. Moscow will then make Washington swallow a pro-Russian successor.

4. Moscow’s trampling of Georgia will serve as an object lesson for Russia’s own secessionist provinces, such as Chechnya, Dagestan and Ingushetia, and a warning not to risk defying Russian armed might.

5. Western plans to develop more oil and gas pipelines to bypass the Russian network to the West, in addition to the Caspian line which carries one million barrels a day from Baku through Georgia to Turkey and out to the West, will be held in abeyance pending an accommodation with the rulers of the Kremlin.

Commentary

It makes me wonder…

When is the territorial China going to shrink. I mean, you can’t have it both ways. Be a capitalist powerhouse and keep a totalitarian regime (cough! cough!, yes, I know, I’m pointing at the mirror). I’m not saying that they should follow the ex-Soviet example of breaking up the country at the hinges of the weakest links of their former territory, but, it is evident that forcing cohesion can demonstrate to be unbearable in the long term.

Attack in China Kills 16 Border Patrol Officers – NYTimes.com

The assault, the deadliest terrorist attack in China since the early 1990s, took place 2,100 miles from Beijing, but just four days before the start of the Olympics, adding to security concerns in the capital as hundreds of thousands of foreign athletes, journalists and spectators begin to arrive.

China, anxious to avert any possibility of terrorist attack during the Games, has girded Beijing with soldiers, missile launchers and sidewalk cameras. The heavy surveillance did not prevent a small protest near Tiananmen Square on Monday by people who said they had not been compensated after their homes were demolished for a redevelopment project, but a swarm of police officers rapidly broke it up.

Commentary, Just Rants

WTF v3.5

This is like the third or four piece of news from UPI, in the past couple of weeks, where they quote information obtained from Debka. I mean, I’ve been reading the site since they opened the joint and although they have interesting articles and information, their track record on veracity is suspect… Is UPI, and other big names in information gathering and reporting, being lazy and off the field not to be able to come up with news like this on their own??

Egypt supporting Hamas, report claims – UPI.com

A group of suspected Hamas fighters were arrested after allegedly returning from training courses in Iran and Syria. About 15 of the suspects were allegedly allowed to cross into Gaza with a cache of weapons and ammunition in ambulances, the Jerusalem military intelligence Web site DEBKAfile said.
Sources told DEBKAfile that the immigration of Hamas fighters coincided with the escalation of conflict between Israel and militants in Gaza. Israeli officials were hesitant to highlight the movement of fighters for fear of angering Cairo, as it expresses its support for Israel’s fight against militants.

Commentary

How’s this for drumming in Armageddon?

The linked article is also reporting U. S. Defence Secretary Robert M. Gates was forced to cancel a trip to South America due to the emergency situation throughout West Asia (Middle East). It is an alarming situation to Washington and European governments since it has finally dawned on them Tehran was never interested in any peaceful resolution to its nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, nor was Iran ever interested in waging a major war with Israel, since Israel is by no means the rival for international dominance and regional influence the West is. That is why Tehran really noticed and monitored the Rome Conference last year and the arrival of European units in south Lebanon afterward. Tehran knew it meant Rome was back and leading the West again into the region something Tehran did not want to see, so Iran had al-Qaeda declare them an enemy of Islam. That is why Rome’s role in World War III is very similar to London’s role in World War II. Rome is replacing Brussels and not only during the war but in the post-World War III world because the area of concentration for the West is no longer the North Atlantic but the Mediterranean.

Commentary