International Atheist Day

Pardon Party (Parody of "Garden Party" by Rick Nelson)

Olbermann Vs. Trump #28 - Biden Must Not Shy Away From Prosecuting Trump...

Trump and his disrespect of veterans

Barn Owl Live at the Monolith

Bernie Sanders endorses Joe Biden for president

Coronavirus: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)

FIST OF JESUS www.fistofjesus.com

Marilyn Manson - The End

Astérion, the minotaur, walks through the streets of Toulouse

Panic by Harold Schechter
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Was there an epidemic of child predators in America. Men driven to horrible desires by listening to swing music. As usual in these situations politicians, the media and others seeking a platform try to.find someone or something to blame for events that are often hard to explain.

One of the more disturbing books in this
series of historical crimes. The author focused on a brutal number of child murders that caused a panic until the more enormous issued taking place around the world in the lead up to WWII drove the issue from the headlines.


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The Death of Truth: Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump by Michiko Kakutani
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book by Pulitzer prize winning critic Michiko Kakutani could, in a way, be seen as a companion piece to Fantasyland by Kurt Andersen. While Anderson's book looked at a history of America and our countries susceptibility to showman and con artists, from our very beginnings, this book centers on the later part of the Twentieth Century and the early decades of this one that have brought us to where we are. The books subtitle, Notes on Falsehood in the Age of Trump, sums up where the author is coming from and she does it quite well.

Kakutani looks back, as does Anderson, on how critical thought and the bending of "reality" began during the cultural and social turmoil of the Sixties. How did many Americans begin the split into two very separate cultures, both unaccepting of what the other felt were legitimate concerns. Social critics as far back as Orwell and Huxley predicted some of the very things that we are seeing taking place. The anti-establishment rhetoric of the Sixties radicals was taken up by the Right and used to turn even more citizens against the institutions that were meant to protect us.

The author examines the writings of folks on both the Right and Left, plus a close look at the individuals Russia who developed the techniques there that were used successfully here in 2016, and continue.

This book probably won't change minds, but it is fascinating in allowing the reader to see how we have gotten here. What we can do about it, and if we can regain the civility and unity we once had, remains to be seen.


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The Pirate by Harold Schechter
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Harold Schechter is one of my favorite True Crime writers. His focus is mainly American serial killers of the 19th & 20th century. This is the first of a series of shorter works that focus on little known murders that were major events at the time, but have been forgotten.

This deals with the event leading to the conviction and execution of Albert W. Hicks, who was charged with "piracy on the high seas", despite the murders taking place in the waters off New York on an oyster boat. Hired as a mate, Hicks killed the other three members of the crew, for what amounted to less than two hundred dollars, a pocket watch and several items of clothing. As the bodies were never recovered the prosecutor went with the piracy charge.

P.T. Barnum even makes an appearance here as he paid to be allowed to make a 'life mask' of Hicks and purchased from him the clothes he wore while imprisoned. These Barnum put on exhibit in his NY hall for public display. I found it also interesting that in earlier years Hicks moved to my hometown of Norwich, CT where he was arrested and confined for a series of robberies.

Shechter also spends time discussing not only the rise of the oyster industry in NY, but the social and political tone of the era, which helped to make what Hicks did into a huge event. His execution being witnessed by thousands along the shore of what would one day be the island where the Statue of Liberty now stands.


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Negative Man Singing in a Karaoke | People Like Us DOOM PATROL 1x08 [HD]...

Leon Redbone - "Walking Stick" Live at the 1973 Buffalo Folk Festival

Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire: A 500-Year History by Kurt Andersen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Anderson presents a history of the United States, looking at just what it is about us that makes us different from so many other industrialized nations. We were indeed created and populated by people willing to accept fallacies and ideas that were often rejected by contemporaries across the ocean. The Disneyfication of America began before Walt created his first theme park, as is evident in how showman like Barnum and Buffalo Bill were able to make believers our of generally skeptical folks.

The books looks at how Evangelical religion and ultra-conservative politics merged to become a force that shaped the political and social framework of the nation over the past century.

I found the book fascinating, but am sure that folks to the Right of me politically and more accepting of mainstream religion might have a problem with some of Anderson's positions. If nothing else it makes clear what it is about the "American" way that can lead to our current situation and the rise of "reality TV" stars to the highest office in the land.


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Powerful poem about sexual abuse delivered by Halsey at New York Women’s...

pete seeger which side are you on

Cardi B Speaks On The Government Shutdown

Liberal Redneck - The God Damn Wall

Trump's Favorite Things! - A Randy Rainbow Song Parody

Voting this November

I just received my ballot yesterday, since I'm signed up for mail-in ballots.  Donna and I always had a hard time trying to coordinate our schedules so we could go to the polls at the same time. We figured this would make things easier for us.

It's hard, at this point, to remember that I used to vote Republican in some local and state-wide elections. I've always been pretty liberal, but back in Connecticut there was a moderate/liberal wing to the GOP that brought us folks like Lowell Weicker.  Sadly, the party has moved so far to the Right that I don't know if Weicker can recognize it today.  Hell, I think Barry Goldwater would be out of step now and even Reagan would be considered a moderate with little hope of getting elected.

I haven't even opened the ballot, but already know that it's probably going to be close to if not a straight Democratic list for me. Although there are a few incumbents I'm not crazy about I suppose I'll bite the bullet as I did in 2016 and go Blue Wave. I wish I still had faith that the Green Party was more than a joke every four years.  Since we Democratic Socialists remain in the main party that waters down much of what we wish to do.  I've given up hope for a true Progressive party to make any inroads in my lifetime.

In case, anyone wonders things are going pretty well with me. My health is pretty good, but all my doctors agree that it's time I take weight loss seriously.  I know why I gave up caring, but now I have an important reason to start taking better care of myself.  I would like to be around for a few more years.

I know I always make this promise, but it probably is time to start posting here more frequently, not not just sharing videos.  If anybody is still out there, remind me that I still have two blogs.

Peace out!

Geese in Lake Forest, CA

IF YOU EVER GOT IMPEACHED - A Randy Rainbow Song Parody

NRA Going BANKRUPT

Josh Olson on THE TRIUMPH OF THE SWILL (You'll want this to be true)

Bitch Grandpa Whine Man

Violent brawl breaks out on Carnival cruise ship

Gateway to Sedona DEBUNK

The Public (Emilio Estevez Movie) - Official Trailer

A situation we should take a moment to think about. This film may be controversial and will no doubt promote debate. 

I've been a Librarian for over thirty years and admit to being conflicted.

Donald Trump Garners Support From “Fake” People

One Day at a Time: Trying to move forward

For those of you who might not know, my wife and best friend, Donna, passed away on Aug. 13th of this year.  To say it was a tragedy doesn't even come close to capturing how this has effected me and the rest of her family. To those who knew her, Donna was a force to be reckoned with.  Until the very end she was as active as her health would allow and was making plans for the future after I retired this coming December.  We had some adventures planned and I'm sure they would have been amazing.

People, who I know mean well, keep asking me how I'm doing.  There are two answers to that question.  There's the one I always give, which is the one they want to hear.  Basically what you see in the title of the post. "I'm getting by one day at a time."  It makes them feel good I believe and that usually ends the conversation.  The other is one I keep to myself and is the real answer. I'm in a very dark place, one darker and deeper than the one that Donna rescued me from all those years ago.  If not for Kristina and Sarah, I'm not sure I'd really want to 'move on' as I see nothing out there.

Maybe, if I had faith or belief it would be different.  I could pin my hope on some future date when there is some grand reunion in the sky.  I call bullshit on all that and at this point don't care who knows it.

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The Worst Hard Times by Timothy Egan - a review

the worst hard times by Timothy Eagan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

We hear a lot about the Great Depression, but the event that truly caused so much hardship for the American people, was not the crash of Wall Street and the banks, but the fact that millions of acres of farmland becoming unusual for years.

Author Timothy Egan utilized interviews with survivors, the diaries and journals of others, plus articles from the newspapers and magazines of the era. Also, going through the reports and papers published by the U.S. government and universities he tells a remarkable tale. Once teeming with millions of buffalo and the home of Native Americans, the U.S. government decided to turn the grasslands of the Great Plains into the farm belt of America.

Egan tells the stories of hundreds (perhaps thousands) of small farms that were urged to plow up the grasslands and turn into the wheat fields that would feed the U.S. Through subsidies and agricultural advice, that turned out to be wrong and even deceitful government and self-interested business people aided in the destruction of an eco-system that had been built over thousands of years. Within half a generation the plains became a desert where the land itself turned deadly.

An amazing story of both courage and enormous stupidity. Also a reminder that the short-term profits that can be made might not be good in the long run. Definitely something that we should be reminded of as things around us seem to be changing and not for the better.


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Bernie Sanders DESTROYS Donald Trump's Speech To Congress

Fallen Navy Seal's Father Wants Trump's "Stupid Mission" Investigated

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The Democratic Party Takeover HAS BEGUN

Noam Chomsky - How to Deal with the Trump Presidency

CPJ: Watch Out for "Leak Investigations" Targeting Journalists Under Trump

How Our New Corporate Overlords Plan to Thrive

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Now What? - (This is all political stuff, so you are welcome to ignore it.)

 

Well, it can and it has, hasn't it?  I'm not the only one who thought America had more sense, but was proven wrong once again.  I truly don't know what to say about the results of the election a few weeks ago, although that hasn't stopped me from posting stuff on various social media platforms.  In that way, if no other, I'm like the President-elect.

Demographically I should have been part of those who supported Trump from early on.  I'm a white, Baby Boomer who was raised in a small, town that was 90% or more white while I was growing up.  It wasn't until I was in seventh grade and began attending a larger, middle school in the nearest large city that I had any Black classmates.  I didn't personally know of any Jewish students until I was in high school, although I suppose there had to have been some in middle-school, but not among my friends.

I'm also a veteran and a one-time gun owner, so there should have been something about the Trump agenda to have appealed to me.  The scary part, is that so many of the people I currently know (mostly neighbors in our senior community) were indeed voting for The Donald. Even while saying they scorned or objected to some of the things he said, it was their dislike and distrust of Hillary that seemed to be the main reason for their decision.  That and how much they appeared to dislike, if not outright hate, Obama.

Maybe it was the non-judgmental, pro-Union, Roman Catholic upbringing, most from my mom, but also my father (from whom I get my non-believer genes).  I never heard either ever say anything derogatory about another race or religion. Well, okay, my father did love Polish jokes.

Another thing that I can't understand is how those in my age group, who also lived through the Sixties, ended up going so far to the Right on so many things.  Geez, we were the Peace & Love generation who wanted 'No More War' and mourned the death of Martin Luther King as much as that of Robert Kennedy. What the hell happened to all that?

It's going to be an ugly four years and unless what's left of the Left an the Progressive movements can get much of America off their asses in two years to make some changes, it will be interesting to see what this country I fought for will look like by 2020.  I hope I'm around to find out, but I'm not sure I'll be very happy about it.

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Trevor Noah Rips Trump Over Audio: ‘It’s Not the Locker Room, It’s You, ...

Now what should we do?

Been ages since I've done anything here but re-post YouTube videos on some political topic or other.  Figured I would briefly jump in with my own thoughts on a few things.

On a personal note, Donna and I are battling some health issues, but pulling through.  Been almost exactly a year since my first heart attack and my cardiologist tells me I'm doing fine and don't have to see him until early next year.  Donna is working on several issues and we hope to get things under control for some visits we have planned by family and friends from back east.  Also, we do have plans for later in the year for our anniversary.  Damn, can it really be seventeen years already?  

 Anyone reading this knows my political views already, so no surprise that I'm having trouble convincing myself that Hillary Clinton really deserves or needs my vote.  Yeah, everybody keeps reminding me of my voting for Ralph Nader way back when, but I think the Supreme Court decision on Bush v Gore had more to do with that debacle than my decision.  Right now I'm likely to vote for a 'progressive' Third Party candidate for President and Democrat for the down ticket state & local races.  I can flip a coin on whether to vote for Kamala Harris or Loretta Sanchez to replace Senator Barbara Boxer.  Although, I've actually met Rep. Sanchez in person and she was very, nice. That might be enough to swing my vote.

Going to steer clear of any discussion on the mass shootings, police shootings and the tragedy in Dallas.  Needless to say that these are sad situations and it is horrible that the news each night seems to lead off with at least a couple of shootings somewhere in Southern California, let alone around the country.  No matter what your stand on gun ownership and laws I think we can all agree that it appears the whole country is loosing its mind.

Stay safe and stay healthy!  I'll try to post again in a few weeks, or you can see what I'm up to over at Shot's Shack.  I'm sure I'll have plenty to say about San Diego Comic-Con International, as I'll be there once again next week.

Chelsea Manning Attempts Suicide In Prison

Clinton's DNC Platform embraces Fracking and the TPP over Sanders picks

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver - NRA part 2

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver - NRA part 2

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver - NRA part 1

Last Week Tonight With John Oliver - NRA part 1

GOPer Tweets Sympathy For Orlando, Immediately Blocks Bill To Protect LGBTQ

Nate Silver's Bias Exposed

Majority of Democrats want Bernie Sanders to keep running

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Prince Performs “Purple Rain” During Downpour | Super Bowl XLI Halftime ...

Bernie Sanders Wins TIME 100 Reader Poll

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Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Border Wall (HBO)

Anonymous Declares Total War on Donald Trump *NEW 2016*

Bernie Sanders Crushes At Debate, Media Pretends It Didn't Happen

Last Week Tonight with John Oliver: Encryption (HBO)

Finally - PROOF The Bush Administration LIED About Iraq's WMDs

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What the Hell is going on? A few comments on politics.

It's usually pretty easy to ignore the primaries for both major parties, but beginning with the announcement by Donald Trump that he would run for the GOP nomination it became impossible.  What started out as comedy, for who among us thought he would actually get as far as the debates before growing bored, became anything but as The Donald actually began to be taken seriously by a large part of the Republican base.  We're not laughing anymore.

To me the most frightening part is that people whom I like and consider friends, are actually saying that they might vote for Trump.   They agree that he is over the top on much that he says, but they are rightly angered at politics as usual as we are seeing it performed in Washington and around the country.  If Trump were running on some minor Third party ticket we could still find his quest somewhat amusing, but the fact that the U.S. is for the most part a two-party country he might very well be the Republican nominee.  By the way, if you sit down and read the Constitution you won't find Political Parties mentioned in there, this might come as a surprise to a great many people who just accept the Democrats and Republicans as a natural part of our system.  I don't believe I realized this until I was in high school and one of my history teachers spoke about just that.

Anybody who knows me can pretty well guess where I stand on the political scale.  The fact that I support Bernie Sanders, certainly shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.  Sadly, I expect that by the time the primaries get around to California the choice will pretty much have been made, which seems to be the case and frankly makes no sense.  Why do two very important and populace states like New York and California get in rather late, with NY voting in April and California sitting it out until June?  In the case of this election both major parties might already be made in a choice terms of delegates.  How do places like Iowa, South Carolina and the rest get to make the decisions?  Call it bias, I guess, having lived in both of the states I mentioned.

It's still early, but the GOP seems to be in the midst of self-destructing and many Democrats appear to be happy with things remaining status quo.  This old Progressive/Liberal may be about to bail finally. Voting the lesser of two evils really doesn't seem to me what democracy is all about.

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PSY - DADDY(feat. CL of 2NE1) M/V

PSY - DADDY(feat. CL of 2NE1) M/V

I had to share this!!

THE 10 WORST MOVIES OF 2015!

POLL: Bernie Sanders Would DESTROY Trump In General Election

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Finn TV Spot (Official)

Can't begin to tell you how excited I am for this movie.  Yeah, I know I'm not the only one, but I remember being at the San Diego Comic Con back in '76 when the first film was being promoted.  Who knew back then how it was going to impact the world?

Anyway, I already have my tickets for opening night and have even taken the day off from work so that I'll have plenty of time to geek out before going to the theater with family.  I've already been told that I'm not allowed to wear my Star Trek t-shirt, even as a joke. Ah, well!

Semi-bi-annual Checking In Post

Things have been pretty crazy the past few months. Both Donna and I had some health issues which are improving.  Work continues to be a bit crazy with my immediate supervisor retiring and the Library Director soon following her out the door.  It will be interesting to see who replaces who either permanently or on a temporary basis.

Harder to believe is that in a few weeks Donna and I will be celebrating another anniversary.  Then in December I'm actually going to be turning 65.  Holy crap! I honestly have to say that there have been some periods, earlier in my life and certainly just a few months ago, when I didn't think I was going to make it.  It certainly has been hard to ignore, since a week hasn't gone by the past few months where I didn't get at least one letter or phone call reminding me that I'll soon be eligible for Medicare. Damn!  Now I know I'm getting old.

The holidays will be here before you know it and I don't know that we're going to be doing much, if anything to decorate the place.  Probably get a few gifts for each other, just so we have something to exchange, but I think we're both too frazzled from everything else going on to really think much about that.

Although this is the spot where I'd get political, I'm pretty tired of the Presidential race already, and we have close to a year before we really have to make a serious decision.

Unless something unforeseen happen it's going to be Hillary on the Democratic side, although I'm going to be voting for Bernie Sanders come the primary out here in California.  I've got months before I really have to decide if I'm voting for Hillary or going to go Third Party.  As of now I will probably vote other than Democrat for the top of the ticket.  Mrs. Clinton doesn't even give me the glimmer of hope I had when I voted for Obama.

Far wiser folks area discussing what happened in Paris and any possible response to that, so it doesn't pay for me to throw my two cents into the matter.  My heart goes out to the families and friends of those killed and wounded during the attacks.  I can only hope that the authorities are able to stop any further events like the ones we witnessed last week.

I think I'm going to call it quits for now.  Take care!

Troll Tricks Clueless HLN Anchor