i think it’s very likely…

well, i guess it’s time to say our goodbyes. it’s been nice knowing you.
any moment now the price of bacon is gonna go up, there’s gonna be a run on thermal undergarments from hell, and the sound of apocalyptic hooves will be heard approaching.

they said Obama would be bring unity, would bridge divides.
well, it’s happened. i agree with bill o’reilly. excuse me, i have to lie down for a moment.

as we wait for the end of the world which is now so clearly and inevitably nigh, i’ve been finding myself prompted associatively to hum this 80s kids theme tune while reading news from America…

whilst folding laundry this morning, i went so far as to consider rewriting the lyrics for the purposes of my own amusement, but then realised there’s actually no need for anything more than the most minor of adjustments:
all that’s required is the addition of an ‘s’, (not necessary if you are only serenading Orly Taitz) and intend the meaning of “lovely” to signify, you’re so tin foil hat crazy, it’s wonderful!, and job done. it’s a tribute to a movement right there…

Berthas, lovely Berthas,
You are a lovely machine!
And anyone who works with you,
Will know just what I mean!
Woh!

Berthas, lovely Berthas,
Sometimes I think you’re a dream!
And when we work out what you have to do,
You can always churn the goods out,
Always churn the goods out,
We can depend upon you!

Clicking the day, flashing the night,
Your computer is shining brightly,
Some people say you’ve a mind of your own,
And I think that’s very likely…. likely!
Woh!

Berthas, lovely Berthas,
Sometimes I think you’re a dream!
When we work out what you have to do,
You can always churn the goods out,
Always churn the goods out,
We can depend upon you!

Birthers. bringing a whole new conspiratorial twist to the satirist’s line, “you couldn’t make this stuff up.“
well evidently, someone is.

thanks for the entertainment, America. i think of this movement as a kind of balancing act – kind of like Agent Smith vs Neo in The Matrix: the moment you got The One, this was inevitable.

LB

jason jones behind the veil

first there was Wasilla. then came ASU and Florida. each time, as i shuddered and cringed, i thought he couldn’t get any better… and then Jason Jones went to Iran.

because i can’t stick these on my fridge:

I`ra`ndecision 2009: Ahmadinejad rally in Tehran

Behind the Veil: part 1 – Minarets of Menace

part 2 – Persians of Interest

part 3 – Ayatollah You So

part 4 – The Kids Are Allah Right

Moment of Zen – Iranian playground

صلح و عشق :: peace and love

LB

satire meets tyranny

take this quote from mark twain

and mix it with last night’s daily show iran coverage & interview with Embrahim Yazdi’s son (22/06/09)

and, if you feel moved to respond to Yazdi’s advice, there’s an opportunity as an individual to voice your concern to Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei via an email campaign set up last week on the Amnesty International USA, or take up the alternative actions (e.g. contacting local Iranian embassies) available your local Amnesty site.

::

Caspian Makan, Neda Agha-Setan’s fiancee, was interviewed by BBC Persia:

About payment for releasing the remains, Mr. Makan had this to say: “No specific amount has been paid at this time, although hospitals, clinics, surgeons and medical examiners have been ordered by the Iranian security services, based on various orders, not to list ‘bullet wound’ as the cause of death on the death certificate in order to prevent the families from filing international complaints in the future. I haven’t seen the release notice of Neda’s remains yet, but I will obtain it from her father in the coming days.” (via Nico Pitney on 22/06. italics my own.)

there is a lack of logic to this defensive policy that even a child could spot. this is not ‘simply’ avoidance of future charges via evidence tampering and supression of truth. in a case of domestic abuse, the use of this underlying manipulation of logic and reality on an adult, let alone a child, would be filed under evidence of psychological abuse. as bureaucratic defense, (as has been so consistently evident in Khamenei’s speech last Friday and all other attempts by authorities to deny electoral fraud) it’s nothing short of Orwellian.

but then as someone pointed out to me last night, recalling Zimbabwe as just one of so many examples, since when did the insanity of believing of one’s own lies ever stop anyone fron running a country for 30 years?

tragically, it doesn’t stop there:

12:40 AM ET — A 19-year-old shot in the head and killed during the demonstrations… and Iranian officials asked his parents to “pay an equivalent of $3,000 as a ‘bullet fee’ — a fee for the bullet used by security forces — before taking the body back.” One of the most tragic stories I’ve read in a long time, by the Wall Street Journal’s exceptional Farnaz Fassihi. (Nico Pitney)

i’ll be honest and say i read that quote and found it difficult to comprehend, such is the inhumane mindfuck this adding-insult-to-murder represents.

::

i’ve not been able to get this reader post from the daily dish out of my head. only time will tell if the reader called it right, but whatever is to come, i suspect this’ll still win my nomination for best use of motherfucker in 2009.

i find myself unavoidably reminded that looking the other way and saying nothing, or taking more interest in Perez Hilton than global hunger, AIDS, genocide, war crimes and political oppression is a choice granted to those of us who have democratic freedom.
i count myself fortunate to have the undeniable luxury of limiting my cares and concerns solely to the insignificant and peurile if i should so choose, however much that is an arguably wasteful disregard of one’s liberty and humanity.

LB