Palin's Parents: "We Sleep With Guns."

Photo Credit: Andrew Bruss

Sarah Palin’s parents sleep with guns. Seriously. Sally Heath, mother of the gubernatorial dropout, told the BBC she fears her daughter’s safety and her father Chuck was quoted as saying, “We sleep with guns.”

Apparently their greatest fear came from a man the FBI recently arrested after making death threats and sending the Mama Grizzly photocopies of receipts he received for gun purchases.

Palin’s fears are well founded because truth be told, the security she pays for out of pocket really sucks.

I attended a Tea Party event on the Boston Common last spring as a member of the press. Although I was not registered with any publication, literally showed up last minute, and did not provide any form of identification, I was allowed into the photo pit, positioned between Palin and the crowd, with a backpack that was not searched.

I pride myself on professionalism and would never bring any sort of contraband into an event that would give attendees or security staff any reason to worry. However, this nut cake that was arrested for threatening Palin could have easily lied about being in the media and weaseled his way to the foot of the stage Palin was speaking from. Unverified, backpack-strapped members of the “lamestream media” were closer to the failed VP nominee than her security was.

At the time of the event, I remember thinking, “I might expect this type of lax security from the government but private sector security? You guys can do better.” Maybe Palin’s parents aren’t so crazy for sleeping with guns.

CORRECTION: Although their fears for their daughter’s safety are valid, it is, in fact, fucking crazy for anyone to sleep with guns. 

Iran's Overthrow "Will Be The Bloodiest."

Republicans really hate this guy

George Soros, the billionaire who narrowly escaped the holocaust as a child, has gone on record saying the uprisings throughout the Middle East are about oil revenues. More importantly, Soros predicts that the Iranian Republic will be overthrown in the “bloodiest of revolutions.”

In an interview with the BBC, Soros said the revolts in Libya were partly the result of “revolution against a corruption” fed by the oil revenues Gadhafi and his family have spent on themselves.

"Transparency and even more importantly accountability in the use of natural resources is what you need for people living in those countries to get the benefit of those national resources. Libya produced enormous wealth which Gaddafi took as his own and now the people rebelled against it."

Although putting military support behind the anti-Gadhafi protesters runs a risk of depriving them of “their moment” or giving the Arab world fear of another American invasion of an oil-rich country, Soros feels we should be supporting protesters: "What is happening today in the Middle East is very similar to what happened in the former Soviet Union in 1989-91. But then it was a regime hostile to the West that was destroyed by the revolution," he said. Now it is regimes supported by the West, so the West has to regain the allegiance of the people in those countries by actually supporting the transition to democracy. It's very important that Europe and the US should be in front of the revolution rather than behind it because if they are behind it, they are going to lose the allegiance of the new regimes that are emerging and if they are properly supported they will be democratic regimes and it will be a tremendous improvement."

Given our historical support of violent fascists like Mubarak, it’s fair to assume the new Egyptian government will be less welcoming than its predecessor. However, our sometimes violent opposition to the likes of the Ayatollah and Col. Gadhafi could stand to make us some friends in a very inhospitable part of the world.

Sarah Conner once said, “The future is unwritten.” That fictional survivalist has never been closer to the mark. What we can count on is the Arab world of 2010 being unrecognizable in 2012.

Iranians aren’t Arabs. They’re Persians. The above still applies…

George Jefferson: War Criminal

Thanks to Jack Lepiarz for the comparison. 

We’re Movin’ On Up… to the International Court of Justice in The Hague. George Jefferson isn’t really a war criminal. He’s not even a real person. He does look an awful lot like Momar Gadhafi, whose status as a war criminal has been proven in spades over the course of the past week.

As we speak, diplomats the world over are working on ways to loosen Gadhafi’s grip on power as fears mount that even greater atrocities will be committed against mounting opposition.

The United States is “reaching out to opposition groups” and has frozen $30 billion in assets that Gadhafi has been using to pay African mercenaries to attack an opposition movement whose ranks now include many of his former soldiers and diplomats.

Supposedly pro-Gadhafi forces are surrounding a city outside Tripoli occupied by opposition forces, waiting to launch an attack aiming to give Gadhafi some much-needed momentum. Even if they succeed, the civilian casualties such an attack would necessitate would only hasten the fall of Momar Gadhafi.

Things in the Middle East have been as unpredictable as ever, but as the Andrew Bruss of andrewbruss.com, I find it hard to believe that Gadhafi will be in power come Saint Patrick’s Day.

Do they celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day in Libya?

Army Illegally Targets U.S. Senators

Caldwell and McCain. Photo courtesy of the AP

Michael Hastings, the Rolling Stone reporter who single handedly brought down Gen. Stanley McChrystal, is reporting the military’s Psychological Operations department was ordered to operate against U.S. Senators visiting Afghanistan.

The orders came from Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, whose hopes were to manipulate legislators into providing more troops and funding for a war in peril. The use of Psy-Ops against Americans, civilian or congressional, is in clear violation of federal law. In fact, each year’s defense budget comes with stipulations pertaining to Psy-Ops ensuring that these types of orders will not be issued.

The article in Rolling Stone details the refusal of a Psy-Ops officer to obey this illegal order, only to face retribution by the Lt. General who was tasked with training Afghani soldiers.

According to MSNBC, both the Pentagon and White House are scrambling to address this issue. Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairmen of the Joint Chiefs Of Staff, was apparently one of the folks Caldwell wanted to target. Mullen’s efforts to corner Obama into a troop surge in Afghanistan were well documented in Bob Woodward’s Obama’s Wars. Was Mullen’s push the result of Psy-Ops targeted against him (as well as Senators ranging from Republican John McCain to Democrat Al Frankin)? Or was pressuring an inexperienced president his idea of effective military leadership?

We will never know if these operations were carried out by other soldiers and if so, to what extent, but even if they weren’t, these shocking disclosures forever taint the decision making process that has gone into this war's strategy for the past two years.

Worlds First Slight Of Hand Songwriter

I conducted an interview with folkie Nathan Moore on the day Hosni Mubarak resigned. As I wrote in my interview, he’s one of the best songwriters you’ve never heard of, and if you have heard of him, odds are you agree.

I put him on the spot but he was cool enough to talk about everything from Egypt to his fusion of folk music and magic. Che-che-che check it out…

Iranians Hit the Streets: Egyptian Style!

The protests seen in Egypt and Tunisia have already spread to Yemen and Jordan, and it appears as though the spark of revolution has ignited a fire in Iran.

Hundreds of protesters are reported to have been arrested and thousands have taken to the streets around Tehran University to demonstrate against the regime of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  Iranian forces are using clubs and tear gas to beat back demonstrators and there is already one fatality reported. Although Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesmen demanded Hosni Mubarak respect the wishes and human rights of Egyptian protesters, it turns the Iranian leaders are a bunch of filthy fucking hypocrites.

Following the stolen presidential elections in 2009, Iran saw the biggest protests since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. After widespread brutality (including the rape of imprisoned men and women) people stopped protesting.

Turkish President Abdullah Gul was visiting Iran and said at a joint press conference with Ahmadinejad that “the desires of people must be taken into account. In this respect, fundamental reforms must be carried out.” His trip was cut short when the Iranians learned that he planned to accept an invitation to visit the protests.

Many are wondering if the Iranian protests will go farther than they did in 2009 in light of the success of the recent Egyptian revolution. Menashe Amir, a veteran Israeli expert on Iranian affairs says the lesson Iranians should learn from Egypt is clear: When you take to the streets, don’t go home again!

BREAKING NEWS FROM EGYPT: Arcade Fire Wins Grammy!

This isn’t the first time I’ve blogged about my utter disgust with CNN’s weak news judgment. Bumping North Korean aggression in favor of news on a long-missing blonde girl was bad. But at the time of publication, CNN.com has bumped news about Egypt’s parliament being absolved by their military government in favor of breaking news from the Grammy’s. Seriously.

I’m stoked an innovative, organic band like Arcade Fire won the nights top honor. Their underdog status was amplified by the fact that they went up against commercially successful superstars like Eminem and Lady Gaga.

I still can’t shake the fact that prioritizing Arcade Fire’s win over serious happenings in the Arab worlds strongest, most populated country is an insult to their readers.

When I want news on music Glide Magazine and Pitchfork Media do just fine. I can’t speak for all CNN.com’s visitors, but as a regular reader, I’d love to lobotomize their web crew with the long-shot hope it may actually enhance their judgment.

Happy Valentines Day…