__
                    __ _ / _|_ __ ___
           _____   / _` | |_| '_ ` _ \   _____
          |_____| | (_| |  _| | | | | | |_____|
                   \__,_|_| |_| |_| |_|
                   Another Foggy Moment

 These are the continuing adventures of a typical resident
 of the self-proclaimed center of the Pugetopolis universe -
 Seattle. Most are true stories but some are made of whole-
 cloth. I ain't the Mayor, the Governor or a Big Shot. Just
 another Working Stiff with a Bad Attitude.

    ------------------------------------------------
    WARNING: This is not a Child-Proof Neighborhood.
    If you're a kid - scram!, beat it! you little
    punk before your Old Lady catches you and calls
    the cops. They'll throw you in the Big House in
    Walla Walla and won't let you out until you're
    89 years old. There. Don't say I didn't warn you.
    -------------------------------------------------

                          - 129 -

 It was 58 years about this time that then Seattle Mayor 
 Bill Devin created the "Seattle Civic Unity Committee". 
 Oh Oh. You gotta know whenever the 'U' word pops up, a
 strong odor of bullshit usually accompanies it. Nattering 
 Nabobs of Negativism often upset the Little People with
 their poisonous venom and must be neutralized. In this case: 
 the sassy negroes in the local black community. Bremerton, 
 where the Navy's key WW-2 logistics port, Puget Sound Naval 
 Ship Yard was located, was very nearly as racially segregated 
 as any southern town. Seattle the Pure & Progressive was 
 perhaps more genteel about it but not substantially better. 

 With violent post-war race riots breaking out in the big 
 eastern ghettos and Los Angeles, the White Folks around 
 here started getting nervous. Hence the 'unity' theme. 
 Mayor Devin wanted to reassure our Good Negroes that there 
 was nothing personal about the local bigotry - just a little 
 friendly racism between neighbors, is all.

 Black men who had served in FDR's WW-2 military were subjected 
 to the most horrendous racial humiliation and degradation. Our 
 News Nazis like to chatter on about the Tuskeegee Airmen but do 
 you ever hear them talk about the 200 black sailors who died 
 when the ammo ship they were loading in San Francisco blew up? 
 Nope. The job was considered so dangerous the Navy sent all white 
 members of the loading crew home on leave beforehand to ensure 
 an 'expendable' all-black crew. When members of subsequent all-
 black crews refused to do any further loading until proper safety 
 measures had been instituted, the Navy arrested them and threw 
 them in the brig. Stuff like that would just be embarassing to 
 remember. Sends the wrong message. People will think The Greatest
 Generation were bigots or something.

 When they were de-mobed from the military at the end of the war,
 black vets joined the massive southern flood north and west to 
 factory jobs. They wanted a piece of the pie. Some, like the 
 father of jazz great Quincy Jones, moved to Bremerton hoping to 
 get a job at PSNS. For many, the good jobs never happened simply 
 because of their black skin. Worse, they were 'red lined' into 
 Presidents Truman & Eisenhauer's FHA-approved poverty-infested, 
 crime-ridden racial ghettos in the north under the thumb of bigot 
 lawmen no different from those they had just left in the south. 
 They served America despite being deprived of freedom, liberty 
 and equality at home. They figured they now earned the right to 
 it. When it was once again denied them, they busted the joint 
 up to show their displeasure.

                              *

 One of the off-shoots of President Yellowbelly's TWOT (The War
 on Terrorism) is that I've almost completely turned off the
 U.S. media. The lies, propaganda and other BS has become so
 thick it's shot beyond 'annoying' to 'completely obnoxious'.
 Our information-pollution is approaching toxic levels. I 
 don't even glance at the newsboxes any more. Just more of 
 the same Sling. Why bother?

 I've been a short-wave buff ever since I was kid and have
 listened in to the BBC (England), RFI (France), Deutsche Welle
 (Germany) and Radio Netherlands for decades. They're all still
 very much mainstream and have always done a more objective
 job of covering American politics anyways. It helps to filter
 out all that stupid little crap our News Nazis stuff their
 news with - "Mother of 2 Eats Children", "Kindergarten Vice
 Ring Busted", "Dog Wins Mayoralty Race", etc.

 Besides, I like the music on the Voice of Greece (17.705 MHz) 
 and Radio Pakistan (11.675 MHz). It's delightfully weird. And 
 there's the Saturday morning Footie scores on the Beeb. And, 
 if I'm really in a perverse mood, no end of American religious-
 nut and militia stations like that hillbilly on 12.160 MHz. 
 Best of all - no commercials for shinny crap that don't work 
 right. Except the hillbilly. He's got 'em. Don't need a computer
 or a phone or anything. Just turn your radio on.

 The Internet is more of a niche thing. You pretty much have to
 pick a side. At least all sides are represented plus a plethora
 of free-lancers. And its not like our News Nazis have any more 
 evidence to support their bunk than the wackos on alt.conspiracy 
 do. It'll be nicer when it goes Intergalactic and some guy on 
 Alpha Centaurii with no stake in our fate casts a jaundiced, 
 dispassionate, disinterested eye(s) on our affairs merely trying 
 to figure them out instead of Spinning them to serve a particular 
 purpose. But that's still a ways off.

.................................................................

                    FEDERAL ARMY & NAVY

 It all started when I made a periodic trip to one of the few 
 reasonably priced clothing stores still located downtown. I
 needed new Threads. Only a pair of pants actually.

 It took me about five minutes to find what I wanted and then 
 I got in the usual humongous, slow lineup to pay for it. Finally, 
 after what seemed like half an hour of slow crawling, I made it 
 to a cash register.

 The guy pumps the numbers in, and it shows $30.00, tax included. 

 CLERK: "That'll be $33.00", he says. 
 ME:    "Ah, look sport, your register says $30.00 and the tag, 
         even with tax thrown in can't be more than $30.00". 
 CLERK: "My finger slipped and it's not our tag." 
 ME:    "Not your tag? This is your store isn't it?" 
 CLERK: "Yes it is our store but it's not our tag. It's some other 
         store's tag. We just didn't have time to take it off." 
 ME:    "And you didn't have time to put on your own tag either?"
 CLERK: "Yep. That's right. Now what do you want me to do with 
         these pants?" 
 I suggested a suitable orifice and left without the pants.

 It had been a long time since I ran into a store clerk who was
 so sloppy and arrogant about adding a personal Rip Off Tax to 
 items. And no use complaining to the manager - he was the manager. 
 The extra $3 would go in his pocket fer sure. And unless I miss 
 my guess, he's likely pulling in a vigorish from his employees. 
 Doesn't sound like much until you tally up the 100 or 200 people 
 he hits on daily. It's a popular manouver amongst the low-paid. 
 With a little practice in a high-volume joint where cash is the
 norm, they can bring in a month's pay in one day. And it's all 
 tax-free, not to mention off-the-books. They get to screw their 
 customers, their employer and Uncle Sammy all in one shot. God 
 bless America!

 I needed an alternative. Nordstrom's "The Rack" used to be a fav.
 But in recent years the prices have gone through the roof while
 the service really started to suck. I think they send over all 
 the Luser salesmen from the main store as sort of a punishment 
 for not being snotty enough. Gives them an opportunity to practice 
 on us Bottom Feeders. The Rack was out too. The rest - Nordies,
 The Bon, Old Navy, The Gap, whatever - are just over-priced Poser 
 Joints. Strictly for morons with more money than brains. 

 Then I discovered Federal Army & Navy on 1st Ave in Belltown.
 I was actually looking for a decent knapsack when I stumbled 
 across it. While looking around, it suddenly occured to me - hey! 
 they got clothes too. And not just Cammie Jammies either. Walking 
 through ordinary clothing stores it always pissed me off that 
 little kiddies get all the neatest looking stuff. Far nicer than 
 the Sloppy Drawers look so popular amongst their Hip Hop juvenille 
 seniors. And way better than the boring Work-Unit/Office-Boy crap 
 usually foisted upon adult males. It's enough to make you wish
 you were 8-years old again. A man wants to look...well...manly 
 in a tastefully lethal sort of way. We have hormones to cater to.

 While Federal has many different flavors of Cammie Jammies and
 charges through the nose for them, they also have more normal
 versions of the same BDUs at more normal prices. They come 
 in solid khaki, navy-blue, black and green. Those nifty big 
 spare pockets sure come in handy for carrying spare ammo, maps, 
 comm equipment, porno mags, The Racing Form, beer cans, pdas, 
 cell phones plus no end of other stuff. Nothing cheap about the 
 fabric either. It's very durable and well-made. The knees are 
 double-thickness. I've got a whole pile of old jeans that are 
 perfectly fine except for one stink'n little tear in the knees. 
 Man that really bugs me. The knees are always the first thing 
 to go. It's a common problem amongst Catholics. You'd think 
 somebody would come out pants that are VatSpec eh - extra 
 strong knees.

 The military is a firm proponent of the 'close enough for 
 government work' philosophy when it comes to sizes. They just 
 got a few grades of length and a few grades of width. It makes
 the whole process vastly easier and you end up looking the same. 
 I was amazed that men with my dimensions actually exist in our 
 military. It's a scary thought. Anybody with an ass that size 
 has got to be an officer. I'm talk'n big ass Joint Chiefs of 
 Staff dudes.

 The pants do have a couple peculiarities not common in civilian
 clothes: tie-off ribbons in the cuffs and button flies. Unless
 you're crazy enough to wear those clunky boots soldiers got to
 wear, you can snip the ribbons off. I was a little concerned at 
 first about the button-up flies but found I actually preferred 
 them once I got the hang of it. There's only three of them and 
 they're large for easy handling. No more worries about painfully 
 zipping your Monkey up on those occasions when you are temporarily
 coordination-challenged or in a hurry. The safety benefits far 
 outweigh the convenience zippers offer. And there is just something 
 naturally playful about buttons, isn't there. Babes really get 
 turned on by shinny little doo-dads like that. They can hardly 
 keep their hands off them.

 They've got plenty of shirts and jackets to offer as well. Some
 are definitely pre-owned and look it, but most is brand new.
 Just over-stock I guess or maybe the stuff the dead guys never
 got around to using. Who knows? I picked up a real nice looking
 coat with removeable liner, cheap. It says "Armee Francais" on
 the shoulder if you look real close but it's got some Japanese
 guy's name written inside. NATO stuff eh. What the hell - it
 didn't have any bullet-holes in it and no burns along the bottom
 from land mines nor any obvious blood-stains. It is appropriately 
 stylish as you might expect from the Frenchies. They may not know 
 how to fight worth crap but they always look sharp. The sign of 
 an army that's got its priorities straight and knows how to stay 
 outta trouble.

 I found some really nice black, mock-turtle all-wool Navy watch 
 sweaters that I've become very attached to. Just heavy enough to
 keep you warm; just light enough for use as a shirt. I thought 
 it was a little odd that the sleeves seemed extra long. I began 
 to suspect there might be something to those stories about knuckle-
 dragging Deck Apes. In fact, properly used, they become like open-
 ended gloves. Just roll them down and they cover your hands keeping 
 them warm as toast. Work gloves are fine but otherwise I hate gloves. 
 You've always got to take them off to do anything. These extra-long 
 sleeves save you the trouble.

 There are many accessories also: socks (black and green only), 
 boxer and brief shorts as well as various t-shirts (in lovely 
 browns and greens for that sexy Earth Boy look) plus the ever-
 popular ammo-belts, radio-bags, and what not. All at very
 reasonable prices. And they have a wide assortment of nifty hats 
 and sweat shirts baring the names of military units, ships and 
 morale slogans. "Kill A Commie For Mommie" is one of the nostalgic
 favs. But despite jacking the price through the roof, they got 
 a real shortage of gas-masks. Still, it beats Nordstroms. They 
 ain't got any at all. Lot of help they'll be in the event of a 
 bio-terrorism attack eh.

 The colors have all been carefully chosen to ensure that neither
 you nor anyone else will ever be able to tell if it's dirty or 
 not. Except the khaki of course. That tell-tale odor is the only 
 give away and a squirt or two Old Spice takes care of that no 
 problemo. The annual savings on laundry practically pays for the 
 stuff all by itself. A guy don't want his clothing budget cutting
 into his beer budget eh.

 Federal carries a fair amount of normal civvie overstock too
 in case you need to go in-country undercover. And they got 
 all sorts of neat toys - compasses, binocs, flight pressure-
 suits, flight helmets, flags and tons and tons of knives. 
 Didn't notice any guns though. Most clothing stores, I'm in 
 and out fast as possible. But at Federal I'm inspired, and
 often encouraged by the staff, to linger and savor the 
 atmosphere. The old coot who runs the place is a swell mug. 
 No half-hour waits with that dude. He knows how to take care 
 of business the old-fashioned way - grab the money before 
 they change their mind.

 Pump their name into Google and check out their neat webpage. 
.......................................................................

                  'OL YELLER GOES TO WAR

 So much for the theory that the attacks on the WTC towers 
 required years of planning/training, tons of money and 
 highly-skilled martyrs to pull off. A 15-year old kid with 
 no financial means of support, no training to speak of and 
 apparently from nothing more than the impulse of the moment 
 pulled off a small-scale duplicate this week. The Coastie
 chopper flying next to him allowed him to auger right into
 an office building, unmolested. Must have been close to 
 their coffee-break time eh. Or did they perhaps distract
 a rather excitable and nervous teen-ager at a strategic
 moment. We'll never know. The Coasties would just lie 
 about it anyways. Not that anyone is even asking.
 
                            *

 Here we are 4 months into President Yellowbelly's TWOT ("The 
 War on Terrorism". On the home front, our News Nazis are busy
 waxing poetic with WW-II generation nostalgia to inspire us 
 during our phony 'war'. Ah...the Good Old Days! When negroes
 hung from every southern tree. When women knew their place -
 barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. When those dirty Japs 
 and their stink'n kids sat safely behind bared wire under
 armed guard while the local mayor and sheriff gave way their 
 property and possessions. When the Great White American Male 
 ruled supreme. United We Stand - Colored folks and Women to 
 the back row. 

 During the Times of Vietnam we didn't need any sentimental
 slop. Then too we had a hillbilly for president. A higher
 class of hillbilly though - one who could read, write and
 speak beyond the third-grade level. One who wasn't stupid 
 enough to publically refer to Pakistanis as "Pakis". And 
 one that didn't need a rich daddy to keep his ass outta the 
 Army and jail. Much like today, our News Nazis were gallantly 
 banging the drums of war with glee. They would allow only the 
 Official Party Line - dissent was plainly Un-American and 
 anything Uncle Sammy said, no matter how moronic, was taken 
 as unquestioned Gospel Truth. It took years before they 
 changed their tune. And when they finally did, you'd have 
 thought they invented the anti-war movement. Fact was, until 
 then, they treated even thinking about the reasons for the 
 War as borderline treason. 
 
 But we weren't as easily intimidated back in those days. Many 
 "Teach Ins" were called on college campuses across America. 
 People gathered to communally explore our reasons for invading 
 Vietnam. These things were taken seriously enough that LBJ's
 cabinet members felt compelled to respond to them. It was 
 obvious from the get-go that our News Nazis knew as little 
 about Vietnam as they did about Timbuktu. Often college radio 
 stations did extended, all-day live coverage of these proceedings 
 so others off-campus could follow. Unlike your average American 
 college kid today, back then it was naievely considered Bad Form 
 to walk around with your head up your ass oblivious to what was
 happening around you. TWOT is running more like a well-scripted 
 sitcom than a real war. Nothing even vaguely like a Teach In this 
 time. Dissent has been contained and any Doubting Thomas' have 
 been denied a platform to doubt from. Neat, clean and tidy. 
 Sieg Heil y'all!
 
 There has been no retaliation for our Snuff Fest in Afghanistan,
 yet. But nothing substantial has changed to prevent the same
 thing happening again tomorrow. The same military and bureaucratic
 screw-up artists are right where they were back then. The anthrax 
 attacks were likely from domestic terrorists who took an abrupt 
 break from their attacks after it was discovered their anthrax 
 came from the U.S. Army's Ft. Dettrick complex. Opps! That was the 
 last we heard about that eh. The FBI continues to jerk itself off 
 with it's highly ineffective but personally satisfying crusade 
 against Muslims. The FAA is terrorizing airline passengers with its 
 mindless and senseless bureaucratic after-the-fact butt-covering. 
 While our hapless Weekend Warriors from the National Guard provide
 light entertainment for waiting passengers by shooting themselves
 in the ass, like that dork in San Francisco. Still, we're pretty 
 nervous and edgy for Masters of the Known Universe. I'll bet 
 sedatives are selling like hotcakes these days. Just think of 
 them as TWOT Medicine - God Bless America Pills for the jumpy 
 patriot.

 Our Presidental retard continues to imagine himself riding high
 in the saddle. Like his daddy, he's stupid enough to think his
 poll ratings are indications of personal favor. They aren't. In
 fact, most Americans think he's an idiot. Marvin the Martian 
 would have those ratings too if he were president right now 
 (likely higher). If the Democrats take the House this November, 
 Ol Yeller could soon find himself on the dirty end of the same 
 impeachment stick on which President Bubba recently found himself. 
 Wouldn't that be embarassing! Heaven knows they got plenty of 
 material to work with. Yellowbelly gives off a stink you smell 
 clear this side of the Mississippi. He may have to make another 
 run for the Nebraska White House before this thing is over. This 
 time the Bimbo Bombing will be BY a Bimbo, instead of BECAUSE OF
 a Bimbo. 

 Overseas, out of sight and out of mind, our Snuff Fest continues 
 in Afghanistan. We've handed that tiny, impoverished, defenceless 
 nation over to the Russian armed and commanded "Northern Alliance" 
 to do with as they please. While we try to pretend the Taliban 
 doesn't exist any longer, their leader Mullah Omar remains very
 much alive as do his warriors. There's thousands of them walking
 around Kanduhar, black headdress and all, still with their guns.
 Likely thinking they remain under the Divine Protection Mullah
 Omar invoked when he held the Prophet's cloak aloft for all to
 see in Kabul a few years ago. They are certain their enterprise 
 is blessed.
 
 They've already been cutting deals with factions of the N.A..
 Financed by anonymous Middle Eastern oil concerns, they will 
 undoubtably soon do their best to put the kabosh to any Russian 
 plans to undercut OPEC's oil cartel with cheap Black Sea oil. 
 And the entire raison d'etre for our being in Afghanistan - 
 Osama bin Laden - remains very much alive and beyond the grasp 
 of our bungling Paycheck Patriots despite our $60 Billion Buck 
 effort to catch him. Meanwhile, General Powell wanders aimlessly 
 around muttering "Oh dear! Oh dear!" Even Granny Albright had 
 more balls and brains than that useless bastard.

 Elsewhere in the Islamic World, Saudi Arabia has been subject
 to enormous internal rioting as unrest and anti-Americanism
 slowly begins to roll with momentum against our political 
 whores in the region. Odd that that news somehow escaped the
 notice of our News Nazis eh. That's the 'war' Osama wanted to 
 win - the one for the hearts and minds of Saudis, Algerians, 
 Kuwaitis, Bahranians, etc. And we're allowing him to act the
 part of liberator while we represent the forces of slavery and 
 repression. We're real good at picking Lusers.
 
......................................................................

 "A small number of very rich men, have been able to lay upon
  the teeming masses of the laboring poor, a yoke that is little
  better than slavery."

                        Pope Leo XIII
                             1891 
......................................................................

                        MONDO VATICANO

 Pope Ratso the First (aka Cardinal Ratzinger), the Vatican's 
 Grand Inquisitor and Papal Ventriloquist, issued new rules this
 week on pervert priests caught diddling kiddies. Rule #1: Call 
 Ratso. Forget the Cops. No need to involve them in a matter like
 this. Rule #2: Hand the scum-bag over to Vatican authorities for
 a secret trial. Forget the whole civil or criminal secular system
 of justice. Forget lawyers. Forget justice. And mostly - forget 
 the young victims. They'll get over it. Throw their parents a 
 few bucks to shut 'em up. Ratso will handle everything. Trust him. 

 Is this delusional fruitcake serious? Is he actually stupid enough 
 to think civil authorities anywhere are going to bypass their own 
 criminal justice systems and laws to defer to him? Does he actually 
 imagine any Church authority that fails to notify civil authorities 
 of criminal activities by their clergy won't be charged with aiding
 that criminal and obstructing justice? Talk about being detached
 from reality eh. That sucker's Lost In Space. He'll have to hold 
 his dirty little secret Gestapo tribunals in-abscencia when it comes 
 to American pervert priests. We'll bust their asses long before he
 hears about it.

 And where was Future-Super-Saint JP-2 during all this? Z-z-z-z-z. 
 Hopefully his Eternal Rest is just around the corner. Lord God
 King of the Universe, blessed be your name...please send us a 
 real Pope - soon.

                 	+	+	+

 Cardinal Law in Boston is a very funny guy. He likes to pull
 practical jokes. This week, after years of stonewalling and
 no end of sleezy, underhanded manouvers to slime his way out 
 of dealing with his favorite pervert priest - Fr. John Geoghan -
 he finally got around to apologizing to Fr. Pervert's victims. 
 Fr. Geoghan's one busy little boy these days as he faces two
 criminal trials and juggles some 90 civil suits related to his
 sexual predatation of young children. Cardinal Law admits that 
 he was fully aware of Fr. Geoghan's 'problem' but nonetheless 
 shuffled him around to various parishes without bothering to 
 warn those parishoners or to notify civil authorities of Fr. 
 Geoghan's peculiar sexual appitite. If that isn't "aiding and 
 abetting" a criminal than what the hell is? He knew the guy was 
 a pervert and provided him with an endless supply of new victims, 
 conveniently moving him elsewhere when things got too hot. He
 belongs in the same cell with Fr. Geoghan just like that Frenchie 
 bishop who hid one of his pervert priests. Lucky for Cardinal 
 Law that American judges are for sale to the highest bidder. He'll 
 be protected. Cardinal Law can stick his phony apology up his fat 
 episcopal ass. 

			+	+	+

 Taj Mahoney, aka Our Lady of Cocaine, in Los Angeles isn't quite 
 finished yet but it already has people holding their architectural 
 noses - Peeeeyyyeeeeew! The first cathedral to be built in America 
 in a quarter-century, it's Cardinal Roger Mahoney's legacy to the 
 future though pretty small potatoes compared to his whopping huge 
 ego. It'll give him a nice place to sit a while and write friendly 
 letters to presidents asking to get notorious drug dealers off the 
 hook. You remember the one a year or so ago. Senor Nose Candy's 
 daddy had mucho bucks to wave around under the good Cardinal's nose
 and, without so much as a face-to-face meeting, Cardinal Rog urged 
 then-president Clinton to set the little scum-bag free. Anything 
 to help out a child of God eh. And maybe help pay for a new cathedral.

  			+	+	+

 Fr. Frank Morales got a rather unusual request for Last Rites on 
 the evening of 9/11. He was one of the priests who was asked to 
 help administer these rites for the dead and dying at the scene 
 of the former WTC towers. It was not a job for the squeamish. 
 Only certain priests were chosen - those who were thought to be 
 strong enough to handle what they were about to experience. There 
 were few bodies left to minister to actually. The very earth he 
 stood on was composed of a ground-up mix of building-debris and 
 human remains. It was moist and sort of reddish. It gave off that 
 sickening sweet odor of dead meat. Fragments of fingers and toes 
 got caught up in his boots as he moved around. He carefully put 
 them in especially marked plastic bags. 

 Of course our soldiers know nothing of such scenes. Like the
 supposed suicide attackers, they kill from a distance, and, 
 like the sucide attackers, they don't give a damn who they kill 
 either - babies, little kids, pregnant women - it's all the same 
 to them. And like the sucide attackers, their victims are also
 innocent - guilty only of being in the wrong place at the wrong
 time. The only difference between a terrorist highjacker and an 
 American military pilot is that the terrorist has the balls to 
 die with his victims. Our Paycheck Patriots don't come with balls.
 Otherwise, one's as big a shit-bag as the other.

 Fr. Frank wrote up a short but sweet essay about his experiences
 at Ground Zero that night.
             http://cryptome.org/ground-zero.htm

--------------------------------------------------
 The above is copyright material. You want to use it,
 ask. You want to make money off it, gimme some first.
 I'll let you know if it's enough. You want to steal it,
 I'll sic my lawyer Yoshi 'The Proctologist' Rasmussen
 on you baby. He'll teriyaki your sorry butt and turn
 it into Lutefisk.
~--------------------------------------------------
 MAIL:    tofoggymoment@yahoo.com
 ARCHIVE: http://www.geocities.com/tofoggymoment
--------------------------------------------------