Terrorist: Fail Word

From the series: “Will 2012 be a fail year?”

Languages that are living (compared to, say, Latin) are ever changing and evolving. Let’s get real, folks. The meaning of “terrorist” has changed. By now anyone with a nominally functioning brain knows that the new definition of the word is “someone we don’t like or is a threat to the status quo” when used by governments or forces of the status quo. [The pun of the use of Latin here is both intended, and meant to appeal to those with nominally functioning brains]

When Bashir El Assad calls the Syrian people “terrorists” only a fool doesn’t recognize that the meaning of the word is the same as when it is used in connection with the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act).

Fasten your seat-belts, if 2012 isn’t fail it wil, in the words of chaos monger Newt Gingrich, be “wild and woolly”.

Occupy Boulder Fail?

Will 2012 be a fail year?

I traveled to the People’s Republic of Boulder, as neighboring Coloradans call it: 10 square miles surrounded by reality. The purpose of my visit was to check in on Occupy Boulder; Boulder City had changed the law to prohibit occupying park space overnight, thus making the Occupy Boulder encampment illegal.

Boulderites, being very politically correct, obeyed the new law immediately, saying (as reported in The Denver Post) that they would focus their efforts during daytime. Only one person was arrested as the encampment picked up and dispersed. However, the Boulder courts are clogged with previous Occupy Boulder arrests, as the crimes involved mandate jury trials under local law. Efforts to change the legal proceedings to alleviate pressure on the local courts have been criticized as being anti-homeless. Which they are. Surprise, surprise.

Streaming live video on Global Revolution, I combed the area looking for evidence of Occupy Boulder. I was threatened by a dealer posing as a Colorado University student, talked with a homeless person denied any knowledge of anything, and obtained a confession from a groundskeeper said the last he’d seen of them was when they moved out the encampment.

The intersection of Broadway and Canyon adjacent the Municipal Building had a beggar with a cardboard sign on each corner. These people are professionals, and I’d given them a wide berth. They don’t take kindly to encroachment of any kind on their territory; when encroachment occurs, violence ensues. The most effective sign these people have wielded is by far the one reading “Need money for beer and prostitutes” (if measured by resultant income). On this occasion, however, one individual was holding a sign that said: “Greed Is Not An Option” with “99%” written in extremely small characters. I asked this one if he had seen any “Occupy Boulder” protesters. He answered “I AM the Occupy Boulder Protestor”.

Please view my interview with him:  http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/19868453

Also at YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4HFnerfFaI

NH Vote Count Fail

Will 2012 be a fail year?

In the “they should have left well enough alone department”, the Republicans decided to re-count the Iowa caucuses results. They didn’t let the disappearance of many of the voting records get in the way of trying to change the outcome to their liking.

Watching the Republicans try to come up with a candidate is more fun than watching a barrel of monkeys. Hey, wait a minute! It IS watching a barrel of monkeys.

I suppose I should be more forgiving. After all, ballot box stuffing is an ancient tradition. So is rewriting history.

“Rise of the Planet of the Apes” must have been apocryphal. Some species must be willing to step up the plate and relieve this planet of its’ infestation by the pathetic humans.

Fourth Estate Fail on Ron Paul

What’s the greatest threat to the U.S. national security? It could well be the fourth estate, the nation’s news media. They are failing to fulfill their role in the system of checks and balances our forefathers designed to keep government honest and responsive to the needs of the people.

It was hilarious to watch CNN as the Iowa Caucus votes came in Tuesday night. CNN, as with most mass media, had gone out of its way to avoid mention of Ron Paul in coverage leading up to the caucuses. All the pundits shook their heads and agreed vigorously that Ron Paul didn’t have a chance. Even in the run-up to the caucuses, when Ron Paul was polling 3rd or better, CNN was all over the First, Second, and Fourth and Fifth candidates, with no mention of Ron Paul.

I tuned into Wolf Blitzer’s “War Room” – er – “Situation Room” as the first counts were being made. The ballots were small squares of paper with names hand written on them by those casting ballots. How wonderful, I thought, are we going to actually see ALL the ballots counted live, on camera, with no chance of monkey business?

The looks of the reporters seated around the “War”, er, “Situation” table were grim. In the early counting, Ron Paul was coming in first. These reporters were all eating a full course of something they deserved: crow. The assembled multitude, dour looks on their faces, struggled to cover this outcome which, to them, was simply unbelievable. Some of the talking heads looked pale. Others were sweating profusely. OK, Ron Paul is consistent making all the others comparative flip-floppers, and Ron Paul sticks to his Libertarian values. He’s a hero to young voters, surely (in the mind of the press) the littlest and most inconsequential of the “little people”. Ron Paul will not be found out with a young bimbo: cheating on his wife. Ron Paul’s problem with the press is that he’s not part of the racket, and doesn’t have a lot of drama. It’s precisely why he has the popularity he has, but the press, with their heads stuck in that dark, warm, smelly place just doesn’t get it.

Eventually, the media got back to covering their media darling, who they had shilled relentlessly in the run-up, Rick Santorum. The cameras turned away from the ballot counting, and the numbers slowly shifted to where the press had said they should be.

It was one of those breath-taking media moments, like when a BBC reporter stood with downtown NYC as a backdrop, WTC building #7 clearly visible, and the reporter announced that building #7 had been destroyed. It was almost exactly one hour before the building actually came down. When questioned about it, the BBC responded that it must have been a scheduling mixup of the sort that could be expected in the midst of such chaos.

In conclusion, friends, if you believe what you see reported in the mass media, you have already drunk the Cool Aid.

CNN is right back to covering the First, Second, and Fourth finishers in the Iowa caucuses (Romney, Santorum, and Gingrich), with nary a peep about the Third place finisher, Ron Paul. Can you believe it?