Matthew Hoh and the Troubled War in Afghanistan

Just yesterday  read about Matthew Hoh, the state department official who resigned over the war in Afghanistan. Today when I logged in to Yahoo more out of habit than to check my email, the headline I was greeted with read “October Deadliest Month for US in Afghan War.” Putting aside the fact that as usual, we are only ever talking about the death tolls of the people we feel are connected to us by the arbitrary lines drawn on maps that are borders, there’s a lot to be disturbed about in this article. 

 

For me, perhaps the biggest concern is that no one is listening. Citizens have been protesting, the tide of public opinion has long turned to see that far from all being like me, radical lefties who oppose war in all it’s many forms, many of those protesting citizens are simply people who can see that this war is a lost cause that we are losing ourselves in, and now state department officials are resigning over it. Yet we send more troops to fight this blatantly stupid war. 

 

In this, the deadliest month of this war for the US, 55 Americans lost their lives. “A loss like this is extremely difficult for the families as well as for those who served alongside these brave service members,” said Navy Capt. Jane Campbell, a military spokeswoman. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends who mourn their loss.” I don’t argue that. I don’t mean to belittle the lives lost. But the question remains for me, and remains important: How many Afghani citizens died this month? Was their loss also extremely difficult? Are your prayers and thoughts with them and their families? 

 

It’s thoughts like this that I can’t shake when I see a war being described as a “troubled war”. When is a war not both troubled and troubling? When are we going to stop trying to justify the violence and destruction this war and all the others bring?

 

Midwest Madness Part 1

 

 One of these days I’ll learn not to make promises I can’t keep, like “no for real this time, the blog is coming back to life, this week, with a post jampacked full of pictures and trip details”. A busy time at work and a bad case of the flu later, here we are! 

 

The trip was a plan dreamed up by my friend Ben. His parents were giving him a car, and all he had to do was go pick it up. We flew into Chicago way too early in the morning, and we were off. We went separate ways while there, and sadly, I have no pictures of my time there. I visited a couple of friends, drank too much, and bought an awesome comic book. 

 

Tales of Good Ol' Snoop Doggy Dogg, a measly $3

 

Phase two started with me not understanding what time Ben was coming to pick me up from the lovely Alison’s, so I left my pants in her bed and we were on our way in style. 

 

First scheduled stop was Madison, Wisconsin, to visit the capitol and buy a ridiculous amount of very good beer.

 

My traveling partner, the marvelous Ben

I appear skeptical

 

 

 

 

 

After the capitol, we had to hunt a bit to find the beer we were supposed to obtain, and along the way we picked up Terrence, who you’ll be meeting soon. As we headed out of Madison, we also found Ella’s Kosher Deli, for which there is no explanation. 

 

There was also a Liquor Baron on our way out of town. It looked as though it had seen better days. 

 

Sign of the times

 

 

 Next up, we headed to the Fabulous Wisconsin Dellstm! Ben was pretty certain they might be terrible, but no! They were a definite highlight, even though it was the offseason and they wouldn’t let us in to the torture museum. 

 

They wouldn’t let me get married, either. 

 

Dells Bells!

I asked the Wizard a question, as the sign implored me to. I asked it “does jesus really love us” and it vibrated madly before decisively landing, simply, on “no”. 

 

Just like magic fingers

We may or may not have exhibited extreme cowardice in the face of Ghost Outpost.

 

It really was creepy.

 

Finally, we declined the offer to have a swig with nig. 

In case you couldn’t tell, we really loved it there. It was like all the tacky bits of America distilled into a fine wine, but without all the awful people. Oh, offseason. 

 

Austin, Minnesota offered us the Spam museum. Unfortunately, they were closing in fifteen minutes, so our visit was a bit rushed. We did manage to make note of the feature film. 

 

What other kind of story would it be, for fucks sake?

It was exceedingly cold, rainy, and windy in Minnesota. Also, Austin smelled intensely of pigs, which could explain Ben’s face. 

MMMMMM, Spam.

 I was pretty damn excited about this whole Spam museum business. The employees there are referred to as Spambassadors. In a delightful twist, they seemed to have no idea that they were kitsch. 

 

If Spam doesn't deserve jazz hands, what does?

The only other really fantastic thing we saw in Minnesota, we failed to get any pictures of. There was an insane amount of fog and rain, and miles and miles of windmills, looking ghostly in the distance and menacing up close. It was hard to be sure that they were real. 

Day one of driving ended in Mitchell, South Dakota, home of something marvelous. 

THE WORLD'S ONLY

Meet Panda. Panda approves of the corn palace.

Introducing Terrance.

Who loves corn? Everyone loves corn.

That’s about all Mitchell had to offer, so we were on our merry way in the morning, after a good night of sleep and a decent breakfast. Holiday Inn Express is a fine establishment, by the way. 

We were still battling unbelievable wind and rain through most of South Dakota. We made a stop at the 1880 town, which had been trying to lure us in for many, many miles with promises of authenticity, but they wanted $9 for entry. I declared that inauthentic, so I rode their train, took a picture of their man walking a dinosaur, and we continued. 

When it actually began to move, I made a run for it.

Man walked the earth with the dinosaurs! PROOF!

The Noah’s ark rains caused a brief detour. We had to fix a broken windshield wiper, which sounds easy, but when neither of you has any idea what you’re doing, it can be a challenge. I found us a dealership and negotiated with a gruff young man for the replacement, and away we went. 

A flawed shield against the wind while repairs took place

 

I wasn’t overly excited to visit the Badlands, but that changed the instant I saw them. Absolutely one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. Panda and Terrance approved as well. When we first got there, the winds and rain were still with us, but we started to see some long overdue blue skies. 

   

Nothing but blue skies, from now on.

I had argued with Ben for a stop at Wall Drug, and despite his claims that it was an overrated tourist trap, he agreed. It is, in fact, an overrated tourist trap, but for the love of pete, they have a damn jackelope. So there’s that! 

Giddyap! I look not so bright here. But I am a jackelope cowgirl!

They also have a tiny church

After Wall Drug, we went across the street for some food, since we’d been living on the wonderful snacks Ben got us at the Middle East Bakery in Chicago since the trip began. Immediately after entering the Badlands Bar and Grill, it became clear it was really more of a locals spot. There were glares, there were “fuck Osama Bin Laden” bumper stickers, and they were watching Fox News without a hint of humor. I wanted out, quickly. It probably didn’t help matters that I was wearing my “die terrified” hoodie. We clearly were not their kind of people. It was the first, but certainly not the last, time that I was genuinely a bit afraid of the locals. 

Next stop, Rapid City and the long awaited DINOSAUR PARK. I was so excited about the dinosaurs, I was bouncing in my seat as I drove. Ben finally pointed out that I might be disproportionately happy about this, so I explained. I told him that there was a fundamental fact about me that was very, very important, and if he understood it, he would understand me, and my actions, a lot better, forever. The fact? “I am a fucking child.” It helped! 

   

Terrance was so happy to see his family!

After the dinosaurs, it was time to cross into Wyoming. I thought I’d seen what the nothing looked like with the plains of South Dakota, but Wyoming really defines nothing. I’ll have to split this into two posts here, mostly because I’m tired of doing this for the moment. 

 

Exploits!

There will definitely be a more detailed post regarding this, including great photographs from my travel partner in crime, Ben, but for now: 

 

Enemy Combatant is coming back in a much more full capacity real soon, probably next week. 

 

I went on a road trip – flew to Chicago, picked up a car, and drove back through Wisconsin (a stop in Madison for awesome beer), Minnesota (nothing but amazing ghostly windmills and the Spam museum to see here, folks), South Dakota (a broken windshield wiper, Wall Drug,  the world’s only corn palace, and a whole lot of nothing), Wyoming (more nothing than I have ever seen, the ruins of a Japanese internment camp, and the most terrifying people maybe ever), Yellowstone (which was so amazing I regard it as it’s own state), Montana (threats of snowstorms and the real beginning of dentalocalypse 2009) and Idaho (fuck were we ever tired). A week of major dental trauma followed, and yesterday I finally left my house for something non-dental – Indian food, Zombieland, and the Stranger’s HUMP festival. 

More to come, and no more false promises of my triumphant return.

 

Pittsburgh Police Brutality at G20, Special Students Being Attacked Edition

These kids were trapped and gassed for no apparent reason. 

 

Yep, nothing wrong with the police around these parts. Nothing at all.

 

Pittsburgh Police Brutality at G20

 

More to follow on this and the events surrounding the G20 summit. In the meantime, watch this horrifying video. Note the line the police form around the people being beaten to prevent it being filmed or photographed, and the use of nightsticks against those trying to capture it.

 

On religion, rights and Ref. 71

There are times in everyone’s life when they find that a principle or belief is being challenged. The things that challenge us may seem tiny and casual, but they turn out to be anything but. It’s easy to shake your fist and make proclamations when there is nothing to lose, when it costs you nothing. It’s only when there is something at stake that you find out how often you’re just talking to hear your own voice. 

 

Today, someone I considered a friend told another friend, who happens to be a lesbian, that he wasn’t sure how we was going to vote on Ref. 71 . For those of you who don’t know, Ref. 71 is a ballot measure in Washington State to expand the rights provided to same sex couples in domestic partnerships. 

 

Anyone who has read anything here likely knows my views on same sex couples, but let me make them clear one more time: Love is love. People are people. There is absolutely no relationship between the gender of the people you have sex with, and being a good person. None. Further, it is my firmly held and often stated belief that if you fall anything short of fully supporting completely equal rights for all people, regardless of their race or sexual orientation, you cannot truly be a good person. It has in my mind always been that simple. 

 

Now, this friend who said he didn’t know how he would vote on Ref. 71 is someone I have considered a very good person. He is kind, caring, thoughtful and always comforting people. I’ve been surprised by our friendship, because he is religious, and I frequently have a hard time being friends with people who are religious. However, I’ve always found this person to be thoughtful on issues, open and smart. He’s been one of the few people who made me think it was possible to really be friends with the deeply religious. Honestly, I was absolutely stunned to hear that he had said this thing. I would never for an instant have thought that he would fall so short on such an important issue. 

 

As I walked downtown after finding out about this, I found myself making excuses for him. Telling myself that he’s not really a bad person, he’s just confused. His church and his church friends have him confused, but really, he’s a good person who is simply not right on this issue, and we can still be friends, of course we can. 

 

Then my brain kicked my emotions in the balls, and woke me up. We can’t be friends. Of course we can’t. It doesn’t matter if he’s confused. It doesn’t matter if his religious friends tell him to vote against it, to “protect” traditional marriage. It doesn’t matter that he is kind to me, that we share interests and laughs. None of that can matter, when someone is undecided on whether they think other people deserve equal rights. None of it can matter when someone can look at one of their friends and say “I’m not sure if I’m going to vote for you to have the same rights and privileges I do”. 

 

It hurts me to lose a friend over a conversation I didn’t even hear. But it would hurt me more to bury my head in the sand and pretend that the rules are different when we’re talking about someone I personally know and care about.  

Everything we do, say and think matters. Everything has consequences, positive or negative, intended or unintended.

 

In closing, all I can say is: Please go out and vote to approve Ref. 71 if you are in Washington State. It’s not enough, because it’s still separate but not quite equal, but at least it’s one more step in the right direction. Please remember that what you say matters, but what you do matters more. Stand up for equal rights for all. Stand up whether you’re gay or straight. Stand up even more if you are straight, because the minority needs members of the majority to stand with them and stop them being treated as second class citizens.

 

Heart in San Francisco, Right to Choose in Ohio

Places we’ve left things, apparently.

 

I’ve been dormant here for a bit, not, of course, because there aren’t interesting and horrifying things going on in the world, but because life has been incredibly hectic. This little bit of garbage from the, what, Buckeye State, (can’t even be bothered to check if that’s right, that’s how little regard I hold Ohio in) has brought me back to life in these parts.

 

Now, if you couldn’t be bothered to read the link, what it tells you is that a probably criminally insane, Ibogaine swilling monster man in Ohio, Rep. John Adams, has introduced, for the second time, a bill that would make it illegal for a woman to have an abortion without the consent of the father.

 

The wording:

 

(B)(1) When the fetus that is the subject of the procedure is viable, no person shall perform or induce an abortion on a pregnant woman without the written informed consent of the father of the fetus.

(2) When the fetus that is the subject of the procedure is not viable, no person shall perform or induce an abortion on a pregnant woman without the written informed consent of the father of the fetus.

 

Yes. Rub your eyes, check the prescription on your glasses, and when you’re done, note that nothing changed there. This bill would even apply to a non-viable fetus, meaning that, if passed, women in Ohio would not have the right to have a stillborn child removed from their body without the consent of the person who impregnated them. Much like the people who seek to outlaw abortions without an exception for cases of rape and incest, the fine and upstanding piece of shit that is John Adams is not satisfied with seeking to limit women’s rights in a way that is simply garden variety insane, but wishes instead to make absolutely certain that there is no question in anyone’s mind that women are second class citizens deserving of no rights or respect.

 

But wait, kids, there’s more, more, more funtastic fuckraggery in this here little bill.

 

(F) If, pursuant to division (C)(1) of this section, the pregnant woman identifies two or more men as possible fathers of the fetus, the person who is to perform or induce the abortion shall perform a paternity test, or cause a paternity test to be performed, to determine the father of the fetus prior to accepting any consent required under division (B)(1) or (2) of this section and prior to performing or inducing an abortion of the pregnant woman’s pregnancy. No person shall perform or induce an abortion in violation of this division.

(G) It is not a defense to a violation of division (B)(1) or (2) or (C)(2) of this section that the woman does not know the identity of the father of the fetus.

That’s right! In the ideal scenario of John-boy and the other sponsors of this misogynistic farce, women would be forced to run down a list for them of all the men they’ve had sex with who might possibly have let a dribble of sperm leak outside the confines of the rubber penis prison. Because not knowing the identity of the father is not an excuse, ladies. Which is, really and blatantly obviously, just a way for these gentlemen to make sure the women of Ohio are clear on what the consequences of being a consenting adult who chooses, for whatever reason, to have sex with anyone who isn’t their husband. In other words, they’d like women to know that they’re all whores and liars in their eyes.

 

There is so much disrespect for women packed into this that it’s easy to miss that there is also a disrespect for the ultimate law of the land in which they were elected to hold office. That ultimate law is acknowledged to be the Supreme Court, which means that as long as Roe V. Wade stands, abortion in this country is pretty well settled. So is the fact that women are not, in actual point of fact, second class citizens who do not deserve the right to make decisions regarding their bodies and reproduction.

 

Contact the following people in Ohio to let them know how you feel about this bill. Yes, it’s been tried before, and it’s tempting to believe that that means there is no chance it will pass, but complacency is exactly how things like this actually end up becoming law, and that is something that simply cannot be allowed to happen. Here are the sponsors of the bill:

 

district78@ohr.state.oh.us John Adams
district02@ohr.state.oh.us Kris Jordan
district04@ohr.state.oh.us Matt Huffman
district29@ohr.state.oh.us Louis W. Blessing, Jr.
district36@ohr.state.oh.us Seth Morgan
district70@ohr.state.oh.us Jarrod Martin
district35@ohr.state.oh.us Ron Maag
district81@ohr.state.oh.us Jeff Wagner
district97@ohr.state.oh.us Dave Hall
district75@ohr.state.oh.us Lynn R. Wachtmann
district54@ohr.state.oh.us Courtney Eric Combs
district82@ohr.state.oh.us Jeffrey McClain
district53@ohr.state.oh.us Timothy Derickson
district74@ohr.state.oh.us Bruce W. Goodwin
district40@ohr.state.oh.us Roland Winburn
district66@ohr.state.oh.us Joe Uecker

 

Oh, and you notice something missing from that list? Yeah. No women. Shocking, isn’t it?

 

I need

As many people dressed as clowns as I can possibly get this weekend. Please contact me via email @ intelekshual@yahoo.com for details on why.

 

Hint: It has to do with these sick fucks.

 

Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell – Don’t Ask Obama to Do the Right Thing

I don’t think of myself as terribly naive. I didn’t think, when Barack Obama was running for president, that he was going to fix all of our problems, keep all of his promises, and make it rain candy from the sky. He’s a politician, and even the good politicians are terrible people, desperate liars and whores. 

 

Despite all that, I was still stupid enough to think that not everything that he said to and about the gay and lesbian community was a total trick. It’s quickly become clear, however, that supporting equal civil rights for gays couldn’t possibly be lower on his agenda. It would not actually be possible for him to care or offer support less than he is currently. 
Just ask former Army Capt. James Pietrangelo II, whose challenge to the backwards, dimwitted, fundamentally ignorant and prejudiced “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy will not be heard by the Supreme Court. 

 

“In court papers, the administration said the appeals court ruled correctly in this case when it found that “don’t ask, don’t tell” is “rationally related to the government’s legitimate interest in military discipline and cohesion.”"

 

I don’t know about you, but even if (and it’s a pretty big fucking if) not having openly gay men and women in our military was somehow necessary to maintain cohesion and discipline, I wouldn’t find that to be a good enough reason to continue practicing institutional prejudice against men and women who want to serve. It’s worth mentioning, here, as well, that I am not one of those people who feels that serving in the military is noble and decent. Quite the opposite. But that isn’t what this is about. 

 

This is about taking long standing prejudice and hatred, continuing to rule (in our highest courts) that it is just and necessary, and denying equal rights in order to make sure that people who are too backwards and bigoted to learn that who someone loves has nothing to do with their ability to perform any job will not be made uncomfortable. 
To make matters worse, this is precisely how these attitudes continue to be passed down and allowed to thrive. If no one is ever made to deal with ideas and people that make them uncomfortable, if no one is ever forced to confront and evaluate their established attitudes, nothing ever changes. 

 

I might be the wrong person to talk about this issue, because I cannot, absolutely cannot fathom the level of hatred people manage to have towards those who are not like themselves. To me, it is exhausting and confusing to see that there are actually people in the world who do not want everyone to have the same basic civil rights. I genuinely cannot comprehend it. 
And I can’t continue to pretend that I think Barack Obama is that much better than what we had before. Is paying lip service to doing things that are right and important really any better than just outright being a terrible human being? I’m not so sure.

 

Westboro Baptist In Seattle – With Schedule

Anyone else saying “oh HELL no” out loud, almost unwillingly, after reading that the sick, sad fucks at WBC are paying our fine town a visit? I don’t even know what, exactly, it is that they’re fired up and whining up this time, but I can guarantee you that where they’re scheduled to be, you’ll find me. 

 

I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I should probably not say what I’m about to say, which is that I am more than willing to go to jail if things happen to get a little hectic down there. 

 

There are no words for how foul these people are. 

 

Anyone in the Seattle area who feels the same way about Westboro Baptist (with or without the willingness to go head to head) should follow their schedule and make sure they know their bigotry and hatred isn’t welcome in our town.

 

Full schedule is available at their website, but one of the organizations they’re planning on visiting has a pretty good rundown:

 

They’ll be at the Northend Seattle JCC on Saturday evening (that’s the preschool, which is usually in session then, right?), at Congregation Beth Shalom on Sunday at 8:45 a.m., just in time for their morning Minyan, then to a bunch of churches and Seattle Pacific University (you know, the school with the non-drinking vows the students must sign?), and on Monday they’ll be at Garfield High School (at 7:10 a.m. – more than a half hour before start time) then to the ADL’s (former) downtown high rise building, and wrapping up the fun here at our downtown offices before heading off to L.A. for some fun in the sun (and maybe to catch Conan at his new digs).