Camp Grenada

 

Hello muddah 
Hello faddah 
Here I am at  
Camp Grenada 

I frequently find myself making a completely wrong assertion about
America's shameful, unbroken record of military defeats over the past
seven decades. I keep saying America hasn't won a war since World War II.

What I keep forgetting was our glorious and decisive victory over the fierce, 
determined bastion of leftist, socialist, communist rancor and filth __ the island 
nation of Grenada.

Using a lethal combination of the U.S. Army's Rapid Deployment Force, U.S.
Marines, our Army Delta Force, and the Navy SEALS, we kicked their commie asses! 
The campaign was called Operation Urgent Fury.It took only a few short weeks to bring 
this defiant hooligan nation to its knees. We hit them hard and hit them where it hurts by 
bombing a mental hospital and killing eighteen patients. That's what they get for being 
crazy commies!

Grenada __ sneaky Bolshevists that they were __ tried to marginalize the magnitude
and grandeur of our victory with an audacious, not to say bizarre, and
in-the-end ineffective strategy. This unorthodox "curve ball" was that
they had virtually no army, no navy, no air force, practically no
military at all, to resist the conquering heroics of our fighting boys
in uniform.

That's right . . . they had only a handful of citizens in their military __ no Department 
of Defense, no military-industrial complex, no CIA, NSA, KGB. They didn't even have 
a KFC!

They did have an excellent education system, a thriving economy with no
unemployment, a decent and improving health care system, a bare minimum
of wealth inequality. Typical of misguided socialist countries all
across the globe, they believed in the laughably quaint idea that all of
the citizens of their country should be treated well and have an equal
share in the abundance created by their collective labors, love and
concern for their fellow man.

Ha!

We fixed that!

The unions were "reorganized", huge sections of the economy were privatized,
assets were gobbled up by U.S. corporations. Now, under the guiding hand
of a capitalist free market economy, and a puppet democracy which knows
who is boss and takes its orders from the good old corporate state U S of A,
unemployment hovers around 18%, poverty afflicts 32% of the population,
the small manufacturing sector continues to shrink, tourism has been hobbled 
__ partly due to the enormous destruction of Hurricane Ivan in 2004 __ and 
inflation is upwards of 5%, offsetting the modest growth of the economy.

However, a genuinely outstanding thing happened as a result of our saving this
struggling island nation from the scourge of socialism . . . and I would be remiss
to not mention it.

Grenada now has a KFC!

In fact, it has two!

Which will be great for our American troops if we ever have to invade again.

I sincerely apologize to any of you readers out there who depend on me to
be both truthful and accurate when recounting the achievements and
challenges of our great nation. I hope the corrected record I have
offered here serves to exonerate me, and I am forgiven by any who might
have been been misled or misinformed by my oversight in the matter of
America's military prowess.

Go Team America!

Fuck yeah!

[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

Distractions

 
Magicians are adept at distraction, as are card sharks, pickpockets and politicians.

And when you throw in the main stream media as a partner in crime, you have the perfect storm for a misinformed and malleable public.

It goes without saying that Americans are constantly bombarded with stories and images provoking fear. Just in the past couple months, we've had ISIS sleeper cells, the certainty that Ebola would be spreading like a plague across the land, a cyber attack by North Korea on our sacrosanct movie industry and our freedom of speech, last but not least, the threat of a reconstituted Soviet Union under the rule of that barbarian Vladimir Putin, raining nuclear-tipped ICBMs down on us. 

These are what I would call the "pro-active" distractions, ones which disable our ability to think rationally and turn us into trembling bowls of paralyzed Jello.

But I've decided that perhaps the most insidious distractions are the "passive" variant, the on-the-surface innocent ones that monopolize our attention with crises which are beyond trivial, drain us of energy and focus better directed to important issues that makes a real difference, make a mockery of anything resembling meaningful conversation, and upend and distort both our personal and national priorities.

I could go on for months on these distractions. We all know what they are. They include everything from celebrity gossip, to scandals involving iconic figures in sports, politics, business, and so on.
Just last week, there was a "scandal" which monopolized huge swaths of American media. Everyone had to weigh in, even allegedly serious journalists like Ed Schultz. Frankly, I was tempted to throw my hands up in the air, throw my hat in the ring, maybe throw up.

This was the whole business about the amount of air in the footballs thrown by all-star Tom Brady, quarterback for the New England Patriots. I don't have to explain this "crisis" in technical detail, because if you had your television on at any point, you already know that America demanded to know whether there was the legal minimum amount of air pressure in the footballs Mr. Brady used in his glorious ascent to football stardom.

While one third of America's school children are now officially living in poverty . . .

While despite the rosy figures spewed by our government, the truth is America's economy is in decline and a major economic crash is coming, probably sooner than later . . .

While we as ordinary citizens are being treated as the enemy, with constant surveillance and spying, and a militarized police presence which is often brutal and not adverse to killing innocent people, especially people of color . . .

While the planet is heating up at rates far beyond the most pessimistic predictions, boding unparalleled depletion of food resources, displacement of millions of people, setting the stage for massive global conflict over water and arable land . . .

While the banksters and Wall Street criminals go unprosecuted for their prior malfeasance and fraud __ e.g. the crash of 2008 __ and continue to loot the national treasury . . .

While TTP and TTIP, so-called "free trade agreements" which will be the nail in the coffin for an economy which serves the needs of the majority of citizens in our country, are being rammed down the throats of good, decent, hard-working people to serve the interests of the oligarchy . . .

While the neocon lunatics now in control of America's foreign policy are busy rallying the nation for an unnecessary, unjustified, lethal confrontation with Russia __ a major war, folks, as in World War III! . . .

We are wringing our hands over the amount of air in a football?


[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

 

Perspective

President Obama __ bless his heart __ recently proposed making junior colleges free
for anyone who wants to attend. Of course, this won't happen. The callous, largely deranged Republican-controlled Congress we now have will never pass such a law.

But let's put Mr. Obama's magnanimous suggestion in perspective.

To make communities colleges free would cost $60 billion over the next ten years.

Contrast this with the largest boondoggle in America's history __ the F-35 Program.

Here's a defense project, folks, that can't get DE-FUNDED, no matter how many setbacks, 
cost overruns, and failures it racks up. Or how much criticism and outrage it arouses.

The projected cost of the F-35 program? 

$1.5 trillion! 

No, that was not a typo. It's $1.5 trillion!

$60 billion for free community college education. 

$1.5 trillion for an unnecessary and ineffective military program.

$60 billion for education which won't get approved by Congress. 

$1.5 trillion which will go into the bloated vaults of the military-industrial complex and 
its fat-cat executives.

The $1.5 trillion for the F-35 program could provide free community college education for 
the next 250 years! 

Does this tell you something about the twisted priorities of our country?

Does this put things in perspective?


[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

Long live the mob!

If my neighbor calls my wife a whore and I go over and punch him in the face,
I am not stifling his free speech. I am violently paying him back for his
crude, slanderous insult.

Free speech is curtailed by governmental action, not by individuals acting
sometimes imprudently or illegally. The right to free speech is not
absolute and is rightfully and hopefully judiciously curtailed by legal
instruments enforced by the state, hate speech being the best example of
properly restricted expression which does not deserve the protection of
constitutional imprimatur.

Individuals may not feel the state has done its job and either challenge within
the legal framework the perceived oversight, or take matters into their own
hands. The deplorable killing of the journalists of Charlie Hebdo is a
heinous example of  extralegal overreaction __ of violently taking
matters into ones own hands.

I don't condone violence. But whether I condone it or not is irrelevant. 
Ugly shit has been happening for thousands of years. A lot of people oppose
it and it keeps going on. Some of it is sponsored and promoted by the
very state that we depend on to maintain some sanity in society and the
world at large. Humans are a very violent species, the only one to
inflict pain and death on its own purely for amusement and pleasure.

But with the latest relatively minor incident in Paris __ I contrast the handful
of deaths there with the tens of thousands the enlightened West inflicts
on other countries as a matter of policy, day after day, month after
month, year after year __ we see the epic confrontation between two vast
cultures shaping up. 

Isn't that just what theywanted? __ a "good reason" for the world to erupt in 
total war. Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Libya, North Korea, 
Ukraine, Russia, and China aren't quite enough kindle to get the conflagration
going. But now, yes NOW we've got some serious shit going down! NOW
we've got millions of people in the streets doing the dirty work that
our presstitute media and propaganda machines couldn't quite get right.
Finally, the people will demand total war!

The mob has spoken.

Long live the mob!


[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

Happy New Year!

1st Verse:
It’s a very special time of year
Family and friends holiday cheer
For those no longer with us
We shed a tear
A time to share
A time of feast
A time to care
And pray for peace
A time to give to those
Who have the least

Chorus:
Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Peace be with us
Happy New Year

2nd Verse:
This is the time to start anew
Atheist Christian Muslim Jew
To reach within
And find the love inside of you
Discard the old seek out the new
Reject the false embrace the true
To look ahead decide
To bring out the best in you

Choruses:
Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Peace be with us
Happy New Year

Akemashite
Omedetoo
Peace be with you
Happy New Year

Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Peace be with you
Happy New Year

© Copyright 2014 - Words and music by John Rachel
Dancing Needles Music - ASCAP (All rights reserved.)


[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]

When You Wish Upon A Star

 

Wow!

Very grateful!

Humble . . . flattered! 

As of today . . . all 5-star reviews!

No, I didn't buy them! 

The Man Who Loved Too Much - Book 1: Archipelago is available at fine 
book stores everywhere and of course online . . .

Apple (iBook) . . . bit.ly/1ycltFD 
Amazon (Kindle) . . . amzn.to/1tyIRiw 
Amazon (Paperback) . . . amzn.to/1z8F8aD 
Barnes & Noble . . . bit.ly/ZDnQVO 
Smashwords . . . bit.ly/1w62HOX 
Direct from printer . . . bit.ly/1r6qWYQ 

Here are excerpts from the reviews (read them in their entirety on Amazon) . . .

"I really liked it! Very quirky and clever writing! The characters grab you right 
away, take hold and you can't wait to see what happens next. The only problem 
is that the book ended and I have to wait until March to find out what happens 
next!"

"Young Billy Green is one of the unforgettable characters in literature, the kind 
that comes around, moves in, stays, and occupies a place in your life. Is it Billy 
Green, or is it John Rachel's ability to tell a good story? It is both. The story is 
epic in its scope. . . A wonderful, unforgettable read.

"I read this book in an afternoon and then pondered it for several days. It's
hard to exactly pinpoint, but there is an incredible level of intelligence in the 
development of the main character Billy. He seems naive in some ways, yet in 
other ways you see that he is anything but! It's this rich complexity that keeps me 
still analyzing Billy long after I read the last page. I am anxiously awaiting the 
second book.

"Billy Green stole my heart. From his earliest days his dear mother loved him 
with a love so deep you could put your arms around it."

"I laughed uproariously, and then I cried. You will be begging for more. Voila! 
Your wish has been granted. This is the first part of a trilogy which follows Billy 
until he's twenty-eight. Part Two is coming soon."

"This is written by someone who uses words so masterfully; who employs satire
at its finest, can get downright dirty if life dictates it, and appears to have fun with 
it all."

"John Rachel's characters are awesome! I am an avid reader. Sometimes it takes 
awhile for a book to "lure" me in. Not with this novel though. I was "hooked" from 
the very beginning. I can't wait for the next two installments to find out where it 
takes Billy."  

"John Rachel delivers another masterpiece with the style and insight only 
John Rachel can deliver!"

"This is a wonderful coming-of-age story that will grab you and charm you. 
Just read the first few pages and it'll pull you right in. If you like Salinger, you'll 
love this. It's that great theme of a kid who knows too much for his own good in 
world populated by so-called adults who control the machinery. GREAT STUFF! 
A real pleasure to read."

"A friend of mine who knows that I read science fiction an adventure
books, suggested I read this book. At first I wondered why. This is the
life story of some kid named Billy growing up through Catholic school,
getting his first blowjob, Life love parents, all the usual problems we
all have. What was different though is the author . . . because the
author is an exceptionally good writer that creates a witty, clever and
imaginative world for Billy to grow up in. You will be charmed with
Billy and his bold and sassy way of dealing with the bumps and grinds
of life. And you will wonder why this book only cost $.99, because it
is written as well as any bestseller out there."

Self-Loathing

 

More news. And it's bad.

We have the Senate report on torture.

What can we expect now?

Nothing.

What happened after the Wall Street banks blew up the economy?

Nothing.

What happened after Sandy Hook?

Nothing.

What happened after the NSA got caught spying on innocent citizens?

Nothing.

Just look around at what is happening at the same time as this report.

The House of Representatives, based on fabrications and unfathomably 
simple-minded propaganda, just passed HR 758. It declares Russia the 
source of evil in the world and deems it an enemy. It is effectively a 
declaration of war.

What did we learn from Vietnam?

Nothing.

What did we learn from the gross deceptions leading to Iraq?

Nothing.

America is now a domestic abuser, a man who beats his wife to a bloody 
pulp, then comes crying and pleading for understanding and forgiveness 
__ refer to the Senate report __ and finally tops it all off by beating his wife
again to within a breath of delivering her lifeless corpse to the morgue.

When self-criticism __ which can be constructive __ becomes self-loathing,
it becomes a pathological addiction, a sadomasochistic descent into the
writhing depths of agony.

I've never understood self-loathing.

But I've never understood cockfighting either.

I just know it when I see it.

Tonight on your favorite TV station: Hand wringing. Despair. Teeth clenching. 
Nausea. Self-inflicted pain.

Lots and lots of pain.

Don't miss it!


[ This originated at the author's personal web site . . . http://jdrachel.com ]