[Anonymous selections from recent correspondence]
This is one of the best Jon Stewart commentaries...EVER! "Must-see morning clip: Jon Stewart gloriously schools GOP on climate change." Excerpt:
John Holdren is Sisyphus, charged with the impossible task of pushing a million pounds of idiot up a mountain.
In all the concern over human lives lost and the rampant spreading of the Ebola virus, has anyone considered that in the greater scheme of things, Ebola may be the miracle that conservationists have been praying for to save endangered wildlife in Africa?
The foal was instantly attracted to him. He had found a comforting replacement for his mother. The two are inseparable. The caregivers expect Breeze to be fine, thanks to the farmer who rescued him and to those who cared enough to take this little cutie in.
One of the biggest obstacles for the conservative movement when it comes to recruiting new members is, to be frank, reality itself. History, science, economics are all fields constantly churning out information that makes right-wing ideology look silly, nonsensical and even delusional. In response, the conservative movement has launched a massive media campaign against reality that spreads out on Fox News, talk radio and the web, but despite all this, conservatives are not satisfied. The kids are who conservatives really want. That’s why the right is relentless about its attempts to get into public schools, throw out actual information and replace it with false and misleading ideology. Whether or not they’ll actually be successful in tricking kids into becoming conservatives is up for debate, but in the meantime, they are doing a lot of damage to childrens’ ability to get a decent education.
These questions were posted on an Australian tourism website, and the answers are the actual responses by the website officials, who obviously have a great sense of humor (not to mention a low tolerance threshold for cretins!)
Q: I have developed a new product that is the fountain of youth. Can you tell me where I can sell it in Australia? (USA )
A: Anywhere significant numbers of Americans gather.
Q: Do you celebrate Christmas in Australia? (France)
A: Only at Christmas.
Q: Will I be able to speak English most places I go? (USA)
A: Yes, but you'll have to learn it first.
Limerick-inspired verse of the week:
Aeroplane travel makes agita flare:
The stress of long flight I simply can't bear;
the roar is the worst,
list that one the first,
but second's rebreathing all the foul air.
| Copyright © 2014 by Morris Dean |
Hold the phone! It's completely irresponsible to put out the inflammatory claim that there were 313 "extrajudicial killings" of black people in 2012 without saying more about "Operation Ghetto Storm" and explaining what criteria were used in determining "extrajudicial." The blog is affirming that 313 were killed by government authorities who acted illegally; that is, criminally. Even the fatal shooting in Ferguson cannot be counted as extrajudicial unless and until the police officer has been found guilty of a crime.
ReplyDeleteAlmost as bad is the box that follows with the words "Black Lives Matter." Is that an insight that the blog needs to impress upon any savages that might be in the audience?
Ken I'm sorry, but I'm having a hard time understanding if you believe or disbelieve the article. I cannot say one way or the other as I believe it is more important to stop the illegal killing, even if it is one person, so the fact that one or 313 were killed, still points to a big problem. I also believe trial by cell-phone camera is unjust because it only tells the story through the eyes of the person running the camera. Police wearing body cameras would stop most unwarranted police violence and tell a truer story of the events.
DeleteEd, I'm having a hard time, too. That's the point. It's a shocking claim. It's saying that law officers are killing hundreds of black people without legal justification. One can't say this and move on without a good deal of explaining.
DeleteNo, 1 and 313 point to completely different problems. They are orders of magnitude apart. 1 means we have a crazy cop. 313 means we have an epidemic of law officers committing racially motivated murders. Body cameras would not suffice to deal with a problem of that magnitude.
I hope that your illusion that arbitrary police behavior happens to "the other" continues to be true for you. Even here in the S.F. Bay Area to be Black, Brown, Homeless or Old is to be at risk.
DeleteThe increasing militarization of the cops is merely symptomatic of the degree that the U.S. remains a police state, maintaining white male privilege in which only "white lives matter".
The true "savages" have badges, guns and impunity.
Tom, perhaps you could say why you think I believe that "arbitrary police behavior happens to 'the other'." I'm not aware that I said anything of the kind. Although I apparently did give you an opportunity to orate about "the increasing militarization of the cops" and the U.S. as a police state. I agree with some of that but, really, isn't the lack of proper documentation of such a serious subject quite a different topic? I just want to know who these accusers are and whether they're equating not-guilty verdicts with extrajudicial killing. Focus, man, focus.
DeleteDid you follow the events in Ferguson, Mo. ? "Lack of documentation" pretty sums up the official response. I'm more likely to trust community groups as a source than either local officials or media.
DeleteAs to whether your demographic is as "at risk" as a teen in East San Jose may be debatable, but the realty is not abstract for the grieving families and friends of the victims.
Yes, I've followed the events in Ferguson. The official response hasn't been registered. The grand jury isn't expected to report until November. You can imagine why they're being so deliberate. No, I take that back—you can't imagine. Not if you think that "lack of documentation" is an official response.
DeleteYour second paragraph reads like a gibberish non sequitur. What are you smoking, Tom?
A couple of suggestions:
DeleteCheck the settings on your "reality filters", they may be a bit high.
Take it easy. Carrying "the white man's burden" may be getting heavy for you in old age. Go take some photos, you're quite good.
do we have savages in our audience? if so,they rarely comment.
ReplyDeleteI feel a little like one before my coffee, but I haven't killed anyone---yet.
DeleteSaying "Black Lives Matter" is condescending as hell. It presupposes that some of us might never have recognized their humanity. I think my father said much the same to me when I was 8 years old.
DeleteThanks as ever to my thoughtfully witnessing correspondents for their fishy bits: unscientific ignorance among members of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, extrajudicial killing of black people, direct action to try to save the Amazon rain forest, the self-interest of Dick Cheney, Norman Mailer on the social injustice of wealth, ineptness, Formula E racing, responsible selfhood, the silence of friends, moving forward whatever, tiger, lion & bear, teddy-bear mother to a young horse, more social damage by right-wing Christians, life there versus life here, humor, two burdens of air travel identified in verse....
ReplyDelete