Pardon Me Whilst I Vent

Here is what I see as the ignored Libyan issue that is of vital importance and why I have problems with it: we helped AQ take Libya. It is central to this story and is being overlooked in an election year where taking small talking points out of context is more important than looking at larger and more complex issue.

As I recall, and I admit it may be flawed, but Benghazi was the starting point of a Civil War against Kaddafi; it was also a known Al Qaeda stronghold. The main group behind said uprising, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group or LIFG was known to the State Department as an AQ group whose leader was caught in 2002 fighting in Afghanistan against us and sent to Libyan prison. In 2006, the State Department declared the LIFG an AQ offshoot and forbid assistance.

Fast forward to the Civil War. We gave aid to the LIFG in their war against Qaddafi based on a threat to destroy Benghazi civilians; the main source of this info was the LIFG. We decided to help the rebels in the spirit of an Arab Spring we didn’t understand, but were too eager to make friends in the region and hoped despite decades of their hating us after our help that this time would be different.

Fast forward again: Kaddafi is dead and the rebels won. Their first act: They fly an AQ flag in Benghazi; a clear sign of who exactly won the civil war.

Fast forward one last time: a riot that ends with our embassy overrun and 4 people killed including a US Ambassador; the first killed in over 30 years. The spark of said riot is the current distraction, but not the issue. The issue is this: given all I have listed above which is all easily confirmed, why would we depend on the rebels to defend an embassy in a known stronghold of the enemy we are currently engaged in a world wide war against?

Obama’s statements and Romney’s statements are distractions from a major FUBAR in our national security. It is an easy way to get us fighting amongst ourselves in an election year and ignoring the main people who FUBARed it and are NOT subject to election. This entire affair must be looked into, not from the perspective of a video or who said “terrorism” and when, but why we helped rebels we knew were allies of an enemy we were fighting in other countries.

In light of the recent talk of Syria and their civil war, the time is well past now to look into what went wrong with Libya and how we ended up aiding our enemies before we possibly do it again: Most of the time the enemy of my enemy is just another asshole who will end up screwing me over too.

Eaten Alive- 70's Cheese

Wow did I watch a bad movie last night: Tobe Hooper’s Eaten Alive. Now I am a Tobe Hooper fan for the record. Besides Texas Chainsaw Massacre (both 1 and 2), Salem’s Lot, and The Funhouse (all horror classics), he is the man who Steven Spielberg turned to for a director of what is still the best haunted house movie ever made; Poltergiest. But Eaten Alive, his second movie, is trash…fun trash, but trash. Such trash in fact that I needed a shower after I saw it to get the stench of it off me. What else can you say about a movie where the first spoken line is Robert England saying “My name is Buck and I’m here to fuck?” Yes, this is where Tarantino got that famous line in Kill Bill Vol 1 from.

The pattern is basically this: girl goes to swamp motel (why?) and Judd (the innkeeper) gets horny. She turns him down so he feeds her to his crocodile. Another girl comes with man. Judd kills man, feeds man to his crocodile, kidnaps girl, forgets about her for most of the movie, and kills others who come to have sex at his swamp motel (why?) Repeat until clean which won’t ever happen while watching this movie.

Here’s the thing about Eaten Alive; it is just so damned weird that makes you stick around until the end. The sets, costumes, lighting, everything works…even the over the top acting. The couple that arrives with their girl and dog (actually named Snoopy) obviously has a very interesting back story, but Hooper ain’t going to tell you any of it. All you need to know is the husband is a nut, the wife is a bitch, the daughter is a whiner, and the dog is croc-food. Then there is Judd…

Like other Hooper villains, he is insane, but is lucid in his insanity. He knows he is totally gone and enjoys that fact. He almost seems as bewildered as the audience as to why people keep coming to his swamp motel (why?). He rambles to himself about nothing which is the bulk of the script and has zero back story. Not that Hooper isn’t a story teller, but like the couple, and Buck, and everyone else in this movie, what happened before the credits are not a factor in the tale. In fact, what happens after the opening credits is not a factor either: it is just a ride of weirdness, cheese, and a healthy does of 70’s Grindhouse Misogyny.

I cannot recommend this movie to most people, which would mean I heavily DO recommend it to some. If you loved MST3K, this is the movie for you. It provides an endless supply of joke set ups. Get drunk; get high; get friends and have fun.

The best part of this movie is finding the source of "My name is Buck and I love to fuck."   

In an Empty Wedge Issue Do We Trust

How much vindication does one supposedly omniscient and omnipresent Supreme Being need? Why is it a story whether the DNC included him or not? I am pretty sure between putting “In G-d We Trust” on the currency and our pledge to be one nation under him that he is fairly secure in our feelings on the subject. Do we really need a party platform to include trust in him?

Besides, I am pretty sure the omniscient and omnipresent Supreme Being knows better than any of us that everything a politician says is a lie. I would think he would be more comfortable if they just left him out of this nonsense.

Amen

Change Changing Changes

So this is the year of change it seems. A change at my old haunt online has driven me from posting there. A change in a good friend’s behavior has changed multiple aspects of my life and a change at work has made my job more secure. My sister is changing her location. My niece has returned to school.

As with most changes: some are bad; some are good; and the vast majority of changes require time and distance to properly evaluate on the grand scale of life. I will however gladly accept that we are busy at work; very busy. If the other changes were the Karmic price I had to pay, then I would gladly pay even more.

Rush sang: No changes are permanent, but change is. It has been a good 10 years since the last change in my life; I am due and welcome it. Let’s see where you take me change. Let’s ride!

To the tune of "Yellow Submarine"

In the town where I was born
They speak a language from another shore
And I just can’t understand
This language from another land

I live in Miami, F-L-A
Miami, F-L-A
Miami, F-L-A
I live in Miami, F-L-A
Miami, F-L-A
Miami, F-L-A

Most of my friends have moved away
They want to know what people say
But my hometown I won’t betray
I refuse, so here I stay

I live in Miami, F-L-A
Miami, F-L-A
Miami, F-L-A
I live in Miami, F-L-A
Miami, F-L-A
Miami, F-L-A

I happen to love the foreign scene
Best of both worlds, quite a dream
I get the fun and all the sun
And I don’t have to speak to anyone
EVERYBODY!

I live in Miami, F-L-A
Miami, F-L-A
Miami, F-L-A
I live in Miami, F-L-A
Miami, F-L-A
Miami, F-L-A

To the tune of the Theme from Grease

We got no jobs
So now we're gonna burn
Down our city blocks
This isn't your concern

So there's have no money
To repair the damage done
We had a lot of fun
Our reputation's earned
Greece is absurd

We're on the Euro
But we don't get paid
So now we're afraid
And acting stupidly

Athens on fire
Let's all roast some smores
We would rather be with whores
But they don't give up for free
Greece is absurd

Greece is absurd
It's absurd
So I've heard
There is looting and fighting

Greece is a blaze
I'm amazed
No one's phased
Isn't anyone thinking?

Greece is absurd
Its absurd
Its absurd
Its absurd