New Quaker Notebook

In my post on Saturday, I recalled my old suggestion that we buy out the whole of Iraq as an alternative to a horrible, costly, prolonged war in the Middle East. Well, it turns out that Saddam Hussein had offered to leave the country for $1 billion.

Admittedly, the late dictator had already stolen and stashed away much more than that, but the deal would still have been a bargain—as it spared human lives.

Military Industrial Complex in the bloodstream

Today in a Truthdig.com podcast, former Assistant Secretary of Defense Philip Coyle is interviewed regarding US spending for the military industrial complex and just how difficult it will be to dismantle a systemic profiteering behemoth that requires the US to spend $750 billion each year on defense—and this doesn't even include the $808 billion for the the Cheney-Bush wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Wait a minute, Jesus

"A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side."

Wait a minute, Jesus: I've seen that scam before—I know I have—I mean, the guy puts dirt all over himself and he dabs on fake blood and lies on the side of the road and you come over and want to help him and then he hits you up for money; he wants you to put him up for the night and claims he has all these medical expenses. I know that scam.

Jesus said:

"But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine."

Wait a minute, Jesus: You know, that's really dangerous. I mean, these are difficult times. I've seen that before. The guy's sitting in the side of the road and he says "Please help me!" and when you do his confederates jump out of the bushes and beat you up. I've definitely heard about that.

Jesus continued:

"Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.'"

Wait a minute, Jesus: I knew abut this guy and every winter he would lie on the side of the road and ask for help and people would come by and give him money and help him out, and he'd do this every day, and every winter he would do this, and then in the summer he was down at the Mediterranean having a great time with all the money he made during the winter. I know this happened. It's a true story.

And Jesus said:

"Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?" The expert in the law replied, "The one who had mercy on him." Jesus told him, "Go and do likewise."

Wait a minute, Jesus: You know, I really don't have any way of carrying this guy. I don't think I'd be doing this guy a favor. At some point somebody is going to come along with a pickup truck and can toss the guy in the back and get him to a hospital. I think that would be the better thing to do. I mean, I could wait to see if I could get somebody to stop ... I really just don't have time right now and I'm sure somebody will come by soon enough ....

Cultural Trickle Down

The funny thing about satire is that if it's really, really good, you can't tell that it's satire—even if it's completely outrageous and unbelievable. So I just don't know what to say about the children's book Why Do the Terrorists Want to Hurt Me? The real deal, or satire?

If the email to World-O-Crap is sincere, then it's real. It's also very amusing, but in a sinister way.

Buy Saddam

Military Industrial Complex in the bloodstream

Wait a minute, Jesus

Cultural Trickle Down