“I didn't follow much of the news in this election cycle---I don't have a tv---but one story I saw tickled me silly. You probably saw this. Biden with his wife alongside was making a speech somewhere when some shouting animal rights demonstrator tried to get on the stage and take over the mike. Jill Biden confronted this woman and forcefully pushed her off the podium. A newspaper interviewed people in the audience about this incident. One guy's comment cracked me up. ‘Whatever you think about Joe Biden,’ he said, ‘Jill Biden's a bad ass.’”

badass, (?bæd?æs) noun, slang, a tough, competent, strong, courageous, independent, unyielding person. Don't mess with her; she's a real badass. (Sometimes written as two words: bad ass)

Doctor Anthony Fauci, now don't be so mean;
Please give me a shot of your powerful vaccine.
They call it pandemic; it's the worst we have seen;
And I don't want to catch any COVID-19.

“The one thing we do not need is another war, certainly not against Planet Earth.” —Robert C. Koehler

“In the end, pandemics are a political problem, not a scientific one.” —Jeff Goodell

1. This is one tough virus — full of surprises. Back in January, who would have thought that 11 months later the world would be well into a third wave of infections — each one worse than the last?

2. Our government, which has done about everything you could do wrong, and has made a habit of lying to us, now tells us we got vaccine — rushed to market by for profit pharmaceutical companies that stand to make billions. Should we believe it?

1. Does the First Amendment to the US Constitution cover Satan Worship? How about QAnon? How about the Peoples Temple? Any civil liberties scholars out there want to take a stab at this one?

2. Satan Worship brings to my mind trusting our security to high-tech weaponry like nuclear bombs, designer diseases and other false gods and idols. Is that so much different than worshipping at the Satanic Temple?

“As I recall, the academy is not approving Satanic worship as such, but now permits study groups. That is just another measure of how bizarre the world is getting, at least for me and surely other people of our generation. Somebody will surely take this farther and demand authentic Satanic chaplains in the US military services.

“I'm no authority for the US Constitution—can't even claim to have read it through—so I can't comment on that.

“Your other comment is totally valid and well stated. Too bad something like that can't be part of public debate at election time.”

“Good read...late reading, but just as informative. I wish we could say at last it's over. But this man (Trump), is like the doggone energizer bunny...he keeps going and going and going! ENOUGH ALREADY.

I am now, more than ever, convinced that what is happening in the United States, under the leadership of Trump is biblical in nature. I believe he has been allowed to cause so much division and hatred, while at the same time dismissing the facts that our climate is being destroyed. This coupled with Fellow Americans dying preventable deaths, systemic racism and lack of humanity, respect and dignity that shouts Black Lives Don't Matter, right before our very eyes.

All this cannot be orchestrated by one man! I believe God is calling on true believers to come together in prayer and pray for our country, our leaders, and ask for forgiveness. God's hand has been on the United States of America from the beginning, and this Country was founded In God We Trust. We have dismissed him in all our ways. God is disappointed, hurt, and angry. His wrath is at work, but this is nothing compared to what could be.

Wherever we are, and whatever we believe...know this, The worst prayer, collective prayer can do, is help! I'm praying for peace and forgiveness for our United States of America, and for both spiritual and political leaders.

“Dear readers, I know I'm all up in my feelings...but I'm just sharing how I feel. This is my stuff, no judgement, no pressures. Just one reader's opinion.”

“And, goodness, what were those parents thinking? We don't go inside places without masks, and we sure don't go into crowded places for a homecoming dance. ... COVID is spreading at such high rates again. Stay safe.”

“While it's too early to know how far this epidemic will spread, one thing is certain: humanity is ripe for a major epidemiological catastrophe. There are many reasons: war, poverty, a changing climate and overpopulation are just some that come to mind.

“The United States is perhaps particularly vulnerable. We've gutted our public health infrastructure in favor of for-profit health care. When people are afraid to seek medical help because they might end up paying for it for the rest of their lives, how are we to keep contagious disease from spreading?”

“‘Human civilization’ is primed for a global epidemic of gargantuan proportions. The Wuhan coronavirus epidemic may be only a harbinger of what is to come.

“The United States, with it's for-profit health industry, is perhaps the least able of all wealthy countries to respond positively to such an epidemic. How do you fight an epidemic when a large part of the population is too poor to afford to go to a doctor? How do you fight an epidemic when a large part of the population is so afraid, that it would not bring itself to the attention of the authorities anyway? How do you fight an epidemic in a society that has become so used to blaming others for everything that goes wrong, that it has lost its power of introspection?”

They [Central American countries] are just recovering from Eta and here comes another today [Iota]. If Eta hadn't wiped out the crops, I can't imagine they will survive this one. ... Frustrates me so much that rich countries take such advantage of poor countries—climate change caused by the rich countries is causing this. I wish our gov't “leaders” could see how we're all connected.

“In each of our many hundreds of different languages across the Amazon, we have a word for you — the outsider, the stranger. In my language, WaoTededo, that word is ‘cowori’. And it doesn’t need to be a bad word. But you have made it so. For us, the word has come to mean (and in a terrible way, your society has come to represent): the white man that knows too little for the power that he wields, and the damage that he causes.”

“We should be nurturing the few hunter-gatherers left among us, like the survival of our species depends upon them — because it does. As the Web of Life unravels and ‘civilizations’ collapse, hunter-gatherers may be all that remains of the human race.”

“depending on how you assign start/stop dates to those empires before us, many can be seen to follow a similar trajectory over 250 years. Terrifying and fascinating.”

“Those debates last night can't be called debates, they made me so sad to see.”

“Another remarkable and unexpected symptom of national decline is the intensification of internal political hatreds. One would have expected that, when the survival of the nation became precarious, political factions would drop their rivalry and stand shoulder-to-shoulder to save their country.
...
“True to the normal course followed by nations in decline, internal differences are not reconciled in an attempt to save the nation. On the contrary, internal rivalries become more acute, as the nation becomes weaker.”

“Time hurries on;
And the leaves that are green
Turn to brown.
...
“And they wither with the wind;
And they crumble in your hand;
I threw a pebble in a brook,
And watched the ripples run away;
And they never made a sound;
And the leaves that are green
Turn to brown.”
—Paul Simon (Leaves That Are Green)

“Empires, like adolescents, think they’ll live forever. In geopolitics, as in biology, expiration dates are never visible. When death comes, it’s always a shock.”
—John Feffer

“We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”

“[S]he suffers from the same chronic malady as the rest of the Washington foreign policy ‘blob.’ She pays lip service to diplomacy and multilateralism, but ... consistently supports the uses of military force ... [to her] every problem looks like a nail waiting to be whacked by a trillion-dollar, high-tech hammer.”

“The health emergency of the coronavirus is inseparable from the health emergency of extinction, the health emergency of biodiversity loss, and the health emergency of the climate crisis. All of these emergencies are rooted in a mechanistic, militaristic, anthropocentric worldview that considers humans separate from—and superior to—other beings.”

“Health is about life and living systems. There is no ‘life’ in the paradigm of health that Bill Gates and his ilk are promoting and imposing on the entire world. ... His ‘funding’ results in an erasure of democracy and biodiversity, of nature and culture.”

“At one point in the 1970s, at least one in every four Indigenous individuals capable of giving birth between the ages of 15 and 44 were sterilized. Over one third of women on the U.S. occupied island of Puerto Rico, mostly working-class, were sterilized between the 1930s and the 1970s. Although Black women were only 25 percent of North Carolina’s population in the 1960s, they made up almost 65 percent of all sterilizations of women during that period.”

“This was an amazing read! I enjoyed the diversity of topics in this week's article and am thankful, always for the knowledge I take away from the reading. A special thanks to Simon Thougaard, wonderful article, I kept confusing Sweden with the U.S. (smile). Also, a heartfelt recognition to Helen…for citing the words of Conrad. How powerful… ‘The thing was to know what he belonged to, how many powers of darkness claimed him for their own.’ This passage saddens me, as I think of the world as we know it. So many fall into the ploys of the enemy.”

“Trump is dangerous and scares me. His followers scare me, too, as they are willing to believe what he says. Was it Don Jr who just said that 17 year olds make stupid mistakes in defense of the guy who shot protesters? I'm not going to say all my choices as a 17 year old were good, but never did it occur to me to shoot someone. Trump is provoking gullible people who apparently don't know better. And that shows in the boat parade: they don't even realize they are sinking themselves. Literally. And it could all get much worse.”

“Perhaps you should say something about the super spreader event that took place in Sturgis recently. That can be blamed on Trump since his attitude toward mask wearing and social distancing rubs off on his fans. I'm sorry that I'm not religious because if I were, I'd know that Trump would burn in Hell eternally for breaking the 'thou shalt not kill' commandment.”

“You should have heard him say, ‘My ivory.’ Oh, yes, I heard him. ‘My Intended, my ivory, my station, my river, my—’ everything belonged to him. It made me hold my breath in expectation of hearing the wilderness burst into a prodigious peal of laughter that would shake the fixed stars in their places. Everything belonged to him—but that was a trifle. The thing was to know what he belonged to, how many powers of darkness claimed him for their own. That was the reflection that made you creepy all over.”

Irie Celeste

“We’re sold the idea of—we’re going to liberate people, we’re fighting terrorism. Then we realize we’re the ones terrorizing people. That torments you psychologically. I’ve lost a few friends to suicide.”
—Michael Hanes

“The most eco-friendly thing you can do is be anti-war.” —Katherine Ball

“The top people in the Pentagon probably aren’t [in love with me] because they want to do nothing but fight wars so all of those wonderful companies that make the bombs and make the planes and make everything else stay happy.”

“As we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours, and this we should do freely and generously.” —Benjamin Franklin

“I have no private interest in the reception of my inventions by the world, having never made, nor proposed to make, the least profit by any of them.”
—Benjamin Franklin

“I ain't got nothing against no Viet Cong; no Viet Cong never called me nigger.” —Muhammad Ali

“There never was a good war or a bad peace.”

“All wars are follies, very expensive and very mischievous ones.”

“We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”

“As the power and unconditional backing of its major benefactor [the United States] evaporates, Israel may decide that the best course is not only to make peace with its neighbors, but to enter into some form of economic and military cooperation with them.” [Three Murderous Myths, p13]

Spain peaked with an average of 7,800 new cases reported daily during the week ending April 1. New cases fell to an average of 279 over the week ending June 10, but then surged to an average of 2,704 new cases over the week ending August 10.

Israel peaked with an average of 628 new cases reported daily during the week ending April 3. New cases fell to an average of 13 over the week ending May 25, but then surged to an average of 1,471 new cases over the week ending August 10.

Japan peaked with an average of 566 new cases reported daily during the week ending April 15. New cases fell to an average of 29 over the week ending May 29, but then surged to an average of 1,329 new cases over the week ending August 10.

Australia peaked with an average of 368 new cases reported daily during the week ending March 30. New cases fell to an average of 5 over the week ending June 12, but then surged to an average of 439 new cases over the week ending August 10.

“Cognitive dissonance is when you applaud secret police snatching up people into unmarked vans, then turn around and claim that having to wear a mask is like living in a dictatorship.”

“When you're up to your ass in alligators, it's hard to recall that your objective was to drain the swamp.”

“Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean.”
          —Samuel Taylor Coleridge
          (The Rime of the Ancient Mariner)

“You call it war; we laugh at your battleships.”
          — Anonymous (hacker collective)

“When dying regimes collapse, they do so with dizzying speed.” —Chris Hedges

“Three countries led by leaders who trust their gut feel rather than listen to the scientists have had very bad outcomes: USA, UK, Brazil. Generally countries that have listened to their experts have done much better: New Zealand for example. I have seen studies claiming that if Trump had done the right things such as shut down the country and take the responsibility for stocking PPE when the warnings first came, tens of thousands of lives would have been saved. Instead he said that it was no worse than the flu, and would disappear in the summer, and did nothing. That's what happens when we elect an egotistical moron as president. Whatever you can say about Hillary, she is way more competent than Trump, and I believe the outcome would have been much better. I'm no expert on your religion, but I'm sure that tens of thousands of lives saved must factor in somewhere.

“A couple of other points. I've seen no credible [evidence that] the virus was either created in an American lab or escaped from a Chinese lab where it was being studied. The latter is another rumor that has been bandied about.

“My understanding from when I visited you in China was [that] the Cultural Revolution was a disaster. This came from both you and your Chinese friends. Why are you now using it as a praiseworthy example?”

“The United States is perhaps particularly vulnerable. We've gutted our public health infrastructure in favor of for-profit health care. When people are afraid to seek medical help because they might end up paying for it for the rest of their lives, how are we to keep contagious disease from spreading?”

“Sometimes, God uses unusual people, people that are not exactly on the straight and narrow. And I believe God is using Mr. Trump. Like I said I don’t like his style, but I believe God is using him. He doesn’t answer to people, he does whatever.” —Kathy Casillas

“But this will pass. Eventually humanity will develop herd-immunity to the COVID-19 virus.

“However, I suspect COVID-19 will prove to be a terminal illness for the Great American Empire. Weakened from without by Perpetual War and Climate Change, hollowed out from within by corruption and inequality, I do not expect the Great American Empire to survive intact. COVID-19 may well be the final nail in its coffin.”

“Anarchy is a poor answer to tyranny.” —John Kiriakou

“Assuredly the creation of the heavens and the earth is a greater (matter) than the creation of men: Yet most men understand not.”

“In my opinion it is quite likely that the COVID-19 virus was genetically engineered and released in China in an act of economic or political sabotage.”

“Oh where, oh where, are the white silver tongues,
Who forgot to listen to the warning.”

“Fear the cry of the oppressed, for there is no barrier between it and God.”

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.”

“Mene; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it.
Tekel; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.
Peres; Thy kingdom is divided;”

“If you hear of a plague in a land, then do not go into it. If it happens in land where you are, then do not go out of it.”

“It is a punishment that Allah sends upon whoever he wills, but Allah has made it a mercy for the believers. Any servant who resides in a land afflicted by plague, remaining patient and hoping for reward from Allah, knowing that nothing will befall him but what Allah has decreed, he will be given the reward of a martyr.”

“But the transgressors changed the word from that which had been given them; so We sent on the transgressors a plague from heaven, for that they infringed (Our command) repeatedly.”
—Qur'an 2:59 (translation of meaning by Yusuf Ali)

“So the LORD sent a pestilence upon Israel from the morning even to the time appointed: and there died of the people from Dan even to Beersheba seventy thousand men.”
—2 Samuel 24:15 (KJV)

“And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.”

“Lo, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly: but these sheep, what have they done? let thine hand, I pray thee, be against me, and against my father's house. ... And David built there an altar unto the Lord, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. So the Lord was intreated for the land, and the plague was stayed from Israel.”

“I read the Rolla news this morning and clicked into your article about coronovirus/wealthy countries. I agree with your premise: you'd think poor countries with less access to handwashing facilities and such would be harder hit. On the other hand, wealthy countries with people who travel more are more likely to spread it. Also, all the stats are based on where tests are available, so hard to say how many cases are where. I agree that we don't know a lot. ... I think the correlation you're making is interesting—I've wondered why we aren't seeing more spread in less developed countries.”

“TRUE or FALSE? The new coronavirus was deliberately created or released by people.

“The answer is false.

“Viruses can change over time. Occasionally, a disease outbreak happens when a virus that is common in an animal such as a pig, bat or bird undergoes changes and passes to humans. This is likely how the new coronavirus came to be.”

1. Many of these folks in high places are pure sociopaths. They think nothing of killing millions of people.

Remember Iraq? During and after the First Gulf War, Iraq's ability to provide clean water and sanitation was deliberately destroyed; leading to the death of at least 1/2 million children from easily preventable water-borne disease. And then Secretary of State Madeleine Albright crowed on 60 minutes that “the price is worth it.”

And then there's Flint Michigan, where the city water supply was deliberately poisoned and the perpetrators covered it up for years. So far these perpetrators have not done one day of jail-time for this.

Sanctions applied to Iran and Venezuela have killed thousands through degradation of the public health infrastructure. This seems to have become a favored method of attack.

Other examples of mass murder abound.

2. Earlier this month a report was leaked that US intelligence had picked up information about the COVID-19 epidemic in China as early as November. But, Dr. Li Wenliang did not become aware of the existence of seven cases of a SARS-like infection in Wuhan until December 30. How could this be, unless US intelligence already knew about the virus and was actively monitoring its spread.

3. In January, as the COVID-19 epidemic spread in China, US Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross remarked, “I think it will help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America, some to the U.S., probably some to Mexico as well.” It was almost like he had planned it this way.

“in my opinion there is a significant probability that the COVID-19 virus was genetically engineered and released in China in an act of economic or political sabotage;”

“China took extreme and drastic measures at high economic costs to prevent a larger outbreak. It did not do that to deceive anyone but because it saw the seriousness of the problem. It acted in the global interest and to defeat the virus.

“China gave the world time to prepare for the pandemic. Unfortunately, that time was not used well.” 

“Yesterday I went to a Nicaraguan government office to take care of necessary paperwork. At the door I was politely asked to wash my hands in one of two outdoor sinks with soap. The nice man at the door then checked my temperature with an infrared thermometer and waved me in. Just inside the door was a disinfectant mat, I was asked to wipe my shoes and then my hands were sprayed with alcohol. At the check-in desk I was given a squirt of alcohol gel for my hands and my ID, which I handed over in exchange for a visitor's ID that had also been disinfected.

This was my experience everywhere I went — polite people in masks attending in each business, 1 meter markings on the floor for social distancing, disinfecting at the doors, alcohol gel available — the Ministry of Health is inspecting businesses (our Clinic too) to make sure they're following guidelines. No, Nicaragua is not shutting down right now, but the government is definitely not ‘doing nothing’ — in our blog today we break down what's going on and why Nicaragua's response to COVID-19 will not be the same as developed countries' response.”

“And this stillness of life did not in the least resemble a peace. It was the stillness of an implacable force brooding over an inscrutable intention. It looked at you with a vengeful aspect.”
—Joseph Conrad (Heart of Darkness)

“And outside, the silent wilderness ... struck me as something great and invincible, like evil or truth, waiting patiently for the passing away of this fantastic invasion.”

“Sometimes, reality outraces our capacity for satire.”
—John Acheson

Note: The above statistics on the COVID-19 pandemic come from worldometers.info and are as of 0:00 hours gmt on March 31 (7:00pm cdt on March 30). Statistics are “as reported” and may or may not truly represent the reality on the ground.

“I read the news today, oh boy,”
—John Lennon/Paul McCartney (A Day in the Life)

“The United States is perhaps particularly vulnerable. We've gutted our public health infrastructure in favor of for-profit health care. When people are afraid to seek medical help because they might end up paying for it for the rest of their lives, how are we to keep contagious disease from spreading?”

“The United States, with it's for-profit health industry, is perhaps the least able of all wealthy countries to respond positively to such an epidemic. How do you fight an epidemic when a large part of the population is too poor to afford to go to a doctor? How do you fight an epidemic when a large part of the population is so afraid, that it would not bring itself to the attention of the authorities anyway? How do you fight an epidemic in a society that has become so used to blaming others for everything that goes wrong, that it has lost its power of introspection?”

Note: I stand by my previous statement that, “in my opinion there is a significant probability that the COVID-19 virus was genetically engineered and released in China in an act of economic or political sabotage.”

“For ’tis the sport to have the engineer
Hoist with his own petard:”
(Hamlet III:4)

“To pick up a rock only to drop it on one's own foot.”

William Shakespeare on Hand-Washing

Gentlewoman

It is an accustomed action with her, to seem thus
washing her hands: I have known her continue in
this a quarter of an hour.

LADY MACBETH

Yet here's a spot....

Out, damned spot! out, I say!...

What, will these hands ne'er be clean?...

Here's the smell of the blood still: all the
perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little
hand. Oh, oh, oh!

Doctor

This disease is beyond my practise: ...

Foul whisperings are abroad: unnatural deeds
Do breed unnatural troubles:

—William Shakespeare, Macbeth 5:1

Sanctions: an Attack on Public Health

Kudos for China

Disease of the Wealthy Countries

“But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.” —Matthew 19:30 (KJV)

What's Next?

New cases appear to have peaked on February 4 shortly after China began to mobilize against the virus.

On February 18, recoveries began to outpace new cases, meaning the number of infected people began to decrease.

Don't be fooled by the spike of new cases on Feb. 12. It stems from a change in how new cases were reported.

While new cases outside of China have spiked in the last few days, the transmission rate within China appears to have fallen.

Hindsight is always 2020. It is very easy to look back and say what should or should not have been done. It is much more difficult to make correct policy in real time.

It is still too early to say much about the future course of this epidemic. With the spread of the virus to other lands, only time will show how well others outside of China handle it.

“The threat of climate change is a very clear example of why we all need to pull together, we are in this together. The United States can't do it alone, Europe can't do it alone, China can't do it alone, and no one country can do this alone.” —Bernie Sanders

“The United States, with it's for-profit health industry, is perhaps the least able of all wealthy countries to respond positively to such an epidemic. How do you fight an epidemic when a large part of your population is too poor to afford to go to a doctor? How do you fight an epidemic when a large part of your population is so afraid, that it would not bring itself to the attention of the authorities anyway? How do you fight an epidemic in a society that has become so used to blaming others for everything that goes wrong, that it has lost its power of introspection?”

“You say that the United States is the least able of the wealthy countries to respond to the epidemic. I have no idea whether you consider China a wealthy country, but it is certainly an economic powerhouse. Because of its secrecy and stonewalling it has certainly proved itself the least able to deal with such a crisis. I suspect that if Trump stays out of the way, our infrastructure will handle it okay. The CDC is very professional, and seems to be dealing with this correctly.”

Part 1: Biological Weapons: A Useful and Timely Factual Overview

Part 2: The Geopolitical Deployment of Biological Weapons

Part 3: Genetically Modified Seeds: Conceived as a Weapon

1. The use of smallpox as a biological weapon against our Amerindian population. Smallpox could be as much as 95% fatal to a population that lacked immunity.

2. HIV/AIDS, which (in my opinion and that of others) was quite likely manufactured in a US military laboratory.

3. The use of bogus vaccination campaigns by the CIA to gather information. Such campaigns sow distrust of health workers and public health in general. (Consider the case of Shakil Afridi and the CIA attempt to gather information on the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden through a bogus hepatitus vaccination campaign in Pakistan.)

“We defeated the Persian Empire in the 18th century. We defeated the British in the 19th century. We defeated the Soviet Union in the 20th century. Now, with NATO, we are fighting 28 countries, but we will defeat them too.”
—(Afghan Taxi Driver in Vancouver)

“I never doubted him for a minute. But why would America's leaders, in their delusions of empire and obsession with budget-busting weapons technology, ever listen to an Afghan taxi driver?”

“I hate statistics. What I got to know, I keep in my head.” —Jay Hanna “Dizzy” Dean

1. Yesterday the daily average concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere at the Mauna Loa observatory surpassed 416 ppm for the first time since record-keeping began. (Just nine months ago the 415 ppm milestone was also surpassed at Mauna Loa.)

2. Yesterday the number of people killed by the Wuhan coronavirus surpassed 1,000.

“I have the means to make myself deadly, but that by itself, you understand, is absolutely nothing in the way of protection. What is effective is the belief those people have in my will to use the means. That’s their impression. It is absolute. Therefore I am deadly.” —Joseph Conrad (The Secret Agent)

“You can’t have good policy that results in peace if you ignore one side.” —Bernie Sanders

“Each State Party undertakes never under any circumstances to: develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices;”

“to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.” (Article VI)

Chutzpah I

Chutzpah II

“Is she the chief economist? Who is she? I'm confused. After she goes and studies economics in college, she can come back and explain that to us.”

“The most significant characteristic of modern civilization is the sacrifice of the future for the present, and all the power of science has been prostituted to this purpose.” —William James

“Oh, I've seen fire and I've seen rain.
I've seen sunny days that I thought would never end.”
—James Taylor (Fire and Rain)

“Surprisingly, scientists proved as susceptible to herd-think as everyone else, and equally unaware of it.”
—Fred Reed

“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.”
—Mark Twain

“Between two evils, choose neither; between two goods, choose both.”
—Tryon Edwards

“And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto [Jesus] a woman taken in adultery; ... and [said:] ... Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned: but what sayest thou? ...

“[Jesus] said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. ... And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last:” —John 8:3-9 (KJV)

“And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? ... Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.” —Matthew 7:3-5 (KJV)

“Well, only one person, my good friend, Barbara Lee, was right on that issue. She was the only person in the House to vote against the war in Afghanistan. She was right. I was wrong. So was everybody else in the House.”

“With all due respect, Tim, your question misses the mark. It is not an issue of relocating people from towns. The issue now is whether we save the planet for our children and grandchildren. ...

“The United States has got to lead the world, and maybe—just maybe—instead of spending $1.8 trillion a year, globally, on weapons of destruction, maybe an American president can lead the world. Instead of spending money to kill each other, maybe we pool our resources and fight our common enemy which is Climate Change.”

“To rely on the wisdom of the people in power is the worst thing you can do.”
—Howard Zinn

“And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them;”
—Exodus 9:12 (KJV)

“Those who reject Our Signs are deaf and dumb,- in the midst of darkness profound: whom Allah willeth, He leaveth to wander: whom He willeth, He placeth on the Way that is Straight. ... We afflicted the nations with suffering and adversity, that they might learn humility. When the suffering reached them from us, why then did they not learn humility? On the contrary their hearts became hardened, and Satan made their (sinful) acts seem alluring to them.”
—The Holy Qur'an 6:39-43 (translation of meaning by Abdullah Yusuf Ali)

“Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.”

“Greed and stupidity make a lethal cocktail.”
—Dave Jorgenson

“The random mutations that increase brain size are probably ubiquitous, meaning that it is reasonable to expect that virtually every animal alive today has ancestors that produced brainier offspring which in turn had the chance to be fruitful and multiply. But the evidence is that with very few exceptions, evolutionary experiments to increase brain power have not taken. ... The likelihood is that nature has had more failures than successes when it comes to increasing brain size (and in evolutionary terms, the jury is still out on whether the human experiment will ultimately be a success or failure...)”

“We’re sold the idea of—we’re going to liberate people, we’re fighting terrorism. Then we realize we’re the ones terrorizing people. That torments you psychologically. I’ve lost a few friends to suicide.”
—Michael Hanes (Iraq Veteran)

“Victory is not a pleasant thing.
Those who are pleased by victory
Are pleased with the slaughter of others.
Those who are pleased with the slaughter of others
Have no just place in this world.”
—Laozi (Tao Te Ching ~550BCE)

“it looks like Vladimir Putin has pulled a rabbit out of a hat. He appears to have brokered a Peace in which Turkey and the Syrian Kurds will get enough of what they desire that they will go along with the plan, leaving Russia and the Syrian government firmly in control.”

“The fire is important to our people and to the telling of tales. The light, the heat, and the sound of burning wood speak to our spirits more deeply than any words. Winter is a time for stories, and one should call upon the fire to join in the telling of the tale.” —Jeffrey Prusski (Bring Back the Deer)

“I saw her wince; I saw her cry;
I saw the glory in her eye.
Myself, I long for love and light;
But must it come so cruel, and oh so bright?”

“The Lord said, ‘Sinnerman, the sea will be a-boilin’,
All on that day.” —traditional (Sinnerman)

“The sun turns black, earth sinks in the sea,
The hot stars down from heaven are whirled;
Fierce grows the steam and the life-feeding flame,
Till fire leaps high about heaven itself.”
—Voluspo:57 (translated by Henry Adams Bellows)

“Now do I see the earth anew
Rise all green from the waves again;
The cataracts fall, and the eagle flies,
And fish he catches beneath the cliffs.”
—Voluspo:59 (translated by Henry Adams Bellows)

“The best laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft a-gley.” —Robert Burns

I think there are powerful forces in Washington wanting to teach Turkey a lesson for pursuing an independent foreign policy and buying a Russian missile defense system. I think these same forces are looking at Donald Trump as a liability and wish to be rid of him. So what better way to accomplish both objectives than to get Trump to declare “neutrality” and withdraw from Northern Syria, leaving our Kurdish allies to face the Turkish invasion alone. So while Turkey walks into a trap, Donald Trump takes the rap. But don't mind me. I'm just an old conspiracy theorist.

“Assuredly the creation of the heavens and the earth is a greater (matter) than the creation of men: Yet most men understand not.” — The Holy Qur'an 40:57

“A human being is a part of the whole, called by us the ‘Universe,’ a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.” —Albert Einstein

Shortly after God created mankind, all the parts of the human body got together to choose which part should hold dominion over the others.

“I should have dominion over the rest of you,” said the brain, “because I run all the body's systems, so without me nothing would happen.”

“I should have dominion over the rest of you,” said the blood , “because I circulate oxygen all over so without me you'd all waste away.”

“I should have dominion over the rest of you,” said the stomach , “because I process food and give all of you energy.”

“I should have dominion over the rest of you,” said the legs , “because I carry the body wherever it needs to go.”

“I should have dominion over the rest of you,” said the eyes, “Because I allow the body to see where it goes.”

And so it went, until finally the asshole said, “I should have dominion over the rest of you, because I'm responsible for waste disposal.”

All the other body parts laughed at the asshole and insulted him. In a fit of anger, the asshole threw a temper tantrum and shut down tight.

Within a few days, the brain had a terrible headache, the stomach was bloated, the legs got wobbly, the eyes got watery, and the blood got toxic. The following day all the body parts agreed: The asshole would have dominion over all the parts of the body.

Conclusion: Only an asshole can succeed in holding dominion over others.

“I've long since accepted that being an activist and a writer, futile though it may be, is who I am. The ship may be going down, but like the orchestra on the Titanic, I keep playing.”

The situation is dire. Human activity has caused a spike in CO₂ and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere resulting in warming temperatures, melting ice, rising sea levels, species extinction, reduced crop yields and catastrophic hurricanes, droughts, floods and fires. But there is hope, if we act immediately. If we listen to the scientists and make a few small changes, adding less carbon to our atmosphere and removing more from it, all will be well and we can continue to live our lives in fairytale bliss.

“When you go to dig your fields, or make a pot from clay, you are disturbing the balance of things. When you walk, you are moving the air, breathing it in and out. Therefore you must make payments.”

“People are suffering. People are dying. Entire ecosystems are collapsing. We are at the beginning of a mass extinction and all you can talk about is money and fairytales of eternal economic growth, How dare you!” —Greta Thunberg (address to the United Nations)

“...and a little child shall lead them.” —Isaiah 11:6

1. The Arctic has experienced the most warming of anywhere on the planet — up to 6° C. in places. The Antarctic is labeled insufficient data.

2. Most of the Greater Middle East and Europe have warmed over 1.5° C. The entire Country of Iraq and most of neighboring Iran and Syria have warmed 2.0° C. or more.

3. Most of the land surface of the globe has warmed at least 1.5° C. Water warms more slowly than land, and except for a few hot spots has not reached 1.5° C. yet.

“I don't think you gave Bolsonaro the condemnation that he deserves.” and “Bolsonaro ... is a right wing populist, in the ilk of Trump, whose policies have encouraged the fires. If he had any interest in fighting the fires, he would have taken the money and asked for more. In fact it wasn't until Macron shamed him that he even pretended to care. The fires are not only an environmental disaster, but a public health disaster as well. Respiratory problems especially among children and the elderly have increased in the area of the fires.”

“I can't wait to show my grandmother how I was supported by all of you—it would bring her so much joy. Thank you for hearing me, thank you for seeing me, thank you for loving me. And thank you for allowing me to be not just your congresswoman, but also a granddaughter of a grandmother living under occupation.”

“You don’t develop as much as Mother Earth can handle. For us it’s the opposite. You think about how much you can give up to promote more life. Every decision that you make is based on: Do you really need to be doing that?” —Leanne Betasamosake Simpson (Nishnaabeg)

1. Each State Party undertakes never under any circumstances to:

(a) Develop, test, produce, manufacture, otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices

Bolivia	ratified	6 August 2019
Cambodia	signed	9 January 2019
El Salvador	ratified	30 January 2019
Panama	ratified	11 April 2019
St Lucia	ratified	23 January 2019
St Vincent & Grenadines	ratified	31 July 2019
South Africa	ratified	22 February 2019

“Tiring of Donald Trump's bullying, Turkey took delivery of the first installment of Russia's S-400 Missile Defense System. Donald Trump was livid and threatening ... you guessed it ... sanctions. Turkey also unveiled plans to wean itself militarily away from the U.S. and build it's own fighter jet. Apparently, Turkey is really serious about becoming a military power to be reckoned with. So much so, that they have jailed a number of academics for the crime of signing a petition advocating peace..

“This world gets more and more dangerous every day.”

“Not clear to me whether you are praising or condemning Turkey.”

“For someone like me who long ago turned his back on America’s never-ending wars on terror, it’s discomfiting to imagine the process that might finally lead to a U.S. military withdrawal from Afghanistan, especially one negotiated by The Donald and his strange team of hawks. Of one thing, rest assured: bad things will happen afterward.”

“First, the EU ban on oil sales to Syria concerned only EU member states.

“Second, the Grace I was in international waters and seizing it is a form of piracy.

“Third, there is no proof it was headed for Syria (which would not have been illegal in international law in any case).”

“Grow a forest, Protect it from axes that hack,
Then the Lorax and all of his friends may come back.”
—Dr. Seuss

The United States has been in a state of continuous, global, open-ended military conflict since 2001. Over 2.5 million troops have fought in this “Forever War” in over a dozen countries – including Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Jordan, Niger, Somalia, and Thailand. I pledge to the people of the United States of America, and to our military community in particular, that I will (1) fight to reclaim Congress’s constitutional authority to conduct oversight of U.S. foreign policy and independently debate whether to authorize each new use of military force, and (2) act to bring the Forever War to a responsible and expedient conclusion.

“Israel’s system of military juvenile detention is state-sponsored child abuse designed to intimidate and terrorize Palestinian children and their families,” McCollum said. “It must be condemned, but it is equally outrageous that U.S. tax dollars in the form of military aid to Israel are permitted to sustain what is clearly a gross human rights violation against children.”

“The peace talks in Qatar and Russia will not immediately result in any direct outcome. Afghanistan is damaged beyond belief, its own future less important to the external parties than their own petty gains.”

“Had he been informed by an indisputable authority that the end of the world was to be finally accomplished by a catastrophic disturbance of the atmosphere, he would have assimilated the information under the simple idea of dirty weather, and no other, because he had no experience of cataclysms, and belief does not necessarily imply comprehension.” —Joseph Conrad (Typhoon, 1902)

“I was right about Vietnam.”

“I was right about Iraq.”

“I will do everything in my power to prevent a war with Iran.”

“I apologize to no one.”

“I strongly oppose U.S. policy, which overthrows governments, especially democratically elected governments, around the world. So this issue is not so much Nicaragua or the government of Nicaragua. The issue was, should the United States continue a policy of overthrowing governments in Latin America and Central America? I believed then that it was wrong, and I believe today it is wrong. That's why I do not believe the United States should overthrow the government of Venezuela.

“...I plead guilty to, throughout my adult life, doing everything that I can to prevent war and destruction. That is my view, and I make no apologies for it.”

“Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn't.” —Mark Twain

“They can snow all their clients,
By calling it — Science”
—Tom Lehrer (Sociology)

A note on Tom Lehrer: Lehrer is best known for songs like "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park," "The Elements" and "I Got It From Agnes." His biting iconoclastic wit is second to none. The video linked to above contains some of his lesser-known songs and was recorded at a party for Andrew Wiles who proved the famous Fermat conjecture that there are no integral solutions to the equation aⁿ+bⁿ=cⁿ, for n>2. (See comment above about how in Mathematics it is possible to prove a negative.) “Sociology” appears on the video at 7:10-10:20. The final song contains a tribute verse to Andrew Wiles. Those who think that the derivative was invented by Wall Street shysters, should listen to the first song. If you ever took a class from me, the third song on the video might bring back old memories.

“And all the rain falls down — Amen,
On the works of last-year's man.”
—Leonard Cohen (Last Year's Man)

“it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth, and it grieved him at his heart. ... And, behold, I, even I, do bring a flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the earth shall die.” (Genesis 6:6-17, KJV)

“This is our social infrastructure, our status quo: a consensus utterly unquestioned by most politicians and the mainstream media. Indeed, the U.S. may well be the leader of the global ideology of separation, which means a world of standing armies, unconscionable military budgets and endless war; a world of wealth and poverty, where profit is officially valued over the common good; a world of punishment-based justice, a growing prison-industrial complex and indifference to healing; a world of guns and racism; a world of borders and immigrant scapegoating; a world of nuclear weapons.

“And, of course, a world where most political leaders are clueless about addressing climate change,”

“it isn't just really, really bad; it's catastrophic.”
—Dahr Jamail

“This is not reasonable.” —Greta Thunberg

“The most terrifying new nuclear powers would be Iran and Saudi Arabia. Iran has enough scientific talent to develop a bomb, and Saudi Arabia could buy what it needs. Hearing the leaders of those countries snarl at each other is scary enough today. If both had nuclear weapons — not a far-fetched scenario if present trends continue — war between them could be devastating.”

“Clean air and clean water are rare commodities, regardless of where you live. You can be in the most developed country in the world and face the same environmental challenges as people living in the least developed country in the world, because of the very fundamental truth, that is: our world has become global. Everything has become indivisible. .... You cannot have a nice environment in San Francisco if Fiji is drowning because of global warming.”

“Nobody can erect a wall ... and protect themselves from environmental degradation: If you talk to anybody about that, they’ll laugh at you.”

“The U.S. spends over 670 billion dollars on defense, the next country which is China spends only 220 billion dollars and you know the third country: Saudi Arabia, spends more than Russia on defense, 67 billion dollars. We spend only 16 [billion] … I hope the time will come when we spend even less.” [emphasis mine]

“what is deterrence? Deterrence is to gain security from making sure that others feel insecure. That’s a contradiction in terms. You cannot be secure while others are insecure.”

“Common destiny of humanity is a fact that has been attested to by realities on the ground, even by our scriptures, be it the Gospel, the Torah, Holy Koran, all of it ... the common destiny of humanity is written all over the place. And it’s written today more than any time in the past. In our environment, in our surroundings — that we cannot live without each other.”

“It is possible that climate change, a shared threat like no other, may encourage countries to work together despite their political and ideological differences. In so doing, climate change could become a vehicle for rapprochement and peacebuilding.

“However, given the current political landscape, which continues to be characterized by distrust, hostility and a lack of cooperation, climate change is more likely to become an obstacle to peace and could indeed aggravate tensions in a number of serious ways.”

1. January 2019 was the third warmest January since record keeping began in 1880. This follows on the heals of December 2018 which was the second warmest December since record keeping began.

2. The latest five 12-month periods ending in January were the five warmest on record — by a long-shot.

3. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere reached a whooping 412.41 ppm average last week at Mauna Loa, almost 4 ppm higher than the average one year ago. The highest weekly average recorded before 2019 was 411.85.

4. Climate change virtually wiped out the entire continent of Australia through drought, fire and flood.

“I am just a messenger, and yet I get all this hate” —Greta Thunberg

“For whenever I prophesy, I must cry out, ‘Violence and destruction are coming!’ This message from the LORD has made me an object of continual insults and derision.” —Jeremiah 20:8 (NET)

“The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speak it.” —George Orwell

“There is a saying among children, that ‘Sometimes one is hanged for speaking the truth.’” —Joan of Arc

“I am just a messenger, and yet I get all this hate. I am not saying anything new, I am just saying what scientists have repeatedly said for decades. And I agree with you, I'm too young to do this. We children shouldn't have to do this. But since almost no one is doing anything, and our very future is at risk, we feel like we have to continue.”

“ In the beautiful Midwest, windchill temperatures are reaching minus 60 degrees, the coldest ever recorded. In coming days, expected to get even colder. People can’t last outside even for minutes. What the hell is going on with Global Waming? Please come back fast, we need you!”

“The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatling together; and a little child shall lead them.” (KJV)

“Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout would not take the garbage out” —Shel Silverstein

Shortly after God created man, all the parts of the human body got together to choose a president.

“I should be president,” said the brain, “because I run all the body's systems, so without me nothing would happen.”

“I should be president,” said the blood , “because I circulate oxygen all over so without me you'd all waste away.”

“I should be president,” said the stomach , “because I process food and give all of you energy.”

“I should be president,” said the legs , “because I carry the body wherever it needs to go.”

“I should be president,” said the eyes, “Because I allow the body to see where it goes.”

And so it went, until finally the asshole said, “I should be president, because I'm responsible for waste disposal.”

All the other body parts laughed at the asshole and insulted him. In a fit of anger, the asshole threw a temper tantrum and shut down tight.

Within a few days, the brain had a terrible headache, the stomach was bloated, the legs got wobbly, the eyes got watery, and the blood got toxic. The following day all the body parts agreed, the asshole would be president.

Conclusion: Any asshole can become president.

“Popular revulsion for the ruling elite ... is nearly universal.” —Chris Hedges

White House comment line: 202-456-1111 (closed during shutdown)
Senator Roy Blunt: 202-224-5721
Senator Josh Hawley: 202-224-6154
Congressman Jason Smith 202-225-4404

“We can't expect America to win against its foes,
With no one in the Senate who can really tap his toes.”
—Tom Lehrer

“And the crickets are breaking his heart with their song,
As the day caves in and the night is all wrong.”
—Leonard Cohen (Ballad of the Absent Mare)

Anti-government protests in Nicaragua broke out in early April, 2018 over a fire in the Indio Maíz Reservation that burned 13,500 acres in nine days. Protesters faulted the government of Nicaragua for failure to extinguish the fire promptly. However, it is unclear that there is anything that could have been done to extinguish it sooner.

At the time of the fire, the Indio Maíz was in an advanced stage of drought and littered with dead trees, downed by Hurricane Otto, which scored a direct hit on the Indio Maíz as a category 3 hurricane. The Indio Maíz is a rough roadless jungle and Nicaragua lacked equipment to fight the fire from the air. Help from Mexico in the form of fire-fighting helicopters appears to have been crucial.

Comparisons with recent fires in the United States are helpful here. The Camp Fire burned over 150,000 acres in California and killed over 80 people. Even with advanced fire-fighting equipment, it took 18 days to completely contain it. No one faults the California forest service for the Camp Fire (except Donald Trump who claimed they should have been “raking” the forest). There appears to be a double standard here.

Indeed, the two fires can both be traced to the same root cause — a hotter, drier climate for which the United States bears tremendous responsibility while Nicaragua bears little.

The government of Nicaragua was faulted for unpopular “reforms” to Social Security. However, these cuts were all rescinded due to popular opposition. In the face of austerity imposed by wealthy international bankers, Nicaragua is far from the only country to attempt to cut Social Security and pensions. And here in the United States, the government thinks nothing of forcing federal workers to do dangerous jobs for no pay while Congress and the president bicker over a wall that never should even have been considered in the first place. Again, there appears to be a double standard here.

The government of Nicaragua is faulted for paramilitary and police violence. However, it is unclear who was responsible for much of the violence. This is the hallmark of a CIA instigated coup, violence and chaos. Police uniforms are cheap. False flag operations abound. And no one can be sure who is behind anonymous paramilitary thugs.

To anyone who has read All the Shah's Men, Stephen Kinzer's seminal book on the 1953 CIA coup which overthrew the democratically elected government of Iran, this all sounds eerily familiar. Kinzer documented how the CIA brought down Iran's government and spread chaos throughout the country by hiring thugs and criminals and paying journalists to write articles blaming the government. Over the years the CIA has refined its techniques.

The Nicaraguan government is faulted for attacks on the opposition press; yet there is nary a word about Julian Assange, who has been forced to live in exile in the Ecuadoran embassy in London for years to avoid arrest and extradition to the United States. Julian Assange, the editor and founder of Wikileaks, published a famous video of US troops shooting down unarmed Iraqi civilians. He is probably the most important journalist of the 21st Century to date. Again, there appears to be a double standard.

More of Tom's Blog

2021-22 2019-20

2017-18 2015-16

2013-14 2011-12