~ we have doubts that anyone is reading both the lines on this page and the new york post, but anyone who has crossed this threshold would have noticed the unrestrained glee with which they have ‘reported’ the killing in iraq of nick berg of philadelphia. the enthusiasm of a recent editorial that calls for the ‘total annihilation’ of the ‘thugs’ reminds us of a pornographic comic we once perused at the 1986 atlanta fantasy fair in which a police detective is depicted masturbating moments before shooting a serial killer in the head.

as the ny post has undoubtedly spent the last couple of weeks confused as to how to turn into flag waving headlines the stories of america’s abuse, rape, and murder of its prisoners, they seem to welcome this chance offered by the taped beheading of a an american to clean the slate – to put all that boring, mucky abuse scandal behind us. americans’ attention spans are limited, and the post understands that most people are incapable of maintaining thoughts on both the premeditated, systemic abuse by the american military upon thousands of iraqi detainees (70-90% of whom had been mistakenly arrested) and on insurgents who are so twisted as to think the spectacle killing of a free lance american is a legitimate method of defending their homeland, race, religion, or something.

the angry red planet knows that some people are able to hold two or more thoughts at one time, that the universe is too complex for tabloid format, that sometimes you have to eat limas for breakfast; those are for whom we are here.

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