The LAPD Wants You To Think About That.

The Los Angeles Police Department is encouraging the use of an iPhone app called iWatch, which it's marketing as a "neighborhood watch for the whole city."  Supposedly, good, upstanding citizens like you and me are being asked to get on iWatch and report any terrorist activity that might be happening in the city, so the LAPD can jump on that and get those dirty terrorist bastards, and we can all sleep safer in our beds at night.

The PSA it has put together to woo you into using iWatch is one of the sickest, most horrifying things I've seen in a while -- and I just saw an interview with Dick Cheney a couple of weeks ago:



"Think about that."

And while you're thinking about that, think about this. In 1934, Heinrich Himmler was charged with the responsibility of creating a department that handled all of the Third Reich's security issues. The domestic arm of that department was called the Reichssicherheitshauptamt (loosely translated as "Reich Main Security Office"). The enforcement of the department's policies was left to a militia called the Geheime Staatspolizei. But Himmler had a better idea. One of his first policies was to use propaganda and fear to encourage good, upstanding citizens - like you and me - to do it's spying for them. By sowing seeds of fear and doubt, by invoking the memories of their families, their country and their way of life, the citizens of Germany were coaxed to report any "suspicious activity" to the Reichssicherheitshauptamt. The department would take it from there, using their enforcement muscle to apprehend, question, often torture and falsely imprison people it deemed as "enemies" of the Reich.  And all because some disgruntled neighbor made a report about activity deemed to be "suspicous". We've come to know the enforcement militia of Himmler's security department by the abbreviation of their name -- the Gestapo.

So think about that.  And while you're at it, think about this: Hitler's Germany didn't thrive because a bunch losers were able to use the memory of a disastrous war, together with a woefully badly drafted piece of legislation to take political and military control of Germany.  The Third Reich thrived because good, upstanding people, like you and  me, didn't see that they were being manipulated and undermined by a government that would stop at nothing to dominate and control them, any way it could.

And, just as an "aside" -- given the LAPD's history of corruption, brutality and racism, I'm not sure it ought to be so anxious to have ordinary folks being mindful of illegal activity in their vicinity.

Just saying....

~C~

YooHoooo... Mr. CIA Spyman... Over Here! Pick Me!

No need to be coy, fellas. If you're interested in what I'm typing on my blog, then just follow me on Twitter, and I'll let you know when I update.


CIA Invests in Software Firm Monitoring Blogs, Twitter

So shy, these Black Ops guys.  I find it a little alluring.

~C~

Senator Harry Reid, Are You Listening?

Your state, your constituents and your country are telling you that they want a strong public insurance option. Not later, but now. The clock is ticking, Senator Reid. You have to decide whether you want to continue representing people who are telling you what they want.



2010 is just around the corner. Back a strong public option in the Senate health care reform legislation.

~Amanda~

Schoolhouse Rock

It is the blog for the BEST kid's chorus on the planet.  And I say that with absolutely no equivocation.

Staten Island's PS22 Chorus consists of 60 or so fifth-graders who, under the direction of music teacher Gregg Breinberg, have jumped to prominence, thanks to their videos on YouTube, and mentions by Perez Hilton on his blog, and Ashton Kutcher, on Twitter. 

Most of the kids in this chorus are not growing up with music lessons or even much art at all in their house.  They're from underprivileged working class households in tough neighborhoods. Breinberg (whom the kids lovingly call "Mr. B.") has taken these kids and brought them out of their world and shown them that they can shine.  And they do. Much is made of their covers of Tori Amos' hits (Breinberg is a huge fan of Amos), but my favorite so far (and there are many, many videos left to see) is their joyous, unrestrained cover of Lady Gaga's JUST DANCE.



This article gives a little more in-depth story of Breinberg and the kids.

I Am Studying Mythology, So I Can Honestly Tell You That....

... there is NO such thing as the "FREE MARKET".  It's a construct.  A myth.  A fable.  A fairytale. 

Let it go, my brain-damaged little conservatives....

Much like Santa and the Toothfairy, people who claimed to love you, that won your trust and undying belief, have wooed you into believing something that is, essentially, a lie.

No free market.  All market properties are tampered with, hampered, manipulated and spun.  All of them. 

Deal with it.

My Birthday's Coming Up....

I was wondering if it was possible, since I already have ONE good senator, if I could get another one so I have a matching set.

Because this one's a complete and utter dud. 

I mean, just in case someone was wondering what they could get me and all.

Out of Commission For a Bit

I'll be away from The Chron for a bit -- off to immerse myself in Greek Mythology and Hindu Tradition and Dream Interpretation (all with a wild, Jungian backbeat).

I'll be back in town on Wednesday night, and capable of semi-rational thought by Thursday sometime.

Try not to get into any trouble while I'm gone.  I don't want to have to come back and bail anyone out of jail.

Clear? Clear. 

Vote For Meg Whitman for California Governor, 2010

Because what California really needs is another fat-ass, white billionaire who insults state employees (you know them, the ones who've been recently given unpaid furloughs, had their salaries reduced by 14%, are receiving IOUs and vouchers instead of paychecks, and are threatened already with massive lay-offs), calls them "bureacrats", then scapegoats them for all the mistakes made by boot-kissing legislators and bankers over the last ten years.

Not only has this unfeeling imbecile never served in any lower-level elected office, but she didn't even register to vote until she was 46 years old.  She's 53 now.  How is that possible?  I registered to vote the very first day I was eligible, six months before my 18th birthday.  And I've voted ever since. Where the hell has she been?  Oh, wait... the country club, maybe?  Elizabeth Arden's, getting that well-earned facial? (Because business is hard on a girl's complexion, after all.)

Whitman's sole claim to fame is having once served as the CEO of eBay.  Yeah, that's right -- eBay.  She didn't invent it, mind you.  She just ran the company for several years, and managed to do so without running it into the ground. Bravo to her.  Her corporate strategy was probably similar to her gubernatorial outline -- when eBay's profits dipped, she probably fired the receptionist and the mailroom clerk, after accusing them of dragging the company down with their greedy demands for minimum wage salaries and enforced lunch breaks. 

Go ahead, California. Vote for Meg Whitman.  You voted for Arnold Schwarzenegger in two successive elections, because you thought it was cute and charming to be able to use the term "Governator".  Whitman ought to be right up your simple-minded, GOP-lovin' alley.

Here's my proposed campaign slogan for her:

"Meg Whitman. Not only unqualified, but cruel and really ignorant, too."

That ought to make her a shoe-in, extending California's fine tradition of choosing the least qualified, most incompetent governors we can find.