mushinnoshin

“While the muslim world may indeed need to examine its collective psyche, the fact that we have them in a headlock might go a long way towards explaining why they are trying to punch us in the balls”

– Martin Holsinger, from a posting on the Buddhist Peace Fellowship-TN yahoo group

Hot Damn! I knew that Corker fellow looked familar, and last night TBS refreshed my memory.

Bob Corker	“Bill Kelley”, politician with a piss fetish

So I suppose this a Golden opportunity for us to Flush the G-O-Pee?

It seems that a fellow by the name of Mark Morice did a bit of the hero thing during Katrina, taking 200 people to dry land on a boat he stole. His thanks? The boat’s owner is suing him.

I bring this up because it speaks to part of why I’ve started to drift away from the libertarian line on issues like welfare & the social safety net. Sure I still agree in theory — taxation is theft, and there are better ways to help the needy than with government. But when libertarians talk, they sure sound a lot like the owner of that boat.

Of course I differ tremendously from right-libertarians — and consider myself more libertarian as a result — on property rights in land and natural resources. I recognize that there is a significant, fundamental flaw in our system’s design — and this flaw is responsible for the vast majority of ills that liberal populists & socialists wish to solve.

I would love nothing more than to fix those problems by removing the cause. Stop taking away the individual’s right of equal access to the earth and you solve poverty, you solve inequity — and you do it without the burden of creating a second wrong in the theft of actual property, which is that wealth one has created through one’s own labor.

But I know this isn’t going to happen in my lifetime. And in the meantime, if we have to choose between stealing one man’s boat or letting 200 people die, well I’m going to be stealing a boat.

Where I suppose I still differ from my left wing friends is that I don’t pretend it isn’t stealing. If I make the choice to let utilitarianism trump ideology, it’s my choice and I own it without apology.

Excellent article by Joey King on the Lieutenant Watada matter.

See also: http://www.thankyoult.org

On a related subject, last night I saw The Road to Guantanamo — powerful stuff. It boggles my mind that anyone can actually defend what we’re doing there. Granted it’s a “docu-drama” and it’s hard to know where “director’s license” might be kicking in, but if it’s even half true — well lets just say if we arrest those responsible, do ya think maybe then they’ll see the virtues of due process?

Update: Heh, fortuitous timing, James Bovard just published a piece in the LA Times suggesting basically the same thing.

It begins

I decided not to let the Bronte cut ahead in line after all. So I guess I’ll see you fuckers in about 1.5 kilopages…

I’m a Buddhist. My father’s in the tire business. How could I not repost this? (via NiT)

As Wintermute has mentioned, TN has a brand spankin’ new law simplifying the process for persons with past felony convictions to get back their right to vote, and the ACLU-TN is holding town meetings across the state to help everyone understand the procedure.

Nashville’s meeting will be:

Thursday, August 31, 2006, 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm, Jefferson Street Missionary Baptist Church

I for one am extremely grateful to Senator Cohen and the ACLU-TN for their hard work and persistance on this issue. It seems much too rare these days that we actually get some good news in the fight for freedom, justice, and human rights. It’s nice to have one in the ‘win’ column.

For more info, visit the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee.

In honor of the news that our esteemed president has finally completed his 9th grade English syllabus –

(this is also to celebrate finally getting a new copy of Boys Don’t Cry, The Cure’s finest album IMHO, which has been a glaring hole in my collection for many years)

So I took in a movie doubleshot this weekend, and I’m proud to say that neither film involved snakes.

Not that I have anything against that particular phenomena, it’s just — well, to me the whole reason that thing has taken off is that “Snakes on a Plane” just sounds like the most awesomely stupid idea for the most awesomely bad B-movie ever. Like it could be the film that finally knocks “Plan 9″ down from the pedestal. So then it’s a little disappointing that they actually tried to make a good modern action flick from it. Which means that like most good modern action flicks, I’m sure it will be fine fodder for a Saturday afternoon on cable, but I can’t see how the film itself could possilby compare to the *idea* of the film.

So the ones I did see — well Saturday night I saw Army of Shadows, a 1969 French film following members of the underground French resistance (*cough* “terrorists” *cough*) back during WW2. I don’t really have much comment on it, but it was very good, with some disturbing imagery as well as some which inspires.

But going back to Friday night I caught Leonard Cohen: I’m your Man. I thoroughly enjoyed this one, even though I do sort of agree with a few things mentioned in The Scene review — the tribute performances are uneven, the guys from U2 put him on much too high a pedestal, and overall the film is a little too surreal to be a very good introduction to someone who knows nothing of Mr. Cohen’s work. But if you are a fan, go. You will enjoy it. So says both me and the drunk girl who sat down next to me who seemed to know every word. Most disappointing were Nick Cave’s contributions — I’ve always been a fan of his, and was really looking forward to his take, but he really didn’t deliver much here. On the other hand, Perla Batalla & Julie Christensen more than made up for it with a performance of Anthem that gave me chills.

As for me, I can’t say whether Leonard deserves the reputation that he has. Not saying he doesn’t, just saying I don’t consider myself well versed (no pun intended) enough in poetry, folk music, or singer-songwriters to make the call. All I know is that his material has a way of grabbing me by the gut. Here’s one in particular that just sends shivers down my spine; so many of the images speak to me on so many levels:

Waiting For The Miracle

Baby, I’ve been waiting,
I’ve been waiting night and day.
I didn’t see the time,
I waited half my life away.
There were lots of invitations
and I know you sent me some,
but I was waiting
for the miracle, for the miracle to come.

I know you really loved me.
but, you see, my hands were tied.
I know it must have hurt you,
it must have hurt your pride
to have to stand beneath my window
with your bugle and your drum,
and me I’m up there waiting
for the miracle, for the miracle to come.

Ah I don’t believe you’d like it,
You wouldn’t like it here.
There ain’t no entertainment
and the judgements are severe.
The Maestro says it’s Mozart
but it sounds like bubble gum
when you’re waiting
for the miracle, for the miracle to come.

Waiting for the miracle
There’s nothing left to do.
I haven’t been this happy
since the end of World War II.

Nothing left to do
when you know that you’ve been taken.
Nothing left to do
when you’re begging for a crumb
Nothing left to do
when you’ve got to go on waiting
waiting for the miracle to come.

I dreamed about you, baby.
It was just the other night.
Most of you was naked
Ah but some of you was light.
The sands of time were falling
from your fingers and your thumb,
and you were waiting
for the miracle, for the miracle to come

Ah baby, let’s get married,
we’ve been alone too long.
Let’s be alone together.
Let’s see if we’re that strong.
Yeah let’s do something crazy,
something absolutely wrong
while we’re waiting
for the miracle, for the miracle to come.

Nothing left to do …

When you’ve fallen on the highway
and you’re lying in the rain,
and they ask you how you’re doing
of course you’ll say you can’t complain –
If you’re squeezed for information,
that’s when you’ve got to play it dumb:
You just say you’re out there waiting
for the miracle, for the miracle to come.

Heehee. So good ol’ Henry Thoreau talks today about a motherfucking snake in his motherfucking stomach…