radio free america

awe, fuckers! there's so much to rant about.

first: darth rumsfeld himself came out and said that the line about "winning the hearts and minds of the iraqi people" is a bust... really.

this is what? the third or fourth mission statement that attempted to explain the Bush administration's folly in invading an oil rich impoverished nation and killing 10,000 to 15,000 of its civilians?

Quote:
THE Pentagon has admitted that the war on terror and the invasion and occupation of Iraq have increased support for al-Qaeda, made ordinary Muslims hate the US and caused a global backlash against America because of the “self-serving hypocrisy” of George W Bush’s administration over the Middle East.

The mea culpa is contained in a shockingly frank “strategic communications” report, written this autumn by the Defence Science Board for Pentagon supremo Donald Rumsfeld.

On “the war of ideas or the struggle for hearts and minds”, the report says, “American efforts have not only failed, they may also have achieved the opposite of what they intended”.

“American direct intervention in the Muslim world has paradoxically elevated the stature of, and support for, radical Islamists, while diminishing support for the United States to single digits in some Arab societies.”

fuck yeah, one of those fucking "miscalculations."

Quote:
Referring to the repeated mantra from the White House that those who oppose the US in the Middle East “hate our freedoms”, the report says: “Muslims do not ‘hate our freedoms’, but rather, they hate our policies. The overwhelming majority voice their objections to what they see as one-sided support in favour of Israel and against Palestinian rights, and the long-standing, even increasing support, for what Muslims collectively see as tyrannies, most notably Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Pakistan and the Gulf states.

“Thus when American public diplomacy talks about bringing democracy to Islamic societies, this is seen as no more than self-serving hypo crisy. Moreover, saying that ‘freedom is the future of the Middle East’ is seen as patronising … in the eyes of Muslims, the American occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq has not led to democracy there, but only more chaos and suffering.

"hate our freedoms"... well, at least this line of shit worked in Alabama during the campaign.

The way America has handled itself since September 11 has played straight into the hands of al-Qaeda.

I like how in America, no matter how bad you fuck up (even on a global scale), admitting regret is punishment enough.

I could go on, but you can read the rest here.

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speaking of freedoms...

Quote:
Clear Channel Communications Inc., the nation's largest radio station operator, has picked Fox News Radio to be the primary source of national news for most of its news and talk stations, officials announced Monday.

The five-year agreement initially covers more than 100 radio stations.

No terms of the deal were disclosed. But Fox, a unit of News Corp., says if all options in the agreement are exercised, its radio service could have more than 500 affiliates by the middle of next year.

what an amazing fucking suprise! this sounds a lot like "state sponsored media".

Quote:
"Working this closely with a premiere national news provider for the majority of our news/talk stations makes overwhelming sense," said John Hogan, chief executive officer of Clear Channel Radio.

overwhelming sense... see, this makes it a lot easier to have one, cohesive message.

Quote:
Clear Channel, which operates 1,200 stations, has been getting its national news feeds from a variety of providers.

W. hijacked Jesus' name and wants to keep fags from marrying so that the administration could stay on task an additional four years. thanks fuck-o's. it's starting.

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I got an email from a great old friend earlier today telling me about his upcoming student teaching assignment:

I got a placement at the local middle school in 6th grade science. I start on 1-10 and end with the public school year. I am really stoked about this. It was my ideal choice, one that I verbally made with the director of student teaching, knowing it was probably impossible. Instead, there was one placement at the middle school level here in town...me, chickenfucker! AND, in science, a subject I cannot totally screw up (vs. say, teaching tri-nomials in a two variable system of equations, ya know) So all is good in my head for now.

Also, I dont need to go buy a 1991 SW2 Saturn and throw my money and coolness away. The bike remains my tansport...and thus, the beard remains thick and bushy for now. My task now is to harden my skin for these hormone ridden adolesents who worship pop culture and hate grown-ups...fun!

I thought about this for a bit, and weighed in my opinion:

I've got a great default thing that you can say to 6th graders when they're cocking off in class... take them into the hallway and say:

"if you don't like how I run this class, then maybe you can move out to the fucking wilderness and live in some bullshit shack made of scrap metal where you can mail explosives to fucking corporations."

and then stare at the kid in silence for exactly 45 seconds.

...you know, you don't have to restrict this speech to just the classroom, any public or private dispute is easily ended with this line.

true dat.