G7 Welcoming Committee Records. Uncooperative since 1997.
You appear to be using a shitty web browser. Brent suggests getting a better one.
The Onion makes me cry, and more on Blackwater USA
Posted by D-Rock on 03/22/07 (Commentary, Links)
I opened my email today to discover that The Onion’s running a special issue this week: The War in Iraq - Celebrating Four Years of Winning. Highlights include “Bush Announces Iraq Exit Strategy: ‘We’ll Go Through Iran’“, and this opinion from the American Voices segment titled “Public Wants Troops Home“:
“Sure, they say that now, but just wait until the troops have been back for a few weeks.”
– James Pelletier, Linguistics Professor
It’s funny cuz it’s true?
Also, a follow-up on previous post about Blackwater USA - Jeremy Scahill’s book Blackwater: The Rise of the World’s Most Powerful Mercenary Army is now out, and I want to read it. Can someone explain to me why books have to come out in over-priced hardcover form for 9 - 12 months before the more-easily-readable and reasonably-priced paper editions come out? A reason other than gouging that is?
(Ditto with Chris Hedges’ new book American Fascists. Chris bought one because he’s literally a millionaire from Propagandhi’s runaway success How To Clean Everything in 1993. Some of us aren’t so lucky.)
Nonetheless, Democracy Now! ran a 2-part interview with Scahill Tuesday and Wednesday, check ‘em out here and here.
38 fragments of dialogue thus far ...
(Subscribe to discussion about this post via RSS)
Comment by David Feldmann on March 22nd, 2007 at 2:38 pm:
those Jeremy Schahill interviews are definetely worth checking out…incidentally, so is the Democracy Now! interview with Chalmers Johnson from a few weeks back…
http://www.democracy...de=thread&tid=25
helluva link, there…perhaps you should just go to democracynow.org and do a search for chalmers johnson…
Comment by dtrain on March 22nd, 2007 at 4:10 pm:
“U.S. To Give Every Iraqi $3,544.91, Let Free-Market Capitalism Do The Rest”.
I love the onion.
Comment by Jordan on March 22nd, 2007 at 9:47 pm:
http://www.blackwaterbook.com is not responding. Imagine that….
Comment by Sebas on March 23rd, 2007 at 3:39 am:
And how ’bout that spokesman from the UN in Iraq this morning huh?
Pretty funny when he said at the conference that now that the US has signed legislation to “victoriously” exvade Iraq, things would be getting much calmer from now on…
Seconds later a granadier granade explodes 50mtrs from the stage and the little prick lost his weewee.
BlackWater as an privatized enterprise is an unfortanate and scary one indeed.
Comment by Hairhole on March 23rd, 2007 at 1:27 pm:
”With this album, the blacksmith is heating up the blades and we are preparing for battle. We are forging the steel that we’ll use to annihilate the heavy metal posers, and in every town we play, the streets will run red with their blood.” - Jamie Hooper, 3 Inches of Blood.
Could they get some punk poseurs while they’re at it? Fuckin’ Nofx-band, bong-hitting, morons. “Hey bro! You see that totally gnarley wave?!? Let’s jerk off. Vans Warped tour!!”
hahaha. Chris, a millionaire? Get out of town. Maybe he could lend D(ink)-Rock a few bucks for a haircut? Hippy!
Comment by tom on March 23rd, 2007 at 2:23 pm:
finally i know who glen is singing about when he sings “that fucking fat-assed mohawked millionaire, prances around in by far the worst sausage party on earth”.
onions are fascinating vegetation. layer upon layer upon layer and when you finally get to the end there’s nothing! it’s a fucking temporal paradox that defies all the laws of physics!!!!!! trippy man!!!!!
shit, yeah, i thought jord enjoyed the pot so i left him some. i hope he didn’t get pissed. i think i’ll write a book called : “Farts are a force that give Jord meaning.”
Comment by Tony UK on March 24th, 2007 at 6:32 am:
Did anyone here see the Propagandhi show in Dublin? That punk band that somehow went on AFTER Declan Debarra, who played to an empty room, were the worst band ive ever seen in my fucking liiiiiiiiife. Jesus wept. I couldnt see why Lars Fredriksen and the like got such such a ripping until i watched that band, and got leant on by their stupid,smelly fans. They had a song called “Anti Fascist Aunty”…….. ….. ……yeh, i know. I still say Rancid have got some tunes though. How was anyone supposed to know they hired models and thought they were pimps/gangsters? I dont read all these Deushbag Monthly zines!
Comment by mikea on March 24th, 2007 at 1:24 pm:
Tony, sweet heart, the smell came from me body. Furthermore, let me remind you that you and our beloved Irish sista didn’t let me neither sleep nor have a shower the morning after. I guess you had what you deserved on our way to Belle-fast.
Comment by Eric on March 24th, 2007 at 1:37 pm:
Anna Maria Tremonti also interviewed Scahill on the Current a couple weeks ago. It’s not as comprehensive as the DN one, but he’s got a lot of information to digest, so I enjoyed listening to both interviews. It’s available on a podcast which also has a great story on the ways in which traditional journalism styles are unsuited for reporting on the climate crisis. Recommended.
http://podcast.cbc.c...nt_20070315_1853.mp3
Comment by Sebast on March 26th, 2007 at 4:40 am:
Nofx-hippie-wha? Anti-fascist-aunty-who? climate-crisis-when?
It looks like time for an open forum message board system on Geesevendotcom.
How’s that PHP goin’ D·Rock?
The other funny thing about Onions, besides the fact that they’re a space-time paradox void of meaning that not even Doc from Black to the Future can understand, is the fact that between layers an awful amount of sulfate’s are released into the air.
¡Don’t eat onions! ¡They’re the next Chernobyl!
(Let’s see how far out this movement can stretch… Vegan’s Level 6, here it comes).
Comment by caítlin on March 26th, 2007 at 11:11 am:
Yo.
Plug time: whatever you think of the education system and all its related establishment idiocy, some of us not blessed with a concentration span need the structure. If you’re like me (ie a complete idiot) you can try out some home-learning for free from this place:
http://openlearn.open.ac.uk
Generally these dudes make you pay but for this thing, all you have to do is register and it has a few fairly interesting topics like:
http://openlearn.ope...e/view.php?id=103736
it isnt a radical perspective, or anything like it, but its a nice springboard.
Yes, I want acess to a modern school. Yes, I want it now.
-
Mikea, if memory serves your beloved sista (that better be me, schmuck) you had an oh-so-european eyemask and earplugs for that express purpose! Pfft, outed as a euoropean, the shame! Thats what ya get for taking ages to email!
Note to self: do not invite smelly boys to a lebanese restaurant, and then let them sleep in your house.
And yes, Tony, that band were truly woeful. I DID like how they pronounced Propagandhi “prapagand-eye” though…
Comment by dtrain on March 26th, 2007 at 11:19 am:
anyone seen Idiocracy yet?
Comment by Asshole on March 26th, 2007 at 1:30 pm:
I saw your mum, does that count?
Comment by Dtrain on March 26th, 2007 at 5:11 pm:
or heard the new ted leo album?
Comment by dumdiddee on March 26th, 2007 at 7:57 pm:
Could they get some punk poseurs while they’re at it?
You want them to kill Propagandhi?
Maybe he could lend D(ink)-Rock a few bucks for a haircut? Hippy!
I’m confused. I thought D-Rock was a bald?
J/K
Comment by D-Rock on March 26th, 2007 at 10:10 pm:
dtrain: I did see Idiocracy. When watching it, although I appreciated the point it was not-so-subtley making, I found myself a little bored, despite some chuckles. But it sounded very funny when I was recounting it to others later. And even funnier when I think about it now. So I give it a 2 thumbs up. Definitely worth seeing.
Related: check out Armin Vit’s review of the movie’s graphic design on Speak Up.
Comment by Sebas on March 27th, 2007 at 2:58 am:
¿Whats a guy gotta do to get one of those killer blackflag logos next to his user-name?
It would give credibility to any moronic thing someone had to say.
That’s the problem with hierachies, even virtual ones.
¡Hey! ¿Remember when you asked me the definition of sarcasm? Well, you’ll never believe me, but…
Comment by dtrain on March 27th, 2007 at 1:16 pm:
“But it’s got electrolytes!”.
Did you ever hear about all of the distribution problems it (Idiocracy) had? I mean, not suprising since it bagged on corporations so hard (ie. starbucks handjobs).
Anyways, thanks Eric for that podcast link.
Comment by gerty on March 27th, 2007 at 5:35 pm:
hmph, i’m looking into this! …
also anyone else get extra horny during spring? spring has sprung in my pants. whooo.
Comment by D-Rock on March 28th, 2007 at 10:59 am:
Update on the Onion: they have just launched an internet news channel called The Onion News Network. Wow.
Comment by dumdiddee on March 28th, 2007 at 11:37 am:
Anyone ever read anything by Stephen J. Gould? Since i started reading him a month or so ago, i can’t put his books down!! He writes on everything for palentology to geology to anthropology. His works are genius. For all you scientific racists out there go and “Mismeasure of Man” and then try spouting your bullshit.
Comment by Tony UK on April 1st, 2007 at 4:55 am:
Anyone got any suggestions of how to ease my way into reading these mentioned books (Fascist America for example), which look fascinating, but some of the academic type writing is painfully hard to get through if your not used to it. Anyone? Derek? Or were you just born as sharp as a Gillette Mach 3 Turbo along with the other G7 whizz kids?
Comment by kate on April 1st, 2007 at 6:58 am:
hey Tony,
Chris Hedges actually isn’t too difficult to digest. I find that journalists tend to be pretty straight to the point with their writing style. I guess it has something to do with being trained to write for a wider audience than just the realm of academia….or something, i dunno.
As for learning how to interpret academic writing: it just takes practice. Like any other form of communication it conforms to strict codes and conventions that you will become familiar over time.
I find that sometimes it helps to do some research to prepare for a text, like reading interviews with the author or introductions to the topic. I also keep dictionary.com/wikipedia close by because i am an idiot.
Literacy, after all, is a powerful skill to possess, so i would recommend that you persevere, like the rest of us, until it starts to make sense.
Anyway, on a more…random-comment-that-derek-appreciates-so-much note,
How sexy is Jeremy Scahill? It seems to me that he’s picked up where Glen Lambert left off on the ‘making politics sexy’ front. Only with more promise.
Comment by kate on April 1st, 2007 at 7:20 am:
that link was not intentional
Comment by tom on April 1st, 2007 at 9:53 am:
well, whaddaya know….peepeegandhi’s new organically grown,, sweatshop free dvd isn’t actually up for sale today, the first day of the new year.
tony i know it’s not a book listed above but i recommend the mars trilogy. it’s loaded with ideas, drugs, sex, planetary science, evolutionary theory, sex, geography, political sciece fiction, and more sex. it’s great especially for the brainless like myself.
and i just joined the onion’s personals. just wish my knob had a usb port.
Comment by caítlin on April 1st, 2007 at 12:28 pm:
It isnt? http://www.g7welcomi...&Category_Code=M
Kate:
I’d do ‘im.
Comment by Hairhole on April 1st, 2007 at 2:38 pm:
Fuck buying it, poop was right, it leaked all over the internet: http://www.youtube.c.../watch?v=V6zGqX3MZdw
Ah Ha. April farting day. Speaking of sexy (naked) men though…
Comment by tom on April 1st, 2007 at 4:37 pm:
somehow i’m more suicidal after watching that vid…. but hahahhaha here’s one, it’s a little cliche in terms of bush bashing, but hilarious, and there’s this shot of a girl at the end that literally brought a tear to me eyes and a shiver to me spine.
http://www.youtube.c...pYIyZVia028&NR=1
Comment by kate on April 1st, 2007 at 4:44 pm:
In regards to hairhole’s above link:
Is there a…i dunno, what do you call it?…um, REASON that Chris has a can taped to his dick?
To stop him from getting too excited? A hands-free weapon to keep the front row in line? Portable urinal? A failed attempt at creating a flattering optical illusion? (you wanna be mindful of approximating your manliness with a full size can. They are quite girthy after all)
As you can see, i’ve spent quite some time pondering this. Now I want some answers.
Comment by caítlin on April 2nd, 2007 at 3:05 am:
Holy Mary mother of god, please tell me I’m not going to give those filthy anarchists my last dollah, to be confronted with…
with….
POHNAWGRAPHAYYYYYY?!
I just don’t have time for all those hail Marys…
Having said that, their advertising schtick melts my fenian heart. Almost.
Comment by tom on April 2nd, 2007 at 9:11 am:
kate: maybe it’s a metaphor. saying that when chris drinks to much beer…he can’t get it to….work…ummm. ahem…or uh….he can’t get it up without help from beer…so hence, the can of beer beomes the proverbial ball and chain.
in any case it’s a new idea for my male burlesque/ puppetry of the penis theatre.
Comment by gerty on April 2nd, 2007 at 7:19 pm:
to be clear that video is from 1995 or so and the DVD is almost ten years later whipe beads of sweat from forhead now. sigh out of relief pppheww
Comment by mikea on April 3rd, 2007 at 12:33 am:
I wanna see Oka everywhere.
Comment by tom on April 3rd, 2007 at 3:26 am:
Hey D(ork)-Rock, apprently, on the very link you posted above to chris hedges new book, there is a copy of the e-version for sale. now, surely as someone who advocates using less resources for the art/literature we consume, you’d be down.
in fact, why hasn’t g(oof)7 jumped on this e-book thing? books use way more paper than a fucking cd or dvd, and i doubt that the ink they use is soy, or that it was taken from voluntary sea creature.
yes, most ink comes from the piss of fish. or didn’t you know? surely, you must’ve known.
Comment by caítlin on April 3rd, 2007 at 7:57 am:
Funny you should mention that, I’ve been hunting for some ethical ink for home printing to no avail.
Anyone know if its possible to get cartridges of soya/linseed etc ink for printers? Google and I don’t get along.
Comment by tom on April 3rd, 2007 at 8:06 am:
oh, well, sorry, ink isn’t actually taken from squids and octopusses anymore for the most part. it is, however, for the most part, toxic. i don’t know about animal products and ink actually.
Comment by caítlin on April 3rd, 2007 at 1:12 pm:
Tom - Since you were so mean when I didn’t know the (supposed) origin of ink, I am getting a huge amount of pleasure out of the fact you were wrong. Would it be churlish to say “HA!”?
I was recently looking into the toxicity of everyday things - some fascinating, frightening shit right there. It appears sodium laureth sulphate is a big bad baddie [can you tell i’m very much a beginner?], so my mammy and I started experimenting and we are now proud owners of homemade washing powder, showergel and soap! Bow down before me [or just try it yourselves].
On the down side, it would appear crisps and onions are bad. A world without onions is a world without Caítlin, no joke.
Comment by tom on April 3rd, 2007 at 8:35 pm:
awww i got a tear in my eye…oh. it’s just the onion i’m eating. praise the jeebus for the onion, i eat it in like every recipe.
thank the lords and heavens you’ve got some soap. couldn’t have thought of that before your wee pilgrimage?
and i’ll have none of your “boys are smellier” propaganda.