In a recent 911 call in Gastonia, North Carolina, a woman can be heard saying that the situation was "bullcrap" and accusing a homeless person of "using the dog to get money."
The police did what police do when it comes to homeless people.
Reframing the Covid crisis to create opportunities to move forward long standing goals has been part of saga we have been living. This sequence of articles is simply part of one country's journey.
A few articles of interest.
“Learn the rules like a pro, so you can break them like an artist.”
Pablo Picasso
Taiwan, one of the hotpots for potential of a major war since the retreat of the Nationalist Army and Republic of China leaders in 1949 has been increasingly strident for attention again since United States left Afghanistan. A coordinated propaganda campaign appears to be attempting to prod China into an action that may be responded to with military action.
Wall Street Journal broke the story this month Marines have been in Taiwan training troops for the past year.
A bombshell Wall Street Journal report has revealed (and confirmed) that an elite contingent of special operations Marines has been deployed to Taiwan for at least the past year - a revelation sure to outrage Beijing amid ongoing charges that the US has effectively abandoned the status quo One China policy.
Citing US officials with knowledge of the program, the report details that "About two dozen members of U.S. special-operations and support troops are conducting training for small units of Taiwan’s ground forces," and that "The U.S. Marines are working with local maritime forces on small-boat training." It's the first such openly confirmed US training deployment in support of local forces since 1979. Taiwan media previously reported it, but this is the first time US officials are providing confirmation.
Halloween wants mushrooms.
I was hoping 
the recent bomb cyclone would sprout some down there below the porch, around the base of the plum, their usual spot. But, so far, nothing. Still, a couple days to go. So. Maybe.
Once it was Official Tradition hereabouts that when came Halloween you would wait impatiently for the day to be over, and the kiddies to go out in the evening for the treats, and then when all that was done, you would eat mushrooms, and go to the Road Raisin show, where Bob Burow would be dressed like a wizard, and play like one too. And a good time was had by all.
Mushrooms are their own Ruler, and so their potency, it is whatever they themselves decree. Thus, you never really know what you’ll get. Sometimes you can sufficiently maintain so you could, like, go in and apply for a bank loan. It’s just there’d be kind of a pinkish shimmer to things. Whereas, other times. You go to fucking outer space.
Happy Friday. Post whatever you got.
Sunday is Halloween. I hope everybody already has their costume picked out.
Not my photo, but I couldn't pass up on Harland and the Hens.
In the tubes this morning
is a story about “Jewitches”—women who know they are both Jewish, and witches. “The kinds of witchcraft that I practice draw on my training in Jewish ritual,” says one. Well. Yeah.
This follows a recent story with the headline: “Why Are Women Becoming Witches?”
I laughed out loud at that one. “Because they already are!” I said. “It’s just a question of whether they recognize it.”
All women are witches. This is Known. When once men got control of the words, and the stories, witches started getting portrayed as Bad. But that is just shit made up. Witches—that is, women—are actually Good. Unless you are bad to them. Then, there might be a Problem.
I apologize for this greatly truncated and over simplified version of events. I wanted to quickly hop, skip and jump over the premise to get to the point. Admittedly, much has been omitted in the run up to current affairs, so please bear with my brevity and hopefully it will appear somewhat coherent. This is an age old dialogue that we've all contemplated for decades, but it is now staring us right square in the face, much to our chagrin.
The day the hunter-gatherer stepped foot from the forest and scratched the earth to plant a crop was the day that set us on the path where we find ourselves today. Because of this new sedentary lifestyle brought on by agriculture and animal husbandry, villages, towns, and cities were subsequently established due to the capacity to store enough surplus food stuffs to survive the winter. Humans like feeling safe and their bellies full.
As the population grew and soil lost its fertility, water dried up and/or fouled, the need for new fresh dirt and water to grow ever larger crops led to outward expansion. This expansion often led to war with neighbors. As these populations grew into city states it foreshadowed empire. As empires grew so did the demand for more resources, a demand that prompted even further expansion and further conquest.
The Dose is an open thread dedicated to the discussion of covid 19. Please refrain from posting covid material elsewhere. Thank you.
My apologies; for some reason I'm not able to get Twitter to work as it should. The big white 'log in, join' box won't X out no matter what I do. Thus 'Show this update thread' is useless, and so on.
But here is the livestream Reactions & Analysis of the Julian Assange Extradition Appeal on youtube. @theintercept's @ryangrim will talk w/ @kgosztola, @SMaurizi
& @ChipGibbons89 who have been covering the #AssangeExtradition appeal this week & get their reactions to the proceedings.
