and destruction in the world today that I cannot comment! Libya, Bahrain; the apocalyptic 9.0 Japanese earthquake and tsunami, massive aftershocks, and nuclear meltdown; new data of fish eating the plastic refuse that fills the oceans! And my own precious garden, now devastated.
but it apparently didn’t stop a 3-star Army general from planning to perpetrate psychological mind bending (psy-ops) on U.S. Senators, including John McCain and Al Franken, in an attempt to keep them compliant in funding the war in Afghanistan. The same Rolling Stone writer, Michael Hastings, who broke the story that got the head of the Afghan campaign, General Stanley McChrystal, fired several months ago, has now revealed this devious plot.
This may sound surreal — but unfortunately no dirty tricks surprise me…anywhere.
UPDATE, JUNE 2013: MICHAEL HASTINGS IS NOW DEAD! KILLED INSTANTLY IN A FIERY LATE NIGHT, HIGH-SPEED CRASH IN THE HANCOCK PARK NEIGHBORHOOD OF HOLLYWOOD.
The terrific, newly reformatted weekly version of the venerable trade, The Hollywood Reporter, has an interesting piece about historic former star properties that unfortunately cease to exist (in several cases the original, supremely gaudy mansions have been replaced by even larger McMansions):
Peacefully (except when it comes to telegenic American journalists like Lara Logan, first arrested by the government, then brutally sexually assaulted by a mob after the regime’s fall, Anderson Cooper, etc.) in the streets for 18 days the masses in the square prevailed today–but martial law is now the order. Best wishes to the 80 million Egyptians (like the rest of the Mideast, the majority of the population is under 30) who have lived, in most cases, their entire lives under profound suppression and corruption. It may be a very long and winding road, but I hope the people of Egypt achieve the basic freedoms they desire and deserve! Demonstrations are spreading like wildfire throughout the region. I wonder if the people will ever get what they want/need?; Usually these things end badly, unfortunately with new faces serving up the same repression.