One thing I haven't done much this week, if at all, is bitch about the war's progress. Mainly, because there's no reason to bitch - things seem to be going quite well. Believe it or not, even though I was against going into this war, I want it to go well and I'm glad that so far that's been the case. In fact, the progress of the war never bothered me, even when trouble was brewin' down south. I was just pissed that the Defense Department couldn't fess up that things weren't going exactly according to plan.

With tanks supposedly rolling through the streets of Baghdad, things seem to be going incredibly well. We've been inside the red line for quite ahwile, and haven't seen any biological or chemical (BC) weapons. This may just be because of the great job that was done fucking with the Republican Guard in advance of our arrival in the capital, and I sure hope that's the case. But you know the phrase: "it's quiet... too quiet".

Speaking of BC weapons, where exactly in the hell are they? We haven't found any, and they haven't been used on us. It seems like it's too late for Saddam to start using them on our forces, because they're already in Baghdad. The only thing that worries me is that Saddam might unleash them in the city itself, just to be a prick, but I guess we'll see.

Speaking of finding BC weapons, what would happen if we didn't find any weapons of mass destruction (WMD), or we found a greatly reduced cache of them? Would the military, as Bill Maher said last night, call in the LAPD to plant them? That was one of the big reasons to start this goddamn war - to disarm Saddam. If we don't find the smoking gun in Iraq, the Administration is going to look bad, so I've always had a feeling we'd find them one way or the other. Either they'll actually be there, or we'll plant them.

Yeah, I know it's still too early to tell, and we haven't begin to scratch the surface of what's in and around Baghdad. I'm still sure that we will find WMD, and I always have been. For me, it has never been a question of whether or not he had them, just whether or not he'd use or sell them. I always felt that if pushed, he would use them, but so far that hasn't even been the case.

The only other frightening possibility is that Saddam could have already sold off a lot of his stock of WMD. With the level of intelligence we've got on Saddam, which is so high that we (supposedly) knew where he was the first night of the war with the 'decapitation strike', I've gotta think that they would know if Saddam was trying to move that much shit.

Again, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

Even though the war is helping with things like affirmative action, it's still hurting us in a lot of other areas.

The fact that news about high unemployment is being mostly ignored shows two things. One, that the stock market is fucked up, because it's actually tracking the progress of the war. As the non-American body count rises, so do the markets. It also shows how the stock market is bullshit, and shouldn't have such heavy attention paid to it. If the stock markey truly was an indicator of our economic health, it would react poorly to news like 108,000 laid off last month. Also, in that article, there's mention of how many layoffs are in the services sector, since consumers have had to "tighten their belts". Remember the article I linked to a few days ago where one analyst said that the consumer is in good shape? I'm going to renew my statements: fuck investors, and fuck Wall Street analysts.

The second thing shown by the fact that high unemployment and a generally shitty economy is being ignored is just how short-sighted Americans can be. We're so caught up in this war that we're ignoring real problems that we have on the homefront. This, to me, goes to show one reason why the Administration got us into this war - to deflect issues like the economy. They knew that getting into a war would help gather support for the Administration. Either people are more fervently in support because they were all along, or others just blindly follow because they buy the rhetoric of needing to rally behind the president in a time of war. So far, that gamble has paid off, because support for the war is still strong.

Hard to believe that the war may be helping on some fronts. The idea of so many involved with the military, a very conservative organization, coming out for affirmative action caught me by surprise, but that's great. You just can't ignore the backing of Stormin' Norman, BP, Coke, and Bill Gates. Hopefully these cases go well so that white people can just go back to their normal fucking bitching.

While we're on this subject, whitey, I think we need to have a little chat. First off, you white people actually need to cut out the fucking complaining. If you spent all the time you use for bitching to study, maybe this wouldn't be an issue. This incessant whining about 'racism' in affirmative action is nothing but empty, meaningless dialogue for one simple reason: white people don't fucking know what racism is. The closest white people can get is if they're poor or middle class, and they try and go hang out at a country club. That's the closest situation I can think of, but that doesn't even come close, because we see the real racism when the blacks and hispanics show up to try and play 18 holes.

I'll make a deal with you, white people. As soon as you get rid of the assholes who, if affirmative action didn't exist, wouldn't hire minorities or admit them to college, and as soon as you adjust everyone's socioeconomic status so that minorities are on equal footing with whites, then we can end affirmative action. OK?

You know, it's been less than half a century since the big civil rights battles of the sixties. Even though that period of time is more than twice my age, it still isn't that long. If you read history, which most people don't, you'll know that 50 years ago is pretty recent on a large enough scale. Since it wasn't that long ago, we haven't gotten to the point where we've made sufficient progress, since progress often tends to be slow. Once we have made that level of progress, than I will happily call for the tearing down of institutions like affirmative action - because it won't be necessary. But right now, it is necessary, and in the words of my friend Eric Cartman, quit 'yer bitchin'.

What's really been interesting is the war of words that's going on. The Iraqis have learned well, and they are fighting fire with fire, by lying. Every advance that the Americans make, they come out with a denial of that advance. Then they make shit up like re-taking the airport.

Okay, well, I'm pretty sure they're lying. If nothing else, I think that's impressive; I'm pretty sure I believe my government over the Iraqi regime. Prettry sure. Even though I question a lot of what I'm hearing, I'd say that the general reports of progress are undoubtedly true. But then again, I ask myself, what if they're making this whole thing up, just like they did with the moon landing?

This is becoming a running theme. Why the fuck is this just happening now? What the hell are the airlines doing with the billions of dollars we're giving them? Are they just flushing it down those little stainless steel toilets at the back of the planes?

Once again, dissent will not be tolerated.

Here are a couple of things that I'm fucking sick and tired of.

First of all, I have had it with this "we need to pull together as a country and rally behind the president bullshit." Fuck that. I can criticize the president, while still hoping he does a good job. In fact, that's why I am criticizing; I want him to get his fucking act together. Being supportive isn't the same thing as being in agreement. Just because we're at war and we want things to go well, whether we're pro- or anti-war, doesn't mean that we should stop thinking and blindly follow along with anything. It's those kind of moronic attitudes that got us shit like the USA-PATRIOT act. If nothing else, Dumbfuck Bush had his chance to have us rally behind him. After September 11th, we were all scared shitless (as if you need to be reminded). As such, we all gave Bush our support, and what did he and his cronies do with it? Put us on the path to a fucking police state.

Yes, I know that we are a long ways away from being Nazi Germany. But legislation like we've seen and mandates from the press secretary to "watch what you say" are pretty fucking scary. Nowadays, I'm seeing plenty of evil shit that's not coming in the form of legislation that wipes its ass with the Constitution (although with PATRIOT-II on the way, that hasn't stopped either). Most of it is stuff like what's happening to Sen. Kerry. If you're not with the administration, you're anti-American. I'll stop harping on that, because it's pretty obvious as to why that attitude is bullshit.

Another thing I'm tired of is how people really hate hearing opinions that differ from theirs. I can tell how much it pisses people off because they never have anything intelligent to say in return, just "well, you're entitled to your opinion." Can we please stop telling people that they're entitled to their opinion? Everyone fucking knows that. Thanks asshole, I'm aware of my right to speak my mind. Of course, when they say stupid things like that, they always say it so begrudgingly, too. You can just tell that they kinda wish that the other person didn't have that right, just so that they wouldn't have to hear the other side of the story.

The final thing that has gotten really old is saying how anti-war protests and ant-war opinions are harmful to troop morale. Here's the deal, skeezix: I will not take responsibility for the death of any troops over there. Hey, if it was up to me and others who are anti-war, they wouldn't fucking be there in that lousy position in the first place. And even if morale really is lowered by anti-war rhetoric, what the fuck are we supposed to do? Stop expressing our opinions? What the fuck kind of logic is that? Aren't they supposed to be over there protecting my freedom to express my opinion? By saying that anti-war expressions can get men killed on the battlefield is a purely evil tactic to try and curttail dissenting opinion and shift the responsibility for those men and women's deaths. An attempt at emotional manipulation at that level is something that would have made Goebbels and Hitler proud.

I hope they get shot.

Fuck, more of the arctic drilling shit is being stirred up again. A measure for artic drilling was defeated a couple of weeks back, but that isn't stopping these republican assholes from trying again. In addition to the irresponsibility of arctic drilling, all of the gifts to energy companies in this proposal make me nauseous.

My favorite quote from that article came from Rep. Richard Pombo of California, saying "doesn't it make sense for us to adopt some sensible policies that will boost our energy security?" Sensible policies? It seems to me that "sensible policies" would be ones that try to diminish (and ultimately eliminate) our oil addiction.

I found it kinda interesting that this was amongst the top headlines on CNN's front page. Either the war has gotten boring even for CNN, or giant squids are much more important than I thought.

As a side note, the article says that they found the squid eating something, and then hauled it in. Before that was over, the squid was already dead. That's real nice of these scientists, killing a rare animal, in the middle of her dinner, no less. Typical human arrogance.

First it was the pudding cups and mines in Afghanistan, now this. Why is it that we're so good at fucking the people we're quote-unquote liberating?

Meanwhile, things are going smoothly for the planning of the aforementioned post-Saddam government.

One thing that I've been worried about is that the US will use this war in Iraq as a springboard for a wholesale cleanup of the middle east. Fears are abound that we may go after Iran and Syria. The British claim that they would have no part in such an endeavor, but we all know their recent history in restraining Bush.

The above article once again makes mention of the post-Saddam Iraqi government. Over and over I hear this stupid bullshit that the government will be chosen by the Iraqi people. And, yeah, there's a chance that it will truly be chosen by the people of that nation. But what if they elected a government that was either not pro-American, or blatantly anti-American? I sincerely doubt that we would let that happen. So to me, the Iraqi people will eventually get to choose their own government, provided that we're happy with their choices. Wouldn't it be neat if they put in power another government that we were displeased with and have to remove in another 10 years?

Well, this is good to see. Hopefully there will be a lot more Iraqis who are happy to see us, so they won't rise up and kill us in a few years. That, of course, will depend on whether or not we stick around to help these people out, unlike some other instances I can think of.

Oh, and don't even get me started on the comment from Lt. Col. Duke Deluca at the bottom of that last link.

Unfortunately, for every story of us being greeted with something besides artillery and disdain, there are the awful stories of people like the poor guy who lost his entire family yesterday thanks to coalition bombing.

The stock market is still PFS (pretty fucking sick).

The stock market just pisses me off. People are on the verge of dying, and that sparks a rally on Wall Street. That's just not right.

Oh and what the fuck us up with the quote at the end of that article that "The consumer continues to be in great shape"? Isn't consumer confidence at its lowest point in like 10 years? Market analysts are fucking full of shit assholes, plain and simple.

Good, fuck the HMOs.

Of course, the airlines are still on track for some freebies. And, hey, at the end of that article, Ari Fleischer is actually quoted saying something that didn't completely piss me off. Wow.

See, the airlines don't need handouts from the government. Not like this is going to keep American out of its death spiral, but at least it's progress.

It's good to see that the Iraqi Information ministry is keeping pace in the lies and bullshit department. Of course, when they accuse our government of "lying every day" and "lying to public opinion" they're spot on. They don't have the specifics of the lies quite right, but the fact that you have to give the enemy points for something they said is pretty bad.

Speaking of shit on eBay...

You know what really fucking pisses me off? People on eBay who tell you some sob story as to why they're selling item X. "I'm having a baby," "just got divorced," or some such stupid bullshit. I actually just read one that said "I am buying a new BMW, and I need money." Buying a new BMW? FUCK YOU! Why the hell does anyone think that the rest of the world cares why they're hawking their shit online? All I care is that you have the toys I want and that you take PayPal.

A quick shoutout to all those stupid motherfuckers boycotting French products.

Why can't so many Americans ever see the big picture? There are tons of reasons why I'm so frustrated with us continually pissing off the rest of the world. If nothing else, though, you think people would catch on to the fact that getting in everyone else's bad graces can, oh yes, fuck with our own economy.

At one point, I was thinking, you know, if we get into a big conflict, I think Rumsfeld is the guy to have at the helm. He just looks like a mean motherfucker who can get shit done.

Well, Donny is a mean motherfucker, but whether or not he can get shit done is yet to be determined. Here's a good article discussing his involvement in planning this war, and how lots of people aren't too thrilled with his involvement and the decisions he's made.

Meanwhile, things are getting underway for two affirmative action cases in the Supreme Court over the University of Michigan's admissions policies.

I get really sick and tired of white people attacking affirmative action. Not like I really need to add in the 'white people' part, which should tell you a lot right there. Affirmative action definitely is not a perfect system, but it's the best thing we have right now in terms of a step in the right direction. Having been through college, I can tell you that we definitely need more diversity in college classrooms. There are a handful of minority students on campus, but for the most part, it's nothing but fucking white kids.

Also, the linked article quotes President Dumbass as having said that the admissions policy is "impossible to square with the Constitution." This, coming from the man not elected but chosen by the Supreme Court to be President, and who signed the USA-PATRIOT act into law.

Here's a roundup of the latest.

So where the fuck is Saddam? At this point, with him giving speeches through other members of his government and not having appeared on TV giving conclusive evidence that he's alive and well, you gotta wonder. From our government's standpoint, they must actually be hoping that he is still alive. It definitely would't look good if he were dead and we're still facing all this resistance, since they have made it seem like so many are loyal to Saddamn just because they're afraid of him.

Well, no. Like usual, they try and oversimplify and overgeneralize things. There are way too many other people in Saddam's government with a big stake in this to make winning as easy as removing Saddam.

Meanwhile, there's this awful story. It's really pretty disgusting to see us fuck up like this, and then our military commanders blame the Iraqi regime for it. Again, no. If we hadn't started this shit to begin with, things like this wouldn't be happening. Yeah, yeah, you can argue that if Saddam hadn't done X and Y, or they hadn't resorted to guerilla tactics, or whatever, this wouldn't have happened. No matter what, to blame anyone else is a bullshit cop out. If you fuck up, just admit it.

Look, I understand that the troops are on edge, both from general combat and specific things like the recent suicide bombing, and that played a huge role in causing this. But for the commanders to just try and reflect responsibility is unconscionable.

So things are in the works to begin our post-war disaster in Iraq. Again, I don't know shit about military and diplomatic planning and all that, but shouldn't this issue have been decided before we started the war? Where would we be if the war actually had ended quickly, but with no firm plan for the post-Saddam government?

Of course, if the UN is involved in the post-war government, there's no way we could have made a decision before the war, because that's when we were busy showing the UN and the rest of the world that we patently refuse to work with them unless they do as we tell them to.

Oh, and why is it that the military bargained with Fox news over Geraldo? They're the fucking military for christ's sake. Why didn't they just say "Hey, Gerondo, get the fuck out" and be done with him? Or just shoot him, for that matter? This just goes to show how the "media" is nothing more than an unofficial branch of the U.S. government, especially (but not exclusively) in times of war. There is no fucking reason for them to have to tolerate someone compromising operational security.

This? I would be OK with this.

Really, for me, this begs the question: who the fuck is letting Geraldo in on battle plans? Once they start the important meetings like that, someone should just say "Um, time to leave, Gerondo."

Hey, this really is a surpise. Of course, Halliburton has already been awarded at least one contract, and the other companies involved in the bidding for rebuilding Iraq have Bush Administration ties as well.

Once again, dissent will not be tolerated.

I first read about this last night, and thought it was a little odd that an reporter for NBC and National Geographic was giving interviews to Iraqi state television, expressing opinions that were not very flattering to the US. You can argue as to whether or not this is appropriate, but in the end, reporters are (in theory) supposed to be objective, and that's exactly in line with what Arnett was doing - expressing his objective opinion on the war. Oh, and then there's the fact that NBC was initially OK with this - dismissing the interview as a 'professional courtesy'.

I awake this morning to find that NBC has severed ties with Arnett, and National Geographic (who he was on assignment for in Iraq) is less than pleased as well. Now this fucking pisses me off. The fact that NBC has fired (or whatever) Arnett isn't all that surprising (although that in and of itself is bullshit), the reversal of stance is what really irritates me. How much do you want to bet that NBC was receiving plenty of phone calls from government officials this morning? They caved to pressure, plain and simple. Dissenting opinion, or anything that reflects poorly on the Administration and the war effort, simply will not be tolerated. Look, I understand the need for things like keeping troop morale up, but nothing justifies the government burying of valid discussion. Furthermore, this incident just goes to show how the American media has become a pro-American propaganda machine. I'm not saying that the media should be anti-American, but they should do their job once in ahwile and pretend to be objective, even if it's unflattering to this country. Considering the fact that Bush and company have been getting cranky with the media and their second guessing in the past few days, I thought things were improving. It looks like NBC, at least, is back to playing ball.

While we're talking about CNN, why the hell do they suck so fucking much? From the beginning of that aritcle I just link to, they imply that National geographic fired Arnett as well, but then the article just says that they're unhappy with his actions. Did they can him as well, or not? This is the kind of incoherent shit I've come to expect from CNN. Oh, and don't start with me and how I link to CNN all the time yet continually bitch about them - they fucking suck, but they update more often than most. You're just going to have to deal with that disparity on your own.

Speaking of playing ball, today was opening day for many teams. And holy shit, Cubs win! Cubs win! I should probably enjoy that now, because I'm sure it won't last. I don't know if the Mets suck this year or what (which would be neat; fuck the Mets), but Jesus, 15-2?

One truly remarkable thing about this administration is not just its ability to lie, but its ability to oftentimes achieve a good level of deception without blatant lies.

Last night I saw on CNN that 'coalition forces are less than 50 miles outside of Baghdad', to which I replied, 'Yeah, that means 49 miles.' I was mostly just being a smart-ass.

Now take a look at the first paragraph of this story.

Why is this just happening now? Not like it will do anything to help expose or punish any negligent fuckers.

Carlin predicted this.