One Nation Under Haliburton, Lockheed, Martin Marrieta, et cetera

If the United States bombs Syria the military industrial complex wins and democracy loses! The only thing that an American military strike against Syria will do is to prove further that the arms industry has a complete stranglehold on our country and can do what it pleases, whenever it pleases in direct contradiction to the wishes of the American public. If ever there were an oxymoron it would be “military solution” and our military leaders have proven themselves to be completely incompetent at making policy—I have more respect for Dennis Rodman than our top generals in this area if it is at all possible to have less respect than no respect.

In an organization that is supposedly all about leadership I can’t imagine an industry more lacking in this quality than the United States military services. It also seems to be an organization that is completely immune to the lessons of history. How many times are we as a nation doomed to repeat the failure of Viet Nam? When will we learn that we cannot win a war against an insurgency? When will we learn that we can’t kill our way out of all of the world’s problems? Our military higher-ups (I refuse to use the word “leaders” to describe them) will always counsel for a military solution to a foreign policy issue even though there is not a shred of evidence of military action being effective.

It seems that our President is hell bent on executing some sort of military action in Syria even though few American citizens and even fewer foreign governments agree. Why should the United States be concerned about a civil war in Syria that pits a loathsome government against Islamists who constantly threaten America? We should let the Arab nations deal with this issue because no matter what we do it will cause enormous resentment in the Muslim world.

I’d like to ask all of the geniuses who are criticizing the President one simple question: what should we do in Syria? Why all of a sudden do conservatives give a shit about what happens in Syria. I personally don’t give a shit about their civil war. There’s lots of bad things happening around the world and we should concentrate on things we can actually do something about.


And now it seems that we won’t bomb or invade Syria after all. Our President has chosen the path of diplomacy—practically a first for the USA. And of course his moron opponents are screaming bloody murder because he “backed down” when a few minutes earlier they were calling him blood thirsty and a war monger. Which brings us to this wonderful word invented on Bill Maher’s program Real Time. He mentioned that Michelle Obama has begun a new program to make people more aware of the need to drink more water. Will Republicans come out against hydration?

Recent News

Ariel Castro, who snatched children off the street, chained them in his house, and raped them repeatedly for years, was found hanged in an Ohio prison. Regarding the suicide the New York Times reported:

“It was not immediately clear how Mr. Castro was able to hang himself. The Ohio Department of Corrections statement said a review of the incident was under way.”

Perhaps he used the length of rope the guards provided? Also found in his cell: a bottle of sleeping pills, a loaded pistol, walking directions to the nearest high bridge (his cell door was wide open), a full array of poisons, and razor blades. It’s too bad he didn’t take the suicide option when he realized he was evil and before he ruined a lot of lives. I have always been staunchly opposed to capital punishment but I am not against suicide and in this case he saved the American public perhaps hundreds of thousands of dollars in what could have been a very lengthy incarceration. I don’t think that the state providing the means to assist prisoners with suicide is the worst idea in the history of the American criminal justice system.

Post Script #32

If giving up alcohol, cigars, pork products, drugs, and everything else in this world that is supposed to be bad for us doesn’t add years to our lives you can be sure that the ensuing boredom and tedium will at least make the remaining years seem a lot longer.

One little observation I would like to pass on to everyone after reflections on a recent birthday is this.

Life doesn’t get any easier as you grow older so I suggest getting strong and staying strong.

Patio de Manzana vs Patio de Luz

Patio de Manzana

Patio de Luz

Another feature of Spanish apartment building architecture is something called a patio de luz, a light patio. These are not to be confused with a patio de manzana which is the interior area of all of the buildings which circle around a block of flats. Most of the buildings in Valencia have a patio de manzana. I felt robbed when I lived in a place without this cool feature—cool because it’s fun to get a view of the back side of the buildings in the street. Few buildings have this interior shaft that gives light to the inside of a building. The rooms that open on to this interior shaft can be a little noisy because you can hear your neighbors only a few meters away but it is yet another interesting aspect to Spanish life that I feel privileged to share.

Reflections on a Spanish Summer Afternoon #13: Two Naps in One Day

In Arabic there is an entire inflection of nouns in the dual to describe two of something. Considering the Moors heavy influence on the Iberian Peninsula I can’t believe there isn’t a word in Spanish for when you take two naps in one day…and before any of you say it, I already thought of “useless sack of shit” to describe this unprecedented—at least for me— accomplishment. Time to invent a word. Siesta de Respaldo? Re-nap?