"supporting the troops," part XXVIII

PTSD? It's your own damn fault, says the government.

It's undeniable, though, that yellow-ribbon stickers (magnetic, so as not to mar the finish on the Escalade) are far cheaper than a cognitive-behavioral or EMDR treatment program and SSRI medication.

"because the government's established by the Lord, you know."

Homeland Security intends to use the opiate of the masses to keep us quiet during martial law...

any candidate you want, so long as they're right-wing

The Political Compass website is the online version of the "smallest political quiz"my Libertarian friends used to carry wherever they went so they could annoy people in any setting. Seriously, though, it's useful for people who consider themselves "independents"- for many of us (especially in blogo-cyber-space-land) we're already pretty sure we're close to one or the other extreme.

If you're curious, you can take a test that places you on a grid based on the degree to which you are "left" or "right" on the economic scale as well as how socially libertarian or authoritarian you are. I, of course, am way the hell out in -9.12, -8.51 la-la land with the moonbats. w00t!

The folks who put together the website have figured out where the 2008 Presidential candidates fit on the map:

Some fracking choice.

"They are laying the bricks one at a time for a police state."

Big Brother really is watching you...

But pay no attention to that. Look! Is that Lindsay Lohan?

welcome to cyberKabul!

Apparently (according to the New York Police Commissioner), the internet is the "new Afghanistan:"

"It is the de facto training ground. It's an area of concern."

The report found that the challenge for Western authorities was to identify, pre-empt and prevent home-grown threats, which was difficult because many of those who might undertake an attack often commit no crimes along the path to extremism.

The report identified the four stages to radicalization as pre-radicalization, self-identification, indoctrination, and jihadization, and said the Internet drove and enabled the process.

Well, I'd put myself at Stage Two, unless if by "indoctrination," the commish meant "reading." If so, I guess I'm almost ready for my "jihadization."

Since the unspoken Stage Five is "incarceration in Guantánamo," followed closely by Stage Six: "sodomization with a glow stick," I'm thinking of sticking to my paper diary...

well all right then

What this country needs, apparently is another 2,996 people to die in a terror attack.

That's enlightening.

today's chicken little link

The sky is going to fall in October. However, although I agree it is going to be tough in America, the shitstorm is bound to cross the Atlantic. In fact, it has begun doing so already.

The Al Gore-like graphic is here.

sic semper Donklephants

There are many corners of the cosidetto "progressive blogosphere" where the Democratic party's latest act of complicity in, and support for, the steady increase in government control of our lives is being met with utter bafflement and confusion.

This is not one of those aforementioned corners.

I still remember that this is the Democratic Party that "ended welfare as we know it," imposed NAFTA, promulgated "don't ask, don't tell," and, oh yeah, that's right, overwhelmingly gave George Bush the political cover he needed to invade a country that did nothing to harm us. And they'd do it again, too.

There will be much sound and fury in the blogoverse as to whether the Ds are just the same as the Rs, or merely "the lesser evil." It is easy to lose the forest for the trees from a US-centric point of view. One thing that helps me keep perspective is that the Democratic Party would be a centre-right bloc in any nation in Europe, with the Republicans somewhere out in Front National or Freiheitliche Partei Österreichs territory.

(And before anybody asks, I'd vote Dem to keep Rudy Giuliani or Mitt Romney or Jean-Marie Le fucking Pen from winning California's electoral votes, but not with any real passion.)

in memoriam

On August 2, 1980 at 10:25 in the morning, a bomb exploded in the second-class lounge of the Bologna train station. The explosion was very violent, causing the collapse of the entire structure over the station including the offices of the company Cigar and approximately 30 meters of the penthouse. The Ancona-Chiasso train, on the first track, was also heavily damaged. The fiery combustion of a mixture of TNT and T4 cut short the lives of people coming from 50 different cities, both Italian and foreign.

The final toll was 85 dead and 200 injured.

Il 2 agosto 1980, alle ore 10,25, una bomba esplose nella sala d'aspetto di seconda classe della stazione di Bologna. Lo scoppio fu violentissimo, provocò il crollo soccorsidelle strutture sovrastanti le sale d'aspetto di prima e seconda classe dove si trovavano gli uffici dell'azienda di ristorazione Cigar e di circa 30 metri di pensilina. L'esplosione investì anche il treno Ancona-Chiasso in sosta al primo binario. Il soffio arroventato prodotto da una miscela di tritolo e T4 tranciò i destini di persone provenienti da 50 città diverse italiane e straniere.

Il bilancio finale fu di 85 morti e 200 feriti.


The victims - Le vittime
ANTONELLA CECI anni 19
ANGELA MARINO anni 23
LEO LUCA MARINO anni 24
DOMENICA MARINO anni 26
ERRICA FRIGERIO IN DIOMEDE FRESA anni 57
VITO DIOMEDE FRESA anni 62
CESARE FRANCESCO DIOMEDE FRESA anni 14
ANNA MARIA BOSIO IN MAURI anni 28
CARLO MAURI anni 32
LUCA MAURI anni 6
ECKHARDT MADER anni 14
MARGRET ROHRS IN MADER anni 39
KAI MADER anni 8
SONIA BURRI anni 7
PATRIZIA MESSINEO anni 18
SILVANA SERRAVALLI IN BARBERA anni 34
MANUELA GALLON anni 11
NATALIA AGOSTINI IN GALLON anni 40
MARINA ANTONELLA TROLESE anni 16
ANNA MARIA SALVAGNINI IN TROLESE anni 51
ROBERTO DE MARCHI anni 21
ELISABETTA MANEA VED. DE MARCHI anni 60
ELEONORA GERACI IN VACCARO anni 46
VITTORIO VACCARO anni 24
VELIA CARLI IN LAURO anni 50
SALVATORE LAURO anni 57
PAOLO ZECCHI anni 23
VIVIANA BUGAMELLI IN ZECCHI anni 23
CATHERINE HELEN MITCHELL anni 22
JOHN ANDREW KOLPINSKI anni 22
ANGELA FRESU anni 3
MARIA FRESU anni 24
LOREDANA MOLINA IN SACRATI anni 44
ANGELICA TARSI anni 72
KATIA BERTASI anni 34
MIRELLA FORNASARI anni 36
EURIDIA BERGIANTI anni 49
NILLA NATALI anni 25
FRANCA DALL'OLIO anni 20
RITA VERDE anni 23
FLAVIA CASADEI anni 18
GIUSEPPE PATRUNO anni 18
ROSSELLA MARCEDDU anni 19
DAVIDE CAPRIOLI anni 20
VITO ALES anni 20
IWAO SEKIGUCHI anni 20
BRIGITTE DROUHARD anni 21
ROBERTO PROCELLI anni 21
MAURO ALGANON anni 22
MARIA ANGELA MARANGON anni 22
VERDIANA BIVONA anni 22
FRANCESCO GOMEZ MARTINEZ anni 23
MAURO DI VITTORIO anni 24
SERGIO SECCI anni 24
ROBERTO GAIOLA anni 25
ANGELO PRIORE anni 26
ONOFRIO ZAPPALA' anni 27
PIO CARMINE REMOLLINO anni 31
GAETANO RODA anni 31
ANTONINO DI PAOLA anni 32
MIRCO CASTELLARO anni 33
NAZZARENO BASSO anni 33
VINCENZO PETTENI anni 34
SALVATORE SEMINARA anni 34
CARLA GOZZI anni 36
UMBERTO LUGLI anni 38
FAUSTO VENTURI anni 38
ARGEO BONORA anni 42
FRANCESCO BETTI anni 44
MARIO SICA anni 44
PIER FRANCESCO LAURENTI anni 44
PAOLINO BIANCHI anni 50
VINCENZINA SALA IN ZANETTI anni 50
BERTA EBNER anni 50
VINCENZO LANCONELLI anni 51
LINA FERRETTI IN MANNOCCI anni 53
ROMEO RUOZI anni 54
AMORVENO MARZAGALLI anni 54
ANTONIO FRANCESCO LASCALA anni 56
ROSINA BARBARO IN MONTANI anni 58
IRENE BRETON IN BOUDOUBAN anni 61
PIETRO GALASSI anni 66
LIDIA OLLA IN CARDILLO anni 67
MARIA IDRIA AVATI anni 80
ANTONIO MONTANARI anni 86