burn baby burn

I walked by this a few days ago and wished I had a camera.

which victims matter (updated)

In my last post I tried to make a very simple point, which now IOZ has made much more cleverly, and Justin has made much more eloquently. And Ethan found a nice quote that sums it up nicely:

Civilization is based on a clearly defined and widely accepted yet often unarticulated hierarchy. Violence done by those higher on the hierarchy to those lower is nearly always invisible, unnoticed. When it is noticed, it is fully rationalized. Violence done by those lower on the hierarchy to those higher is unthinkable, and when it does occur is regarded with shock, horror, and the fetishization of the victims.

If you read only one of those links, read Justin's, which illustrates this dynamic using two recent killing episodes.

update: Jack Crow too!

a short story

Gabrielle Giffords repeatedly used her considerable political power to support killing people. Then someone tried to kill her.

The end?

surely it is our words, not our violence, that causes this violence

All the respectable liberals are supposed to be blaming the violent rhetoric of the political class for the Arizona killings, presumably because that makes it all the Republicans' fault. Mister Smith takes a swipe at this, as does IOZ. It strikes me that Arthur Silber had the best response, but it was written almost four years ago.

If the question is what does the US political class do that inspires violence, I suppose their violent rhetoric might be a concern, but surely a distant one.

We've bombed, invaded, and occupied Afghanistan and Iraq, and we're threatening Iran with the same. We're conducting half-secret wars in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and who knows where else. Hundreds of thousands of people, the vast majority non-combatants, are dead as a result. We provide weapons and support for brutal regimes around the world and flagrantly disregard the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. We spend more money on war than the rest of the world combined (while our healthcare system is a joke, and our education system and infrastructure rots away). Thousands die and millions more are in cages because of our stupid war on drugs. We torture and kill prisoners, including our own citizens.

Insane violence is what the US political class is all about.

update: good stuff, Jack Crow

some people get it

Here are a pair of inspiring blog posts I came across today:

America Via Erica's valedictorian speech (via Ethan)

the Anarchist Mother's unfooding experiment

both of them have other interesting items on their blogs. check them out!

a few unrelated items

On my brief trip to Maryland for the holidays I had a run in with the police. My "suspicious" activity was pulling into the parking lot of a community park at 6pm and walking around near my car. I was detained for questioning for about 20 minutes by an armed asshole who, when I didn't give meaningful answers to his questions and asked if I was free to go, threatened to arrest me, called for backup, and had me thoroughly frisked.

I found Life of Birds at the library, and, well, I couldn't pass that up. Katsu loves it too. He's been staring like that for 10 minutes.

I found some ground water buffalo in the freezer last time I went to Cumbraes, and, well, I couldn't pass that up. I don't think I could blindly distinguish it from beef by texture or flavour. I won't be offering Katsu any of the spaghetti I'm making.