That We Could Be So Close, Like Brothers

Kosovo, 2008. The ethnic-Albanian portion of the former Yugoslavia. Site of mass genocide in the 90s under Milosevic. Afterwards, a part of Serbia. And now, they want to go it alone.

I say go for it. The Lost Prophyt Blog officially recognizes the sovereign Republic of Kosovo. Suck it, Serbs.

Why? Because if they want to, they can, its their right. If they want to govern themselves, let them. Now, settle down and let them do their thing already.

And hey, while we're at it, Kosovo might not be the only ones striking out on their own. This might sound very strange, but it's also very possible. The United States of America might have a new neighbor: The sovereign nation of... Montana?!?

Yes, it could happen. Here's a Reason Article (FT) detailing why a negative ruling by the Supreme Court could violate the terms under which the Montana State Constitution was ratified and accepted by the Feds in 1889. If that happens, Montana could very well - and more importantly, very legally - break away and become a republic of its own.

Why do I suddenly have the urge to move there?

Our world, and this time, is an interesting one to be a part of. And at the heart of it all is the Internet, bringing it to us all in real time, as things happen. It's a period in human history unlike any other, and I'm thrilled to be in the middle of it.

(And god damn, isn't it neat to watch an encyclopedia evolve? Instead of easily-outdated dead tree editions, Wikipedia is a flowing marvel of information. I highly encourage you all to keep an eye on Kosovo's entry , linked above.)

Caturday's Revenge

Blah blah blah lack of posts blah blah blah generic reason blah blah Caturday blah blah blah blah Fark Thread blah blah blah blah blah blah cat named Meatloaf in a storage container blah blah blah blah blah...











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Drew Weighs In On Castro

Over on the Fark Blog, Drew is postulating as to why Cuba would announce Castro's resignation at 3am:

I find the timing completely bizarre. Unless the government spokes-agency people had toddlers running around their houses and felt like getting some work done, there’s no good reason why the announcement couldn’t have waited until the morning. Was Castro up at 3am thinking to himself “damn this job sucks, I really should retire”? Not likely.

The only valid reason to make an announcement like that at 3am was that the government was in a hurry. Something happened in the middle of the night to make them move up the timetable.

I’m going to go out on a limb and speculate that Castro is dead.

He's most likely right, since that's an odd time to do such a historical thing. Discuss amongst yourselves...

Cuban Pete

It's all over the place this morning: Fidel Castro has resigned. Fark Thread, CNN article, BBC article, a copy of his resignation letter at The Guardian, a brief timeline of key historical dates during Castro's run, more reactions than you can shake a stick at, and a big fat "it's about damn time, Pancho" from yours truly. Damn near 50 years of Fidel, suddenly over. In the end, I have only one question.

Can I PLEASE get a GOOD cigar now?!? Pretty please?!?

I mean really, the embargo has gone on long enough. There's no more Soviet Union to keep them anus-high in WMDs, they're isolated from any real modern Communist power (China, North Korea), and it's the embargo that's causing the steady trickle of refugees to build nearly-always-doomed rafts out of old VWs and inner tubes. Can we please give that up already? Cuba is no longer a threat. Cuba hasn't been a threat for a very long time.

Really, it's just the US Government with yet another example of how it likes to cling to some outdated policies.

But you kids today, you don't have any idea. Cuba, some time ago, was a major player in world events, and some of the stories that go along with it are quite interesting.

After the Revolution in Cuba, Fidel Castro actually wanted to cozy up to the United States. The US had actually partially backed his popular movement, and thus helped put him in power. But after an unannounced flight to Washington, Castro was pretty much snubbed by the US Government, turned around and sent home without so much as a cup of coffee.

Not long after, Castro announced that his government would be Leninist/Marxist, allying with the Soviet Union and giving them a launch pad within relative spitting distance of the US.

This escalated to what came to be known as the October Crisis, the Caribbean Crisis, or to us, the Cuban Missile Crisis. During those 13 days, we came the closest we've ever come to full-on nuclear war. You kids today think 9/11 was scary? Try being told that everyone, not just the people in one city, would have to put their heads between their legs and kiss their asses goodbye. Seriously, we were that fucking close.

Granted, I was born after it, but unlike the generation after mine, I have an interest in such historical things. Message!

There's some fun history to be had in there, too, so don't think I'm going to be totally preachy. Did you know that the US Government once considered 'attacking' Castro with a chemical that would make his trademark beard fall off? Yeah! Your tax dollars at work.

Well, when the world finally hears news of the rise of Zombie Castro (which shouldn't be too long now, actually), at least it won't cause a power struggle that could end in a bigger mess. I guess Raul Castro isn't as wacky as his brother, but hey. At least there's a decent transition of power, and kudos to Fidel for knowing when to call it quits.

Now if we could just get a good cigar around here, I'd be much obliged to ya. Obviously, Cuba isn't a threat anymore. Let's finally make good on that Cup of Coffee, at the very least, and while we're at it, a fat corona or blunt of Cuban seed tobacco wouldn't hurt, either. If you think about it, the US's snub of Castro early on pretty much created the problem in the first place, didn't it...

Update: That didn't take long, did it. Of course, Georgie Porgie Fuckwad Pie is all over calling for Democracy in Cuba now that Fidel's bid farewell. Shut up, George, and let the Cuban People determine their own fate. Yes, a Democratic Cuba would be nice, but most certainly NOT with YOUR help...

Nuts

I know, it's been a quiet week for me, especially yesterday, when (for like the third time in a row) I missed Caturday and will have to make up for it. All told, it's been a slow week here in Prophyt Land.

I was extremely pleased to see Jericho make a return to TV this week. It's a great show, probably the first "Big Network" show I've watched in quite a long time. CBS was wrong to cancel such a killer show, and now that it's back, myself and alot of my friends are quite chipper. As of now, there are 7 episodes in the can, with one aired. Whether or not Jericho will survive after this truncated run remains to be seen, but if CBS is smart, they'll extend it for at least a season or two more.

Last time they tried to fuck with it, CBS ended up with 20+ tons of nuts on their doorstep.

One of the main reasons I haven't been posting is bandwidth clogging. When I'm running particular apps, they tend to suck up most of the available bandwidth, leaving my browsing (even with my beloved Firefox) to suffer some serious lag time. Took me five minutes to load a page from Boston.com this morning, for example.

Another problem has been my as-of-late poor health. Angel, Teddy and I have pretty much been circulating colds and other ailments amongst ourselves for the past two or three weeks, and it hasn't been fun. At first, my sinuses refused passage to anything, thereby making breathing a fun new Olympic sport. Then they dried up, albeit too much, and it felt like I was breathing through a steel tube for a while. Since then, I've been in "hacking up fun gelatinous gunk" mode, coughing up phlegm every so often.

At least I'm not alone, though, because Wil's been sick, too. He's had it much worse, though, requiring surgery to clear up his sinus troubles. Get well soon, Fearless Leader!

I'll make up for lost Caturday time later today, after I get a good chunk of my other stuff taken care of. One of these days, I'll get a blogging schedule happening. But for now, chaos is the order of the day...