Jul 15, 2019

Mucho Gusto

Here's Justin King (Beau Of The Fifth Column) with a market solution that the clear-eyed pragmatic "capitalists" will never consider.

Because they fully expect everything to be handed to them on the proverbial silver platter under the auspices of the full faith and credit of the American taxpayer, who's being held at bay by threat of deadly force.

This is The Daddy State

Today I FlipFlop A Bit

This is the kinda shit that pops up on any given social media feed a hundred times on any given day.


First, I have no problem respecting and showing a little appreciation for the cops or the librarians or the moms or the service members or the guy behind the counter at 7-11 - although I have indeed gotten more than a little peeved at how much whining goes on about all of it.

But I think maybe I should be trying to see past the complaints, and look at the reasons for those complaints.

Maybe what we need to do is address the fucked up system that gives people good reason to believe there's no respect for them, and leads them to where they have to stand up and holler.

Which happens to be also the place where they're more easily manipulated into thinking a bottom-feeding slug like Donald Trump is their ticket to a more perfect union.

We have to start talking about honor again.

If we put some sense of honor (and honorability) back into the way we conduct ourselves - and the way we demand our government conducts itself - then there's less likelihood that anyone becomes so disillusioned that they end up feeling they have no alternative to throwing rocks and punches and bombs.


And like the man said - when we make peaceful revolution impossible, we make bloody rebellion inevitable.

Jul 14, 2019

Just Goofin'

One Guy:
Y'know, if it wasn't for them Arabs, we wouldn't have had 9/11.

Another Guy:
Right. It'd be IX/XI - but we'd still be a little confused about who did what, and we'd still be out there fuckin' shit up.

The Permission Slip


NOTE: Being in this country without legal documentation is more or less the equivalent of Public Intoxication - a class 4 misdemeanor (USC Title 8, Section 1325) - up to a year in jail &/or a $250 fine. We're not talking Crime-Of-The-Century here, kids.

If you're slagging immigrants on a technicality - ie: "I don't mind them being here, I just don't want them to be here illegally" - then you have to know what's legal and what's not.

And we have to agree on the basic premise that everyone has an obligation to follow the law, not just the orders of the boss.

Crossing our border without permission is illegal, except when you cross that border to ask for asylum.

We signed on to an international treaty that sets out the terms for immigration and asylum, and under our constitution, treaties carry the weight of law.

Beau Of The Fifth Column - Justin King


The rule of law is kinda the whole fucking point for "both sides" of this issue. We should be able to recognize that there's common ground here, agree on a set of facts, and move into a debate on how best to advance the greater good.

You'd think so anyway.


Unfortunately, we're dealing with a political phenomenon that depends on the suspension of objective reality.

We're up against a kind of "thinking" that has no use for consistency, rejects the concept of shame, and substitutes loyalty for truth.

So we can't expect to make much headway relying on well-reasoned argument, but we can't abandon the effort. It's what we've got - it's what differentiates us from the Daddy Staters.

Jul 13, 2019

Another Test


When you test the sentiment of the former by taking the action described in the latter, American "conservatives" are revealed to be hypocrites, or bigoted nativists, or just plain old ordinary whiny-butt pussies.

Today's Quote


Thinking about all the bullshit narratives the Press Poodles came up with to explain how so many Americans decided to jump on the Cult45 wagon.

Here's a Twitter account (@JuiusGoat) - aka: AR Moxon - with a fair take on it.

Historians have a word for Germans who joined the Nazi party, not because they hated Jews, but because they hoped for restored patriotism; or out of a sense of economic anxiety; or a hope to preserve their religious values; or dislike of their opponents; or raw political opportunism, or convenience, or ignorance, or greed.

That word is "Nazi". Nobody cares about their motives.

They joined what they joined. They lent their support and their moral approval to it. And, in so doing, they bound themselves to everything that came after.


Who cares any more what particular knot they used in the binding?

Today's Tweet



I need that candle. ($40 on etsy)

Today's Joke

So, I saw these two guys down on the mall wearing matching outfits - and feeling friendly and chatty, I asked them if they were a couple.

They arrested me.

Today's Pix

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Jul 12, 2019

An Anthem


Across The Borderline --Ry Cooder:


There's a place where I've been told
Every street is paved with gold
And it's just across the borderline
And when it's time to take your turn
Here's one lesson that you must learn
You could lose more than you'll ever hope to find

When you reach the broken promised land
And every dream slips through your hands
Then you'll know that it's too late to change your mind
'Cause you've paid the price to come so far
Just to wind up where you are
And you're still just across the borderline

Up and down the Rio Grande
A thousand footprints in the sand
Reveal a secret no one can define
The river flows on like a breath
In between our life and death
Tell me who's the next to cross the borderline

En la triste oscuridad (In the sad darkness)
Hoy tenemos que cruzar (today we have to cross)
Este río que nos llama más allá (this river which calls us farther away)
But hope remains when pride is gone
And it keeps you moving on
Calling you across the borderline


And when you reach the broken promised land
And every dream slips through your hands
Then you'll know it's too late to change your mind
'Cause you've paid the price to come so far
Just to wind up where you are
And you're still just across the borderline


Now you're still just across the borderline

(by Ry Cooder, John Hiatt, Jim Dickinson)