Shakedown

Well, it's that time again where enough hapless souls have wandered too near our site's event horizon for their own good.  So we reach in and grab 'em and publish 'em here so we can free their souls.  Or at least their comments.

February is barely started and we feel as though it will never end.  War, rumors of war.  Complete breakdown of many decades long alliances.  Blustering.  Nuclear shakedown by lunatic leaders.  Breaking of treaties.  Massive deployment of troops.  Ye gods!  Whoever said we live in boring times, eh?

So we figure we'd do some house cleaning before the bombs really start dropping and the real hell starts breaking loose across the world.  A time of relative quiet in which we are allowed a tiny, miniscule moment on which to reflect upon the gifts we receive from the internet.

Matt Magus came back for more helpings from our hellblazer kitchen and left us with the following complaint about the current political climate:

I really enjoyed all of the recent articles, however in Michael LeStrange's "Economics of Ideas", it is my personal belief (and nothing more then this, mind you) that too much emphasis is placed on blaming the media for their lack of attention to detail (which they are at fault for, mind you, I'm not disagreeing with this part), and not enough on the politicians on the Democratic side themselves for not bringing up these issues that the media overlooked. It is no secret to anyone who actually pays attention to the goings-on of the world that there is no such thing as the Republican lie of a liberal media (started by the so-called "journalist" Rush Limbaugh, during the late years of Bush the elders term in office, and re-enforced every day of the Clinton years, I would like to point out that, Rush himself is a part of the media that he claims has such a slant), in fact I daresay that the media in America today is more leaning toward the right wing then ever in my lifetime. Look at programs like "Hardball" and other "news" programs who's forum seems to be nothing more then finding ways they can argue with the point-of-views of Democrats. Every "show" that I watched on the Fox news network this past Friday night was heavily slanted toward the Republican side of the political climate. At any rate, the point of all this is that it comes as no surprise that the real issues of this election were buried in the media, mainly because they don't want you to know about them any more then those in power do, or at least, they don't want you to know about them right away, not until they can find some reason to blame it all on the "liberals" (which in and of itself is a fictional label), much like they have been pointing the finger at Clinton when it comes to how screwed up the economy has been, rather then the ridiculous tax cuts and tax relief that Bush has given us since he got into office, or the sadly large amount of money he's been spending on this pet war of his, but I digress. The thing I'm trying to say here, is that it is up to the politicians on the Democratic side of the fence to point out the issues that the media has overlooked and force not only America, but that same media to look at them. That's one of the things that Clinton did so well in original bid for office. We are ultimately failing because the people who are supposed to represent us are failing. Failing to grow enough balls to stand up for what we believe in even when those beliefs are unpopular, failing to have the courage to point out the faults in the current admin., for they are afraid of being called "un-American" or "un-patriotic". Welcome to the McCarthy era all over again. The good news, gents, is that like before, this too will pass. The majority may seem incredibly stupid right now, but there's only so much ignorance even they can take from those in power (this is of course an illusion anyway)...anyway, enough of my ranting, this took so long that it was probably better suited to my diaryland page...

Naturally, we like to hear from people who agree with us.  Almost as much as those that don't :)  So we dashed off this reply to Matt:

Well, first off thanks for writing.  While we're sure that you'll come up with some wonderful stuff for your diaryland site, we thank you for taking the time to enrich our site.  It's nice to have feedback, especially thoughtful feedback.

But on to your complaint.

While we strongly agree that our representatives have abdicated their responsibility and that it would be really nice to see some calcium appear in their spinal region, this isn't the point.  The bedrock of a democracy is an informed populous.  Politicians are followers, not leaders.  They sniff the air and go where the wind blows.  Expecting our representatives to actually lead us is a bit like waiting for Godot.

Leaders will emerge when they sense they have the people behind them. Granted, this is not what one normally defines as a leader, but it's the best we have to hope for in politics.  True leaders - i.e. those of strong will, unshakable beliefs and the power to move public opinion behind them - are incredibly rare in history.  Worse, they are usually leaders of EVIL, not good.  Also, the brilliant thing about US democracy was the theory that we didn't want to rely on those rare individuals to protect our freedoms. We ensconced a system that would protect us regardless of the abilities of the representatives.

Well, that's the theory of course.

The press is a very serious problem.  Have you actually talked to the masses lately?  They're insane.  They can barely rub two logical arguments together, and they seem to be in a state of permanent cognitive dissonance.  Why?  Because the press/media has completely abdicated their responsibility.  Combined with the atrocious education state of most of them, this is a fire waiting to happen.

While we find hope in your optimism, we need only point to the tragedies of the past - tragedies that occurred with far, far less sophisticated propaganda mechanisms than they currently have today.

But nothing we can say comes close to how wonderfully "Tom the Dancing Bug" displayed the issue in cartoon form.  Check out his cartoon entitled "Baby Eating Alien Party Victorious".  We think panel number 4 concisely describes the situation perfectly.

Cheers

John Herndon dropped by and left a very nice comment for Hal regarding his fusion project

Wow you are something else Hal -- I am impressed Good luck Starfire (John ) I have built a fusor grid from pipe rings { rings cut off pipe } to intermesh also a centre grid from three SS washers ----- why can't I see the PDF's :-)

We whipped Hal repeatedly until he figured out what was wrong with the PDFs, but he only partially solved the problem.  Someone around here with more web savvy than him had to pull out the rest of the problems.  But we think we have all the links fixed now.  Hal says that he's very appreciative of such nice comments from very smart people.  Keep 'em coming, as he tends to be depressed now and then - moody guy sometimes.  :)

A stray kitten wandered by and left the following note

I was working on my own little world at B-spot - and clicked on YOU. I poked around and much to my surprise found myself there in B-spot form. :) thanks... I'll work on the site... lots to report on it...and I've just been plain lazy.. :) how sweet.

Just doing our job, ma'am.  All part of the fine service one comes to expect around here at Hellblazer central.

Suddenly, without warning, we were visited by the mysterious ANONYMOUS COWARD again

ALWAYS NICE TO BE APPRECIATED. BY THE WAY, STILL TOO 'UNBREAKABLE'. BE A LITTLE MORE CYNICAL ABOUT THE INPUT RECEIVED.

We don't know quite how to take that.  Seriously.  We don't even believe the stuff we say, much less the input we receive.  We would like to get more cynical, but man...  It's hard to be more cynical without being addicted to Heroin or something equally dreadful.  We've seen the road ahead and we've made the collective decision to take the turnpike south and hopefully we'll be living it up drinking margaritas before all this is over.

But you are appreciated.  We just wish you wouldn't be so mysterious.  We're pretty naive over here and anything more mysterious than a cracker jack prize pretty much puzzles us silly.  Sorry.

As if in answer to our plea for slightly less mysterious apparitions, Spectergraph showed up soon after

I'm glad your john has found so many exciting adventures, in coffee lines, and in books of philosophy, and at walls, and wherever else he has found them, and may his world sailing continue indefinitely. I've had some exciting experiences myself, things out of the normal, mind you, and that I'm not going to elaborate should be all the proof you need to know that I am telling the truth, if you really understand anything at all about the world, which, I guess, means if you understand humans. I don't mean to rave. this stuff has emotional value, emotional power. I guess I just wanted to say that all of these ideas, which, in my shame, I have not fully absorbed, leave us off at some place as nice as the places they have shown us, and half as nice as the wellspring we were at before we saw them all. I wish you well, and enjoy your site.

Now that is the kind of mysteriousness we can go for.  More than enough hidden and implied to whet our appetite, but enough substance so we know what the heck they are getting at...  I think our scribe replied...

Many thanks for stopping by.  We would like to point out that we still haven't figured humans out at all, and consequently life.  We do agree that the journey has been good, full of interesting things that we haven't even begun to absorb.  Perhaps that's why we die - to have some time to absorb what we've learned before the next go around.

Anyways, we wish you well on your journeys, and who knows.  Maybe we'll share some coffee along the way.

Cheers

Well, that's about all that's fit to print.  We have some more threads that...  Well, let's just say they're of a more personal nature than what we usually wish to reveal here on the site.  But they know who they are.  They know they've been naughty.

Again, many thanks to those who bothered to drop us a line and let us know what they think.  We do appreciate just about everyone that drops a line - even the mysterious ones.  Heck, maybe we enjoy the mysterious ones most of all.

In any event, make sure you know where your loved ones are at all times.  These are some powerful weird times.  It's always best to keep close tabs on those you love.  Especially during these strange days.  Make sure they know how much you love them, and hug them tight.

February 10, 2003