There Was A Time...

When I too thought Elon the 21st century equivalent of Einstein and Edison jelly rolled into one! There's just no stopping this guy's sheer, unadulterated genius!!!

Then the sheen started to slowly, then rapidly dissipate. His beautiful Model 2 Roadster of 2017 with specs up the wazoo was promised to go into mass production in 2020, make that 2021, 2022- do I hear 2023, 2024? Certainly 2025... Hey, check out the all new, redesigned 2026 with- Rocket Boosters!!! Scheduled for delivery in... in... lemme get back to ya!

Then there was the... HyperLoop! Which would quickly and efficiently revolutionize commuting on a scale not to be believed- would ya believe a two mile test track?

And then there's... Twitter X! The young, capable futurist really did things right on that one; proving not only his ability to downsize corporate waste into a lean, efficient enterprise- but to make it spit out money as never before... particularly his own!

But those are just a scant few of this miracle man's many innovative models of folly and failure- all beautifully wrapped in the shiniest bullshit money can buy! His ultimate ruse was his fast and furious vehicle of bureaucratic duplicity- the silver bullet called... DOGE! Advertised as that which would save us all untold billions, cut waste and transform Washington into a dynamo of streamlined government competence... we instead got a cover for someone to quash every government investigation into his multiple criminal business practices and crooked dealings! While at the same time: cutting USAID (.5 of 1%) of the federal budget (resulting in the estimated deaths of literally millions the next few years), disposing of pesky regulatory and investigatory commissions (who cares about screw worms and explosive diarrhea)- and who needs anything or anyone investigating fraud! The US military has never passed an audit- so why start now?!? And just how did non-governmental agents (incl- Big Balls), completely outside the legal bounds of federal law and regulation, get to decimate, undermine and terminate the lawful mandates of a duly elected, legislative body called Congress?!?

Yes, sir- can't wait to see what else we can expect from this god sent visionary from the future. We can only continue to thank, salute (ya know the kind) and fund, his life long dedication to our best interests! Afterall, we are scheduled to get men on Mars by 2025, 20...

More Cameras Witnessing Less?

It's common knowledge that we have become inured to images of violence, from documentary footage, to Tik Tok, to Hollywood cinema. Only a fool would contest that. But what then happens when we no longer have visual references for real events at all, no documentation of particularly heinous acts of violence, no visual proof of the very real possibility of unspeakable crimes committed? What happens when we don't have "a napalm girl," My Lai slaughter images, or a Kent State tragedy icon? What happens when we can't even dispute or argue if it's real or AI... before ultimately forgetting and dismissing?!? Whether it's slaughtered children in our nation's schools, primary schoolgirls ruthlessly dismembered in a completely unnecessary and illegal war, or the thousands of underage victims of a revenge war metastasized into genocide!

Graphic images of actual horrors inflicted may no longer carry the emotional weight and cause for self reflection they once did, but they still supply a reference point as to public evidence- to be actively researched and debated, denied or accepted. Their elimination, their non existence is the crudest, most potent form of refutation...

How Much More?

Photo: © Stan B.

Do we have to see and hear? Witness and endure? 30,573 lies in his first term alone- a record he's easily surpassed midway through his second term untethered by the constraints of a semi-rational admin. But how much more can any of us endure? Vandals wrecking the reflecting pool; Iran purposely killing their own school children; Ukraine starting the current war with Russia; personally ending eight wars; vowing not to touch "a single brick of the East Wing;" claiming Renee Good "violently, willfully, and viciously ran over the ICE Officer;" declaring we've won the Iran War when we're clearly stuck with no foreseeable way out of the ever expanding morass; and my personal favorite (thus far this term)- the ever fantastical, confabulatory, tall tale lollapalooza of Sharpiegate (I actually fell for that one)! The guy lies for no rhyme or reason- it's his profession, past time and lifetime commitment. 

And for the most part- no one says shit. "We have the world's hottest economy," all thanks to the sleeping wonder who can't stay awake- except to criticize "Sleepy Joe Biden!" He has yet to comply with releasing the Epstein Files, in which his name is mentioned second only to the article "the," files he admits would hurt his friends. And yet, the "fake news" press just keeps chugging along- no matter the insults, no matter the censorship... Had they done their job in 2015, his already long NYC, criminal career exposed, would have spared us all this sad travail of one man, delusional mayhem and tyranny...

"Nothing bad can happen, it can only good happen."   -Donnie J!

We've Been Warned!

 How many blatant, outright warnings do we need!?!

Free Money $$$!!

Don't know about you guys in the rest of the world, but I'm gonna get mine some hefty Xmas presents this year, cause I'm in line for some Big Time $$$ courtesy of, and promised by... the greatest POTUS of all time! First, I got $5,000 coming in from all the massive, record breaking DOGE savings. It's a little late, granted (ya know the PO), but it's a comin' awright! Then there's another $2,000 from the unprecedented tariff savings on the way! And finally, finally, I got another five grand come Midterms when MAGA humiliates and lays waste to the last few, remaining Lib snowflakes that still infest The HOTTEST Country with the Hottest Economy in the Entire World!!! That's $12,000 Big, Beautiful Greenbacks headed my way- read it and weep, Oh Canada!

But... But...

So... Elon's telling anyone that'll listen (with Donnie POTUS at his side) that Artificial Intelligence, pardon- Super Intelligence is gonna give us all, Universal Basic... make that- "Universal High Income!" Now, when will the light bulb shine bright over the head of some young Press lad or lass and they finally get to asking, "Hey, ain't that there what y'all call... "Socialism!?" Ya know, the same exact stuff they're always frettin' and a hollerin' is gonna be the death of us all!

Elon also said some of us might just have jobs as a... "hobby." Maybe those who do will finally get some of that Socialist Universal Health Care to go along with it... 'Magine that!

PS- What's income inequality like today? Well, here's an example: if ol' Elon gave $100 to every person in the United States, he would have about $371.6 Billion to $839.6 Billion left over, depending on his exact net worth.

Wish They'd Showed The Entire Quote!

Photo: © Stan B.

"The only way to deal with exploiters is to terrorize the bastards!"     -Philip Burton

American History 101

No need to waste your time going to school or reading page after page of A People's History of the United States, y'all! You think our President bothered reading fake news? 

Here's AMERICAN HISTORY in a nutshell- sweet, short, concise and as true as you is blue! And if ya wanna be A Patriot, good news too- ya don't have to train like Jason Bourne!!!

Ya Got To Know When To...

Recently, I commented on Jake Ricker's trials and tribulations concerning his most famous body of work; and while I still deplore how his particular project ended, in retrospect, I think those copy cat jerks may have just done him the favor of his life. That is, after amassing his considerable body of work from years of persistent, daily commitment... it may just have been the right stimulus, at the right time, to make the right decision to call it a day and move on to other creative subjects of interest. 

Agreed, it's not my call to make, and our particulars vastly different, but last year after about a dozen years of covering the Folsom St. Leather Fairs I finally decided to close shop. And even though it was only twice a year, it just began to feel routine, more like work, and less like challenge- and yes, the law of diminishing returns also began to take its toll. More and more, I would approach a possible photo-op and realize- no, I already had a better one of those. It began happening with increasing regularity, and I couldn't pretend any longer- time to call it a day! While the subject matter itself was never easy for me, it was always easy to convince oneself that you could always squeeze out one more keeper because... well, you were practically guaranteed you could do just that!

This past weekend was the biggest of the biannual fairs, and while tempted, I'm happy I held firm- even managed a couple of keepers elsewhere in the city! 

Now, to make the final edit and final book, after making the work in progress some eight years ago (thought it was three or four)...

 How Is This Even Possible!?

21st Century SA

Photo: © Stan B.

Some inevitably raise their eyebrows and roll their eyes whenever one dares mention Trump/ICE/Nazis in the same sentence. No, Trump hasn't killed millions, only hundreds, possibly thousands: of schoolgirls, fishermen, various foreign nationals in "shithole" countries and American citizens denied adequate healthcare. But one can no longer deny the very real similarities that already exist. Trump propelled himself to political prominence by his racist condemnations of Mexicans as drug dealers and rapists (this coming from a man who is an adjudicated rapist with a long history of rumored drug abuse). 

And ICE has become Trump's personal paramilitary thug force, ill trained wannabe cops and soldiers, many with less than reputable background and a penchant for violence, literally answerable to no one. They don't display ID or wear bodycams (despite having them in their massive budget) and have a well deserved reputation for brandishing their firearms needlessly and shooting people in the back while making up false reports of being attacked first. They are literally the 21st century American SA, and yes, they most certainly do attack and sometimes kill American citizens, in their cars and on the street!

Despite decrying Nazi comparisons to the Trump/Miller regime- they're neither hyperbole nor hysteria. It is they who have officially, blatantly and irrevocably crossed that line: the uniforms, the policies, the rhetoric, one Nazi salute at a time (from someone who promotes ultra-Righist organizations throughout the world- as in Germany for instance). We even have a known Nazi sympathizer well entrenched in the DOJ itself!

Meanwhile, our fearless leader continues planning his vanity construction projects (including plans for a new bunker) as the country all around him wallows in the chaos of his own creation as he chastises us for not willingly putting up with a little suffering on his behalf, for not believing in him enough... Who starred in that very role almost 100 years ago?

Too Sad, Too Funny, Too True...

 This is what they do- and they're pretty damn good at doing it!
Really, really good...

U... S... A!!!

Photo: © Stan B.

I've always had mixed emotions upon seeing the American flag. My first reaction is one of familiarity and pride, the latter due to all the good this country has done both for its own citizens and people throughout the world. This initial, feel good response is then quickly overtaken by the sad realization of all the evil, yes- evil, this country has also wrought throughout its history, to the very present. Wars of choice, discrimination at home, coups abroad... as if there's an actual policy that every good deed must be countered by an equally monstrous one. 

Throughout the years, people came to make better lives for themselves, on land stolen at the point of a gun, worked by the labor of slaves- and it's not just history (although, even that is now also being erased in our schools and institutions of learning). We have a proud tradition of providing aid to the needy, food to the starving, medicine to the sick- last year, our government eliminated many if not most of those life saving offerings... and cheered!* Needless deaths now replace the lives we once saved. We dropped more munitions on Viet Nam than those dropped by the Allied and Axis powers combined during WW2- the mass killing of a people who never attacked us in any way, who initially quoted our own Constitution in regard to founding their own government. And this year we killed one hundred-fifty schoolgirls in a completely unnecessary and illegal war, to which our President actually suggested that it was Iran's fault for somehow obtaining a Tomahawk missile, then launching it on their own children- an assertion so blatantly ridiculous (in so many ways), so tragically absurd, that it should have automatically laughed him out of office! To say nothing of his complete and utter disregard for human life... "small potatoes."

Every - single - time I hear chants of USA! USA! USA! at political rallies, my mind races to the same, sound alike echoes of KHO-MEI-NI! KHOE-MEI-NI! KHOE-MEI-NI! that Iranians yelled aloud during the taking of US hostages in the '70s- rhyming, trisyllabic chants that trigger the same mindless, jingoistic vacancy of the eyes, the same mindless mob rule, the same mutual willingness to commit mindless acts of violence and brutality... 

Such a beautiful flag, still full of potential and possibility... one day it may learn to finally live and abide by it.

*by DOGE cutting USAID (.5 of 1% of this nation's budget), more than 14 million additional deaths could occur by 2030, including over 4.5 million among children under five, or about 700,000 extra child deaths per year.

 The Most Transparent Admin... EVER!

Addendum: And as always in this admin- there's more...

"He was garbage. Now he is dirt."

That comment (by Cal Myers) was The Best, Most Accurate Synopsis of Charlie Kirk's brief career- succinct, accurate, on point! No, he most definitely did not deserve to die as he did (no one does)- but I despised the man. His whole King of Debates faux aura; it was never an actual "free and open discussion of ideas" as his followers insist to this day. Both racist and misogynist, he would excel at luring naive, impressionable college students, and after letting them have their brief moment in the sun... pounce and cut them down with his well rehearsed, rapid fire talking points. He had the formula down!

The few times he actually debated knowledgeable, experienced adults (as in England), it wasn't such a smooth cruise- he would shrewdly move the gold posts, ever so slightly and persistently change the subject matter he was responding to and not quite answer the question at hand... in short, it was his turn to squirm. 

A couple of years ago there was a great video of a professor analyzing the debate tactics and strategies Kirk used to dominate; he broke it down in step by step detail with his actual debate cuts- brilliant breakdown and explanation, and of course, can't find it now for the life of me! Here's the Cliff Notes:

And after repeatedly calling for the release of the Epstein Files, Good Ol' Charlie's tune kinda changed rather abruptly when the Oval changed hands, to: "I'm gonna trust my friends in the government!" Wow! Oh... and one more thing:

I think it’s worth it. It’s worth to have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God given rights. That’s a prudent deal. It is rational.   -Charlie Kirk

YIPES!!!

A light hearted moment of honesty and transparency!

Followed by his reactive gaze, and... that rocking baby in the corner- worth the price of admission alone!

Twenty Five Years Ago...

... the seemingly impossible happened; we persevered an unimaginable horror, had the goodwill of the entire world on our side, and then squandered it by also committing unspeakable horrors on innocents (women, children, civilians) for years on end, including a war we were so obviously lied into... At least 408,749 civilians in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Syria, and Yemen died as a direct result of the post-9/11 wars. And... As of May 2023, more than 7.6 million children under five in post-9/11 war zones suffer from acute malnutrition. 

Fifteen of the nineteen hijackers were citizens of Saudi Arabia, where most if not all of the funding came from- and yet, somehow, it was never even scratched. And as if the loss of life wasn't enough, the wars also cost the US an estimated $8 Trillion. To this day, we are the only wealthy Western nation that does not guarantee universal healthcare for all its residents. We're repeatedly told we-just-can't-afford-it!

This year we initiated yet another war, this time with Iran.* It was presumably done to prevent them from acquiring a nuclear bomb... after we purposely reneged on an agreement that prevented Iran from obtaining one! Under the JPCOA, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors received continuous, 24/7 access to Iran's declared nuclear sites, supply chains, uranium mines, and centrifuge manufacturing facilities; and- Iran agreed to implement the IAEA Additional Protocol, allowing inspectors to request access to undeclared or suspicious locations anywhere in the country. Not a bad deal!

Today, Iran is on its way to acquiring some kind of nuclear device for the same reason no one attacks North Korea, scary- but can't say I blame them. Meanwhile, the whole world has lost trust in us as we've torn up treaties and threatened allies- even picked a fight with the friendliest country any neighbor could ever possibly ask for! We have lost old friends, and made more enemies...

As we remember the tragedy of 9/11, let us also strive towards the realization that in eventually eliminating that villain past, we've created the breeding ground for many more from the children whose innocent family members we've killed: at school, in hospitals, at wedding celebrations and in their very homes having dinner. It is a ritual we've already carried out yet again, in yet another country...

*The direct military cost of the war with Iran has reached at least $37.5 billion according to Pentagon estimates, while independent economic and energy tracking pushes the total cost past $100 billion. 

Like Clockwork...

 Trumpalooza does it again!!!

The Wonderland

 ... of Jason Eskenazi! A most definitely known photographer- and for good reason.

Talk About TED Talks!

Is this not the most inspirational, the most motivational lecture ever!?!

7X7 Adventures...

Photos: © Stan B.

Retirement, and the long daylight summer hours, continue to allow me the time to explore the nooks and crannies of this 7 square mile plot of land known as San Francisco. I've actually discovered places unknown to this East Coast transplant these past two decades, places like the non presumptuous Turtle Hill, which allows one the most panoramic view in all San Francisco- from the downtown skyline to the entirety of Golden Gate Park (20 acres larger than Central) to the Pacific Ocean itself... a spectacular vista from such an unassuming and unheralded viewpoint! 

One day I zigged instead of zagged in an area I had previously frequented and found myself in the neighborhood of... Sea Cliff, an area tantamount to a drug induced experience- LSD in the morning coffee! Most of San Francisco, no matter what the geographic or economic environment, has a certain rhythm and familiarity to it, particularly in its unique architecture. Sea Cliff left all that far behind, it didn't look like anything, feel like anything even remotely connected to San Francisco! By the mere turn of a corner, I had been somehow, someway rather magically transported to a Riviera seaside resort, a very wealthy seaside resort. I was now in the land of, not the well to do, but the filthy rich- mansion beside mansion beside mansion... with curiously little real estate separating them. A goddamn ghetto of mansions! And I do mean... Mansions! With a beach on either end of this very compact and ultra exclusive neighborhood. 

These photos are from neither of the aforementioned, not much purpose in my book if the photos can't in some small way capture some of what the place actually feels like. If I can't do the place some kind of justice in my small way, well then, I'd rather it live in my mind just how I wish, rather than belittle it with an image that just demeans the entire experience. Fortunately, I do, on occasion, get photos where I never anticipated, expected or contemplated;* these are the neighborhoods I've been exploring, usually working class, mostly residential and on the outskirts of town, far from the hipsters, tourists and tech nerds the city is known for; neighborhoods such as Bayview, Excelsior and Portola. Rounding the corners and traversing the hills and crevices, one will occasionally (very occasionally) be rewarded with the odd, photo worthy streetscape or unique, unforeseen point of view...

Photos: © Stan B.

*I still see young 'street shooters' moping about in the SF downtown area and I wanna yell at them (or at least gently suggest)- why are you wasting your time trying to retake classic street photos... on streets devoid of people?!? Move on, adapt- do something different! Even pre-Covid, when downtown SF streets were bustling, it was good to have a more varied diet of photo resources, now it's 100% crucial! It's why I expanded to also do essays on: pet cemeteries, 'bipping,' graffiti (and painted over graffiti), cars, Oakland Mail Trucks, panoramics, the SF leather Fairs and just about every protest I can attend locally. The latter will culminate in a book entitled 45-46-47 (ie- the Trump years) which will end in (god spare us all!) '28... Point is, ya gotta keep stretching the envelope, testing the waters- or rot on the vine.