A Dumb Fuck's voice of reason

So last night I was driving down the 101 and there was this big Ford truck (ofcourse) brandishing this sticker.

A dumb fuck's voice of reason

It is hard to find where to even begin to explain a dumb fuck's voice of reason. It is an oxymoron. If these dumb fucks knew better, they would be brandishing bumper stickers like :

'Osama: Bush for President"

How clueless could one be? If Osama could have his wish, he would come to White House and cast his vote for Bush. Who knows if Florida election commission has already sent him the absentee ballot via FedEx since they won't trust USPS to deliver the ballots safely. Osama couldn't be more grateful to Bush for giving him all the reasons to do things that Osama is good at -blowing up people, metal and concrete objects.

So why do they?

According to report by Community Service Society of New York, almost 50% of African Americans in New York City are unemployed. Yeah that's 50%.

In the last Presidential debate, Kerry made the same point. He said, "We have a long distance yet to travel in terms of fairness of America. I don't know how you can govern in this country when you look at New York City and you see that 50 percent of the black males there are unemployed. When you see 40 percent of Hispanic children or black children in some cities dropping out of high school."

How does one come up with such a number is one thing and its interpretation is another thing depending on which partisan group one belongs to. However, I'm not going to question the statistics. What is mind boggling to me is that why the hell majority of African Americans keep voting for democrats? What have they gained in return for decades of voting for Democrats.

Under Democratic rule:

1. Have the black ghettos been turned into gardens of Eden?
2. Has the quality of schools in black neighborhoods gotten any better?
3. Has the living standard of average African American gone up even by a slither?
4. What about the wage gap between blacks and their white counterparts?
5. How does Democratic party even begin to explain the fact that 63% of the incarcerated population is either black or latino -that according to Human Rights Watch report

So why do African Americans keep voting for the Democratic party?

Garbage

So obviously there is lot of garbage in my head and it is coming out in a form of really bad poetry -more like chopped up lines slapped with words. Sorry. This blog is a dust bin afterall -one that never gets recycled.

Vacant Lies

The potent undertone of your lines
Reverberate pain, anguish, longing and more
Daring to say goodbye
Though not wanting to
Forced to slam the book down
epilogue complete or not

We read the lines as we write
empty spaces and all
Marking our words holding on to the meaning
Searching for that missed connection
Where is the end, where was the beginning
After all is said and done
The pain lingers on
And stand still, watch your feelings pass you by
They stare back at you, a glaring sight
Asking questions
While vacant lies fill the empty spaces ...

Relativity

Relativity
She goes on chasing the truth,
While I go off chasing relative lies,
Sure I am someday our paths shall cross ..

Sigh

H o p e

Hope ... hope is when her teenage daughter is kidnapped in broad day light and she hopes that she'd return home safely. And that no harm would come to her beautiful young daughter. She hopes as tears run down her face. She begs and pleads to the kidnapper for her daughter's safe return home.

Across the TV screen I stand thinking to myself that it is not to be. She is probably dead and she is not coming back. People surround the sobbing mother but no one dare say that to her even though perhaps deep down they know it too. They hope and so does she. How many times have we seen this familiar seen on TV?

What is hope? In a given set of events where there is cause and effect, there is no room for hope. We know, yet we hold on to the abstract thought that 'maybe' ... Do we not let ourselves down?

There is no hope. Only effect for there was a cause.

Flu virus not to affect big pharma!

In 2002, the combined profits for the ten drug companies in the Fortune 500 ($35.9 billion) were more than the profits for all the other 490 businesses put together ($33.7 billion).

So why all this Flu vaccine shortage? Well it is your classic 'profit over people' principle in action. Apparently, almost $36 billion dollars of profit is not enough for the Pharma.

According to drug companies vaccines have never been very attractive investments. They say that global market for vaccines is about $6 billion a year, compared to $340 billion for drugs. Thirty years ago, more than a dozen companies made flu shots. Five years ago, the number was down to four. In 2004 the number is down to ONE.

These companies and their stock holders should be ashamed of themselves. While senior citizens are bracing cold, rain and waiting in miles long lines to get a fuckin flu shot, the CEOs of Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Bristol Myers are cashing 9.71 million, 4.4 million, 5.92 million dollars checks respectively -in salary alone.

Where have all the cowboys gone?

Bring it on

Nightmare

Nightmare lives on

Kaiser Permanente -non profit tax exempt

The other day I found out that Kaiser, yet once again, is raising my insurance premiums, co-pay and prescription drug costs. All this while the wait lines in Kaiser hospitals are getting longer and it takes literally months to get an appointment with a specialist. To get an MRI you have to wait at least two months. And most of the time you are at the mercy of so called nurse practioner (NP) -if she were good enough to 'act' like a doctor then why wasn't she good enough to go to medical school? One wonders.

Let us do a little exercise on Kaiser, shall we?

Operating revenues (December 31, 2002): $22.5 billion

In May 2004, Kaiser reported some mighty impressive numbers:

Quarterly profit of $301 million on revenue of $6.2 billion.

Hmmmm. So if Kaiser is non profit and tax exempt, where is all this profit going? It is surely not being put back for its members' benefit. Just go to any hospital and you will see i.e. if you are lucky enough to be allowed in Kaiser hospital. The primary job of NPs is to keep you out of the hospital. I wouldn't be surprised if they are incentivised to do so. The more patients they keep out of the hospital, the more bonus they get. All they need to ask you on the phone is what is your pain level on the scale of 1 to 10. Unless you lie and say that it is 9, forget about getting an appointment anytime soon.

According to USAToday: "At California-based Kaiser Permanente, whose executives oversee both an insurance plan and a system of 30 hospitals, outgoing Kaiser Foundation Hospital President Dale Crandall was paid a total of $7.4 million in 2002, reflecting salary, deferred compensation, a bonus, retirement and a one-time payment for termination of his contract. George Halvorson, the new CEO, was paid $2.2 million in 2002."

To make things worse, Kaiser is an active participant in the outsourcing phenomena. It is outsourcing patients' medical data, including lab results and drugs being taken, members' personal information, including financial records and home addresses.

Under the holy umbrella of 'non profit' and while its executives are cashing seven figure checks, Kaiser is royally gouging its members -mostly people with stagnant incomes. It is amazing how we keep getting fucked from all different directions and yet manage to go through our days...

Gruntled

How come one never hears about 'gruntled' employee but only of 'disgruntled' ones?

Perhaps employees are only of the latter kind. The gruntled employee is a mythical figure at best. In the current economic situation if you can find a gruntled employee then ofcourse he is the delusional kind.

Perhaps it is these disgruntled employees of USAir who are punching holes in the jets -a creative outlet nevertheless, mildly destructive though it might be. But the sentiment is well understood.

Afterall they just god fucked by their management yet once again.

Are you too?

brain

Hairy pits versus shaved legs

How do you even begin to explain the dichotomy between hairy pits and shaved legs?

1
Obviously this is not a recent Berkeley phenomenan. Are the two self contradictory or is this dichotomy a socio-sexual-political statement in itself? Or is it just another ploy to throw off men -I mean what is a man to think? Is he supposed to admire her hairy armpits while rubbing her shaved legs and tell her how smooth her skin is.

And it doesn't end there. Women want hairy chest but shaved balls on men -the conundrum continues ... It doesn't get any easier, does it?

Free market economy in action

While the CEO of USAir's salary and stock package earns him well over 11 million dollars, a bankruptcy judge granted USAir authority past Friday to temporarily cut the pay of its union workers by 21 percent. This means that the average US Airways salary would drop from $59,509 to $47,012, putting the airline below the other five major traditional carriers as well as Southwest Airlines.

So if you were a USAir employee sulking over 12,000 dollars of salary loss, this is what your motherfucker (CEO) had to say, "The company was still calculating the financial effect of the decision, but I am pleased".

The union wages in the airline industry are dependent on seniority, he said. So a flight attendant, for instance, might see his or her wages drop from $41 to $31 an hour as a result of the pay cut.

But if these flight attendants left USAir to join another airline they'd have to start at the bottom of the ladder at $19 or $20 an hour. So basically they are fucked either way.

Mutiny

I grew up watching my dad wearing his shining white Navy uniform. I often polished his white uniform shoes and shinned his belt buckle with brass -dreaming that someday I'd myself be an officer in military. The kids on the block used to look at my dad with envy and it used to make me real proud. It is not unusual for military families to have higher than average nationalistic feelings. Regardless of that, Papa always told me that I'd not be a good fit for the military. Perhaps it was due to the fact that I could never get up early in the morning. Or maybe it was due to the fact that I never wanted to get a short hair cut even when I was a child. But few years ago I finally realized why he always insisted that military service was not for me. The reason was that you are not supposed to ask questions. You follow orders -plain and simple. First you oblige than you question but once you have already obliged, there is no point questioning the fact after the act. He was right. I would not have survived a single day in military. How can you not ask question? How can you not question authority? Mind is a terrible thing to waste. I even doubt that military would have enlisted me to begin with. There is no room for critical thinking in that culture unless it is in the confounds of pre ordained thought process. That is why military wants to hire them young -younger the person, easier the brain washing process.

I could not help but feel sorry for the US troops that are now charged with mutiny. Even though I think that it is too little and too late but nevertheless a start that was long overdue. Someone is finally standing up and questioning the marching orders -an exercise in futility it may be. With an overwhelming lack of evidence of links between Saddam and 9/11, I'm surprised that this mutiny did not happen sooner. Even though this time around the premise of mutiny is well bogus, to say the least. The bigger issue is that how prevalent this phenomena is in US troops in Iraq and elsewhere.

Even though these soldiers are paid by my tax dollars to follow orders, I say more power to them!

Worker insecurity

Right now I'm going through some heightened feelings of what is called 'worker insecurity'.

The Fucker (Greenspan) said:
Several years ago I suggested that worker insecurity might be an important reason for unusually damped inflation.

What to do?

Such analog of a feeling, caught in a digital storm ...

Che 'o Che ... the motherfuckers finally got you

On October 9th, 1967, Ernesto "Che" Guevara was put to death by Bolivian soldiers, trained, equipped and guided by U.S. Green Beret and CIA operatives.

The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall. (Che)

Senator Kerry & Edwards for President and VP (of Israel)

In June 2004, Kerry came out with a policy paper titled "John Kerry: Strengthening Israel's Security and Bolstering the U.S.-Israel Special Relationship."

Then during the first presidential debate Kerry said, "Now that's what we have to do. There's no inconsistency. Soldiers know over there that this isn't being done right yet. I'm going to get it right for those soldiers, because it's important to Israel, it's important to America, it's important to the world, it's important to the fight on terror."

Then last night Senator Edwards spoke like a true hawk -even left Cheney in the dust when it came to talk about Israel.

John Edwards said, "First, the Israeli people not only have the right to defend themselves, they should defend themselves. They have an obligation to defend themselves. I mean, if I can, just for a moment, tell you a personal story. I was in Jerusalem a couple of years ago, actually three years ago, in August of 2001, staying at the King David Hotel. We left in the morning, headed to the airport to leave, and later in the day I found out that that same day, not far from where we were staying, the Sbarro Pizzeria was hit by a suicide bomber in Jerusalem. Fifteen people were killed. Six children were killed.

What are the Israeli people supposed to do? How can they continue to watch Israeli children killed by suicide bombers, killed by terrorists? They have not only the right to the obligation to defend themselves.

Now, we know that the prime minister has made a decision, an historic decision, to unilaterally withdraw from Gaza. It‘s important for America to participate in helping with that process.

Now, if Gaza‘s being used as a platform for attacking the Israeli people, that has to be stopped. And Israel has a right to defend itself. They don‘t have a partner for peace right now. They certainly don‘t have a partner in Arafat, and they need a legitimate partner for peace.

And I might add, it is very important for America to crack down on the Saudis who have not had a public prosecution for financing terrorism since 9/11. And it‘s important for America to confront the situation in Iran, because Iran is an enormous threat to Israel and to the Israeli people."

Hmmm so you wonder what about those damn Palestinians -afterall they have been under brutal Israeli occupation for only over 30+ years. Fuck them. What's the big fucking deal if since September 29, 2000 only 3659 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli security forces -with the arms, gunship helicopters, missiles and Caterpillars provided by the US government with full diplomatic support.

Faux News does it again ... Oops

Fox News Channel's chief political correspondent Carl Cameron reported:

"Didn't my nails and cuticles look great? What a good debate!' Kerry said Friday.

'"It's about the Supreme Court. Women should like me! I do manicures,' Kerry said."

Cameron also quoted Kerry as saying of himself and President Bush:
"I'm metrosexual — he's a cowboy."

And there you have it guys, Fox Outfoxed itself -yet once again.

Rummy (now) says ...

Rummy on Saddam-Al Qaeda link:

"To my knowledge, I have not seen any strong, hard evidence that links the two."

well DUH!

Question

Utility

Where does utility end?
And futility begins?


Futility 

Ones that did not make it

Ok so the following letters did not make it to the newapapers (sigh) ...

September 16, 2004
Ideas 2004 Exhibition Karachi

Editor-
The other day, while on my brief visit to Karachi, I noticed several blocked roads and a host of law enforcement agents positioned every few yards on Share-e-Faisal and brandishing assault weapons. Well it turned out that they
were there due to so called 'Ideas 2004 Arms for Peace' exhibition currently being held in Karachi. If the title itself is not an oxymoron than what is? It made me wonder a few things- 'Defense of what?' Do we really need more
weapons in this country?' What is so glorified about the savagery of killing machines anyway?'

Perhaps the prevailing answer would be that we need the weapons to defend Pakistan against India.

Does anyone notice the inherently flawed logic of strengthening the physical borders while the inner core is crumbling at an ever-growing rate due to political instability, rampant corruption, feudalism, nepotism, lawlessness and unemployment?

Or do we need the weapons to defend our so called religious freedom (for which this country was formed) against foreign aggression -i.e. the freedom to bomb mosques and other places of worship, persecute religious minorities
and kill other citizens in the name of God.

Ever since its inception, Pakistan is caught in a vicious and never ending arms race while in the name of 'Defense' social welfare has been put on the back burner. Over the years Pakistan has accumulated a foreign debt of about
40 billion dollars. Debt repayment, defense spending and general administrative expenditures consume 80% of Pakistan’s annual budget. Only 20% is available for development of the social sector.

What if only a small percentage of these billions of dollars were spent on social programs instead of buying war machines?

The masses are not only uneducated but also illiterate -a situation that in turn creates fertile breeding grounds for intolerance (religious, cultural and racial). Millions of citizens are without basic human services such as food, shelter, healthcare and education. It is a shame that the only sources of pride for Pakistan are matching India 1-for-1 on missile launches and beating India in a meaningless Cricket match. Amassing more weapons and
glorifying wars can only further deteriorate the existing situation.

Is this the Pakistan that Jinnah had envisioned?

All of this plays well in the hands of the ruling elite (or Army). By creating an environment of 'threat' they rationalize their dictatorship and outrageous arms spending while the general public due to the 'fear' of the fabricated threat goes along with the ailing fiscal policy. It is also in the rulers' best interest to keep the 'pot boiling but not let it over
spill' at the borders in order for the headlines news to be about the growing tensions with India and hence providing the justification for buying more weapons.

Instead of 'Ideas 2004', this exhibition needs to be renamed to something more appropriate such as '2004 ideas to murder civilians' or '2004 ideas to cut social programs' or '2004 ideas to squander public money on buying
bombs'.

August 18 2004
Why do they hate us?

Editor-
August 20^th marks the 6^th year anniversary of destruction of Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Sudan by US cruise missiles. Acting on faulty intelligence reports the Clinton administration claimed that Al-Shifa was producing the precursor chemicals that would allow the production of VX nerve agent and that it was funded by Bin Ladin. It claimed that the key evidence justifying its destruction of the Al-Shifa plant was in a soil sample of a precursor chemical (O-ethylmethyl-phosphonothioic acid, or EMPTA) in the making of the VX nerve gas obtained months before the attack. US claims were immediately challenged by independent sources. Alfred Frey, a chemical weapons expert working for the UN and who was also a UN Iraqi weapons inspector, said that EMPTA was not conclusive scientific evidence of involvement in producing nerve gas. He stated: ‘That would tell me I found this product (the compound) and no more’. Till this day Sudan is reeling from the effects of the destruction of Al-Shifa that produced 60% of its drugs including antibiotics, malaria tablets, drugs for diabetes, ulcers and tuberculosis. This action in Sudan might well have made it more difficult to prevent the attacks of 9/11. Just before the Al-Shifa attack took place, Sudan had detained two men who were suspected of involvement in bombing of US embassies in East Africa. It had offered cooperation with the US in convicting the men. But this offer was rejected by Washington. After the bombing, Sudan "angrily released" the two suspects, who were later found to be Bin Laden operatives.

In light of events like these and not to mention US terror attacks in Vietnam, Nicaragua, El Salvador etc, people still ask the question ‘Why do they hate us?’

June 30 2004
On Reagan's Legacy

Editor-
Last Saturday while driving down HWY101 Petaluma corridor, I noticed several US flags that were still at half mast. I guess these folks are still mourning Regan's death. It made me think of his legacy as I see it -the Contras and cocaine. During 1981-1990, US involvement in Nicaragua resulted in at least 13,000 civilian deaths. Following the fall of the Somoza regime, which had been backed for decades by the US, the CIA formed and armed the covert army known as the "Contras" from the remains of Somoza's National Guard. Assisted by covert U.S. air power, this proxy army inflicted considerable death and destruction across the Nicaraguan countryside. It was an all-out war, aiming to destroy the progressive social and economic programs of the government, burning down schools and medical clinics, raping, torturing, mining harbors, bombing and strafing. These were Ronald Reagan's "freedom fighters."

Reagan is known as the 'Just Say No' president for his campaign against recreational drugs in America and a strong policy of international drug eradication. Under Reagan’s policy, at a time when Americans were being presented with strong anti-drug propaganda, the CIA was in fact an accomplice to a large narcotics smuggling ring in the United States. It was in fact Reagan’s policies that led to the cooperation between the CIA and the Contras. While Nancy Reagan was saying no to drugs in White house lawn, inside the oval house Regan's administration was making deals with the drug cartels.

In 1988 Regan sent 20,000 US troops to invade Panama which resulted in thousands of Panamanian deaths before capturing a CIA employee of 30 odd years, Manuel Noriega. He was brought to Florida to stand trial for drug trafficking charges. Of all the charges brought only one took place after 1984, and the US government had known he was involved in the drug trade since 1972.

Viva American amnesia.

Russian response to Beslan Massacre

So Dawn published the letter -edited nevertheless!

Russian response to Beslan
The precedent of 'preemptive strikes' set by the White House has now taken a new turn after the Russian announcement that it would launch preemptive strikes on suspected terrorists groups anywhere in the world.

The fear that other nations may employ similar tactics has been a concern ever since the US decided to launch wars against sovereign states such as Afghanistan and Iraq in the name of the 'war on terror'.

The latest announcement by Russia has put the US in a unique situation. Ever since the fall of the Soviet Union, it was the US alone that granted its client states the right to wage war.

The prime examples are Israel and Turkey. Now Russia, the ex-superpower, wants to employ US tactics without its approval. While the EU has voiced its opposition to the Russian announcement, reaction from the White House is yet to be seen. If the US opposes Russian action, it will be exposing its double standards even more.

On the other hand, if America goes along with Russian measures, it will be tantamount to Russia (once again) challenging the global world order - a situation that has not arisen since the demise of the Soviet Union.

Whatever has happened to diplomacy? If brute force is the way we are going to 'resolve' global political issues, then let's just put an end to the United Nations Charter which has become a joke.

On multiple occasions the US, the UK and Israel have shown blatant disregard for the UN without suffering the consequences. The laws are only applicable when they serve the interest of the US and its allies.

FEISAL SIDDIQI
San Francisco, CA., USA

Single cell

A single cell being
is what I wish I were

Wonder what would it be like if
a single thought were to occupy my brain
a single sensation were to tingle my skin
a single emotion were to rescue my indifference
a single shadow were to elude me once again

Tracking the trail of that single drop of tear
which now rests for a brief moment
on my chin, waiting
to drop and stain the floor, or maybe not

A single point of view contradicts itself
in the vast confinements of a single cell
Oh well ~
A single shadow is what I chase
at least I now can rest, for I know
who or what that shadow is

Yes? 

Does God Hate Florida?

So it seems that I'm not alone in my analysis of recent Florida events!

Does God Hate Florida? / After four brutal hurricanes, why aren't Bush evangelicals talking about the Almighty's wrath?