woody58.com Blog

     So now, with his European tryst with the worldwide media mercifully over, we have a man who wants to be president of the United States making statements that clash directly with previous statements and positions he has made and held. His certitude a year ago that the surge had no chance for success notwithstanding, it’s his reason for believing so is what’s pertinent. He said, unequivocally, that sending in 20 to 30 thousand more troops would only increase the level of violence in Iraq and that the only option was for us to leave, and leave quickly. He was dead wrong.

-Woody

      Through most of the 20th century immigrants to America eagerly leapt into the pot and willfully allowed themselves to become part of the mix, revelling in their new-found home and enthusiastically embracing its culture. Then something changed near the end of the century; new additions began to cling to the side of the pot in an attempt to retain some of their original composition by not submerging themselves fully into what I call the stew. This corresponds to the emergence of hyphenated nationality labels. “Whatyouwill-Americans”, e.g.

     The stew began to change with these new ingredients being added, even more so than it should have. The flavor was always in flux, true, but the basic composition of the stew was always about a mixture of components. I am at a loss in explaining this change.

     Yes, the flavor changes with the ingredients of a stew, but the stew remains relatively unchanged in appearance. This is because everyone cooks down to a common broth. There is change, but the change is so gradual as to be nearly imperceptible. That is, so long as one of the ingredients doesn’t thrash about, wailing, as it loses its core identity at the boiling point. One must agree that such an occurrence would be most noticeable to the cook.

     Up until the latter part of the 20th century there were no reluctant ingredients being poured into the pot. Sure, they still hit the plate as either orange carrots or white potatoes, but they all shared the plate without quarrel. It was a stew from the “pot”, and all were equally consumed without prejudice (3-year-old-racist-picky-eaters notwithstanding). Now we have the ingredients demanding special privileges and prominence on the plate.

     To really throw a wrench into the mix, pomegranate has insisted on not only being added to the stew (something which, to my knowledge at least, is unprecedented), but has demanded even further that it be highlighted on the menu. Outrage, I say.

     I think the cook needs to turn up the heat and use the ladle to clear the sides of the pot, stirring frequently. We need a common identity once again in order to survive.

     That being said, today we saw that even Kennedy is not stupid enough to rankle the feathers of mainstream America. He ruled with the majority in upholding the 2nd amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees the right of citizens to keep and bear arms. Many liberal entities have argued at length as to the meaning of the amendment and its intent, based on the wording:

     The NRA is out front on this, of course:
Gun Lobby Quickly Sues To Overturn Chicago Ban

-Woody

     For most of the civilized world, that question could be answered in the affirmative. For a very large segment of the psuedo-civilized, it would be a no.

     So why do the very same people who clamor to remove weapons or the mere mention of them from our society turn a blind eye to a real threat? And why, oh why can’t they see the clear and present danger in schools located in Alexandria and Fairfax, VA?

     There was a story a while back about the teachings in a school called the Islamic Saudi Academy. It was alleged that the school was teaching hate, which it denied, of course. So The U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, asked for textbooks to examine, a request that was denied. The commission was able to acquire 17 textbooks nonetheless, through other channels. What they found was disturbing.

The commission said it obtained 17 of the academy’s textbooks through a variety of channels, including from members of Congress. The texts did appear to contain numerous revisions, including pages that were removed or passages that were whited out, but numerous troubling passages remained, according to the panel:
_ The authors of a 12th-grade text on Koranic interpretation state that apostates (those who convert from Islam), adulterers and people who murder Muslims can be permissibly killed.

_ The authors of a 12th-grade text on monotheism write that “(m)ajor polytheism makes blood and wealth permissible,” meaning that a Muslim can take with impunity the life and property of someone believed guilty of polytheism. According to the panel, the strict Saudi interpretation of polytheism includes Shiite and Sufi Muslims as well as Christians, Jews, Hindus, and Buddhists.

_ A social studies text offers the view that Jews were responsible for the split between Sunni and Shiite Muslims: “The cause of the discord: The Jews conspired against Islam and its people. A sly, wicked person who sinfully and deceitfully professed Islam infiltrated (the Muslims).”

     One must wonder what was “removed or whited out” if those three examples were left in the text books. Nevertheless, this story will probably get minimal attention in the media, and the minimal coverage will be limited to publications that liberals denounce and therefore will not believe that there is a threat at all.

     But they will continue to persecute 7 year-old school kids who draw innocuous pictures, and feel that they have served justice while ignoring a virtual curriculum of hate and depravity.

     Insanity.

-Woody

     A barrel of oil today surpassed the mark of $138/bbl. It rose by nearly ten percent, in one day. Gas prices in the next week, if this is a sustainable record, will top $5 per gallon, without question. And yet, we have been led to believe by our elected Congresspersons that this war was a war for oil. Despite the fact that we kicked the virtual shit out of the vaunted Iraqi Republican Guard in record time and are still waging an ongoing battle with a ragtag contingient of well-armed, so-called insurgents (funded and trained by a sovereign neighbor), we have not reaped the spoils of war. Those spoils would ostensibly equate to cheaper oil for the victorious conquerors.

     So one must ask this of their “public servants”, as well as the willing dupes who echo the tripe emanating from the lips of those servants: If this was an evil act perpetrated on the Middle East by a crazed oil man and his cohorts for nothing more than oil…why are we being subjected to the whims of those people who control that oil to this day?

     With the resources America has beneath its own soil, it would stand to reason that the “oil barons” could have exploited their own land without shedding a drop of blood, save for the occassional dropping of an irate and charging female moose or caribou, however unfortunate and even more pertinent, rare, that scenario may have been. The reason this has not happened is not because those “oil barons” didn’t think of it. It’s because our own elected officials care more for their coveted positions than they do for the people.

     The people have been clamoring for cheaper fuel since before anyone can remember. Bureaucrats have used that demand as a leveraging tool for equally as long. Are the lies a new tactic? Probably not, but the acceptance of them as validation for a political stance is relatively new, since people seem more willing in these times to slit their own throats to promote a belief contrary to their own best interests so long as it is fed to them by a lying government.

     The Iraq war was not about oil. The ideological war is, and it may well be our undoing. God bless America.

-Woody

     Many will be angry with me from this point forward, but I truly believe that the cost is worth my conscience and so will not lose too much sleep over the anger of others. Sorry. The suffering of my fellow Americans is at the hands of their very own government, and I find that fact unconscionable. How our elected officials can sleep at night with the knowledge of what their lies have inflicted upon its citizenry is something I will wrestle with until the pain finally ceases.

     A barrel of oil today surpassed the mark of $138/bbl. It rose by nearly ten percent, in one day. Gas prices in the next week, if this is a sustainable record, will top $5 per gallon, without question. And yet, we have been led to believe by our elected Congresspersons that this war was a war for oil. Despite the fact that we kicked the virtual shit out of the vaunted Iraqi Republican Guard in record time and are still waging an ongoing battle with a ragtag contingient of well-armed, so-called insurgents (funded and trained by a sovereign neighbor), we have not reaped the spoils of war. Those spoils would ostensibly equate to cheaper oil for the victorious conquerors.

     So one must ask this of their “public servants”, as well as the willing dupes who echo the tripe emanating from the lips of those servants: If this was an evil act perpetrated on the Middle East by a crazed oil man and his cohorts for nothing more than oil…why are we being subjected to the whims of those people who control that oil to this day?

     With the resources America has beneath its own soil, it would stand to reason that the “oil barons” could have exploited their own land without shedding a drop of blood, save for the occassional dropping of an irate and charging female moose or caribou, however unfortunate and even more pertinent, rare, that scenario may have been. The reason this has not happened is not because those “oil barons” didn’t think of it. It’s because our own elected officials care more for their coveted positions than they do for the people.

     The people have been clamoring for cheaper fuel since before anyone can remember. Bureaucrats have used that demand as a leveraging tool for equally as long. Are the lies a new tactic? Probably not, but the acceptance of them as validation for a political stance is relatively new, since people seem more willing in these times to slit their own throats to promote a belief contrary to their own best interests so long as it is fed to them by a lying government.

     The Iraq war was not about oil. The ideological war is, and it may well be our undoing. God bless America.

Of course, not all my conversations in immigrant communities follow this easy pattern. In the wake of 9/11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans, for example, have a more urgent quality, for the