DrudgeReport = Ozymandias' multiple screens

It occurred to me again that the feeling of reading the many headlines on Drudge and other headlines is the equivalent of the Watchmen character Ozymandias watching all channels at once on a wall of TV screens.


I can't wait to see how that will be depicted in the Watchmen movie.


Anyway ... in honor of that insight, I thought I'd create a pastiche of quotes, videos, and pics culled from recent news headlines:






The U.S. government will invest about $250 billion in possibly thousands of banks as part of a far-reaching effort to shore up the U.S. financial sector, with the U.S. Treasury unveiling the plans Tuesday, sources have told CNBC.
The planned equity investments are part of a U.S. Treasury, Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. program. As part of the deal, the FDIC will insure all non-interest paying bank deposits and new preferred debt issued by banks. The Treasury will provide a three-year guarantee of bank-to-bank lending.

The plan is a striking sign of how far this crisis has moved, and a sign that Obama has shifted toward a more populist approach. In February, after Hillary Clinton proposed a similar foreclosure moratorium, the Los Angeles Times reported that Obama condemned her plan:

Corporate liberals have done their share in shutting down anti-liberal speech, too. "Saturday Night Live" ran a spoof of the financial crisis that skewered Democrats like House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank and liberal contributors Herbert and Marion Sandler, who sold toxic-waste-filled Golden West to Wachovia Bank for $24 billion. Kind of surprising, but not for long. The tape of the broadcast disappeared from NBC's Web site and was replaced with another that omitted the references to Mr. Frank and the Sandlers. Evidently NBC and its parent, General Electric, don't want people to hear speech that attacks liberals.






Viewers of Jim Cramer's "Mad Money" TV show probably expected words of optimism after Monday's historic 926-point rally. Instead they received only words of caution.
"This stock market still cannot be trusted," Cramer told viewers bluntly. He called the meteoric market rise just a logical response to what had become incredibly oversold conditions.







Speaker Nancy Pelosi today issued the following statement on Congressman Tim Mahoney of Florida:
"I just learned today about the serious allegations concerning Congressman Tim Mahoney. These charges must be immediately and thoroughly investigated by the House Ethics Committee."








Stop watching the Dow.

Morgan Stanley surged 87 percent after changing terms of its $9 billion investment from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. UBS AG and ING Groep NV jumped more than 12 percent in Europe after the region's leaders said they would guarantee bank debt. The euro rose the most in three weeks against the dollar and yen on speculation the bailout may prevent more bank failures.

Hostage-taking is NEVER ethical

I was listening to On Point yesterday. They had an excellent show describing the situation with the Pirates of Aden.

Unfortunately, I read the following comments on their website:

As a Somali hailing from the regions where the pirates are from, I express
dismay and yet sympathy for these pirates. There is deep poverty in the central
Somali regions especially the Hobyo region has been politically blacklisted from
receiving any significant international aid resulting in people turning to
piracy and any other enterprise to survive. The coastal waters were illegal
fished and became dumping grounds for foreign vessels before the rise of the
pirates who began off as a volunteer force of frustrated Somali fishermen
fighting these foreign vessels.

My dismay lies in the environment it creates: criminality, excessive inflation, the deaths of foreign sailors, and negative attention.

But a $5 million dollar ransom exceeds all international funding given to the entire region. So what other livelihood can a poverty stricken Somali turn to ?

So, let me get this straight -- it's OKAY for Pirates to kidnap sailors from poor countries? I suppose it would be okay for a poor blogger from Alabama to kidnap someone from Manhattan for similar reasons? The sailors on those ships are WORKING -- the Pirates are STEALING and TAKING HOSTAGES.

I have zero empathy for kidnappers.

As far as the $5 million dollar ransom that exceeds all international funding -- what are these "Benevolent" Pirates doing with the money? From what I've read, they're WASTING the money on expensive cars, Satellite phones, and weapons to increase their Piracy. That doesn't sound like foreign aid to me.

And, as another sock-puppet wrote on that website:

Blacklisted by whom? How?

“Neglected”?!

Aid agencies operated there until criminal gangs and violent warlords made it impossible to help the Somali people safely.

Is the world responsible for making the Somali’s behave peacefully first
before trying to help them with food and medicine?

If people think Iraq was a quagmire, they've got nothing on Somalia. Bill Clinton didn't want to deal with it after "Blackhawk Down" happened. Considering war protesters and controversy, why would any country want to get involved there, knowing there men and women would get killed performing a thankless task? Why would any politician want to spend all their political capital freeing a poor, hapless nation with the blood of their soldiers?

It's obvious, given the Iraqi experience, that world does not want the U.S. or any international grouping like NATO to play the role of liberators. You can blame George W. Bush for poisoning that well ... the bottom line is Somalia will not be liberated by the U.S., U.N., or anyone else.

Russia and China certainly won't do it -- they remember Afghanistan and the Korean war.

"It is what it is."

I'd be happy to field solutions to this problem ... perhaps some historical references to similar situations from the past.

Drudge style headline: Somali Pirates want 20 million for Ukrainian ship

"WE WANT RANSOM, NOTHING ELSE," SAYS PIRATE SPOKESMAN
SUDAN DENIES CONNECTION...
RUSSIAN CREW MEMBER DIES...

CLEARANCE SALE

Drudge style headline concerning Somali Pirates hijacking Ukrainian vessel

35 MILLION DOLLAR RANSOM DEMAND
EGYPTIAN SHIP AND CREW FREED
MALAYSIAN TANKER RELEASED FOR 2 MILLION DOLLARS
FRANCE DEMANDS ACTION
PROVOKED WRATH OF RUSSIA AND U.S.

PIRATES OF ADEN: AT WORLD'S END?

Drudge style headline concerning Somali Pirates

US NAVY FIRES WARNING SHOTS
"INCIDENT UNDER INVESTIGATION"
UN BEGS FOR HELP

PIRATES FREED?!?

Call to Johnny Depp and Disney -- Launch PSA pressuring U.N. to take action against Pirates

Since Johnny Depp and Disney have earned tons of income off their "Pirates of the Carribean" movie series, I wondered if they had anything to say about the current situation off the Somali Coast, where 80 Filipino Seafarers are being held hostage by Somali pirates.

The only thing I could find on a page-1 Google search was this, from ABC News (owned by Disney):

Real-Life
Pirates Can't Match 'Capt. Jack Sparrow'
Bandits Nabbed, Yacht Hostages
Rescued in Somalian High-Seas Adventure

I decided to try different searches on Johnny Depp and Disney on Google, to see if either had come out and said anything about real-life piracy. They didn't. Here's what I found instead:

The Real Jack Sparrow: He would have eaten Johnny Depp for breakfast

Pirates May Be Popular in Movies, But Piracy Remains a Threat

Disney Caught Pirating from Public Domain -- and Children!

Johnny Depp: U.S. is like a stupid puppy

The Pirates Are Back….but no Johnny Depp this time

I am calling for Johnny Depp and Walt Disney Co. to speak out against modern-day Piracy, and to use their connections to put pressure on the U.N. to defeat the pirate criminals off the Somali Coast and elsewhere. I am hopeful that this blog-post will eventually reach the ears of Johnny and the execs at Walt Disney, and that they will act to help the 80 hostages currently held by these criminals.

DrudgeReport-style headline concerning the kidnapping of Filipino Seafarers by Somali Pirates

9 Released....
"55th ship attacked this year"
80 still held hostage....
Calls for UN Action

Pirates of Aden