And I Like Pickles

The End of Knowledge

"it is easy to centralize power but  impossible to centralize all knowledge which is distributed  over many individual minds... Unable to ascertain what is in  the minds of many individuals,( the state ) just try to  control and stereotype interests and beliefs by education  and propaganda. But this attempt ( by the state) to exercise  power over minds must destroy the last possibility of finding out what people really think, for it is clearly  incompatible with the free expression of thought, especially of critical thought. Ultimately it must destroy knowledge;  and the greater the gain in power, the greater will be the loss of knowledge."  -  Karl Popper.  

 

The Hastening of the Fall of America

I'm already mourning the loss of the country I once loved.

I'm a white senior citizen and can't for the life of me understand how other similarly situated Americans can be as calloused, cold and heartless as they clearly are.

I know. I live among them in a white conservative area where few people of color dare to tread.

I'm poor. But I don't feel threatened the way my neighbors do. They fear a world in which white is no longer the might that's right. I fear them! I fear a fascist Christian theocracy. I fear what they've already become and are willing to burn it all down in the hope that they might survive it all and come out on top.

That is my reality. I fear the very people I once took an oath to defend.

"Donald Trump delivers human cocaine for his followers. He is is both a cult leader and a political drug dealer. Inevitably, Trump’s voters will come crashing down from their political cocaine high. Unfortunately, they will not suffer alone in well-deserved and hard-earned misery. Instead, we can expect them will lash out against the rest of the American people and the world in a fit of destruction and chaos."

https://www.alternet.org/2019/09/trumps-supporters-want-chaos-and-destruction-when-their-bad-drug-high-finally-wears-off-it-wont-be-pretty/

Opiod Hysteria

I've been battling chronic illness for 30 years. The medicines that have kept me alive are wreaking havoc on my body. As a result I live in constant pain over my entire body.

I was being treated for pain for 6 years until this hysteria broke out. During that time I was generally treated like a criminal by the pain centers that treated me. But I got treated.

Then Missouri got crazy and now I've been almost 2 years without treatment. I used to be able to take care of myself and my home. But I've been suffering recurring hospitalizations since last fall as my body is failing due to the stress induced by untreated pain. Now, I require an in home nurse and aid.

They'd rather pay the wages of these professionals than prescribe a bottle of pills.

If I could find heroin I'd do it. I'd do almost anything to have some relief. At this point it's a count down to the day I can take it no longer and give in to the voice inside of me telling me how to make it stop.

It's no longer just the physical pain - it's also the psycholgical pain of living in a society so calloused and so hateful that they would torture and kill innocent people who just want to be as normal as possible.

So, that's me and where I live... for now.

Thank you Michael Cohen

But you are still a co-traitor.

"Combat Obscura"

Now, THIS is the Marine Corps remember!


The reason why the Corps was so angry at the hour-long documentary could perhaps be found within the opening moments of the film, as grunts wait for an airstrike on a compound.

" 'Bout to have a drop right here, yeahhh!" one Marine says, as a camera focuses on an Afghan compound. Then seconds later, a blast is heard, and the camera turns to a house hundreds of meters away. "Holy shit. That's the wrong building. Holy shit! Yeah boy!"

It's just one of many scenes that upend the spit and polished image the Marine Corps wants to convey to outsiders. But as most Marines know (including this writer), the reality is much more than dress blues, marching in formation, and love of country.

https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/us-marine-corps-doesnt-want-you-watch-movie-45952