Wake Up?

I see where they are referring to the latest swell in fundamentalist religiosity (read: mass, fear-based fallback into escapist, hypocritical, hatred-of-the-other superstition) since the 70's in the States as the "Third Great Awakening". Huh? Since when does "awaken" apply to self-immolation into irrational, mass hypnosis? The kind of twisted stop-think that has millions of poor souls politically supporting people in power whose policies work directly against the very interests of those millions..."Awakening"...¡Hay que joderse!

Speaking of irrationality and thought systems that work against the very self-interest of those who partake in them..Yesterday, Islamic militants blow up an important Islamic shrine (according to news accounts, anyway). Does this spark any mass protests (apart from those particular Muslims whose shrine was destroyed)? Of course not. Do repeated reports of barbaric treatment of prisoners, mass civilian deaths as the result of wars of aggression, ad nauseum spark such rabid mass protests? Not really. But badly drawn, unfunny cartoons poking fun at yet another sky-god...why, time to scream bloody murder!

Pathetic.

Just pathetic.

Now, whose interests, praytell, do such manifestations serve? Why, the "clash of civilizations" set, that's who. You know, those "intellectuals" enlisted in the newest great crusade, either directly or indirectly serving the arms industry, along with the energy mafia it is really meant to protect, and the financial-shenanigans industry it has likewise spawned.

Clash of civilizations...break out the bullshit dectector, folks! There is a clash, but it's not between the "Muslim" and "Judeo-Christian" worlds. Within all of those parts of the world, there are secularists,atheists, folks with faintly religious leanings, the devout, and fundamentalists. There are those who want more, and those who settle for less. There are the powerful and the not-so-powerful. There are shitheads and good folks. The clash, in the end, is between decent people with their values grounded in experience, history and collective human knowledge. The tolerant. The live-and-let-live. And those who stimulate and stir up tribalism, hatred of the other, infantile patriotism, irrationality and fear in the service of their own ill-gotten power...and those who would allow themselves to be led in such a way. To use older terminology - the fascists versus the anti-fascists...

That's today's real clash...

Hmmm...

So Bush mentions in his "State of the Union" speech that the U.S. must reduce its dependence on Middle Eastern oil...huh? How, praytell? Through the use of alternative fuels, renewable resources, mandating auto manufacturers to produce more fuel-efficient vehicles? Cmon!
No...that's certainly not it.

I've been scanning the press, and no one seems to have made the connection...where get the oil? Why, closer to home, that's where. And where might closer to home be? Well, Canada and Mexico are both major oil exporters to the States...but the real motherlode happens to be in Venezuela...

Right...subtle hints at where the next war is to be fought.

Mark my words.