communing w/ the spirits at Liberal Street Fighter
The Madman runs his digital fingers through the bloody viscera of the ‘net, searching for signs of our ongoing decline:
Why is the Bush Administration insisting on shoehorning the victims of Katrina into FEMA trailer parks scattered all throughout the South for an open-ended period of time, when there is available HUD housing and other federal government options readily available? Why is the Bush Administration insisting on making the affected states file for waiver modifications to their Medicaid programs to provide health care to the Katrina victims, making those states wait weeks for a response, when the federal government also has other options?
Hmmm, visions of peonage, famine, despair and disease there. How about in this bundle of guts, something about failed champions here:
Top Democrats won’t attend anti-war rally in Washington
WASHINGTON – (KRT) – As the anti-war movement arrives in Washington this weekend, many top Democrats are leaving.
Nationally known Democratic war critics, including Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, Russell Feingold of Wisconsin and John Kerry of Massachusetts, won’t attend what sponsors say will be a big anti-war rally Saturday in Washington.
The only Democratic officeholders who plan to address the rally are Reps. Cynthia McKinney of Georgia and John Conyers of Michigan.
I am having another Charlie Brown moment as my foot attempts to make contact, the football is pull away yet another time sending me through the air and resting on my back looking at the clouds and what could have been.
Such is the Democratic party of today.
Strange cults appear to be spreading, or so this knotty bunch of entrails appears to indicate:
Interfaith coalition unveils public school Bible course
The nonprofit Bible Literacy Project of Fairfax, Virginia, spent five years and $2 million developing “The Bible and Its Influence.” The textbook, introduced at a Washington news conference, won initial endorsements from experts in literature, religion and church-state law.
American Jewish Congress attorney Marc Stern, an adviser on the effort, said despite concern over growing tensions among U.S. religious groups, “this book is proof that the despair is premature, that it is possible to acknowledge and respect deep religious differences and yet still find common ground.”
Another adviser, evangelical literature scholar Leland Ryken of Wheaton College, called the textbook “a triumph of scholarship and a major publishing event.”
Apparitions appear in the strangest places:
eBay: Sonogram of the Virgin Mary (item 6210053924 end time Sep-23-05 19:12:30 PDT)
THIS IS A GENUINE SONOGRAM PRINTOUT of our child at 8 weeks, 4 Days. If you look close, however, you can see an outline of the Blessed Mother. Interestingly enough, the length of the fetus also is the top and bottom of the Blessed Mother’s face. Since this is an actual printout, shipping will be free. This is not a joke, and I will be happy to answer ALL seller questions!!!*
The Madman can only tell you what the entrails say. He offers not hope when providing this service, merely observation. Oh, what’s this? Signs of the nobles hiring barbarians to keep the plebes in line? This MUST be a mistake, right, an echo of long past days? Sadly, no …
In an hourlong conversation I had with four Blackwater men, they characterized their work in New Orleans as “securing neighborhoods” and “confronting criminals.” They all carried automatic assault weapons and had guns strapped to their legs. Their flak jackets were covered with pouches for extra ammunition.
When asked what authority they were operating under, one guy said, “We’re on contract with the Department of Homeland Security.” Then, pointing to one of his comrades, he said, “He was even deputized by the governor of the state of Louisiana. We can make arrests and use lethal force if we deem it necessary.” The man then held up the gold Louisiana law enforcement badge he wore around his neck. Blackwater spokesperson Anne Duke also said the company has a letter from Louisiana officials authorizing its forces to carry loaded weapons. […]
Blackwater is not alone. As business leaders and government officials talk openly of changing the demographics of what was one of the most culturally vibrant of America’s cities, mercenaries from companies like DynCorp, Intercon, American Security Group, Blackhawk, Wackenhut and an Israeli company called Instinctive Shooting International (ISI) are fanning out to guard private businesses and homes, as well as government projects and institutions. Within two weeks of the hurricane, the number of private security companies registered in Louisiana jumped from 185 to 235. Some, like Blackwater, are under federal contract. Others have been hired by the wealthy elite, like F. Patrick Quinn III, who brought in private security to guard his $3 million private estate and his luxury hotels, which are under consideration for a lucrative federal contract to house FEMA workers.[…]
A few miles away from the French Quarter, another wealthy New Orleans businessman, James Reiss, who serves in Mayor Ray Nagin’s administration as chairman of the city’s Regional Transit Authority, brought in some heavy guns to guard the elite gated community of Audubon Place: Israeli mercenaries dressed in black and armed with M-16s. Two Israelis patrolling the gates outside Audubon told me they had served as professional soldiers in the Israeli military, and one boasted of having participated in the invasion of Lebanon. “We have been fighting the Palestinians all day, every day, our whole lives,” one of them tells me. “Here in New Orleans, we are not guarding from terrorists.” Then, tapping on his machine gun, he says, “Most Americans, when they see these things, that’s enough to scare them.”
The men work for ISI, which describes its employees as “veterans of the Israeli special task forces from the following Israeli government bodies: Israel Defense Force (IDF), Israel National Police Counter Terrorism units, Instructors of Israel National Police Counter Terrorism units, General Security Service (GSS or ‘Shin Beit’), Other restricted intelligence agencies.” The company was formed in 1993. Its website profile says: “Our up-to-date services meet the challenging needs for Homeland Security preparedness and overseas combat procedures and readiness. ISI is currently an approved vendor by the US Government to supply Homeland Security services.”
Still, big guns can’t protect someone when sad and angry spirits walk the land:
Guardsmen Sense Ghostly Presence In New Orleans
In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, members of the U.S. military are saying that there’s something spooky going on and it’s not just images of death and destruction that’s haunting them.
By all accounts, the Sophie B. Wright Middle School in New Orleans sits empty and evacuated except for military personnel who have taken over the campus as a staging site for missions around the battered city.
But the men in uniform have the feeling that they’re not alone. It prompted a chaplain to utter this directive: “In the name of Jesus Chris, I command you Satan to leave the dark areas of this building.”
Said Sgt. Robin Hairston of the California National Guard: “I was in my sleeping bag and I opened by eyes and in the doorway was a little girl,” . “It wasn’t my imagination.”
Hairston wasn’t the only one seeing things. Spc. Rosales Leanor had her own close encounter.
“I was using the restroom and I just saw a little shadow,” Leanor said, “kind of looming in front of me.”
Another member of the Guard unit said that she saw and heard a little girl laughing when she opened a closet that contained cleaning supplies.
At a Baton Rouge marina, boats were strewn like trash, but not a shred of paper could be found. Except for the pages of a Bible, which was found by a soldier. It was open to the Book of Revelations.
At a nearby church, nearly destroyed, another Bible was found, showing the exact same passage from Revelations.
The Madman is sorry that the omens aren’t good, but he can only tell you what the spirits share. The truth is all there, in digital blood and innards. Do with these warnings what you will. For the Madman, he can’t look at any more. It will be other spirits he’ll be consulting, spirts that come swimming out of a bottle.
As things stand, darker days are ahead, and anger and fear stalk the land.
