ARMAGEDDON??????

William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)

THE SECOND COMING

Turning and turning in the widening gyre

The falcon cannot hear the falconer;

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;

Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.

Surely some revelation is at hand;

Surely the Second Coming is at hand.

The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out

When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi

Troubles my sight: a waste of desert sand;

A shape with lion body and the head of a man,

A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,

Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it

Wind shadows of the indignant desert birds.

The darkness drops again but now I know

That twenty centuries of stony sleep

Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,

Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

This poem has been all over my life the last week or so. It was referenced in Paul Krugman's Return of Depression Economics. It was quoted in the film Nixon by Oliver Stone that I watched this past weekend. It was quoted by A.J. in the last episode of The Sopranos. What eternal portent inspired this poet? What vision had he?

Maybe it was the vision of the giant Boeing 747 flying at low altitude over lower Manhattan, conjuring up images of that fall day almost eight years ago. Two F-18 fighters appear to be in pursuit. The craft buzzes the Statue of Liberty. It banks and the sunlight reflects off of the Seal of the President of the United States. Air Force One, buzzing Manhattan, pursued by fighters. OH MY GOD. Then, the comment--"OOPS!"

Or was it the pontiff's visit to L'Aquila three WEEKS after the earthquake that leveled the town. People are still living in tents. The emergency is over says the government. Pope Benedict offered them his prayers and hope for their new lives. I bet the Person for whom he toils on Earth would have at least fed them and offered some shelter, some REAL comfort. Or maybe the Pope and Holy Mother Church have had their investments trashed like the rest of us? Or maybe he's German and this was Italy? (By the way, this writer is half-German and half-Italian so this isn't meant as a racial slur as much as a political one.)

After almost 30 years of being a hawk---Viet-Nam and Iraq--and a firm strident voice for the rule of law, Arlen Specter has left the Republican Party and joined the Democrats. Really doesn't matter if you believe this was due to his principles or his political ambition. It just illustrates how far the G O P is in thrall to the radical right. From continuing to espouse policies that have nearly destroyed our economy to the defense of torture, the Republicans increasingly marginalize themselves, forsaking the very Constitution and multi-party system they claim to hold so dear.

So the Taliban Resurgent march towards Islamabad in Pakistan---and its sixty or so nukes might fall into terrorist hands while we sit mired still in Iraq. Thanks, W, Condi, Cheney, and Rummy. Wanna go surfing---we'll hold you down on the board and see how YOU like the feel of drowning.

Finally there's the swine flu. It is an amalgam of human, poultry, and swine virus, all mutated together into a new "super" bug. Could this be the plague foretold in the Apocalypse, aka, the Book of Revelation? Did W. B. Yeats foresee this week??? Looks like his Beast has stopped slouching and broken into a trot.

Do you wonder why the Pirate Dogs have converted their beloved Nargle into a starship and the Klingon Kats have transformed their favorite perch into a Klingon Bird of Prey? They might be smarter than we humans........

Testing

Today is William Shakespeare's 445th birthday.  Wonder if anything any of us have written lately will stand that test of time????????  "Soft, what light from yonder window breaks....Aaah, it is my lady, it is my love...."---Do I really have to say what play that's from??????  For those of you who must look---last sentence.

But of far greater import to life here-------

The Captain did it---the phasers have been installed on the  Nargle.  And they work!!!!!

The "Kirk of Cock-a-Poos" test-fired them at Andromeclee the Klingon cat, at minimal power of course, and lo and behold---

from

to

Good job, Space-Pirate Dogs!!!!!!!!!

Romeo and Juliet  The prelude to the balcony scene, foo!!!!!!!!!

On a B-day and Other Thoughts

It's the 25th birthday of the discovery of the AIDS virus.  And the front runner for president of South Africa says he is ok because he showered after "allegedly" raping his infected cousin.  Is he really the best person that country could find to run it?  Too bad Nelson Mandela is so feeble---I'd say it was a prime occasion for him to make a come-back.

The modifications to the Nargle continue.  The space-pirate dogs work very hard.   They've been sighting in the phasers.  We're getting a little tired of their campaigning to go to the movie when it opens May 8th though.  Captain 'Roid just can't believe they wouldn't not only allow her into the cineplex but give her all the free popcorn she can eat as well.  After all, she is the "Kirk of Cock-a-Poos"!!!!

How ironic is it that the representative from CA who was ok with all the Bush era privacy violations is now screaming foul after she was recorded in a wiretap and her reputation compromised in a potential scandal with the Israeli supporters in AIPAC who might be spies!!!  I mean, what kind of allies spy on each other??  No I'm not that naive.......But Israel having Mossad agents in the homeland of its arguably only friend??  One should give pause and meditate on this issue.  

Or maybe on all three that this blog post has raised.

Just What I Need!!!!

Followers of this blog know the story of Leny .  Well, today she really did it.  Auntie Bucksnort was pirate-dog-sitting and Leny decided to have not one but four seizures!!!!  The whole bit, stiff legs, drooling, even cut her face near the right eye!!!  So Buck calls me, I rush out of work, and meet them at the vet.  There are things that are important in life, like making a living, raising kids, and then there's the ULTIMATE PANIC---a sick dog!!!!  Let's be real here---pets replace children after the children hit a certain age and are moved out.

So now there's this dog hanging around after an afternoon in the vet's observation crate.  And what do you think the vet gave us for meds (to keep the animal CALM)???  How about Leny will be taking 20mg of Valium twice a day and 1.5 grams of phenobarbital every day!!!!  Like I said---just what I need---a laid back dog that just goes "wow" all evening......totally forgetting the "bow" part of barking!

Of course Capt. 'Roid is pretty sure this was all caused by a continuing imbalance between the phaser generator and the anti-matter nodes on the newly installed matter/anti-matter reactor engines still being fitted to the Nargle as it is transformed from an ordinary canine pirate ship to a space pirate dog starship..........

Tortured

Listening to the Grand Old Pissants Newt, John, Rush, Eric, etc. call the president a socialist and now a fascist-----torture

Listening to the foo-fah on MSNBC about the failure of the administration to prosecute either the agents of the CIA who performed "enhanced interrogation" or those who authorized it--torture

Realising that the Dept. of Justice is responsible for investigations and decisions on whether and whom they should prosecute---anyone remember the rules going back to the Watergate investigations that the DOJ was independent of the White House and the president's offices so as NOT TO BE POLITICIZED IN THE PERFORMANCE OF ITS DUTIES---and isn't that exactly the meat of this issue---that the Bush appointees to DOJ were political hacks and eroded these rules with their memos of opinion on the legality of various acts of torture??  It took a while but Nixon and the plumbers were brought to justice.

Honestly. Obama, his cabinet, and his advisers have to solve a lot of things before prosecution of Bush administration torturers hits the main course on their plates.  So let's let DOJ do its thing now that we have a REAL Attorney-General and I bet we see justice prevail in the next couple of years.  Congress should work on the bills needed to get us moving ahead economically and also let DOJ do its job.  We want to see the truth and let the perpetrators be found guilty---we don't need a partisan side-show.

Symbols & Transformation

Strange doings------the Captain has been spending a lot of time in the Nargle.  

I know the Pirate Dogs are upset with the war in the horn of Africa with the Somali pirates.  They've documented their feelings in previous posts.  But now, something else is going on, strange scuffling and sounds like construction.  The Captain looks older and wiser.  The ears on the look-out are now a more dominant feature than the eyes, and Weets has become more logical.  The first-mate has developed an aptitude for mechanics and physics and I can detect the beginnings of a wee brogue in her bark---------

The sails on the ship are getting smaller----and those protuberances on the aft structures---for all the universe they look like matter/anti-matter engine nacelle housings.............And the new markings  NCC1701-B------------this video that they are enthralled by......

.

SPACE PIRATE DOGS and the United Canine Starship Nargle-----to quote Steve Miller, "bet you weren't ready for that."  

Pirate Tea

So April 15 is when all the tea parties to protest the massive tax increases happen.  Now, I get paid a couple of times a month, the 15th and last day to be precise.  So I just got my first pay stub post-Obama's plan (went into effect April 1).  My net was an increase of about $26.00, not a king's ransom or TARP money, but certainly not a tax increase---that deducts from the net, right???  So what exactly are these people protesting against??  The tax rates imposed by the LAST administration---as in Republican George W. Bush------and I'm not even going to get onto "teabagging"------------------but whatever floats your boat I guess.

Speaking of boats,  the Pirate Dogs salute the US Navy Seals.  Good shots.  But they are laughing up their sleeves at the rest of this issue.  Those Somali pirates have seized at least four vessels since the weekend and have now delayed Captain Phillips'  homecoming by attacking another US flagged vessel and forcing the destroyer Bainbridge, with Phillips on board, into diverting to protect this other ship.  Just imagine, those were kids that held him---teenagers.  The UN really needs to do something to give options to these Somali kids.  It's worse than an inner city in the US!!

A quick poll question---- given that Bo (left) looks like Capt 'Roid (right),

should Bo Obama be made an honorary Pirate Dog???????  Needs to lose the lei though.

Finally, did any of you see the pictures of John Demjanjuk?  He's the 89 year-old accused of being a Nazi concentration camp guard who allegedly killed some 29,000 people.  I'm not a holocaust denier and maybe this guy is guilty.  But is it right to deport him after all these years he worked here in America?  And there are rabbis talking about justice being done, etc,etc.  Well, to my simple mind, war crimes are war crimes---if John D deserves trial, what about the Israeli leaders who rained rockets and chemicals on the people of Gaza?  What about the Bushies who attempted to justify and did condone acts which on the surface seem to violate the Geneva convention?  All these people should be presumed innocent but all should have their day in court if any one of them has to............Can anyone say "justice?"

Conflicted

So los perros piratos are having trouble tonight---feeling very conflicted.  While they root for the poor and disenfranchised Somalians who have turned to piracy to survive, the incident of the Maersk Alabama, an American flagged and crewed freighter, has caused pain and uncertainty.  If the people of Somalia can only survive by plundering the high seas off the Horn of Africa,  the Pirate Dogs believe they deserve support.  But attacking American vessels makes the canines feel unpatriotic if they root for the pirates.  

In inimitable dog fashion, however, los perros have a solution.  The rich world needs to subsidize Somalia with aid and investment to allow the people of that failed state to rebuild their country and have options for survival and advancement that would make piracy moot.

Next, perhaps these fine specimens of canine intellectualism will turn their attention to Sudan and Darfur.............

Republican redux

So the Obama budget passed both houses of Congress by the biggest margins since the 1990's.  And the Republican counter-budget had 38% of that party's members vote NO.  I find it hard to understand how tax cuts for the upper-most 1% and a five-year spending freeze are good for the present economy and the situation in which most Americans who aren't super-rich find themselves.   Haven't we just been through eight years of these policies that didn't work?? And how does Mitch McConnell, Senate Republican leader, seize the moral high ground on spending?  Wasn't it the Bush administration with a Republican majority in BOTH houses of Congress that turned a multi-million dollar surplus into a trillion-dollar deficit and that's with the Iraq and Afghan wars OFF THE BOOKS---not included in the budget numbers!!!!  A significant part of the present budget's deficit is putting those conflicts' costs into the budget.

So I guess it's Republican Red Ducks, not redux.  And Sarah the avionic wolf butcher wants to have a special election in Alaska now that Ted Stevens has had his conviction vacated.  Wasn't it the Justice Dept. under Bush that blew that case so badly??  Might be time to bring back the Whigs---after all, slavery has been abolished legally and the Union has been preserved---Now the Republicans can truly say "Mission Accomplished."   And go away.................

And after the latest tragedy in Binghamton NY, isn't it long past time we made assault weapons and other forms of automatic weapons illegal??  After all, I don't know of one hunter who thinks it's sporting to go after deer with an AK-47.