The Known Knowns of a Known War Criminal

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It’s always magical to be able to throw an asshole’s words back in his face… especially when he is an outspoken representative of so many other assholes.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld in 2003. Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI

While no one condones looting, on the other hand, one can understand the pent-up feelings that may result from decades of repression and people who have had members of their family killed by that regime, for them to be taking their feelings out on that regime,” he said. “And I don’t think there’s anyone in any of those pictures … (who wouldn’t) accept it as part of the price of getting from a repressed regime to freedom.

Rumsfeld: Looting is transition to freedom, UPI, April 11, 2003

#GEORGEFLOYD
#BLACKLIVESMATTER
#RESIST

Killing in the Name

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Waiting for the trump statement to be released declaring the Minneapolis cops who murdered George Floyd to be good people…

Mr. Floyd died after being handcuffed and pinned to the ground by an officer’s knee, in an episode that was recorded on video by a bystander, inciting condemnation and protests.

What We Know About the Death of George Floyd, New York Times, May 27, 2020

President Donald Trump seemed to encourage police to be more violent in handling potential offenders during a speech to law enforcement officers today.

“Please don’t be too nice,” he said to the audience in Long Island, New York.

Trump to police: ‘Please don’t be too nice’ to suspects, ABC News, July 28, 2017
Some of those that work forces are the same that burn crosses…

#GEORGEFLOYD
#KILLINGINTHENAMEOF
#WAKEUP
#BLACKLIVESMATTER

All 165 of Pink Floyd’s Songs Ranked?!

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Impossible to do.

Not because I think all of them are great, which they very well may be.

But because I basically only know songs from The Wall and Dark Side of the Moon.

But Bill Wyman writing for Vulture thinks it’s possible.

Anyway, whether you’re into Floyd or not, or into rankings or not, for now this version of “Mother” is my current Floyd favorite…

A Sunday Song to Spark the Spirit and Summon the Moves of the Dance

The response Roger mouths after singing “Mother should I trust the government” is classic him…

#wedontneednoeducationbecauseweareallbloodygeniusestobeginwith

Surviving the Sacrifice

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As we roll into Memorial Day Weekend to honor those service members who died in our defense, it pays to remember that there are far too many who served and sacrificed and survived the traumas of war, only to find that because of their debilitating sacrifices, they are unable to survive the traumas of life after war.

If you are a veteran struggling with life’s relentless battles, please my brothers and sisters in arms, seek help. We honor you and we need your strength and courage and wisdom to continue to lead us and show us what it means to endure, especially during these challenging times.

VETERANSCRISISLINE.NET

1-800-273-8255

More veterans die by suicide every two days than were killed in action last year. After almost two decades of post-9/11 conflicts, lawmakers and Defense Department officials are no closer to ending the suicide crisis. There’s no single cause, no “type” of veteran, no guarantee of access to mental health care, no single solution. The funding is there — the Department of Veterans Affairs is the second-largest federal agency, behind the DOD in size and budget — and there has been little pushback on the 14% boost in funding requested for 2021.

So why are veterans still killing themselves at an alarming rate?

After years of failure to end the crisis, veteran suicide takes center stage on Capitol Hill, Stars and Stripes, March 5, 2020

#prayforthosewhosacrificed

The Indelible Shining

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Great movie despite Stephen King’s protestations* — it’s one of those rare occasions when the movie out shines, so to speak, the book, which I found mostly laughable and long (as I do with most of King’s books) — and despite the horrible decision to cast Shelley Duvall, which, of course, resulted in her horrible acting. Kubrick abused the hell out of her during production because of it.

Pauline Kael wrote in the New Yorker that Kubrick’s devotion to technique distanced the audience from the domestic horrors of his story. The Washington Post called it “elaborately ineffective.” Gene Siskel said it was “boring” and occasionally “downright embarrassing.” Toronto’s Globe & Mail: an “overreaching, multi-levelled botch.” In its first year of existence, the bad movie-centric Razzie Awards nominated The Shining for worst director and worst actress.

From unloved curiosity to beloved classic: The surprising 40-year legacy of Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, INLANDER, May 21, 2020

#allworkandnoplaymakeskurtrethinkhispriorities

*Spoilers of both book and movie

The Dichotomies of Hate

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Racists, driven by their feeble-minded ignorance and incapacitating insecurities, will always leech off any opportunity or misfortune to project their self-loathing and self-delusions upon others of whom they both envy and fear…

A man followed the Chinese American doctor from the Boston hospital, spewing a profanity-laced racist tirade as she walked to the subway. “Why are you Chinese people killing everyone?” Li recalled the man shouting. “What is wrong with you? Why the f— are you killing us?”

Asian American doctors and nurses are fighting racism and the coronavirus, Washington Post, May 19, 2020

#hatethehate

Little Humans

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I love my pets, don’t get me wrong. Anyone who’s spent even a little bit of time around here knows Zeno and Aurelius are a huge part of my life. And I love and respect animal adoption centers and those who run them and support them. But every time I see a post on Conspiracy Theory Central, aka facebook, with a cute puppy or kitten in need of a human to love them, and I see a lot of them — that’s a good thing — I can’t help but wonder how many little humans are out there in need of the same…

While technically no longer referred to as orphans, The Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption pegs the number of children in U.S. foster care at a staggering 443,000, more than 123,000 of whom are considered to be waiting children available for adoption.

How Many Orphans in the U. S.?, ADOPTION.COM, April, 25, 2019

#prayforthelittlehumansinneed