Saturday Open Thread - 7/20/24: Odds and Ends

Good morning! Hope all is well!

I hope hell has not unleashed by the time this is published, or any other time, for that matter!

I started to write this, noticed something just outside my yard fence, and it was buck. He was looking at me, looking for a way in. The stare down lasted 5 minutes before he trotted away.

Man, 35 yards away.

A song I grew up hearing:

A newer version:

And then, my rabbit pal. This darn critter is so unafraid of me that it will lie down and rest for 15 minutes, 20 feet away, then resume eating Bahia grass 10 feet away.

This week after grocery shopping, Dear One and I had to stand for a few minutes outside the front yard gate because Bunny was on the patio, wouldn't move. DO NOT DISTURB THE BUNNY.

I think of critters as better than humans, and that when on those rare occasion, humans really shine, it is because of critters.

The dogs of my life were hounds. No other dog appeals to me like a hound. Elvis dissed them, but in a good way.

A borrowed song from last night's ebs:

Dear One shared this with me, and I want to share it with you:

Enjoy your weekend, and let's be ready for a Biden announcement. Stay or go?

This is a conversation starter, open for everything you wish to chat about.

Let 'er rip!

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No news on any change in Biden's candidacy so far.
It is still pleasantly cool here with highs of 85. I might be tempted to do some yard work.
Well, let us know what's going on where you are, both in geographical terms, and brain wandering terms.
It is always great to hear from you,friends!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Cassiodorus's picture

@on the cusp that may never happen. I can easily imagine Biden being incapacitated while still insisting he can run. Here's Glenn Greenwald, showing how bad things have gotten for the Democrats:

Greenwald is of course dramatizing stuff that happens all the time. They're politicians: of course they lie. But yo Democrat idiots. If you want Biden out, you will need to force him out.

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"People need to be ready for a revolution." - Fiorella Isabel

@Cassiodorus Pols lie, but the drama 9n this instance is at the presidential level. A novel event.
It is amusing that Democrats blame election losses on the fact they don't stick together like Republicans do, as if the huge break between MAGAS and neocon Republicans in 2016 never happened.
Selective memories, methinks?
I don't think Biden will drop out of the race. Kamala's adrenaline rush was likely wasted.
But, hey! Israel is stepping up their war on Gazan civilians and Lebanese civilians, which could get the US pulled into war with Iran, so this is a great distraction.
Be sure to drop in any info you run across on the biggest, most important election of our lifetime, friend!
Have a great weekend!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Lookout's picture

that is today's question. Alex Christoforou said yesterday if he was advising the dims, he would recommend Biden resign as president which would make Kamala the first woman (of color) to be president...not that she could beat Trump but she might save the senate. It would be a good strategy for them, but I don't think Biden would resign, and he might not withdraw. We'll learn more with time.

May as well enjoy the drama.

Enjoy your wildlife and thanks for the OT!

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

@Lookout How's everything in the holler?
I thought Alex had a good idea to keep the Dems from being totally wiped out by getting Harris into the Presidency. After all, ID Pol is their signature MO. Of course, it has no positive effect on the 99%.
Trump doesn't either, but he is just so kind to mention us a lot. Getting mentioned instead of totally ignored is great bait. (And switch.)
I made it a point last week to wear tee shirts to the office when I didn't have court. One was from Laos. Just wearing it brought back memories of the elephants. Another was from South Africa. I was toasted by the guides for spotting a leopard. Another was from Morocco. Dancing cobras and camels being ridden down main street.
Maybe I am jealous of wildlife. They aren't ever lied to and propagandized.
Hope your canning project is going great!
Thanks for dropping by, dear friend!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

lotlizard's picture

@on the cusp  
and end up with their own eggs or chicks destroyed and their health ruined, as they try to keep the much larger, greedier, and more aggressive impostors fed.

> Maybe I am jealous of wildlife. They aren't ever lied to and propagandized

Come to think of it, that could be a metaphor for what our uniparty politicians do, couldn’t it?

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@lotlizard Good one!
Glad for your 2 cents, as always, friend.
Have a great weekend!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Lookout's picture

@on the cusp

A teenager which didn't know quite how to do around people...
IMG_6423.jpg
IMG_6425.jpg
I had cooked bacon on the porch kitchen and (s)he was thinking it smelled good.

The bear finally wandered on up the mountain after 30 min or so. Guess the smell wafted away...

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“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

@Lookout That's a little close for my comfort! Lol!
Great pictures, btw!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

@Lookout
obvious political stunts and in some way punish the perpetrators. In the aggregate, US voters aren't all that swift; so, they don't perceive but a small fraction of political stunts. The Biden resign and elevation of Harris proposal is beyond obvious. Plus, Harris excites nobody.

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@Marie1 be much more D excitement if Joe goes, resigns completely. Harris would be elevated in stature obviously, and the party would feel a new hope they could beat T.

I don't see how the party can go forward w Biden, a sure loser, and I don't see how they can nudge aside a black woman who would become the first elected female US prez. I think it's a done deal that, if Joe at least steps aside, she will be the nominee. Who would oppose her?

Re voters knowledge, yes, they didn't seem overly bothered or informed about the way the DNC rigged this year's D primary process. Joe running unopposed was the DNC goal, and they achieved it. And voters slept through it. And likely too they will not be too bothered by any DNC process now that elevates Harris, whether Joe just steps aside or if he resigns completely, which would be preferred.

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usefewersyllables's picture

@wokkamile

will be entitled “What Happened Again”…

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Twice bitten, permanently shy.

@usefewersyllables "According to Hillary".
Good one, my friend!
Thanks for dropping in and enjoy your weekend!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

@wokkamile
She nearly as incoherent when she speaks as Biden is.

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@Marie1 That's always the fallback position for Ds.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

@Marie1 I agree with you, and the opinion of Alex, that the Democrats could at least brag about presenting the first woman President to the public and history books. She would be prez a few months because she couldn't beat an opponent in a race for the position of dog catcher.
That Democrats rigged the primaries to nominate Clinton, then Biden, demostrates they are not the brightest bulb in the chandelier.
Great to "see" you!
enjoy your weekend, chica!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

@on the cusp
see for the DP/DNC to go the Biden resign/Harris runs options is they could brag about being responsive to the public voices that Biden is not fit for the office and not squander the future of a politician with some talent and charisma. Democrats already own the bragging rights to nominating the first woman for POTUS and electing the first woman VP. As the nominee, Harris would be the second woman nominee to lose to Trump.

Elevating Harris to first woman POTUS for a few months may not sit well with HRC and her rabid, urban, white supporters. Reopens the old wounds from 2008 when a half black man was promoted before a white woman (the genesis of PUMA). Then there's the matter of Harris' ancestry. She's first generation Indian-Jamaican and therefore, not actually AA (as commonly understood). There were practical reasons why Obama's maternal family was highlighted in 2008. Legitimately so in his case because his father didn't figure into his life and wasn't even American.

Then there's the matter of the VP nominee. A person that would have no meaningful impact on the election outcome. Who would want it? The VP nominee on a losing ticket is nearly political roadkill. There may be many in Congress that would accept it as a last hurrah to get his/her name in the history books. But those people are old. May only reinforce the stupidity of the DP moving forward with Biden in the first place.

The least worst option may be to go forward with a Biden-Harris loss. OTOH that may be the worst option for Democrats in their Senate and House elections. OTOH, Democrats fared reasonably well in the House and gained two Senate seats in the 1972 Nixon landslide win. (Noticed that Tester (MT) has attempted to inoculate himself by calling for Biden to withdraw, but he's never had an easy election.) But in general, iirc, Democrats steered clear of nationalizing Senate and House seats. Current Democratic members of Congress pushed for Biden's nomination; so, they have some ownership of this debacle.

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@Marie1 II can't confess my observations of either party's motives and strategies is superficial, since all their attention once elected is on the war machine. I don't own stocks in Boeing and Raytheon, so I really can't vote my pocketbook, can I?

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

lotlizard's picture

@Marie1  
even made a humorous TV spot for American Express. The point of the spot: despite having run for the second highest office in the land just a few short years ago, he, when travelling and needing services, would be lost without an Amex card because no one had the faintest idea who he was.

> The VP nominee on a losing ticket is nearly political roadkill

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@lotlizard
enough years that they get their own crack at the top job before finally fading away into obscurity.

Bob Dole 1976 loser VP, 1996 loser POTUS
Walter Mondale 1980 loser VP, 1984 loser POTUS

But for many loser VPs, there is no second act in electoral politics.
Patrick Lucey 1980 (I)
Geraldine Ferraro 1984
Lloyd Bentsen 1988 (appointed positions after that)
Dan Quayle 1992
Jack Kemp 1996
John Edwards 2004
Sarah Palin 2008
Jack Kemp 1996

Those that can hold onto their Senate or House seat while running for VP fare better, but except for Bob Dole, the VP nomination is their peak
Ed Muskie 1968 (resigned his Senate seat in 1980 to become Sec of State)
Thomas Eagleton 1972 (but withdrew from the nomination before campaigning for the ticket)
Bob Dole 1976
Joe Lieberman 2000
Paul Ryan 2012

No electoral history except for the VP nomination on a loser ticket (>5%)
Curtis LeMay 1968 (AIP)
Sargent Shriver 1972
James Stockdale 1992 (Reform)
Patrick Choate 1996 (Reform)

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@Marie1 @Marie1 All I meant was that if she becomes President before the election, Democrats may rally due to their addiction to ID Politics, and it might help them keep some seats and strength in Congress.
Kamala is of no use running while VP. In fact, if they hold a vote, I don't expect her to be the electoral vote's winner if holding that office.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

enhydra lutris's picture

Nuthin on my mind, farmers' market rsn, then back to los projectos mios including maybe make some brownies 'cause my week to cook starts mañana. Gonna try to do most of my cooking outside, grilled pizza, one pot meals on the butane powered one burner, etc.

Though I try to not unduly disturb the wildlife, it is mostly lizards and birds, who mostly ignore me except a couple of specialties, which I do try to avoid disturbing when they're eating or bathing.

ah well, up and at 'em.

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

@enhydra lutris Another version of the song, eh? I am actually surprised.
Pleasantly so.
I am treated to lizard feeding, hunting, mating, and the occasional hour of 2 males viciously fighting over territory. They bring blood.
Just over the companion patio chair, a giant banana spider has a web on the porch ceiling. His favorite food is red wasps. Each day, wasp body parts drop into the chair, and the spider grows fatter. He has doubled in girth size in the past couple of weeks. I haven't wiped the chair seat cushion so that Dear One can sit and visit. He might think I have a nefarious plan, but I want him to avoid having a wasp part drop onto his head. I swear.
Cooking on the gas grill keeps the house cool. Great tactic, resulting in delicious food.
Get after those projects, get 'em done so you will be free to take on new ones! Lol!
Thanks for dropping by, dear friend, and enjoy your weekend!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

enhydra lutris's picture

@on the cusp

first to get recorded. Lieber & Stoller have official writers' credit, which is for the Elvis version, but Big Mama asserts that it was her product. She is supported in that assertion by Johnny Otis, who arranged at least one of the versions she recorded. You'll notice that her version rocks more than Presley's, which is the Otis influence. Elvis was, at that time, still pretty rockabillly, having come from heavy rockabilly influences.

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

snoopydawg's picture

Bullets move fast right. You’re dead before you hear the gunshot…how much time passed before the man was killed? He had time to hear the shot, recognize it for what it was and then cover his family before the bullets arrived. B

But the FBI was saying lone gunman before they even accesses his phone…. And they couldn’t find any social media? Please. How many data centers are gobbling up all our information? Or don’t they exist?

Too many holes going off in different directions. And remember that most of Trump’s normal security detail was pulled to cover Jill Biden. The guy in charge wasn’t even part of the secret service….another 2 holes.

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“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt

snoopydawg's picture

@snoopydawg

Get to it quickly or I’m gone.

This does.

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“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt

@snoopydawg I will set up my lap top on the porch this afternoon and watch. We are watching videos in the living room so we have to separate out the noise.
I have been reading sources that also strongly suggest, possibly definitively prove, there was a second shooter on top of a water tower.
At any rate, the truth will come out as soon as the FBI investigates, amirite? Lol!
When do you get my client to her happy place and away from the fireworks?
I hope you can get wifi and keep in touch.
Thanks for dropping in the vids and for dropping by, deary!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

@snoopydawg that 6 minute clip does reduce things down to a nutshell. We may not always believe our eyes, but do we doubt our ears now in order to conform to the official narrative? I did see a a photo of Crooks with his head up, gun aimed, and at that moment, any cartridge he tried would have gone through the metal roof, given where the barrel was aimed. Seems to me to get off a clear shot he would have had to get closer to the edge of the roof with his gun barrel raised to afford a clear shot to clear the roof.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

snoopydawg's picture

@on the cusp

And I’m more confused than ever. He makes some good points, but then one person died. Right? He suggests that maybe he was part lottery or money and is going to start a new life….

https://petraliverani.substack.com/p/trumps-smoking-gun-what-the-hell

Trump’s regular detail was pulled and the B team was sent in. Jill Biden and the Hellabitch were poth in Pittsburg the Sam day. Why would Hillary get better protection than Trump. She’s less important.

But sure the FBI is going to do a thorough investigation after they lied about Trump being Putin’s puppet for 4 years.

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“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt

snoopydawg's picture

@snoopydawg

Check out this article that has a picture that looks like Trump with a bullet whizzing past his head.

Quote on illuminati card game card seen above: "At any time, at any place, our snipers can drop you. Have a nice day."

https://allnewspipeline.com/Illuminati_Card_Game_Hints_Assassination_Att...

Written in 2015.

Schumer: The intelligence agencies have 6 ways to Sunday to take you out."

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“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt

snoopydawg's picture

Nature is amazing

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“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt

@snoopydawg Last year, maybe 30 caterpillars attached to my office wall, roof line, and deck rail. My secretary and I watched them become a cocoon, and we saw the beautiful moths break out the cocoons. The best part of our workdays!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

usefewersyllables's picture

@on the cusp

a big pot of parsley on our deck for cooking purposes. One July morning, we woke up, and had a parsley pot completely devoid of parsley- but full of the most amazing, fat, bright yellow, green, and black caterpillars. And directly, we had lots of yellow swallowtails.

Made it worth having to replant the parsley…

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Twice bitten, permanently shy.

@usefewersyllables It was truly fascinating to see the cycle.
I gotta tell you my cocoon story from 2nd or 3rd grade.
I found it in the yard. Brought it into the house, parents said just put it on the tv to keep any ants or roaches away. We are talking 1958 to 1960 here.
Well, I happened to see it start to wiggle, or do you prefer wriggle? Parents and I got it to the front porch, watched it get out of the cocoon, spread wings, dry off, fly away. My family of 4 were all there to watch the fruit of my---well, its' labor. Never forgotten.
My 74 yr old brother could describe it all to this day.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

it ain't a fight between left and right, but between the 99% and 1%.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

is been less than candid with regards to his health.

https://thehill.com/homenews/4783780-biden-isolate-covid-questions-swirl...

President Biden is on day three of his isolation, following his COVID diagnosis. While isolating in his Delaware home, Biden has faced a barrage of calls to step aside, peaking on Friday when 12 Democratic lawmakers joined the list.

The president tested positive for the virus on Wednesday while on the campaign trail in Nevada. He presented with mild symptoms, and was put on a course of Paxlovid, a COVID treatment, which he is still on.

“President Biden completed his sixth dose of PAXLOVID this morning,” Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the president’s doctor, wrote in a White House letter. “He is still experiencing a loose, non-productive cough and hoarseness, but his symptoms continue to improve steadily.”

I know little about Paxlovid but it seems strange that it takes 6 doses to treat a supposedly mild case of covid.

Perhaps this is a leadup to his eventual dropping out?

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snoopydawg's picture

@humphrey

Maurine Dowd in the NYT….

But now my gladdening images have been replaced by a maddening one: President Biden hunkered down in his house there, recovering from Covid, resisting talking to anyone who will tell him the truth, hoarsely yelling, “Get off my beach!” at the growing list of Democratic lawmakers and donors trying to warn him that he is pulling down his party and the country.

It makes me sad that Biden doesn’t see what’s inescapable: If he doesn’t walk away gracefully right now, he will likely go down as a pariah and ruin his legacy.

The race for the Oval today is between two delusional, selfish, stubborn old guys, and that’s a depressing state of affairs.

Biden’s condition has been known for years and even before he ran last time. And remember how we were told his scatter brain in Normandy didn’t really happen? What’s the real reason dem higher ups want him out? Is it that they can’t hide it anymore? Or is the government going with Trump this time?

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“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt

@snoopydawg their Biden memes. Snap of the finger, bat of an eye, since the debate ended, and he was helped offstage by Dr. Jill. It was instantaneous. Talk about staged and coordinated!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

@humphrey brick in the wall, ain't it?
We shall see.
Strange you would need any prescription drug for hoarseness and dry cough. Over the counter stuff works well for those conditions.
Strange just doesn't do all this justice. We need a better adjective.
Thanks for dropping by with the article, friend!
Enjoy your weekend!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

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@humphrey of "getting out of hand"?
Show us some penal code, bastards!
We want code! We want code!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

usefewersyllables's picture

@on the cusp

getting dead in any putative Netanhoohaw protests. The pigs will give no quarter to “protect” that asshole, because he is truly the symbol of what Amurika has become- and they are undoubtedly mainlining their steroids, cleaning their halberds, and filing their canines as we speak. We exist only to support Der Bibi, and our country now has no other purpose, other than our other eternal wars. They will be foaming and slavering on the sidelines, straining at their leashes, ready to annihilate any misguided wight that might Interrupt The Orderly Proceedings of our august legislative bodies as they line up to fellate the bastard.

The only question is how many will die. Give them any reason- any reason whatsoever- and there will be blood flowing in the gutters.

This is where we finally cross the dividing line between being an Amurika that supports Israel, or just being Israel. I’d prefer that we try actually being America again one day, but that ship has (as they say) sailed. There is no political will to be anything else, other than simply exporting wholesale death for whatever the market will bear.

Sorry for posting yet another series of thoughts that will certainly upset some folks, but this is the way it is.

Not a fan.

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Twice bitten, permanently shy.

@usefewersyllables dominates the thinking of Zionist Christians, likely the majority of people in the country, that it absolutely seems I live in some land mass of Israel named the USA, a/k/a Israel's colony.
I hear all these geopolitical experts say Israel is our aircraft carrier in the Middle East. I just feel that every day of my life, that they have control of the carrier.
I am an American. I am not an Israeli. I am not supposed to feel that I am, and I should not have any opinion about this suppressed by the government that I am supposed to have.
Israel is, to me, a foreign country, and an ally, and nothing more.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

@usefewersyllables

for this rant. Your words are extreme, but they don't even come close to addressing the savagery and the carnage of the war against children, the war against humanity, committed by the merchants of death. We just don't have words to describe how bad it is.

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lotlizard's picture

@Linda Wood  
Two thousand years later and here we are again — now, no longer just the one cray-cray ruler-guy, but an entire people opening up its soul to demonic possession by Herod’s cruel spirit …

And the U.S. office-holders who purport to represent us keep prostrating, and prostituting, themselves before, and to, the foreign rulers so possessed …

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and more importantly, the final 15 to 20 minutes is dedicated to the MIC basically supporting our economy, or perhaps more accurately, defining the economy by necessitating war. War or depression. They decide, not us.
Ritter speaking with Dima on Dialogue Works:

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

proves correct!

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enhydra lutris's picture

@humphrey

what could possibly be better timing. I don't believe it, however. She prefers to be a faux eminence gris than get her butt kicked again.

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

on the internet.
She is a possibility, however.
I am looking into some properties in Puerto Rico and Belize, just for funsies.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

snoopydawg's picture

Speaker Johnson Threatens To Arrest Lawmakers Who Disrupt Netanyahu's Congress Speech

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/speaker-johnson-threatens-arrest-law...

Johnson cast the deciding vote to not make intelligence agencies get a warrant before they spy on us.

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“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt

@snoopydawg amendments that disappear should include the 1st, 4th, 6th, and 14th.
The list is long.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

snoopydawg's picture

@on the cusp

It includes the castle doctrine that’s supposed to make us safe in our homes. No knock warrants nullifies that when cops can break in without warning. Try to protect your family and they should you dead including the dawg who’s protecting his family. No biggie if they go to the wrong fcking house.

People fled England because they wanted to escape all the shit that’s happening to us now. Half the country is rah rah the police. Idiots. Same for those who think the military is a force for good.

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“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt

@snoopydawg @snoopydawg No knock is supposed to be well supported by convincing evidence, not hunches. Well, it didn't work out that way.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

snoopydawg's picture

@on the cusp

And the damn air better work or I’ll be home Monday evening.
The best thing Sam likes about camping is how well we eat.

Some damn neighbors are shooting fireworks and I bet they came from Wyoming. It’s barely dark! Sam is in the bathroom. I wish people thought about pets and what they do to them!

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“When out of fear you twist the lesser evil into the lie that it is something good, you eventually rob people of the capacity to distinguish between good and evil.”
~ Hannah Arendt

@snoopydawg how New Years and July 4th have terrorized my various and sundry horses and dogs.
It just won't go away.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

lotlizard's picture

@snoopydawg  
https://www.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/pictures/drugwarevent/duke.html

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soryang's picture

...a relatively brief time, two and a half hours or so. Lightning struck a power pole across the street. The noise was deafening. After a while, the power came back, with the power company people with the bucket truck working on what looked like an insulator. Fortunately the AC came back on. The dog was freaking out during the storm which resumed after they left. There was a deja vu feeling to the whole thing. There was a funnel cloud starting to form later but that went away with no tornado as far as I could tell.

A neighbor called at one point to check to see if we had also lost power, it was just a local event. We got to talking about our 100 year old neighbor across the street, whom I hadn't seen in a while. I noted the caller had volunteered to do some maintenance type work for her over there. He told me she's had some cardio type problems and after a couple of in and outs at the hospital, was moved into an ALF. Incredibly, I had actually seen her driving her car about 4 or 5 weeks ago. Her husband Sam died about 4 years ago. He was a WWII vet, navy. I think I've mentioned before, he told me he was on two ships sunk by Japanese torpedoes.

This reminded me of my visit last week to the clinic for a regular eye checkup. I had started talking to a Korean war vet, who was, not a surprise, using a walker. When I left I saw him outside walking quite slowly toward cars in the parking lot. I watched him for a few minutes to make sure he was alright, he then finally got to his own car, and opened the rear hatch, with an electronic key. I was amazed to see he was alone, and evidently would be driving away himself. I asked if he needed help because he was struggling with the walker. I made some general compliment about his mobility, and "thanked him for his service." I had wanted to speak to him at length but he was leery of a too friendly stranger. He had to be at least 90 years old. Off he drove.

I hardly drive at all. In fact, someone offered me their late model car recently because they know I'm one car shy since the flood. His employer was buying him a new car. I turned it down politely. To me, another car is just a maintenance, upkeep, and insurance hassle. One car is now enough for us.

OTC, as far as cowboys go, I remember Roy and Dale, and Howdy Doody. These were probably my first TV memories. l also remember some John Wayne cowboy movies, then his wartime movie performances like Sands of Iwo Jima.

I watched all the old war films plus Victory at Sea, and The Twentieth Century, series. I think it was a turning point when I saw John Wayne in The Green Berets, doing the war act in Vietnam. I saw it in theater when it first came out and I thought it was ridiculous bs. I was quite young yet my intuitive skepticism concerning the propaganda film, definitely turned me against the war. Over time, the Green Berets, transformed into Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now. Roger Ebert in 1968 on The Green Berets:

As I have suggested, the film is embarrassing to hawks as well as doves. In one remarkable speech, John Wayne tells the journalist: "Out here, due process is a bullet."

I used to listen to economist Jack Rasmus regularly a several years ago. Lost track of him. This is a great article he wrote on the seizure of Russia's 300 billion dollars. The detail he goes into may be a little too much for most; after all its econ and finance stuff, but I'm amazed at how much he found out about this scheme-

Europe at the ‘Hot Gates’! $300 Billion of Seized Russian Financial Assets.

Such seizures are incredibly stupid and self defeating.

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語必忠信 行必正直

@soryang and living alone? What a woman!!! Damn!
There are TV shows that only involve the cowboy way and bad guys stealing livestock. Some old movies in that vein.
However, so many of them trended toward whites good, injuns bad, Mexicans bad. Wayne made his name in those sorts of movies. A few of them had him protecting the Red Men, but not many.
I think his Green Berets was to shore up support for war on the "others" on behalf of 'Merica.
Gunsmoke was on CBS, channel 11 locally. That came through the weakest, more static and rolling screen than ABC and NBC, so we couldn't watch it around my hometown.
Seems Dear One had all 20 seasons of Gunsmoke, and over a couple of years, I watched them all for the first time. Here I am, 2022, seeing the show for the first time. From beginning to end, it was absolutely pro-equality of races. All people of all races in all episodes were treated fairly, or if not, rescued and brought to environments of fairness. It did fairly accurately portray cattle drovers, cattle rustlers, horse trading, and just rough ride on horseback over the land.(Musn't forget gambling, saloons and whorehouses.)
Gobsmacking!
To this day, we have local cowboys, and an ethos of "the cowboy way", Cowboy Churches everywhere.
Your effort to help the old sailor get to his car was so respectful. Good on you!
Bottom line: to get a feel for anything truly wild west and life of a cowboy, try Gunsmoke and Rawhide, that series about cattle drives. Fairly accurate depiction of that life.
Thanks for dropping by, and enjoy what is left of your weekend, friend!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

soryang's picture

@on the cusp

I made up for it somewhat when driving because one XM satellite channel ran the earlier Gunsmoke radio series with William Conrad, playing the lead voice. Same for Have Gun- Will Travel , with John Dehner in the lead on the radio program.

We had only one tv, and my parents always preferred something else. As a boy, first with the cowboy fascination, then the military/war fixation. I think of this as the cultural tradition in the ether. I may be wrong, but this got much worse after WWII, the military fixation I mean. 20 years ago pulled the plug on US produced film and tv.

(edited typos)

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4 users have voted.

語必忠信 行必正直

@soryang tv and movies as I did. I watched some X-Files episodes in the 90s, and went with friends to see the Star Trek movie released in 2009. Haven't been to a theater since then. I turned off the cable and removed the satellite dish for the second and final time around 2010.
When we travel, Dear One hunts for the Inspire channel, watches western tv shows and movies. We can't find any other channel to offer anything entertaining or even mildly interesting.
My paternal grandfather participated in the Oklahoma Land Rush. He worked as a mule skinner and horse trader. There was not a huge difference in the culture of the Wild West and that of my grandparent. My father was born in a covered wagon. Women giving birth in wagons is a rather common story line in old westerns.
We only had 1 tv, 3 stations, only NBC came is strong and clear, with CBS and ABC being unsteady and unreliable.
Seems with only limited exposure to the Mighty Wurlitzer, we turned out ok, didn't we?
Visit Tombstone, AZ, for a day, for a very authentic look and feel for cowboys, range wars, gamblers, saloons, houses of ill repute, and the OK Corral.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

lotlizard's picture

@on the cusp  
(what we would now call a disability …)

> From beginning to end, it [Gunsmoke] was absolutely pro-equality of races

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enhydra lutris's picture

2024_member_badge.png

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

@enhydra lutris bear with me. I am not California Cool, not particularly hip to the trip.
What was that comment about? Mansplain at my request.

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

usefewersyllables's picture

@on the cusp

the Electronic Freedom Foundation- a not-for-profit that was put together to try, against all odds (and among other things) to focus on the preservation of personal privacy, in the face of what has turned out to be the onset of ubiquitous computing. It had its roots in the open-source computing world, back when that wasn’t yet a thing. It can be thought of as the brainchild of one Richard Stallman, who was the person who really started the whole GNU Unix thing, back when Unix was owned entirely by The Phone Company. BTW, GNU, in addition to being an amusing beast of burden, stands (recursively, of course) for Gnu’s Not Unix… They now do much more than just that, but it has proven to have been amazingly prescient.

Full disclosure- I went to school with Stallman at one of those damned silly East Coast schools, and have been a supporter of the EFF from Day 1. Good people.

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Twice bitten, permanently shy.

@usefewersyllables I had never heard of before! Count me in!

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

TheOtherMaven's picture

@usefewersyllables

I remember him as an eager-beaver gofer at science fiction conventions in the late 1970s and thereabouts. In those days he bore a striking resemblance to a young Harlan Ellison - and was probably the inspiration for a not-nice joke about some Big Name Fans noticing a young Harlan-alike and suggesting eliminating him before he grew into a mature one. Blum 3

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There is no justice. There can be no peace.

enhydra lutris's picture

@on the cusp

be seen as trying to bring our laws anr regulations/rules/mindset regarding all things at least quasi-modern into the modern era. Example: there was a courtcase that the polizei needn't get a warrant to intercept and use in prosecution one's cell-phone calls and their contents because the rules requiring them to do so were restrictions on wiretapping, whilst cellphones have no wires. That is just wrong, but it is illustrative of the starting point for an endless uphill climb.

My "picture" - the little "stop the NSA" badge is one of their creations and part of one of their campaigns. They generally have some sort of membership token available for use, among other things, as promotional material. I decided to grab the latest and see how it would look if a) posted and b) not a thumbnail. It is, to my eyes, a bit obtrusive, and probably should be a thumbnail.

thumb_2024_member_badge_0.png

Let's see if a thumbnail will work

be well and have a good one

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That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --

It is alive, well, so damn cute, where to begin?

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

Critters!

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4 users have voted.

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981

and old age...and everything in between...

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"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981