As It Stands: Next Stop Africa: American Imperialism on the March

UPDATE BELOW – Monday 10/31                                                                 
“The enemy aggressor is always pursuing a course of larceny, murder, rapine and barbarism. We are always moving forward with high mission, a destiny imposed by the Deity to regenerate our victims while incidentally capturing their markets, to civilize savage and senile and paranoid peoples while blundering accidentally into their oil wells.”    

--John T. Flynn, conservative American writer, 1944

                                                     By Dave Stancliff/For The Times-Standard
   I once thought only Communists used the word imperialism when referring to American politics. As a Vietnam veteran against the war when I came home in 1971, I was in solidarity with those protesting against it.
  Still, some slogans like “Imperialistic Pigs” or “Imperialistic Puppets” vaguely troubled me. I didn’t like that word for some reason. It made me uneasy.

  Of course I really didn’t understand it’s full meaning and admittedly didn’t go out of my way to find it out. Instead, I  went with a knee-jerk reaction and put the word in my Commie file. After all, back in those days Commies used the word in scathing verbal attacks against America.
   In fact imperialism is defined as extending a nation's authority by territorial acquisition or by the establishment of economic and political hegemony over other nations.
   It’s been a long and painful road since the Soviets were our mortal enemy. Along the way America invaded Iraq and Afghanistan in the name of national security. Ours. We extended our military presence in the world to 126 countries under the guise of protecting democracy.
   President Obama announced the majority of our troops will be out of Iraq by January 2012, but what about the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan?
   More alarming, Obama and his corral of Chicken Hawks recently announced the invasion of a new frontier. They sent 157 Green Berets to Uganda as military advisors in what is being described as the first phase of a military operation that will spread to other nearby African states.

  The Pentagon’s questionable reasoning for this mission is based upon lies designed to hide our capitalistic goals – there’s oil in Libya – and other African states have natural resources we can plunder.
   We’re going in – wearing White Hats and all – to save Uganda from some roving gang of thugs that’s supposedly terrifying all the good people in southern Africa. An earlier generation of Chicken Hawks in Washington said the same thing about Vietnam.

  The warmongers are ready to rip Africa apart, like the vultures they are, in order to keep the industrial complex rolling. Africa screams…but no one hears. The ghosts of thousands of American troops who have died in dirty little imperialistic wars/actions since Vietnam must be restless.
   As long as we have influential Chicken Hawks lobbying for wars and military actions, they’ll continue. Military ambitions will run rampant as long as obscene profits - made on the back of the American taxpayer - can be made. All under the guise of democracy and national security.
   Capitalism became patriotism as politicians persuaded the public that America needed a worldwide military presence. The lies flowed with the cash. Business as usual.
  Our government has created a system of proxy rule, by way of client states and dependent regimes. Few dare call it imperialism. Indeed, the most militant defenders of the policy greatly resent the term. They call it leftist propaganda.
  My sentiments are the same as Mark Twain’s were back on Oct. 15th, 1900, when he wrote the following for the New York Herald:

   “I have read carefully the treaty of Paris, and I have seen that we do not intend to free, but to subjugate the people of the Philippines. We have gone there to conquer, not to redeem. It should, it seems to me, be our pleasure and duty to make those people free, and let them deal with their own domestic questions in their own way. And so I am an anti-imperialist. I am opposed to having the eagle put its talons on any other land.”
    Here we are over 100 years later, still putting our talons into other countries. That’s very discouraging. As much as I love America, I’m ashamed that we act like a superpower with no soul.
   As It Stands, I watch Americans protesting the economy daily now, and I find myself hoping that this growing movement of outrage will add demands to pull our troops out of every country we now occupy.

EDITOR’s NOTE:

I seldom comment on emails I get in response to my columns, but felt compelled to thank all the people who filled up my mail room (in the last 24 hours) with feedback on this column! Wow! It appears I struck a nerve. The thing that really surprises me is it was ALL positive feedback. That’s almost scary this Halloween!!!  

What Me Worry? There’s phobia’s for everything under the sun

Seems like everyone has phobia’s nowadays so I looked around for a definitive list of the things that scare and irritate people. Here’s the best roundup of phobia’s I’ve found to date. It provides an alphabetic index for easy reference.

Here’s one example:

                               Papaphobia: fear of the Pope -

Regarded as one of the most benevolent and wonderful individuals in the world, millions flock to him, hoping for his blessing... except for those who suffer "Papaphobia": an abnormal or persistent pathological fear of the pope or the papacy.

 Symptoms can include shortness of breath, rapid breathing, irregular heartbeat, sweating, nausea, and overall feelings of dread. And it might not be only about the pope himself; a person with papaphobia may also be fearful of the Roman Catholic Church, so keep that popemobil away from them!

More examples:

10 Weirdest Phobias

10 Most Rare and Strange Phobias

Python eats deer, Cardinals win World Series, and Canada looks to Polar Bear for it’s new national symbol

     Good Morning Humboldt County!

Glad you could make it this morning. Grab a seat and a cup of hot coffee and let’s take a look at three stories to start your day.

16-foot python found in Florida had eaten a deer

Officials in the Florida Everglades have captured and killed a 16-foot-long Burmese python that had just eaten an adult deer.

Scott Hardin, exotic species coordinator for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, said workers found the snake on Thursday. The reptile was one of the largest ever found in South Florida.

Hardin said the python had recently consumed a 76-pound female deer that had died. He said it was an important capture to help stop the spread of pythons further north.

     Cardinals win World Series

About the time the St. Louis Cardinals fell 10 1/2 games out of first place in late-August, manager Tony La Russa paid a visit to commissioner Bud Selig during a series in Milwaukee.

Recalling that meeting before World Series Game 7, Selig said: "I congratulated him on his year, and he said, 'we're not done'. And he wasn't kidding. When you think back, a lot of things had to happen. It's been amazing.''

Then the Cardinals went out and finished one of the unlikeliest, unexpected World Series championships — a fitting end to a captivating postseason.

Polar bear threatens beaver as Canada national symbol

A Canadian senator has launched a campaign to replace the industrious beaver with the indomitable polar bear as Canada's national emblem, saying the incumbent is "a dentally defective rat."

Conservative Senator Nicole Eaton delivered her damning criticism in the Senate on Thursday, noting that the beavers wreak havoc on the dock at her waterfront cottage every summer."A country's symbols are not constant and can change over time," she said. "The polar bear, with its strength, courage, resourcefulness and dignity is perfect for the part."

The beaver became Canada's only official national animal in 1975. Trade in the beaver pelts, used to make fashionable fur hats, drove European expansion in North America in the 1600s and early 1700s. Eaton said the ever-busy dambuilders are now nuisance, but avoided mentioning another gnawing problem with the emblem: In modern times, its name is slang for female genitals.

Time to walk on down the road….

As It Stands: Reflections on Haunted Houses…

It seems like every Halloween someone gets seriously injured in a “haunted house” sponsored by various organizations. Here’s the first case I ran across this year which took place at the Creepyworld house in Fenton, Mo., a St. Louis suburb, last night.

Speaking of haunted houses, the Coast Guard won’t be sponsoring one here in Humboldt County this year. Not because of past problems, quite the contrary it was a successful fund-raising event, but because of cutbacks in the Coast Guard’s budget. It’s hard times everywhere.

Personally, I’ve never been interested in going to them. I went once, back in 1974, with my wife who was pregnant with our first child.

The haunted house was at Knotts Berry Farm and only a ten minute drive from where we lived. In retrospect, it seemed like a stupid thing to do, but she insisted on going, and I quit arguing with her about anything (I lost every time) during her pregnancy.

To make a long story short…I stayed up with her all night. The good news was that she wasn’t so shocked or horrified that it caused a problem (she still had five months to go). The bad news is I had to go to work the next morning.

When I was in elementary school my family lived in a house in El Monte, California, that was haunted. I’m not kidding you. Even my parents felt it was haunted. We only lived there for four months and we moved! The rumor in the neighborhood was that the prior resident had killed himself and his wife there. Too many strange things happened to all of us – my two sisters, brother, and father and mother in the short time we were there. I still get the creeps when I think of that place.

My wife and I never bothered taking our three sons to a haunted house, but they all went on their own when they hit their teen years. Showing my generation gap, I once asked one of them if he went to get scared with his buddies?  He looked at me like I was crazy and said, “Dad…I take a girl with me because I know she’ll get scared and want me to hug her!”

As It Stands, I think our economy is more scary than any old haunted house!

Bela Lugisi’s Dracula cape for sale, licorice–a scary treat, and book a hotel room with a boo!

                 Good Morning Humboldt County!

It’s getting colder in the mornings and that first cup of steaming coffee is golden. Grab a cup, pull up a seat, and join me. I’ve got a Halloween themed trio of stories for your entertainment this morning: 

              Bela Lugosi's 'Dracula' cape up for auction

The cape Bela Lugosi wore as Count Dracula in 1931 movie "Dracula" is set to be auctioned off. The cape will be one of 17 Lugosi lots consigned by the horror icon's son, Bela Lugosi, Jr., available at the Profiles in History sale in December.

Lugosi gave the cape to his wife Lillian before his death in 1956 and told her to keep it for their son. Upon Lugosi's death, the family decided that he should be buried in his Dracula costume, but given the actor's wish that his son should have the cape, the family dressed the body in a lightweight version of the cape he used when making personal appearances. Lillian Lugosi left the cape to her son upon her death in 1981.The item is expected to fetch up to $2 million when it goes under the hammer during the sale, Dec. 15 to Dec. 17.

Scary treat? Black licorice can harm heart, warns the FDA

While indulging our sweet-tooth may be a time-honored Halloween tradition, there’s one tasty morsel that could turn out to be more of a trick than a treat for some of us, the Food and Drug Administration warns.

Black licorice can lead to heart arrhythmias and other health problems when consumed by adults in large quantities, the FDA noted in its pre-holiday alert.

Experts say that consuming 2 ounces of black licorice per day for two weeks can set the heart stuttering in susceptible individuals. The culprit is a compound called glycyrrhizin, which is what gives licorice its sweet flavor.

Book a hotel room with a boo!

If you’re thinking of avoiding the trick or treaters at your door by spending Halloween in a hotel, be ready to sleep with one eye open. Hotels, lodges and B&Bs around the country are offering spooky packages that may include ghostly gifts, complimentary costumes and scary surprises.

                           13th floor special
The Renaissance New York Times Square and Madame Tussauds are offering a “Dare to Check-In” Halloween package that includes an after dark VIP tour of Madame Tussauds New York and a stay in a 13^th floor suite decked out with scary wax figures, a séance setup, over-the-top spooky décor and special effects that follow guests into the shower. The price may be the scariest detail of all: $5,000 per night during Halloween weekend. Many Renaissance hotels outside New York City are offering less-expensive Dare to Check-In packages that include a stay in a 13th floor room, ghoulish cocktails and goodie bags filled with treats.

                                                      Bed down with the Bordens   
The restored Fall River, Mass., home where an infamous, ax-wielding Lizzie Borden may – or may not – have brutally killed her father and stepmother on Aug. 4, 1892, is now a six-room bed & breakfast offering tours in the daytime and spooky stays at night. Guests may choose from bedrooms that include those once occupied by Lizzie or her parents. Those who make it through the night are served a breakfast much like the one Andrew and Abby Borden ate on their last morning.                  Go here for more examples

Time to walk on down the road…

Mind-Boggling Spiral Illustrations Are Made of a Single Line

In an inspired advertising campaign for Faber-Castell, designer Chan Hwee Chong demonstrates his unbelievable talent by creating spiral illustrations inspired by some of the most popular masterpieces in history.

Using a pen, he starts with a blank canvas, and by drawing a continuous line in a spiral he somehow manages to make detailed reproductions of the famous works of art.

The level of precision and control in Chong’s creations is simply amazing.

Go here to see more examples of his work and a video on how de does it.

What are you going to do if a Kinkajou gets you?

When Jada Thurmond showed up at the emergency room complaining of stabbing stomach pain Sept. 18, the doctors treated her for a virus and sent her home.

By the next morning, the 16-year-old was battling a fever of 102, suffering severe headaches and urinating blood. Her mother rushed her to Children's Hospital at Erlanger. That's when Thurmond told her mother and doctors about the kinkajou bite. To which everyone replied, "Kinka-what?" "I had never heard of the animal, and neither had the doctors," said Thurmond's mother, Miika Montgomery. "I was Googling it, they were Googling it. ... If it had been a dog or a cat or a raccoon they would have known exactly what to do, but they had never seen anything like this."

The kinkajou -- native to Central and South America -- is a rainforest-dwelling mammal related to the raccoon. With a mouselike face, catlike body and monkeylike tail, it's a perfect conglomeration of cuteness. But it's a deceptive cuteness, animal experts say, that can quickly give way to sharp claws, canine teeth and nasty bites. Story source

Gap between rich & poor by city, man reports date as burglar, and Brits breed a new ‘Super Broccoli’

The weather is changing fast and it’s getting much cooler in the morning now. Step right in, and have a cup of Joe with me. I’ve got a full pot on, and a few stories to start your day. Make it a good one.

Gap between U.S. rich, poor is widest in Atlanta

Atlanta has widest income gap between rich and poor of all the major U.S. cities, the U.S. Census reported on Wednesday. New Orleans ranked second, followed by the U.S. capital, Washington, D.C. Rounding out the list of 10 big cities with the largest gaps between high and low income are Miami, Fort Lauderdale and Gainesville, all in Florida; Athens, Ga.; New York; Dallas; and Baton Rouge, La.

Man reports date as burglar when girlfriend shows

Colorado Springs police say a man's girlfriend unexpectedly came home just before another woman was due to visit, so he called police to report his new acquaintance as a burglar.

The Gazette reports (http://bit.ly/vfcH8c ) that 24-year-old Kevin Gaylor was cited with a misdemeanor of false reporting to authorities.Police say Gaylor had invited a woman he met online to come to his home after 3 a.m.

Wednesday so they could get better acquainted, but his girlfriend came home first. Police say that when the other woman arrived, Gaylor called police and falsely reported an intrusion.

British scientists breed new 'super broccoli'

Popeye might want to consider switching to broccoli. British scientists unveiled a new breed of the vegetable that experts say packs a big nutritional punch.

The new broccoli was specially grown to contain two to three times the normal amount of glucoraphanin, a nutrient believed to help ward off heart disease.

"Vegetables are a medicine cabinet already," said Richard Mithen, who led the team of scientists at the Institute for Food Research in Norwich, England, that developed the new broccoli. "When you eat this broccoli ... you get a reduction in cholesterol in your blood stream," he told Associated Press Television.

Time to walk on down the road…

The mathematician who first theorized about infinity died in a mental institution

George Cantor first worked out the basic ideas about infinity in 1890. His theories were criticized at first, but now are accepted as one of the foundations of modern mathematics. Among other things, Cantor first showed that there are different types of infinity and that a given set has exactly as many positive numbers as there are positive even numbers (while conventional wisdom would suggest that there are twice as many positive numbers than positive even numbers).

This brilliant mathematician battled depression throughout much of his life, and died in 1918 in an institution. His work was initially received with harsh criticism, before finding acceptance in the mathematical community. Though some of his findings about infinity were certainly mind-boggling, his mental state likely had more to do with the criticism he received for his work than the concept of infinity itself!

Glad to see you go big boy B53…

The last of the nation's most powerful nuclear bombs has been taken apart in Texas.

Technicians at the Pantex Plant near Amarillo removed the uranium Tuesday from the last of the nation's largest nuclear bombs, a Cold War relic known as the B53.

The bomb put into service in 1962 was 600 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, that killed as many as 140,000 people at the end of World War II.