Outside the Asylum

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Come outside.

I've been away for the past few days with my mom. I've been trying to spend more time with her, and we've both been trying to have some fun in the aftermath of several deaths. That may sound weird, but the worse things get, the more each of us--my mom and I--understands the importance of fun. Fun is a lot more important than I used to think. Odd that increased age would make me understand that.

While getting smacked around by the Atlantic--which doesn't mean I don't like the Atlantic, I do, but for a girl who grew up on the Gulf Coast, let's just say that it's always an adjustment to go swimming in an actual ocean--I had a lot of ideas for new essays. Maybe the Atlantic was smacking the ideas into me. (Sometimes the Universe does that, like me trying to budge a dug-in mule with a 2 by 4.)

--Ten minutes after writing those two paragraphs--

Well, it looks like I'm not gonna be sharing those ideas with you today, because I just got a call from my mom. A friend of her husband's (who also happens to be my therapist) wrote a song for my mom's husband and is performing it, um, soon. My mom feels like she needs to go, and she doesn't drive very well at night. At the same time, Kate's having some bad reactions to the blood pressure meds and diuretic they put her on, which are lowering her blood pressure alarmingly, resulting in dangerous dizziness, so my other partner can't leave her to go with my mom.

So rather than composing my new essay, Apparently Black People Can't Die of Thirst: Anti-Racism and Digital Culture in the 21st Century, I'm gonna drive my mom across town to watch a musical performance. Instead of that essay, I'm going to leave you with this installment of Tim Black's show. It's about Jeffrey Epstein. My favorite part of it is where he talks about how nobody is surprised in the hood when people get killed before they can talk to the cops. But probably the most valuable part of it is when a former cop and corrections officer from North Carolina calls in and gives her perspective on what standard procedure is inside a jail. That part is well worth your time.

Hope you all are doing well this week. I'll be here tomorrow to chat about the Tim Black video--and anything else you'd like. I'll also crank out Apparently Black People Can't Die of Thirst sometime this week; I'm looking forward to seeing what y'all think of it.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

Hope you all are doing well today.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

CStMS. No pressure from any of us, and no need to put pressure on yourself. I hope your mom and you find some comfort in the song, or maybe just in the fact that someone cared enough to compose it. Meanwhile, thank you for this open thread.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@HenryAWallace

I really do want to write it, actually--but thank you very much. Smile

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

enhydra lutris's picture

loading of perishables and electronics, etc. and then heading north. Do make sure to have fun. We've lived out lives subject to constant reminders of every other value in life and the constant downplaying of the importance and necessity of fun, and have to rimine ourselves to do so at every possibly opportunity.

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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 --

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@enhydra lutris

Engaged in by people of bad character. Libertine men and scarlet women!

Have a great time, EL!

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

trips, bon voyage.
The caller on the Tim Black video was laying out a compelling case for Epstein's death to be fake. I do not believe that was him on the gurney.
Tim is exactly right that a guy from the hood who would be giving up names would likely get killed, and anyone questioning an official report of suicide would be called smart, not a conspiracy theorist.
Only Epstein.

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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 I feel the same. If you look at the picture, it appears there is only a head. Looking toward the end of the gurney, it seems there is no body with no legs. I tried to look at pics of him, the hairline and color, and I don't believe they match.

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In life, as in dance, grace glides on blistered feet. ~Alice Abrams

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@on the cusp

And he's got lots of friends in high places.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Deja's picture

@on the cusp
The caller was great. I don't believe that was him on the gurney either. I believe the caller, well, called it. I also believe the recent pic of his procurer of sex abuse victims casually reading a book about the cia in Los Angeles was staged.

We've been fed a steaming hot bowl of bullshit regarding all of this.

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@Deja photos taken by the police, and none of them had dramatic nose curvature changes, or ear changes, or changes to eye brow placement.
Questions about the whole Epstein affair should begin with his arrest. Why then? Why there? How could he have walked/flown right into that arrest warrant? And then it really gets strange!
And to have questions means I (we?) are nutty conspiracy theorists?
I guess the newest iteration of patriotism and support of our government authorities requires stupidity.

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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

Anja Geitz's picture

@on the cusp

I think a compliant population has always been a component of patriotism. The more compelling question is who benefits from a "patriotic" citizenry?

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There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

Deja's picture

@on the cusp
The color is always slightly off, even with make-up -- though I've never seen one with jaundiced looking hands. They're always cold and stiff to the touch, but they never had new noses, eyebrows or ears.

And yes, we are supposed to agree and regurgitate, repeatedly, the official narrative, lest we be labelled CT loons.

So, a single magic bullet fired by Oswald from above and behind Kennedy's head caused his head to fling back and to the left toward Jackie. Check! Cigarette smoking is good for you too because 9 out of 10 doctors prefer a certain brand. AIDS is also a gay disease. Aspartame has no neurological side effects and was designed specifically as an additive to liquids. We're supposed to also believe that a plane hit the Pentagon, but are only allowed to see an image that doesn't look like a plane, but were allowed to see, in real time, actual planes hitting the twin towers. Unquestionably, a plane. Somehow, same story for Building 7. Check.

Just a short list of what I'm supposed to agree with and push, lest I be labelled a loon.

[video:https://youtu.be/5yTwD7U_XV4]

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snoopydawg's picture

@on the cusp

Sirena posted these two

41DE5BC9-FE24-4AEE-B23A-79BC9DE3AF44_0.jpeg
5FFCEB28-FE89-4454-A0CD-F63F089AEC29_0.jpeg

I posted this one

IMG_3663_1.JPG

Who got the heads up that Epstein was on his way out of the prison and to the hospital?

The nose is different in the ones of him on the gurney from what I see.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@snoopydawg

Isn't it a little odd for a journalist to be able to get a photo of a high-profile prisoner who died in the hands of the authorities? Maybe if they got a blurry photo in transit, I could believe it, but that looks like someone let them in the room. How could they have gotten that photo unless the authorities in charge of Epstein allowed them to at least open the hospital room door--or walk into the ICU?

Doesn't all this seem off, particularly in these surveillance- and "security"-conscious days?

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Anja Geitz's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal

Isn't it a little odd for a journalist to be able to get a photo of a high-profile prisoner who died in the hands of the authorities?

I also thought it was a little odd that after the "killing" of Osama bin Laden, we immediately dropped his body off in the ocean. And if my faulty memory serves me, didn't the original team of green berets who killed him die in a helicopter "accident" sometime after that, or am I mis-remembering events?

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There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

snoopydawg's picture

@Anja Geitz

Convenient that some journalist was in the right spot for the photo.
Convenient that ObL was dumped at sea with no autopsy or photographs showing that he was really dead.
Convenient that Seal team 6 just happened to crash their helicopter and every one of them died.
Convenient that the camera outside Epstein's cell wasn't working.
Convenient that there weren't enough staff on that night and that they both fell asleep.
Convenient that.... yep. Way too many convenient things happen at such convenient times.

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ggersh's picture

@snoopydawg https://www.truthdig.com/articles/the-jeffrey-epstein-scandal-is-much-bi...

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=285&v=4A78Zu9ZgT8]

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I never knew that the term "Never Again" only pertained to
those born Jewish

"Antisemite used to be someone who didn't like Jews
now it's someone who Jews don't like"

Heard from Margaret Kimberley

snoopydawg's picture

@ggersh

This is a great summary of her previous 3 essays on the history of using sex for blackmail. She tweeted that her next segment will be out soon. This one will be on the Clintons. You can find her essays on mintpress if you weren't aware of that. She has done some intensive research.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@snoopydawg

Is the photographer pressed up against a window?

What the hell are the protoculs when taking a high-profile felon to a hospital after he turns up mostly dead in his cell? You just call 911, like I would do if I thought somebody was having a stroke, and then the Fire Department shows up...it's the same process, with no additional security, if it's a felon in a high-security lockup?

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Deja's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal
The 2 pics with the black thing in them. The pics were taken from a vehicle, through a building window (see the silver or gray bar/window frame) imo.

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Deja's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal
Look at the orange portable gurney things hanging on the wall. I think that's a fire station or something similar. People have pointed out the walls are too dirty to be a hospital on Twitter and such.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@Deja

mostly dead in his cell, you call the NYFD to pick him up and take him down to the station?

Can that possibly be right?

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@Deja

of the photos; just commenting on how surreal all this seems to me.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Lookout's picture

Incorporating more fun and play into your daily life can improve the quality of your relationships, as well as your mood and outlook

https://www.helpguide.org/articles/mental-health/benefits-of-play-for-ad...

Hope your day is lots of fun. We had fun yesterday. Played a dance up on the mountain in the AM. Went down to the river for Woodstock themed skits followed by a swim. Then a concert by the visiting band before a big potluck dinner. Then we stayed and danced the first half of the evening dance. Lovely day. They are dancing again there as I write this.

Enjoy yourself!

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

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@Lookout

Wow, you all are having such fine (and fun) times. Here's to ya!

As they say, "Meet me in the country for a day."

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

Anja Geitz's picture

Sometimes the only requirement to having fun is just being silly.

image_15.jpg

Here's to finding new ways to make each other laugh. Smile

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There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

Deja's picture

@Anja Geitz
It reminds me of the little girl almost doing gymnastics and contortions in the chair next to me, having a full conversation with herself in Spanish yesterday, while I was waiting to have my leaky tire inspected and fixed or replaced. She was having the time of her life and it made me smile. (I normally allow myself to get irritated with kids in public, but lately have been trying to let things go.) She reminded me of myself at her age, though I would have been hit had I done that in public. She made me smile and giggle. She made my 3 hr wait a lot less of an ordeal and she was only there for about 30 mins of it.

Your picture made me smile too. Thanks for that! Have a great Sunday.

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Anja Geitz's picture

@Deja

Had a 5 year old kid come up to my register recently asking for a lollipop (TJ's gives lollipops to kids but recently we ran all out). When I told him I didn't have any lollipops for him and offered him stickers instead, he leaned in and asked me in a whisper,

"Are there any lollipops at the other registers?"

I laughed so hard I bought him a candy bar for not taking "no" for an answer!

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There is always Music amongst the trees in the Garden, but our hearts must be very quiet to hear it. ~ Minnie Aumonier

Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@Anja Geitz

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

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mimi's picture

I see at least three Epsteins in the video and photos. I dont think he is dead at all. There are doubles and triples. All this is a distraction play for you to have something to have fun thinking about ad nauseam.

Sigh.

Ban me now. I misbehaved.

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Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal's picture

@mimi @mimi

unless it's a full-blown character attack.

And if what you were saying wasn't mockery, then it really isn't a bannable offense.

Anyhow, nobody talking on this thread has the authority to ban you, happily for us.

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"More for Gore or the son of a drug lord--None of the above, fuck it, cut the cord."
--Zack de la Rocha

"I tell you I'll have nothing to do with the place...The roof of that hall is made of bones."
-- Fiver

mimi's picture

@Cant Stop the Macedonian Signal
imaginary flirt with JtC, because I believe I know that he can't stand me talking BS. Wink

Nothing for Ungood.
Have a good night.

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snoopydawg's picture

@lotlizard

that is if they don't get in one with Russia first. But I've read that soon we will be kissing up to Russia so they will help us with our war with China first and then we can finally knock off Russia and own the world. Yippee.

But if the people who are thinking up places for us to go to war with thinks it's going to be hard to knock off Iran, it's going to be much more difficult to win one with China. Neither of them are weak nations who have given up their big weapons or don't have a way to fight back.

The U.S. is helping train naval forces for countries like Vietnam; promising to defend the territorial integrity of countries like Japan and the Philippines; performing freedom of navigation patrols through contested waterways; and courting new allies like the small Pacific island nations in Oceania.

The USA is overextending itself lately. It can't defend Europe from Russia if it moves nukes into European countries and win a war with Iran and China. If any of that happened all Russia would need to do would be to attack the mainland with an EMP and poof they win the world. I think every person involved with thinking up new war plans should watch V for Vendetta and see what happened after we overextended ourselves.

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detroitmechworks's picture

Did a volunteer job at the Nikkei Group, and a Judo Demonstration.

I'm a lot better than I used to be and today really drove it home. You don't think you're awesome until you get an outside opinion. (Had four people walk up to me today and ask "Aren't you hurt?" after I took about ten throws and performed as many. Nope... I just have fundamentals, but they're GOOD fundamentals. )

Been kinda difficult with mental health, but I'm moving forward. Turning off the news helped Immeasurably. Because all it does is upset me and my life is good.

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I do not pretend I know what I do not know.

lotlizard's picture

Debating details and competing speculations can turn into just another big distraction.

https://off-guardian.org/2019/08/18/jeffrey-epstein-and-the-spectacle-of...

https://www.counterpunch.org/2019/08/16/la-danse-mossad-robert-maxwell-a...

Edited to add:
Who protected Epstein for decades, and why?

Which leads us to the basic questions of the case: who protected Epstein for decades, and why? There are several explanations floating around for the why: those in power enjoyed their diabolically exploitive visits to Lolita Island and wanted to continue their criminal gratifications.

The second explanation is that Epstein was a spy for a “friendly” foreign intelligence agency and therefore off-limits. (“Friendly” is in quotes because when it comes to intelligence, one’s “friends” can do more damage than one’s worst enemies.)

Let’s say this turns out to be true. Wouldn’t the NSA, CIA and FBI know of Epstein’s activities and connections to a foreign intelligence service? Of course they would. So at a minimum, we can infer the NSA, CIA and FBI enabled Epstein’s operation to continue for some benefit, perhaps relating to “honeypot” blackmail and control of “assets,” unwilling or willing.

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An audio interview about the syndicate surrounding Epstein with the amazing, brilliant, high energy dynamo, Whitney Webb. She really, truly knows her stuff, so if you have about an hour to listen, it’s well worth your time. (The first 5 minutes are just the podcaster’s blapping and can be skipped.)

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-a2j2h-bbb8b8

James Corbett’s thorough, comprehensive exploration into the Jeffery Epstein “suicide” -- also about an hour.

https://www.corbettreport.com/epsteindeath/

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Lurking in the wings is Hillary, like some terrifying bat hanging by her feet in a cavern below the DNC. A bat with theropod instincts. -- Fred Reed https://tinyurl.com/vgvuhcl