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.

Is What It Is...

And while we're at it!!!

Fame And (Mis)Fortune!

I had no idea whatsoever about the torrent of copycat infiltrators Jake Ricker was subjected to at what would mark the forced conclusion of his Golden Gate Bridge project. I can well understand wanting to see him in action, congratulate him, engage in conversation and possibly learn from him- but I just can't even begin to contemplate what was going through these people's minds that they would willingly try to copy his photographs... directly in his presence! How does one even begin to make sense of that- the audacity, ignorance and sheer impudence of such an act? How do their minds (not) work- somehow, someway thinking they can magically glom on to his hard earned work, talent and recognition simply by trying to directly imitate him... right next to him!?! How dishearteningly surreal is that- particularly at such a world famous venue which is both so uniquely public and yet singularly isolated? We're such an utterly flawed species...

Hope he eventually gets his well deserved book deal!

I Don't Understand...

 And I don't think I want to... 

There's a Pokemon Convention/Celebration/Championship currently in San Francisco. I don't know much, if anything about it, other than being some kind of cartoon character game/creation that seems to be quite the money maker. Now, I can understand parents taking their six year olds to it, what I can't understand are all the twenty year olds lumbering about with armloads of hundreds of dollars of swag, smiling away, looking as if they were finally released from their basements for their first taste of sunshine since puberty- all for something I would have been thoroughly embarrassed to have not left in the rear view mirror years before entering freshman year of high school!

People in this country are dying from not having the money necessary for routine life saving operations, and people and babies the world over from Afghanistan to Gaza to Sudan are dying from not having the most basic nutrition and medicines to stay alive, thanks to the gutting of US Aid (.5 of 1% of the total US budget) so that a Nazi saluting billionaire could gleefully claim he eliminated government fat while not touching a single cent from our bloated military budget (soon to be well over a trillion US dollars), so that yet another billionaire could get the public's mind off his pedophile past by starting a completely unnecessary and illegal war he had already resoundingly lost a month in- and has not the slightest on how the hell he's getting us out 'cause he's just too damn busy personally handpicking matching drapes and fondling his Corinthian columns! 

I-just-don't-get-it.

Wild Horses

That's right, America's symbol of freedom, the wild Mustangs of the West; get 'em by the thousands for pennies on the dollar- perfect for someone's dining room table, all thanks to... 
Great American Orange Man!

I Wanna Live...

In this girl's universe!

Cool, Calm, Rational

No hyperbolics, zero partisan rants, just rational, logical in your face, common sense- a lovely change of pace on the insane card we've all been dealt...

Fight Song!

I'd gladly follow her into any battle with this song in the lead- a beautifully infectious, somewhat quirky, and highly melodic song (with a long convoluted history) as are many in Sinead's repertoire. Her rendition captivating and life affirming- as was she...

The Nerd Reich

Ce La Vie...

Really enjoyed this (Celui qui tombe), not even the music (which I didn't particularly) could stop me from liking it. And it works on so many levels- as both sculpture and dance, love and confusion, and anything and everything we experience in life, art, and loss...

Feeling Groovy!

Really need to get my mind off the usual lunacy we are forced to live with on a daily basis, so how 'bout a nice lighthearted musical melody to soothe the nerves and bring in the weekend... 

So all you younger readers, aspiring musicians, and sailors trapped on aircraft carriers for almost a year with no goddamn end in sight, eating a hamburger patty with a scoop of rice (then hoping to find a working toilet) because of an illegal war meant to take our minds off a bunch of files, photos, tapes and videos that implicate our POTUS and so many of his dearest friends in an international pedophile ring- this one's for you!

The Tell Tale Heart

So... Trump, with the aid of the Secret Service, plays his little, Top Secret, Three Card Monty, Now Ya See Me, Now Ya Don't, food container/airplane disappearing act to avoid a possible Iranian assassination attempt. Deftly played! And let's just forget those loser reporters in the decoy plane that were purposely put in harm's way to secure his safety. 

But how, why would such highly detailed details of such a TIPPY TOP SECRET Operation be so quickly made known unto you, me, or... the Iran who would so longingly love to kill him!?!?!? Who within Trump's Top Secret entourage leaked the plans of his Top Secret Abracadabra Escape Plan?!? Must be one heckuva BIGLY investigation the size of Air Force One itself looking into it- Call, Jeanine Pirro!!! THAT IS ONE HELLUVA SECURITY BREACH!!!

I bet once Cap'n Kash and The Boyz find the scurrilous dog of a traitor, they'll shove him right in the very same maximum security cell with the infamous pool knifer, or worse yet- The Sandwich Executioner! And I wouldn't, couldn't be happier...

Who, oh who, could it possibly be!?!?

You Throw A Party, And...

 What I have to remind myself- ad infinitum...