Critical mass in Hartford today. Bushnell Park Carousel. 5:30 p.m. Be there. On a bicycle. With a costume.

 

Hartford related: Kerri over at Real Hartford went to the same HartBeat Ensemble cabaret I did last Saturday night. This is the last weekend the show is running. What she said is spot on about the show.

 

"Actually, there is one thing scarier than a clown, and that is two clowns simulating sex on stage." HartBeat puts on a funny, funny show. It's touch riqsue, too. Tickets are still available. Go give Steve, Greg and Julia $15 for a few laughs.

 

Elsewhere, for all the straight dope on Syria, check out Oklahoma professor Josh Landis' blog, Syria Comment. The U.S. government still won't even admit that the attack occurred. But at least eight Syrians are dead.

 

And witnesses said U.S. helicopters unloaded soldiers who fired on them. It makes me wonder about due process in the war on terror - which we know doesn't exist, but it is good to remind ourselves that if helicopters could land, and soldiers could stand five meters away from a person, couldn't they arrest that suspect and bring him to justice?

 

The concept of soldiers summarily executing a person suspected of certain crimes is antithetical to the spread of democracy. War is hell, and the Bush administration started a war to dole out its brand of tyranny.

 

Now that I've had a week to think about the attack on Syria, it just doesn't make sense. Isn't it better to try the alleged Al Qaeda operative as opposed to killing him and his family?

 

The Syrians are waiting to see who will become president of the U.S., as if that is going to make a difference on the ground in Iraq. Matt Gonzalez, Nader's vice presidential running mate, made a great case in Counterpunch yesterday as to why it won't.

 

And the war continues to draw funding from our cities. City Councilors in Hartford still have not seen a list of those laid off. I am getting names trickling in. Councilman Pedro Segarra said his brother got laid off in DPW.

 

I am also hearing that Ramon Espinoza, the only one in Sarah Barr's press relations office who speaks Spanish, fell to the budget ax, too.

 

Sources say that Derek Donnelly in the Mayor's office has another job lined up, and will be heading elsewhere. The workload has to be piling up for those who remain.

 

To cheer us all up on a Friday, here is Terry Tate. I had seen the video, then my sister sent me the link, and said she watched it a few times, laughing till the grape juice came out her nose. Sarah Palin's bullshit just gets too much sometimes, and the first issue of Terry Tate's subscription is free.

 

Enjoy the racial dichotomy here, too. This is what all the Republicans are scared of - a big black man attacking a white woman - and Terry Tate takes that fear head on.

 

Oh yeah. The divide between the living and the dead is as thin as it gets all year today.

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