Shannon Larratt is Zentastic

I've been very light on the political entries lately, mostly due to time issues, but there's a set today that disgusts me so much that I really feel I have to mention. It's no surprise that US corporate corruption is over the top, with a fairly endless stream of stories of one company after another collecting multi-million-dollar payoffs and then giving nothing back to either the US or Iraq.

Now, it's one thing for greedy companies run by the richest people in America to do mass defrauding of the American taxpayer. That sort of “spreads the evil” out in a way that maybe they can convince themselves that it's a victimless crime or something — rather than vile war profiteering. But when war profiteering gets personal — when it's used to attack a single family, it really makes me sick.

While in theory there are (some) laws (albeit largely ignored) protecting people from foreclosure on their property while they are off at war, tell that to Wells Fargo and other big companies who are recognizing the economic damage that this back door draft has done as an excellent way for them to do massive asset seizure. These are not wealthy people — Osawatomie, Kansas, Fayetteville, North Carolina, and rural Ohio are a big step removed from the Hamptons. Lives are being destroyed by more than guns and bombs… I've linked to it over and over, but you must read this: WAR IS A RACKET.

It's not just big companies taking advantage of it. Having your partner dragged away for years at a time can put a hell of a strain on a marriage, and many families have been destroyed because of it. To make matters worse, courts are effectively accepting the argument that being in the military makes someone an unfit parent and people are losing custody battles while drafted to fight in Iraq… Can you imagine the horror of having to go and fight in a war you don't want to be in, and then having your kids taken away because of it? It's no wonder recruiters are scrambling…

Compare the pictures in this entry and understand
how war affects the rich and poor differently.

As much as I love beer, I'm not sure that I'd get the custom license plate that my next door neighbor has… It feels like a recipe for getting pulled over all the time. As much as I don't really mind paying bribes, it would probably get tiresome after a while.

Make sure to tell yourself that this is cool
And make sure to tell yourself that you have no choice
And make sure to tell your friends that they drive you to it
And that you can quit anytime
That you want, anytime

Also on the car theme, my dunebuggy got wrecked yesterday. Not destroyed or anything, but damaged to the point where it's got to be stripped down to the chassis to repair it (it's only a minor problem, but because of how buggies are built, sometimes minor problems require a complete dismantling). It's just sort of irritating when my vehicles get damaged when I lend them to other people. Not for “blame” reasons, but maybe because if something of mine gets broken, I want to be the one breaking it? I think if it was something I did to it, it would feel more “natural”… I know when I crashed my TT shortly after getting it, it bothered the guy whose bodykit-import-thing I smashed into was a lot more upset than I was.