It's been a very long time...

Since my last post six years ago, much has changed.

We survived the worst presidency in the history of the term 'president'.

Almost singlehandedly, Stumpy the Clown a.k.a. Donald J. Trump took the most powerful and prestigious office in the world, and turned it into a narcissistic shitshow of previously unknown depths.

January 6th 2021, Stumpy the Clown with his support staff of MAGAtts, quite nearly brought the strongest democracy on Earth, to it's trembling knees. In the months and years preceding his attempted coup, Stumpy and his crony circus in the Senate packed the Supreme Court with rabidly right wing idealogues, bent on making our nation officially less tolerant, less equal, more mysoginistic and racist, than at any time in two generations. 

All of which appeals to the base instincts of the least educated, less travelled, unfortunately procreating people of the Republican party.

Resulting in a polarization of American society unseen since the 1960's.

Into this miasma of chaos steps our villain, Vladimir Poopin Pants a.k.a. Vladimir V. Putin.

Vlad the Dwarf earned his newest nickname today, when it was announced that his army in Lyman, {the one under his personal command} was surrounded and attempting a retreat from Ukrainian forces.

The day after he annexed the region of Ukraine that Lyman is part of.

Given the looks on the faces of those present at his proclamation, he should be shitting his pants.

That did not look like a crowd eager to buy bushels of bullshit.

And that's all Vlad has to sell.

Obviously, I've just skimmed the surface of events past without touching on very much at all.

That is the purpose of this post, to work my way back gradually to greater depth of thought on individual topics of personal importance.

Raider Nation Rising in the Walmart League

Long time no post...
And we're going to pontificate on my favorite circus, the NFL, and the musical cities game played by the owners, where an entire city/teams' fan base gets left standing in the cold.

Poor St. Loser, Misery...one of the more unfortunate places in middle America, save for the Budweiser brewery there, it's on the list of National Historic treasures, or some such shit; still a very nice attraction if you have to be in St. Loser. Pretty much the only attraction.
Free beer after the tour helps with ignoring the urban blight surrounding you when you leave.
In a nutshell, this is how the Rams owner Stan "Walmart" Kroenke, feels about his hometown.
The town that provided his piddling real estate fortune, prior to hitting the lotto with a Walmart heiress.
Fuck powerball, she's worth that $1.5b on a good day, every day.

Which goes a long way towards explaining how 30 out of 32 owners were convinced to side with the Walmart Rams.
Especially after the 6 owner committee recommended the Raiders/Chargers bid over Wallyworld.
That committee flip flopped in less than a day.
Remember that old Tootsie Pop commercial, where the kid asks the wise old owl how many licks it takes to get to the center of the Tootsie Pop?
After 3 licks in 8 seconds, the wise old bird just wipes the pop out, and proclaims "3 licks".
I'm guessing the owners meeting went about the same, except Walmart asked " How many dollars will it take to get my deal done?"
I'm also guessing it was a few more than 3...

Where does that leave the Raiders and the Chargers?
Oakland and San Diego respectively?
Maybe for the Chargers that will be true, and since nobody really cares about Dego we'll leave their story here...
But as for the Raiders, I believe Mark Davis has a little surprise for the Walmart league.

It's been reported, that Mr.Davis has purchased land midway between Austin and San Antonio Texas, large enough to accommodate a stadium.
An area containing more than 2 million rabid football fans, fans that Dallas Cowboy owner Jerry "the Joker" Jones looks upon as his own.
Well Jerry you took up the Walmart cause that fucked Mark out of his deal,  better exhale slowly old boy, 'cause he's about to fuck you where you hurt.

When the Raiders relocate, they will not be known as the "Austin" Raiders...nor will they be the "San Antonio" Raiders.
For one simple reason.
A Silver and Black Raider aura hangs over the world, transcending geographic limits that a single city or even a state can confer.
Welcome to "Raider Nation".
Where finally, the Nation claims it's due, drawing on it's global fan base to steamroll those who would subvert destiny. No more pandering to regional or municipal marketplaces.
Raider Nation is a global sporting phenomenon.
Mark Davis will capitalize, the Raider Nation will prosper, eventually supplanting the Cowboys in their backyard relegating them to a confined fan base in the Dallas /Ft. Worth region.

As for the Lambs, relocating to LA from St. Loser?
The city of Angels sighs collectively, shrugs, and says together---"How about those Dodgers."

Are You a Millionaire?

Or are you simply an aspiring oligarch?
That may explain why we have a Republican controlled Congress. Or why we have Republicans at all.

A quote by Ronald Wright from his work, A Short History of Progress, frequently misattributed to the late great author John Steinbeck; "Socialism never took root in America, because the poor see themselves not as an exploited proletariat but as temporarily embarrassed millionaires."
Why? Maybe because the vast majority of people in this country, rich or poor, don't even know what the words proletariat and socialism, actually mean. Yes, that is a knock on our educational system.

Let's start with proletariat, according to Websters Dictionary; it's a noun workers or working class people, regarded collectively (often used with reference to Marxism).
I see the problem now, we allowed an educational tool, the dictionary to become a propaganda tool.
Outside of ISIS, who as a people have we Americans been conditioned to revile since kindergarten?
Could it be communists? We all know that Marxism is communism.
Do you want to be labeled a commie? Probably not in America. You'll lose your job, friends (except those like minded), and possibly your family...

Socialism is a social and economic system characterized by social ownership and social control of the means of production as well as a political theory and movement that aims at the establishment of such a system.

Wanna be a socialist? Like that label any better? Again, probably not. In America, you're talking about synonymous terms. Commie=socialist=chaos=.....you name it, somebody's thought of it, because you're already afraid of it. Why? Because your government told you to be afraid. So you are, very afraid, very afraid to educate yourselves. Much easier to feed from a trough than to hunt down your own meal.
Much easier to have someone else do the heavy thinking, while you do the heavy drinking. Right?
Right. Right up until you realize, you're never going to be that oligarch you aspire to, that the game is rigged by families like the Bush Clan, the Koch's et al.

The reality is America, some of our greatest achievements occurred because we embraced socialism.
Our interstate highway system is one example, NASA, the Tennesse Valley Authority, the Works Progress Administration or W.P.A., farming co-ops that brought us SunMaid Raisins, Sunkist Oranges, "Cotton", this list goes on and on and on.

When we embraced unbridled capitalism...'er the Republicans... we got a Supreme Court that bestowed the rights of individuals on corporations. A middle class reduced by tens of millions. A working class ballooned by millions, a homeless population expanded by millions. Social Security retirementthat we all were forced to pay into in the form of a tax, suddenly became a wholly government funded "entitlement". An entitled oligarchy of 1% holding more wealth than the rest of the 99% combined. Two interminable wars, fought by the sons and daughters of the working class, so that the 1% could profit from their investments in our military industrial complex. Not to mention oil.

So why did so many poor people vote for a party bent on making us poorer?
Maybe because they're going to protect your Christian Rights, Stop Gay Marriage, and End Abortions!
They're going to sit around the proverbial kitchen table (in the Congressional dining hall over a tax payer funded meal) and go over the finaces like you do at home, while they balance the budget. Guess what? No Republican Congress or President for that matter, has ever presided over the implementation of any of these fantasies.

If you're a retiree living on Social Security, trying to figure out what meds you can afford, while feeding yourself pablum because Congress decided your cost of living has stayed steady... Just know they have your back when it comes to your right to go to the church nobody threatened to close. They'll do everything in their power to see to it that your daughters and granddaughters can't go to Planned Parenthood for an abortion if they've been raped. And by God they will protect you from receiving that unwanted marriage proposal from your same sex best friend at the senior center.

God Bless America!

Allies or Enemies?

Given the tangled internecine nature of the wars going on in Iraq, and Syria; the budding proxy battle between Sunni and Shia, Russia and the US....it's time to sum up who's who in the region and where our interests ultimately lie.

And lie we do. To ourselves mostly, but also to those we call "ally".

Reality is America, those we call "ally" in the region, are the very governments that exacerbate the wars we have been trying to extricate ourselves from. In fact, were it not for our staunchest "ally" in the region, we're not even at war.
September 11, 2001, hijacked planes destroyed the World Trade Center in New York City, a portion of the Pentagon, and another fell to the ground in Pennsylvania, when valiant passengers rose up and sacrificed their own lives in order to prevent another building being targeted. Our US Capitol building.
They were commandeered by Saudi Arabian citizens, not Iranians, Iraqi's, Kurds, Turks, Israeli's, Palestinians, Russians, or anyone else.
The rationale used by these cretins, promulgated at the highest levels of the Saudi Arabian Wahhabi theocratical establishment. Their funding provided by followers of this faith, citizens of the kingdom.

Though the Saudi citizen bin Laden was hiding in Afghanistan then Pakistan (another "ally"), the vast majority of his initial followers and financial support emanated from Saudi Arabia, not just from ordinary citizens, but the royal family and wealthy influential individuals across the kingdom. People whose very ability to wreak havoc was built on the protection afforded by America.

Iran on the other hand, the nation in the region we villify the most, had nothing to do with it. Neither did Iraq.
Yet in the aftermath, both countries have suffered enormously at our hands. Why?
Why did we allow the Saudi's to come out unscathed? Their citizens, their funding, their ideology, their continued support of ISIS. Yet we depose Saddam, tackle the Taliban, economically embargo Iran, prop up Uncle Ernies efforts to start a civil war in Turkey...and Saudi Arabia gets new jet fighters?!

So here we are America, supposedly the great democratic power on Earth, promoting human rights, and representative government in our words, yet we won't tolerate true democratically elected governments among our "allies". No, we allow Uncle Ernie Erdogan to fiddle about, destroying the only NATO allied democracy in the region; while we arm repressive monarchies from Bahrain to the UAE.
Nations like Saudi Arabia, where women are forbidden from doing just about everything except existing as chattle.

When will our words and actions finally coalesce into one true meaning?
After 14 years of war we have sown chaos not clarity, demagoguery not democracy.
Duplicitous and USA have become synonymous terms to many in the world.
Are you still wondering why?

Turkish Murder, American Shame

Sponsor a double bombing in Ankara, mercilessly, without warning, execute in the process over 100 innocent war protesters; announce your airforce is "pounding terrorist positions."

Then I go online, only to find that Uncle Ernie's Pasha Palace is still standing...didn't the Royal Turkish Air Farce get the map coordinates for your pile straight?

I thought the official Turkish news agency was getting real finally.

News flash Ernie; the slaughter by your "intelligence" agents, of unarmed Kurds peacefully marching in your cultural capitol is a terrorist act. Following the terrorist act of restarting a civil war, because the Kurds reached the 10% threshold to attain representation in Parliament. In the parlance of our nations other favorite pasttime Ernie, you're almost battin' a thousand. 

Kleptocrat, War criminal, megalomaniac...what more can a midget aspire to!

Truthfully Ernie, you've reached deep, deep down into the gutter of humanity.

Barack Obama, our Fearless Leader, you're Ernie's accomplice.

Without your blessing Barry, he's not bombing the only real allies we have in the region.

No thumbs up from you Barry, and Ernie's not slaughtering young women in the streets of Ankara, Diyarbakir, Kobani... young girls and women the same ages as your daughters.

Here, we the USof A, were offered on a golden  platter, the opportunity to right a historic wrong dating to WWI, and before.

Instead Barry, you marshalled every resource at your command; the most powerful man, guiding the greatest military industrial complex the Earth has ever known...and you're leading us right into the clusterfuck that will be WWIII.

What a surprise.

Congrats Barry, that's quite a swan song playing on your way out the door.

American Tragedy...Again

Does this story ever end?
At what point do we as a nation demand the final chapter of this ridiculous book?
Chapter after horror filled chapter, of overtly predictable outcomes.

Our main character: " Dude", with the mental capacity of a box of rocks, coddled by Mommy his entire life, goes off at a school.
With a gun. That he clearly had no business owning.

Which begs the question.
If this guy had no job, (and who would hire a guy that doesn't speak), therefore no means with which to purchase a weapon, or weapons, as is the case here; who bought the guns for this nut? How about the ammo?
Was it Satan? No, probably not "Church Lady".
Or was it Mommy? Again.

Did yet another delusional Mother of a mentally unstable adult child, purposely put weapons in the hands of her beloved box of rocks?
It would appear so.
The only difference this time, Mommy was not the first casualty, as was the case nearly three years ago at Sandy Hook Elementary.
No, this time Mommy gets to live with the carnage wrought by her precious little boy, and the guns she chose to provide him.
No reprieve for you lady.

With any luck at all, and a seriously healthy dollop of justice, this Mommy goes down as an accessory to murder.
If we can't hold the insane accountable for their actions, especially when they off themselves, then shouldn't we hold those people responsible that provide the weapons?
I think so.

"We've got a problem Washington..."

Weak, lackadaiscal, and straight up sorry... that's all one can say for the effort put forth thus far by the American coalition fighting daesh.
So, the Russians stepped in.
Perfect....
"Perfect 'Shit' Storm", another multipart masterpiece of American foreign policy in the making.

Mix a pound of Turkey, with two pounds of NATO, a dash of Australia, add just a smidgen of Hezbollah, Iran, the remaining cast of freedom fighters Assad loyalists, and what we have is a recipe for "successful" sequels like: "World War I: Part 3", and
"Escape of the Sane from Planet Insanity: Germany's Looking Good...This Time",  both features in development as we write.

Truly, for the most part I believe Barry's done a decent job, particularly given what he inherited.

However, when it comes to the Midget of Moscow...
Barry's given him a pass.
Sanctions smanctions.
This little despot needs a smack down. Yesterday.
Taking out his toys in Syria, would send the proper message.
Not only to Vlad, but to Uncle Ernie the Sultan of Turkey as well; he needs to have his efforts redirected like an ADHD kid. He's clearly not read the memo regarding not starting civil wars in one's own country, when there's already chaos on your borders, and in your government, that shit never works out.

Here's your gameplan Barry, I'm giving you a freebie today, 'cause we're brothers from other mothers.
We implement a robust NATO only fly zone, sans the Sultan's Air Farce; backed by a Powell-esque strategy of overwhelming ground force, ejecting not only daesh, but every other bad actor on the stage. Iran, Hezbollah, Assad...
Encourage the further acquisition of historical lands for our real allies Kurdistan, and Armenia.
Make Uncle Ernie understand what the consequences of misalignment are.
Push Putin back into his palace, patiently wait for the peasants to storm the throne...again.
It's Russia, that shit's inevitable.