caucus99percent

free-range politics, organic community

Well, friends, we got us some civil unrest here and there.

Back when I was in college, I did some protesting against Viet Nam war, but it was mostly lending support for draft dodgers heading to Canada, and assisting conscientious objectors. It was never any conduct that would get me arrested, or expelled from school. One must have a clean background check to get into law school and another to even be allowed to take the bar exam. I ran away from parties full of students passing out a variety of drugs. I meant to do what I could within legal bounds.?

I wonder what I would do as a student now. Would I give up my goals and dreams to try to prevent a genocide? Would I give up on a degree? Would I destroy my chances of being hired by a corporation?

It will take much soul searching on my part to measure my integrity.

While the kids risk more than they can imagine, it is we oldsters who have so little to lose. It is we who should be in those tents. We often think of the young folks as Iphone gamers.

College protesters today are my heroes, and my heart.

Happy Friday everyone. I hope everybody is doing well. Post any photos, memes, or music you like.

Sunny San Diego has been anything but sunny this week. Didn't see the sun all week and it rained yesterday and today. Next week is supposed to be sunny and mid 70s. Can't wait.
While out and about yesterday I noticed the price of gas has risen to about $5.25 a gal. A few pennies more at one place, a few pennies less at another. I'm glad I ditched the gas guzzler and got a hybrid. All that money I'm saving on gas I can now spend on the ever rising cost of groceries. It seems no matter what you do, you just can't get ahead these days.

The orchids in 1,3,5,7 were taken in the orchid house at the San Diego Zoo. The African Iris in 4,8 is from my front walkway and the rest are from the Carlsbad Flower Fields.

In April 1967, editors at the NYT decided to lecture Martin luther King on his anti-war stance.

The film clip immediately below is a scene from the movie 1984 starring Richard Burton as O'Brien and John Hurt as Winston Smith.

Here's a quick synopsis of the plot:

Winston Smith (John Hurt), a bureaucratic flunky living in the totalitarian state of Oceania, breaks the law by daring to fall in love with Ministry of Truth worker Julia (Suzanna Hamilton). Attempting to escape, Winston and Julia are tracked down by the Thought Police. Both must be "re-educated" into loving the State -- and by extension, the shadowy dictator Big Brother.

Source (See the description below the youtube clip)

In this scene Winston is being physically tortured by Inner Party Member O'Brien to break him emotionally with the end result being Winston's confession that the false statement 2+2=5 is in reality actually true. O'Brien uses pain methodically, to impress upon Winston that the Party is in complete control and to break his will.

Winston is in great physical pain from the torture but it is the psychological fear of even more excruciating pain that ultimately breaks him. He just wants it to stop.

In 1984, "2+2=5" is a false statement created by the Party and an example of the many ways the Party controls people. In making people believe that a random, false statement is an objective truth, the Party distorts and claims control of truth itself. Winston understands that slogans like "2+2=5" are mechanisms of the Party's social control until he is tortured. In the end, he traces the equation in dust, showing that the Party eventually controls him, too.

Source

25 April 2024 - Vote For Your Paychecks!

Back in January the leader of the UAW, Shawn Fein (yes, I wanted to write Sinn Féin, heh), announced that the UAW was endorsing Biden for President. This was after very strained relationships between the UAW leadership and Biden, but Biden had supported the UAW during their strikes in 2023 (see this article at Reuters for more) and so Shawn Fein returned the favor. Whether that translates into union votes for Biden or not remains to be seen. Fein himself admitted that it probably wouldn't (from the article by Wilmer J. Leon III, discussed more below):

Following the union endorsement Fein explained that he expected most of the UAW membership would not vote for President Biden in November. During an interview on Fox Business Network’s Your World with Neil Cavuto, Fain stated, “Let me be clear about this. A great majority of our members will not vote for President Biden…The majority of our members are gonna’ vote for their paychecks, they’re gonna’ vote for an economy that works for them.”

Strikers at the General Motors Lansing Delta Assembly Plant on September 29, 2023 in Lansing, Michigan. Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images from CNN article here.

The last time I posted here I left this little tidbit from Moon of Alabama:

...one wonders what means the deep state used to push Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, and Trump, into this full capitulation.

Well, The Grayzone weighed in on this. Here's the relevant part of the video:

Biden's Secretary of State Antony Blinken is going to China. Here are the Alexes discussing its ramifications.