. . . but the company did nothing wrong! I wonder if that excuse will work with my traffic tickets?

(Editor's Note: There's more than a little irony that one of the best quotes about intolerance, above, is from a movie with the words "Last Crusade" in its title. Funny how that word has morphed in the past twenty years...)

There is an insignificant gnat of a church in Florida trying to improve its balance sheet by burning the Koran this Saturday on the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. A total of fifty congregants, and undoubtedly fanatical followers at that.

I will not dignify the church by posting its name or the name of its attention-seeking, money-grubbing pastor. Instead, I want to focus on two things:

In an interview on the PBS NewsHour last Wednesday , Joe Biden was unwilling to contradict the official narrative of the Iraq War that Gen. David Petraeus and the Bush surge had turned Iraq into a good war after all. That interview serves as a reminder of just how completely the Democratic Party foreign policy elite has adopted that narrative. .

The Iraq War story line crafted by the Petraeus and the new counterinsurgency elite in Washington assures the public that U.S. military power in Iraq brought about the cooperation of the Sunnis in Anbar Province, ended sectarian violence in Baghdad and defeated Iranian-backed Shi’a insurgents.

The Poem for Tuesday feature here at The Agonist is one of the cooler things in the blogosphere. The fact that we're getting a chance to consider excellent poems is perhaps reason enough to do it, but its ultimate value runs even deeper: because we often spend so much time focusing on the political onslaught in our culture, we can forget something crucial: politics are not the thing, they are a manifestation of the thing. A literate society whose citizens have their arts, their literature, their poetry in order is a society whose politics do a much better job of taking care of themselves.

Or so it has always seemed to me.

We've gone full Medieval in America: we burn books!

It's sad to see a thriving community that could fit nicely into American society be ravaged by the outlandish, cowardly perceptions of fearmongerers.

Enter Islamic Americans.

Muslims have been identified as a fringe religious group ever since the day that Cassius Clay changed his name to Muhammad Ali, and stood up against the Vietnam War. Ironically, a religion once associated with a peace movement has now been tarred with the brush of ultraviolent.

Nevermind that every religion (with the possible exception of Buddhism/Hindu) could be tarred with that brush at any moment in history. Nevermind that the United States committed what amounts to genocide in Iraq of Muslims, detracting powerfully from the good works done in the oppression of Muslims in Bosnia. Nevermind that Americans...Christian, Jew, atheist...stand in opposition to the opening of a goddamned social hall in lower Manhattan, detracting mightily from the message of freedom we pretend to promote.

Here is one from Donald Justice, with my thanks to Megg Magee for the suggestion.

Counting the Mad

This one was put in a jacket,
This one was sent home,
This one was given bread and meat
But would eat none,
And this one cried No No No No
All day long.

This one looked at the window
As though it were a wall,
This one saw things that were not there,
This one things that were,
And this one cried No No No No
All day long.

This one thought himself a bird,
This one a dog,
And this one thought himself a man,
An ordinary man,
And cried and cried No No No No
All day long.

– Donald Justice

CNN Wire Staff | September 6

CNN - The U.S. commander in Afghanistan on Monday criticized a Florida church's plan to burn copies of the Quran on September 11, warning the demonstration "could cause significant problems" for American troops overseas.

"It could endanger troops and it could endanger the overall effort in Afghanistan," Gen. David Petraeus said in a statement issued Monday.

The Dove World Outreach Center in Gainesville, Florida, plans to mark the anniversary of al Qaeda's September 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington by burning copies of the Muslim holy book. The church insists the event is "neither an act of love nor of hate," but a warning against what it calls the threats posed by Islam.

When you celebrate Labor Day today please thank a Union member. Were it not for them we wouldn't have the meager holidays we do.

Digby has more.

. . . after reading this that Obama thinks he is Nelson Mandela or something, trying to heal wounds that frankly haven't even been stitched up yet.

Barbara Surk | Baghdad | September 5

AP -
Days after the U.S. officially ended combat operations and touted Iraq's ability to defend itself, American troops found themselves battling heavily armed militants assaulting an Iraqi military headquarters in the center of Baghdad on Sunday. The fighting killed 12 people and wounded dozens.

It was the first exchange of fire involving U.S. troops in Baghdad since the Aug. 31 deadline for formally ending the combat mission, and it showed that American troops remaining in the country are still being drawn into the fighting.

One idea I keep hearing tossed around about Social Security is that we need to raise to retirement age because Americans are living longer. This is a bullshit argument. Those who need Social Security most are not living longer. Sure, on average Americans are living longer. But this is precisely why everyone in this country should take at least 3 hours of statistics: on average doesn't mean shit.

The Eschaton has always been shrill, but now it's getting ever more so:

Public works projects are off the table.

Social Security benefit cuts are on the table.

These are both obviously bad policy positions.

These are both obviously bad political positions.

At some point you must consider the idea that this is the kind of policy Obama wants.

Of course, Ian, Stirling, Numerian, the folks at Corrente and I have been saying this for more than a year. Glad to see more people are finally getting it.

The Brunette and I watched Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with her daughter the other night. One of the reasons I find this movie to be exceptional are the two positive role models for young women. Michelle Yeoh's character could be fleshed out more, but still, as a strong, independent women she's exceptional. But Zhang Ziyi's character is the most compelling of the movie: in the end she's a better warrior than Chow Yun Fat, and her quest for independence much more rewarding in that at the end of the movie all is left open. We just don't know what happens to her.

I'm not sure if I necessarily like the idea of violent women on TV or movies as a sit in for positive role models for young girls. (I don't like the idea of violent men, either, but we are hairless monkeys, after all, looking for an alpha to follow.) It's certainly better than women being portrayed as victims. Or even worse, like those silly vampire movies: young girls who show no agency beyond finding a boy to rescue them.

Just random thoughts for a Sunday morning.

I have traveled in ten officially Muslim countries--Indonesia, Malaysia, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkey, Bahrain, Dubai and Oman. I have also traveled in Macedonia, India, Ethiopia and Western China where the cultural tapestry of Islam is rich and everywhere to be seen, places where Muslims make up large minorities. I have never been proselytized. Not a single Muslim has ever tried to convert me.

In the last three weeks alone I have had no less than four 'Christians' inform me that I am going to hell if I do not become born again.

(Not Satire)

We can now update the apocryphal response of Marie Antoinette, who offered "cake" to the starving peasants.

The people have no food. Let them eat insects.

"Due to the world's growing food shortage, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization proposes a plan to include insects as a new part of people's diet." Insects as Alternative Food (Image)

We're being played for chumps. We're facing food shortages. Eat insects. We're facing fresh water shortages. Get ready to pay, big time.

The scam artists who run things are now striking at the foundation of the hierarchy of human needs; nourishment - food and water.

Will someone with a really large audience stand up and say: "We're facing shortages in food and water due to stunning mismanagement and shameless greed. Knock it off!"

. . . if the Democrats come back after the election during a lame-duck session of Congress and cut Social Security (and yes, raising the retirement age is a cut) and President Obama signs the bill, what will you do in 2012 elections? Will you vote for Obama? Would you vote for an insurgent candidate running against him? Will you vote for them again in 2012 because they are better than tEh crazies?

It's time to ask yourself some very, very hard questions, because that is exactly what they are going to do.

Nuking the English language

"The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) will use its nuclear arsenal if attacked by the United States and South Korea, DPRK ambassador to Cuba Kwon Sung Chol said Friday," reported the Chinese news site Xinhua on August 27. Kwon added, "If Washington and Seoul try to create a conflict on the Korean Peninsula, we will respond with a holy war on the basis of our nuclear deterrent forces."

What's unusual about this warning? Perhaps you find the invocation of holy war incongruous since, at best, the North Korean government only tolerates certain religious groups. (Its idea of religion, you'll recall, is a decidedly unholy admixture of the cult of the Kim dynasty's personality and juche, a secular doctrine that combines will with self-reliance.)

Bruce Schneier, as always, is very thoughtful and provocative. You'll be wanting to watch this:

One quote/analogy that really stood out was this one: "data is the pollution problem of the information society, all processes produce it, it stays around, it has to be dealt with and its secondary uses are what concern us."

I wish more people were doing the heavy thinking Bruce does.

Sabbath eve, September 3, 2010.

I’m no accountant, but I can count. I am no economist either, but I do recognize the smell of bull shit when it comes along. More on that later.

To begin, an update on the corn harvest. I failed to mention last week that I had about 5 acres of yellow corn planted in an isolated field. It too is a non-hybrid, non-genetically modified variety, yellow trucker’s favorite, should you care to know. I had a hard time acquiring this seed and planted the field with hopes of making enough to plant on a larger scale next year.

Tie vines (Morning Glory) had formed hedge-like trellises on the stalks of yellow corn. Quentin made a couple of passes with his combine and decided not to harvest the rest, leaving some three acres un-harvested. He then moved to our Belmont farm and harvested the rest of the white corn which yielded 90 bushels to the acre, despite significant losses to feral hogs over the last month or so.

From Academy Award® nominated filmmaker, Charles Ferguson ("No End In Sight"), comes INSIDE JOB, the first film to expose the shocking truth behind the economic crisis of 2008. The global financial meltdown, at a cost of over $20 trillion, resulted in millions of people losing their homes and jobs. Through extensive research and interviews with major financial insiders, politicians and journalists, INSIDE JOB traces the rise of a rogue industry and unveils the corrosive relationships which have corrupted politics, regulation and academia. Narrated by Academy Award® winner Matt Damon, INSIDE JOB was made on location in the United States, Iceland, England, France, Singapore, and China.

. . . see our political and elite class fail, rape and pillage our economy, destroy our social contract and wreck our national good name, the more grateful I become for the Second Amendment. Why? Because in the breach, as a last resort the only Amendment that will guarantee all the others is the Second. Just ask the founders.