When I went to sleep this morning after another 3rd shift I wasn’t supposed to be scheduled for, Inglorious Bastards was playing on the television. I slipped off into my slumber with the sound of Shosanna Dreyfus conspiring with Marcel about burning the cinema to the ground, and making a movie of their own to show the Nazis before they did.

When I awoke Staff Sergeant Will Montgomery was standing beside Capitan Tony Stone about to deliver the news to yet another family member of a fallen soldier in Oren Moverman and Alessandro Camon’s The Messenger.

It got me thinking, as I wiped the tears from my eyes, “I wish I could splice this into a few of those militaristic piece of shit movies that old whore Hollywood cranks out on a regular basis.” I know which one of the latest canidates I’d give the treatment to first.

Our esteemed Mr. Perrin:

Here’s the bald face of imperialism. The video speaks for itself. I knew some prime assholes when I was in the Army, but this guy’s beyond belief. Remember, they hate us for our freedom.

As I explained in the daily Guys From Area 51 “waste time at work and erode the foundations of society” e-mail exchange:

I heard this same lecture if not everyday, at least 2 or 3 times a week when I was active duty Army. It’s common negative motivation technique…the fact that he’s using it reveals allot. When our intrepid leaders dragged this old standby out it you could be sure they’d just heard a similar speech from their superiors. The old shit rolls down hill thing. It also means that he’s reach the bottom of his bag of tricks, probably because he’s sick of being in that forsaken stretch of dirt risking his ass for them when they don’t even want him there.

It’s the natural way of things people. There’s an arc. This is not “the bald face of imperialism.” Luckily, via der Pime, the late, great Paul Harvey clears it all up for us:

We didn’t come this far because we’re made of sugar candy. Once upon a time, we elbowed our way onto and across this continent by giving smallpox-infected blankets to Native Americans. That was biological warfare. And we used every other weapon we could get our hands on to grab this land from whomever.

And we grew prosperous. And yes, we greased the skids with the sweat of slaves. So it goes with most great nation-states, which—feeling guilty about their savage pasts—eventually civilize themselves out of business and wind up invaded and ultimately dominated by the lean, hungry up-and-coming who are not made of sugar candy.

This is the bald face of a dying Imperial power. Reduced to begging and pleading and talking to hear ourselves speak. And so it goes.

Pentagon to Allow Photos of Soldiers’ Coffins
By ELISABETH BUMILLER
WASHINGTON — In a reversal of an 18-year-old military policy that critics said was hiding the ultimate cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the news media will now be allowed to photograph the coffins of America’s war dead as their bodies are returned to the United States, but only if the families of the dead agree.

This is that one photograph. The one you saw whenever the topic was mentioned. No more.

Obama’s Straw Men
by Karl Rove

Whose philosophy is this?

It’s yours, Karl; you and the party you destroyed.

Israeli Ground Forces Push Into Gaza

Crossposted @ Guys From Area 51

There is a little Greek restaurant around the corner from Johann-Sebastian Bach Platz we used to go and eat at, and get hammered on Ouzo after the meal. Sigh. Good times.

Today in class a fellow student of the politically Conservative persuasion pulled me aside, knowing that until recently I served in the National Guard, and told me a shocking story. He asked if seen the news of beating in Oswego this past weekend. I told him I hadn’t. His brother goes to school in Oswego and his brother’s roommate literally had his skull cracked in a argument over the election of Barack Obama. No, really:

Assault began with argument over Obama, witness says

Oswego police are continuing their investigation of a Sunday morning melee that left a Barack Obama supporter gravely injured and a soldier who fought in Afghanistan charged with his beating.

Angel Moreno, 19, of the Bronx, was listed in critical condition at University Hospital Monday.

The soldier, Pvt. Kevin T. Flanagan, from Manchester, N.H., was being held in the Oswego County jail. He is charged with third-degree assault, a misdemeanor.

Investigators are interviewing witnesses to the fight and other charges and arrests could be pending, said Oswego police Capt. James Comerford.

According to police, officers arrived at the Pizza Pub restaurant, 141 W. Bridge St., at 3:02 a.m. Sunday and found Moreno, 19, a junior at the State University College at Oswego, lying near a parked car.

Moreno was taken by ambulance to the college and was then flown by helicopter to University Hospital.

According to a witness in the restaurant, the fight began when patrons began arguing about Obama’s presidential election.

There are lots of ways this story could be twisted. Did the soldier have PTSD from his time served in Afghanistan? Was this a Black vs Latino thing? Unless you’ve been in a New York barfight I don’t want to hear it. I know Oswego as I used to guard the power plant there when I was with the New New York Army National Guard. I’m willing to bet it was as simple as knowing the quickest way to goad someone into throwing punches more than a refection of either faction. Sad any way you look at it.

The Vet I’m singling out for thanks this year is Max Cleland, Vietnam Vet, triple amputee, and rumored to be in the running for Secretary of the Army. Stop by Fallenmonk‘s to read more about doings in Cleland’s home state of Georgia.

As handed down to me by Jood and as to her by Randel…the 25 favorite tracks on my mp3 player. I don’t have one so I’m just going to pick through what I have here on the computer and link to the Youtube clip when I can, or rather when I feel like it. And it’s more random than favorite. They’re all favorites if I took the time to procure them.

1. Pink Floyd – Us and Them (R.I.P. Richard Wright)
2. The Sutras – Ballrooms on Mars
3. Metallica – Blackened
4. Conor Oberst – Cape Canaveral
5. Helmet – Wilma’s Rainbow
6. The Rolling Stones – Dead Flowers
7. Donna The Buffalo – Positive Friction
8. Mazzy Star – She’s My Babe
9. Pantera – Cemetery Gates
10. Toots & the Maytals – Pressure Drop
11. Lemonheads – My Drug Buddy
12. Led Zeppelin – Bron-Yr-Aur
13. AC/DC – Have A Drink On Me
14. White Stripes – Rag and Bone
15. Janis Joplin – Turtle Blues
16. The Cure – Fascination Street
17. Dinosaur JR – Outta Hand
18. Nirvana – Negative Creep
19. Grateful Dead – Sugaree
20. John Brown’s Body – 33RPM
21. Sublime – Bad Fish
22. Placebo – Pure Morning
23. Nada Surf – Blonde on Blonde
24. Johnny Cash – Cocaine Blues
25. Silverchair – Slave

Go forth, and pass it on…Agi, Culture Ghost, TAFKA PB, NavySwan, and Lew.