This pretty much nailed how I am feeling about the state of my once beloved country in general, and especially, this election year of 2024.
Somebody please beam me up.
And so it goes.
Bill Maher On Current Middle East Crisis
I used to be a bit of a Bill Maher fan, but not so for the last several years. I now find him to be a self-righteous pendejo, and thus hard to watch. However, the video below was embedded in an article that appeared in the online version of the St. Louis Jewish Light: ‘Where do you think Israel is going?’ Bill Maher quips in viral eight-minute clip.
Maher makes a lot a sense to me in his segment. At some point you just have to move on. Of course, it took me a few years to stop lamenting about some of the fallout from my divorce, but you just do it. Sometimes you just need to let go.
Given that this is Bill Maher, the language is reasonably clean.
If you want a good quick review of the current history of Israel and The Occupied Territories, I discussed a recently published book by Daniel Skotach at this link: Can We Talk About Israel?
And is almost always the case, there are two sides to the story, if not more. I discussed a 2005 Arabic language movie about the recruitment of two young West Bankers to be suicide bombers here: Paradise Now | Revisited
While not Jewish myself, my wife is, so much of this strikes close to home. Especially so as our October trip to Israel – a lifetime dream of my spouse – was cancelled abruptly.
And so it goes in this absurdity we call life.
Banned Books, Burned Books
“But the truth is, that when a Library expels a book of mine and leaves an unexpurgated Bible lying around where unprotected youth and age can get hold of it, the deep unconscious irony of it delights me and doesn’t anger me.” ~~ Mark Twain in a letter to Mrs. F. G. Whitmore, 7 February 1907
I recently finished watching a truly excellent and very timely course from Wondrium, Banned Books, Burned Books: Forbidden Literary Works taught by Maureen Corrigan, Ph.D. Ms. Corrigan is a professor at Georgetown University, a book critic for NPR, a contributor to several of the most prominent newspapers of the country, has served as a juror for the Pulitzer Prize in Literature, an author in her own right, and on and on. She is unquestionably Continue reading “Banned Books, Burned Books”
Ron DeSantis Has Asked Pope Francis to Fire These Nuns
Ron DeSantis has asked Pope Francis to fire the nuns in this picture.
“They are obviously setting a bad example for our children visiting such a pornographic exhibit,” he stated with his resting disgust face, “what was the Pope thinking letting these nuns loose with a selfie-stick instead of rulers?”
“Besides, finding humor in the male anatomy is a blatant example of Critical Size Theory, and makes some of us question our manhood,” the Governor continued, pulling up his white boots.
Finally adding, “A man’s wee-wee should never see the light of day. The Italian government should require this museum to put a kilt on this statue… for decency sake. I really don’t care if it is considered one of the greatest pieces of art ever produced. Everyone knows that those supposed art critics work for Disney.”
Yup, I intentionally channeled my inner Andy Borowitz.
And so it goes.
Reconsidering JFK – A Wondrium Course
If you are of my generation or older you remember the day President John F. Kennedy was shot, 22 November 1963. I was in 6th grade at an elementary school in Toms River, New Jersey. It was the first time in my educational career that I had had a male teacher. He was a very tall, skinny man who I remember mainly because he was male and his reaction to the Kennedy news. When they announced over the loudspeaker that the President had been assassinated, this man cried. However, when I raised my hand after Continue reading “Reconsidering JFK – A Wondrium Course”
Missouri religious leaders sue to overturn Missouri’s ban on abortion
One of the guiding principles of my life is live and let live. If I were being honest, I would have to admit to falling short of this goal far too often, but it is a light I steer towards. In that same vein I have a mantra I recite whenever I am speaking or thinking about religious beliefs or sexual orientation, “Life is tough, whatever gets you through the day, whatever gets you through the night.”
My issue with many Christians, especially Evangelicals and Catholics, and Continue reading “Missouri religious leaders sue to overturn Missouri’s ban on abortion”
What Do You Know About the Constitution?
I recently watched on Wondrium a very interesting and worthwhile pair of courses on the US Constitution taught by Eric Berger, a professor at the University of Nebraska Law School. The two courses were:
I am currently in the process of watching:
While the US Constitution is not that long and is not that hard to read, reading it and understanding it are two distinct things. Both of the first two courses are good, but the second was more interesting to me as Continue reading “What Do You Know About the Constitution?”
Drag Queens in Chesterfield
Looking at the local news online this morning, this story – of course, from the local FOX news outlet – was leading the pack : ‘A Drag Queen Christmas’ show sparks heated protest in Chesterfield.
I thought for a minute that a tornado must have grabbed the whole town I live in, Chesterfield, Missouri, and dumped it in Oklahoma while I slept. But no, we’re still here. I had to remind myself that I live in Missouri and in the particularly onerous 2nd district, the district which has given us such Republican notables as Todd “Legitimate Rape” Akin and Ann “What Climate Change” Wagner.
Since the protesters stated that the drag queens were slapping God Continue reading “Drag Queens in Chesterfield”
State Violence
Another quote to meditate on from The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow. For some reason the last part of this sentence keeps echoing in my mind, that part of the definition of a sovereign state is that the state has sole proprietorship of legitimate violence within its boundaries. It is something I knew before, but I had never articulated in quite that manner.
“…is confident that an objective statistical analysis, shorn of sentiment, will show us to be living in an age of unprecedented peace and security. And this, he suggests, is the logical outcome of living in sovereign states, each with a monopoly over the legitimate use of violence within its borders…“
Well…not an earwig, but definitely a mental perseveration.
The Other Side of Qatar
Luisito Comunica is a Mexican YouTuber who is SUPER popular in in Latin America with almost 40,000,000 followers. He travels around the world making YouTube videos of the various countries he visits. Occasionally you will also see his girlfriend (may be ex now) in the videos. She is a very hot Venezuelan model. Talk about a couple of opposites. Go figure!
I watch his videos to have another channel of Spanish input into my old brain, plus he is VERY entertaining. Most of the time his videos are on the lighter side or pointing out cultural oddities. Occasionally he gets serious as he has done in this video.
In early 2017, Qatar’s total population was 2.6 million, with 313,000 of them Qatari citizens. Basically you have millions of imported workers supporting the Qatari few. I wonder what Mohamed would think about that situation in light of the squalid living conditions?
Since his audience is Latin America, English subtitles are not available, but I think a few minutes watching this video and you will get the idea… even if you do not understand him.
This is his third video in Qatar. The first two were of the side of Qatar the powers to be there would like you to see. I sincerely hope that he has left Qatar before posting this one.