Tuesday, May 31, 2005

DEEP THROAT IDENTITY REVEALED!! No One Knows Who He Is!

Yes, folks, it is none other than The man who was Number 2 at the FBI in the early 1970s,W. Mark Felt!!??

Gee...I am devastated! This ain't a sexy mama story. I wanted it to be Henry Kissinger, Al Haig, or yummiest of all, Pat Nixon. Imagine what Oliver Stoned could have done with that!

We'll have to live with W. Mark Felt. Remember that name.

I forgot it already.

Reductio Ad Absurdum(Beg Pardon?)

I have tried over the last several weeks to make this blog a combination of my own absurd humor and some libertarian political analysis. This combination (and its parts) may not always work (ok, never?) but when I'm stupid or ignorant the only harm is that I've deprived some poor Chinese family of a blog they could have called their own. It's like eating everything on your plate and being glad you're in America.

Which brings me to the "Gang of Four", Presidents RumsfeldCheneyRiceBush. When they neglect to lock and load their brain, it is a national tragedy. And today, as Dick Cheney and George Bush refer to Amnesty International's report on conditions of prisoners of war (or enemy combatants if you please) as alternately Absurd and Offensive I find myself befuddled, completely, that this lovely bunch hold the reins of our government. I must go back and recheck the meaning of absurd. And while I'm at the dictionary, I think I'll check "stupid" too, to see if there is a picture next to it.

No one less than the New York Times columnist Tom Friedman, a vigorous supporter of Bushite foreign policy, but far from a toady, said today in his column "Shut it down. Just shut it down."

"I am talking about the war-on-terrorism P.O.W. camp at Guantánamo Bay. Just shut it down and then plow it under. It has become worse than an embarrassment. I am convinced that more Americans are dying and will die if we keep the Gitmo prison open than if we shut it down. So, please, Mr. President, just shut it down.

If you want to appreciate how corrosive Guantánamo has become for America's standing abroad, don't read the Arab press. Don't read the Pakistani press. Don't read the Afghan press. Hop over here to London or go online and just read the British press! See what our closest allies are saying about Gitmo. And when you get done with that, read the Australian press and the Canadian press and the German press."

And that's from a supporter! And his main complaint is not with what is actually happening in the American concentration camps, BUT HOW IT LOOKS TO THE WORLD!

And Miss Rice too threw in her opinion this past weekend, that Amenesty International's report is worth less than the paper it's written on.

We have a problem folks, and it's not merely cosmetic. Amnesty is hardly
Aljazeera. It is a respected human rights organization that has uncovered government and non-government abuses for decades around the world. But little George and big Dick believe it to be absurd and offensive.

We are backed into a corner now, and the rats in chief are starting to feel trapped. Dismissing Amnesty's report as if they were ordering ala carte at "21" goes beyond disservice. It means the guys running the machine will run it until it runs no more, if that is what it takes to achieve their end.

And perhaps, ours.

Joe Postove

Monday, May 30, 2005

A Note

Ludwig von Mises said:

"The essence of an individual's freedom is the opportunity to deviate from traditional ways of thinking and of doing things."

That sweeps me off my feet.


joe

War Day

Today we memorialize the dead
The killed and the killers

The warriors and the warred upon
Who take pride
And take cover

And each year
We return here
To commemorate their lives

No longer fighting wars to end wars
No longer seeking peace

We have undone their heroism

And they rest

Uneasily.

Joe Postove

Sunday, May 29, 2005

Remembering Howard Morris

This has been a good week for death, but a patently poor one for lovers of entertainment. Down the blog a bit I said my farewells to the great Eddie Albert, but I came across a blog by Mark Evanier and I will leave it to him to bid adieu to Howard Morris, who also died this week. There is a great clip from "Your Show Of Shows" on his site too.

Break a window this week for Ernest T. Bass.


Goodbye, Uncle Goopy

Hey Hey Hey! Norodom Sihanouk Blog

Just when I thought the the former Prince of Cambodia was off my radar, he comes roaring back with a WebBLOG! How decent is that?

It wouldn't be so bad to make it mandatory for our own vaunted leaders to have their own blogs. If for no other reason than to see what they are about, day following day.

God, if Nixon had had a blog, just imagine all the tidbits we'd be accessing right now. Our luck would have it that Rosemary Woods would be his webmaster.

But the idea of a royal blog, and one from a formidable figure from the 20th Century like Sihanouk is my idea of adventure surfing!


Norodom Sihanouk Blog

Saturday, May 28, 2005

A truly Awesome Libertarian Website


There are millions of us out there. We lovers of liberty who call ourselves Libertarians.

And there are many more millions who either haven't a clue who we are, or mis-understand the concept of individual liberty.

PLEASE...click onto this website below. It is from the International Society for Individual Liberty (ISIL) and the preface to the website (which only takes a couple of minutes) explains the philosophy of freedom in a more entertaining and clearer way than I ever could.

So, liberal or conservative may you be, please take a look at this site. I get nothing from it. Except happiness that at least you have a chance to expose yourself (in a good way) to the ideas of freedom.

Watch it. Give it some thought. Comment to me or to them about how it does or does not work for you. But if you have the kind of mind that needs an alternative to phony politics and politicians who wouldn't know a concept if it conceptualized him in the ass, this may be cool.

Thanks,

joe

Do You Really Love Freedom?

Eddie Albert RIP

I regularly post to a message board for fans of the Andy Griffith Show. I post under the name "Uncle Joe" for national security reasons (same reason Reagan was so good at taking naps). Click on the clicky below for my post (in reponse to another's) on Eddie Albert.
Eddie Albert

SEX ALERT! Viagra May Cause Blindness...

Authorities in Washington today were reported to have said "Dear God, No!" when reports filtered out of Intercourse Pennsylvania, headquarters of the Cialis and Levitra companies, makers of Viagra, that their product may cause men to be struck down blind.

The spokesmen for the companies said that it may be as simple a matter of men not reading the label before taking the pills.

Click on the link for a full report on this tragedy from CNN:



Viagra Tragedy

Friday, May 27, 2005

Good Sucking

After a most delightful evening of food, conversation and companionship with my cousins last night, they, as always, loaded me up with after dinner mints as I made my exit.

The wonderful thing about a mint is that once you tire of sucking on it, you can put it down, anywhere, leave it there for days, weeks, or months as you please, and then when you go back to it, brush off whatever dirt may have accumulated and finish it up.


Not everything sucks so bad.

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

NEW LINK

Over there to the right, just under the Harry Browne Website, I have added a link to an excellent blog called "Everything's SFNE" by a friend formerly from here, but who now lives up there (go figure!). Alison, who authors the blog writes about the site; "New England and why everything about it is so frakking . . . New England! And it's not just the fried clams".

Check it out. If you get lost coming back home, call a cop. What am I, God?

China, Freedom, And The Internet

China is moving ever closer to expansive western style freedom (and not democracy!) unlike Russia, who put the cart before the horse and tried to democratize itself without unburdening from it's communistic mindset. Russia fell for the cruel joke that democracy will bring freedom and all good things. They tried to split up the pie before baking it.

Not China. While condemning it for its abuses of individual rights, one should note that perhaps somewhere, upstairs, at Communist Central in Beijing, the Central Commitee guys are reading the Austrian Economists. Could it be that seeping into their collective think is the truth that freedom is superior to democracy, and that when building a society from scratch (Mao had destroyed whatever correspondence China had with liberty prior to 1949, and it was thus forgotten by the people) capitalism MUST and can alone be the economic system of a free society. Strictly speaking, it is not even an economic system; it is the absence of one.


Everyone is a capitalist anyhow. The only question is who is going to control the capital.

Social freedom naturally follows economic freedom. Liberty begets liberty and those who are free to trade will not tarry in their demand for freedom to trade in the marketplace of ideas. This is happening in China, without promotion by government, but as a essential progression of natural law. If a man is free in one sphere of life, he cannot help but want it in all. He sees it as a natural right.

Today, the internet is helping those who want to promote individual liberty. Nicholas Kristof in his editorial today says that "the collision between the internet and Chinese authorities is one of the grand matches of history". And there is probably no better example than a brave Chinese citizen, a self appointed, but no less a journalist named Li Xinde who without any government restraint (because he publishes a website from a laptop and keeps moving around the country) is pointing out the weakness' of Chinese authority, and the power of one man's freedom.

And there is nothing they can do about it.

Joe Postove




Li Xinde's Website

Till Twelve...Yeah

It not very manly, I suppose, to admit to wetting the bed as a child, but I did, so there. I think it's better of one to cast off the errors of youth and steam up some of that fresh air of truth, and tell it.

I wet the bed until I was twelve, when I learned to aim over the side and hit the pee bucket by the door. That's a lie, but I thought it was funny, so its included here. I really did wet the bed until twelve, and then, as if the urine fairy had cinched my bladder, I stopped.

I don't remember starting this habit (although I was probably peeing as I slid out of my Mom) and interestingly, as horrid as it was, I don't remember the momentous event of stopping. I just did.

Now I pee anywhere I want and all the time. I don't in bed, but as a man I can, and do, almost anywhere else; behind car doors, in back of trees, big gulp cups, pay toilets, almost anywhere I choose, except in bed.

I am a grown man.

Sunday, May 22, 2005

A POEM

FACE

It turns out
That the face is as different from the soul
As God is from the Earth.

They resemble
But do not reflect each other.
And stand apart
Each in his own good light.

So smile,
If it makes you better.
But don't rely on it
As an answer
To any question.

Joe Postove

Saturday, May 21, 2005

War Room

Everyday Iraq looks more like the civil war in Vietnam, with its own Arab psychology that we Americans understand perhaps even less than the Communist mind. The old men who send the young to war (if that sounds like a BIG prior bias against the concept of foreign wars...you're catching on quickly) are never going to sign onto the fact that they have blundered big, not only with our young men and women, but with the whole goddamn geopolitical situation in the middle east. They now, obviously, know what to do less than I, and perhaps less than is even possible to know. Presidents Rumsfeld, Cheney, Rice (with a nice assist from George Bush) won't likely be "hoisted by their petard" as it would take some sense of personal bravery and risk to have that occur. These people have NONE of that.

Rather, I have taken out an option on a piece of real estate in Hell that they can share with Robert McNamara, who in his mea culpa film "Fog Of War" was so vigorously trying to rid himself of the demons that obviously possess his ruined and shattered soul. See the film. He was unsuccessful.

It's too late for McNamara, because it is too late for the 58, 000 men who died in Vietnam.

Let us have mercy on the souls of Rumsfeld, Cheney, Rice and Bush, and not let them have the need to confess their sins in 25 years. Would you let these guys babysit your kids?


Then don't let them kill them.



Joe Postove

Friday, May 20, 2005

Art Linkletter's Fan Club Bash

Well, we had the annual Art Linkletter Fan Club picnic and dance yesterday, and sadly, yet again it was only Art and me. I don't feel so bad for myself, because I could watch tv or look out the window all during the day when the festivities were to take place. Poor old Art, nude and sitting on the roof in his accustomed place was looking every day of his 97 years. These fan club annuals have been getting fewer and fewer participants for years now, and I think Art is finally feeling rather sad about it all.

I wouldn't have gone to the trouble of starting the fan club if I thought the fan base would wither so rapidly and depressingly. I had plenty of cold turkey sandwiches, potato chips, and diet root beer, plus records for the dance. I had planned to have all the fans congregate in the back yard, single file, with their faces away from the sun so as to avoid premature aging (I started doing this with Art years ago, and he looks a little younger than his true age). Plus as a bonus, I had hired some girls from the USO to help the younger men with their dance moves (not to mention a possible date later on, depending on how the evening went).

So now we plan for next year. After coming off the roof and showering, then dressing, putting on his shoes himself, one after the other, successfully making a number two, and then catching the next plane for home, Art called this morning, rather sad, but accepting my invitation for another Fan Club Extravaganza next year.

Let's make this one a winner!

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Frank Gorshin RIP

The actor Frank Gorshin died yesterday at the age of 72.

Those of us who read Batman and Detective comics BEFORE the television show premiered in 1966 hated what Adam West and Burt Ward did to the characterization of our beloved heros. They turned perhaps the greatest superhero of all (remember, Batman had no extra human powers, like Supie, so everything he did was from the ground up) into grotesqueries and a burlesque of what the comic books had been up until then.

We kids LOVED our Batman, the true Dark Knight, as the comics and the films portrayed him, but never the T.V. show. We hated THAT Batman. But we watched anyhow, because it was all we had.

The villains were a different breed, however. Except for Cesar Romero, who played the Joker more as a "jokester" (he even refused to shave his mustache for the part and you don't have to look all that close to see it under the make-up) the bad guys on the Batman T.V. show lived up to the spirit and integrity of the comic book foes.

Burgess Meredith's "Penguin", Julie Newmar's "Catwoman" and perhaps best of all Frank Gorshin's "Riddler" were truer to the zeitgeist of the "Golden" and "Silver" age of comic villains than the Batfreaks played for laughs by Adam West and his boyfriend Robin, Burt Ward.

So, thank you Frank Gorshin for bringing some much needed darkness to the T.V. Batman of the 60's.

He WAS the Riddler.

Frank Gorshin

When This Site Is Down

We have received word from the authorities that whenever this blog is down for cleaning and general maintenance, you can still see it on a billboard on route one about 15 miles outside of Omaha Nebraska.

As an added bonus, there is a pay toilet there with scraps of paper glued to the inside of the stalls, which will keep you up to date on this blog.

This is ONLY when the internet is off or being cleaned, so don't worry so much.

What am I? God?

Monday, May 16, 2005

Great New Things!

The "Libertarianism And Things" Blog is gaining wider acceptance via our connection on the World Wide Web! We added two more people who have looked at our website. Unfortunately, they immediately looked away, before I could wave them on to the real great stuff available only to upper-level members.

Listen you two, do not be afraid of Libertarianism, it is the coming political and economic system, even in China, and if only you and some others see that the current "two party" system is a phony prop for established interests who have no interest in economic or social liberty, then freedom will triumph and a true golden age will be upon us.

I hope so, anyhow.

I would be a benevolent king, so don't worry about that!

Thursday, May 12, 2005

THIS JUST IN FROM HEAVEN!

I just this minute (less than a second ago) got a telegram from God, who would like you all to please visit my blog more often, and don't forget to stretch before aerobics.

Please read this telegram, as it contains instructions on how you should live from now.................on.

Enjoy
Advice From God (via Western Union)

Tuesday, May 10, 2005

IHOP

I had lunch at the local International House Of Pancakes today, and yet again, I did not see one even low level functionary of the littlest of countries. You would think (if you thought like me) that a truly "international" pancake house would have at least the King of Liechtenstein as a greeter or gladhander of some sort to reassure us that we were eating in a swanky place.

No luck. So I sat down and had my usual, the Chef salad and onion rings. I know, of course that the real chef doesn't really make ALL of the "Chef salads" but rather operates in a supervisory manner to insure that the "Chef salad" is served in a uniform and reliable fashion. Don't doubt that those IHOP officials are on top of things and they want you to have a fine dining experience while you plotz in their restaurant.

There is a problem, however. I never order the pancakes when I eat at IHOP (I shouldn't say "never" "never", because I will order them when the waitress agrees to smother each pancake between the breasts of her décolletage. I ain't been too successful with that lately).

The reason I rarely order the pancakes is that I read that the pancake guy lives in a little shack under the griddle, and that he has refused (on principle, I'll bet) to pay his toilet tax or to make good on the bill for his pay toilet that he has in his apartment. Normally, when a man or woman refuses to pay the toilet fees incumbent upon us all, I turn my head and express my disgust away from the oncoming wind, but in this case, when the man directly responsible for cooking the pancakes at the IHOP is the miscreant, I defer from ordering what I would expect is their special.

So I ate the salad. I spit one bite out to show my solidarity with those fighting the toilet tax and the onerousness of the pay toilet industry.

Monday, May 09, 2005

Poetry Corner

You like a little poetry, now and again?

Dig. Like 1961, man.

Thank God my poetry is better than my prose.

Or is it?

Sensitive and Unafraid

Nestled next to God
Whom she claims to know

One day
She took in a crippled stranger
Who was blind and corrupt
Unable to live, unwilling to die

She did not smile at first
Unsure of the blind and corrupt man
Though he was as afraid of her
As she was awesome in her fearlessness

She taught God and happiness
He was an anarchist

Slowly she understood
That the stranger did not know what she knew
So they came to an accommodation

Each would grow.


Joe Postove

My Mother Died

This past Saturday was the sixth month mark of the death of my Mother. When I returned from California, home to Virginia, I wrote a piece about our last time together.

It was published in both "hardcopy" magazine format and on the website of "DreamSeeker" Magazine, a publication of the Anabaptist movement, a part of the Mennonite family.

For those of you who have been there, I hope this can be of solace.

Joe

A Second Birth

Early...Much Too Early

I hope that over time, that this blog will be a coherent and individualistic view of life, mine and the world's. Being an individualist is much like being an atheist in the face of faith. One must often be willing to go it alone.

I believe in God, if that matters. And I do have a certain respect for atheists, as they walk this world alone, without the hope or conviction of a God or afterlife. This is all there is, and a true atheist should have the admiration of even "God All Mighty" for even he should understand that he has created a being strong enough to ignore him. Certainly God is sophisticated enough to appreciate that. I don't have that strength.

I hope to see you here along the way. I will try to post often and invite your links and comments. PEACE!

And while you relax with a drug or beverage of your choice, please enjoy the story below at no charge:
2004 WAS A BAD YEAR FOR NAPS

Sunday, May 08, 2005

First Thing First

Hello! 5/8/05 6:29pm edt

This is the first of what I hope will be at least one post to my new blog. I realize that if you're reading this now, you are my new best friend.

Look. I do the best I can with the little I have to work with. So work with me. I will do my part, if you do yours. And that is to just be the best that you can. And other dumb stuff like that.

I hope to be seeing you all here. Now go and then return when directed by the director of movements.

Joe

Jerry Lewis News!!!!

Many of you (ok..no one) have written in and telegramed me asking how my buddy Jerry Lewis is doing after his most recent hospitalization.

Here is the latest from CNN:
Latest Jerry Lewis Update On This Website

Hey! Remember This One!

I was trolling around the 70's binary newsgroup this week and found this gem from 1970. Remember this?
Mill Valley