Saturday Open Thread - 8/9/25: Odds and Ends
Good morning, good people! I hope you are all in fine fettle and enjoying your weekend.
There is never any good news, but occasionally, there is a good source of opinion and even satire concerning the constant bad news. Gallows humor, I suppose.
A few weeks ago, I subscribed to Lee Camp's Redacted Tonight channel. I watched his RT show back in the day, and was actually surprised he is anywhere to be found.
He hammers Israel for their genocide. Up until I saw this 14 minute video, I had no idea he was a Jew. I enjoyed him skewering Jordan Peterson.
On a high note, an old and sick man with cancer of the brain interfered with the cops when they came to arrest his druggy daughter. I watched 4 body cam videos, the man has no defense that I could detect. He appeared to be lucid and understood what was happening, rushed in to interfere.
He hired me. I am charging him $500. My usual fee is way more, but there ya go. He will bring me $100 monthly until he pays it. The asst. District attorney and I struck a deal for me to postpone the case for 6 months, then the man's case will be dismissed if he watches a family fitness video class online. The DA said for a man in his dire circumstances, his punishment is paying for an attorney. If he dies before then, he goes on to a Higher Court having never been convicted of a crime here on this earth.
My crazy week of ups, downs, knowns, and unknowns finally settled into a steady reality that life is what you make of it, how you value friends and loved ones, and how you must treasure each day.
It can be a string of pearls, with thought, effort, and love.
This is an open thread, open to all ideas and discussions. If any of you have any idea that helps the rest of us, do not hesitate to share it, friends!
Comments
Happy Saturday, good people!
Lots of changes are going on in the world, including the rush to the CBDCs and 24/7 surveillance. We may be at yes, sir, in short order. But until then, say what's on your mind.
Go for it!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
In the universe of free thought
.
Still, indefinitely perhaps.
Thank you for sharing your observations
of life in your corner of America,
the tunes and open thread.
Much appreciated.
Zionism is a social disease
Good morning, Cap'n!
People are in prison for having criticized the Israeli government in European countries that have leaders actually saying the "g-word." Wtf? There is some bill on the books awaiting a vote to do the same in The Land of the Free (to suck up to Israel.) Will I be defending those thought crime criminals on my way to retirement?
My secretary gave me a little book full of lawyer jokes that had some actual transcripts from many trials, Here is one: Lawyer: I want to ask you questions about your 20yr old son. Witness: His name is Nathan. Lawyer: How old is Nathan?
And another: Lawyer: You are under oath to tell the truth and your answers must be oral. State your name: Witness: Oral. Lawyer: What is your address? Witness: Oral.
Enjoy your weekend, dear friend!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
When I appeared regularly
...in the state district court here for criminal cases, the court would only grant one continuance. A second continuance required some reasonable basis. The judge really wouldn't give any further continuances unless there was some constitutional basis that she knew would blow the case up on appeal. The prosecution pretty much never cooperated.
I had a case similar to the one you described, with an indigent old client who was living with a predatory daughter who pretty much stole his social security money every month. They were arguing about it, she went off on him like she was prone to do, pushing him around, throwing stuff at him, so he picked a butter knife (no point, no sharp edge) and started brandishing it her to get her to back off. Neighbors I guess heard all the screaming and called the cops. Arrested and the prosecution charged him with assault with a deadly weapon.
I told the judge at the first appearance I thought my client was not competent, and needed a mental eval. There was an HHS rep in the courtroom, who said my client wasn't legally qualified for the agency to pay for an eval. So the judge denied the claim. I got a second continuance, said I needed to develope the defense evidence. When I came back for the second status hearing, I told the judge that it was outrageous that I couldn't get a competency hearing for this old guy (of course he was black, most people in pretrial confinement were black) and that it was a violation of his rights to schedule his trial without the competency evaluation. The judge basically told me I was full of it.
Ha, ha. There was a reporter in the courtroom, and he cornered me when I left the courtroom. I told him what the HHS rep had said at the previous hearing. I then I explained that what this boiled down to was the state didn't want to pay for the eval because $$$$$$. He published this in the local paper which is widely circulated in the county. The judge went f...ing bonkers. She paid for the eval out of the judicial budget, and had him released from jail, and had a voluntary agency put him up in some kind of assisted living place. Case over. Defense counsel's career basically over at this point, as superiors and judge had the knives out. Blacklisted after this.
What's OLOP or whatever you said yesterday OTC? I liked the comment you made about 69-72 the war era etc.
edited for mistakes
語必忠信 行必正直
Good morning, soryang!
Well, I am a fellow black list member. I raised objections about picking a 95% white jury in a case where a black man was accused of murdering a white man. The jury selection took place on MLK Day, which was a voluntary holiday, not yet official. Any black person who failed to show up for jury duty was excused, not punished. Well, I wrote and argued the appeal, and the dissent used that issue to argue that the man was entitled to a new trial. The Opinion was published in the Southwestern Reporter 2nd Series, and that was the last time any court in Texas was held on MLK Day, long before it was declared an official holiday. That was the last court appointed criminal appeal I ever got. That was supposed to be my career.
Incompetency exams are paid for by the county and are easy to get. 20 years ago, the rate of incompetency being the result was 20%. Now, it is 60%. Drugs do that. Continuances are rarely denied here. It is possible my client will die from cancer in the next 6 months.
OPOL was a favorite contributor at Dailykos who became one on C99. An author, a convicted felon who became an advocate for his fellow inmates, a traveler who lived for a time in Central America, and everyone's friend, a true, peace mongering hippie we that knew him will always miss.
You and I are living proof that no good deed goes unpunished, my friend.
Enjoy your weekend!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Wow!
Love that MLK story, OTC. Thanks for explaining OPOL. I was looking for its possible meaning, and I found one parent, one language. Which is kind of amusing, because this is the way we lived. My daughter benefited from this.
語必忠信 行必正直
Good morning otc, thanks for the OT, tunes and Lee Camp.
Farmers' market today, also must clean grill from doing a spatchcocked chicken thwe other day. I also get to go tend to a friend's chickens today and tomorrow while she's away and it will be at least high 80s today.
Meanwhile the Z man is saying that the Ukies won't give up any land and the orange dotard is alleged to have proposed some sort of land swap. Putin ought to say "fine, all of Natostan keeps insisting tht we intend to overrun all of Europe, so we'll swap; we give Zman as much of Lithuania as he can hold and we get as much of Ukiestan as we want. We admittedly have no legit claim to Lithuania, but he has no legit claim to eastern ukiedom either." zit would be fun to see Lavrov start spouting "Crimea, Donbass and Luhansk have a right to exist and they have a right to defend themselves" and see what Team Idiot has to say about that.
Hmmm, that felt good.
The scrub jays are reminding me that I haven't fed them yet, so I'd best get it in gear.
be well and have a good one
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 --
Good morning, el!
Chicken (shit) duty in the hot sun? Hoo, wee!
Our charcoal grill lasted 3 or 4 years, as they typically do. We gave it to a friend to salvage to make him a few bucks. If Dear One wants to fool with it today, it would be a good day to buy a new one and get it seasoned.
Get in touch with Witkoff, see if your plan would catch Trump's attention for 3 seconds. Make that 2 seconds. That's his limit.
Well, Ukraine was someone else's idea. And, here we are.
Glad you enjoyed Camp. I expect him to be consored off the internet in fairly short order.
Feed all birds, domestic or otherwise, and have a great weekend, dear friend!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
That's a superb argument...
...because it contains fully the concept of justice for the human population of the former Soviet Union.
.
The landmass that is now called "Ukraine" (as of 1997) was originally created by the Russian Tsars as a block of "borderlands" to act as a buffer zone between Europe and Russia — because Russia was continuously invaded by Europe via that passage. Kiev, the former Russian capitol, was abandoned in the borderlands because it had been attacked and destroyed by Europeans so frequently.
The so-called Ukrainians are Russians who speak a Russian gutter-language. They outlawed spoken Russian because it makes them sound stupid.
Good morning...
Been a busy one here ...still playing catch up. Got all the errands run this AM. This is the weekend of the "World's Largest Yard Sale". So, there was plenty of traffic as people shop for more stuff.
A couple of my buddies set up and do quite well. Not for me. I'll keep my own junk.
Tried something new recently...put a fuel additive designed to clean the injectors. Boosted our newest car's mileage another mpg, and made my old 92 model run better. So I guess it was worth it.
well take care and have a good day. Thanks for the OT!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
Drove a TR-4 with twin Strombergs for a while.
After the change to unleaded fuel I started adding a can of 104+ to each tank of gas and it ran much, much better than without. Those additives can make a real difference at times. Gasoline isn't fungible because the refiners mess with it. Chevron owns Texaco, but my previous wheels, Ram 2500 Hemi, ran fine on Chevron (and Valero), but ran for shit on Texaco.
be well and have a good one
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 --
Good morning, LO!
Man, every mpg saves, so congrats on the experiment.
What we see around here are old trucks. Decades old and running like a charm. Mostly Fords and Chevys. Apparently parts are available for trucks made in the 70s and 80s. Whereas, my 2021 Hyundai needed a fuel injector replacement and it took the dealership 2 weeks to get it delivered. Hmmm...
Well, I have a day planned to do nothing. Maybe some deer will show up to entertain me eventually.
I am curious about the shooting that occurred at the CDC headquarters. Seems the shooter blamed the vax for making him ill, according to his parents.
It didn't have to be this way, my friend.
Take care of your junk! Take that anyway you wish!
Enjoy your weekend!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Regarding Lee Camp
He is shooting fish in a barrel as he rebuts Zionist rationalizations for following the geopolitical strategy of Adolf Hitler. I can't disagree with any of his sarcastic slam dunks of the outrageous and transparent bullshit coming from Israel. He is in synch with Caitlin Johnstone with his extreme anger they display in their internet presentations.
It is all so wearying. Reminding me of the Vietnam War that I did not have to fight in due to the luck of the draft lottery. For all my junior and senior high school years, it was a perpetual nightmare as the dead GIs were coming home by the thousand. The anti-war minority made a lot of noise, so much so that they ended the draft. Phew!
I do not recall much more in the way of outrage over how many people we killed. The first anti-war success in the national media came when Walter Cronkite turned on the war. Because we were losing!
Here is how Wiki relates the grizzly facts:
The low end estimate for indo-chinese deaths at our hands comes to 1,265,000.
Lots of us were outraged by our GIs slaughtering The Enemy. Never even close to a majority.
There is nothing new about mass slaughter. I share the indignation. But I have not seen much success stemming from it.
People are no damned good, as my Uncle Jack used to say
I cried when I wrote this song. Sue me if I play too long.
fwf,
you are here, truly, by luck of the draw.
Not only did I attend funerals of my high school classmates, I am still attending funerals due to Agent Orange.
I toured Laos and Cambodia, never made it to Nam. We heard stories about locals who had been informants and cooperated with our military. When we pulled out, those people were slaughtered for being spies. I mean, descendants were telling me stories about their grandfathers and uncles who thought the family would be taken to the US, but they and their families were all killed by their betrayed citizens.
Cronkite, in one news broadcast, became the head of the anti-war movement. We do not have such a media person today. We do not have the freedom of movement or speech today for organizing protests that we had back then. You could spend the weekend protesting, go back to work Monday. Now, you can't even get an interview for a job. Or denied enrollment into a university. You could be kicked out of school. Pitting one's own very survival against the survival of Palestinians takes brave souls willing to sacrifice everything.
Will we oldsters lose our pensions or Social Security if we don't toe the line? Would any of us be shocked if it came to that?
After our success back then, I never expected it would come to this.
I am proud of us, fwf. We were simply all that. Maybe the youth can find a way.
Thanks for your comment, and have the best weekend you possibly can, friend
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
That's why the Democratic Party leaders today....
....are composed largely of human filth.
Good afternoon, PR!
I seldom bother criticizing Republicans. They are committed to Hoovering up all capital from the 99%, and that is what they do, day in, day out. They are not duplicitous.
Democrats do the same Hoovering while posturing as the party of the middle class.
Hell is not hot enough for them, as they lie, cheat, and steal from their constituents.
There is no solution to this problem until it becomes illegal to take campaign contributions and to practice insider trading. From that starting point, we just might reclaim democracy.
Enjoy your weekend, friend. Thanks for posting that map of Ukraine.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
I agree with your views on Republican
....politicians. I, too, largely ignore them. The Dem leaders get my wrath because they have been dedicated to silencing the Left in the US. It's a form of political genocide.
That makes them pretty loathsome to me. If I didn't live in the US, I would ignore it altogether.
Before the US destroyed Ukraines government in 2014, the people had know idea what was about to happen to them. There was nothing anyone could do or say to stop the overthrow. The sense of impending crisis in Ukraine — at that time — reminds me of the mood in the US today.
"If we don't have regime change in (list the countries),
we are gonna be in Big Trouble!"
We need to stay out of Venezuela, for example. Where is the nominally left side Dems advocating to leave Maduro alone?
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Interesting chart
More at the link
Ukrainian Support for War Effort Collapses
語必忠信 行必正直
Well, well...
Fighting to the last Ukrainian has lost its' cache'? Losing their lives to kill Russians without a single loss of Americans isn't as cool to them as it is to Lindsay Graham?
I did read somewhere that our chats with Russia were "productive", whatever that means.
What it means to me is that we are making a pivot to China, continuing to bring the globe to nuclear annihilation, sooner rather than later.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Another Lee Camp video
This is 25 mins with topics being the dangers of AI and the strange orders for the IDF soldiers to stand down and let the Oct. 7 Hamas attack happen.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Not following Tim's train of thought here
but this story of long range bombers striking Japanese cities with a large single bomb, before Hiroshima and Nagasaki reminded me of the B-2 MOP bunker buster attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities last June.
I feared at the time that these may have been similar to recon "dry runs" for something much worse later in Iran. Fortunately, it doesn't seem so thus far. I know from following the military exercises and other military situations in Korea, that B-1 northerly runs from a coast in point to a bombing range in South Korea probably cause similar fear in North Koreans. For this reason the tacit agreement by Trump to stop these strategic training runs, which lasted until Yoon got elected, really lowered the tensions. The reduction of joint US Korean military exercises in the field during the Moon administration during the thaw with North Korea and the creation of "buffer zones" also went a long way to improving security. After the denuclearization talks failed, the US was happy to reverse all this with Yoon in office.
Earlier this am, I watched an MBC report that laid out the available info on Yoon's drone missions into North Korea last October and November. Some flew over Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, and one is alleged to have flown over one of Kim's Jong-un's nearby residences. Later drone runs went over Nampo, on the west sea coast, where there are a concentration of North Korea's military bases. To me it's amazing they didn't retaliate against South Korea in some way, which I'm sure was the objective of Yoon's cabal of plotters.
One reporter, who had several anonymous military sources, claimed that the commander of the drone forces was heard telling someone on a phone call, that his commander would not approve of such missions. The implication is that the Chief of Staff of the South Korean Armed Forces, had no knowledge of these drone missions into North Korea, and wouldn't approve because they were so provocative. Therefore it is believed that the person ordering these missions was a civilian, perhaps the Defense Minister. The object of the scheme allegedly to create a national security emergency to justify martial law.
So these current efforts below to reduce tension initiated by Lee Jae-myung are also welcome, and there is a sign that the North may be reciprocating. This could portend good news elsewhere in the world.
S.Korean military: N.Korea removes loudspeakers along the border
語必忠信 行必正直
Thanks for sharing the unredacted pieces
'
Lee is still sorta funny
after all these years
Zionism is a social disease
I had never heard of the pumpkin bomb drops
before. And, I am surprised to read about a de-escalation of NK and SK tensions.
So many conflicts around the world, it's hard to keep up with developments. At least you keep us all updated on all things SK. Much appreciated, friend.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Well, soryang, et al,
Here is a video about China's effort to beat down fascism, and the atrocities committed by Japan, and the contributions of China to help the Allies win WWII. 53 minutes of history not taught in this country.
Garland Nixon is in this chat. A Chinese and a Filipino journalist are also interviewed. Likely few of us know about what Japan did in the lead up to and during WWII.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Colby wants Japan to have nukes
Think about it.
I try to read a fair amount of Asian history. Early on I found that most of the history I read in English about Korea was entirely focused on US military exploits. It takes an active effort to find reliable accounts that don't exclude the unpleasant or inconvenient truth. Too bad I came to this subject matter later in life.
The bloggers I follow, the expats living in Japan, and Tim Shorrock, and others dig up a lot of old historical documents, diaries, and other accounts of Asian history that reveal quite a bit. In other words primary sources. They also refer to the work of journalists and historians in the past who have written on these subjects, who may have not been very popular, and articles on or by these people. I learned quite a bit from watching South Korean programming mostly on youtube but also a couple of Asian media channels. One of these carried a history program that discussed mostly Korean modern history. This naturally is also a history of Japan, as its invader, colonizer and abuser. One of the problems in keeping up with the available historical work when you find it, is that there is so much contemporary news, you have to switch back and forth.
Accounts of Japanese imperialism were not popular at all in the US and were actively suppressed after WWII. Japan, as a large donor, supports many of the US conservative think tanks and in that fashion tries to control messaging. Like the US they patronize and sponsor scholars they think are going to be influential to ensure favorable consideration. Critical historical, media or academic accounts as pointed out in the program above are disfavored by the government of Japan, and actively lobbied against and suppressed. Imo, the US government, think tanks and media all cooperate in this effort. In Japan itself their history of aggression, conquest and crimes against humanity is completely removed from their public education system. This is the so called "textbook issue."
The project is so large, and there is not much time for people to learn the truth. I try to learn about the geography, culture and to some extent the language, as well, to gain greater understanding. I watch old Lee Kuan Yew and George Yeo interviews, former English speaking Singaporean politicians to gain from their insights. Lee emphasizes "I understand you westerners, but you do not understand me as an Asian. I speak your language, you do not speak mine. I know your culture, you do not know mine. How could you possibly know how to run my country better than we do here?" I know how you think but you don't know how I think or words to that effect. This was the big US problem with "losing China." John Service and the other China hands who understood why Chiang Kai-shek would lose the civil war were driven out of government by the McCarthyites. If you understand an Asian country the way it really is, you must be a "communist." True in almost any political situation, if you tell or demonstrate to the boss, what they don't want to hear, things aren't going to go well, unless the boss is unusually prescient.
Lyle Goldstein brilliantly warned in a relatively recent seminar that the US better be careful in initiating war with China over Taiwan because it might become the United States' own Battle of the Tsushima Straits experience. I wonder if Pete Hegseth even knows what that means.
On the other hand, the only reason Mearsheimer has academic connections in China, is because they want to know how Americans think geopolitically. He assumes they think the same way, but he's wrong. His "realist" perspective doesn't necessarily have universal application, it is western cultural artifact. "I like the Chinese, I get along with my Chinese colleagues." Mearsheimer
Everything about the Philippines need to be studied more carefully. The territorial disputes in East Asia as well. The Philippines are taken for granted because they have given up whatever autonomy they had tried to gain from kicking us out years ago.
語必忠信 行必正直
One of my travel pals
is a second gen Filipino who's g'parents came here post-WWII. Her family always focused on the difficulties of settling here, and her sister even wrote a book about how badly Filipino farm workers in California were treated, but not a word, not a single word, about back home and what happened to cause them to come here in the first place.
The more w know about this history, the better prepared we become for the future.
If it ever comes down to "Who's side are you on, Boy?", we make the right choice.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Saw this post on Tinian and Ishigaki
Coincidentally, I just learned today a little bit about Tinian (from a travelogue I was watching) before the US took it over, the Japanese invaded it and the Mariannas. They dragged along a few thousand Korean slave laborers to build their new digs, headquarters etc. Farm their crops. After the US military liberated these islands, including Tinian, the launch site of its nuclear attack on Japan and the war ended not all the Koreans were allowed to go home, because they didn't have their paperwork. So to the present time, there are about 2000 ethnic Koreans living in the Northern Mariannas. Apparently quite a few still speak Korean. Many of the islanders are part Korean as they have intermarried over the generations.
Gee, I wonder what the Americans will use the restored airfield for?
語必忠信 行必正直
Holy shit
It just never ends...
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
China Movie Feature
.
Jason , from Living in China, recaps his 13 years of movie-making adventures and highjinks in China — satirically titled "Time for the Truth." Enjoy.
The 4 cities he suggested visiting
were 4 I visited, as well as the Gorges, and a float down the Yangtze. The food sucked back then. Glad it is good now.
I got the creeps about the cashless society, the social credit score, and the surveillance. The tour guide whispered answers to questions so as not to be heard. I did ride the train, and did feel safe everywhere except from the ever present military-like police. They all had extremely hostile facial expressions and body language.
I dunno, PR...safety is not just from some random criminal. One also has to be safe from a totalitarian government and their police force for wrong-think.
Remarkable country, wonderful people, and I wish them well. I want the US to be at peace with them.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Thanks PR
Not only is he entertaining, but I can learn from the subs.
語必忠信 行必正直
BAD ASS Maduro is my heart!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
There's this from Richard Wolff
caveat: Illegals that come to Texas, or who have come to Texas, are not all good guys and gals. I would be happy to show Prof. Wolff the cartel activities very close to my community. Those are the places even the cops don't go, except by helicopter fly overs.
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981