William K. Wolfrum Chronicles

While I stand firm in my belief that conspiracy theory believers are barking (incessantly in many cases) up the wrong tree, I do admit to understanding the attractiveness of many conspiracy theories. And it’s not like I’m totally immune to them.

After all, literally five minutes ago I came to the conclusion that O.J. Simpson is getting his marching orders directly from the Executive Branch.

“Police: Simpson questioned in alleged casino theft”

(CNN) — Former college and NFL star running back O.J. Simpson has been questioned as a possible suspect in an alleged theft, a Las Vegas, Nevada, police spokesman said Friday.

Sgt. John Loretto of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department said there was an allegation of a theft, “involving Simpson as a suspect.”

“We’re waiting right now to see if we can put together a press conference,” Loretto told CNN. “We haven’t arrested him or anything else; the investigation is very preliminary right now.”

Asked whether Simpson is a suspect, the officer replied, “It is an alleged theft, and he is an alleged suspect.”

O. J. Simpson. Las Vegas. Casino robbery.

Seriously, the neocons could escalate the Iraq occupation and nuke Iran right out of existence, and it’s possible no one will even notice.

–WKW

Crossposted at Shakesville

After seeing this paragraph from an Associated Press story …

“The president does not think that generals should be denigrated at all,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said. If critics of the president “want to attack him, fine, but the generals, and by association the military, should be out of bounds from partisan attacks.”

… I couldn’t agree more with John from AmericaBlog:

“Republicans simply do not believe in our democracy”

That’s ridiculous, dangerous, and utterly un-American. And it’s a notion that the Republicans have pushed for years. Namely, that the military in America is off-limits, above criticism, and always right. And it’s absurd. And dangerous. In America, the military is under civilian rule. And there’s a reason for that. The military, like any government entity, or any man, is not infallible. And worse, the military, unlike HUD or the Department of Labor, can throw its weight around in ways only dreamed of by other less-armed agencies (hard to imagine HUD waterboarding). It is a direct danger to our democracy, to any democracy, to give the military the right to trump the civilian.

But this kind of democracy-baiting isn’t new for the Republicans. They don’t like our system of jurisprudence either. They have disdain for judges - but really, it’s a disdain for the entire branch of government, the very existence of the branch.

Then there are the rights and liberties underlying our country. Freedom of religion? They don’t believe in freedom of religion. They believe in freedom of the Southern Baptist religion. All others need not apply. Freedom of speech? They don’t believe in any speech at all anymore. Freedom of the press? They think reporters should be tried for treason. Then there’s domestic spying. A crime once considered verboten. Now it’s shrugged off as just another acceptable fact of every day life because, you know, we have nothing to hide. Which goes to another underlying fact of American life, the right to a lawyer and the right to be innocent until proven guilty. Republicans don’t believe in those either, anymore.

And the arguments that Republicans use to bolster all of these claims? Straight out of the Soviet handbook. What are you so afraid of if you’ve got nothing to hide?

Back to the topic at hand, if the military is sacrosanct and off limits, then why do we have a Uniform Code of Military Justice at all? Let’s just delete it from the laws and say that anything the military does, anywhere, is okay, legal, and downright good. Or at the very least, make the UCMJ no longer apply to generals, since the White House seems to think that generals can do no wrong (still waiting for an answer on why Negroponte balled out Petraeus a few years back for cooking the books re: the number of Iraqi security forces trained - doesn’t sound like the kind of scolding he’d get if he were truly infallible).

If we’re the country the Republicans keep describing, then we are not the country I grew up in. Or worse, we are the country I grew up in, but I was lied to for 40 years about what that country stands for.

I’m not sure which is worse.

–WKW

It seems Alan Greenspan was the perfect Federal Reserve Chairman for the Bush Administration. Because Greenspan could never have predicted that the subprime mortgage boom could ever have a downside.

“Greenspan: I didn’t grasp subprime threat”

WASHINGTON (AP) — Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan acknowledges he failed to see early on that an explosion of mortgages to people with questionable credit histories could pose a danger to the economy.

In an upcoming interview, Greenspan said he was aware of “subprime” lending practices where home buyers got very low initial rates only to see them later jacked up, causing severe payment shock. But he said he didn’t initially realize the harm they could do.

“While I was aware a lot of these practices were going on, I had no notion of how significant they had become until very late,” he said a CBS “60 Minutes” interview to be broadcast Sunday. “I really didn’t get it until very late in 2005 and 2006,” Greenspan said.

If there’s one thing the last seven years have taught us, it’s this - U.S. leaders never, ever, anticipate anything bad happening, in any field, at any time.

–WKW

The Portland Trail Blazers saw their season take a sword through the heart today, as it was learned heralded No. 1 pick Greg Oden would miss the season with a knee injury.

Worse for the Blazers though is the loss the whole NBA will feel. Oden has serious star potential. Still a mere youngster, Oden should be back, though he would by no means be the first to have a bright career stolen by injuries. Worse for the Blazers though is the loss the whole NBA will feel.

Oden has serious star potential. He’s personable, imposing, funny and someone who will help the NBA as a whole. Just missing out on a season of Keving Durant - Greg Oden showdowns will hurt, as the two could have started their natural rivalry with style.

It’s not to be, however, at least not this year. The NBA and its fans will have to wait until 2008 to see one of its next big stars in action.

–WKW

Faced with declining recruiting numbers, as well as sudden lack of respect for Generals, the U.S. Army realized it needed to do something drastic to put more men and women into uniform. Below is the script from an upcoming TV spot, which will kickoff the military’s new “Army of Generals” campaign.

An Army of Generals

Intro: Fighter jets fly spectacularly over, eagles and American flags are showcased in an eye-catching manner.

Singers

Be a General! (Who me?)

Be a General! (Hell yeah)

Be a General (Seriously?)

Be a General (Be all you can be!)

Scene: A young man walking down the hall in his general’s uniform, people salute and look really impressed.

Voice Over

The new Army. First, it was an Army of One. Now, however, it is the time for heroes to step forward. A time … for generals.

Singers

Be a General!

Voice Over

Yes, today’s Army is an Army of Generals. Once you sign up for a six-year commitment with today’s Army, you’ll instantly be promoted to the rank of one-star general.

Scene: Beautiful women look at soldier walking in General’s uniform. They look very impressed. Like they want to have sex with him.

Singers

Be a General!

Voice Over

Plus, with each additional year you commit to, you get an extra star. So a commitment of just 10 years means you could start off your military career as a four-star general!

New Recruit (on phone)

Grandma, I’m a General!

Grandma

Awww, that’s great, dearie.

New Recruit

A four-star general, Grandma!

Grandma

Well, isn’t that just fine.

Singers

You’re a General!

Voice Over

Yes, in Today’s Army, everyone is a General! America needs young men and women to step forward now and serve their country. Plus, as a general, you’ll be involved in a vast array of important general-work, like: Testifying before Congress!

Scene: Recruit testifying before Congress. Congress is made up entirely of fabulous babes and they’re very impressed.

Singers

Be a General!

Voice Over

Explaining where lost nuclear weapons are!

Scene: Recruit talking to reporters. They all look at him with awe.

Singers

You’re a General!

Voice Over

Hang out with Fox News superstars!

Scene: recruit hanging out with Sean Hannity. Hannity looks at recruit with awe. Like he wants to have sex with him.

Singers

Who’s a General?

New Recruit

I’m a general!

Voice Over

Some restrictions may apply, but probably not! Come on down to your Army recruiter today, and get started on your military career. As a General!

Grandma

Ohh, I’m so proud

Singers

Be a General!

Exit: Fireworks and stuff. More flags.

–WKW (and thanks to Melissa McEwan for the art.)

Taking some time off from dying of cholera, being shut out of Syria as they attempt to flee, dying in car bombings and watching their elected leadership crumble, some Iraqis were polled on their opinion of the U.S. occupation of their nation.

Shockingly, after four-plus years, they just aren’t into it that much.

“US surge has failed - Iraqi poll”

About 70% of Iraqis believe security has deteriorated in the area covered by the US military “surge” of the past six months, an opinion poll suggests.

The survey for the BBC, ABC News and NHK of more than 2,000 people across Iraq also suggests that nearly 60% see attacks on US-led forces as justified.

This rises to 93% among Sunni Muslims compared with 50% for Shia.

He and US Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker are due to testify about the effects of the surge and the current situation in Iraq.

The poll suggests that the overall mood in Iraq is as negative as it has been since the US-led invasion in 2003, says BBC world affairs correspondent Nick Childs.

While more than 90 percent of Sunni Muslims think attacks on U.S.-led forces is fine, remember one important thing - they’re our allies now. So we got that going for us.

Aside from that, serious experts in the field of international diplomacy have made no mention of the Iraqis opinions on the U.S. occupation of Iraq. After all, Iraqis can’t even keep the electricity running, so why should their opinion count? Plus, there’s an occupation of Iran to plan.

So, while it’s a sign of democracy that Iraqis are allowed to give their opinion, it’s good that they are learning about the other part of democracy - that the leaders have learned to ignore the will of the people.

–WKW

In Japan, when a leader loses the confidence of the people because his government is a scandal-filled homage to nationalistic paranoia, he falls on his sword.

“Abe to resign as Japanese PM”

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced his resignation Wednesday at a news conference in Tokyo after serving one year in office.

“A short while ago I informed officials about my intentions to resign,” Abe said, underscoring the need to “be careful not to create a void in the political leadership.”

There have been very few bright days for Abe, whose support rating has dropped to 30 percent, and his LDP since they lost control of the upper house of Japan’s parliament to the opposition in July’s elections — results Abe described as “very bad.”

Since reshuffling his cabinet two weeks ago, Abe has lost four party members to scandals: his new agricultural minister (the second in a month), a deputy foreign minister, a mid-ranking parliamentarian and a newly elected member of Japan’s upper house have all resigned over allegations of financial or electoral misconduct.

Abe’s nationalist focus on such ideological issues as patriotism and constitutional reform also weakened his influence at a time when many Japanese are more concerned with economic and social problems such as the widening gap between rich and poor.

We have much to learn from our friends in Japan.

–WKW

The New England Patriots, accused of stealing signals its blowout win over the New York Jets last weekend, will be using an obscure section of the Patriot Act to avoid being punished for what many around the NFL are calling “cheating.”

“Mainly, the signal stealing was about preventing an attack on our homeland,” said Patriots coach Bill Belichick. “I don’t think anyone, not even those that would gladly see our defenses destroyed, can complain about keeping Americans, and Tom Brady, safe.”

Patriots lawyers have said they will be using an obscure section of the Patriot Act, which states “Executive Privilege is to be used both for Presidents and Patriots in keeping the nation safe, especially in season-opening games.”

Lawyers representing the Patriots added that they were only eavesdropping on plays called outside the U.S., and that just because something is technically “illegal” doesn’t make it automatically ineffective. Nonetheless, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has said that he feels the Patriots violated league rules when they videotaped defensive signals by Jets’ coaches.

Still, Goodell was forced to admit that no terrorist attacks have occurred on American soil since the Patriots have begun winning Super Bowls.

“The last thing this commissioner wants is to appear soft on terror,” said a source close to the league. “Some times, for our own security, we have to accept the fact that Patriots are going to cheat and break some rules.”

–WKW

Six years ago, an industry arose when the Twin Towers fell. In less time than it took George W. Bush to react, conspiracy theorists had the attacks of 9/11 all figured out.

And that means the rest of us have had to listen to six years of conspiricists screaming at the world to “open your eyes!”

But while Alex Jones and his ilk spread their own flavor of fear to the masses, plenty of others have done the work necessary to make 9/11 conspiracies look like the flimsy nonsense that they are at their heart.

A perfect place to start is at Popular Mechanics, where they recently updated their debunking of all things 9/11 conspiracy. The Journal of Debunking 9/11 Conspiracy Theories also appears to have plenty of info for those looking to educate themselves on the lies and half-truths spread by “9/11 Truthers.” In fact, a quick Google search shows that there are more than a million sites out there dedicated to debunking the conspiracy nonsense.

More than anything, the conspiricists occupied with 9/11 are an extremely trite bunch. Their fusion of rumors, lies, winks and nods are used in the exact same way as those that believe in Intelligent Design. Or that space aliens exist in New Mexico. Or that HIV is a lie. All use the exact same techniques, and all eventually collapse under the sheer weight of their own ridiculousness. At their very heart, conspiracy theories like the ones for 9/11 are little more than logical fallacy parades.

Not that this will change the mind of a true believer, mind you. Because for them, if you don’t believe, you are part of the conspiracy. And, as most of you are very well aware, any time you confront conspiricists with real facts, they just keep throwing the same questions and arguments at you, over and over and over again, in some strange belief that truth can be overcome by persistence or pure force of will.

We will be hearing these 9/11 conspiracies for eons and eons to come. But that won’t make them any more true. It will just make a few more money, while making many others more paranoid.

Don’t believe the conspiracies.

–WKW

Remember exactly how you felt when you saw what was happening on Sept. 11. 2001?

Imagine if someone had told you that six years later, the leader of the terror group that attacked the U.S. would still be alive and on the loose. And that the organization itself would have gained strength over those six years. And that thousands more Americans would have died in the process. Imagine.

Because that’s where we are. That’s what the “war on terrorism” has accomplished.

–WKW

Seeing that Ben Stein wrote some type of column for Forbes - I believe the nut graph of the whole thing was “If Ben Stein can get a loan, things aren’t so bad,” or something - I wondered in what other nation would a raving creationist also be getting column inches in a major financial mag?

I was thinking about seeing Stein’s flick on creationism (Intelligent design, creationism, whatever) called “Expelled” but it seems Jason at Unsought Input has done a fine job summarizing it:

The movie Expelled, in a sense, is nothing new. It follows the established tactics of the creationist / intelligent design crowd, trying to fight the “materialistic” “darwinists” in the court of public opinion rather than in the labs or peer-reviewed journals. It’s yet another attack on science.

“And what’s so wrong with that,” you might ask, “this is a democracy after all.”

We don’t do science by popular vote for the same reason that we don’t design bridges and perform heart surgery using a jury of our peers. The value of a scientific theory can only be judged by it’s correspondence to reality and it’s predictive power.

And PZ Myers adds:

Oh, and putting Ben Stein in short pants and playing “Bad to the Bone” does not make him a rebel. He’s a Republican apologist, and he’s not “cool” at all.

So Stein is simultaneously pimping creationism while giving people feel-good economics’ help. And it seems as though he has the same faith-based opinion on both. Only in the U.S.

–WKW

Fred Thompson is lucky that he has a primitive smell than drives men like Chris Matthews insane with lust. Because everything else about him is sort of weird and creepy.

“Fred Thompson: Al Qaeda smoking ban pushed Iraqis to U.S.”

SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Freshly minted GOP White House hopeful Fred Thompson puzzled Iowans yesterday by insisting an Al Qaeda smoking ban was one reason freedom-loving Iraqis bolted to the U.S. side.

“They said, ‘You gotta quit smoking,’” Thompson explained to a questioner asking about progress in Iraq during a town hall-style meeting.

Thompson said the smoking ban and terror tactics Al Qaeda used to oppress women and intimidate local leaders pushed tribes in western Anbar Province to support U.S. troops.

But Thompson’s tale of a smokers’ revolt baffled some in the audience of about 150 who came to decide whether the former Tennessee senator is ready for prime time.

“I don’t know what that was about,” said Jim Moran, 72, who had driven from nearby McCook Lake, S.D.

I’m really not getting this Fred Thompson thing at all.

–WKW

Here is a given: George W. Bush and the neocon dream team building his foreign policy could truly care less about terrorists.

Because it’s quite easy to point at people like David Brooks and scoff at what an idiot he is and ponder how he manages to still get published. It’s just too easy, in fact. Which leads one to the conclusion that it’s blindingly obvious that fighting terrorism is the least of the neo-cons concerns. They are empire building, or at least, empire building as it goes for the year 2007. And the Kristols, Krauthammers and Brooks of the world could care less how they are perceived provided that their long-term goals are met. And they are being met.

However, there are many in the U.S. that believe an evil terrorist menace is coming to enslave us all unless we bog down our military in Iraq, then take over Iran and Syria, as well. These are Americans have such a stunted world view that they literally believe that Islamic extremists are mindless zombies. You know, the types that just chase after you at 1 mile per hour, arms outstretched, chanting “Shaaarrriiiaaa Laaaaw, Shaaarrriiiaaa Laaaaw.”

This is what many Americans think we’re fighting. Literally. There are Americans out there that believe the vast majority of all Muslims are subhuman animals, who only care of enslaving and murdering. And that we should not care how many of them we kill or displace, because - as the cartoon above shows - they are cockroaches.

Basically, many Americans have been pulled in by one of the oldest tricks in the book - the dehumanizing of a different culture. It’s a ploy that always seems to work, and we actually have perfect recent examples of it from Nazi Germany and Rwanda. But history is ignored, and right now, there are millions of Americans who have gladly accepted the dehumanization of Muslims as preached by politicians and the media.

And while the majority of Americans haven’t fallen for this despicable ploy, enough have to give those in charge of the U.S. the green light to kill as many Muslims as they need in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Lebanon, or wherever else so that they can continue their plan of building an American empire and bending the world to U.S. might.

More Sunday reading

– Frank Rich: As the Iraqis Stand Down, We’ll Stand Up.

– Bartcop: We Are Going To Hit Iran…Bigtime.

– Glenn Greenwald: The DC Establishment versus American public opinion.

– Finally, if you haven’t seen Robert Greenwald’s clip of Rudy Giuliani’s putting the emergency command center in WTC 7, watch it below. If I’m a candidate in a debate against ol’ Mayor Rudy, this is the only thing I talk about, regardless of the question. This issue alone shows Giuliani’s true character.

–WKW

The current U.S. administration has more than a year to attack Iran as part of their Global War. It will happen. And some in the military are saying it will likely be happening sooner rather than later:

Bartcop: We Are Going To Hit Iran…Bigtime

I have a friend who is an LSO on a carrier attack group that is planning and staging a strike group deployment into the Gulf of Hormuz. (LSO: Landing Signal Officer- she directs carrier aircraft while landing) She told me we are going to attack Iran. She said that all the Air Operation Planning and Asset Tasking are finished. That means that all the targets have been chosen, prioritized, and tasked to specific aircraft, bases, carriers, missile cruisers and so forth.

I asked her why she is telling me this.

Her answer was really amazing…

Read the rest here.

–WKW

The U.S. media has gotten to the heart of the matter on terrorism - we are a much safer nation now. Until we’re not.

“Chertoff: U.S. ‘Unequivocally’ Safer Now From Attacks”

The United States is “unequivocally” safer from terrorist attacks than it was six years ago, but security gaps remain, notably for private airplanes and small boats, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff said today.

In testimony before the House Homeland Security Committee, Chertoff said his department would shortly unveil plans to tighten security for private planes coming to the United States from overseas and screen the aircraft for radiological or nuclear material before they take off.

You are safer. Unequivocally. Until you aren’t.

‘These Tapes Are Always Propaganda’

Without more specifics about a threat from al Qaeda, Chertoff said he did not plan to raise the threat level. Instead, he reiterated his warning that in recent months the nation has faced a heightened threat from a resurgent al Qaeda.

“They have done more recruiting of Western Europeans for terrorism. We saw some of the evidence of that in the German and the Danish plot. They have, at least until recently, had a pretty safe environment in certain parts of the frontier area of Pakistan in which they could train,” Chertoff said. “They have reconstituted some of their leadership at a midlevel. So they’ve had opportunities to rebuild some of the capabilities that we’ve been degrading over the last few years.”

Today the CIA issued a similar warning as Director Michael Hayden said, “Our analysts assess with high confidence that al Qaeda’s central leadership is planning high impact plots against the U.S. homeland.”

So remember folks, you’re safe. But be afraid. Be terribly, terribly afraid.

–WKW